"You have proven your worth to the gods. You will now be granted access to the system."
Jihuun stares in confusion at the screen. Hundreds of thoughts are all bouncing around in his skull. Just as soon as it started, he was back in his bed as if it were all a dream. The whole ordeal merely manifested because of work stress Jihuun thought. He was sorely mistaken. He awoke to his alarm at 7 am as per usual, but something was off. He could hear certain water sloshing in distant pipes, the dripping of water in his neighbour's faucet, he even heard the old lady at the end of the hall snoring. "What is this…" He muttered. Not only that, but he could also smell very strange things. He could smell the paint on the drywall even though he was several meters away , he could smell someone cooking breakfast on the floor above him, he even swore he could smell a dog's excrement from the ground despite being on the 12th floor. In a daze, he walks towards his window to look outside. It was the same normal city he had always lived in, but it was different somehow. Jihuun's stomach sank when he heard the familiar pop of the screen from his dream. Slowly, he turned around to see what it was. His knees weakened when he saw the same screen from his dream right in front of his very eyes. This time, the screen displays the text "Main mission." The screen quickly changes, "Go to the secret meeting area. (Reward: 1 golden ticket.)" Jihuun stares at the screen confused. "Meeting area? Ticket? Mission? What is all of this!" He exclaims. The screen flashes once more. "Penalty for failure: Torrential pain, 10 minutes." "What the hell does that mean. Torrential pain? It can't be good either way…" Jihuun gets ready for work and leaves his apartment. As he is walking towards the elevator, he can sense something strange. Quickly, he turns and catches a playful karate chop from his close friend Kumoh.
"Huh?" His friend says confused.
"W-what?" Jihuun grunts.
"How did you know I was coming?" Kumoh asks.
"I-I guess I just heard your footsteps." He replies. Jihuun and Kumoh being their normal daily banter as they enter the elevator.
"Something strange has been going on with me lately…" Jihuun says.
"Like what?" Kumoh asks.
"Well, I had this really weird dream abo-" Jihuun is cut-off yet again by a red screen. "Warning: Your current authority level does not allow you to leak information about the system! Leaked information at your current level will incur consequences!" "Uh, it's nothing I guess." Jihuun continues.
"No no, tell me!" Kumoh teases.
"Ah fine! I just keep seeing this girl everywhere, even in my dreams!" Jihuun lies, poorly at that.
"A girl eh?" Kumoh teases, nudging Jihuun's shoulder. They continue as if nothing happened. Walking to work, Kumoh and Jihuun part ways.
There is only one thing on Jihuun's mind, the mission. He keeps on thinking about what the "secret meeting area" might be. Suddenly, Jihuun remembers the pull he had in his mind a couple days prior, the alley in his dreams. Jihuun continues walking until he reaches the alley where he first encountered the screens. He hesitantly begins walking down the dark alleyway. Once he reaches the place from his dreams where the bricks separated, he stood in front of the wall. He stood there for a couple seconds waiting for something to happen. He puts his hand on the wall, and shockingly it phases right through, as if it were never there. Jihuun's face goes flush, and his heart begins to pound faster. He takes a deep breath and steps into the wall. The second he does this, the screen flashes green. "You have completed a main mission: 'Go to the secret meeting area.' Rewards will now be distributed."
Jihuun stares at the screen and then it disappears. A sound like a phone notification rings in Jihuun's head and small text appears in the corner of his vision. "Golden ticket added to stash." Jihuun confused looks around at the area he is in. Disturbingly, it is the white void from his dream. A giant black screen appears in front of Jihuun. "Would you like to customize your secret meeting area?" "Customize?" Jihuun thinks. "Yes." Jihuun says to the screen. "Beginning customization…"
As if out of science fiction, Jihuun is standing in the middle of a giant white void. He discovered that if he thought of something, it was added to this infinite white void. Curious, he thinks of the one piece of furniture he has always wanted to own. He stares at a random point in the white void and thinks hard about the furniture. Out of thin air, a ComfiBoy Ez recliner 900 appears in front of him. "Awesome! I've only ever seen the ads about this thing, and yet here it is!" He walks over to the recliner and sits down. The texture of the fabric is absolutely divine. To Jihuun, it feels like sitting on a bed of clouds. Suddenly in his bliss, the area around him turns into a bright blue sky above the clouds. "Woah! This place is really able to respond to a thought like that?" Jihuun sits in comfort, but a thought is rising in his mind. "What can this do though, why is this here?" The system quite literally reads his mind and a screen pops up. "A helper will be sent to your location shortly."