The next morning, I entered North Gangbuk High as a different entity. The extra height had shifted my center of gravity, but my body had already adapted. I walked through the halls, and the "noise" of the students seemed to dim as the purple interface flickered back to life.
[ The Tutorial Quest has been created. ]
[ Reward: Gold Card x1, Silver Card x1. ]
I was a tall, silent shadow moving through the crowd. Suddenly, three boys—the only three who had consistently hung around me despite my lack of personality—bounded over. One of them, a loud-mouthed boy named Sangho, slapped me on the back.
"Whoa, Choyun! Did you hit a growth spurt overnight or something? You look like you're towering over us!"
"You scared me," I said. My voice was flat, my face a mask of stone.
They paused, then erupted into laughter. "You 'scared' me? Man, you say the words but you didn't Even change your expression! You're such a weirdo, Choyun!"
I ignored their laughter. My eyes were fixed on the screen that they couldn't see.
A Gold Card. A Silver Card. I needed those. If a simple apology gave me height, what would a Gold Card give me? I was obsessed with the potential for optimization.
As I turned the corner of the hallway, my shoulder collided with someone. The impact was significant. A girl stumbled back, her books fluttering to the floor like wounded birds.
It was Yeon Seohee. [ Image Here ]
The hallway, which had been a roar of teenagers, suddenly went silent. Seohee wasn't just a student; she was the most coveted girl in the grade, and her temper was a known hazard. Every eye in the corridor turned to us. "Isn't that the Class 3 President?" someone hissed. "He just slammed into Seohee!"
I didn't look at her. I was looking at the purple text that had just appeared.
[ Tutorial Quest: Kiss Yeon Seohee (0/1) ]
[ Reward: Gold Card x1, Silver Card x1 ]
I processed the request. To a human, this was an act of social suicide or extreme romance. To me, it was a quest parameter. The reward was high-tier; therefore, the action was mandatory.
"What are you mumbling about, you freak?" Seohee snapped, her face turning a deep, angry red. "Do you even know who I—"
I didn't let her finish. I moved forward. It wasn't a kiss of passion; it was a kiss for Quest and it's Reward . I grabbed her shoulders with a strong grip and pressed my lips against hers.
The sound in the hallway vanished. It was as if someone had cut the power to the world. I could feel Seohee's body go rigid with absolute, paralyzed shock. I kept my eyes open, watching the progress bar on the System. One second. Two. Three.
[ Quest Completed! ]
[ Congratulations. You have received Gold Card x1 and Silver Card x1. ]
[ Would you like to open them? ]
Before my mind could even register the "Yes," a shadow fell over me.
WHAM.
A fist the size of a brick slammed into the side of my head. The force was enough to lift me off my feet. I crashed into the lockers, the metal groaning as my spine hit the edge. My vision blurred into a kaleidoscope of purple sparks and red blood.
"You fucker! How dare you!"
Myeonghoo Jin stood over me, his chest heaving like a bellows. He was the school's top fighter, a brute who had claimed Seohee as his own in his mind long ago. He looked like he wanted to tear my head from my shoulders.
[ Main Quest has been created! ]
[ Main Quest: First Fight – Myeonghoo Jin (0/1) ]
[ Reward: Silver Card x2, Bronze Card x1 ]
I tried to stand. My internal logic was screaming—I've spent my entire life studying.
I don't know anything about fighting, and I've never done any kind of physical training or workout.. I had never learned how to throw a punch.
"Wait," I tried to say, but Myeonghoo didn't do "waiting."
He lunged forward, his knee driving into my solar plexus with the force of a battering ram. The air left my lungs in a silent wheeze. He grabbed my hair, snapping my head back, and delivered a brutal uppercut to my chin. I felt my jaw hinge pop. My teeth clattered together, and I tasted iron.
"Stop him! He's going to kill Choyun!" my friends screamed, but they were paralyzed by Myeonghoo's aura.They were just regular school kids
not fighters trained or used to violence.
Seohee, recovering from her shock, wasn't crying. She was screaming in a pure, unadulterated rage.
"Kill him! Myeonghoo, kill that disgusting nerd! Make him regret ever touching me!"
Myeonghoo didn't need the encouragement. He rained blows down on me—kicks to the ribs that I felt snap, punches to the temple that made my brain rattle in its skull. I fell to the floor, my blood staining the polished linoleum.
I cannot win this, my mind calculated. The gap in physical stats is too wide. The System... I failed the timing...
Myeonghoo delivered a final, crushing kick to my chest, pinning me against the lockers one last time. I felt my heart give a sharp, agonizing lurch. The stress of the System integration, the physical trauma, and the sudden adrenaline were too much for Choyun's biological heart.
Flatline.
The pain suddenly vanished. It was replaced by a heavy, grey coldness. I could hear the muffled screams of the students, the sound of someone running toward us. I felt a hand on my neck—the only one brave enough to check but it's already too late .
"He... he's not breathing!" Sechan's voice was a frantic echo. "There's no heartbeat! Get the doctor! GET THE DOCTOR!"