Cosmic Mercenary System
Jae-hyun's life was a series of disappointments. At 25, he was living in a cramped studio apartment in Seoul, surrounded by empty energy drink cans and rejection letters. His parents' hushed conversations about his "failure" echoed in his mind every time he scrolled through job listings. A computer science degree from a decent university meant nothing in a job market that seemed increasingly impossible to break into.
The night everything changed started like any other - with instant ramen, job applications, and a growing sense of hopelessness. The old computer his grandfather had left him sat in the corner, a constant reminder of past expectations. When Jae-hyun accidentally activated the strange artifact hidden inside, he wasn't hoping for a miracle. He was just trying to distract himself from another sleepless night of anxiety.
Suddenly, everything changed.
The Cosmic Mercenary Network wasn't a dream or an escape. It was brutal, unforgiving, and terrifyingly real. Jae-hyun wasn't a hero - he was a scared young man thrown into a universe that didn't care about his dreams or his past. The M-CORE system that bonded with him wasn't a magical solution, but a demanding partner that pushed him to his absolute limits.
His first missions were desperate attempts to survive. Each contract was a mix of terror and hope - a chance to prove himself, to become something more than the failure he felt he was back on Earth. He wasn't instantly powerful. He was clumsy, afraid, making mistakes that could cost him everything.
But slowly, something changed. The system that once felt like a burden became a lifeline. His programming skills - once seemingly useless - became his greatest weapon. The shy, anxious young man from Seoul began to transform, not into a perfect hero, but into someone resilient, someone who could adapt and survive.
Yet, the universe held deeper secrets. The artifact that brought him here was more than just a random chance. It was connected to a conspiracy that could destroy entire civilizations. And Jae-hyun realized that his journey was about more than personal survival - it was about finding a purpose bigger than his own fears.
From the cramped rooms of a struggling young professional to the vast, unforgiving expanses of space, Jae-hyun's story is about something universal: the moment when a person decides they're worth more than the limitations others - and they themselves - have placed on them.