Chapter 2 …
The Foreign Worker of a Trash Game
An Unfamiliar Land
My consciousness, which had sunk deep into darkness, slowly began to awaken.
The first thing my senses picked up was smell.
The refreshing scent brushing the tip of my nose.
It was like the smell I used to notice when I visited a mountain valley stream long ago…
“Ugh… my head… What the hell?”
I barely forced my heavy eyelids open.
Then I froze like a stone.
Because a forest stretched out in front of my eyes.
What the hell?
Trees everywhere. Trees here, trees there—nothing but green in every direction.
But there was something even stranger.
“Ah— AAAAAAAH! Huh?”
Ah… ah. My—my voice. Why does it sound like this?
The scream that burst out of me sounded strange.
And…
Why does this place feel so heavy?
And at the same time, why does it feel so empty?
Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded wildly.
This unfamiliar situation—something I had never experienced in my life—was more than enough to plunge me into confusion and fear.
Just then—
Splash.
The sound of water near my ear snapped me out of my thoughts.
When I turned my head, I saw a lake nearby.
A wide, crystal-clear pool that absolutely did not look like something that would exist in Korea.
No… it can’t be. It shouldn’t be.
Swallowing the rising anxiety, I crawled toward the water’s edge.
Ignoring the strange-colored hair brushing against the back of my neck, I approached to confirm the truth.
Finally, I looked into the water.
“Ha… haha…”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Hair that shone like gold.
Sharp eyebrows and golden eyes.
A straight nose bridge and lips so red they looked like they had devoured a mouse.
Reflected on the surface of the lake was a woman with a proud, almost arrogant appearance making a bizarre expression.
“….”
I thought:
This face is unfamiliar.
And at the same time—
It’s familiar.
Of course it is.
Because the woman reflected in the water…
Was the customized appearance of the game character Niumel that I had been playing until just a short while ago.
The same character whose screenshots I constantly took, carefully edited, and uploaded online.
But—
“Me…?”
The overwhelming sense of déjà vu and confusion that crawled up my spine—
“I became a game character?”
Did nothing to lessen it.
* * *
Back when life was exhausting—when I was trapped in a monotonous routine bound by rules and laws—
There was a time when I thought:
I want to go somewhere else.
Even if it’s just into a game.
Adventures through beautiful wilderness!
Life-and-death battles alongside handsome and beautiful companions!
The loyalty and friendship that bloom through those struggles!
Dreamlike experiences impossible to have in the harsh reality of the 21st century.
But…
As I got older and learned how the world really worked,
Those wishes faded away.
Because if fantasy ever became reality,
It would surely be a terrifying world.
And yet something like this happened to me?
I felt like I was losing my mind.
Actually… I probably already had.
“────────!”
I screamed until I fainted, pinched my cheeks until they bruised, and dunked my head into the icy lake water.
I did everything I could think of.
I denied it in every way possible.
But all I got in return was—
“Fuck.”
The vivid sensations of pain through all five senses.
And the growing sense that this was reality.
Eventually…
“….”
I had to admit it.
That I had entered the world of Dungeon Heroes.
That I had become the playable character Niumel.
And that I was no longer a man.
I had become a woman.
Maybe it was because of the ridiculous nonsense that would make those “爽快 power-fantasy lovers” cough up blood if they saw it.
But strangely enough, my head cooled down.
Even to me, it felt odd.
Calmly, I began assessing my situation.
“Last night… I did some PKing. Right… then my characters started acting weird. There was that strange flash of light too.”
That light must have been the cause.
“Whew.”
I rubbed my face and flinched.
The sensation against my bare skin felt too firm.
Only then did I properly examine this body.
Hands rough and hard, covered with thick calluses.
Unnaturally long limbs and muscles spread across the entire body.
Yet the skin was pale and smooth in contrast.
If I remember correctly, the height was around 182… maybe 183 centimeters.
Beautiful on the outside.
But inside, the body of a perfectly trained warrior.
A female warrior.
Exactly the customization I had designed for Niumel.
Fortunately, this body had followed that design perfectly.
“Whew.”
I sighed in relief.
Even just breathing made me feel a powerful vitality within.
Something I had never experienced as a modern man with a protruding belly.
Yeah… this part was a good thing.
If I had started with my joke customization or that beggar appearance, it would have been far worse.
Of course, not everything was good.
“So it won’t be that easy, huh?”
Looking at the clothes I was wearing, I sighed.
Rough leather top and pants.
Boots.
And a faded longsword hanging from my waist.
It was the basic starting equipment from the beginning of the game.
Which meant I wasn’t the level-79 Paladin Niumel who could influence the entire continent.
I was just a level-1 newbie.
“….”
Honestly, I had hoped otherwise.
Because the world of Dungeon Heroes was basically hell on earth.
A brutal aristocracy ruling under a rigid class system.
Savage barbarians of the great snow mountains.
Rampaging undead and dark mages.
The Greenskin Empire invading fertile lands.
Monsters, demons, and ancient gods everywhere.
Simply put—
It was a classic RPG dark fantasy world.
A place so harsh that a weak modern human could die instantly.
“Damn.”
No. Now wasn’t the time to despair.
The next thing I needed to consider was—
I suddenly froze.
Because an unexpected guest appeared across the lake.
Crunch.
A protruding snout.
Yellow, slit-like beast eyes.
Four claws moving softly beneath it.
A wolf.
Not some gigantic monster like in comics—about the size of a medium dog, smaller than a retriever.
But…
“Sh-shit.”
The moment our eyes met, a chill ran down my spine.
Pant. Pant.
I had never been stared at like that in my life.
This wasn’t some domesticated pet used to humans feeding it.
“Grrrr…”
It was the cruel gaze of a predator looking at prey.
“…Gulp.”
The moment I swallowed nervously—
The beast’s eyes narrowed.
“Awooooo!”
A rough howl echoed through the forest.
And immediately afterward—
Yellow eyes flashed from the trees behind it.
More predators slowly emerged.
“….”
I reached for the sword at my waist.
Clank.
Then laughed hollowly when I couldn’t even draw it properly.
You idiot.
You’ve never even held a sword in your life.
You’ve never even fought a stray dog—let alone a wolf.
Get a grip, moron.
Do you know what you should be doing right now?
“AAAAAAAH!”
Run if you don’t want to die!!!
Following my instincts’ desperate warning, I ran.
* * *
Grass and trees rushed past in a blur.
“Huff… huff…”
Behind the woman sprinting like a beast were real beasts licking their teeth.
Just a little more… just a little!
Sunlight fell on her face.
“Ugh!”
Niumel suddenly threw herself forward and rolled on the ground.
Then she awkwardly drew the sword at her waist and watched the forest.
Rustle.
The wolves that had chased her to the edge of the forest poked their heads out—
“Grrr…”
But when they caught the strong scent of humans nearby,
They growled and retreated.
“Haa… haa… I almost… died.”
When Niumel wiped her face, sweat dripped onto the rough dirt road.
This was a main road.
Not paved like asphalt, but still a proper road.
She had finally escaped the forest.
Because of that, the cautious predators gave up the hunt.
Good thing there was a road nearby.
It was pure luck that she managed to escape here.
But it wasn’t just luck.
After all, she had outrun wolves in a dense forest.
That was thanks to the power of this body.
If it were my original body, I would’ve been eaten long ago.
A body capable of outrunning four-legged beasts…
Should I be happy about this or not?
Maybe I could have fought them?
After catching her breath, Niumel stood up.
“Come to think of it… where the hell am I?”
It felt awkward saying it myself, but I was a Dungeon Heroes veteran.
A complete hardcore player.
There wasn’t a single quest I hadn’t cleared.
I knew every hidden piece and mechanic.
But…
No matter how detailed a game is, it’s still just polygons.
Rules.
Limits.
Trees only exist here.
Ground textures like this.
Add a cliff there.
Knowledge is only knowledge.
Once a game becomes reality, it’s no longer a game.
The vast natural landscape before my eyes proved that.
So then…
In Chapter 1 there are places where you wake up in a forest…
Let’s narrow it down.
The wandering stranger in a strange forest? Or the lost fairy quest?
But there wasn’t a lake there…
The reason I was struggling so much was simple.
Most games have one story: Chapter 1, then Chapter 2, Chapter 3.
But Dungeon Heroes had thousands of Chapter 1s.
“What?”
Confusing?
It meant every kingdom, every region, every village and city on the continent had its own beginning.
An enormous scale.
Because the game was designed around a massive race war setting.
The conclusion was simple.
I need more information.
Local specialties, NPCs, unusual structures—anything that could serve as a clue.
Niumel glanced around and cautiously began crossing the road.
* * *
“Status window.”
“Stats window.”
“Skill window.”
“Quest window.”
I kept muttering like a madman.
But the only things I got in return were aching legs, drained stamina, and thirst after hours of walking.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
They say humans feel the greatest fear when facing the unknown.
That was exactly Niumel’s situation.
“It’s supposed to be a game… right? Then shouldn’t there be some kind of guide?!”
If not a status window, then maybe a fairy.
Or a memo system.
“Huh?! Isn’t that how it works?!”
I finally shouted.
“Huff… huff…”
Of course I immediately regretted it and looked around nervously.
“Damn it.”
Did I have anger issues or something?
What if my noise attracted something?
Still… it was understandable.
Dropped into an unfamiliar world.
Turned into a woman.
Chased by wolves.
Marching for hours in suffocating leather armor under the summer heat.
And everywhere I looked—
Forest and dirt roads.
It’d be strange if I didn’t go crazy.
Just as Niumel licked her dry lips—
Rustle.
The bushes beside the road moved.
Startled, Niumel raised her sword.
But what appeared wasn’t a monster.
Nor a beast.
Nor a bandit.
“Hey.”
“Are you… a player too?”
They were comrades from the same home world.
People in the exact same situation as me.
