Min-joon woke up twelve hours later. The sun was setting, painting the apartment walls orange. He felt better, but his body was still sore.
His phone showed several missed calls from Ji-ho at the construction site. Min-joon sent a quick text saying he was sick, then checked the Debt System app.
NEXT TASK IN 36 HOURS.
Still plenty of time. Min-joon decided to use it wisely.
He needed to understand his power better. The lying ability was useful, but dangerous. He needed to practice controlling it before the next task.
Min-joon went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Dark circles under his eyes. Pale skin. Bandages on his back. He looked like someone who was dying.
Maybe he was.
"I look healthy," Min-joon said to his reflection.
The change was immediate. The dark circles faded. His skin got some color back. He looked like he had slept for days instead of hours.
But he felt the drain. Something inside him got a little bit emptier.
Min-joon tried a truth next. "I am scared."
Pain bloomed in his chest. Sharp and hot. But the empty feeling inside filled up slightly, like pouring water back into a well.
So that was how it worked. Lies drained him. Truths refilled him. But truths also hurt.
He needed to find a balance. Use lies when necessary, but speak enough truths to keep himself from running dry.
Min-joon practiced for an hour. Small lies, small truths. Testing the limits. He discovered that bigger lies drained more. Changing the color of a cup took almost nothing. Changing his appearance took more. He wondered what would happen if he tried to lie about something huge. Would it kill him?
Better not to find out.
Around eight PM, Tae-hyun came home from his study group. He carried a plastic bag full of food.
"I brought dinner," Tae-hyun announced. "Real food, not instant noodles. You need to eat properly if you want to recover."
They ate together. Tae-hyun had bought grilled meat, rice, and side dishes from a restaurant. It must have cost a lot. Min-joon felt guilty.
"You should not spend money like this," Min-joon said.
"I used my part time job savings," Tae-hyun replied. "You are always taking care of me. Let me take care of you for once."
Min-joon wanted to argue, but Tae-hyun looked so proud of himself that he just nodded and ate. The food was delicious. The best thing he had eaten in months.
After dinner, they watched television together. Some drama about rich people and their problems. It was ridiculous, but entertaining.
During a commercial break, Tae-hyun spoke quietly. "Hyung, those men who came to the convenience store last week. The debt collectors. Are they going to come back?"
Min-joon tensed. "Why do you ask?"
"I saw them outside my school yesterday," Tae-hyun said. He was trying to sound brave, but Min-joon heard the fear underneath. "They were watching me."
Anger flared in Min-joon's chest. Those bastards. He had told them to leave Tae-hyun alone.
"They will not bother you," Min-joon said. He made it a lie, forcing reality to bend. "They are done with us."
As soon as he spoke, he felt something shift. Somewhere in the city, decisions were being unmade. Plans were changing. The debt collectors would forget about Tae-hyun.
But Min-joon felt that drain again. Stronger this time. That lie had cost him something significant.
"Really?" Tae-hyun asked hopefully.
"Really," Min-joon said. "We are going to be fine." Another lie, smaller this time. "I promise everything will work out."
Tae-hyun smiled and leaned against Min-joon's shoulder. "I believe you, hyung."
The pressure in Min-joon's chest was building again. He needed to release it with some truths, but he could not do it here. Not in front of Tae-hyun.
"I am going to take a walk," Min-joon said. "I need some fresh air."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I will be fine. You should study."
Min-joon left the apartment and walked down to the street. The night air was cool and clean. He walked to the small park near their building and sat on a bench.
Then he started speaking truths out loud. Quietly, so no one would hear.
"I am terrified." Pain. "I do not know if I can survive." More pain. "I miss my parents." The pain was sharp, cutting deep. "I wish I had a normal life."
Each truth hurt, but the pressure inside him eased with every word. He was balancing himself, emptying the lies with truths.
"I do not want to die," Min-joon whispered. The worst pain yet. It felt like his heart was being crushed. But he kept going. "I want to protect Tae-hyun. I want him to go to university. I want him to become a doctor. I want him to be happy."
The pain was overwhelming now. Min-joon doubled over on the bench, tears running down his face. But he had to finish.
"I am doing this because I have no choice. I am trapped. And I hate it."
Finally, the pressure was gone. Min-joon sat up, wiping his eyes. His chest ached, but he felt lighter. More balanced.
"That was very moving."
Min-joon jumped. A man was standing a few meters away, half hidden in shadows. He had not been there a moment ago.
"Who are you?" Min-joon demanded.
The man stepped into the light from the streetlamp. He was young, maybe mid-twenties, with sharp features and calculating eyes. He wore an expensive suit and carried himself like someone used to power.
"My name is Han Woo-jin," the man said. "And I know what you are going through."
Min-joon stood up, instantly defensive. "I do not know what you are talking about."
"The Debt System," Han Woo-jin said calmly. "The tasks. The curse. I know about all of it."
Min-joon's blood ran cold. "How?"
Han Woo-jin smiled. It was not a kind smile. "Because I was chosen too. Three years ago. I completed my tasks and erased my debt. Now I am free."
"You are lying."
"Am I?" Han Woo-jin pulled out his phone and showed Min-joon the screen. The same red app icon was there, but when he opened it, the screen showed a different message.
DEBT CLEARED.
STATUS: FREE.
YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SYSTEM.
Min-joon stared at the screen. "If you are free, why are you here?"
"Because the System sent me," Han Woo-jin said. "Sometimes, it chooses to have former players help new ones. Think of me as a mentor."
"I do not need a mentor."
"No? How many tasks have you completed?"
"Two."
"And how many times have you almost died?"
Min-joon did not answer.
Han Woo-jin nodded. "That is what I thought. You are surviving through luck and instinct. But that will not be enough. The tasks get harder. Much harder. By the time you reach task seven or eight, luck will not save you. You need knowledge. Strategy. And someone who has been through it before."
"Why would you help me?" Min-joon asked suspiciously. "What do you get out of it?"
"Nothing," Han Woo-jin said. "The System requires it. If I refuse to help you, my debt will be reinstated. I worked too hard to let that happen."
Min-joon studied the man carefully. Han Woo-jin looked healthy, successful, nothing like someone who had been through the nightmare Min-joon was experiencing. But his eyes told a different story. They were hard. Cold. The eyes of someone who had seen terrible things.
"What do you want to teach me?" Min-joon asked carefully.
"How to use your curse properly," Han Woo-jin said. "You are wasting its potential. I can show you techniques that will increase your chances of survival significantly."
"How do you know about my curse? Each person gets a different one, right?"
"Correct. Mine was different from yours. But I have helped three other players since completing my tasks. I have seen various curses. Yours is rare, but not unique. I know how it works."
Min-joon wanted to refuse. He did not trust this man. But Han Woo-jin was right. He was barely surviving. If the tasks got harder, he would need every advantage he could get.
"Fine," Min-joon said. "What do I need to do?"
Han Woo-jin's smile widened. "First, you need to stop thinking of your curse as a burden. It is a weapon. One of the most powerful abilities the System can grant. You can reshape reality itself. Do you understand how incredible that is?"
"It drains me. And if I do not speak truths to balance it out, I will explode."
"True. But there are ways to minimize the drain and maximize the effect. Come with me. I will show you."
Han Woo-jin started walking. After a moment's hesitation, Min-joon followed.
They walked for ten minutes until they reached an empty parking lot behind an abandoned building. The area was dark and isolated.
"This will do," Han Woo-jin said. He gestured at a concrete wall. "I want you to lie about that wall. Say it is not there."
"What?"
"Just do it."
Min-joon looked at the wall. It was solid, at least three meters tall. "The wall is not there."
Nothing happened. The wall remained.
"Try again," Han Woo-jin said. "But this time, believe it. Do not just say the words. Make them real in your mind first, then speak them."
Min-joon closed his eyes and imagined the space where the wall was empty. Just air and darkness. He built the image in his mind, made it solid and real. Then he opened his eyes and spoke.
"The wall is not there."
This time, the wall faded. Not completely, but it became translucent. Like a ghost image.
"Better," Han Woo-jin said. "But you can do more. The key is confidence. Reality bends to your words, but only if you speak with absolute certainty. Try once more."
Min-joon took a deep breath. He stared at the wall and filled himself with conviction. That wall did not exist. It never existed. It was an illusion, a trick of the light.
"There is no wall," Min-joon said firmly.
The wall vanished.
Where solid concrete had been, there was now just empty space. Min-joon walked forward and passed his hand through the area. Nothing. The wall was completely gone.
"Excellent," Han Woo-jin said. "You learn fast."
But Min-joon felt the drain. It was significant. Making a whole wall disappear had taken a lot out of him.
"I cannot keep doing this," Min-joon said. "It costs too much."
"That is why you balance with truths," Han Woo-jin explained. "But here is the trick. Not all truths are equal. Small, meaningless truths barely help. But deep, painful truths refill you faster."
"So I have to hurt myself more to recover faster?"
"Exactly. It is a trade-off. Quick recovery, but more pain. Or slow recovery with less pain. You choose based on the situation."
Min-joon thought about this. It made sense, in a twisted way. The System was all about balance and sacrifice.
"There is something else," Han Woo-jin said. "Your lies become permanent changes to reality. But there is a limit. If you die, all your lies unravel. Reality resets to what it was before you changed it."
"So everything I have done..."
"Will be erased if you fail. Your brother will be in danger again. The debt collectors will remember their plans. All of it will come back."
Min-joon felt sick. He had thought his lies were protecting Tae-hyun. But they were only temporary protection, contingent on his survival.
"Then I cannot fail," Min-joon said.
"No, you cannot," Han Woo-jin agreed. "Which is why you need to take this seriously. Stop treating the tasks like something you just have to survive. Treat them like battles you need to win."
"How do I win?"
"By being smarter than the System. Every task has a solution. A perfect path that will get you through with minimal damage. Your job is to find that path."
"And you are going to help me find it?"
"I will teach you how to look for it," Han Woo-jin said. "The rest is up to you."
They spent the next hour training. Han Woo-jin taught Min-joon how to make his lies more efficient, how to speak truths quickly to minimize pain, and how to recognize patterns in the tasks.
"The System tests you," Han Woo-jin explained. "Each task is designed to exploit your weaknesses. The first task tested your survival instinct. The second tested your ability to navigate and follow rules. The third will test something else. You need to figure out what before you go in."
"How do I figure that out?"
"By understanding yourself. What are you bad at? What scares you the most? The System knows your deepest fears and insecurities. It will use them against you."
Min-joon thought about this. What was he most afraid of? Losing Tae-hyun. Being powerless. Being trapped.
"The next task will probably involve one of those fears," Han Woo-jin said, reading his expression. "Be ready."
When they finished training, Han Woo-jin gave Min-joon his phone number. "Call me if you have questions. But I cannot help you during the tasks themselves. Once you enter the mirror world, you are alone."
"I understand."
"One more thing," Han Woo-jin said as they parted ways. "Do not trust the woman in white. She works for the System. Everything she tells you serves its purposes, not yours."
"She warned me about the curse building pressure. That saved my life."
"Did it? Or did it make you more dependent on the System? More willing to continue the tasks because now you understand the rules better?" Han Woo-jin shook his head. "Just be careful. The System wants you to succeed, but only barely. It feeds on your struggle."
Min-joon watched Han Woo-jin walk away, disappearing into the darkness.
He had a lot to think about.