The rapid clicking of keys echoed through the office, where employees were deeply engrossed in their tasks.
Each person focused intently on their screens, their work punctuated by sips from coffee mugs, tea cups, or energy drinks meant to keep them alert.
Amid the sea of workers, one stood out: a 29-year-old man with square black-framed glasses, amber eyes, and tousled hair.
He wasn’t remarkable for his appearance but for the five energy drinks scattered across his desk.
Dark circles under his eyes, a vacant stare, and his disheveled appearance revealed the toll of extended hours and relentless work.
image [https://i.imgur.com/fHbXINP.jpeg]
"A little more, and I’ll finish these reports... what a load of crap, a month’s work in just two days," he thought to himself.
At that moment, a woman with blonde hair, black eyes, and a formal red-wine-colored dress appeared next to him, observing his screen unnoticed.
"How nice. The reports look almost ready for this afternoon's meeting. Well done, Mr. Kim," she interrupted. The man looked at her with a forced smile, clearly displeased with the encounter.
"Thank you... Manager Lee," he replied curtly.
"Since I'm noticing your good work, could you stay late today to cover some overtime? The new project is just around the corner, and I want the best on the job!" Manager Lee exclaimed, fixing her hair and offering a practiced smile after her compliment.
"I'm sorry, but I have an important dinner with my girlfriend's parents tonight, so I need to leave on time."
Ji-Won Kim wanted to add that his pay was meager and that he hadn't received a promotion in years, but he kept these thoughts to himself, offering only an apologetic look.
"Fine, I'll give the opportunity to someone else," Manager Lee replied, then walked away with a hint of arrogance.
"Opportunity, of course..." he thought with a touch of sarcasm before returning to his work.
After finishing the report, Ji-Won Kim leaned back in his seat. He was tired but relieved to have completed it on time. Now, all he needed to do was get ready for dinner.
Or so he thought until a message popped up on his screen.
It was a job offer from a video game company called "Nientiendo." The offer included a good salary, excellent benefits, and best of all, the chance to finally give his life some meaning.
Unable to resist, Ji-Won Kim quickly sent his résumé and all the necessary paperwork, which caused him to leave late for his dinner.
As he navigated the chaotic bustle of downtown Seoul, his girlfriend’s calls grew increasingly impatient.
He wanted to ignore the call, but he knew she would keep calling until he answered.
"Where the hell are you? My parents have been waiting for you for over ten minutes! Do you want them to think you’ve forgotten me?!"
She shouted, shooing away gossiping passersby on the street where Ji-Won Kim was walking.
"Dear, I won’t be long. Stall them in the meantime; I have great news!" he said before his partner hung up the phone without hearing him out.
Time passed, and, having forgotten the concept of personal space on the subway, he finally arrived at the restaurant. It was a beautiful place with European architectural details, specializing in Italian cuisine, not pizzas, but exotic dishes for those who liked to impress.
It didn’t take long for Ji-Won Kim to spot the table where his girlfriend and her parents were seated. He smiled at them from a distance and explained to the receptionist that he would be joining them.
"Hello, Father and Mother. Sorry, I'm late, work has been tough these days."
He bowed his head politely as he approached the table.
His in-laws, both impeccably dressed in dark green suits, looked smug with a touch of feigned cordiality.
"Love," Ji-Won Kim said, leaning in to kiss his partner as he sat down next to her. He was met with a cold response, and she remained visibly upset.
"Anyway, I was telling my parents about our engagement. I mentioned that you’d take me on a tour of France, and they loved the idea. My mother also suggested a nice jewelry store. I told them I wanted a diamond ring, or else I said I wouldn’t get married, haha."
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Ji-Won Kim nodded and smiled mechanically, his enthusiasm waning as he ate with little interest.
As his partner’s father rambled on about business deals and his mother-in-law described elaborate wedding plans with grand gestures, Ji-Won’s thoughts drifted. He imagined the moment he’d share the news of the job offer with his partner, envisioning her excitement and the joy it would bring her family. But as the evening dragged on, he remained silent, letting his partner dominate the conversation about their engagement.
The discussions about the grand ceremony, the sparkling ring, the luxurious dress, and the extravagant honeymoon seemed increasingly distant. His partner never paused to ask about his own day.
“Shit… what am I doing here?” Ji-Won Kim thought, sighing heavily. He wiped his lips with the cloth napkin and tried to calm himself.
Maybe his situation wasn’t so bad; perhaps it was normal for couples. Even his own parents had their disagreements.
"Is this my destiny?" he wondered.
Then, something extraordinary happened. A completely naked man burst through the restaurant door, leaped over a table, and flung open his long coat, exposing himself with a wild, lunatic expression.
"Fly free, brothers! Dare to leave behind the rules of every day! Embrace change and break your chains! Long live anarchy! Long live dreams! Let’s leave the boring life behind and be free! Orgyyyyyyy!"
Within seconds, three security guards tackled the naked man, quickly silencing his protests and subduing him.
"Wow, how crazy... Where was I? Ah yes, we need to go into debt for an apartment since we’re getting married. Kim, we can’t let this opportunity slip by!"
His girlfriend’s voice faded into the background as Ji-Won Kim, still shocked by the interruption, felt a pang of jealousy. The man’s audacious defiance of the law and his declaration of freedom resonated deeply with him.
To many, it might have seemed like just another person cracking under the stress of city life. But to Ji-Won Kim, it was a profound revelation—a clear sign to take control of his life and demand his freedom.
"Honey, in-laws... I’m not going to get married, and I’m quitting my job. I’m going to devote my life to something that truly matters."
Ji-Won Kim smiled broadly and stood up, his declaration leaving everyone at the table visibly shocked.
"Wait, what are you saying?" asked the woman who had been his fiancée only moments before.
"I'm saying I don’t want to marry you. This is over."
With that, Ji-Won Kim grabbed his suit coat and prepared to leave the restaurant.
Outside, he encountered the exhibitionist being handcuffed. As the police officers were about to put him in the patrol car, the man turned to Ji-Won.
"Thank you very much!"
Ji-Won Kim bowed, surprising both the officers and the exhibitionist. They couldn’t understand why this well-dressed man was thanking someone who had caused such chaos.
Without another word, Ji-Won Kim walked to the end of the street and received a notification on his cell phone. He had been accepted for his new job.
The joy that overwhelmed him made him smile with satisfaction. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He believed that his life was about to change and that at the end of the street awaited a new life, free from the cold, gray monotony of his past.
"Yes, from today… my life has finally changed!"
Ji-Won Kim’s triumphant words were cut short when a reckless driver ran a stop sign without slowing down. On March 23, 2024, in Seoul, Korea, Ji-Won Kim was struck and died instantly.
----------------------------------------
An immense darkness enveloped the formless void of the unknown expanse. Up was down, down was up, sound was absent, and only thoughts disrupted the fragmented silence of his mind.
His childhood, adolescence, and university years played out like a film directed by someone else, slipping by unnoticed. Life had simply passed him, giving way to an infinite emptiness.
He couldn't even feel fear, unease, or calm, just a consuming nothingness that gradually overwhelmed everything. It might have been merging him with something else, or perhaps it was bringing an end to whatever that situation was.
“0100000100100000011100000110000101110010 01110100 01101001 01110010 00100000 011001000110010100100000 01101000 01101111 01111001 00101100 00100000 01110100 01110101001000000110111001101111011011010110001001110010011001010010000001100101 011100110010000001001110011011110111011001100001”
Various sounds, reminiscent of beeps, seemed to communicate with him, and what had been nothing suddenly became everything.
----------------------------------------
The quiet blanket of night shrouded a lonely alley nestled between towering buildings.
In the middle of the alley, two stray cats were locked in a fierce struggle over the treasures scattered around a large dumpster.
Their intense battle suddenly ceased as the air seemed to shift direction.
Both cats stared into the void, their blue and green eyes sensing danger. They immediately left the place in a hurry.
At that moment, an electromagnetic current materialized out of nowhere, causing metal objects to shift slightly. The emergency stairs and dumpster wobbled as the force grew stronger.
Suddenly, a blinding flash appeared, and amid it, a naked young man fell to the ground, surrounded by a faint static charge.
The man, about 20 years old, with white hair and an athletic build, landed on the ground. As the static electricity dissipated, silence returned to the surroundings.
"Ah... what?"
The newcomer struggled to open his amber eyes, then sat up and glanced around in confusion.
"Where am I... what was I doing?"
He tried to recall, placing his hand on his forehead.
If his memory served him right, just minutes ago, he had left the restaurant where his ex and her parents were, heard the news about his new job, and suddenly, here he was.
"Did I faint? Wait..." He stopped mid-thought as he felt a draft, realizing he was completely naked.
"Did they rob me? Oh no, maybe worse!"
Fearing the worst, he quickly checked his body for any wounds or pain.
Instead of injuries, he noticed his muscles had noticeably developed.
"What?" he exclaimed, touching his biceps, chest, and legs. His physique wasn’t exaggerated, but where there had once been softness, there was now muscle.
"Ah? Was my body always like this?"
He continued his self-examination, speculating that the muscle growth might be a stress response, though he doubted its medical validity.
During his examination, he noticed something unusual. On his right arm was a transparent sticker with the initials N.O.V.A.
"Nova?"
He didn’t understand what it meant, but at least he was relieved that the thieves had only taken his belongings, not something more critical like a kidney.
Ji-Won Kim was baffled by his situation, his location, the reason for his nudity, and the unfamiliar surroundings. But one thing was clear.
"I can’t be naked." He said, glancing at the dumpster and deciding to search for something to cover himself.
"Mommy, mommy, a man appeared out of nowhere and he's naked in the street. Look, look, look," came a toddler’s voice from an apartment window overlooking the alley.
At that moment, Ji-Won Kim’s gaze shifted upwards, and he saw a woman watching him from a window, her face displaying complete shock.
He met her gaze with a similar look, and for a moment, they both seemed to sense what was about to happen.
“Perveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeert! Timothy, stop looking out the window! I’ll call the police! You lunatic!” the woman yelled before slamming her blinds shut.
"No, it’s not...ma’am...shit, I’d better go."
Forgoing any attempt at dialogue, he began rummaging through the dumpster for something to cover himself. Luckily, he found a pair of old pants and a black hoodie, though they smelled foul.
"Ugh... gross. I hope I don’t get a skin infection," he muttered as he put on the clothes and looked for a way out of the alley.
His plan was simple: he would take a taxi to his parents' house. Surely the muggers had left him in a secluded part of the city, but since he had lived in Seoul all his life, it was unlikely that he wouldn’t recognize the area.
However, when Ji-Won Kim emerged from the alley, his expression was one of bewilderment. What lay before him was definitely not Seoul, or even Korea.
Endless illuminated advertisements on towering buildings resembled the busy streets of Shibuya, but this was unlike anything he had seen on television or in photographs. The skyscrapers soared into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.
To make matters stranger, the advertisements on the floating screens featured brands and people he didn’t recognize. He was particularly stunned by one commercial playing on the largest screen.
In the commercial, a striking man with red eyes and blond hair faced off against another man dressed as a monster, with crystals protruding from his body. Amidst exaggerated choreography and explosions, the handsome man defeated the costumed opponent and smiled at the camera.
“The only force an agent needs to take down the B-Synchro’s are Platinum Balls, the only breakfast that will wake up your synchro!”
The commercial announcer proclaimed, holding up a bowl of the cereal.
“Where the...hell...am I?”
Ji-Won Kim wondered, stunned by what he was seeing. And this was just the beginning of his story.