The World Is Not Equal
The moment I opened my eyes, the first thing that hit me was the heavy scent of blood.
My whole body ached like it had been beaten with a club. Every breath sent sharp stabs through my ribs. I tried to move, but my arms and legs wouldn't listen. It felt like I'd been tossed into a trash heap and left to rot.
What the hell happened to me?
I forced my eyes open wider. The ceiling above me was made of old wooden beams, dark with age and smoke. This wasn't my room. This wasn't even my house. The faint glow of an oil lamp flickered in the corner, casting long shadows across the walls.
Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded in my head. Memories that weren't mine flooded in like a tidal wave.
Han Young-hoo. No, that was my name in the other world. Here, I was... Yi Gyeom. A third-rate martial artist from a ruined clan in the outskirts of Cheonje. Twenty-three years old. Lazy, lecherous, and utterly useless. The kind of guy who spent more time drinking and chasing skirts than training.
And right now, I was dying.
The reason? I'd been caught fooling around with the wife of a powerful local lord. The husband had sent his men to "teach me a lesson." They'd beaten me half to death and left me here in this rundown shack on the edge of the village.
This has to be a joke. I finally got isekai'd and it's into the body of a complete loser who's about to kick the bucket?
I tried to laugh, but it came out as a wet cough that tasted like iron.
That's when the window appeared.
Welcome, Player.
You have been granted the Reclusive Master System.
Current Status: Critical Condition (HP: 7/100)
Would you like to begin the tutorial?
I stared at the glowing text floating in my vision. A system? Like in those web novels I used to read during my dead-end office job? This had to be some kind of cosmic prank.
Before I could even think of an answer, another memory slammed into me. The face of a woman. Beautiful, with long black hair and eyes full of obsession. Seol Hwa-rin. My fiancée in this world. The one who'd been desperately searching for me while I was out getting myself killed over another man's wife.
Shit. She's going to be heartbroken.
The thought came with a strange pang in my chest. Not just from the broken ribs. It was like the original owner's feelings were mixing with mine. This guy might have been a scumbag, but he genuinely loved her in his own pathetic way.
I gritted my teeth and tried to sit up. The pain was excruciating, but I managed to lean against the wall. My hands were covered in dried blood. My clothes were torn to shreds.
Another window popped up.
Hidden Quest Generated: Survive the Night
Reward: Basic Recovery Pill + 50 System Points
Failure: Permanent Death
Time Remaining: 2 hours 47 minutes
Great. Just what I needed. A death timer on my first day in this body.
I looked around the shabby room. There was a small table with a jug of water and some stale bread. In the corner, a rusty sword leaned against the wall. This must have been Yi Gyeom's hideout whenever he wanted to avoid his clan duties.
Memories continued to surface. The original Yi Gyeom had been the disappointment of the Blue Cloud Clan. While his cousins trained to become proper martial artists, he'd spent his days gambling, drinking, and visiting brothels. His engagement to Seol Hwa-rin had been arranged by their grandfathers years ago, back when the clans were still on good terms.
Now both clans were on the decline, and the engagement was the only thing keeping them from total collapse.
So I'm stuck in the body of a deadbeat fiancé with a yandere fiancée and a murder timer. Perfect.
I reached for the water jug with trembling hands. The cool liquid burned as it went down my throat, but it cleared some of the fog from my mind.
That's when I heard footsteps outside. Heavy. Multiple people. They weren't trying to be quiet.
"The bastard should be in there. Make sure he's really dead this time."
The voice was rough, filled with killing intent. My blood ran cold.
They'd come back to finish the job.
I looked at the rusty sword in the corner. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely grip anything. My body was at its limit.
But something inside me stirred. A spark of defiance that belonged to both the original Yi Gyeom and the modern Korean salaryman who'd never amounted to anything.
I didn't ask for this. But if I'm going to live in this world... I refuse to die like some pathetic extra on the first chapter.
I forced myself to my feet, using the wall for support. The pain was blinding, but I pushed through it. My fingers closed around the hilt of the sword. It felt heavier than it should have.
The door creaked open. Three men stepped inside, their faces hidden behind black cloths. The leader's eyes widened when he saw me standing.
"You're still alive? What a cockroach."
He drew his own blade. The steel gleamed in the lamplight.
I raised my sword in a pathetic guard position. My arms felt like they were made of lead.
But then another window appeared, this one pulsing with golden light.
The pain in my body didn't disappear, but suddenly I could move. The sword in my hand felt lighter. My vision sharpened. The world seemed to slow down around me.
The three assassins lunged forward.
I took one step.
The rusty blade flashed once in the dim light.
And just like that, the first head fell before the man even realized what was happening.
Okay. Maybe this body isn't completely hopeless after all.
As blood sprayed across the wooden floor, I felt something shift deep inside me. The lazy, good-for-nothing Yi Gyeom was gone. In his place stood someone new.
Someone who was going to live.
Someone who was going to get strong enough that no one would ever dare touch him or the people he cared about again.
Starting with the woman whose face kept appearing in my mind. The one whose obsessive love I could already feel pulling at my heartstrings.
Seol Hwa-rin.
I was going to have to explain a lot when she found me.
But first, I had to survive this night.
The remaining two assassins stared at their fallen comrade in shock.
"What... what the hell are you?" one of them whispered.
I smiled through the blood on my lips.
"Me? I'm just a guy who decided today was not a good day to die."
I raised my sword again.
The reclusive master era was about to begin.