Nam Soo-in was like a bar magnet when it came to girls. He always shined, and so did his family. Whenever he entered a room, the spotlight followed—no one paid much attention to anyone else.
With striking emerald eyes and a streak of green in his hair, he looked like an earth elemental. But he was water.
Not that he cared.
The admiration, the attention—it meant nothing to him.
Because his eyes were already set on Ji-woon.
Soo-in was notoriously selective when it came to relationships, yet no one understood why he was drawn to someone like Kang Ji-woon.
His family was prestigious, wealthy, and influential. His father, Nam Yuk, was a business tycoon—ruthless, ambitious, and indifferent. He never spared much attention to Soo-in, and even now, nothing had changed. The reason was simple: unlike his siblings, Soo-in had no interest in inheriting the family empire.
Instead, he wanted to be a sorcerer.
His mother, Nam Si-ah, was the only warmth in his life. Unlike the rest of his family, she was kind—someone who truly cared for him. And he loved her for it.
But Soo-in had his own tricks up his sleeve. He wasn't just a privileged heir; he was a Water elemental. And he knew exactly how to wield his powers to his advantage.
POV: Nam Soo-in
It must be sad. Being in Jiwoon's position.
The girls just dumped a water bucket on him. Again.
Jiwoon rushed to the restroom. I was watching
I followed—I wanted to. He was soaked and I could see the shape of his body through the uniform, which was now sticking onto his soft skin.
"What?", Jiwoon asked with an expressionless face, the water dripped from his eyelashes to his soft pink lips.
I stretched my hand out—a desire to touch it; his lips. It was soft like I imagined.
"Nothing, must be hard yk- letting them take you on like that", I said as I managed to move a strand of his hair behind his ear.
"Save it for later", he said as if sighing his frustration out. He acted as if know ledged—he knows everything. "Save what?", I raised an eyebrow; trying not to smile at his wet body.
Jiwoon turned around with his daily expressionless face.
"Honestly—", Jiwoon paused, he crossed his arms—now facing me. "why the hell are you here?", Jiwoon had a serious expression, he was exhausted by everything. "You look hot—all wet", I smirked shamelessly—waiting for his cute response, but he was mad, for reals this time.
"Scoff— are you ever ashamed?", Jiwoon questioned.
I immediately stood straight, I was slanting on one of the stalls with my hands crossed—I knew where this was headed.
"Look—I did not do this one!", I said with both my eyes slightly enlarged trying to give an assuring look. I loved pulling tricks on him; pulling his hair in between classes, stealing his pens—shit like that.
"I am not that kind of an asshole", I assured him.
Jiwoon was about to pounce on me, but... ..
Alert! Alert! System Failure! System Failure!
Two screens popped in front of us...
The ground started shaking. The ceiling was about to burst open—we heard screams. "Quick!, lets jump out of the open vents!", I said, I was holding both Jiwoon's shoulders and pointed out...
BANG! BANG!
gunshots-
I could see the fear in Ji-woon's eyes—but it was as if he had been expecting this.
We sprinted toward the open vent, and I quickly dismantled it. But as I stared down, my stomach twisted. We were on the fifth floor. There was no escape.
The building trembled violently, gunshots echoing closer with every passing second. My mind raced, searching for a way out—until, suddenly, a branch stretched toward us, glowing with a brilliant green light.
I turned to Ji-woon. It was him. He had used his elemental powers to grow the tree toward us.
Our eyes met. We had the same thought.
Without hesitation, we grabbed onto the branch and began climbing down as fast as we could. There was no time to stop—no time to think.
We just ran for our lives.
POV: Kang Ji-woon
We started climbing down and as soon as we hit the ground we ran—I couldn't feel myself anymore.
My last chance of winning and escaping was ruined by the system itself. Although, how could it have crashed so suddenly?
I turned around—a falling building with more students in it, and that's when I saw it—the angel of death. Standing there, pieces of flesh—still hanging from his face—a skull.
He was smiling. Must be happy, he found himself a graveyard—the university—now only bricks of it on the floor.
I turned and kept running with Soo-in—who was holding my hand tightly, I saw the layer of magic that was above the city—flicker. it was down on the ground.
We ran into a nearby subway.
We did not even have a moment to process the things that were happening—I was taking my breath beside Soo-in—who too was surprised of the turn of events.
A voice—it felt as if it was coming from everywhere—explained... ..
Attention players!
"The presenters have decided to change the systems processing. All of you present here will now be given new tasks and talents based on the appropriate situations. The presenters have decided to make the system more challenging—you are now required to complete your tasks to survive, your powers are temporarily being brought down. You shall receive your powers back—if eligible. If the presenters find you worthy—they themselves will give you exceptional powers when needed in various levels—if not, you may gain talents and mini powers from gems which you will gain after the completion of a level or medium level task. Small tasks will not gain much attention—it will merely be considered as one step toward growth of one player. Good luck to all the remaining players and characters."
__________________________________________________________________________________
Everyone was frantically walking around unsure of what to expect next.
POV: Kang Ji-woon
I was mad!. I was so close to the end, yet I could not reach it?
Its not fair! the system is not fair!. There were still a lot of things I had to understand though...
All these people here were also chosen....why did they choose me? what are the differences between players and characters? who are the presenters? How do I get out?
All these thoughts raced through my mind, until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"what got you thinking", Soo-in asked, he was breathing heavily—still on his knees after the running, he was panting so hard—we both were.
Suddenly—two green transparent screens popped up in front of us;
"Your first task is loading"
The screen said.
"Stop!", a man yelled out, "its not fair! we don't know what's happening or what to do!", he was protesting.
Soon the others followed—all together marching towards the giant screen that showed a ten minute timer.
"please stop this!", a woman yelled.
Everyone was screaming, I turned around—a gleam of hope in my eyes.
Everyone's marching was so loud that the small stones on the subway floors started jumping. The giant screen glitched once—before disappearing altogether... ..
There was a humid silence suddenly....
The ground started shaking again—this time silently.
You will be executed all together if you do not start working!
This was enough to scare everybody...
An individual screen popped up in front of all of us again...
Loading your task...
I was expecting something—not this big.
Please find a partner... ..
"ugh", I was frustrated, I frantically looked around. "Oi- forgot about me?", Soo-in...I turned around, gave him a side eye, "honestly—what are you even thinking?", I asked Soo-in unbelievably, "You know, we would have been stuck there!", I pointed towards him, I was mad—already filled up with what was happening.
"Listen, I know you hate me—", Soo-in was still panting after the run, "But im not that bad, Im pretty strong", Soo-in started boasting, He pulled up both his hands to show his muscles... "blegh!", I shoved my tongue out.
"oh come one!, we'll be great teammates!", he assured me—
for some reason—I trusted him, but it was just the beginning.
We confirmed we were going to be each others partners and pressed continue on the green screen...
Please move to an open area... ..
"That's a weird request?", Soo-in exclaimed—clearly confused.
I pulled his hands and we started walking walking out.
We stopped—the screen was processing.
The ground shook vigorously—I was holding Soo-in's hands, and before I knew it we were falling... ...
To be continued... ..