"I want meat. Yawn~ hm?"
You know, when you wake up, the senses that usually get triggered are touch and smell. It's weird. Normally, my bed sheet and blanket never feel this lavish. The softness should've lulled me back to sleep, and the fresh scent should've made me feel at ease, but instead, I totally freaked out.
Next came my vision, and when I saw that unfamiliar ceiling, I became more panicked. I jumped up like I'd just dreamed about falling off a cliff. Then I looked around at this strange bedroom.
"Where the heck am- shit!"
First of all, I just got hit by a car, and this definitely isn't a hospital!
Second, I'm alive and somehow someone brought me here without my consent.
Call me dramatic, but that reaction was totally justified. If someone's saying crap like I need to calm down, that's already a red flag telling me I should run for my life.
The neat, fancy apartment looks like something straight out of Dexter. This is exactly how things start in serial killer movies and I'm glad I'm not one of those dumbass characters who waste their first five minutes feeding their curiosity instead of running away.
Following my instincts, I finally found my way to the front door and tried to get out of the killer apartment. Still, should I take the elevator or the stairs? While I was thinking about it, I spotted a woman with a blonde bob pressing the elevator button, so I ran toward her.
"Excuse me!"
The woman glanced at me, slightly startled. She frowned and covered her nose with a handkerchief.
"Sorry?"
"Yes, yes! Can you call the police for me? I was—"
I stopped when she took a step back. Her eyes darted up and down, and that's when I realized I was wearing nothing but boxers. But wait a second, why does my body look so much smaller?
"Hey, kid."
I looked back at her. She stared at me with a suspicious expression, like she was dealing with some creep.
"You look like a high schooler to me, so I'll let it slide this time. Next time I see you like this, I won't hold back."
"It's a misunderstanding! This might sound crazy, but..."
Hold up. How am I speaking Korean when I don't even know a word beyond Kim Jong-un?
Then I glanced to the side. In the reflection of the elevator door, I saw myself or rather, someone else. A guy wearing only boxers, about 5'4" (165 cm), pale skin, skinny build. A decent-looking face, black curly bowl-cut hair, and brown eyes behind round glasses. He looked pretty young, maybe a teenager.
But who?
I was then distracted by the sound of the elevator as it opened sideways. The woman beside me sighed, walked inside, then looked back at me.
"Goodbye—hm?"
Her eyes widened as if she suddenly realized something. Maybe she forgot to lock her apartment or left something behind. I looked up. The digital display showed the elevator quickly descending from the 30th floor to somewhere around the 25th, then 17th. Poor her.
"Still, she's hot as fuck."
I've met plenty of women like her before, ones I'll probably never see again. Though, weirdly enough, she felt familiar somehow like I'd seen her somewhere before, but I couldn't prove it.
However, one thing I could prove was that I was really dead and somehow reincarnated or transmig- uh just whatever it was, I become this nerd. That's the only reasonable explanation for how I could suddenly speak Korean or wake up in this apartment.
"I got isekai'd after getting hit by a Mustang? Shit's crazy." I chuckled to myself.
"Wait!"
"HOLY JES—"
"Ow! I'm really sorry for being rude!"
That freaked me out! The voice came from behind me and when I turned around, the same woman who had just taken the elevator was suddenly there again. Then the door behind her flapped open, revealing the stairs, before slowly closing again.
I glanced back at her.
She seemed… perfectly fine.
"This is the 30th floor…" I muttered.
She tilted her head. "Oh yeah, I ran back up as soon as the elevator stopped at fifteen—anyway!"
She walked up to me with a serious expression, tapped my shoulder, then leaned in close until her nose was practically in my hair. Then she started sniffing... me? The heck?
"Excuse me?"
Miss, have some shame, will you? Just how obvious can you be sniffing someone's head like that? A little common sense, please.
"Oh my god, you're not stinky!"
"..."
Bruh.
Even if this world turns out to be a romantic comedy anime, who starts it like that? I just reincarnated for god shake!
"Hey, are you a hunter?"
"What?"
"Yeah, hunter. If you're not, maybe you're recently awakened?"
Asking that right after sniffing someone would absolutely count as harassment if the roles were reversed. Thank God my pettiness is low, or else I'd sue her for sexual harassment. But honestly, that'd just be a waste of my time.
Still though.
I couldn't help but stare, completely dumbfounded with these terms.
Hunter? Awakened?
"Wait…" I said, half laughing. "Hunter? Awakened?"
"Yeah, I thought... hah.... nevermind. Cough, cough!"
In the end, it seemed like her post-embarrassment was kicking in. That fake cough was clearly just bullshit to hide her red face, which practically screamed how foolish she felt.
Ultimately, I still need to get my shit together. Those words... hunter, awakener... sound like something out of an eighth grader's fantasy novel. But this woman said them with a straight face.
A world where people talk about hunters and awakeners… a woman who sprinted to the 30th floor like it was nothing… a sensitive nose.
I have a bad feeling about this.
"Sorry for that. It's been a while since I smelled something goo—kuhum! I mean, since I've felt this way. A-ah, just forget it. I'm Cha Hae-in. Are you a new tenant?"
Cha Hae-in.
Sure, sure. I knew it. It all makes sense now. Total heroine energy.
"I'm…"
Who am I now?
[Ding!]
[Dear Player, Takakura Ken.]
[Congratulations on clearing your first quest!]
[You have cleared the quest: Let Cha Hae-in smell you.]
[Reward: 1x SR Gacha Pull, and 500 Achievement Points.]
Gacha? Achievement points?
Oh shit. My bad feeling turned out to be right. I think I know exactly where this is going.