Transferred by Error

"Mmmgh...."

His eyelids felt like lead.

He had dodged the oncoming truck. He had dodged the falling utility pole. And then, another truck had come barreling at him. That isekai cliché where they send you off whether you want to go or not — honestly, it was the first time he'd seen anyone get shipped to another world against their will like that.

And yet—

"What... the...? Am I not dead?"

He really had come. All he could see before him was an immense forest of colossal trees, so enormous that they blotted out the sky.

"Ha... haha... enough with the goddamn truck cliché already... Haaah..."

It was suffocating. He was furious. The moment he'd finally gotten a special power and was about to have the time of his life — what? Banished? Truck? Death? Was this some kind of joke?

"Haaah... and why the hell am I naked? Huh? What, is a goddess supposed to show up now and shower me with blessings? Where's the goddess then?!"

Park Geonwoo's rage erupted with enough force to punch through the towering trees. But no answer came, and there was nothing in his naked hands.

In other words, his smartphone was gone.

"Fuck... my divine power... my ability... my protagonist status..."

Park Geonwoo sized up reality quickly enough. After all, he'd already experienced the sheer absurdity of the hypnosis system back on Earth, so even an isekai transfer didn't feel all that special anymore.

What truly stung was that he could no longer access the system through the smartphone he'd had on Earth.

"How am I supposed to survive like this..."

That, more than anything, was the source of his fury.

South Korea? Home? Yeah, fine, it's all good. He missed his parents, but—

"Dad... Mom... FUCK!!!!!!!!"

Ah. His parents. The people who had spent their entire lives taking care of him, standing behind him.

Trickle—

Only then did tears come pouring from Park Geonwoo's eyes like a waterfall.

He felt bereft. He felt lonely. He felt terrified.

A new world, dropped into it naked with nothing to his name.

He missed his parents.

He wanted to whine and complain — that it was hard, that he wanted to rest, that he was just so tired.

Was it only because he could never see them again that he finally understood?

"Mom.... hic... what am I supposed to do now?"

Hic—

Hic, hic—

The tears wouldn't stop flowing, and his trembling hands and feet wouldn't stop shaking.

He was scared. If not for the occasional shaft of sunlight slanting down between the towering trees, he couldn't even tell whether it was day or night.

How was anyone supposed to live in a place like this?

Just as Park Geonwoo's despair swelled larger and larger, and he was on the verge of letting himself go entirely—

"Wh-what? Whatwhatwhat did it just say...????"

He heard it. He definitely heard it.

That voice. That was unmistakably the voice he'd heard back on Earth.

"N-no way... it can't be. It can't be.... Su-Subspace, open!!!"

His heart pounded. Grief, terror, loneliness, longing — every one of those emotions evaporated in an instant.

It had to be there. It absolutely had to be there.

If only he had that... then he could manage.

Park Geonwoo's tears stopped, and at his single shout — Subspace, open — the small space before his eyes began to split apart.

"G-good heavens... it really is the Subspace."

Park Geonwoo carefully reached his hand into the splitting air.

Shwoop—!!

Just like in the movies, his hand vanished. But at the same moment, a new notification window popped up, and color flooded back into his tear-streaked face.

His phone. Not quite the latest model, but close enough. The phone his father had bought him, telling him to keep his chin up!!!!

The phone he'd used for a mere eight months — it was there!!!

"It's... it's here!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Park Geonwoo snatched up the phone and powered on its dark screen. And there it was — the one and only app installed.

"Ha... hahaha... I- I can survive...."

At long last, he could see... a glimmer of hope.

Clap—!!

Alright! Time to think this through.

"This is another world. I'm naked. All I have is an OSUNG smartphone with a hypnosis function."

So what could he do with that?

"Level's still 2, and I've got 150 points. So what comes first?"

Park Geonwoo coolly assessed his situation.

"Do you have any idea how many job applications I've filled out?! Fuck..."

Stay calm. The thing Park Geonwoo chose as most important, right here and now, was clothes.

"Now that it's finally letting me use the Point Shop, I wonder if it sells clothes?"

Park Geonwoo let out a small breath and tapped the smartphone screen.

He regretted a little that he hadn't browsed the shop earlier — but what good was regret now?

"Let's see..."

He steadied himself and studied the phone. The touch response was flawless, the loading lightning fast. No internet in this world, so naturally mobile data showed as unavailable — and yet the Hypnosis System app still worked. It really did feel like an app built by a god.

When Park Geonwoo checked the shop itself...

"Wow... they sell THIS stuff?"

He clicked his tongue at the staggering variety of products on offer. There was nothing they didn't have. Why hadn't he checked this out ages ago?

"Huh? This is... what? Updating?"

The last category among the many product listings:

Fantasia products. So that was the name of this world, huh. He really, truly had been sent to another world... "Haaah..."

With such solid proof in front of him, a hollow feeling crept over him — but what could he do about it?

"Whatever. First, let's buy clothes."

Within the clothing category, within the Asia category, sat the South Korean clothing section. And within that, Park Geonwoo selected Athletic Wear.

"Nothing beats a good tracksuit. But the price— fuck..."

The outfit he chose was a green two-piece tracksuit, with two white stripes running down each sleeve. It was the exact outfit from the famous drama Octopus Game.

The problem ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the price: a whopping 100 points.

"Buy this, and... haaah..."

The price practically wrung a sigh out of him. He'd have to spend a full 100 of his 150 points, but he had no choice. He couldn't exactly go around swinging his naked caterpillar about, could he?

"Haaaah..."

A sigh escaped him all the same, but Park Geonwoo hurriedly opened his Subspace, pulled out the clothes, and put them on. Now dressed — though still a bit empty down below — he turned his attention to what came next.

"I'm Park Geonwoo, Republic of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Korea veteran. I know my survival essentials."

"What I need is water, a dagger, and the bare minimum of medical supplies!!"

"Of those, what I can actually afford is..."

Fuck. My. Life.

Dagger: 50 points. 2L of water: 50 points. Basic medical kit: 50 points.

"Why is everything exactly 50 points? Isn't this basically price-gouging at this point?"

A chill ran down his spine. It almost felt — almost — as if the prices had been calculated for the sole purpose of stripping his points down to nothing.

"Bus, utility pole, bus... At this point cut me some slack, will you!!"

It felt deeply unfair. But survival came first, so Park Geonwoo purchased the dagger in case of unforeseen threats.

He wasn't thirsty yet. He could go about three days without water, so he decided to prepare for danger first.

Thus dressed and armed, Park Geonwoo slowly shifted his gaze around him.

"Endless trees, a forest with no bearings. Normally, orcs or goblins would show up in a place like this."

Park Geonwoo understood perfectly well. The unbelievable reality had already begun back in South Korea. There was no point doubting anything anymore.

So if he really was the protagonist of this world, transferred here to make his mark — what would be the first crisis he'd have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to fight through?

Monsters.

The world was literally named Fantasia. It advertised its otherworldliness right out in the open. Goblins, orcs, kobolds, ogres — none of them would have been surprising.

"So first, I need shelter... Huh? What the—?"

It happened then. As Park Geonwoo was warily scanning the shadow-drenched forest, an enormous shadow fell over him from above.

Fwooom—

"Wha...?"

What now?

Park Geonwoo's eyes shot skyward before he could help it.

"A body...? Legs...? Wings...?"

He could see it. The source of the shadow that loomed over him and everything around him: blue scales, thick legs ending in vicious claws, and bat-like wings of unimaginable size.

Yes. That was... the final boss of every fantasy story from this kind of world.

"A dr-dragon....?"

It was a dragon.

KRAAAAAA—!!!!

GUUOOM—!!!

"GWAAAH—!!!"

Whoosh— crack boom rumble—!!!

A dragon had appeared out of nowhere. The colossal blue-scaled beast hit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ground, and the shockwave of its landing sent Park Geonwoo flying more than twenty meters.

The only silver lining was that he hadn't died. And then—

'Are you fucking kidding me... NOW of all times...???'

Now? A language? You're giving me the LANGUAGE now?!

Are you shitting me?!

"Not a goblin... not an orc... it's a dragon from minute one?"

Park Geonwoo's life truly was... nothing but hardship upon hardship.

"P-please... spare me? Ah... ahaha..."

Hardship or no hardship, Park Geonwoo forced words out of his throat toward the massive dragon's head looming above him.

"Ex...cuse me? An, an orc?"

"Huh? Then this outfit... that's why you...?"

Son of a bitch. He should have picked the black tracksuit!!!

Of all things, a green tracksuit — and now he was stuck in this colossal clusterfuck?

Park Geonwoo genuinely felt he was being screwed over by fate itself. And where that screwing ended was...

Death. It was death.

'Ah... this life of mine...'