If Jin Yeong had known the world would end today, he would have stayed in bed, wrapped tight in his threadbare blanket, pretending life could wait another few hours.
But the universe didn't send warnings, and his alarm definitely didn't care about fate.
It went off at exactly 6:30 AM, a shrill, relentless beep-beep-beep that tore through his sleep like a personal attack.
Jin groaned and threw an arm over his face, as if that could somehow block out reality itself. The air in his tiny Seoul apartment was cold, sneaking in through the cracked window like an unwanted guest. He pulled the blanket higher over his head, trying to smother both the sound and his responsibilities.
It didn't help.
BEEP. Beep. BEEP. Beep.
"Alright, alright," he muttered, reaching blindly for the clock and smacking the snooze button harder than necessary.
The cheap plastic thing rattled on his nightstand, almost tipping over into the pile of unwashed laundry below.
"Five more minutes..."
As if five extra minutes could somehow fix the direction his life had taken.
But the universe had never tried to help Jin, infact he was sure the universe barely noticed he existed.
With a long sigh, he forced himself upright. The mattress creaked in protest beneath him.
His apartment looked exactly how he felt, like shit. He had one cramped room covered in peeling wallpaper. A desk cluttered with empty instant noodle cups. A dying phone charger bent at an angle that definitely violated several safety laws. The faint smell of stale coffee hung in the air, mixed with cheap detergent and exhaustion.
Jin rubbed both hands over his face and stared at nothing for a moment.
Another day.
The digital clock blinked 6:47 AM.
His eyes widened.
"Ah, damn it."
If he didn't move now, he'd miss the bus.
Again.
In the bathroom, he stood in front of the chipped mirror, staring at the person looking back at him.
Messy black hair. Tired brown eyes. A face so average it practically apologized for existing.
He looked like the kind of person people forgot the second they walked past him.
"Fantastic," he muttered.
He splashed cold water onto his face. It stung enough to wake him up, which was honestly the best part of his morning so far.
He threw on the usual uniform of his miserable adult life, a wrinkled office shirt, black slacks, and shoes worn down by too many rushed commutes. His suit jacket still had a faint coffee stain from last week.
He looked at it and decided he didn't care.
The hallway outside his apartment was just as depressing. Flickering fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. Someone's TV blasted a morning drama through thin walls. The smell of cigarette smoke drifted from somewhere nearby.
Jin locked his door and stepped outside.
Seoul was already wide awake.
The streets were alive with movement. Salarymen in crisp suits marched forward like soldiers, women in sharp skirts and heels moved with practiced speed. Students dragged backpacks and unfinished homework behind them.
Everyone looked like they were going somewhere important.
Jin just felt like he was being dragged there by force.
At the bus stop, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the cracked pavement beneath his shoes.
Around him, people stood in silence, eyes glued to their phones or lost somewhere far away inside their own heads.
No one noticed him and no one ever did.
The bus finally arrived with a loud screech, its brakes hissing like it was just as tired as everyone else.
It was packed, because ofcourse it was but Jin tried squeezing inside it anyway, which ended up with him getting shoved between a man who smelled aggressively like cheap aftershave and a woman watching a makeup tutorial on full brightness.
He grabbed the overhead rail as the bus lurched forward.
Outside the window, the city blurred past in shades of gray.
Tall buildings.
Bright neon signs.
Advertisements screaming promises of better lives.
"Work harder."
"Be better."
"Buy more."
Jin caught his reflection in the glass, and he could see was a hallow shell of his former self. As it stoof right now in his life he was just another face in the crowd.
His chest tightened.
Was this really it? Was this what his entire life would be like from now on?
Wake up. Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat until he died alone?
Was this all life was supposed to be?
A conversation nearby pulled him from his thoughts.
"Did you see that MMA fighter on the news?"
"Yeah, the guy broke another record."
"Seriously, he's insane. Some people are just born to stand out."
Jin let out a quiet breath through his nose.
That was the natural state of this world, there were people destined for greatness who lived an amazing life that brought them fulfillment, and then there were people like him born to blend in to the world and ensure it kept going.
Just as he was about to think more about how unfair the world was his bus came to a stop.
He stepped off the bus and let the moving crowd carry him toward the office building that consumed most of his waking life.
Calling it depressing felt generous.
The place was a maze of identical cubicles under flickering fluorescent lights that made everyone look slightly dead. The constant hum of printers and keyboards blended into one endless corporate nightmare.
Jin dropped into his chair and stared at his monitor.
His work life consisted of making spreadsheats and calculating figures in rows and colums and this somehow paid his bills.
He clicked through emails with all the passion of a man preparing for surgery without anesthesia.
Around him, coworkers talked like normal people.
"Drinks tonight?"
"Can't gotta put in some overtime."
"Seriously? Again?"
" What can I say I love money."
A few people laughed.
Jin didn't join in, he made it a point to stay away from most people at work, he didnt want to cause any problems.
At lunch, he sat alone with convenience store kimbap and scrolled mindlessly through his phone.
His life wasn't the greatest but it also wasnt that bad, which was kind of the problem he forever would exist in this state of being able to survive but feeling fulfilled or happy at what he was doing, and honestly it felt miserable.
Then, a sound shattered the monotony.
Like a distant swarm of bees vibrating somewhere inside the walls.
Jin frowned and looked up at the AC vent.
"Please don't tell me that thing's dying too."
But the sound grew louder, so loud infact he could feel it crawling under his skin and vibrating in his bones.
Then suddenly all around him the monitors started to glitch out, which was weird enough but then his phone screen started to glitch out too and suddenly the lights overhead starting dimming too.
Then suddenly the noise earlier disapeared and with it the power of everything in the office, every single thing that fed on power turned off and the office fell into complete darkness and suddenly the entire office was in complete silence, everyone confused at what was happening.
It was like the entire world had stopped breathing.
Jin slowly stood from his chair.
Someone nearby whispered, "What the hell…"
Then there was a sudden voice, though he could tell it wasn't human, it didnt come from a speaker or device, it felt like it was coming from all around him.
"You've all had it easy, haven't you?"
"No real threats to speak of. You all just suffer through the slow, crawling march of existence."
A woman near the printers started crying.
Someone else shouted, "Who said that?!"
But there was no answer, only the continuation of the figures speech.
"Life was never meant to be so… dull."
It almost sounded disappointed.
Then it laughed softly.
"So, here's a small gift for you all,someething to make you all finally experience the wonders of life."
A bright blue screen flickered into existence right in front of Jin.
He stumbled back so fast his chair nearly tipped over.
His heart pounded so hard it hurt.
The screen hovered in the air like something pulled straight out of a video game.
[Status Window]
[Name: Jin Yeong]
[Skill: [Limitless Weapon Mastery]]
Jin stared at the glowing blue screen floating in front of him, his heartbeat pounding so hard it felt like it was shaking his ribs.
For a moment, he forgot the strange voice, the frozen office, the impossible silence pressing down on everyone. His eyes stayed locked on those words.
[Limitless Weapon Mastery.]
Weapon Mastery?
Did that mean he could use any weapon? Swords, spears, knives, guns? Did it mean perfect skill? Instant understanding? Could he pick up anything and fight like he had trained his whole life?
That sounded pretty amazing.
For the first time in years, something sparked inside him. His boring office life, the endless spreadsheets, the gray routine, the feeling of being invisible, all of it suddenly felt far away.
He imagined it for just a second.
Him standing in the middle of chaos, holding a blade like some unstoppable main character from one of those fantasy web novels he read late at night when he couldn't sleep.
Around him, people were still staring at their own windows in shock, whispering to themselves, trying to process what was happening.
Then someone gasped.
"No way…"
Jin turned.
The woman who stood near the printers was now staring at her own hand with wide, terrified eyes, a small flame flickered above her palm, dancing like it was alive.
She let out a scream and nearly threw herself backward.
"I-I can control fire!"
The flame burst brighter, orange light reflecting in her shaking eyes.
The entire office erupted.
"What?!"
"Are you serious?!"
"How are you doing that?!"
Before anyone could even process it, another voice shouted from the far side of the room.
"Look at this!"
A man from sales slammed his fist against the metal filing cabinet.
CLANG.
The sound rang through the office.
He stared at his own arm in disbelief.
"My skin… it turned to steel!"
He hit it again, harder this time, and the metallic sound echoed louder.
Someone else near the windows suddenly lifted off the ground by several inches, papers swirling around her as she screamed.
"I'm floating! Why am I floating?!"
The office transformed from dull workplace misery into complete chaos in less than thirty seconds.
Jin stood there, frozen.
The excitement that had filled him only moments ago slowly began to drain.
His eyes dropped back to his own screen.
[Limitless Weapon Mastery.]
At first, it had sounded incredible.
Now, standing in a room where people were summoning fire, turning their bodies into metal, and apparently discovering flight, it suddenly felt… small.
His stomach twisted.
Because what did weapon mastery even mean against that? Sure, maybe he could use a sword well. Maybe he could fight with anything he picked up, but what was he supposed to do against someone throwing fireballs across the room? What happened when someone could crush steel with their bare hands? What use was "being good with weapons" when everyone else was becoming godlike?
Jin clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms.
Of course.
Of course this would happen.
Even when the world literally changed, even when some mysterious voice handed out supernatural abilities, somehow he still ended up on the losing side. A familiar frustration returned, the one he had carried for years. The quiet anger of watching life hand better things to everyone else while telling him to be grateful for scraps.
He hated that feeling.
He hated how quickly hope had risen in him.
And he hated even more how quickly it was dying.
Beside him, one of his coworkers laughed breathlessly.
"This is insane… we're like superheroes or something."
Another replied, "No, seriously, if this is real, everything changes now."
Jin looked around at the panic, the wonder, the fear. For them, maybe it did but for him, it felt like the same old story.
His eyes stayed fixed on the glowing words.
[Limitless Weapon Mastery.]
The title mocked him now.
Limitless.
What a joke.
Because right now, all he could feel were limits.
The strange voice returned then, smooth and cold, cutting through the chaos like a blade.
"Well?"
Every person in the office froze.
"Are you satisfied with your gifts?"
"Yes?"
"Then let's make this interesting," the voice purred.
"Good luck."
A sharp chime pierced the silence, and a new screen appeared.
[Survive for 24 Hours.]