"Hahh..."

I stepped out of my generic office building with a box of my belongings in my hand.

I had been fired.

'What was the point of my life up until now...' I pondered as I deluded myself with other edgy thoughts.

I, Lee Jae-min, was an absolutely ordinary, boring man. I lived my life conforming completely to society and going along with the flow.

If I could say one thing that differentiated me from the crowd was that I was an avid web novel reader, and in a cruel twist of fate, the finale of my favourite novel lined up with the day I was fired.

I sat down on the firm train seat and pulled out my phone as I waited for my stop.

"Hahhh..."

This was the second time I'd sighed today. The quality of the novel had really dropped since it first released, but I still loved it all the same.

My eyes wandered through the chapter until I reached the end. To be frank, the final chapter was very generic. It was disappointing, the novel that helped me through so many hard times had fallen so low as to endlessly dump power into the main character and give him barely any emotional growth.

Well, to be honest, the entire novel is bad and quite generic, but this one has a specific place in my heart, and I'm sure the author appreciates me, considering I am the one of the sole readers of his dumpster fire.

- Now stopping at XX Station, now stopping at XX Station.

I lifted myself off the chair and left the quiet train. Trudging through what felt like a swamp to reach my tiny, one-bedroom apartment.

I feel like shit.

I lost my only sources of income, and entertainment. What am I supposed to do now, look for a job? Don't feel like it. I fished out my keys from my pocket and entered the drab apartment. I didn't bother to loosen my tie and dropped on my bed like a dead fish.

After lying on the bed for at least an hour, I got up, changed clothes, and made myself comfortable in bed. If I had nothing to do, I might as well relax.

I scrolled through the last chapter of the novel once more.

Wouldn't it be nice if I somehow became the main character of the novel, becoming endlessly stronger, destroying anything that comes in my way?

"Hah," I scoffed, what a stupid idea. Stuff like reincarnation and transmigration didn't exist in this world.

I scrolled through my novel reader, looking for anything that may entertain me, but nothing was good. Everything was too generic, badly written, or just plain boring. In defeat, I turned off my phone, closed my eyes, and drifted off into sleep.

---

I woke up and opened my eyes to see a blue sky.

"What the fuck."

Just how was I seeing a blue sky where there should be a white ceiling. My heart starting beating faster and faster. Did I get kidnapped? Did half of my apartment building collapse? I turned my head to one side and saw a lush forest. I attempted to calm myself down as best I could and got up.

[Welcome, Lee Jae-min, to Elysium.]

A translucent screen appeared in front of my eyes and knocked me back on the floor. I calmed myself down for the second time and read the screen carefully. Elysium... that's the equivalent of heaven in Greek mythos.

Wait... A translucent screen? What is this? I attempted to touch it, but my finger went straight through.

[You will now commence with the tutorial. Please select a weapon.]

This situation reminds me of a web no-

Am I in a web novel?

No way. That's impossible. This must just be some prank show.

[You will now commence with the tutorial. Please select a weapon.]

I tried to ignore the screen to look for cameras, but it continued to pester me.

"Umm... okay? I select a gun."

If this screen is asking me to select a weapon, then something will happen where I must defend myself. Therefore, a gun is the best choice, I can easily defend myself against anything that may harm me.

Instantly, a Desert Eagle materialised in my hand.

[You have selected a "Gun".]

=====

Quest: Tutorial #1

Difficulty: F-

Clear Conditions: Defend yourself.

Compensation: Continuation of the tutorial and access to "Status Window".

Failure: Death.

=====

No way, am I actually in a web novel? A damn quest screen appeared. At least I was correct about having to fight.

As I internally applauded myself with my amazing foresight and intelligence, sinister noises sounded out from behind me.

-Kikikiki

-Hehehehe

I turn around and see two small, green humanoid... things wearing rags and holding crudely sharpened rocks.

That's a goblin. Now I'm fully convinced. Something that should be completely impossible and should only happen in fiction is happening to me, right now. I have been transmigrated, the translucent screen must be a system.

I calm down the rising excitement in my body as I see the goblins approach me. I lift up the muzzle of my gun and aim it at one of the goblins heads, I put my finger to the trigger and pull.

- BANG

A loud noise reverberates through my eardrums as I see the goblins head literally explode into pieces, brain matter spraying everywhere and blood splattering all over the floor. My excitement of getting transmigrated is instantly muted as I watch the spectacle of a head bursting into pieces. My ears start ringing and the gruesome display makes my head spin. It starts getting harder to breath as I aim the second shot.

- BANG

I pull the trigger again, this time I hit the second goblins arm. The goblin starts to sprint at me faster, making me panic.

- BANG

- BANG

I pull the trigger twice, my second shot missing due to the immense recoil. The first shot hits the jaw of the goblin, blowing it straight off. The goblin crumpled down, evidently in pain.

I look over the scene once more and fall to the ground, my hand aching due to the powerful recoil of the gun.

I just killed two living creatures, albeit in self-defence. The image of the first goblins head exploding kept replaying in my mind.

'It's fine, it's just a monster.'

I repeated those words over and over in my head like a mantra, convincing myself that I hadn't done anything wrong.

[Quest complete! Reward: Continuation of tutorial and access to "Status Window".]