“Woah, you’re hideous.”
“We don’t need your change.”
The women backed away disgustedly with a shudder. Humiliated, Seung-ho dropped his outstretched hand.
“I feel like the money is stained.”
As they left the convenience store, the girl put the condom in her pocket and linked arms with the boy.
Bowing his head in defeat, Seung-ho tucked the change into his pocket.
‘It’s okay, you’re used to this. What’s 800 won? I don’t even make minimum wage; I should just be grateful for what I have.’
Ding-dong
“Welcome!”
“Wow.”
The girl, who was opening the door, gripped the handle and paused being caught off guard by the sight in front of her.
“He’s so ugly.”
Ding-dong
Just like that, she turned around and left.
“Haa..”
Skin covered with acne. Eyes that were the size of b.u.t.ton holes. Nose that looked like it was ironed flat. A protruding mouth with teeth that were in dire need of braces, as well as a chin that stuck out like n.o.body’s business.
This was Seung-ho’s face. It was at the level where the first word out of anyone who’d seen him was “ugly”. Honestly, if there was a world championship for ugliness, it’d be impossible for him to lose.
Even though the criteria for beauty was different all over the world, Choi Seung-ho’s face broke all standards.
It was a sigh that expressed his soul-wrenching lamentation.
But even that only lasted for a short moment, as another customer entered the store. Why were there so many people in the middle of the night?
Ding-dong
“Welcome!”
Even though there were a lot of complaints about his face, customers must be welcomed with a grin. There was no other option. If he didn’t greet them with a bright smile, a complaint would go through and his manager would yell at him.
The customer was a male, but his appearance was a bit strange. He seemed to be donning a traditional white cloth.
‘He must be crazy.’
As soon as the man entered, he approached Seung-ho.
“Mr. Choi Seung-ho.”
“Y-yes?”
“Nice to meet you. You see, I am a G.o.d.”
‘He is crazy.’
Seung-ho reached for the phone located under the cash register. If the receiver was held for 7 seconds without a response, the police would be notified.
‘If he tries anything weird, I’m going to lift the receiver.’
The man simply smiled benevolently and raised his hands, as if to signify that he was harmless.
“Believe me. I really am a G.o.d, and I came to help you.”
His words were just a bunch of nonsense, but there was something that made him believable. Maybe it was that white cloth that hung on one shoulder. It may or may not be made of silk, but the whole appearance was very reminiscent of the G.o.ds that he saw in Greek mythology books when he was younger.
“Why do you want to help me?”
“That…”
With an anxious expression, the man rubbed his forehead before lifting his head and continuing.
“I may have nodded off when I was making you.”
“What?”
Seung-ho frowned at the man. What a load of baloney. Even though he knew it was nonsense, he still wanted to believe. It was his current heartfelt wish that the man was honest, so Seung-ho could receive at least a little help.
“To be frank, I measure out a person’s talents with various powders when I’m making humans - but when I made you, I was so tired that I poured in the entire content of a container without knowing what it was.”
“So?”
Before he knew it, Seung-ho had led the guy behind the counter, and sat him down while listening intently.
“It turns out that the powder was ‘ugliness’.”
“What?”
While he listened, Seung-ho felt a tinge of sadness for some reason. And though feeling sad hurt his pride, he understood.
‘Ha… This is such bulls.h.i.t but I can understand. That’s why I’m this beauty-impaired.”
The man gripped both of Seung-ho’s hands and apologized.
“I really am sorry.”
“Haa…”
Seung-ho sighed and clutched his head.
“But what can I do? I’ve already been born this ugly.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
The man laughed and patted Seung-ho’s shoulder.
“But how did you find out and know to come here? It’s not as if you realized it out of the blue after 18 years.”
“Um… That is -”
The man hesitates as if hiding something.
“Don’t hide it and tell me.”
“There was a female customer just now, right?”
“Yeah. That rude b.i.t.c.h.”
“She told you that you were ugly right? That was your 10,000th time hearing that you are ugly.”
“Haa..”
In an instant, a wave of sorrow washed over Seung-ho.
‘To think that I’ve been called hideous 10,000 times because of this mad man.’
The man produced a marble from the folds of his clothes.
“That’s how I found out. I brought this as a gift of apology.”
“Didn’t you just take it out of your pants - “
“Shut up and take it.”
The man firmly placed the marble in Seung-ho’s grasp. Seung-ho felt uncomfortable, but didn’t want to return it.
“What is this?”
“Something that will lead you to a whole new world.”
Seung-ho looked at the marble, but it didn’t seem all that special - except, perhaps, feeling unclean.
“It’s not just a marble?”
“Do you see the three round icons in the bottom right corner of your eye?”
He did. Yellow icons had appeared in his vision, in the bottom right.
“W-what? Did you do something to my gla.s.ses?”
“Hahaha. Try and touch them.”
He was deeply suspicious, but even when he turned his head, the three icons didn’t disappear.
‘This seems to be something.’
Seung-ho raised a hand and tried to touch the icon, but failed.
“Let go of the marble.”
When he did as ordered and laid the marble on the table, the icons in his vision disappeared.
He touched the marble again, and the three icons reappeared. With amazed eyes, Seung-ho looked at the man.
“What is this?”
The man laughed and winked. When Seung-ho saw that the first word that came to mind was “dirty.”
“It’s the Pill of Awakening.”
“What?”
“When you eat that, you will awaken, and will be able to use the icons.”
“I have to eat it?”
He wanted to eat it, but at the same time he didn’t; partly because of curiosity over the icons hovering in his eyesight, and partly because of the disgust over the fact that the marble came from inside the man’s pants.
“I don’t really know…”
“Then just continue living as a loser.”
As the man started to stand up, Seung-ho grabbed his arm.
“I’ll eat it.”
Seung-ho squeeze his eyes shut and swallowed the marble whole. He opened his eyes slowly, but there didn’t seem to be a big difference. Perhaps the three icons had a sheen that wasn’t there before?
“Right now you can only use the icon on the far left, but as time pa.s.ses you’ll gradually know what they do.”
The man laughed as he stood up from his seat. In a blink of an eye, he was standing in front of the door.
“W-what? Did you just teleport?”
“Hahaha. See you later - and hang in there!”
In yet another blink of an eye, the man had disappeared altogether.
‘He’s really a G.o.d?’
Seung-ho slumped back into his seat. He felt as if he’d returned to reality after the man had left - like he was dreaming for a moment.
Doubts started to creep in on whether or not all of it was real, but the icons remained in the right side of his eyesight.
‘He said that I can only use the one of the far left.’
He pressed the other two just in case, but nothing happened. Gulping, he pressed the last one.
In an instant a transparent pane had filled his vision.
“Oh, f.u.c.k!”
He nearly tumbled backwards from the shock. It was his first time seeing anything like this.
STATS MENU:
Name: Choi Seung-ho
Career: High School Student
Height: 162 cm
Weight: 95 kg
Strength: 5
Agility: 3
Stamina: 2
Intelligence: 7
Appearance: -
Charm: -
---
Available points: 0
‘What is this?’
Embarra.s.sment and sorrow flooded him. To think that his appearance and charm were in the negatives..
He had a.s.sumed that they’d be low, but it hurt to see the stark truth right in front of him. It had been a moment for him to be a.s.saulted by a barrage of facts about himself.
“What do I do with this?”
Heaving a deep sigh, Seung-ho got up from his seat. When he pressed the ‘x’ on the hovering pane, it disappeared into thin air.
‘What just happened? I might as well clean up a bit, I guess.’
Instantly, a translucent pane materialized.
QUEST:
Clean the store until it’s spotless.
Reward: 5 points
“Ack!”
Weird things kept popping up.
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
Seung-ho impulsively pressed ‘x’ and went into the storage room. The bathroom and cleaning supplies were all located inside.
There was only one reason why the management didn’t fire Seung-ho, even though his looks could irritate customers. It was because of his earnestness. Managing inventory, cleaning, refilling food, and the rest of his tasks - he never put them off for later. He was almost perfect in that regard.
After a good hour and a floor mopping later, he was finally completely done.
“A fly should slip if it tries to land, hahaha.”
Feeling proud of himself, Seung-ho gripped the mop and leaned against the wall.
QUEST COMPLETE!
You’ve finished cleaning the store.
Reward: 5 points
“Oh my G.o.d!”
Seung-ho dropped the mop in surprise.
“I can’t get used to the pane no matter how many time I see it. Did I do the quest?”
After pressing the ‘x’ on the pane, he retrieved the mop. He abruptly became curious about the points he’d earned.
Rising to the bait, Seung-ho clicked the icon on the far left.
STATS MENU:
Name: Choi Seung-ho
Career: High School Student
Height: 162 cm (+ -)
Weight: 95 kg (+ -)
Strength: 5 (+ -)
Agility: 3 (+ -)
Stamina: 2 (+ -)
Intelligence: 7 (+ -)
Appearance: - (+ -)
Charm: - (+ -)
Available points: 5
Unlike before, there was a plus and a minus sign next to each attribute.
“I can control the numbers with this?”
Well, seeing is believing. It was best to just do it.
“Huu..”
Taking a deep breath, Seung-ho pressed the plus sign next to “Appearance”.
Even though he pressed it twice, the attribute stayed negative.
‘I knew it.’
Feeling betrayed, he went to close the stat menu, but the three remaining points caught his eye.
‘I should at least use the rest of this.’
After thinking for a bit, he decided that height was the most noticeable. That was right - height was the most distinguishable, right?
‘I’m going to go all in with points.’
When he repeatedly mashed the plus b.u.t.ton three times, the height immediately changed to ‘165 cm’.
‘It changed?’
Seung-ho stood in front of the mirror that was at the back of the convenience store.
‘I think I’m taller.’
He felt like he was taller, but he wasn’t sure. Even if he was taller, there was a sadder truth.
‘How ugly must I be for my appearance to stay negative even with the invested points?’
It was a sad reality even if his musing was true, and even if it was false.
“Whatever. I’d better put back the mop before a customer comes.”
Seung-ho sighed as he entered the staff room. Normally his head didn’t reach the ‘Employees Only’ sign, but today it covered the bottom of the words.