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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Customizing Room (1)
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000. Even So, Still Human.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Unique Trait: Customizing Room has been activated!] [You can customize your body!] ⚙ CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS ⚙ — Sword Demon Ma Ilcheon's right arm — Great Archmage Belshutein's mana veins — Holy Knight Abel's left arm — Ruin Dragon Kaisir's heart — Great Demon Beelzebub's eye
"...."
It felt like I was drifting further and further away from the "human" category.
001. Customizing Room (1)
After knocking back a drink with his friends, they stopped by a PC bang.
"Hey! Get in here already!"
"Ugh, he's at it again."
His friends showered him with complaints, but Kim Gunja didn't stop what he was doing.
No, he even took another swig.
"You guys start without me. This'll be quick."
His friends burst into hollow laughter.
They weren't the type to misunderstand what "quick" meant coming from a guy who had only just started customizing.
Twenty years of friendship from elementary through high school wasn't for nothing.
"Hey, come on, we'll just play without you."
"Yeah. It's not like this is the first time."
It was a swift judgment born from past experience.
"Man, he always obsesses over something trivial."
"Nah, it's important. Super important."
Even as he shot back at his friend, Kim Gunja's eyes never left the monitor.
One meticulous stroke at a time.
Like Michelangelo adding the final flourish to the Creation of Adam.
An indescribable aura, something akin to madness, emanated from Kim Gunja as he carefully manipulated the mouse.
His friend watching from the side shuddered.
Ugh, that psycho.
Kim Gunja.
The guy had always been a die-hard customizing nut, from back then to now.
#
"Ah, that was fun."
As they left the PC bang, Kim Gunja's words made his friends laugh in disbelief.
"Dude, you spent two hours straight customizing and that's what's fun?"
Customizing.
Or "cuma" for short.
The term generally referred to players tweaking their character's appearance to their liking.
"You guys don't get it. That's the best part."
"Yeah, right."
"For real."
He meant it.
If it wasn't fun, no one could stick with the ultimate repetitive task of customizing for that long.
"Hey, but this guy's characters always look badass, right?"
"Gotta give him that."
They all nodded.
Before leaving the PC bang, they'd seen the character Kim Gunja made and were blown away.
They'd even let out audible "whoas."
The commotion drew curious glances from other patrons, some of whom gasped in shock.
"The shop owner begged for the seed, even offered cash. That says it all."
"I was shocked when he whipped out real money."
Well, yeah.
But he turned it down flat.
He wasn't about to let his handcrafted masterpiece become mass-produced factory fodder.
"Golden hands, man. Must be nice playing games like that."
"Pfft. What's the point? The guy's playtime never even hits ten hours."
"Seriously. Wasted potential on the character."
Kim Gunja shrugged at his friends' words.
"Told you. That's what I enjoy most."
Playing with a meticulously crafted character was fun, sure—but the customizing itself brought even more joy. It was only natural.
"You're one weird dude."
"Fourth-dimensional."
"Anyway. When are you gonna tell us about your girlfriend?"
"Huh?"
Kim Gunja's eyes widened at the question.
"Why so surprised? You came out flashing that ring and all."
That's when he realized the misunderstanding.
"Oh, this is…"
Before he could finish, another friend chimed in.
"Don't dodge it, man. We've been waiting for a 29-year solo like you to finally spill about the ring. And you still haven't."
"Yeah, dude. Who's the girl? Someone we know?"
"Seol-ah? Hee-jung? Besides your mom, those are the only chicks you know, Gunja."
"No need to ask. It's Seol-ah. Seol-ah. I had a hunch."
"See? I told you. Last time…"
They were getting all excited among themselves.
"A baby sparrow brought it to me."
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Various reactions, but the meaning was the same.
We have no idea what you're talking about, so explain, buddy.
Despite looking different, their faces mirrored the exact same expression. Kim Gunja couldn't help but laugh.
"Remember that stormy day? I picked up a baby sparrow that had fallen to the ground."
"Yeah, you took it to the vet."
Luckily, it was just mild malnutrition. He'd nursed it at home for a month before releasing it.
He'd snapped a photo of the release and shared it in their group chat, so everyone knew.
"Then yesterday evening, while jogging, a sparrow started chirping like crazy. At first, I ignored it, but it kept following me. Weird, right? So I stopped, and it dropped this ring right in front of me. That's when I realized it was that one."
His friends' eyes went wide.
"Whoa."
"Wow."
"No way."
"A sparrow repaying a favor? Never thought I'd live to see…"
"Dude! You psycho! Why didn't you tell us about something this wild sooner?!"
"Yeah."
"I was gonna bring it up at drinks. But don't you remember what news you guys dropped today?"
His friends exchanged glances.
"Huh? News?"
"You mean Byunghoon getting a kid and becoming a dad for the first time?"
"Nah, Jintae finally getting his parents' blessing for marriage after five years was bigger."
"Giyun's folks getting back together after ten years was huge too."
"Hangil reconciling with his dad over taking over the family business was pretty big…"
"All of it! All of it! With all that news dumping at once, you think I'd remember some minor thing?! You all forgot too!"
The guys looked at each other and snickered.
"Well…"
"Fair point."
"Everyone brought good news today, weirdly enough."
"Maybe… we all got blessed by that sparrow too?"
"Yeah. Stuff like this happening all at once? Rare."
Not wrong.
They'd all pitched in to help nurse the baby sparrow.
They'd sent liquid food, cat salmon cans, tips on keeping it warm—everything.
"Science majors believing in folk tales? Insane."
"…Literally kill all humanities majors."
The laughter grew louder.
Living in the same neighborhood, they strolled down the alley chatting away.
A pleasant buzz, cool night air.
Heading home with lifelong friends—it was perfect.
#
"Huh?"
Byunghoon stopped walking.
"What?"
"Isn't that guy over there S-Rank Hunter Kang Inhyeok?"
Hunter.
The term for those who hunted monsters, humanity's enemies.
Kang Inhyeok belonged to the Hero Guild, top-ranked in the country, and at just 21, his skills and looks had earned him tons of fans.
"Whoa… for real?"
Under the yellow streetlight.
A blond man in a suit, talking to a middle-aged guy in a suit—definitely a familiar face.
"My niece is a huge Kang Inhyeok fan."
"What kinda day is today?"
"Hey, let's go get an autograph!"
His friends got hyped.
One autograph, and they'd be the cool uncles in a flash.
"Um, hello. Are you Kang Inhyeok by any chance?"
"If it's not too much trouble, could we get a quick autograph? My niece is a massive fan!"
The moment Kang Inhyeok turned, Kim Gunja felt off.
What was it?
Unlike the bright hero image from TV, this guy seemed rough. Dark, even.
His friends didn't notice, but Kim Gunja, attuned to expressions and character vibes, found it jarringly off.
Guess that's just the TV persona.
That's what he thought.
Until Kang Inhyeok let out a chuckle.
"My mood was already shit, and here you are. Speak of the devil, huh?"
"...Pardon?"
His friends flinched at the crude words.
The suited middle-aged man sighed and intervened.
"Sorry about this. An autograph might be tough right now…"
"Bullshit. Who the hell are you to decide?"
"…Mr. Kang Inhyeok. The Guild Master asked you not to cause any more incidents."
"Shut your trap. Do your job right. Cleanup—that's your role, isn't it?"
"...."
The vibe turned weird.
Kim Gunja and his friends weren't idiots.
"Ah… no worries. It happens."
"Yeah… sorry for the bother."
Not thrilled, but no need to escalate. They started to back off quietly.
"Nah, leaving empty-handed would suck. One each okay?"
His friends exchanged looks at Kang Inhyeok's words.
The sudden shift was odd, but free autograph? Why refuse?
"Well, if you're cool with it, Hunter sir. Haha! Great fan service… Gahk!"
Hallucination? Illusion?
Didn't matter.
Byunghoon's face—the face of a new dad—caving in was that surreal.
"B-Byunghoon?!"
"What the hell, you psycho!"
Kang Inhyeok licked the blood from his hand, flashing a creepy grin.
"You've worked society, right, uncles? You know nothing's free. One punch per autograph? Bargain."
"You bastard…! Mmph!"
Kang Inhyeok clamped Jintae's mouth shut.
"Shh. Don't be tacky. Let's enjoy quietly, yeah? Non-Awakeners are always so low-class. Heh."
It happened in a flash.
Crack!
"...!"
Jintae's leg—the one he'd walk down the aisle with—twisted unnaturally.
Snap-crack!
Hangil's fingers, set to inherit the family business, snapped like twigs.
Crunch!
Giyun's jaw and teeth shattered, his smile from his parents' reunion gone.
His friends rolled on the ground like broken mannequins, unable even to scream.
"Grr…! Yeah! Human flesh hits different from monsters. Stress? Gone!"
Regret crossed Kang Inhyeok's childishly gleeful face.
Only one intact toy left.
Kim Gunja moved desperately.
Searching for the best he could do.
But,
"Not a bad try."
It didn't faze Kang Inhyeok.
Crunch!
The phone Kim Gunja pulled out shattered in his grip.
When…?
Invisible. The approach, the snatch.
A civilian like Kim Gunja was nothing to an S-Rank Hunter.
"Nice expression. Don't look so hard done by. Be honored. A lowly non-Awakener helping an Awakener like this? Yeah?"
Kang Inhyeok. No hero.
A psychopath drunk on chosen-one delusions.
Grind-crunch!
As his right arm pulped raw, Kim Gunja cursed the world.
The world that gave power to that maniac.
And himself.
His powerlessness, just watching his friends suffer.
The perfect day turned nightmare.
By one man's whim.
Once Kang Inhyeok left, the middle-aged man sighed and made a call.
The unconscious Kim Gunja and friends were discreetly transported to a Hero Guild hospital.
#
In the dim hospital room post-emergency surgery.
Only faint breaths.
Then, a subtle, very subtle blue glow leaked out.
From the ring in Kim Gunja's belongings basket.
He was out cold, but the ring silently conveyed its will.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Owner's desperate wish received.] [Analyzing owner's traits…] [Unique Trait: Customizing Room has been activated!]