Introspection
"A sword is weirdly a jackpot just because it's a sword — but whatever, it IS a jackpot! Woojin, your life just turned golden, you little rascal!"
Held against Kang Yena's chest, my mind raced through a dozen different thoughts at once.
The unfamiliar sensation of a woman's breasts pressed against me, and my instincts as a man responded on their own.
And at the same time, I felt her warmth. I could sense how deeply and sincerely she cared for me.
"You don't really *need* to climb the Tower, you know... With talent like that, you could laze around on the lower floors and live comfortably for the rest of your life."
"Can I still climb the Tower, though?"
"Ugh, I don't know. Let's talk to Mom. I've changed my mind — it feels like a waste to let a high-grade skill sit around rotting. Can't say how Mom will take it, though."
Kindly, she walked me through everything that was about to happen — my future path, laid out step by step.
"If Mom says yes, the first thing you'll do is register with the Hunter Management Bureau, and then..."
She counted off each point on her fingers, methodical and thorough.
"You'll need to pick a good guild. One with reliable women. If you ask the Bureau, they'll verify whether someone's trustworthy. And after that..."
Where to go, what to do, which path would make life easiest. Her explanation was flawless, clear, and complete.
And then, without warning, the memories of my old days surfaced.
Father...
After he lost Mother, he drowned himself in liquor day after day. For a while, it seemed like he might pull himself together.
But after that, the days he spent at home grew fewer and fewer. I told myself he was just buried in work.
And so I spent my school years essentially alone.
Then, right around the time I graduated high school, that same father suddenly brought home a stepmother.
"Woojin, from now on your life is yours to live as you see fit. It's your life, so I can't interfere any longer."
Frankly, he'd never interfered a day in his life. I had been neglected, plain and simple.
All through middle school and high school, I'd been living on my own for all practical purposes anyway.
"I'll find you a place. Tuition you can handle yourself. There's no more money to spare — I have to think of your little sibling's future too."
It was a bolt from the blue, delivered at the exact moment I was preparing for university.
A half-sibling born to my stepmother. When I was first introduced, the kid was already six.
Meaning the child had been born back when I was still in middle school.
Still, the kid was cute. I was an only child, and suddenly I had a sibling. Part of me was genuinely happy about it.
Talk went around of sending the kid to a school for the gifted, or abroad to an international school.
For the sake of this adorable new little sibling.
I accepted that I would have to give up my chance at support from Father and earn my own tuition.
But then, wouldn't you know it.
The very next month, I happened to pass by my family home — and my stepmother's car had been replaced with a foreign luxury model I'd never seen before.
My stepmother didn't hold a job, and our family wasn't wealthy. That money had come out of Father's wallet, no question about it.
That was the day I understood.
Father doesn't consider me important anymore, does he...
Looking back, it had been that way through elementary, middle, and high school alike.
The moment I graduated, I was all but shoved out the door into a live-alone life.
Back then, I lived in constant fear of the future, scrambling just to deal with whatever landed in front of me next.
When would I do my military service? How would I earn tuition? Could I even go to university? Which path should I choose? Would it be smarter to just get a job first?
Even lying under my blanket at night, thoughts like these circled until sleep wouldn't come.
No one ever stepped forward to kindly explain anything to me.
I asked my own questions, searched the internet, and forged ahead by smashing blindly into walls.
And in contrast to that father of laissez-faire neglect, the Kang Yena of this world...
Item by item, meticulously, she poured genuine care into telling me which choice was best, as far as her knowledge reached.
So this is what a real family feels like...
Kang Yena's embrace felt warm. I could almost believe that living as her little brother would be a safe, stable life.
Despite myself, that warmth pulled a smile out of me.
After slipping out of Kang Yena's arms, I settled myself alone in my room.
The skill, Introspection.
I wanted to figure out exactly what this thing was.
First, following Kang Yena's instructions, I pressed down on it firmly.
- A skill for looking within oneself.
- Can be activated at will.
"Simple description, huh."
It wasn't as if I didn't know what the word meant.
Either way, I decided to try activating it.
"Whoa—!"
Instantly, a dizzying stream of images flooded before my eyes.
My past, my father's face, my mother's face — they whizzed past like a lantern show at the end of a life.
It was so disorienting that I squeezed my eyes shut.
And then, out of the chaos, one image began to sharpen into focus.
Yes, that's what I wanted to see.
The other me — Woojini.
What exactly was this guy?
Had he been swapped out with me?
And if so, had he just gone *poof* and vanished somewhere?
Introspection was showing me the other me — Woojini — in the present moment.
Wait. Huh...?
Crunch, crunch.
The setting was my old studio apartment. Short, delicate-looking "Woojin" — it seemed he really had swapped worlds with me.
He was sprawled on the bed, fiddling with a phone whose screen was immaculate and scratch-free.
Beside him sat a bag of potato chips and a can of beer.
"Ahhh, this is the life. Turns out I don't have to watch my weight anymore. This place is the best, honestly."
...? Why, you little...
Woojini was living like a pig in paradise.
"Freedom at last from those suffocating women! The Tower could collapse and I'd still be safe! Nyahaha!"
He mumbled to himself as he launched into one of the mobile games installed on his phone.
Ding. Ding.
Withdrawal alerts from his banking app rang out in rapid succession.
Hold on a second, you little...! He's spending the money I scrimped and saved like it was blood! Even *I* couldn't bring myself to spend it!
After a grueling day of manual labor, what comforted me lying alone under the blanket of my studio apartment was a gacha mobile game stuffed full of beautiful girls.
When a whole roster of beautiful girls waits there to love me, how could I possibly resist?
Money was always tight, so I couldn't even afford the monthly pass — I'd been limping along as a "100% free-to-play" player.
Even when a shiny new character dropped, I clenched my teeth and held out. And held out.
"When I get a real job, I'm going to whale so hard" — that was my promise to myself, and that's what I was enduring for!
And this bastard was blowing through it all without a second glance.
"I'll use this to max-dup the SSR pickup AND the signature weapon! Should I roll some more on the standard banner too, hmm. Oh wait, I already bought every pack in the shop, so nothing's left."
Does this guy have ANY idea how hard I worked for that money...?!
"Raw dupes, baby! Pulling 'em with pure gems!"
Aghhh, ah.
My tuition, my food budget, my rent — savings set aside for the future — were melting away in real time right before my eyes, and my blood boiled.
And not even with efficiency packs. Raw gems. Full price.
Unable to contain my fury, my eyes snapped wide open.
Perhaps sensing the state of my heart, the Introspection skill shut itself off automatically.
Leaning back against the bed, I pressed my palm to my forehead.
A fever was rising, burning hot.
Fine. You just eat well and live well over there.
I'll make sure to live well here too, you son of a bitch.
Do you have any idea how I earned that money?
"But seriously, is there no skill that lets me reach through and punch this guy?"
If such a skill existed, I wanted it. Immediately.
I opened a web browser on my cracked phone. Time to gather information.
With painstaking care, I typed out my query into the search bar, one letter at a time.
-Are swords REALLY weak in the Tower?
The search engine's AI answered.
-Bullshit. Swords are strong. Don't lie to me. Have YOU ever climbed?
Even the AI is out here mocking me.
Grumbling under my breath, I tapped the source link.
Chaos. The community was clearly bustling — new posts kept regenerating in real time, one after another.
One more try. This time I'd ask a human, not an AI.
Title: I picked the sword
Body: Swords are the strongest, right?
Comments began pouring in at once.
The person with the blue square looked like some kind of veteran.
If someone writes the community notices, they must be a big deal around here. Probably knows a ton, right?
Wait. What.
Suddenly the abuse started raining down on the blue square.
Hmm... something, something about this. I think I may have made a colossal mistake.
Somehow I felt vaguely guilty, so I decided not to post any more comments.
But before long, the blue square's anonymous user started handing out hamburger gift coupons.
And then the gray anonymous users went feral over the free burgers, lining up in the comments in a total frenzy.
Out of nowhere, hamburgers? I cannot follow this conversation at all.
As I sat back and watched the community churn, one clever little thought flashed through my mind.
Hold on. So... every time I'm hungry, if I just ask that person a question, maybe a hamburger comes out of it? That's basically free food. That's the life.
Unfortunately, the free hamburger event ended in the blink of an eye, so I resolved to try again another time.
It was too late in the day to score a fresh burger and eat it now.
Dinner time was fast approaching.
It was nearly time for "Woojin's" mother to come home.
Just as the view outside the window dimmed into dusk, the front door opened.
"Mom's home. Did my two puppies behave themselves and get along while I was away?"
