Cold.
That was the first sensation Jin Tae-Yun felt.
It wasn't the sterile, artificial chill of an air conditioner. The air was heavy with the scent of damp loam, decaying leaves, and a faint, metallic tang he couldn't quite place.
His eyelids felt like lead. As they slowly parted, the familiar cracked plaster of his studio apartment ceiling was nowhere to be found.
Instead, he saw Trees.
Towering trees stretched endlessly toward a sky he could barely see. Their big branches intertwined like skeletal fingers, knitting a canopy so thick it choked out the sun, save for a few stray needles of light that pierced the gloom.
"…This isn't my room."
The words came out as a raspy whisper, His boots—heavy, leather, and certainly not the sneakers he'd fallen asleep in—sank into the soft, mossy floor. He scanned the perimeter. Trees. Uneven terrain. Shadows that seemed a little too long, a little too deep.
This isn't a park. It's not a film set, either.
His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
How did I get here? Was I kidnapped? Is this a dream?
Before the spiral of panic could swallow him, a sound sliced through the silence.
[DING!!!]
A flicker of light sparked in the air. A translucent blue screen, shimmering with a soft luminescence, manifested inches from his nose.
Tae-Yun froze. His breath hitched.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Jin Tae-Yun
Level: ???
Class: Multi-Class
HP: ??? / MP: ???
Titles: [Rank 1 Player], [World Conqueror]
Active Skills: ????
Passive Skills: [Enabled]
Inventory: [FULL]
Tae-Yun stared at the floating text, his eyes widening until they strained.
"This… this can't be."
The interface was hauntingly familiar. The sleek font, the specific shade of cerulean, the way the text blurred and refocused as his pupils tracked it—it was an exact replica of the UI from Abyssal World.
It was the brutal, ultra-realistic VR-RPG he had poured his entire youth into. The game where he had clawed his way through hell to stand at the absolute peak.
Rank 1.
As he focused on the 'Skills' tab, the window expanded. A dizzying cascade of icons and descriptions scrolled past—legendary spells, forbidden techniques, and passive buffs he'd spent years grinding for.
This is my character. It's... it's me.
The panic didn't just fade; it vanished, replaced by the cold, analytical clarity that had made him a top-tier player. If the system was here, the rules were here. And if the rules were here, he wasn't a victim.
He was the apex.
To confirm the impossible, Tae-Yun raised his right hand. He didn't think of a chant. He didn't visualize a formula. He simply reached for the 'feeling' he had memorized over a thousand raids.
"Fireball."
The air in front of his palm distorted. A magic circle—complex, gold, and pulsating with heat—snapped into existence.
BOOM!!!
A sphere of concentrated flame streaked through the woods, trailing a tail of white heat. It slammed into a massive oak fifty yards away. The explosion was deafening. Bark vaporized instantly, and the tree groaned as its trunk charred to a blackened husk.
Tae-Yun stared at his trembling hand.
No casting time. No mana depletion. Full output.
He let out a long, shaky breath.
"This world… it's real."
He turned his attention to the inventory icon. With a mental flick, the sub-space opened. It was a graveyard of wealth. Stacks of gold coins that reached the ceiling of the virtual space; massive ingots of gold and Orichalcum; rows of Tier-10 health potions; and artifacts that could topple kingdoms, all sitting silently in the void.
"Everything followed me."
In this unknown wilderness, such power was a beacon. He needed to layer his defenses immediately. He scrolled through the 'Accessories' tab and tapped a band of pale green jade.
[ITEM EQUIPPED]
Ring of Absolute Guard (Legendary)
* Effect: Automatically deploys a multi-layered barrier when hostile intent or physical danger is detected.
The air around him hummed. A faint emerald shimmer wrapped around his body for a second before becoming invisible. The oppressive weight of the forest seemed to lift; he was now inside a mobile fortress.
Next, he triggered a utility skill.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: Wise Man's Eye (Legendary)]
The world transformed.
The forest was no longer just trees and shadows. It was data. He saw the structural integrity of the branches, the chemical composition of the soil, and the thermal signatures of small creatures hiding in the brush. His mind split into parallel processing streams, handling the influx of information with ease.
I forgot how broken this skill feels, he thought, a grim smile touching his lips.
He looked down at his attire. He was dressed in a high-collared, midnight-blue coat made of enchanted silk—durable, lightweight, and aristocratically elegant. It was a far cry from his sweatpants, but it was the only "basic" clothing he had that wasn't heavy plate armor.
Finally, he reached into the weapon slot.
[WEAPON EQUIPPED]
Thunder Katana (Rare Grade)
* Attribute: Lightning
* Specialty: High-speed conduction and paralysis.
He didn't want to pull out a God-tier blade yet—not until he knew who was watching. A Rare-grade weapon was a "low-profile" choice for him.
Zap.Zap.⚡⚡
Blue sparks danced along the dark scabbard as the blade materialized at his waist. Tae-Yun gripped the hilt. The familiar weight grounded him.
"If this is another world, " he muttered, looking toward the horizon where the trees seemed to thin, "then there must be people. And if there are people, there are answers."
He took his first step. The Rank 1 Player had arrived, and the world didn't even know it yet.