A New Beginning

Scrub, scrub, scrub.

I moved my arms with mechanical precision.

Why am I working like this?

The question struck me out of nowhere as I wiped the window. It wasn't as though I lacked money. It wasn't as though I lacked fame. It wasn't as though I lacked ability—

"When you're done there, clean my room first."

That was my damn master talking.

"Yes, Master."

The answer slipped from my mouth of its own accord, without a single thought behind it.

How on earth had it come to this…

I opened the status window I resented even more than my damn master. Among the countless lines stamped across it like a brand, the one that mattered most caught my eye—my class.

I closed the window and let out a long sigh.

Five years had passed since the Great Cataclysm. Much had changed. Some things had not.

Click. Click-click.

Even I—holed up in my room, doing nothing but play games—was a product of the Cataclysm.

"That's it. Dodge left, then dump the skill right on the counter window…"

A grand orchestral swell poured from the computer screen, the only light in the darkened room.

I leaned back against the chair and exhaled.

"Looks like this game's over too."

When the Great Cataclysm hit, dungeons and Awakened appeared straight out of a novel. Society collapsed once, more or less the way those stories always went, and the Awakened pulled it back from the brink. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I became unemployed.

Five years of joblessness later, I had locked myself away and drowned in games—everything from high-fidelity MMORPGs to pixel-art indie titles, no exceptions. The only reason I was still alive was that the crypto I'd dumped my entire fortune into had moonshot. I never spent it on luxuries. It was a lifeline, nothing more—fuel for a long, deliberate stretch of unemployment.

But…

"I'm almost out of money."

The balance in my account had dwindled to two hundred million won. Considering it had started at two billion, there wasn't much left.

I really do need to get a job at some point…

Of course, I was a complete NEET—not a proper job in sight, not even a part-time gig. I wasn't even thirty yet. Still young. Still supposed to be doing something with my life.

First… let's try a little metacognition.

I took stock of myself, recalling an article I'd read a few days earlier. A pathetic body tempered by five years of hardcore gaming. Knowledge so hollowed out that all that remained was game characters ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and skill data. An education that amounted to enrolling in university, dropping out on the strength of crypto gains, and graduating straight into unemployment.

"Hmm… unless I Awaken, this life is a write-off."

Awakening. One Awakening and everything would be solved… Not that every Awakened person struck it rich. But once you Awakened, employment at least became possible.

"Eh… maybe I'll just sleep."

I abandoned the self-assessment and headed for bed. Awakening wasn't something you could will into existence. It was a miracle that arrived by chance, for no reason at all. The Awakening rate was a mere 0.1 percent—one person in a thousand. Pinning my hopes on odds that small made me feel vanishingly small myself.

I pulled the blanket over me and sighed.

"Ugh… this life is a bust."

My eyes drifted shut, and silence settled over my mind. The last thought that surfaced was a quiet wish for a good dream.

"Nngh…"

The blanket felt unusually heavy. Had I stayed up too late gaming?

Still half-asleep, I thrashed beneath the covers, shifting from my back onto my side… Wait.

My eyes snapped open. Something unfamiliar was in the bed with me.

I don't sleep with stuffed animals.

Frowning, I peeled back the blanket.

"Kyaaaaah!"

A sharp scream tore from my throat—not an "ugh," but a full-throated "kyaa." The weight of the blanket hadn't been a coincidence. Of course it felt heavy. My strength had dropped.

Apparently, I had become a woman.

"A woman? Are you kidding me?"

I shot upright and groped downward first. My pride and joy was gone.

It's not there. It's not there, it's not there!!!!

My legs gave out and I sank to the floor. My dignity as a man had vanished. Even as I cursed my fate, my hands drifted toward my chest. Curiosity satisfied, I made my way to the bathroom.

A height clearly shorter than before. Arms and legs thin as twigs. Skin pale and flawless, without a single blemish. A silver bob and large blue eyes. The person in the mirror was a complete stranger—not a single trace of who I used to be.

I prodded and pinched my face, half-convinced the reflection couldn't be me. My hands were so small I couldn't even cover this tiny face with both of them. A keyboard would feel even stranger.

Mid-distraction, a tattoo on the back of my hand caught my eye. I couldn't look away. A dazed sound slipped from my lips.

"Huh?"

It made perfect sense. A sudden tattoo appearing on the body was the classic precursor to Awakening. I had spent more than twenty years as a man and woken up a woman. Compared to that, Awakening barely registered.

I quietly ran my fingers over the back of my hand. The skin was smooth and soft in a way it had never been—awkward now, and it would stay awkward for a long time.

Still, you use what you've been given.

Becoming a woman was still deeply strange, and getting used to it would take ages. That didn't mean I was about to throw away a hard-won chance at Awakening.

One final step remained for a complete Awakening.

"Imprint."

A translucent window bloomed before my eyes.

Once you Imprinted, there was no going back. From that moment on, your class, stats, skills, and traits shaped the rest of your life.

I read slowly through the translucent window everyone called a status screen. The stats were pretty abysmal. The average for a normal woman's Strength, Agility, and Stamina sat around 4, which meant I was operating below the female baseline. The silver lining was that I had two special stats. Anything beyond the core physical set and Intelligence was determined by your class. Some people got none at all. Most got one. Having two was genuinely satisfying.

"Alright, skills next?"

I muttered to myself and dropped my gaze—then immediately doubted my own eyes.

Maid's Skills (B) was a perfectly reasonable name for the class. But Absolute Master Protection!!! (A) was jarringly out of place. And the rank was high, too. High-rank skills with terrible performance existed, sure, but generally speaking, a higher grade meant better results. So even with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a name that ridiculous, the skill itself was probably strong.

I selected [View Details].

Well…

If I'd been a tank-type combat class, this would have been an incredible skill. The A-rank made perfect sense. But I wasn't a combat class of any kind. I was a Maid—almost certainly categorized as a lifestyle profession. And a Maid frailer than an ordinary woman, at that. Taking hits in a fight, even reduced hits, would still put me at death's door. In other words, for me, this skill was worse than garbage.

"Fuck."

Still, I had one lottery ticket left unscratched.

If the other skill is good, that's enough. How often is a master going to be in real danger anyway?

I immediately selected [View Details] on Maid's Skills (B).

This one was a jackpot no one could argue with. Growth-type skills were always the right call—in games and in real life. And boosting recovery efficiency? That was a noble-tier skill if I'd ever seen one. Korea was so obsessed with work that people clung just as hard to high-quality rest. Even if cleaning had been the only thing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠listed, it would still have been a solid skill.

With this, landing a job will be a cakewalk.

Only the trait remained. The rank was a full EX. I selected [View Details].

Cold sweat beaded on my skin as I read.

I don't get to choose the master myself?

This could be a problem. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠No—this was definitely a problem.

I looked in the mirror again. An absurdly beautiful face and figure straight out of an anime. If I landed a weird master, my life was going to get ugly fast. And that wasn't even the only issue.

"It's nothing but poison clauses."

This trait offered zero benefits and a laundry list of restrictions—an EX-grade skill in name only. In short, there was a very high chance I was completely screwed.