Chapter 1
"TS won. 'No, why the hell did you go in then!'"
Fierce keyboard clacking echoed through the room. Moments later, a headset flew onto the monitor with a thud.
"Goddamn bugs, every last one of them."
Nam Ha-neul. At 25, all she'd earned from holing up in her one-room apartment was Bronze tier in-game.
...And morbid obesity, hyperlipidemia, depression, social anxiety disorder, and the like.
She hauled her heavy body up and shuffled slowly toward the bed. Trash overflowed the floor, making it hard to find a spot to step. Trash—maybe not so different from Nam Ha-neul herself.
Squeak—As she flopped onto the bed, an ominous creak rose from the mattress frame. It sounded like it might snap any second.
She pulled the blanket over her head to block the stench of rotting food and body odor permeating the room.
If her life had tiers, it'd be rock-bottom Iron without a doubt. As a kid, she'd gotten plenty of praise, or so she dimly recalled. But at some point, she'd tumbled into an inescapable swamp of ruin.
News of old friends came only through SNS now.
'This guy's got a new girlfriend again. What the hell does he see in them?'
Deep down, she knew. Good looks, and at least not living pathetically.
'Wait, what?'
Beyond the date photos with his girlfriend, something caught her eye.
"......"
The gap in talent. She'd poured her life into the game for Bronze, while her friend—who dated, went to college—hit Diamond.
A surge of inferiority welled from deep in her chest. She hurled her phone away.
She knew it was pointless envy. But since games were her lifeline, losing there too made it feel like a predestined loser's fate—no matter how diligently she tried anything else, she'd fail.
'Fuck….'
With that, she drifted off to sleep. Escaping into dreams was better, after all.
As her mind fogged, letters seemed to float before her.
[......Do you consent?]
In her sleepy haze, she nodded unconsciously, as if agreeing.
Then she plunged into deep sleep.
Unaware of the changes overtaking her body.
"Mmgh…."
Waking up never felt good. Head fuzzy, getting out of bed a chore.
Eyes still shut, she tossed and turned awhile, then groped for her phone.
'Ah… threw it last night.'
Regretting it, she tried to rise from bed... but couldn't. Standard routine: two hours of lazing post-wakeup.
After more wriggling under the covers, she finally staggered up.
"Huh…?"
Something felt off. No major dissonance, just a weird déjà vu.
She grabbed her phone from the corner, glanced idly at the full-length mirror.
'Nothing weird, right?'
Morbidly obese, jobless day 1000+. No visible changes.
Shrugging it off as imagination, she plopped into the desk chair.
A rule since manhood: sacred morning ritual first thing.
"Alright, today... Huh? Wha...? Wh-wh-what the fuuuuuck?!?"
Pants down—and she screamed like she might faint.
Her small, precious friend was gone.
And her scream came out thin and high-pitched—a woman's voice.
That primal joy-giver had spiced her life.
Gone overnight.
"N-no way, d-dream? Impossible? Why?"
Clutching her head, she spiraled into panic. Never imagined her precious vanishing so suddenly.
A translucent window floated before the bewildered her.
You have unlocked the Status Window system in exchange for what you cherish most!
The Status Window shimmered with blue light.