Breakthrough - The First Smartphone
Paat!
Kim Jihun's solemn incantation echoed through his room, infused with sacred Creation Force.
He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at his fingers. A blinding golden glow. And within that glow, a small object gradually taking shape—a smartphone.
"Urghhh."
A pounding headache assaulted him at close range. The backlash from pushing his abilities beyond his current limits. He finished shaping the smartphone's exterior, then began creating the AP—application processor.
Countless intricate, bizarre circuits flashed through his mind and vanished. Just a little more!
His head throbbed as if it might split open, but Jihun didn't give up. The golden glow intensified bit by bit. The smartphone slowly came together. He poured every ounce of effort into the final stretch without faltering.
Just... a little... more!!
The application processor's complex, delicate structure flooded his mind. Crafting something with nanoscale precision was beyond Kim Jihun's current capabilities. But effort never betrays those who give it their all.
"Hah!"
As Kim Jihun exhaled in exhaustion, the golden radiance filling his room began to fade. Then came the overwhelming headache. He clutched his head and groaned in agony.
"Urk!"
It felt like his skull was cracking. The most intense pain yet rattled his bones. But even in his suffering, Jihun felt no regret. The achievement was worth enduring it.
+1000 Creation Force
His Creation Force had grown. Jihun shook off the lingering pain and eyed the message in the corner of his vision.
[ Creation Force +1000 ]
He muttered to himself.
"Creation Force by 100, huh? It hurt like hell for just 100... Wait, what?"
Something felt off. Mimicking advanced objects usually granted only 100 Creation Force. But the message in his vision read 1000. Ten times more.
Jihun stared at it intently, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
[ Creation Force +1000 ]
Indeed, his Creation Force had increased by 1000. He mumbled.
"Not 100, but 1000?"
He turned to his left hand. The smartphone he'd just created—the one he'd failed at dozens, hundreds of times.
With trembling right hand, he pressed his finger to the home button.
-Pip.
The screen lit up. A password prompt appeared to unlock it.
"Ha."
Jihun let out a hollow laugh. He muttered.
"Did it actually work?"
He turned the screen on and off repeatedly. His creation, the smartphone, functioned perfectly.
Grasping the situation, Jihun shot to his feet.
"I finally did it!!"
He shouted in joy, hopping in place.
"Finally! Finally! FINALLY!!"
How could he not be thrilled? For weeks, he'd attempted smartphone creation countless times—dozens, hundreds of failures—until this triumph.
He placed his creation on the desk and gazed at it fondly.
"So now even I can make something this complex?"
Proudly admiring the smartphone, he turned to the Creator God Manual in the corner of the desk. He muttered.
"Quest list."
Paat!
The Creator God Manual recognized his words and glowed brightly. Golden text materialized in the air.
Linked: Advanced Object Mimic Creation 10x (1/10)
Reward: Creation Force +5000
Special: Advanced Object Mimic Creation 20x (1/20)
Reward: Personal Subspace
"Oh!"
Jihun scanned the quest list and let out an elated gasp. He focused on the (1/10) markers on both quests. Even on his first success, both had updated.
That meant...
He slapped his knee and yelled.
"They stack!"
They overlapped! No need to clear sequentially. Just 20 advanced creations for a subspace.
Jihun beamed.
"Better than grinding 30 times—20's way easier."
Grinning ear to ear, he murmured the incantation.
[All things exist.]
The golden glow ignited. A skull-splitting headache followed, but Jihun's smile held. For a subspace, he could laugh off 20 rounds of this pain.
...
Chae Seong-ah stared at the notepad in her hand.
XX Street 21-2
Her investigated guess at Kim Jihun's address. She glared at it, scanning the surroundings.
"Somewhere around here."
She was prowling outside, hunting for Jihun's house. Utterly abnormal. Stalking a game stream BJ's address? She'd have no defense against the stalker label.
Yet she couldn't stop. She didn't even know why. She just yearned to see that handsome part-timer, Kim Jihun, again.
"Hmm."
Seong-ah kept walking toward her guessed spot. The scenery startled her anew.
"This place is definitely..."
A slum, perhaps? Far from sleek downtown—outer edges with tiny, rundown houses everywhere. Unpaved streets cracked the asphalt; old, shabby buildings dotted the area.
Clutching her pounding chest, she advanced step by step.
"Is this it?"
After some time, she stopped before a dilapidated house she pegged as Jihun's. It screamed poverty. Rusted door with peeling paint. Uneven walls like a hasty build, worn spots everywhere.
She could hardly believe it.
Living in a dump like this? Family must be poor.
Recalling Jihun's looks: flawless pale skin, refined gentlemanly features, bright sparkling eyes, masculine aura. Utterly radiant and sophisticated.
A guy like that in a shack? Unthinkable.
With that face, you'd think luxury life.
Lost in thought, her eyes caught a window. Identical design to the one from his stream.
That window?
Heart racing, she crept closer. A voice drifted out.
-"I finally did it!!"
Some success? That joyful shout matched the voice from the bookstore—warm, reassuring, deeply masculine.
Expecting to glimpse Jihun, she tiptoed and peered in. His room. And in the corner—
-"Finally! Finally! FINALLY!!"
Jihun, clutching a smartphone, bouncing wildly.
This is the place!
Seong-ah smiled delightedly. Seeing her crush in the flesh again! Her heart thumped fiercely.
Jihun hopped in glee. She smiled watching.
Hehe, so cute.
His looks were lethal. Even flailing like a kid, charm made it endearing—reverse appeal boosting his allure.
Seong-ah watched with a soft smile. But soon, she doubted her eyes.
Flash!
The book glowed; golden text appeared. A mystical scene straight from a movie.
Mouth agape, she stared. Excited Jihun was charming, but this felt otherworldly.
What the...?
Impossible. A glowing book with golden script? She'd never seen or heard of such a thing.
Her shock deepened.
[All things exist.]
As Jihun intoned, golden radiance flooded the room. She squinted against the brilliance. Amid it, she saw—He's... creating something?!
Something forming at his fingertips. Despite the glare, she saw clearly: a smartphone materializing from his hand.
....?!
Frozen, Seong-ah watched Jihun craft in the rundown room, golden light spilling everywhere.
On the way home, Seong-ah clutched her notepad, shuffling aimlessly like a soul lost.
And she was—half-dazed from the shocking sight.
That guy made a smartphone instantly with some power.
One scene looped in her mind: Jihun conjuring a phone from thin air, spied through the tiny window. Unreal.
Like...
"Magic?"
She muttered and chuckled bitterly. Childish, right? As an adult, she knew magic wasn't real. Lesson learned ages ago with Santa's truth.
Yet the memory burned vivid: golden script from the book, radiant glow, Jihun's creation ability.
"Must've been a trick of the light."
With feeble steps, she headed to her officetel.