Seon-Mi awoke submerged underwater with rocks tied to her feet, the murky water limited her vision, she could barely see two feet in front of her.
Instinctively, she fought against the constraints, desperately untying herself as the air in her lungs decreased. Finally free, she swam upward, the water fighting against her progress. Gasping for breath upon breaking the surface, she recognized the secluded lake on the town's outskirts.
She crawled onto the shore, coughing and catching her breath, Seon-Mi couldn't help but wonder how she was even still alive. She ran her had along her throat looking for where it had been slit, but there was no wound. She then noticed all her fingers were back.
"What on Earth is going on right now? Why am I not dead? I should definitely be dead."
Finally reaching a safe enough distance from the water she laid on her back, staring at the sky, contemplating her situation.
"And what was that place, those strange messages?"
Rising to her feet, Seon-Mi reflected on the surreal experience when, unexpectedly, the message box reappeared, startling her and causing her to fall backwards.
"No way! It's real," she exclaimed, attempting to grab the message box, only to have her hand pass through it.
"This is so weird. How is it just floating there?"
As if on command another message popped up. It said:
YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RETURNED TO YOUR LAST KNOWN LOCATION
ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN SEON-MI?
YES
The message box didn't even give her the option to say no, so she went with the only option presented. She held her hand out and tapped on the 'YES' in the message box.
"That feels so weird"
When Seon-mi selected 'YES' the message box expanded from a square shape to a rectangular shape. 5 options presented themselves, each with a drop down option:
- INFO
- SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES
- INVENTORY
- APPEARANCE
- SHOP
Seon-mi selected the first option, info, and to her surprise it displayed all of her details.
INFO
LEVEL: 1
XP: 0
AVAILABLE COINS: 0
NAME: Song Seon-mi
JOB: Hitman*
GENDER: Female
AGE: 23
WEIGHT: 58KG
HEIGHT: 5'5
HP: 100
SP: 45
MP: 100
CONDITION: WET (DRENCHED)
STATUS EFFECTS: None
XP TILL NEXT LEVEL: 5
"This is exactly like a game. Am I actually dead and this is some sort of last ditch effort at my brain trying to stay alive, or is this really happening?"
Seon-mi counties to scroll through the system.
"It feels real, I mean I almost nearly drowned so this must be real"
She tapped on the next option 'Skills & Arrributes' and the message box displayed an array of information.
ATTRIBUTES
STRENGTH: 5
SPEED: 2
CHARISMA: 5
DEXTERITY: 1
AGILITY: 2
IQ: 15
SKILL: 6
ENDURANCE: 15
LUCK: 0
HUMANITY: 1000
SKILLS
NONE
AVAILABLE COINS: 0
"Are these stats actually about me? Seeing everything laid out like this really opens your eyes."
Still soaking wet, Seon-mi dusted herself off as best she could and made her way back toward Kanda.
"I don't know what's going on and I don't what what this mysterious system is, but what I do know is I've been given a second chance."
She paused for a moment, halting in her tracks. She began to recall all the events leading up to her death much more clearly.
"Yamashita!" She thought to herself.
She continued to walk.
* * *
Seon-Mi reached her house, using the spare key from the letterbox she entered . As she went in, everything appeared unchanged since she last left.
"How long has it been since that day? Ahh, I don't even know; my sense of time is all over the place at the moment," she thought.
Heading to her childhood room to change, she was taken aback upon opening the door. Her room, preserved from her childhood, remained untouched. Although her parents always threatened to turn her room into a guest room or an office space they clearly never meant it. Overwhelmed by the realization of her parents' enduring love, Seon-Mi dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
"Why did this have to happen?"
20 minutes had passed, she had changed into a fresh set of clothes and she sat on the floor, contemplating her next steps. Seon-mi had gone through an array of different emotions lately but this emotion was new, this was the first time she felt depressed.
The message box appeared again, startling Seon-mi slightly.
"Jeez, you have got to stop doing that!"
THERE IS A TIME SENSITIVE MISSION NEARBY!
OBJECTIVE: STOP THE THUGS FROM HITTING ON THE WOMAN.
TIME REMAINING: 3:15
REWARD:
- 5 XP
- 2 COINS
"Thugs? Woman? What is this thing talking about?"
As if on command, there was a small icon in the bottom right corner flashing red. Seon-mi tapped it and a map of her neighbourhood presented itself.
"Woah, this is my street, wait that's my house,"
On the map was one green dot and two red dots, all in the same location.
"So I guess that's where I need to go, and I'm guessing this black dot is me"
Grabbing a hoodie, she raced out of the house, the timer still ticking down.
"I don't know what'll happen if I go through with this, but I need to know how this system works"
She turned the corner at the end of her street and there standing on the sidewalk was a woman surrounded by two men. She seemed uncomfortable with the situation but the two men persisted.
"That must be them, wow, this thing knows what's happening when I'm not even there."
Her heart started beating and her nerves began to rise.
Seon-mi threw her hoodie over her head and walked in the direction of the three individuals. As she approached one of the men took notice of her.
"Crap he's looking this way," she thought.
"Who's this?" Said the thug.
"Wait, can't they see the system box? It's a huge floating white box, it's not really something someone can miss. Or maybe I'm the only me that sees it?" She wondered.
The other man turned away from the woman and now both of their attentions were on Seon-mi.
"She doesn't seem like she wants anything you two have to offer, why don't you leave her alone," declared Seon-mi.
"Ehh?? Who the fuck do you think you are brat?"
They were now standing face to face with Seon-mi, the woman still watching a few meters behind them.
"This is none of your business, get lost," said the thug.
Without warning Seon-mi struck the thug on her right straight in the crotch and watched him drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. The other man however was quick witted. He backhanded Seon-mi and she fell to the floor also.
He grabbed her hair and slapped her again, sending her back to the floor.
"You fucking bitch!"
Upon seeing this display of violence the woman turned and ran in the opposite direction.
"She just ran? Go get help you stupid woman. Fuck, why did I even think this would be a good idea?" Seon-mi's mind raced with possible solutions to diffuse the situation.
The woman was finally out of sight and then the message box reappeared.
MISSION COMPLETE!
REWARD:
- 5 XP
- 2 COINS
"That's right, all it said was 'stop the thugs from hitting on the woman' I could've done this a whole lot better. Shit now I'm in for it"
The other thug finally began to recovery from the crotch blow Seon-mi delivered. They now stood as two menacing figures, standing over her like predators.
"Guys, why don't we just call it even and go our separate ways huh? What do you say?" Seon-mi asked.
"You wish, now get up, we're gonna have some fun with you," said the thug.
Seon-mi knew her options were limited so she did the one thing she knew would diffuse this situation immediately.
"HELP!! MOLESTER! THEY'RE MOLESTING ME! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
They were both visibly shocked by Seon-mi's outburst.
"You bitch! Don't think this is over, we'll see you again real soon" they turned and ran off leaving Seon-mi on the floor with a throbbing cheek.
"Ha... Haha... hahahaha" Seon-mi burst out laughing.
"That was terrifying, but I've never felt so alive!"
She stood to her feet and dawned her hoodie once again. As she walked down her street she knew that the ordinary life she once led was long gone, and something new and powerful was emerging.