Jin-woo sat in his dimly lit apartment, his eyes fixed on the flickering screen before him. Ever since his encounter with Seojin, the elusive hacker, his life had spiraled into chaos. The mundane reality he had once known was now riddled with doubt and paranoia. Everywhere he looked, every headline he read seemed connected to the cryptic message she had left him.

"Your life is a simulation. Nothing is real."

Those words had shattered the fragile world Jin-woo had believed in. Could it be true? He clenched his fists, his mind racing. How could everything around him, his very existence, be a lie? He touched his arm, pinched his skin. The pain was real—wasn’t it?

As if on cue, his phone buzzed on the table, pulling him from his troubled thoughts. It was a message from an unknown number.

"Meet me at the abandoned station at midnight. Don’t be late."

It had to be Seojin. Jin-woo’s gut twisted with uncertainty, but curiosity and the desperate need for answers overruled his fear. Was this a setup? Or his only chance to uncover the truth?

The abandoned station was a relic of a forgotten era, covered in graffiti and overgrown with weeds. As Jin-woo entered, a cold breeze swept through the desolate platform, adding to the eerie atmosphere. His footsteps echoed in the silence, and his heart raced as he approached the far end of the station where a dim light flickered.

There she was—Seojin, leaning against a rusted metal pillar, her face partially hidden by shadows. She looked up as he approached, her expression unreadable.

"You came," she said simply, her voice calm and detached. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed something towards him. It landed in his hands—two pills. One blue, one red.

"I’m done with games," Jin-woo snapped, his voice tense with frustration. "I want answers. Now."

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Seojin’s lips curled into a smirk. "I am giving you answers. But it’s your choice. Take the blue pill, and you go back to your life. Forget everything we talked about. Live in blissful ignorance. Take the red pill, and I show you how deep this rabbit hole really goes."

Jin-woo’s pulse quickened. His mind flashed with images of his old life—his friends, his job, his routine. Could he really give all of that up for the unknown? But deep down, he knew he had already crossed a line. There was no going back.

Without a word, Jin-woo grabbed the red pill and swallowed it.

At first, nothing happened. But then, the world around him began to warp and ripple. The ground seemed to melt away beneath his feet, and he felt like he was falling—falling into an endless void. His heart raced, his vision blurred, and he could feel reality slipping away.

When the sensation of freefall ended, Jin-woo opened his eyes to find himself standing in an entirely different world. Towering metallic skyscrapers filled the skyline, and the sky was a dull, lifeless gray. Rows of human bodies hung lifeless in the windows, connected to grotesque machines.

"This... this is the real world?" Jin-woo’s voice trembled as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. It felt like a nightmare brought to life. But it was no dream. It was real.

Seojin’s voice echoed in his ear, though she was nowhere to be seen. "Welcome to the abyss, Jin-woo. This is the world you’ve been kept from seeing."

Jin-woo staggered, his mind reeling from the horror in front of him. "Why?" he whispered, struggling to form coherent thoughts. "Why would anyone do this?"

"The system needs power to survive," Seojin replied. "And humans... we’re the batteries."

A wave of anger surged through Jin-woo’s body. It couldn’t be true. He wanted to believe this was all some elaborate trick, a hallucination. But deep inside, he knew it was real. Everything that had seemed out of place in his life—the glitches, the inexplicable feelings of déjà vu—suddenly made sense.

His fists clenched. "What do I do now?"

"You fight," Seojin’s voice responded, closer now. "You resist the system. And you help others escape."

Determination flared inside Jin-woo. His life, the world he had known, had been a lie. But now, with the truth before him, he had a choice. And he wasn’t going to back down.

Seojin appeared beside him, her hand resting on his shoulder. "We’re going to bring this system down. Together."

Jin-woo nodded, the fire in his chest growing stronger. His ordinary life was over. A new chapter had begun—one of rebellion, danger, and the fight for freedom. There was no turning back now.

The abyss had swallowed him whole, but Jin-woo was ready to rise from its depths.