Chapter 1: The Beginning of a New Path

  Jeon Seong walked down the street, each step as dull as the last. He was an orphan, and life had become a never-ending routine. Day after day—school, home, loneliness. Everything repeated again and again. Sometimes, he felt trapped in an endless cycle with no escape.

  On his way home, he noticed a group of guys lingering in the shadow of an alley. Local thugs. Jeon Seong recognized them but decided not to get involved. He wasn’t a coward—he just avoided unnecessary trouble. He kept walking, like always.

  But they noticed him.

  “Hey, stop!” one of them shouted, stepping into his path. Jeon Seong tried to walk past, ignoring them, but the thug continued, “Are you deaf or what? Hand over your money!”

  Jeon Seong felt his nerves tighten. He was tired of this. How many times had this happened before?

  "How long is this going to keep happening?" he thought. His hand moved instinctively to the side, ready to strike. They hadn’t expected him to fight back.

  He didn’t waste time with words. With one swift motion, he grabbed a knife from one of the punks and threw him aside. A quick spin, another blow—one of them dropped to the ground before he could react.

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  The third guy, enraged, pulled out a knife and charged. Jeon Seong turned just in time and counterattacked several times, but then pain pierced his side—the knife had found its mark. He cursed under his breath but didn’t stop. He had no choice.

  “Damn it...” he muttered as his strength started to fade. And then, a strange screen appeared before him:

  You have been chosen as a candidate for the Game.

  Do you accept?

  What was this? A hallucination? He didn’t care anymore.

  "Whatever," he whispered. And then everything went black.

  When Jeon Seong woke up, the world around him was completely different. He was lying on dark soil under an unfamiliar sky. He tried to make sense of it, but nothing added up. Where was he? And why was his name now Ryoek?

  The screen appeared again:

  ---

  Name: Ryoek

  Stats:

  Strength: 1

  Agility: 1

  Endurance: 1

  Intelligence: 1

  Wisdom: 1

  ---

  He stared at it blankly, not understanding what any of it meant. It all felt like a nightmare. But there was no time to think—something was moving in the forest. He heard rustling—fast, heavy movement and growling. Wolves. A pack of fast, powerful beasts with glowing yellow eyes.

  Jeon Seong realized that if he didn’t do something, he’d die. He ran. Pain exploded in his side. He tore through the trees, but one of the wolves was already close. It bit into his leg, and he screamed in pain. He kicked and struggled, but his strength was fading.

  And then he saw it—a small cabin in the distance. He rushed toward it with everything he had, knowing he couldn’t last much longer. The wolves closed in. But just as he reached the door, it opened.

  An old man stood there. He looked ancient, but his eyes burned with power and fury. Ryoek froze. This man was different. He stood silently, watching the wolves. Then, with a single motion, he raised his staff and swung it.

  In an instant, the wolves collapsed—like puppets whose strings had been cut. Not a single unnecessary movement. A lower-level shift.

  The old man said nothing. He simply tu

  rned to Ryoek—

  and darkness swallowed him once more.