Jisuk sat on his bed, absorbed in reading a popular manhwa called The Battlefield Knight. As he read, he couldn't help but think to himself how lucky the main character must be, wielding both magic and a sword. "I could do so much better than this joke of a main character," he thought with a smirk. "His progress is painfully slow. How is this manhwa even popular?" Suddenly, as he continued scrolling, his apartment exploded in a flash of light, and the next thing he knew, he woke up dressed in a rough leather tunic.
A loud voice cut through his confusion—a grizzled commander was glaring at him, shouting, "Hey, you brat! How do you expect to become a knight if you're dozing off while I'm talking?"
Completely caught off guard, Jisuk glanced down at his hands, which were rougher than he remembered, and felt the weight of a sword strapped to his side. The commander continued, "You are all dismissed. Training starts tomorrow. Use the wooden cabins for the night; ten people to a cabin."
Turning, Jisuk saw five worn-down cabins nearby, just sturdy enough for shelter but definitely not as cozy as his tiny apartment. Pinching his cheek to test if he was dreaming, he flinched at the pain. Realizing this was all real, he hurried over to a bucket of water to check his reflection. The face staring back was unfamiliar, roughened by a scar on his cheek. "Who is this guy? Is this... me?" he murmured.
A fellow recruit nearby was absentmindedly drawing in the sand with a stick. Jisuk turned to him, asking, "Hey, have you ever heard of the Aleth family?"
The guy glanced up, a bit annoyed. "Oh, you're the guy who was dozing off earlier. Yeah, everyone knows the Aleth family—they're one of the greatest magician families on the continent. Why do you ask?"
Jisuk's heart skipped a beat. This was definitely the world of the manhwa he'd just been reading, but there was something off. In the story, the Aleth family were renowned swordsmen, not magicians. Trying to hide his shock, he simply replied, "No reason, just curious."
Jisuk wandered to a secluded spot behind one of the cabins, thinking he might have been granted a system like in the manhwa. "System!" he commanded confidently. But there was only silence. Undeterred, he tried again, "System!" Still, nothing happened. Disappointed, he muttered, "Maybe I'll just be super strong then, like a fully talented character, right?"
The next morning, he found himself crammed into a small cabin with several other guys, sleeping on the bare floor due to the lack of beds. Suddenly, the commander's voice thundered, jolting everyone awake. "Wake up! It's time for you fools to train! Don't make me wait!"
Everyone scrambled to get ready, including Jisuk, who quickly made his way outside with the others. The commander didn't waste a second, barking out the next order. "All of you weaklings, pick up one of these stones and run around the cabins for 25 minutes. And don't even think about stopping!"
Jisuk's heart raced with excitement. "Alright, time to see just how strong I really am!" he thought. But as he lifted the rounded stone, his confidence quickly wavered. "Why is this so heavy?" he wondered, struggling as he started to jog. Glancing around, he noticed others facing similar challenges—some managing the weight just fine, while others struggled as much as, or even more than, him. A realization crept over him. "Wait... am I just average? Did I not get any powers at all?" His stomach tightened with worry. "Does that mean I could actually get hurt... or even die here?"
Jisuk continued his horrendously difficult task and after 25 minutes of just running he eventually stopped to take a breather dropping the stone and just then the commander screamed again "Hey, now for those who are done get a partner and do some practice duels! No resting!"
Jisuk looked around and decided to approach the strange guy with yellow hair—the one who had been drawing in the dirt earlier—to ask if he'd be his training partner for dueling. "Hey, how about we train together?"
The guy, who was a head taller than Jisuk with a lean, muscular build, nodded. "Alright then, Tamin. I'm Leon."
"Tamin?" Jisuk asked, confused.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's written right on your chest. Do you not know your own name or something?"
Jisuk glanced down at his chest and noticed the name stitched onto his tunic, as well as Leon's name on his. He quickly replied, "Oh, I knew that—I was just testing how observant you are."
Leon gave him a skeptical look but shrugged it off. "Whatever. We should probably start dueling before the commander over there decides to give us a lecture." He nodded toward the commander, who was watching them from a distance.
As they assumed their stances, Jisuk suddenly realized, Wait, how do I actually hold a sword? In the manhwa, it always seemed so simple… but now that I'm here, it feels a lot more complicated!
Before he could figure it out, the commander marched over, adjusted Jisuk's grip and stance, and barked, "Tamin, I know you're new, but you need to focus!"
Jisuk nodded, and the duel began. As he and Leon traded blows, Jisuk's thoughts raced. Why are his strikes so powerful? I can feel the vibrations through the metal—it stings. This feels so real… it's unsettling.
Just as they resumed practice, a sudden rustling in the forest caught their attention. A group of goblins burst out from the trees, charging straight toward them.