South Korea, Present Day.
Tuesday. 9:47 PM.
Convenience Store No. 24, Near Donghwa Apartments.
Kang Joon-Ho, seventeen years old, part-time floor cleaner, full-time school zombie, was locked in an intense battle with a mop.
The mop was losing.
Unfortunately, so was his dignity.
"Yah, Joon-Ho! You missed a spot near the milk fridge!" his manager shouted from behind the counter, without looking up from his phone. "If someone slips, we'll be on the news — again!"
Joon-Ho sighed. He wore a bright green apron, a name tag he lost three days ago, and sneakers soaked with banana milk. This was his fourth shift this week, and he had three more coming.
"At least I'm getting paid," he muttered.
Except… he wasn't. His paycheck barely covered bus fare, school lunch, and the occasional fried chicken night when his father got tips from driving the night shift.
Home wasn't bad, just... basic.
His father was a bus driver who treated the steering wheel like a joystick.
His mother thought sleep was for weak people who didn't clean.
And his little sister, Soo-Min, was a 15-year-old certified gremlin who ate chips like a squirrel and watched webtoons like it was a full-time job.
Joon-Ho didn't complain, though. His family loved each other. They just didn't have much. Which was why he was here — mopping banana milk under harsh fluorescent lights while listening to an automated announcement say, "Please enjoy our new spicy fish triangle kimbap!"
"Enjoy, my foot," he muttered. "Even the kimbap has more exciting plans than me."
And just then—
It happened.
Ding.
A soft, melodic chime echoed inside his skull.
> [SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
Hello, Kang Joon-Ho.
You have been selected as the sole user of the Abandoned Star Gold System™.
Would you like to begin?
"…What?"
Joon-Ho looked around. The store was empty except for a sleeping man drooling near the ramen aisle and a cat trying to steal fish cake through the sliding door crack.
No one else reacted. No mysterious voices, no sparkling lights, no hidden camera crew yelling, "Surprise!"
Yet right in front of him, floating in the air — was a glowing blue screen.
> [Begin System?] YES / NO
"What is this?" he whispered. "Did I eat expired kimbap again?"
He poked the air where the screen hovered.
It didn't pop or disappear.
It shimmered — like it was waiting.
> Choose: YES / NO
Disclaimer: This is not a prank. Probably.
Joon-Ho blinked. "Uh… yes?"
The moment he said it, the mop in his hand vanished.
So did the floor.
And the walls.
And the fish cake-stealing cat.
---
Somewhere… Very, Very Far Away
With a pop, Joon-Ho found himself falling about two inches onto solid reddish dirt.
He looked around, blinking like a dazed penguin.
There were no buildings.
No people.
No sky, no sun — just a soft pale light from above and a breeze so light it could be a shy ghost whispering.
The place looked like Mars… if Mars had glitter.
The rocks sparkled.
The soil shimmered.
He squinted at a nearby wall.
"…Is that gold?"
> [Welcome to the Gold Star™]
Congratulations! You have arrived at a completely abandoned, habitable planet filled with natural gold veins.
You are the only person in the universe who can access this location.
Creatures: None
Threats: None
Wi-Fi: Also none
Extraction Limit: 1 kilogram of gold per day
Would you like to begin extraction?
"…This is a scam," Joon-Ho whispered. "Right? I'm on some weird VR prank show. I'm going to be on YouTube."
> [Nope. This is real.]
He reached out and touched the glowing yellow metal vein nearby. It felt cool. Smooth. Heavy.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
> [Beginner Tier Activated]
Extracting 1kg of raw gold…
With a puff, a golden brick appeared in front of him, like a microwave had summoned it.
> Estimated Value: ₩98,000,000
Please don't lick it.
He didn't faint.
Mostly because he was too confused to even process passing out.
"…I just got rich. In space. Inside a banana milk mop break."
---
Five Minutes Later, Back on Earth
"Joon-HO!!"
Joon-Ho blinked and found himself holding a mop again. The glowing screen was gone. The gold brick — still in his backpack, carefully zipped under his science textbook.
"What?" he said, trying to sound normal.
His manager huffed, pointing at the spill.
"You missed a whole streak near the soy sauce bottles! Get it together, man! Are you daydreaming about becoming a millionaire again?"
Joon-Ho smiled slowly. "Something like that."
He dipped the mop, humming softly.
A quiet voice in his head whispered:
> [Daily teleport: 23 hours remaining]
---
To Be Continued…