This game was anything but easy.
Some players received tasks as simple as learning spells or making potions. Others? They had to kill to survive.
Above them, the Gods watched. Observing, controlling, and waiting for their chosen ones to either succeed or perish.
Jiwoon lived within the four walls of a city protected by the Goddess Ha-jin, the Goddess of Water. In this world, one of the four elemental goddesses could take you in—if you were lucky.
If not?
You were left to survive yourself in Sa-ji.
"Death Land."
Jiwoon, at least, had been deemed "pure" enough for the Goddess of Water to take him in. But to him, that meant nothing.
Because no matter how much power these gods held, no matter how many people bowed to them—
Jiwoon only had one goal.
Escape.
POV: Jiwoon
This is the perfect opportunity to get out of here.
The library was the only place where Jiwoon felt like himself.
It was mostly empty—unlike the loud, chaotic halls of NIU, where he was always somebody's target.
Here, at least, nobody bothered him.
Until now.
SPLASH.
A wave of ice-cold water crashed over him.
Jiwoon didn't even flinch.
He should've expected this. Maybe, deep down, he did.
A slow, sharp voice cut through the air.
"Oopsie, didn't see ya there."
Sae Byon.
NIU's "Queen Bee."
A Water elemental—which meant she was revered, much like Soo-in. But unlike him, she wasn't just annoying—she was malicious.
Her long, perfectly straight black hair gleamed under the fluorescent lights. She flicked a strand back effortlessly, her shorter-than-short skirt swaying as she stepped forward.
Her real goal wasn't Jiwoon.
It was Soo-in.
Soo-in, her ex-boyfriend. The only thing she wanted to reclaim—for her reputation, if nothing else.
Nobody knew why they broke up.
But everyone knew she hated anything that got in her way.
The water she had dumped on him had already dried up on the floor.
But Jiwoon?
Still soaked.
Sae Byon smirked, watching the fabric of his school uniform cling to his skin.
Jiwoon exhaled slowly.
"Sae Byon. Why am I not surprised?"
He stood up, peeling himself off the now damp chair, his clothes heavy with cold water.
Scoff.
"Hope that helps you smell better," Jae—the loyal minion—snickered.
Jiwoon ignored them.
Getting involved, fighting back—it wasn't worth it. Not now.
He wouldn't ruin his chances of going home.
Not for them.
POV: Sae Byon
Sae Byon had learned one thing early in life.
Never be weak.
Weakness had no place in her family. Fire ran in their blood—fierce, dominant, powerful. Her ancestors had built their legacy with flames and ambition, and her father? He expected the same from his children.
Except she wasn't Fire.
She was Water.
A mistake. A disgrace. A stain on their family name.
She had been five years old when she first realized what her father thought of her.
"She's not mine."
His voice still rang in her head, a cruel whisper that never truly left.
Her mother had cried that night—but her father? He had simply walked away. From her. From both of them.
For years, he treated her existence like a blemish he could scrub away.
No attention. No warmth. Barely any words.
But Sae Byon wasn't stupid.
She knew the world better than most. She understood that silence speaks louder than words.
She also understood when people wanted something.
Her father thought she was clueless, that she was just a spoiled daughter who didn't care about business.
But she knew.
She knew exactly what he was trying to do.
Nam Holdings Corp. was one of the biggest companies in the country. Soo-in's father? A business powerhouse. And her father? He was desperate to secure a partnership, desperate enough to play nice.
He thought she didn't know.
He thought she didn't notice how he laughed a little too hard at Mr. Nam's jokes, how he hosted dinners with their family, how he suddenly started bringing up Soo-in's name.
How he started acting as if Soo-in and Sae Byon were still together.
As if they had never broken up.
It was almost amusing, watching him try so hard.
He really thought she was that blind.
But Sae Byon wasn't blind.
She knew exactly what her father wanted.
And she knew exactly how to use that to her advantage.
Soo-in was still hers.
Even if he didn't know it yet.
And if Jiwoon was going to be in her way?
Then she would fix that little problem soon enough.
Sae Byok is not a person who adjust with her ex, the one she is not over yet, be interested in a slump like Jiwoon.
She hated seeing them together. Sae byok was tired of all the people hating her, feeling disgusted by her own life, she has no idea what to do about Jiwoon, but her plans for Sooin had just begun.
Rrring Rrring
Sae Byok picked up the phone with a smile of knowledge on her face. "I've found the perfect black magician for you", a rusty male voice from the other side said. "great", Sae Byok replied grinning.
She planned on hypnotizing Sooin with the help of a black magician.
Sunday
POV: Sae Byon
It was raining heavily. I wore a rain coat and was standing on the edge of the city.
the fear of walking into the forest in front of me was running through my spine.
at the end, I didn't have to cross.
I spotted a black figure,
almost of an old woman walking towards me in the rain, her face covered with the huge black shawl that was hiding her body from me.
"here", the old women gave me a potion which was glowing purple in the dark and eerie night.
"Thank you", I said, I couldn't care less what she looked like, all it mattered to me was what's in that small bottle she gave me.
"Remember...", the old woman spoke, her voice slightly crumbling of age.
"It only works once on a person, let him drink it and the potion will make him dizzy."
"beware! whoever he first sees after regaining consciousness is the person he will fall in love with", the old woman informed.
Sae Byok had her plans, she was going to use it on Sooin and win him over.... ...