Chapter 3: Terraforming

"Okay!"

The angel, who had vanished briefly and returned, spoke to me as if she'd made up her mind.

"I'll give you compensation! But in return, any retaliatory actions over the body swap are forbidden!"

"...And what's the standard for judging 'retaliatory actions'?"

"Solely my subjective judgment!"

"Hmm, can I really trust that?"

"Even if I look like this, I'm a certified angel who passed the qualification exam! I swear on my position that I'll judge as fairly as possible!"

The line for revenge was ambiguous... Not a big deal for me, brimming with vengeful intent. The angel's subjective criteria were likely to be extremely strict.

"Got it. But what if Baek Hamin turns hostile toward me? Can't I retaliate against that?"

"That much is allowed to a degree! Of course, if it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠goes too far, I'll step in and mediate between you two!"

So, the only way was to provoke a preemptive strike. No detailed plan yet, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it seemed easy enough to pull off. A simple provocation... Something so ambiguous that others wouldn't even see it as provocation, but he'd interpret it with massive significance—that was his style.

Revenge might come sooner than expected.

"Alright. So, what's this compensation?"

The status window popped up abruptly. I immediately spotted the difference from before.

Natural Healing had been added to my traits.

"This a good thing?"

"It's amazingly good. No, most traits are incredible. They're super, super, super hard to obtain, and their effects are top-tier."

"Aren't traits something you buy with karma in the shop?"

"Skills can be purchased, but traits can't. You might acquire them through unique post-natal experiences... but they're not easy to get."

The angel emphasized the rarity of traits again. Of course, I knew rarity didn't always mean usefulness, so I filtered out her hype.

"Ooh... must be rare and good, then. So, what's the effect? Natural Healing sounds like... even if your arm gets cut off, it regenerates?"

I asked with high expectations. What I imagined was Pikolo from Dragon Ball. The ultimate enviable regeneration ability.

"It's a bit different. It won't regenerate your body as fast as you're imagining..."

"Of course, wounds will heal noticeably faster than a normal person's... but the real advantage of this trait is its universal regeneration for stamina, vitality, mental strength, mana—without discrimination."

"Especially since skills that regenerate mental strength are practically nonexistent, it's an incredibly valuable trait!"

No standout advantages, but guaranteed utility in any situation...?

"You hyped it up as so great, but it doesn't sound that impressive."

"That's because you haven't experienced it yet, Park Chanyoung. One effect you'll feel right away: you won't get muscle soreness from tearing and recovering muscles anymore! It blocks mental fatigue, helplessness, stress too."

That did sound pretty good. Exercise was essential to shed this body's flab everywhere, and no muscle pain? Exactly what I needed now.

"Nice. What other kinds of traits are there?"

"For example, Ludwig van Beethoven had the Malignancy trait, Isaac Newton had Intuition. Of course, having a trait doesn't guarantee success. Some live ordinary lives unrelated to their traits or talents—like Adolf Hitler, who had Oratory but fell into ruin."

...Hearing that really drove home how special and rare traits were. The examples were world-famous figures everyone knew.

"Those are exceptionally powerful traits... but unlike Natural Healing, they lack universality."

"Getting two or more must be really tough... Wait, are there even people with two or more?"

"Albert Einstein, Jesus Christ, Shakyamuni, Confucius, Genghis Khan, and so on. They each had 5-6 traits. Even if Natural Healing doesn't excel in one area, you get how massive a privilege just having a trait is, right?"

"..."

My complaints vanished as she named figures beyond greats—some revered as gods incarnate. I nodded, accepting the deal with the angel.

"Then, I'm really sending you in? No more questions?"

...Something felt off. Like I'd forgotten something important. It teased at the edge of my mind.

There was definitely something I needed to ask...

"Ah! Wait a sec!"

"Yes? What's more?"

The angel, about to vanish, turned back with a fearful expression. Her face screamed, 'What more are you demanding...'

No, more than that, I couldn't hold back a sigh at my own stupidity.

I hadn't asked the most important thing!

"Hold on—if I die inside the novel, what happens? I don't actually die for real, right?"

"Ahh! I forgot to tell you! Sorry. Of course, dying in the novel has zero impact on reality!"

"Then what happens to the novel I entered if I die? Does it reset from the start? Or is that novel unretriable?"

"No penalties at all!"

What? No penalty even on failure? Unexpected.

...Thinking about it, the system itself was compensation for my wish—penalties would be weirder.

"If anything, maybe the mental shock from dying? Ah! But with your trait, Park Chanyoung, you'll barely feel any mental damage."

"...Wouldn't a normal person go insane after dying multiple times?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"People don't break that easily. Unless tortured to death... But we've prepared countermeasures for torture in the system, so no worries!"

"So, 'no penalty' exactly means...?"

"If you die, you can return to any point in your playthrough! Even 5 seconds before death, or from the very start as you said! Just note—you can't rewind forward in time, so be careful!"

No death penalty, for sure. If anything, risking suicide let you rewind time at will—an absurd ability, dozens or hundreds of times better than the trait from the deal...

I nearly glossed over this crucial info. That would've been disastrous.

"Novels are unlimited and indefinite challenges. So... please don't abandon a novel midway after starting."

"Abandon?"

"Yes. Leaving a world unattended because you can't see it to completion. If we judge you've abandoned a world, there's a very, very, very severe penalty. So be careful."

"..."

The angel tried her scariest face, but her cute features made it harmless. Still, I couldn't brush off her words.

A 'penalty' from gods and angels wouldn't be light.

"As you know, novel worlds don't originally exist. We created them. So please don't abandon them."

"...If you created them, isn't abandoning fine? You can remake them anytime."

The angel shook her head sadly.

"By that logic, the world you're in now was made by us long ago. To us, they're no different from this world. Just a matter of scale."

"So they're actually living people like me?"

"Exactly."

Ha, damn it. I had no intention of abandoning anyway. I planned to fix this appearance somehow.

What worried me was different.

'Killing people in novels counts as murder... that's what she means.'

The fantasy novels I'd read were far from peaceful. I expected to dirty my hands eventually. I'd justified it as fictional characters, no guilt needed... but now that was blocked.

...Fine. Whatever. I won't initiate murder, but I can't spare those who try to kill me.

The angel watched me with a wry smile, as if reading my thoughts.

"...No issue if I commit crimes in the novel? You angels made this system."

"Heaven can't force human will except in very, very, very special cases. No intervention, punishment, or rewards possible. Still, please minimize such actions if you can."

"Can't promise, but I'll try."

I glossed over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it. Depending on the novel's situation, I'd probably commit crimes.

"Finally... separate from quests, completing a novel gives extra rewards, scaled by death count during it. Just so you know."

Having cleared all my doubts, the angel gave a few more system explanations and finally vanished.

*

"Phew..."

I stepped out of the bathroom, towel-drying my hair. After the angel left, I'd gone out and bought essentials: shampoo, body wash, conditioner, treatment, hair dryer, comb, shaving cream, etc. And I'd just thoroughly washed this stinky body.

"Surprising, though."

Scrubbling every nook and cranny made it obvious.

The size of my junk down there.

Wasn't it common knowledge that short, morbidly obese guys had tiny ones buried in fat? Not wrong. Studies even show weight loss affects size.

Contrary to my worries, this body's equipment seemed average-sized. Even buried in this blubber.

"Of course, that bastard probably never used it. Status window!"

I called up the system right away. To check enterable novels, naturally.

As the angel explained, stuff I owned in reality couldn't come in. Shop-unlocked functions might change that later... but for now, material prep was useless.

I needed background on the novel I'd enter.

Only one novel in the entry screen.

This novel... I'd definitely read it. It had ranked in the bestsellers top once.

Background: fantasy. Atmosphere inside...

"Damn, this starts off brutal..."

Gloomy. The novel's vibe was gloomy, my mood was gloomy.

Even if familiar, details were fuzzy. Luckily, the web novel was still online.

I focused, cramming the content into my head.

...Two hours later.

Finally confident I'd grasped everything serialized.

"Phew... Alright. No chickening out—let's go!"

Time in reality doesn't flow while I'm in the novel. Entering now had zero risk.

I touched Terraforming without hesitation.

The world slowed to a halt, my consciousness sucked somewhere. Then, suddenly, a panicked voice from behind.

"Park Chanyoung! Come to think of it, I forgot to tell you... Agh! Too late! We're screwed!"

What?... *

"Agh!"

"What the hell! Where am I?!"

Murmurs everywhere.

A wide clearing surrounded by trees. Nearly 100 people gathered, chattering. I was in the middle.

Actually, exactly 100. Looking down, I wore completely different clothes from moments ago.

That's when it hit: I was inside the novel Terraforming.

"Damn, what didn't you say! You made me so anxious..."

"Sorry... Ugh... It's too late now, so I'll tell you quick and go write my self-criticism report..."

"Agh! You scared me!"

The voice right by my ear startled me. Turning, the familiar-faced angel was there.

"Ah! I only appear to you, Park Chanyoung. Don't worry."

"More than that, why do you forget so much? Got memory issues?"

"So... sorry..."

Haa... A sigh escaped. I just hoped whatever she forgot wasn't serious.

"So. What'd you need to tell me?"

"Well... I said before you could freely enter/exit novels, right? But..."

"But?"

"Ahem... On second thought, for the first novel, you can't return to reality until you progress quests to a certain point..."

"What?... How do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you forget something that important!"

Shit. Way more serious than expected. That meant if I kept failing quests, I could be trapped here forever?

"Don't worry! Early quests are super easy, and you'll unlock 'Return to Reality' soon!"

Some relief. I'd panicked thinking years stuck here.

"Why even have such a pointless restriction? Annoying. Reason for locking a key function?"

"If Return to Reality wasn't locked, with (former) Park Chanyoung's personality, you'd quit at the first hardship..."

...Couldn't deny it. Too convincing.

"...Can't you unlock it yourself? I'm not Park Chanyoung; it won't happen."

"I can't! No one can! So unavoidable... Even if I'd told you before entering, it wouldn't change. Just mindset difference. You have no choice but to clear quests diligently..."

"You made it—why can't you? ...At this point, maybe you're just incompetent...?"

"Can't, and I can't say why! Telling would mean more than a self-criticism report! Just accept it... Please..."

She pleaded with teary eyes; no point pushing.

I stopped prying but squeezed compensation.

"Then... compensation for your screw-up and my loss?"

"Ugh... Knew you'd ask... Devil..."

"Not unfair, right?"

"True... This is purely my carelessness, and upper management won't compensate like with Natural Healing..."

"So?"

"Just... owe you one."

The angel's debt... Not bad. Felt very useful. Especially for revenge on that bastard.

I nodded vigorously, accepting. I waved goodbye to the dejected angel heading off with a grin.

Then.

A thick voice boomed from ahead.

"Everyone! Focus on me!"

It pierced the 100 people's murmurs, embedding in every ear. My short height hid the source amid the crowd, but it was close.

It was starting. My hellish ordeal...