Chapter 2: Strange People

She looked at him, eyes indicating a form of embarrassment. She must think of him weirdly, but she quickly changed her facial expression and walks to the curtain. She opens it wide, and soon, the strong rays lighted the room bright.

“I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

“Yes.”

“If you’re fooling around, please stop.” She left, looking at him with a cold stare. It felt creepy.

He sighed. Fortunately, the situation did not turn bad… but he’s not sure what was going on. Well, at least he has an hour to spare. It would be for best to find out his current situation.

He begins searching around.

There was a car key and wallet resting on the table. Curious, he picked it up and flipped the wallet open.

“What’s in here…?” He muttered.

The wallet was packed with credit cards and new, crisp cash. It’s new. He’s sure he hasn’t used the wallet for a long time. It was new. But… the registration card was different…

Lee Jin Woo.

Though the photo was slightly scratched, the date of birth was different. Born on the same day, yet on a different year… Seven years younger than his original age…

“What is happening…” The situation is beyond his common sense but he tries to keep myself calm. He looks around and sees a mirror, then walk towards it.Standing in front of the mirror, he touched his face. “This is… you are… Lee Jin Woo…?”

***

Jin Woo’s originally tanned face was nowhere to be seen, only the snow milky white skin stands out. The chubby fat was gone and now replaced by a moderately tight muscle. He looked a little taller too.

Overall. He was a handsome man.

He quickly looked down and pulled the band of his underwear.

“Ah, so you’ve grown too.”

“But… This is beyond my current capability to think. It lacks common sense. It’s difficult pretending to be someone else. But I’ve changed it seems like. My body’s more fit and so look seven years younger.”

“Sigh… I don’t know what’s happening.”

Trying to clear his mind, Jin Woo turned on the TV right after.

The news came on.

“Today, around 10, Teathanne came to S. Korea. United States and S. Korea under the agreement… Daeon Group launches a full-scale E-Gate Industry. There are concerns that as latecomers…”

He looked blankly at the screen. What he had just heard sounded familiar. He believed it came from the novel he was reading earlier on. It was a popular novel too – a typical urban setting with levels.From the midst of the unknown, a gate suddenly opened and awakened a sort of power sealed inside man’s body. And inside the gate brimmed different kinds of monster species and raw resources. To man, they held a great deal of value.

Soon after, guilds were formed and ranked the powered man based on their skills from the lowest to the highest point.

It was a typical urban fantasy novel. People all over the world competed against one another for the valuable resources inside the gate, but at the same time, they stood united as one. The issue was complicated. As for the main character, he was a typical, average man with great potential. Jin Woo recalled that when he awakened his power, he quickly walked the path of becoming the strongest in the world.

So… It was that kind of novel.

“Wait… you mean… I’m inside a novel?”He quickly searched various things on the internet, hands fumbling around quickly.

The Hallyu Star…

One of Korea’s leading conglomerates…

The American company famous for its smartphones…

Automotives and other luxury brands…

His former girlfriend’s Facebook page…

When he searched for these people and companies, they ceased to exist.

Then he searched the people he knew in the novel.They existed.

“Like a novel combined with reality…” Jin Woo was faced with a sudden fear of the unknown, but he was a little relieved as he understood the current situation.“What happened? And what about me? Who am I in this world?”

Thinking of this… a sudden chill came over him.

Lee Jin Woo…

There was certainly that one name in the novel the stood out.

“Ah, come on. Really…?”

A chaebol… a villain… an abnormal sex offender… a pervert…

The most heinous and ugly villain in the novel. A typical hooligan.

Only

Lee Ji Won was the grandson of Lee Hee Jin, the founder of the world’s largest conglomerate. The story of a mega-chaebol character disappearing from the face of the earth because he was fated to offend the main character has always existed in any novel, and he, Lee Jin Woo, had become a fodder for the main character.

“This…” Jin Woo gulped nervously.He carefully searched his wallet and looked at his student ID card. He saw that he attended one of the most prestigious university in Korea. Soon, his worries became a reality. ‘Lee Jin Woo’ was the only one he knew of who attended such a prestigious university.

“…..”

He stood there absent-minded for a while. A terrible end was fated for him.

He’d be castrated alive, his body cut limb to limb and ultimately fed to the monsters.

His body trembled and he almost fainted.