Prologue
A tremendous power came to me one day.
A small one pyeong goshiwon. (= A Korean unit of measurement. = small accommodation. Generally a cheap place for long term students to prepare for exams.)
A strange and broken body was found under the bed of my goshiwon.
It changed my life.
* * *
Chapter 1: Meeting the Corpse Under the Bed
That day, I came back from my part time job and lay down on the small bed in my goshiwon.
How long was I asleep?
Hwiiiing –
A cold wind blew out of nowhere.
It wasn’t coming from my window, but underneath my bed.
“Why is cold wind coming from the bottom?”
Surely someone didn’t drill a hole into the floor of my room. I had a strange feeling and looked below the mattress.
“Heok!”
A close up view of a dead body!
I must have seen wrong.
“Why are you so surprised? Is this your first time seeing a corpse?”
The sunken eyes in the corpse flashed.
Unbelievable! A corpse was talking?
This was a dream! I thought it was a nightmare.
“Listen carefully. I don’t know why, but the distant ‘Hwanmong’ dimension has chosen to grant you a power.” (Hwanmong=empty dreams)
“Rather, who are you…?”
A corpse? Or a ghost?
However, the corpse ignored me and continued talking.
“Of course, you can refuse this power. Then the power of Hwanmong will leave and go to someone else. Do you refuse?”
At that moment, I fell into confusion.
A terrible corpse was saying this, so how could I accept such a bizarre situation? In addition, the corpse didn’t even tell me what the power of Hwanmong was.
“Answer. If you don’t reply then I will assume you have rejected it.”
The corpse started to fade like it was disappearing.
In fact, I wanted it to disappear but I also wanted to hear more.
I was curious about the power of Hwanmong.
“What is the power of Hwanmong?”
The corpse gave a slight grin and appeared again.
“It is the purification of black magic.”
“B-black magic?”
Black magic was something commonly seen in fantasy novels. A devil’s magic or a dark magic gained through a contract with demons!
That was black magic. Those who used black magic would inevitably disappear to become the prey of the devil.
I didn’t want such an unhappy fate.
‘I will never choose it!’
Even if this was a dream, there was no way I could accept the corpse’s offer. But the corpse seemed to read my thoughts and gave a bizarre smile.
“Keuk! You seem to be misunderstanding something. The power of Hwanmong is not what you are thinking. It is an independent power that has nothing to do with the devil. You can simply choose it.”
“Choose?”
“That’s right. Of course, there will be a price for that choice.”
“A price?”
“I will tell you what it is.”
The eyes of the corpse flashed and a strange dice appeared in the air.
A pentagonal dodecahedron dice with information on each side! Each pentagon was filled with unknown patterns.
“Throw it. Throw the dice and you will find the power.”
Such a thing?
I threw the dice on the floor.
Tok! Toruruk…!
The dice stopped rolling.
But the dice blurred and a large coin appeared instead.
What was this coin?
I looked at the coin and saw the word ‘Management’ written on the front.
The corpse twisted its body and laughed.
“Management! You must be pretty desperate for money. Although it is understandable considering this cramped room.”
“What does this mean?”
“It is literal. Right now, what you need most is money. An enormous amount of money! In other words, your heart is filled with desire to make a lot of money.”
“……!”
I couldn’t deny the corpse’s words.
It was obvious.
Honestly, was there anyone who disliked money? Especially someone like me who was stuck on the bottom in life.
“In other words, this power isn’t given by chance. You have to eagerly desire to achieve it. You can become rich through this power.”
Become rich! Just hearing those words made me feel better.
“Now only your choice is left. If you refuse then your memories will be erased and the power of Hwanmong won’t come to find you again.”
Gulp!
I was struggling.
This situation was obviously a dream. I would be naive to accept it as reality.
Still, the power to earn an enormous amount of money!
I was strangely attracted. Who wouldn’t want to have a lot of money in this world? I couldn’t carelessly refuse even if it was the temptation of the devil.
I looked at the corpse and suddenly asked.
“If I select it, the price… I would like to know what it is.”
The corpse gave a strange smile and said.
“In return, you must complete 100 missions that will be given in the future.”
“100 missions?”
“Yes. You will be free if you fulfill all of them. Of course, the power you are given won’t disappear after that.”
“Can I ask about the type of missions?”
“I don’t know. Because the final purpose for the missions is different for each person.”
“The final purpose?”
“That is probably the reason why the power of Hwanmong chose you.”
“There was a reason?”
“Of course. Perform the missions if you want to know it. Everything will be revealed in the missions.”
The corpse’s answer rang through my mind. Everything would be revealed through the missions!
“Now, your decision. Will you embrace a new destiny? Or do you refuse?”
The decision was already made. Even if this was reality instead of a dream, my choice would still be the same.
“Embrace my new destiny.”
“Good decision.”
At that moment, the word ‘War’ appeared on the empty side of the coin.
Eerie red letters!
The corpse gave a strange smile.
“Kukukuk! Don’t be surprised. Management is war! In the end, everything is war. You just have to win, but everything will be lost if you are defeated. In particular, defeat in the world of Hwanmong means certain death.”
The coin I was clutching in my hands disappeared.
The corpse continued.
“Management, war! Unconditional victory! If you don’t want to become a corpse like me, beholden to the power of Hwanmong, then listen to my words today and don’t ever forget…”
He said and gradually dispersed.
He turned into a powder so fine that no traces were left behind.
Then he was gone.
At the same time, words appeared in front of my eyes.
Mission 1
-Gather black magic and open the door to Hwanmong.
-Compensation: Reconstruction of the flesh
It was none other than the first mission.
Of course, I thought this was still just a dream.