Prologue
Who the hell knows what the world might throw at you next?
Like, say, one day all these dimensions suddenly smash into Earth.
And as a result, all the races from those different worlds end up rubbing shoulders—literally bumping into each other.
In that total clusterfuck of a situation, somehow they claw their way out, strike some dramatic peace, and the world keeps chugging along without completely going to shit.
That's the kind of unpredictable bullshit the world is.
And in the process, some people got left behind. Doomed to extinction.
"...Fuck."
And the fact that one of them was me? That made the world feel even more like a giant dick punch.
I'd never had a lick of luck my whole life.
Just when I thought all that grinding and struggling was finally paying off with a glimpse of light, bam—one instant, and I plummeted straight to rock bottom.
I'd studied my ass off till my nose bled, putting up with the orphanage director's bitching about the electric bill, scored decent grades, landed a job at a solid company, and figured I was just another cog in society's machine, spinning away fine... until that whole society went tits up, turning me into one of countless misfit gears that didn't fit anymore.
That was me.
The world flipped overnight. Jobs vanished in a blink. I kept telling myself it'd work out somehow, but it didn't. Just a shitty life that refused to cooperate.
Who the fuck said going into electrical engineering meant you'd never starve?
Thanks to that, here I was, starving to death.
"Seriously, fuck."
History's full of jobs vanishing due to sudden tech leaps or whatever, but I never dreamed I'd be one of the victims.
Especially not because of fantasy crap like magic.
Mana power generation or whatever the hell—makes zero sense to me. All I know is hydro, nuclear, geothermal, solar... Mana power? What the actual fuck?
And get this: in this fucked-up world, they've got magic beast generators too.
They mass-farm these rat-like critters that generate electricity, squeezing out power like it's nothing.
Each one pumps out enough juice for a whole household, they breed like rabbits, and the production cost? Barely more than the feed for the little shits.
Fuckin' unimaginable, but that's the reality here.
And making electricity from rats? That's tame compared to the other insane shit.
Anyway, the point is, I was out of options. No backup plan left.
Two years after the world went to hell.
I'd bounced around through all sorts of storms, scrimping and saving, but I'd burned through every last penny of my savings.
Not like I'd been sitting on my ass the whole time, though.
Anyone who didn't feel the panic watching their bank balance dwindle would've been a total idiot.
I'd hustled every way I could think of. But during the chaos—wars and all that—decent work was nowhere. And once things settled? Other reasons kept jobs out of reach.
Manual labor gigs, which used to be everywhere? Now crawling with non-humans way stronger than any powerless human slob like me. For a talentless human to snag a real job? Like plucking stars from the sky.
Hell, even I'd hire a non-human who could do three or four times the work for the same pay over some average human.
That's the brutal law of reality.
But come on, this is too much.
So goddamn harsh it's freezing my balls off.
Of course, I get why it happened. Plenty of guys like me got screwed—not just one or two.
Who could've predicted dimensions colliding and turning the world into this mess?
Nobody. Which is why overnight, countless lives crumbled.
The change was so massive, the discarded cogs numbered in the millions. Hell, during peak chaos, there were jokes about the Han River's water temp rising from all the jumpers' body heat—not funny at all.
But yeah, it was that bad.
Hell, even I'd wanna dive in and reset my life right now.
Problem is, the Han River's still too damn cold for that. Even in midsummer, I bitched about anything less than hot tub temps.
"Haaa..."
I let out a deep sigh and hauled myself up.
Sitting here forever scrolling job boards for human-friendly gigs? Futile. And with tomorrow's groceries on the line, I needed cash now.
Yeah. Whatever it took, I had to scrape up some money.
"Whatever... yeah, whatever it fucking takes..."
Muttering it like a vow, I threw on some clothes and headed out.
My life was shit with nothing to show for it, but I wasn't ready to end it with empty pockets either.
Which meant one option left for a human who'd sunk to the world's ass-end.
One job still open to our kind.
After pulling a number ticket and waiting damn near an hour, it was finally my turn. I approached the counter, and the civil servant girl there greeted me.
"How can I help you today?"
Was this really it? My last shot?
The thought flickered through my mind even now, but it was just a momentary hesitation. What else was I gonna do? I shook my head and spoke up.
"...I heard you can find work here. That, uh, Dispenser job."
"Ah..."
Her face shifted to instant understanding, eyes filling with pity as she looked me over.
Pity. Felt like shit, but given my situation, unavoidable. Still, goddamn jealous. In this fucked world, if any job was less fucked, it was hers—government clerk.
She'd complained about the workload exploding, but still better than me. Hell, in a world like this where jobs vanished left and right, keeping hers put her leagues above a nobody like me.
Fuck...
So damn envious.
Anyway, being a pro, she schooled her expression quick and handed over a few sheets.
"By regulation, you need to get checked out at the designated spot first."
"A checkup?"
"Yes. I don't know the details, but that's the rule."
Got it...
But hearing it made sense. I wasn't the only human who'd hit bottom—lines out the door here proved that.
And they'd hire every single one?
Bullshit. Budgets don't grow on trees, whatever the details.
Learning this now? Anxiety spiked hard. I'd psyched myself up to come here, and now even this might flop.
Fuck, if I wash out here, it's back to checking Han River temps.
What now?
So goddamn anxious.
"D-don't worry too much. Seems humans are preferred for this gig—most applicants pass, from what I hear."
"Really...?"
She was trying to console me, seeing my gloom, but it rang hollow.
"Preferred" my ass—not much comfort when they couldn't hire every desperate human lining up.
Just like that vocational trainer last year: "They're hiring two more than last year, so don't sweat it." Useless pep talk—hundreds applied for those spots.
Same shit here, probably worse.
What to do?
Worse now, my anxiety cranked up.
Legs shaking wasn't helping; I started gnawing my nails. She eyed me like she couldn't bear it.
"Just to confirm, you're volunteering for this of your own accord, right?"
"Y-yeah, sure..."
"Then sign this consent form..."
I filled it out, and the paper glowed with a hum. I blinked in shock, but she casually slipped it into an envelope and handed it over.
"It's magic. First time seeing it?"
"Ah... magic."
First time up close.
I'd glimpsed it plenty from afar, but never like this.
Magic, huh.
Why magic for a consent form? Whatever—not my problem.
Magic, bullshit, whatever. Long as I got the job and cash, I didn't care.
"That it?"
"That's all we can do here."
I nodded, stood to go, and she hesitated before speaking softly.
"...Take care of yourself out there."
"Yeah, you too."
Even at the end, her pitying gaze—like I'd been discarded by the world—drew a bitter smile as I grabbed the envelope and left the Interspecies Support Center.
"Take care... Yeah, gotta watch myself."
Doing this shit to survive? Obviously.
Though some things you can't dodge no matter what.
That's the world now.
Dimensions merging? Absurd enough. But then all those races from each world forced to coexist.
Lucky the land, air, all that merged too—or we'd be crushed under non-human feet.
This tiny peninsula, barely scraping 50 million before? Now over 100 million easy.
That many people. That many races.
All with clashing cultures, histories, beliefs—suddenly shoved together, no clue why.
Back when even talking was impossible, now we've got this grand World Government. Seems stabilized, but everyone knows it's surface-level.
Power, resources, tech—tangled interests, skating on razor-thin peace, everyone watching everyone.
Anyone with a brain sees it.
Even so, accidents happen.
Daily news? Blockbuster movie levels compared to the old world.
Like, some poor human's head blown off by a giant's sneeze-spit? Barely news anymore.
Needs a drunk giant pissing a village underwater to make headlines.
For a powerless human like me? A kill-waiting-to-happen slaughterhouse world.
World Gov preaches equality, same rights for all races—but to claim 'em, you need something. Same as the old world.
Except now those rights tie straight to survival.
"Gotta do this to eat, though."
I muttered, clutching the papers, when—
Kuooooooooh—
A roar like a typhoon hit, and a dragon soared overhead.
"Holy shit, fuck me."
That massive beast cruising over skyscrapers? Never gets less jarring.
No precedent, but if it shits mid-flight? City's gone.
Headline: "Dragon Dung Dooms Downtown."
Hotter topic than giant piss floods. Might even ban dragon flights.
Still, fucking terrifying.
One that size strolling the streets? You'd pray not to get stepped on.
A behemoth blotting the sky? Pure, primal human terror.
But.
"World's fucked, but I gotta live."
Even upended, survival means cash.
Dragon shit might squash me tomorrow—who knows. But to live, you need money.
Crumple.
The paper envelope crumpled in my grip.
Yeah, fuck it.
Better than fretting over river temps.
Steel resolve, hype myself up, and bellowed:
"Let's fucking go!"