Chapter 4: Character Settings
Jin-seok gazed down at Siyeon, trembling like a frightened puppy inside the phone screen, from his cramped, dust-covered desk in the goshiwon. His eyes burned with greedy hunger. Six months ago, he couldn't have even dreamed of such a sight.
To him now, Siyeon was no longer a living person with her own will. She was a prime material that would save his pathetic, moldy life in one fell swoop—a [Character] he could mold freely as a writer. Nothing more, nothing less.
In the beastly cage of his room, Jin-seok's ragged breaths fogged the screen with a thin layer of white frost.
"Alright, name's Park Siyeon... twenty-five years old. Occupation: wife of that damn photographer. Personality: obedient and devoted. Ha, fuck... this is way too cliché, isn't it? No modern reader shells out cash for this stale setup. A true heroine's value skyrockets the more you break her."
Jin-seok bared his yellowed teeth in a cackling grin. His fingers, already slick with grime, danced busily to edit her info. He roughly tapped the [Character Sheet] menu at the bottom of the phone screen. A hyper-realistic character customization interface, like something out of a top-tier RPG, popped up. In the center, a 3D model of Siyeon's full body rotated slowly—more lifelike than reality itself, down to the finest peach fuzz rendered in exquisite detail depending on the light. Jin-seok clicked his tongue in awe.
"Let's see... gotta hook the readers' eyes first. Time to overhaul that shell. Such a pure face wasted on that plain body?"
His greasy fingers slithered sinisterly over the virtual keyboard. With each keystroke, cruel commands defying divine order etched themselves into Siyeon's flesh beyond the screen. Every time he maxed out a slider, her virtual model warped grotesquely.
[External Appearance Adjustment Values Input]
▶ Breast & Hip Volume: 1.8x Emphasis
▶ Waist Circumference: Forced Reduction
▶ Outfit Data Change: 'Floral Dress' Data Permanently Deleted → 'High-Gloss Ultra-Tight Latex Bodysuit' Forced Equip
"Ruining the original is the best part. Readers will lose their minds seeing a devoted housewife whimpering in slutty rags. Apply!"
"Ah... aaah! What's this?! My body... my body's weird! My dress... the one Jihun got me for our anniversary...!"
Siyeon screamed. The instant Jin-seok hit 'Confirm,' a storm of bloody noise ravaged the screen, scourging her body. Her pale skin pixelated and crumbled as black data shards clung like thousands of ants devouring her flesh, bringing excruciating itch and pain.
In a flash, her beloved floral dress disintegrated like ash in flames. In its place: glossy black latex, clinging like a second skin, obscenely outlining every muscle twitch. The rubber's foul stench filled the phone, squeezing her flesh inward. Her unnaturally swollen breasts strained the latex to bursting; her cinched waist crushed her organs, barely letting her breathe. Her hips splayed grotesquely, squeaking "squeelch, squeak" with every step from friction.
"You psycho bastard! Undo this now! Let me out! Jihun... my husband will find you! He won't let you get away with this!"
Trembling with shame and terror, Siyeon summoned her last strength to punch the glass wall. But her digitized blows only thudded hollowly against the cold barrier. To Jin-seok peering down, it was just a tiny beast thrashing—or a fish flopping in an aquarium.
"Jihun? That hotshot photographer? Heh heh, Siyeon-ah. The world's a wonderful place. I've kindly shared your show to the cloud for him. He's probably watching live right now. Wonder what face your hubby makes seeing you get remodeled."
Jin-seok's words were cruel truth. At that moment, Jihun—drowning despair with cold soju—saw his laptop screen flare to life unbidden. A high-res screenshot named 'Character_Setup_Log_Ver1.0.png' appeared in the shared cloud folder. With shaking hands, he clicked it.
"No way... Siyeon-ah...! What the hell is this...!"
Jihun lunged at the laptop, clutching the screen. The woman inside was unmistakably his wife, but in a grotesque mockery of human proportions. Glossy latex gleamed over her ballooning breasts; her face twisted in agony and humiliation, goading sadistic urges. As a photographer, Jihun sensed it instinctively: no Photoshop trick. His beloved wife's body was deconstructed and rebuilt at the data level—transmuted from human into an adult toy. Hot tears splashed his keyboard. But he couldn't look away. He had to witness his wife's hell.
Worst of all, dragging Jihun into soul-crushing despair: the ominous blinking system message at the image's bottom. A death sentence erasing her humanity.
[Character 'Park Siyeon' Body Modification Rate: 5% Breached]
[Status: Ego Preservation Rate Plummeting...]
[Alert: Forcibly Manipulating Target's Brain Endorphin Levels]
"Just 5% for this level of mutilation?! You fucker... turning my wife into your novel's fucktoy...! Siyeon-ah! Snap out of it! Can't you hear me?! It's Jihun! Oppa!"
Jihun roared at the monitor till his throat bled, but Jin-seok—savoring the torment—pushed deeper humiliations on Siyeon. He pressed his scruffy beard to the screen, mock-licking her ear, whispering low. His breath seemed to seep through, making her shudder.
"Siyeon-ah, you're not Park Siyeon anymore. You're Heroine #1 in my novel—a 'sample' delivering pleasure to readers. Got it? Your ego's worth less than a single line in my draft. Even your husband will puke seeing you now. This slutty body."
Siyeon bit her lips bloody, resisting. But injected 'settings' seized her central nervous system. Red noise blinded her; mental resistance crashed; her head creaked down like a rusty doll. Against her will, rewired neurons accepted Jin-seok's commands as gospel. A bizarre heat bloomed between her thighs; her body quivered faintly to her master's voice.
'Author (Master)' Absolute Obedience (Level 1)
[Status: Body Nervous System Synced to Settings]
[Note: Uterus Micro-Electric Shock on Resistance]
"...Yes, Author-nim... Ngh! Haa... haa..."
From her lips spilled not her husband's name, but submission to her destroyer. Hearing the moan-laced reply, Jin-seok beamed in ecstasy.
"Voice too quiet? Jihun probably missed it. Say it clear: Who do you belong to? Who do you exist for as a character?"
Under pressure, Siyeon wept fat tears, hugging her uncontrollable, bloated flesh. Her skin felt alien through the latex. Staring straight at the camera—knowing Jihun watched—she answered through soul-searing pain.
"Yes, Author-nim... I am the Author-nim's... novel fucktoy... Heroine #1. Born from your pen tip... just a lewd character. I'll do anything you command... please... sob, ugh... it hurts so much...!"
Jin-seok shivered in thrill. The 'noble woman's fall' he'd penned countless times over cup ramen fantasies was now perfect reality in his palm. He saved the cruel, flawless Character Sheet. Then, flashing yellow teeth in vile triumph, he taunted the screen where Jihun wept blood.
"Jihun-ah, good show, right? No more wife for you. Just a 'remodeled good' getting gangbanged by readers nightly in my novel. Like that sultry voice? Can't capture that vibrancy in photos. Stay tuned—your old Siyeon won't sound the same anymore."
Jin-seok cackled, typing the next installment's title. Each keystroke made Siyeon quake and crumble inside the phone; far away, Jihun's screams and sobs battered empty walls. Using her moans as BGM, Jin-seok inscribed new sentences upon her body.