It’s almost time!

Thought the youth, lying on his bed and stretching his arms.

Unlike other players who go on and on about training and worrying for this day, I’m completely chill. Not to mention, I haven’t left my bed all day, though I think the others think it’s cuz I’ve lost hope or something.

You see, that’s where they’re wrong.

We all have to choose our worldview as kids, and the options can only be seen by the person themselves. Most of the kids at the time cared about choosing something cool-sounding but not me. From back then, I had read enough novels and manhwa to know that this situation was dangerous. I had to be careful.

Since, honestly, I would rather be cozy and lame than cool and miserable (and potentially dead, though no one admits it).

But before I dive into that, let me introduce myself.

I’m Moon Seo-Jun, aged 20, from Seoul, Korea. I’m 5’11” tall but unfortunately kinda on the thin side. Because I don’t see why I have to be separated from the one I’m closest to and love the most.

My dear friend, my bed, who has been with me through thick and thin for years, and would never betray me.

Well, enough about me. You must be confused about what the hell I’m talking about. Let me explain.

About 10 years ago, in the year 2020, “doors” opened all over the world, and from them, monsters in suits and a weird sense of style arrived.

Some of them were monsters we were somewhat familiar with, some unique to our cultures – like dragons, gumiho, dokkaebi – and some strange entities that we’ve never heard about before.

In alignment with our world, they called themselves NPCs.

They claimed they had come here to help us unlock our hidden potentials and evolve.

And evolution required being subjected to the optimum conditions for it, for which they opened the ‘Player’ feature.

After their speech, every person on the planet obtained their special stats window, which was mostly empty, given we were all ordinary people, with no one having stats over 10.

But there were two things worth mentioning at the time. One was that everyone received about 3-5 options, based on their dormant powers. These options were their own ‘worldviews’.

Another was ‘The Eligibility criteria’. Every player 20 years of age or older was to enter.

Every adult that age or older was suddenly forcibly summoned into their chosen worldview simultaneously.

For a period of time, the world only had kids in it. You can imagine the chaos. All sorts of groups headed by the older ones were formed. Let’s just say bullies were in charge with no authority or pretenses holding them back.

It was hell for my 10-year-old self.

Until the first evolved came back alive. He was an Army veteran and capable of enforcing order. But would that be enough to put a country run by delinquents in order? No.

The reason he was able to bring peace was that he had succeeded in unlocking his hidden powers. I’d say a pretty cliché one, though; super strength, to put it simply, he was able to ‘hulk out’.

Others started coming back too; gradually organizations formed, bringing a new world order of into being and after 2 years, the world went back to normal. Well, as normal as possible.

Information about worldviews and scenarios was made public, and the remaining kids started their training to survive. While many did manage to return, about 3.8 billion people, including my own hyung, had died or are at least was presumed dead since there’s really no way to know.

That’s because each person is sent to their own unique worldview. Two people have never been in a worldview together, so no one would know what happened in there unless you come back to tell the tale.

That’s why my parents are also particularly sensitive about this and keep telling me to prepare. But they don’t have to worry~ I know what I’m doing and have made the necessary preparations already, even though it might not look like it.

Let me tell you about my worldview, so that you could understand what I mean. I had five options:

- Anguish of Murim

- Ocean’s Despair

- The Forbidden Forest.

- Return to hell.

- Stories of Fairytales and Myths.

Now, from what you’ve gathered from my personality, I’m sure you can guess.

What worldview do you think I chose? Of course, the 5th one!

When the other’s are going to be fighting goblins and orcs, struggling to survive, I’ll be a knight in shining armor, saving singing princesses from their messed-up family and having animals gather food for me in a beautiful castles and forests.

After I’ve done enough, I’ll safely come back home with some awesome ability.

It’ll be perfect!

And I wasn’t joking when I said that I’ve prepared, y’know. I mean just looking at the name, you can tell what sort of training I’d need!

I know exactly how to deal with any crisis I may have to come across in that place and I’ll deal with it flawlessly.

I’ve thoroughly studied every fairytale I can find .<⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠>

I’ll show them! Just wait till I come back.

Seo-Jun was delusional. (Hey! I’m not! ರ⁠╭⁠╮⁠ರ)

He had convinced himself that he could get out of it easily, where billions of people had died. He was the type who’d come up with any excuse to just lay there and read. (Hey!)

He was willing to risk his life if it meant he could avoid hard work. He was the epitome of human waste. (Hey! You ignoring me? Is that it? Do I look like a pushover?! (⁠ノ⁠ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ⁠)⁠ノ)

No one could compare to him in this, that was for sure. Even his parents hadn’t seen him do anything they considered productive in the last five years. Basically, he was just trash.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

(Stop that you damn author,! (⁠ノ⁠｀⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻)

[Author: Shut up! Let me finish, you waste!┻⁠┻⁠︵⁠ヽ⁠(⁠`⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠︵⁠┻⁠┻

Yes, I’m sorry. Please continue dear author-nim~ (⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠)

Author: ^⁠_⁠^ ]

But what other’s didn’t know, that he truly believed that this really was the way to save his life. And from his perspective, It was indeed reasonable.

The situation the world was in was the same as the stuff he read as a kid; according to the plots, reading was indeed the way to go. Afterall, knowing is winning half the war.

(Author-nim~ thank you ～⁠(⁠つ⁠ˆ⁠Д⁠ˆ⁠)⁠つ⁠｡⁠☆)

Ahem ahem, anyways like the author-nim said, my plan really is reasonable. Fool-proof! Guaranteed! Sure to work!

So, the reason we’re here going over all this is because today’s my 20th birthday and as such, the day it all begins. It’s already the afternoon so it’ll be any time now.

My friends and family knew this as well, so they had already said their goodbyes.

But they don’t need to worry at all; I’m positive I’ll be back in no time!

He was still fantasizing about his future, when suddenly his stat window popped up and appeared right over him as he lay, staring at it with evident excitement.

System Notice : Congratulations! You have met the eligibility criteria for evolution. You will be forcibly sent to your chosen worldview at midnight.

Would you like to voluntarily enter the worldview now?

- Accept

- Reject

He stared at the message with a heated gaze, grinning widely looking as if he won the lottery, excitement and expectation welling up inside him. He thought aloud,

‘Finally… it’s finally time. All that preparation for this day. I can evolve!’ ＼⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠)⁠／

No one would’ve ever thought that one day there would actually be someone who would be excited to receive this message.

If they were to see him now, they’d think him a madman, gone crazy from the realization that he had been given a death sentence.

Little did they know that this was a man, drowned in delusional confidence leveling on arrogance of the belief that he’s right.

He would soon find out to what extent.

He sat up straight, beaming with confidence and said, ‘Accept’

‘Now I’ll be automatically transported there’, he thought.

But what happened was against his expectations.

Something which brought back memories no less than nightmares for all humans, which caused them to tremble and cower at the mere mention of, much less sight. A sight they dreaded to come upon.

A door had appeared and from it came an NPC.

It was a Dokkaebi, stepping gracefully into the messy room, littered with books.

It was dressed in a three-piece suit, exuding an air of elegance mixed with mischief. The black suit, which was the same uniform-like clothing as all the other’s, was impeccably tailored, the jacket snugly fitted over its lean frame. Underneath, a crisp white dress shirt adorned its torso, the collar perfectly pressed against its neck, with a neatly knotted black tie.

Yet, what truly caught the eye were the familiar yet threatening chains that adorned the Dokkaebi’s body. Diagonally winding around its form, the chains glimmered in the ambient light, their links polished to a shine. Some hung loosely from the Dokkaebi’s pants, swaying gently with each step.

Completing the ensemble was a gat, a traditional Korean hat, perched jauntily atop its head. The gat matched the suit in color, its rich black hue contrasting with the Dokkaebi’s vibrant green skin tone.

The Dokkaebi’s facial features were sharp and mischievous. Its eyes, a piercing amber, sparkled with curiosity as it peered down at the human on the bed.

A wide grin split its face, revealing a row of sharp teeth. The expression on its face was one of amusement and anticipation, as if it were contemplating its next prank or riddle to share with the unsuspecting and frightened mortal, trembling like a cute little mouse cornered by a predator.

Seo-Jin leaned back, having no place to escape as in front was the monster and behind was a wall.

He stuttered as he said,’W-why…why a-are you here?’

It stepped forward, opening his arms wide as if presenting something great and said with a wide grin on it’s face, ‘Ah, human, human! You look like you’ve seen a ghost with the way you’re shaking! Hehe…’

Pointing to itself with a shocked expression, it continued, ‘Surely its not because of me~ now, is it, cute human? Its grin widened, flashing its pointed teeth. Cocking its head to the side with an innocent look, its wide-open eyes contained an ominous glint, as if it could rip him to shreds, if he affirmed.

Quickly, he shook his head vigorously, like a rattle, and appeased, ‘O-ofcourse not. W-why would I be afraid of someone as g-great as you? I… I respect you so much after all. I’m j-just c-cold, yeah, t-that’s all it is.’

It looked at him, satisfied, then continued, Yeah, I thought that might be it! Afterall, I’m here to do you the great honor of escorting you down to your worldview myself! Oh, won’t it be so fun, going to hell, hand in hand, as I send you to your doom? What a story it’ll be to tell to the new recruits!

It exclaimed excitedly, while clapping its hands.

Seo-Jun’s face sunk. He quickly composed himself as he collected his expression and said, ‘W-why would someone as great and amazing as you, b-bother yourself to send this lowly one there when it could be done automatically?

He knew from his reading experience that if he allowed this deviating from the norm thing happen, he’s f***ked.

The playful expression on the dokkaebi’s face suddenly shifted to one of menace as it threateningly asked, ‘WHY, CAN’T I? He quickly shook his head, about to say something to appease it and try to stop it from whatever it wanted to do, when it continued with a smile.

‘Well~ even if I couldn’t, I have to because the higher-ups sent me to escort and congratulate you. I mean you are a SPECIAL CASE after all~’

(Why!!! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻)

Seo-Jun’s worst fears came true as the Dokkaebi’s words descended upon him like lightening. He simply decided to accept his fate knowing, that once those words were spoken, no matter how he would try to avoid it there’s no escape. He thought, I’d have to live the damned life of a protagonist now, its inevitable.

The world seems to be against my comfortable life, but oh well, if I’m like a protagonist, at least I’ll gain a golden finger, then everything would always work out at the last moment due to crazy good luck, and I’ll somehow survive. ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Seo-Jun was indeed a delusional idiot. (Hey!)

The Dokkaebi continued, ‘So, Congratulation! You’ve been selected to be Player 5 and get to be the final member of the team! Now, thanks to you, this story can finally kick off after making the others wait all those years!’

He was shocked at hearing those words and said, ‘W-wait, w-what do you mean 5?’

It said playfully, ‘Why, of course, that you’re the 5th one~ There were 4 before you, and there will be no one after you~’

He looked at it dumbfounded and asked, ‘But I mean, there usually isn’t a number given to the other’s so…?’

The dokkaebi clapped its hand and said in the same tone, ‘Ah right! I get it now! That’s according to this world, that everyone gets their own worldview. Right~ I see…No, that won’t happen with you. I mean I did tell you that you’re a special case after all, and I’m not here as an NPC, but what I suppose you’d call a collector. Oh, and you’ll be sharing a worldview with others and working as a team~’

‘Ah, I see it’s a multi-protag story. But what the hell’s a collector?’ He thought aloud, realizing that unfortunately he hadn’t read a lot of those types of stories.

The Dokkaebi looked at him confused and said, ‘Ah, right, that…whatever that means. And what a collector is, is someone who collects things, of course, silly human~ Anyway, we’re running out of time now, so we can’t continue this wonderful conversation no matter how fun it is.’ It grabbed him and said while dragging him to the door, ‘Come, strange human who says strange words, Let’s go and meet our friends~

He went in and contrary to his expectations, instead of arriving directly with the Dokkaebi, it let go of his hand halfway and disappeared, as he got stuck in a tree. As soon as he moved, he fell off and landed on a root. Thankfully, it wasn’t too high or it would’ve been more than simply hurting he thought.

He looked around, but instead of a beautiful bright forest with small birds chirping away melodiously, he found himself in dark and gloomy woods with the only birdsong being that of the ominous cawing of crows in the dark.

How is this a fairlytale?! This is more of a horror movie!

That’s when a haunting realization struck him, as he thought aloud on the verge of breaking down,

‘Wait…what if by fairytales it didn’t mean Disney, but Grimm?’

Before he could ponder on that distressing thought, he heard a sound as he looked back and saw four people sprawled flat on their backs, on the ground, about to wake up. There were 2 men and 2 women, with the only similarity being their superior looks. He thought, ‘Was this team made on the basis of looks?’

Since despite being somewhat scrawny, he too was someone who would be counted as being handsome, surprisingly enough. (You really are annoying, y’know!)

He looked at them stupefied as they awoke and sat up, also becoming aware of each others presence as they observed warily. Coincidentally, they all asked at the same time, ‘Who are you guys?’

Meanwhile, watching this scene from a holographic screen was a mysterious existence, sitting on what appeared to be a throne, its figure shrouded in mystery as it’s appearance was hidden in the darkness of the shadows. Kneeling before him were the collectors, bowing their heads to their King. It said in a deep voice, seeming worn from the years, yet containing the pressure befitting a leader, ‘Ah, so it finally begins.’

To be continued…

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Players: Yayyy! we finally meet.

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