Maybe it was because of the bright, clear weather, with sunlight pouring in so brilliantly that it was almost blinding. It felt like the kind of morning where you could really start a good day.
Then suddenly, I realized—it was a dream.
As always in this dream, I noticed it at exactly this moment. Today was no different.
Sigh.
As if to remind me that I couldn’t control anything in this dream, even my sigh came out shapeless and scattered into the air.
Now that I was aware it was a dream, I’d have to helplessly watch the scene I’d seen dozens, maybe hundreds of times play out again.
Then, in the same tone, the same voice I’d heard so many times it was practically etched into my ears, it said:
“Hyung… I don’t want to go to school. Can’t I just skip today?”
‘Ah, seriously. I wish I’d just wake up already.’
I already knew what the next line would be, and how I’d respond. This dream was always the same. No matter how hard I tried to change it, it never changed. It always played out exactly like it had in real life.
If anything, I just wished I’d wake up quickly.
And then suddenly—I heard Hayul’s voice.
“Hyung?”
“……”
“Are you… crying?”
“……”
Huh.
This is new.
I’m crying?
I raised my hand to wipe my eyes and found my knuckles damp.
“Ah…”
When I slowly opened my eyes, Hayul was looking down at me.
“Hayul?”
“Yeah. Did you sleep well?”
“…….”
How is Hayul here?
Did I… did I succeed?
No.
No, I met Hayul again.
That’s right.
“Hayul… Hayul-ah…”
“You’re not fully awake yet, huh?”
He grinned playfully as he answered, and the sight of his smiling, grown-up face—just like I’d always imagined—made my eyes sting.
Then, little by little, my memories cleared, and I recalled what happened yesterday. I slowly sat up, wiped away my tears, and gave an awkward smile.
“Ah… why am I crying? Must’ve had a sad dream. Slept too well, I guess. Where are Noona and Dojin?”
“They went out to get food.”
I gave a vague answer and brushed Hayul’s hair aside with my hand.
Pretending to tidy his hair, I kept gently stroking it over and over. Then, Hayul, quietly accepting my touch, rummaged in his bag and pulled something out, crumpled and small.
“Hyung, let’s eat this together. I gave some to Noona and Dojin earlier too.”
It was a cheese sausage. He peeled the red strip to open the packaging and split it in half, putting one half into my mouth.
“…It’s good.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. Ah, I’ve got a chocolate bar too. When did they leave?”
“A while ago. Noona can tell which mushrooms are edible, so she said we could eat some of the ones we found in the mountains.”
“Oh, that’s amazing.”
Does she have some kind of skill to identify edible mushrooms? I should ask her later.
It had been bright out for a while now, and when I checked the map, the two of them weren’t far.
Thankfully, there were no black dots nearby. Even though we didn’t clean up the monster’s corpse yesterday, there weren’t any nearby, so maybe they disappear from the map once they die?
I didn’t have the courage to go outside and confirm, so I just kept speculating—when Hayul came over and sat beside me.
“Hyung, I heard a bit. While I was sleeping yesterday, you fought a monster, right?”
“Ahem. I didn’t do it alone—it was with Dojin.”
“Wow… so do you level up and stuff like in a game?”
“Seems like it. Can you see the system window too, Hayul?”
“Yeah. But I don’t have any quests other than the same one Noona and Dojin have. Do I have to fight a monster too? I don’t think I can…”
“Let’s find out. Maybe you can level up through gathering or other quests.”
“Okay. Still, it’s really amazing. I can’t believe it’s possible to enter a world that’s like a game.”
“Right?”
It really is a string of unbelievable events.
I died, then woke up in a world where Hayul was much older than I remembered. Before I could even figure out where I was, I got sucked into another world.
Instead of saying anything, I just patted Hayul’s head again and took out the chocolate bar to share with him.
Then I taught him how to read the map and shared our destination for today. On the map, it was a cluster of little house-shaped icons a bit further away.
It looked like an isolated place—either scattered houses among farmland or maybe even a rest stop. We still didn’t know where we were, exactly.
‘The one thing I know for sure—it’s set in Korea.’
I couldn’t see clearly last night because it was dark, but now in the daylight, some of the items scattered inside the container looked familiar.
While waiting for the other two to come back, we shared the water we had filled in the tumblers yesterday and each had a chocolate bar.
It looked like Hayul’s inventory had opened too, maybe because he came here with me and triggered the quest. But he said he didn’t have any items like water, chocolate bars, or the master key.
What’s the difference, I wonder? Well, at least I’ve got extra water, so it should be okay.
We didn’t throw away the empty bottles, either. If we find more drinkable water, we can just refill them.
‘I really hope Kang Dohee has an actual skill to tell which food is safe to eat.’
“It’s usually not easy to tell which mushrooms are edible, right?”
While thinking idly to myself, I checked the quest progress again and noticed something different from yesterday.
Quest Progress
Find survivors: 2/2 (Complete)
Find survival supplies: 1/6
Find a safe place: 0/1
“Huh?”
“Hm? What is it, hyung?”
“…No, it’s just that one item got checked under ‘Find survival supplies.’ Hey, Hayul, can you check your quest too?”
“Huh? Oh… whoa, you’re right. It says 1/6.”
We hadn’t found anything ourselves. Did the Kang siblings find something?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, two blue dots rapidly approached on the map.
I stood up and opened the container door to greet them. Kang Dojin and Kang Dohee came inside.
“Hyung, you’re up.”
“Morning. Sleep well?”
“Yeah, I slept like a log. But noona, I told you to wake me—why didn’t you?”
“You really think I didn’t try?”
“Gasp…!!”
I gaped, and Kang Dohee laughed, saying she was just kidding, as she laid down the things she’d gathered.
“You were sleeping so well, I let you be. I put some points in stamina, so I managed fine.”
“Please wake me next time. Anyway, are all these mushrooms edible?”
“Yeah. We can cook them. We’ve got a lighter, so let’s make a fire and roast them.”
“Wait, you do know poisonous mushrooms can’t be eaten even if they’re cooked, right?”
“Of course. I know how to tell the difference. And I didn’t pick any that I wasn’t sure about.”
From her reaction, it didn’t seem like she had a skill for identifying them—just someone who happened to be knowledgeable about mushrooms.
Hiding my slight disappointment, I responded enthusiastically and asked what I was most curious about:
“So, one of our quests progressed, right? What else did you find?”
“Ah, that. We found something pretty useful.”
With that, Kang Dohee simply gestured toward the door. When I looked outside, I couldn’t help but gasp again.
“Wait—where did you find BICYCLES!? And two of them!?”
“They were abandoned in the bushes out back. They still roll, but they’re not in great condition. The chains are rusty and might break, and one of them doesn’t even have working brakes.”
The bikes were in rough shape, but they still worked—that alone made them precious. We finally had a means of transportation!
“Hm? Wait. There are two bikes, but why did only one count toward the quest? Don’t tell me it only counts one per item type?”
Only one item had counted toward “Find survival supplies.”
Well, I appreciated that items found by the Kang siblings counted too… but still, it made me wonder.
“Party window.”
Unfortunately, no party window appeared.
But the map gave a tiny flicker—like something was about to change. Maybe the system was about to add the feature?
‘A party window would be so useful. I could see the members, their status… maybe they’d be shown in different colors or symbols on the map, like stars or squares instead of just dots.
That’d be awesome. Every part of this interface feels like magic, so it makes me expect more.
What’s the next cool system going to be? Yesterday’s monster info screen was insanely detailed. Seriously, thanks, status window.
Did I ever say thank you properly? Thanks. For real.’
As I intentionally thought through my wishlist in detail, I glanced at the map again.
I kind of felt like a pushy client overworking a poor designer… but hey, I should take advantage of it while I can.
And maybe because I praised it?
The status window, which had been twitching slightly before, now seemed to shimmer and shake, almost like it was… proud?
Eh, maybe it was just my imagination. Haha.
★★★
Screeeeech—screeeeeeech—screeeech—creak—creak?
“Hy-hyuung…”
“Yeah?”
Screeeeeech—creak—creak?
“What if a monster hears that noise and comes after us?”
“I-it’ll be fine.”
Honestly, I was worried too, but I smiled and brushed it off.
Thankfully, the Kang siblings’ bikes did move… the problem was the noise.
Because of that, Hayul stayed focused on the map from the back seat, and so did I as I pedaled.
There were no black dots nearby yet, but they could appear close at any moment—we couldn’t let our guard down.
I sped up slightly and caught up with Kang Dohee and Kang Dojin, who were riding ahead.
“Noona, do you have any idea what that building might be?”
I carefully phrased the question to ask what it seemed to be—not what she knew it was.
Kang Dojin, seated in the back, replied instead.
“Maybe a rest stop or restaurant? We’ve been riding through forest paths, and since we’re at the end of the trail, it might be close to a road. I don’t drive, so I’m not sure though.”
“Ohh…”
Wait, hasn’t he driven before?
Anyway, he was probably right. This felt like the kind of place where you’d see a rest stop.
Not a big one like on the highway, but more like a roadside one—with a restroom, maybe a small convenience store or vending machines. Or a restaurant with some name like “Something Garden.”
‘If that building qualifies as a shelter, and we find supplies inside, that would complete a quest.’
I was curious about the reward, the “Supply Crate (B),” but more than that, I was anxious about the failure penalty.
“Permanent physical damage,” it said.
I knew it didn’t literally mean you’d randomly break a leg for failing a quest.
It probably meant you’d face monsters or disasters and get injured—getting hurt in the wild is bad enough, but if it’s permanent… that’s a death sentence.
“Huh? Hyung, look. Something popped up on the map.”
“What?”