Prologue
"This world is a fucking hellhole."
"Whoa, tell me about it. Outta nowhere."
I was venting to my best buddy O Nangryun while pounding shots.
"Life's fucked. Pure hell!"
Fuck and hell even sound alike. My raging frustration was baked right into it.
"Well shit, you're the only chef I know who's got diabetes."
"I quit chef life two years ago. I work at a gym now, remember?"
"A 20-something with diabetes? The stuff of legends. Heh heh."
"I only drank zero cola. Fucking hell."
"Your brain's a dumbass. Even zero cola tricks it into pumping insulin like it's the real deal."
"I know. Shit. The brain's a total fucking idiot."
Clink. We tapped glasses and slammed back another shot of soju.
"Sip." O Nangryun wiped his mouth, lips twitching.
"What's got you so pissed? Wife cheating?"
"I actually got divorced. Fucking bitch."
O Nangryun started cackling. He'd gotten divorced a year ago too. I laughed along. They say losers like us crack up just looking at each other.
"You know webnovel clichés? Divorce means you're set to win big."
"Shut up. You almost got murdered by your wife."
O Nangryun smirked as he poured another round.
"Sip. Nearly made the headlines."
"You crazy bastard."
O Nangryun had almost drowned in a valley after eating curry laced with water hemlock his wife so lovingly prepared. Sensational TV bullshit is the real poison.
Clink. Another round down the hatch.
"Redeeming a Tenpro bar girl ain't easy, huh?"
O Nangryun asked. I'd met my ex at a Tenpro joint back when I was a chef. She was chatty, pretty, seemed pure—so I proposed. Back then, I thought: So what if she's a bar girl? We click! Conversations flow! She listens to me!
"Didn't know she was a total slut. Fuck."
"Dumbass. Bar girls don't fuck around unless they're sluts."
"Shit. She had nine affair partners. Called me while she was banging one. Thought I wouldn't clock the flu excuses mixed with bed creaks."
"Damn. Savage. Wanna off her? I got you."
He said it jokingly, but the stress gave me cancer. Restaurant tanked, diabetes on top—how much worse could it get?
"Nah, forget it."
Stage four pancreatic. Couldn't say I was dying soon. This was my goodbye drink.
I sighed. "If I'd had money, shit might've been different."
"Idiot. You don't fix a totaled car or a bar slut."
"Should've listened. Ah, what a shitshow."
"Whatever, man. Lesson learned now."
"Can't keep Mom's dying wish. Giving up on finding Dad."
"Really? After ten-plus years... Such a waste~"
O Nangryun looked bummed.
"Wanna bet it's a waste? Your power still working?"
I raised my index finger at him.
"Check this."
A flame sparked atop his finger like a lighter. No fuel, no heat. He blew it out quick, glancing around.
"Whoa, still goin' strong~ Wild power, man~"
"Useless as shit. Can't even light a cig. Fuck, maybe I should start smoking again."
I had a weird ability too. Making tiny flames. Mom knew the secret before she passed. Dad handled bigger fires, she said.
"Shoulda cashed in that million bucks from James Randi~"
"Too late now."
Doc said two weeks tops.
"O Nangryun. I really think this world's true hell."
"Could be. We're all racing toward death anyway~"
"Heh. Just who gets there fast or slow."
"From a neuroscientist's view, human life is just chemical reactions."
O Nangryun. We both skipped high school. Best friends who aced into Korea University right after middle school. Super-geniuses everyone raves about. Lab partners in neuroscience.
I got my master's and switched to chef. He's still grinding his PhD.
"I believe this world's a simulation~"
"You nutjob. Still on that?"
"Quantum computers got even scientists leaning that way~ Ever hear of simulation cosmology?"
"One life, make it count."
Just wish it wasn't ending so soon.
"First time I saw your power, thought you were a demon. Your dad's a demon or some shit."
"Curious about Dad too. Hell demon would be cool."
We tilted glasses till dawn.
…And I think I died that night.
Why so sure? Feels like hell. One that cloned reality wholesale.