Seoul has always been noisy—traffic, people, screens. Even in 2090, with drones buzzing overhead and neon signs clinging to every building like parasites, the city never lost its heartbeat. Until the sky cracked open.
It began five years ago.
Just that one morning, the clouds above Yeouido peeled apart like torn glass, revealing a churning void of violet and crimson light. And from it came them—the monsters. Entities straight out of Godfall Online, the virtual reality MMORPG that has ruled the world's attention for a decade.
It should have been impossible.
Yet when the first Colossus dropped from the sky, shrugging off tank shells like pebbles and crushing a city block beneath its limbs, reality shattered. Not just physically. Existentially. Nothing made sense anymore.
And then came the awakenings.
All cross the world, certain individuals—players, former streamers, guild members, even people who had never touched a headset—suddenly gained strange powers. They became Wielders, their stats and class systems manifesting like glitches bleeding into real life.
But not Ji-Hoon
Five years later, Ji-Hoon Kwon walked past a burned-out subway entrance, his hood up, hands jammed in his pockets. Ash still hung in the air. Lightning still rippled through the scars in the sky. The Gate above Seoul flickered like a wound that refused to close.
He coughed once, harsh and dry.
"Still useless" he muttered, staring at his reflection in a cracked window.
Player Status:
Name: Ji-Hoon Kwon
Class: ???
Rank: E
Skill: False Echo
Description: Produces a harmless illusion for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.
That was it. That was all he had. A weak mirage skill that couldn't damage, couldn't deceive monsters, and couldn't save anyone. Even five years into the apocalypse, he was the same nothing he'd always been.
People called it a curse. Others said the system was broken. One guild recruiter told him to just give up. "Stay in the shelters, be a cook or something," he'd laughed.
But Ji-Hoon didn't give up.
He remembered what it felt like the day monsters came. When his older sister—a top-tier player in the HwarangGuild—died fighting a Reaper-class beast, trying to protect him. She could've run. She didn't. And all he'd done was cry behind a wall and watch.
Never again.
He swore on that day that he'd find a way to matter.
Even if the system hated him.
Even if his skill was trash.
Even if he had to fight gods with a stick.
A sudden alert flashed in the corner of his vision.
⚠️ URGENT NOTICE: GATE BREACH – ZONE 12 – CLASS CNearest Wielders: 4Estimated Time to Collapse: 00:13:44
[Accept Dispatch?] [Y/N]
Ji-Hoon hesitated. Zone 12 was barely ten blocks away.
His thumb hovered over the "Y".
And he pressed it.
He arrived at the breach point panting, lungs burning from the sprint. Three Wielders were already there—an axe fighter in crimson armor, a lightning mage, and a spearman. All of them easily B-rank or higher. They glanced at him, saw the dull-blue E-rank tag above his head, and said nothing.
The rift in the air pulsed with corrupt magic. Shadows seeped out of it like oil dripping into fire.
A creature stepped through.
It was at least eight feet tall, sinewy, horned, eyes glowing like molten coals. Ji-Hoon recognized it instantly.
Dreadwolf — Level 42 — Class C
He'd died to it in the game. Dozens of times.
"Hey, Echo-boy," the axe fighter growled. "Hide behind something and let the real players handle this."
Ji-Hoon didn't respond.
He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a faint, digital mark glowing on his forearm—the Player Sigil. It flickered once as if uncertain... and then stabilized. No stat boost. No weapon manifest. Just the empty confirmation that yes, he was still a Player.
Still weak
Still nothing.
But then, something changed.
As the Dreadwolf lunged, time slowed—no, skipped. Ji-Hoon felt a jolt run through his spine, and the world stuttered like a glitching frame. The monster's claws passed through an afterimage. His afterimage.
[False Echo Activated]
Cooldown Reset: 0:00
That wasn't normal. His skill should've been on a one-hour cooldown.
The monster roared and turned, confused. So did the others.
And then a message appeared.
✦ System Override Detected✦ Hidden Class Awakening: Recode✦ Welcome, Architect of Collapse.
He blinked.
"What... the hell is Recode?"