#7
‘Stat Window’
As I voiced the thoughts I’d been holding in, a system window materialized above the dark void. It was the same stat window I’d become sick of seeing while playing Elix.
[Dosehyeon (Pre-Awakening) Race: Human LV.1 Rank: E]
-Type: None
-Attribute: None
-Stamina: 8/8
-Mana: 7/7
-Attack Power: 6
-Defense: 5
[Skills]
-None
There was nothing. Plus, no type or attribute. Apparently, this was the penalty for not having awakened—it seemed to mean just that. In other words, it was a disadvantageous condition of having to survive with only the weak traits of a human being.
I would be killed on the spot if I entered a dungeon and encountered a monster in this state.
Baek Dohyun was a problem, but so was Lee Jaeyoung, who didn’t seem inclined to reveal any intent to awaken either. If the three of us were tied as a team, it was practically a guarantee of total annihilation.
Sehyeon dismissed the stat window and closed his eyes again. He didn’t want to think any more complicated thoughts, not when just today’s events were enough to cause a fever. Will things improve tomorrow? Or will he wake up laughing because all this was just a dream?
Why had this happened? Only sighs came forth without any answers. Yet, everything still felt unreal, as if not fully accepting what had befallen him. Whether this misty place even existed, why he had been summoned here, and what he was supposed to fight—all of it failed to register as reality.
He struggled to suppress the tears welling at the sight of Lee Jaeyoung, who fell asleep clutching his own clothes. For some reason, the red portal left behind in the white space continued to nag at him.
What should I do? As the repetition of that question plagued him, Sehyeon drifted off to sleep unknowingly. Tears pooled at his eyes, trembling, but they never fell.
***
“…What is this?”
Barely conscious, Sehyeon blinked his eyes and strained to focus on what lay before him. Yet he couldn’t quite make out the object. Eventually, he realized that his body wouldn’t move and recognized the object as a wall.
The realization that he had been sleeping merged with the wall, coupled with a sigh the moment he became aware. Moreover, someone seemed to be pressing on his back with their foot, rendering him immobile. Only after he wriggled free was Sehyeon able to identify the source of this terrible circumstance.
The first culprit was Kwak Junghan. Pushed by Kwak Junghan’s bulk, Lee Jaeyoung became the second culprit. It seemed that Lee Jaeyoung, having lost his spot to Kwak Junghan, pushed Sehyeon away to survive, albeit rather rudely. Not only did he push with his foot but he also attempted suffocation.
It didn’t make sense why both of them would choose his spot among many options, yet as he watched the two of them soundly sleeping and even snoring, he found himself unable to be truly angry.
“…Should I threaten them to expand the house a bit?”
Would they even agree to expand it if I asked? After all, they must have given us this space with the intent to make us suffer, or they would not have crammed four of us in here. In the end, Sehyeon could only shake his head with a grimace.
Amidst all this, Baek Dohyun, who had commandeered a spacious spot all to himself, seemed enviably complacent. Sehyeon thought about asking to switch places, but feeling thirsty, he decided to get up instead.
The sliver of light leaking through the door gap suggested that dawn had broken some time ago.
As he stepped outside, the refreshing morning air filled his lungs. After a deep breath, Sehyeon stretched and walked toward the well located in the village’s common ground.
Drawing water and drinking from a wooden ladle, his mind cleared instantaneously from the icy cold. After quenching his thirst, Sehyeon sat on the well’s edge to survey the village. Thatched huts closely huddled amidst the fog left an impression.
It seemed everyone was still asleep, as there was no sight of anyone around. The village was enveloped in dense fog that obscured visibility. Whether Bilwill did it on purpose or not, it was undeniably a place difficult for enemies to find.
The clear air helped bring reality into perspective. The air in Seoul had never been this good. It wasn’t this quiet; it was more common to smell sewage than the damp scent of nature. There hadn’t been such calm leisure to clear his head in quite some time.
Eventually, a primitive being, a village original, meandered out and began climbing the small platform in the center of the village. Judging by its figure, it was the village’s head honcho. It awkwardly climbed to the platform, where a big bell was located, and began to strike it with a hefty hammer.
Not long after, people started to emerge as if something major had occurred. The same happened to Sehyeon’s hut.
“What, what is this?”
“What’s going on?!”
“Is something happening? Huh?”
Sehyeon watched the group of people emerge from the sidelines as he sat on the well’s edge. Mostly men, but there were some women in the mix, though no more than about ten in total—a stark minority compared to the total population.
Elix was a game that valued realistic character descriptions over cutesy graphics, one where you couldn’t choose your character. The characters selected were mostly those with appearances like Australopithecus, just like Kim Gap-joon, to the point where it was a joke that if one got a human character model, they were considered lucky. This could be said to be Elix’s fatal flaw.
It wasn’t entirely because of that, but for some reason, the game had low accessibility for female players. The women here might likely have been players who tried out the game out of curiosity but left when it didn’t suit them. Of course, that might not be the case.
Among the top 10 rankers in the world of Elix, there were two female players. Even considering the ratio of 10%, it was an achievement worth exclaiming about.
“Hyung! When did you come out? I freaked out since you weren’t there when I woke up…!”
Lee Jaeyoung was running toward him from afar, his face ashen with worry. The sight made Sehyeon feel a bit guilty for sneaking out without waking him. Following behind was Kwak Junghan, equally pale… well, he was naturally pale.
“I got thirsty and came out early.”
“Are you okay, hyung? No… how did you sleep? The, the space was… did I perhaps kick you…?”
“Sehyeon, I’m really sorry, truly sorry. I must have been out of my mind in my sleep.”
“It’s alright. These things happen in your sleep… Jaeyoung, I’m really fine. I slept well, I mean it.”
It seemed both had rushed out the moment they woke up, worried. Both had taken over someone else’s spot and slept crammed to one side, so their feelings were understandable.
Leaving everything aside, seeing Baek Dohyun lazily strolling over while yawning, Sehyeon decided he was the true winner. As he contemplated asking to swap sleeping spots, a primitive being, resembling Australopithecus and the one who had called the people together with the bell, began to gather them around the platform.
“Everyone, head towards the platform.”
As people moved without knowing the reason, Sehyeon too stood up and followed. Approaching the platform, they saw Kim Gap-joon, who had assumed the role of the village chief, already standing on it wearing a green garment, a symbol of his position.
“Everyone, wipe those eye boogers away and look at me. Let’s make it swift, folks.”
While people clumsily brushed their faces and straightened themselves, Kim Gap-joon, hands behind his back, wore a nonchalant expression. When they seemed presentable, he pulled in his protruding chin and belly and stepped before the crowd.
“I’ll only say this once, so listen good, and if any of you ask again later, you’ll get a good spanking. To start, the food procurement teams will be divided into 3 groups, assigned for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It will be on a rotation—y’all know what rotation means, right? Same goes for the other teams, so engrave that in your minds.”
A rotation that’ll freeze to death… It must be ‘rotation’. In the meantime, Sehyeon explained to Lee Jaeyoung, who was asking what a “rotary” was, that it was just nonsense.
“The cooking team will be just one group. We’ll set up a spot near the well for you, so get the three meals ready for serving… Hm… The problem is finding the ingredients. As for the chores team, let’s operate with 6 groups, and visit the forest three times a day to bring back whatever you can lay your hands on.”
“What do you mean by anything?”
“Ya know, like wood or stones, herbs, or berries! Or if you find animals, bring back some meat. Just grab whatever you see.”
The chore team’s work was, quite literally, collecting materials. They ventured into the forest to gather ingredients needed to develop the village. Often, it included hunting animals, so typically those who were stronger combat types were assigned to this duty.
“The mara stone team is the issue… Hm, since there are twenty people in the mara stone team, let’s divide into 5 groups each… Yes, the mara stone team will be split into 4 groups. Get your team assignments from the head honcho later. The mara stone team will start from tomorrow, so be aware of that, and the rest of you, get moving! There, the food procurement team! What are you gawking at? Go and get us some food, unless you want us all to starve?”
Prodded by Kim Gap-joon’s shout, the villagers began to disperse, glancing around. But then, as if he had just remembered something, Kim Gap-joon called the villagers back together again.
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
