Prologue
A tremendous power came to me one day .
A small one pyeong goshiwon . (Pyeong= A Korean unit of measurement . Goshiwon= 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 .