Swipe.

Swipe.

Swipe.

The monotonous day continued.

Wake up, get dressed, and work.

Jin, a 20-year-old, found himself working at a convenience store.

It wasn't his ideal job, but it paid decently.

Currently staying in a confined apartment complex in a run-down area, he saw and heard it all. From babies crying, homeless guys fighting, and the landlord's nagging, he got sick of it all after just a week of stay.

Jin hated guys that hung onto the past, especially places like school. He ran into one of the popular guys from high school 2 months back, and the entire conversation was about how great he was in his high school years. All Jin could do was roll his eyes in his mind.

But now that he was here, in a small convenience store swiping away, even he couldn't help but think back to his school days. He sighed, shaking the thoughts away.

"I'm still young, this store thing is just temporary. I'll get the job I'm looking for."

Jin never went to college. He had average grades throughout most of his school life, and his parents weren't that well off to just completely pay a tuition fee. So, with no degree in anything, he went into the workforce not long after.

A stale existence, he called it. One with a monotonous cycle. No girlfriend and no real friends to call or hang out with, just himself and web novels.

Whether on break at work, in the bed at home, or on the bus to his apartment, that's where he stuck his nose the most.

Most of the people he knew found it childish or couldn't understand the concept of deliberately reading something with no pictures. But Jin didn't mind, he imagined the pictures, he was always a imaginative person.

After bulldozing through a multitude of chapters from a web novel he had been reading, his break was now over.

He sighed, dropping his phone in his pocket. He was currently in the backroom of the store when his co-worker came in.

"Jin, you're up next!"

A beautiful girl said, giving Jin a nod.

With each strut, her long blonde hair swayed, and her vibrant green eyes shined with an innocent glimmer.

But this girl was far from innocent; she constantly teased Jin, often joking with him about being a virgin.

After working with her for about 3 months now, he's used to it. And honestly, they've become decent friends. Jin finds himself chatting with her casually and texting her even on off days.

Jin couldn't tell his feelings for her; she was beautiful, quite curvy even, but he found her annoying sometimes. But the times when she wasn't annoying, she seemed genuine. Jin also was a bit of a coward. Not the type to run from a fight or allow others to walk over him, but the type to confess about his feelings.

And if he felt that way about other girls, he felt the cowardly curse increase for a girl like her. "What if she has a boyfriend?" 'She probably has a boyfriend.' "Would she like me?" 'She doesn't like me.' "Should I ask her out?" 'She'll reject me.'

He constantly overthinks, deciding not to take the initiative and just go for it. 

"Break ended so damn fast..." He said as he stood up.

She crossed her arms as she flopped down into the same chair Jin had just removed himself from.

"Well, good. I need my break as well." 

Jin looked at her. Today was a normal day, a day where he would go home to lie down and do nothing.

Swallowing his fear, he looked at her.

"Huh? What...? Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, confused by Jin's sudden pause and stare.

"Scarlet, wanna hang out with me after work?" He pushed out his words quickly, trying hard not to stutter or to look like a complete idiot.

She paused, looking at him with a "Seriously?" look.

She then scoffed silently, "I- Well...this is so sudden...I don't think I have plans...?"

Jin's eyes brightened slightly. 'Perhaps she won't reject the offer?'

"Sure, Jin. Just don't be boring; I like exciting guys."

Quickly responding to her answer, "Sure! I'll be sure not to be boring..!"

After asking Scarlet out to hang out, he now stood back behind the counter, ready for work once more.

'I thought she'd reject me instantly, but she agreed...'

Jin is by no means an ugly guy, he's just average. He has clear-cut potential, but he remains as he is. Perhaps it's due to his dark, uncut hair that's meaninglessly scattered over his eyes, or the slump of his shoulders, or even his outfit, but he knows he could look better.

After a long day of work, he was ready to close up. He opened the back room door, finding Scarlet asleep.

Tapping on her gently, he tries to wake her up.

She jolts awake, looking up at him as she stretches her limbs.

"What?" She says in a groggy manner.

"I'm closing up..."

"Oh...alright, uh...thanks for waking me up."

After closing up, he stood next to her, right in front of the store.

He slowly moved his gaze toward the left of himself, where she stood.

"So uh-"

A bright light then flashed quickly to the side of his face.

He snapped his head to turn his eyes to the semi-transparent blue panel floating before his face. He stared in a daze, confused.

He broke his staring to turn to Scarlet, seeing she was also acting the same way, reaching her hand out to touch air.

After his years of web novel reading, he understood it completely: a system.

[Welcome player #999,999.]

[You have been chosen to participate in a game.]

[You will be transported alongside all the other players to a new world.]

[All you have to do is reach the end of the game and become the #1 player.]

[Rewards for completion: A wish of your choice, capable of anything. Your powers will remain with you even as you return to Earth or remain in the other world. Your name will be set in stone of both the system and the other world.]

[Be aware. Strength is authority. Weakness is death. Do not hesitate to get your way through bizarre means, whether morally right or wrong. The System wishes you and all 1,000,000 players well.]

Quickly, Jin and Scarlet turned to one another.

"Y-You have it too?"

Scarlet nodded. "Yeah..."

Jin smiled in defeat to himself. 

'And just when I had went and got a date...'

He saw both his and Scarlet's bodies glowing brightly as he read the final system message.

[Now transporting...]