The world had barely stopped spinning when something smacked him across the cheek.
"OW!" Beom Seok staggered, clutching his face, only to see a girl with black hair and bright blue eyes glaring down at him. In her hand was a white slipper—the weapon that had struck.
"Why are you shouting so early in the morning?" she snapped, her voice sharp with irritation. "I just cleared a B-dungeon yesterday! Can't I sleep for one day?"
Before he could answer, another slipper whistled through the air. He barely ducked in time.
"Hey—!"
But a firm hand caught the girl's wrist. A woman, elegant even in her forties, stood in the doorway with the kind of beauty that didn't seem to age. She frowned at the slipper-wielding girl.
"Iseul! You naughty child, you cannot just wake up and start hitting your brother."
Iseul's cheeks puffed in protest. "But mommy, he started it!"
The two of them bickered while Beom Seok just stared, frozen. His heart pounded as he looked from the young girl to the woman who could only be her mother. Their mother.
"…Their brother?" he muttered. The words tasted strange.
Then the voice came. Cold. Mechanical. Inside his skull.
Transferring host's lost memories.
Pain struck like a lightning bolt. His vision swam as if the world itself were being ripped apart. Clutching his head, he screamed, the sound raw and unfamiliar in his new throat.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
When he woke again, the ceiling above him was white and spotless. His head still throbbed faintly.
A woman sat at his side—her eyes red from worry, her hands folded tight. She leaned closer the moment his eyelids fluttered open.
"You foolish boy." Her voice trembled with both relief and anger. "Do you not eat? You fainted because of that. I've told you again and again…"
Beom Seok blinked up at her. The sharp words washed over him, but for some reason, they didn't sting. Not the way scolding usually did. Instead, they filled his chest with something warm and unfamiliar.
In his past life, no one had scolded him. There had been no one to care. He had been an orphan, invisible to the world.
Now, for the first time, a mother's anger wrapped around him like a blanket.
He almost wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or both.
Eventually, she sighed, her gaze still heavy with concern. "Get some rest. You need it."
She left the room, but her presence lingered, soft as the scent of perfume.
Beom Seok stared after her, dazed.
Then the voice returned.
Say: Status Window.
His throat went dry. "This voice again…" he whispered.
Hesitating only a moment, he obeyed. "…Status window."
At once, a screen materialized before his eyes, glowing in dark blue light. His breath caught as the words etched themselves across the surface.
Available distribution points: 0
Beom Seok stared, unable to blink.
His lips moved before his brain could stop them. "What the hell is this?"
Every stat was pitiful. Strength barely above nothing. Agility at a level that would make a toddler proud. Health no better than an old man's. The only decent number was Intelligence, and even that looked more like a cruel joke than a gift.
He exhaled slowly, his voice a whisper of disbelief.
"With stats like this… how am I supposed to protect myself?"
The glowing window gave no answer.