Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Cracking the Password
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Seeing the signboard, I couldn't help but think that maybe this world wasn't some deathbed vision of mine.
It all felt way too much like a dream, no matter how I sliced it.
Only after confirming my sanity was intact did it finally sink in.
This world was real.
A proper, true timeline.
My heart was pounding so hard I wondered if it might give out.
Honestly, my head had been spinning a bit.
I even thought about just bolting straight up to my PC room. And honestly, the moment the idea hit me, I was already climbing four or five steps.
But let's think this through. Would my account even still be there?
Whether the body's original owner even had an Odin's Son account was up in the air, and without knowing her personal info, I couldn't even pass identity verification.
The realization hit like lightning, and my brain kicked into overdrive.
I recalled countless facts, reviewed them, sorted my thoughts, drew a snap conclusion, and without a second's hesitation, chose to head home.
Just confirming that the outside world was normal everyday life meant the recon had achieved its goal.
Hell, it was more than that—I'd confirmed the existence of Hel: Odin's Daughter. Goals exceeded.
I practically flew home, giggling to myself. Sure, there was a slight ache on my forehead and chest, but I didn't have time to care.
The building that had looked like a creepy concrete island just minutes ago now felt like my sweet home.
Catching my breath in the elevator, I mused.
So Tyr: Odin's Son's sequel was Hel: Odin's Daughter. Name change, huh? Well, Hel isn't Odin's Son, after all.
From Odin's Son to Odin's Daughter—did that mean the game got a gender swap too?
Whoa, hold up. Was that why I got gender-swapped?
That's why I couldn't see it until I ended up in this altered, TS timeline...!!
"Pfft. Bullshit."
My brain was firing on all cylinders, spitting out curses smooth as silk.
I unlocked the door with the card key and, kicking off my shoes, beelined for the monitor.
A shake of the mouse woke the screen from sleep mode, but it was still stuck on the password prompt.
Just moments ago, I'd hoped to wake up back in my original world.
Hell, even now, I couldn't say I had zero lingering attachment to it.
What happened to that godawful game's 11th anniversary?
Are my deadbeat friends doing okay?
Did Potbelly Uncle really go all-in on Asgard Software stock and win big?
Does holding on for dear life actually pay off in the end?
Leaving behind all those hard-earned relationships—not to mention a lifetime of achievements—isn't as easy as it sounds.
Thanks to passing the exam young, I'd racked up seniority pay.公务员 salaries are stingy, but that nest egg was building steadily. It all flashed before my eyes.
But things were different now.
If someone held a knife to my throat and demanded I go back?
Even if they gutted me, I'd stay in this world.
Hell, even as a disembodied soul, I'd cling to this place tooth and nail.
Not that collapsed timeline where Odin's Son got delayed five times and bombed, but this righteous one where sequels dropped like clockwork.
"Alright, let's do this."
For that reason, if nothing else.
First up: crack this lock.
I started by clearing the pills scattered on the floor.
I'd hated even looking at them earlier, but now? No big deal.
What did a few pills matter at this point? Straight into the trash they went.
Sleeping pills container... That got shoved into a drawer, out of sight.
With obstacles out of the way, I sat at the now-spotless desk.
On the walk back, I'd brainstormed some ideas.
Now I punched them in one by one as they surfaced.
1q2w3e4r.
The reverse.
abcd1234.
1234abcd.
Classic national-standard passwords, but all duds, sadly.
I left the monitor on and waited, checking the time occasionally.
3 minutes.
Exactly 3 minutes before it went dark. Shorter than expected.
The owner's power-saving timeout was probably set way below default. Meant she'd be entering the password pretty often.
So, unlikely to be something annoying to type. Repetitive numbers? Nah, words would be easier. Passwords resembling words seemed probable.
Password, then.
Or iloveyou.
iamjimin.
Watching my brainiac guesses flop one after another piled on the disappointment, but it wasn't bad.
Earlier, each failure had me on edge, heart in my throat. Now? Felt like I was at an escape room cafe near Hongdae Station.
I was even a little excited, heart racing with thrill.
Tackling it like this turned the situation into a mystery novel. Like solving a logic puzzle.
As a proud Sherlockian, I slipped right into detective mode.
There were a few more standard ones I recalled—wanted to search, but both phone and desktop were locked.
Finally, I pulled her driver's license from the wallet to check Kang Ji-min's birthdate.
...Kinda late to notice, but it started with 4. Gonna take time getting used to that.
"2, 0, 0, 1 ..."
Birthdate wasn't it either. Back into the wallet it went.
Come to think of it, being a woman had its perks.
If it started with 3, I'd be facing the draft again.
"Hmm..."
A chill ran down my spine for a sec, but with my resident number ending in 4, no worries there anyway.
I let out a relieved sigh, chuckled, and pulled out the million won from the wallet.
Too much to carry around.
Left two bills on the desk, pocketed the rest.
Crisp new notes—felt prepped on purpose. For what? Something nagged at me...
...Speaking of cash, it jogged another memory.
Staring up at this swanky villa earlier, I'd wondered how much rent ran for a place like this.
Rent. That word really drove home the reality.
A million won? Decent chunk if you're smart, but it melts away quick. Never lived in a high-end spot like this, so no clue on monthly costs.
Can't even check—phone and PC locked.
No TV in the place either.
Felt like a caveman suddenly. How long since I'd been this cut off from modern society?
Humans are social creatures. Connections pile up, good or bad.
But right now, I was totally adrift in this world. Not a soul I knew.
True isolation. A weird, hard-to-describe loneliness.
Even when Lee Jin-cheol lost his parents young and cut ties with relatives, it never felt this empty.
I'd been lucky with people—strangers rallied around me, frantic to help.
...Which got me thinking: What if I run into one of Kang Ji-min's acquaintances on the street?
That... uh... whoa. Just imagining it blacks out my vision.
Go with the cliché—amnesia?
What if they drag me to a psych ward?
Could I fool a pro shrink with lies?
I know my limits. I'm neither bold nor clever enough.
I stared at the now-dark monitor.
Can't end up in a nuthouse.
They wouldn't let me play Odin's Son.
Scratching my head, I turned to the room. I'd put it off in the chaos, but time to search now that I was stuck.
What do you do if you forget your PC password?
Most folks: "Search it on my phone, duh."
Yeah. That's modern life.
We live way too dependent on the net.
Not saying it's bad. Just that it's been that way forever.
If my phone worked, I'd have cracked the PC already. Knew the method.
So why the hell not?
I... vaguely remembered some command prompt trick. Press this button, type that, and boom, unlocked.
Forgot the exact commands.
I'm not exceptionally dumb.
It's just modern life!!
We solve everything with searches now, treating the internet like an external drive.
Perfectly natural to offload details there.
So yeah. Remember the gist, skip the fine print.
I rolled back in the chair. Sat down and knew instantly: this was pricey. The ergonomic curve cradled my back perfectly.
Spun it around, scanning the room. Unfamiliar space. But mine now.
Maybe 'cause I'd tidied up? Lacked that lived-in feel. More like a pre-checkout vacation rental than a home.
But poking around should turn up something.
Cabinet for fashion sense, fridge for tastes.
Not that it ties to the password... but fresh out of leads. Time to hunt.