Name, Kang Hyun-woo. Age, 21.
I'm your average, run-of-the-mill college student.
The only thing that's a little different about me is that I've never had a girlfriend and I'm still a virgin.
Of course, being a 21-year-old virgin isn't that rare. There are even guys older than me who are in the same boat.
"Sigh. In the end, I'm just making excuses."
Just because there are a lot of virgins out there doesn't make it something to be proud of.
In fact, the fact that I've spent over a year on campus in a department overwhelmingly dominated by women and still haven't managed to get a girlfriend, or even a close female friend, definitely meant there was something wrong with me.
"My face isn't that bad, is it..."
My face and body were decent enough that I wouldn't make a terrible first impression.
'I have to do my military service soon, and when I come back, I'll be treated even less like a human being. A college student staying a virgin until graduation? Not even a high schooler?'
At least in high school, it was fine because plenty of other guys were virgins too.
But now that I'm an adult, staying a virgin until I graduate college was something I just couldn't accept as a man.
"Haaah, but losing it at a brothel is an absolute last resort..."
My pride wouldn't let me have my first time be at a brothel.
I'd rather just stay a virgin until I'm 30 and become a wizard.
Grumble—
"...Maybe I should eat first and think later."
I tore open a pack of instant noodles, just like always.
The soulmate of a poor student living alone.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that if I were dating someone, I'd be eating pasta that costs over 20,000 won a plate instead of instant noodles that cost less than 1,000 won a pack.
And I'd have to pay for my girlfriend's too, so 40,000 won would be gone for just one meal.
Just imagining it sent a chill down my spine, no air conditioner needed.
Yep, with my financial situation, dating was a luxury I couldn't afford.
"Looks about done. Now, where's something to put this on?"
I used a textbook as a pot stand and placed the pot on it.
This fucking thick-ass textbook. I paid a fortune for it and even got it bound, but the damn professors only use PowerPoint for their lectures.
Thanks to them, I just had another uselessly expensive pot stand.
But what could I do? If I didn't like it... what could I even do?
There was nothing a mere student like me could do. I should just eat my noodles.
Slurp— As I put a mouthful of noodles in my mouth and scrolled through NewTube, a news story I'd normally never look at caught my eye.
The headline was unusual.
[New S-Rank Hunter Appears in Japan!]
"Things are heating up."
If I remembered correctly, this made Japan a monstrous hunter powerhouse with a whopping eleven S-Rank Hunters.
In comparison, our country only had four. For us, who also had to defend against the magical beasts coming down from the north, it was a woefully inadequate number.
"Well, South Korea is... relatively safe, I guess."
It felt a bit much to complain about having a bad spawn point just because this wasn't South America or Southeast Asia.
People sometimes died to monsters, but at least our country hadn't been taken over by villains.
While I was lost in thought, the woman who had just become an S-Ranker in the video walked up onto the stage.
She was fucking gorgeous.
The Prime Minister of Japan was on the stage. He placed a medal around her neck, and they both laughed and shook hands while being bombarded by camera flashes.
Watching that, I suddenly lost my appetite. I tossed my phone aside.
I'm so jealous.
I don't have to be an S-Rank Hunter. If I could just awaken one badass ability, I could stop living off instant noodles and get a pretty girlfriend.
Of course, I knew full well that would never happen, that such a life was impossible for me in this lifetime, so all I could do was let out a hollow laugh.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
Still, it felt like a waste to not finish, so I shoveled in the rest of the noodles and picked up my phone, looking for something to lift my spirits.
Ding—
[Otherworld Dating App has been installed]
Just then, a notification popped up.
"...?"
It was a notification telling me an app I'd never seen before had been installed.
"What the...?"
Obviously, I never installed anything like this.
I was watching NewTube. When would I have had the time to install something?
"Did I accidentally click on an ad when I tossed my phone aside earlier?"
There was no other explanation.
No matter how advanced voice phishing scams had gotten, it's not like a weird app would just install itself without me clicking a link or opening a text.
"Anyway, a dating app..."
I'd tried random chat apps a few times before.
But I quit them pretty quickly because every time I entered a room, people would just ask 'pic?' to verify my gender. Still, this was my first time with a dating app.
"Should I give it a try?"
It seemed like a decent way to kill some time.
From the shoddy icon design to the weird name 'Otherworld Dating App,' it screamed 'hastily made by some shitty little company planning to make a quick buck and disappear.'
But I had no intention of paying for anything anyway.
These kinds of apps usually give you the first match for free. The only problem is that your match is very likely to be a company employee.
When I launched the app, a truly half-assed design greeted me.
[Otherworld Dating App]
[Shop] [Match] [Profile]
"...Look at this pathetic main screen design."
It looked like it was made in MS Paint, not even PowerPoint.
Well, whatever. The UI design isn't what's important.
As long as it could kill some time, I didn't care if it was a company employee or an AI.
After a moment's thought, I went to the profile section first.
As expected, it was a place to enter my information, but strangely, there was also a field for my race.
"So that's why it's called the 'Otherworld Dating App,' huh? The concept is pretty unique."
For now, I just entered my name and age.
Next, I checked out the shop. Like I said, I wasn't going to buy anything; I was just curious what they were selling.
[The shop function is currently locked]
"What?"
What's this? I thought they were trying to make a quick buck and run.
I couldn't understand why the most important feature, the shop, was locked.
"Come to think of it, I don't see any ad banners either."
Does this thing even have a revenue model?
If money isn't the goal, was this app made to steal personal information?
But there are much easier ways to do that. Besides, I heard personal data isn't even worth that much.
"Well... if they don't want to make money, that's none of my business."
All that matters for a dating app is that it matches you with someone.
Hoping the AI wasn't as half-assed as the design, I pressed the match button.
Ding—
[First match confirmed]
[Thank you for using this app. Please complete the survey before proceeding with the match]
"A survey?"
[Preferred Race]
[Preferred Gender]
[Preferred Age Range]
[Preferred Hobbies]
·
·
·
·
·
"Whoa..."
Now I see. This wasn't made for a cash grab; it was just made for fun, wasn't it?
Otherwise, there's no way they'd have 'race' as a category or blatantly include things like 'dissecting corpses' under preferred hobbies.
"They really committed to the concept."
At this point, it was starting to get pretty interesting.
I don't know who made this survey, but it was clearly well-crafted, with a wide variety of questions. About fifty of them, maybe?
Impressed, I started filling out the questions, half-seriously and half for fun.
For preferred race, I put 'Elf.' For gender, 'Female,' obviously. And for age, I put around 500 years old. Time flew by as I continued to fill out the questions.
[Thank you for your cooperation]
[Matching will now commence]
[Please note that matching may take some time]
I started to get a little excited at the thought that the app developer might reply in character as a 500-year-old elf.
"...It's taking a while."
Contrary to my expectations, finding a match wasn't as easy as I thought.
'Is it because it's evening and everyone's gone home? Can't they at least match me with an AI?'
In the end, I finished my noodles, but still no match.
Waiting this long wasn't my style, so I tossed my phone aside and cleared the table.
Time passed, and I had all but forgotten that I'd even started the matching process.
Ding—
A strangely grating notification sound rang out.
Hearing it, I picked up my phone.
[Match complete]
"Oh, finally."
That developer is finally doing their job.
With a strange sense of anticipation, I quickly tapped the screen.
Fwaaash—
"Huh?"
[Transporting to Planet EB-17]
An immense light erupted from the screen and swallowed me whole.
*
Deep underground, beneath the World Tree—the last known god on earth—lay a vast cavern unknown to most.
Even the citizens of Peledeia, the elven nation built around the World Tree, were unaware of its existence.
And in that place, a prisoner had been incarcerated for 200 years.
"...Resilia."
Even in the pitch-black darkness, her golden hair shimmered, her eyes glowed a soft green, and her ears were long and pointed, unlike a human's.
She was an elf.
She was so beautiful it was impossible to imagine she had committed a crime so heinous as to be locked away in this bottomless abyss, devoid of even a single speck of light.
"Just how much longer must I remain here..."
Her lament echoed emptily through the cavern, scattering into the void with no one to hear it.
Although elves were known to live for dozens, or even hundreds, of human lifetimes, 200 years of imprisonment was by no means easy.
The hellish loneliness, with not a single visitor; the fact that she was imprisoned here because of the betrayal of her most trusted subordinate and beloved friend—all of it gnawed away at her sanity.
All that remained for her now was a mixture of love and hatred for her friend, and a single, unanswered question.
Why did you betray me?
What could have been so important?
In this place where no one could answer, even that question echoed hollowly before fading away.
"...I'm so lonely."
Iris, the sole prisoner of the underground cavern, was growing weary of the ever-expanding loneliness.
Could anyone even imagine it?
She had spent 200 years without any contact with another living being.
There were no conversations, not even a single visitor.
There were no guards, no other prisoners.
There was only Iris.
This unfillable void, this loneliness, was not something one could simply endure.
Even for her, a High Elf who had lived for centuries, interaction with others was precious.
"Perhaps it would be better..."
Her eyes, staring at a sharp piece of stone on the ground, grew darker.
'If I end this pathetic life, will I finally find peace...?'
Even elves, known to be free of desire unlike humans, could frame a loyal follower for power and lock them in an underground prison for 200 years. And they could commit the great sin of taking the life given to them by the gods, simply for the sake of peace.
The moment her slender, pale, trembling hand closed around the stone shard.
Fwaaash!
"Kyaa?!"
In the dark void where not a single ray of light ever reached, a tremendous beam of light flashed as if from an explosion.
Squinting against the sudden brightness, she glimpsed a blurry figure within the light.
"U-Uwaaah!!! Fuuuck!!!"
"...A person?"
Someone was falling from mid-air.
Without a moment to wonder what was happening, Iris instinctively drew upon her magic.
She used the last handful of her remaining magic power to cast a spell.
Levitation.
The spell activated successfully, and Kang Hyun-woo, who had been plummeting in real-time, began to descend slowly toward the ground as if he had opened a parachute.
Thanks to her, Kang Hyun-woo was able to land safely on his feet. If not for Iris's quick thinking, Kang Hyun-woo would now be 'what used to be a human.'
Struggling to his feet on trembling legs, Kang Hyun-woo stared blankly at the woman standing before him.
"...An elf?"