The Cursed Prince
The first meeting between Lee Shin and the character Park Su-bin took place all the way back when his older brother first gifted him GM.
Unlike the other decent characters, Park Su-bin was the type who got shoved into a corner with zero presence, just quietly rotting away.
Grim illustration, garbage stats—there wasn’t a bigger piece of trash in the entire game.
Yet the veteran newbie Lee Shin discovered it.
The hidden something buried inside that trash character.
First Trait:「???」
Many people overlook it, but not all traits are created equal. There’s a hierarchy.
The first trait especially is the character’s identity—its very essence.
Yet Park Su-bin’s first trait was filled with 「Unknown」. It was an unidentified trait no one had ever seen before, and it set the blood of a teenage boy on fire.
An obsession that bordered on mania.
After three full years of that obsession, Lee Shin finally reached the core of the character named Park Su-bin.
·
·
“??!!”
Cu…rse? Pri…nce?
Park Su-bin’s eyes widened into perfect circles.
Yes. A curse.
Park Su-bin had been cursed.
Traits (9/9):
「Unknown」, 「Frailty」, 「Timidity」, 「Deficiency」, 「Obsession」, 「Beta Male」, 「Self-Doubt」, 「Self-Deprecation」, 「Sweet Potato」
Eight out of nine trait slots occupied by negative traits. That was the curse placed upon Park Su-bin.
“If there’s a starting line for growth, Bokchi, you can only reach the same starting line as everyone else after you’ve broken every last one of these curses. Understood?”
Sitting on a swing and licking ice cream while saying something so heavy was ridiculous. No, the real nonsense was a man dressed like he belonged on a movie festival red carpet, squatting on a neighborhood playground swing.
Yet strangely, that very absurdity made his words feel even more sincere.
“But what exactly is… Bokchi…?”
“A sunfish. A cute little fish that looks just like you.”
Lee Shin swallowed the part about how both of them tended to die in one hit. This kid needed delicate handling.
“Then… what you’re saying, sir, is that I…”
“Call me Hyung. We’re going to be together for life anyway, Bokchi. Try it. Hyung~”
“……”
“There we go. That’s how my Bokchi should sound. We’ll take it slow.”
“Y-yes…”
“Good. Now ask me again properly. Chin up, chest out, look me in the eyes. There. Speak from that position.”
“Then… um…”
In short, he had been born with a curse. All the timidity and frailty that Park Su-bin hated so much were because of that curse.
To him, those words were a form of salvation.
He had always blamed himself—because he was worthless, because he was weak, because he was stupid. Lee Shin was telling that same Park Su-bin, It’s not your fault.
The shattered pieces of his mentality began to reassemble, even if only by a speck.
Then a small question surfaced. Even someone as broken as me… could there still be a next step?
“Is there… a way to break… the curse?”
And that was exactly what Lee Shin had been waiting for.
Lee Shin grinned with every ounce of charm he possessed.
“Of course~!”
Many players had knelt before Park Su-bin’s curse. Even veterans who bragged about their experience eventually gave up on that precarious mentality and quit. Those who stubbornly raised him anyway only ever tasted a fraction of his true potential.
Park Su-bin was the character with the highest difficulty in the entire GM world.
But Lee Shin could say it with absolute certainty.
No—only he could say it with certainty.
Because Park Su-bin had been Lee Shin’s main character.
With a serious expression, Lee Shin looked at Park Su-bin and spoke.
“From now on, I’m going to teach you the incantation that breaks the curse.”
“An… incantation…?”
“Yep!”
Of course, no such incantation existed in the game.
But since this was reality, a little ritual like this seemed necessary.
Who knows? Maybe this kind of mindset will lead to something real.
Smiling, Lee Shin began the “Take Care of Bokchi Project.”
He tapped the sparkling Gold Card Pack (Trait) floating in the corner of his vision. The pack spun dramatically before stopping, then erupted in flashy fireworks just like in GM.
You have acquired A-rank Trait 「Fear Resistance」.
Getting an A-rank trait from a gold card pack was pretty good.
Moreover, Fear Resistance was quite useful for a tank.
But the specific trait didn’t matter right now. What Lee Shin needed was the grade itself.
“Alright, repeat after me.”
Lee Shin shot to his feet.
Standing firmly on both legs, chest puffed out, chin raised arrogantly, he drew a deep breath from the bottom of his core.
“I.”
He pointed at himself.
“Am fucking awesome!”
“……??”
“I’m fucking awesome!!”
“??!!”
“I’m fucking awesome!!”
“!!”
Park Su-bin’s jaw had dropped.
What the hell was awesome? That was the incantation? He was supposed to say that?
His pupils trembled violently.
“See? It’s easy. Try it.”
“F-for real? Me? That?”
“Look at you talking faster already. Nice. Keep talking like that from now on.”
“……Sir.”
“You don’t have to. If you want to live like that forever.”
“……”
If you want to live like that forever…
That single casual remark stabbed mercilessly into Park Su-bin’s heart.
It meant that if he couldn’t even do this much, he didn’t deserve to change.
Yes. He was right. It wasn’t wrong.
In the end, the one who had to drive change was himself. Nothing would change if he didn’t move first.
“You can do it, Bokchi. You’re way more awesome than you think. I guarantee it.”
If it’s hard to believe in yourself, then believe in me who believes in you.
It was a line Lee Shin had always wanted to try after seeing it in an anime, but for someone with low self-esteem like Park Su-bin, it was probably the most necessary thing he could hear.
Finally, the boy squeezed out a thread of courage, kicked off the ground, and stood up.
“I… I…”
He lifted his chin. Cold sweat poured down his skinny jawline.
He puffed out his chest. His narrow ribcage heaved noticeably.
Then, clenching his teeth, he pointed at his own chest.
“I-I’m… awesome…”
“What was that?”
“I’m awesome.”
“Again.”
“I’m awesome!!”
“Perfect!”
That was it!
Lee Shin clapped enthusiastically.
It had worked. A visible brightness returned to Park Su-bin’s face from the sense of accomplishment.
A dramatic change that swept away the gloomy atmosphere, even if only for a moment.
At that instant, Lee Shin tapped the [Character Management Window] for Park Su-bin.
A cheerful alert sound rang out alongside a cascade of messages.
Granting Trait 「Fear Resistance」 to ‘Park Su-bin’.
‘Park Su-bin’’s trait slots are full. Replacing a trait of equal rank.
「Sweet Potato」 has been replaced with 「Fear Resistance」.
Negative Trait 「Sweet Potato」 cannot be overwritten. Cancel 「Fear Resistance」?
Traits (8/9):
「Unknown」, 「Frailty」, 「Timidity」, 「Deficiency」, 「Obsession」, 「Beta Male」, 「Self-Doubt」, 「Self-Deprecation」
“Congratulations. One curse just disappeared.”
“O-one?!”
“What, did you think that was the end?”
Our Bokchi really is trash—not just in mentality but in conscience too. Puhahaha.
When Lee Shin sent a signal with his phone, a waiting truck pulled up in front of them.
They stepped through the doors of the very truck where Lee Shin had just put on his theatrical show.
“!!”
The inside was packed wall-to-wall with items.
Everything he had bought by burning down the black market.
“How’s that, Bokchi?”
Lee Shin pulled a black mink coat from the side and draped it over Park Su-bin’s shoulders.
“The Show Me the Money meta. Pretty cool, right?”
Time passed.
The day of Mir Guild’s second-round raid finally arrived.
* * *
Level 4 Gate.
Imp Archer Forward Base.
The Mir raid party, having arrived early in the morning for adaptation training, had gathered around Kim Jong-pil.
“Before we depart, I’ll give a brief briefing—”
“Pfft.”
“The gate we have entered is the ‘Imp Archer Forward Base,’ which is considered one of the more difficult Level 4 gates—”
“Hehe.”
“The main monsters are imps that use long-range magic attacks—”
“Ugh, my stomach.”
Kim Jong-pil tried to deliver the briefing with as serious a tone as possible, but the raid members simply couldn’t focus.
In truth, even Kim Jong-pil was struggling. He was trying his best to stay professional, but how could any human being look at that and not lose focus? He’d probably have to gouge his own eyes out.
……
Cowboy boots with spurs straight out of a western film.
Needlessly tight black spandex and an equally oversized champion belt.
Ten colorful rings on ten fingers.
A matching pair of bracelets, earrings, and both a short and long pearl necklace.
And to top it all off, a tacky mink coat that looked like something a 90s real-estate auntie would wear to brag at a neighborhood savings club meeting.
All of those items were currently equipped on a single person.
Dozens of pieces that would draw attention even individually, all layered onto sixteen-year-old Park Su-bin.
He was already small in stature, but with tights on the bottom and a mink coat on top, he looked like a scrawny-legged black swan.
Kim Jong-pil decided further briefing was pointless.
If even he, a veteran of nearly sixty raids, couldn’t concentrate, there was no way these rookies could. It was hopeless.
“—And that concludes the briefing nobody was listening to. Make sure you don’t make mistakes once we enter combat. Dismissed. Finish your personal preparations and we’ll depart immediately.”
““Yes!!””
As expected, instead of dispersing, the team members flocked straight toward Park Su-bin.
“Puhup, Subin, what the hell happened to you in the last few days?”
“Our youngest disappeared with the Guild Master for personal training and came back a magnificent attention whore. Hehe!”
“How did you even get all these items? The performance is one thing, but the design… Subin, do you even know what all the options are?”
“How many is that? One, two, three… We each got a few, but adding all of his… This is insane…”
Indeed.
The solution Lee Shin had offered to Mir Guild’s defense problems was extremely simple.
Equipment support. In cruder terms—item carry.
He had armed the entire raid party with items purchased in a fiery black-market shopping spree.
That was why Park Su-bin drew even more attention.
The items given to the rest of them were already worth several billion won, yet Park Su-bin alone was wearing several times that amount.
Naturally, this caused some grumbling.
“That necklace is a Pearl Earring! The national treasure of mages. Must be nice. I want one too.”
“Am I the only one who finds this uncomfortable? We only got one or two items each. What did he do to get that many?”
“We’re fine with it, but you must feel pretty upset, huh?”
“You okay, Jeong-seok?”
“……”
Park Jeong-seok, who had recorded the highest score in the raid party after the Mountain King in round one, felt more than simple dissatisfaction. He was downright disgusted that support had been so heavily concentrated on Park Su-bin—the lowest scorer who had spent the entire first round rolling on the floor using pathetic shields.
Shouldn’t I be the one receiving them?
He had performed better than that kid and was far more desperate than that kid.
Just then, a woman patted the shoulder of Park Jeong-seok, who wore a face like he had chewed on shit.
“Can you manage your expression a little?”
“Buzz off, Lee Hye-jung.”
“Annoying. So annoying. A grown man getting jealous because the youngest got a few things.”
“……Honestly, shouldn’t I be the one getting them?”
The woman called Hye-jung let out a derisive snort.
“This is why you should never pick up a black-haired beast. We picked up an abandoned prospect, gave him a debut, even built a whole strategy around making him shine. And yet after just one round of decent performance, his shoulders are puffed up like this and he’s already trying to ruin the team atmosphere.”
“……You done?”
“No more to say, right? It’s all facts, right?”
Since they couldn’t curse out Lee Shin who had chosen them, they were taking it out on the easy target—the youngest, Park Su-bin.
Having run out of words after being hit with cold facts, Park Jeong-seok glared at her with a reddening face. Lee Hye-jung, whose temper was as fierce as the twin blades at her waist, glared right back without yielding.
When their teammates noticed the tension and started approaching, Lee Hye-jung spotted the youngest looking lost among the crowd and gave a small laugh. She patted Park Jeong-seok’s chest a couple times as she walked past.
“Let’s take it easy. Easy. You’re not the only desperate one here.”
“Hey. Come back here.”
“The kids are coming. If you have something to say, we can talk after the raid.”
Waving her hand, Lee Hye-jung reassured the others that it was nothing. Then she wrapped Park Su-bin in a hug and burst out laughing.
Park Jeong-seok, feeling ignored, started to approach with a face turning red then blue—until Kim Jong-pil appeared and froze everyone in place.
“Park Su-bin. Come with me.”
“Y-yes…!”