I couldn't stay still.
After the system window disappeared and his mother's footsteps faded down the hallway, I sat on the edge of the bed, hands on my knees, staring at the floor as if I could find some answer there.
But there wasn't one.
Only reality.
I am inside the world of PTJ.
A place where laws are weak, fists rule, and being weak is a death sentence.
A world where respect isn't asked for... it's earned with blows.
And now, I am in the body of Suhyeon Kim.
The loser. Everyone's target. The one who, until yesterday, lived crawling through the school hallways...
But also the one who changed his destiny.
The one who grew up. The one who leveled up, mission after mission.
He also started from scratch.
And I... I am at that very same point.
I leaned forward, taking a deep breath. I had an advantage.
I know what's coming.
Maybe not in detail, but I remember who the enemies are. Who betrays. What cards exist. What the key moments are.
And most importantly, I know that this system can turn a loser into a monster.
My weaknesses?
I have no real physical strength.
I have no fighting reflexes.
And if I make a mistake, no one is going to correct the script for me.
This world is not just a story. It is a hostile environment, and I am inside it.
I brought my hands to my face. I still found it hard to believe.
But I remembered something about the system. An important detail.
The cards.
I took another breath, deeper this time.
"Reveal the gold card," I said.
[System]
Revealing the golden card.
The room was briefly tinged with gold. A soft, almost solemn flash.
A floating card appeared, unlike any of the previous ones: polished edges, animated flashes, and a low digital melody, like a high-level advertisement.
[Disposable card]
Grows 3 centimeters in height.
*This will disappear after use!
[System]
Are you going to use this?
"Wow... Of course I do!" I replied.
[System]
Grow 3 centimeters.
It is being used.
I felt a strange tug in my chest, as if the air had been compressed for a second.
The letter dissolved into golden particles before I could touch it, and then... I noticed it.
It wasn't a drastic change, but it was real.
I stood up straight, without realizing it, and my head seemed to get a little closer to the top frame of the mirror.
"Did I grow?" I whispered.
I opened and closed my fists. My joints sounded firmer.
My shoulders... wider.
Suhyeon's body was still that of a skinny student, but now it had a foundation. As if someone had upgraded his version 1.0 to 1.1.
A small but significant improvement.
"Okay. This isn't just psychological anymore," I said, looking at myself in the mirror.
The system, as fantastical as it was, had real weight. It could change me. Physically.
And that... meant that if I kept completing missions, I could also gain strength.
Real strength.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
I'm not a spectator. I'm not watching from the outside.
I'm here.
And if this body is going to be mine... then I'm going to strengthen it. Step by step.
But then I remembered something.
"That's right, I have to go to high school."
Just as I turned to grab my uniform from the back of the chair, a familiar voice snapped me out of my trance:
"Suhyeon, what time are you planning to go to high school? You're going to be late!"
It was my mother.
There was no anger in her tone... just exhaustion. The kind of exhaustion that sounds like routine, like many days that are all the same, like resignation.
The same voice as a moment ago, but now without the open wound. As if my apology had alleviated something, even if only a little.
"I'm coming," I replied, raising my voice so she could hear me from the kitchen.
I grabbed my uniform. I put it on quickly, even though my hands were shaking slightly. Not from fear. It was something else. A kind of electricity under my skin.
Every time I looked in the mirror, I noticed something else.
My posture was straighter.
My chin was firmer.
Only three centimeters, yes... but when you've been crushed for so long, even that feels like a step up.
I combed my hair quickly, without obsessing over it. It wasn't time to get ready to impress. I just needed to get out. Face the day.
My first day.
When I went downstairs, the smell of hot soup hit me immediately. The kitchen was small and cozy. There was rice in the pot, a pan with some kimchi in the corner, and two plates on the table. Only one had food on it.
Mine.
"You have to eat something," Mom said without turning around, as she washed a cup.
"Thanks," I muttered, a little quieter than I had planned.
I sat down and took a sip of the soup. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. She had probably served it a while ago, thinking I would come down earlier. The flavor was strong, homemade. Nothing special, but... comforting.
For a minute, there was only silence.
She kept washing. I ate.
And even though the words burned in my throat, I didn't know what else to say to her. I didn't want to break the momentary peace. Not so soon.
"Your sister already left," she said at last, her voice neutral. "She said you wouldn't come down even if she yelled. She left upset."
"I understand."
She turned slightly, just enough to glance at me.
"You're... weird today. Quieter. Are you sure you're okay?"
I swallowed and nodded.
"I'm fine, Mom. Really."
She held my gaze for a second that seemed much longer.
And finally, she nodded too.
"Eat. Don't be late."
I took another sip of soup and, when I finished, I carefully put down my cutlery. I put on my shoes in the hallway, checked that my cell phone was in my pocket, and, before opening the door, I took one last look at the house.
It was a simple place. Old furniture, worn curtains, a crooked family photo on the wall.
But it was warm.
And for the first time since I woke up, I felt that... maybe there was something to protect here.
Something worthwhile.
I opened the door.
The morning air hit my face. It wasn't particularly cold, but it felt different. As if the world outside was challenging me to take the first step.
The streets of the neighborhood were half empty, but not silent. Cars passed in the distance, students with backpacks walked in pairs along the sidewalks, some laughing, others wearing headphones, oblivious to the chaos that awaited them further ahead.
I walked alone.
The soles of my shoes hit the concrete with a rhythm that tried to keep me calm, but my mind was elsewhere.
Each step brought me closer to the building I already knew... though not from personal experience.
I had seen it hundreds of times on screen.
And yet, when I saw it at the end of the avenue, I felt my stomach tighten.
It had that common, boring facade: gray walls, a metal fence, and a main gate through which dozens of students entered.
But I knew.
This was no ordinary place.
This school was a battlefield.
There were invisible hierarchies, undeclared territories. Gangs of students who ruled with violence, and teachers who preferred to look the other way.
A place where losing a fight meant more than just a black eye. It meant disappearing. Being invisible. Being nobody.
And now I was going in there.
I put my hands in my pockets to hide my tension. I still didn't know how to walk. Relaxed? Confident? Like a new guy or like someone with memories of the future?
It doesn't matter. I don't have to pretend to be someone else.
I just have to not be who I was before.
Then I walked through the gate.
Inside the high school.
I turned into the second hallway. The voices grew louder. It seemed like everyone was talking at once, but without saying anything important. A couple of boys bumped shoulders, exchanging jokes. An empty bottle rolled across the floor.
Chaos here was no exception. It was the norm.
[System]
A tutorial search is being created.
"It can't be..." I whispered, feeling my stomach freeze. "The next mission is... with her?"
[System]
The reward for completing this quest is 1 gold card and 1 silver card.
And just then, I saw her.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the hallway, walking as if the world couldn't touch her, a girl appeared with an aura that made everyone step aside without her asking. Black hair, waist-length, smooth as a veil. Fair skin, almost porcelain, and brown eyes that didn't seek anyone out... but still captivated everyone.
She wore a tight shirt that perfectly outlined her figure and an equally tight black skirt that ended just above the knee. Elegant, confident, unattainable.
Baek Chaerin.
That was all it took. I recognized her instantly.
The ice queen.
And now the system was telling me I had to approach her. Not only that.
I saw it appear. Like a bad joke.
[System]
Kiss Baek Chaerin [0/1]
Reward: 1 gold card and 1 silver card.
"Are you fucking with me...?" I muttered, my eyes fixed on the floating text.
It was the second mission. And they already wanted me dead.
But fate, or rather the system, seemed to have no intention of waiting. Because before I could even think of a strategy, chaos did it for me.
A misplaced backpack, an accidental stumble, a chain reaction of pushing... and by the time I reacted, it was too late.
"Shit...!"
Smack!
My shoulder collided directly with Baek Chaerin's.
The scene froze.
For a second, the entire hallway seemed to fall silent. As if the students knew—by animal instinct—that someone had just committed sacrilege.
Chaerin turned slowly, as if it wasn't even worth doing quickly. She tucked her hair behind her ear with an almost ceremonial slowness and looked at me as if I had just stepped in excrement.
"Eh...?" Her voice was icy. "Do you want to die?"
I looked at her. But not like the original Suhyeon would have: hunched over, stuttering, apologizing before thinking.
No.
I looked at her with my eyes wide open. Expectant. As if I were watching a cinematic that was finally happening live.
I almost laughed. Almost.
Chaerin narrowed her eyes, offended that I showed no sign of fear.
"What, are you deaf?" she snapped. "I asked if you wanted to die."
I didn't answer right away. I just raised an eyebrow, still analyzing every second as if it were a programmed scene.
Then, as if to seal the humiliation, she raised her hand.
A slap. It was coming. I knew it. Everyone knew it.
"Die," she said contemptuously.
But just as her hand was in the air, as all eyes in the hallway were fixed on us, I spoke.
"Throw me," I said calmly. "Or are you afraid?"
That sentence stopped her arm midway.
Not only was she stunned, but even those watching held their breath.
Who was this Suhyeon, and what the hell had he been smoking?
His gaze fixed on me, trying to read my expression. There was no mockery. There was no submission. Just... calm.
A calm that was disconcerting.
"What did you say?" he asked, lowering his voice, as if he couldn't believe someone like me could talk to him like that.
He took a step closer. So close that I could smell his perfume. Sweet, expensive. Unnecessarily intimidating.
I held his gaze.
And then the unthinkable happened.
A boy running with a tray from the school kiosk—loaded with banana milk, rolls, and suspiciously liquid kimchi—didn't stop in time.
Fate, apparently, had its own sense of humor.
"Watch out!" someone shouted.
Too late.
PRAAASH!
The boy crashed into Chaerin's back.
The milk exploded like a grenade. The bread flew through the air. The kimchi... landed directly on her shoulder, sliding down her tight white blouse.
A deathly silence fell over the hallway.
It took Chaerin two seconds to process what had happened. Then her face turned red... nuclear red.
"WHO WAS THE IDIOT?!" she shouted, turning around in a rage.
The boy from the kiosk was trembling, bowing at a 90-degree angle while stammering apologies that no one understood.
And me... well, I couldn't help it.
I let out a laugh. Soft at first. Then louder.
Chaerin turned to me, still soaking wet, with a look that could burn steel.
"What are you laughing at, pig?"
"Fate," I replied, still smiling. "Today... it really slapped you in the face."
Those watching let out a couple of nervous laughs, and that's when I knew I had crossed a line.
A line that the old Suhyeon would never have dared to touch.
And yet... I didn't care.
Because for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel like I was at the bottom of the food chain.
And that... that was addictive.
The echo of laughter still lingered in the air when I felt it.
A different kind of silence. More intense. More dangerous.
"You think you're funny?" said a voice behind me, deep, mocking, threatening.
I didn't have time to turn around.
SMACK!
A brutal slap hit me like lightning, straight across the cheek. My head spun on its own from the force, and my body crashed into the hallway wall with a thud. I couldn't breathe.
The pain was instantaneous. Burning. Real.
I brought my hand to my face, feeling the skin throbbing. Hot. Humiliated.
"Hey, idiot! Who gave you permission to make fun of Chaerin?" spat the same voice.
When I managed to look up, I saw him.
It was Choi Changdong.
A mastodon with the face of a spoiled pig, puffed cheeks, and a sadistic smile. His uniform pants were so tight they looked like they were about to give way. At his side, two smaller followers, with the faces of stray dogs and eyes without a thought of their own, escorted him as if he were a cheap emperor.
"This is Suhyeon Kim, right?" said one of them. "The school's punching bag. Since when did you get a tongue, loser?"
I didn't answer.
Not because I was afraid—although it did hurt, quite a lot—but because I was gauging the moment. Analyzing. Breathing.
Changdong took another step forward and grabbed me by the collar of my uniform, lifting me a few inches off the ground.
"You think you're different today? You think you're funny for looking at Chaerin?" he snorted, his breath smelling of spicy noodles.
"I don't think anything," I muttered, looking him in the eye.
He frowned.
"Oh, no? Then look down like before. Like the worm you are."
I didn't.
My pride was already bruised. But if I looked down, it would be the same as signing a sentence of eternal humiliation.
I didn't come into this world to live with my head down.
And before he could say anything else...
[System]
New side mission available.
Objective: Defeat Choi Changdong [0/1]
Reward: 1 silver card and 1 bronze card.
The blow still rang in my ears.
My left ear was ringing. I struggled to stay on my feet. The wall was supporting me more than I wanted to admit.
And just then, Chaerin's voice rang out again. Cold, but somehow more... anxious?
"Changdong. That's enough," she said, stepping forward. "You don't have to hit him. It was just a bump. I can handle it."
He turned his head, annoyed.
"You again? Now you care about this insect?"
"I don't care," she replied dryly. "I'm just saying you've made your point. It's not worth it."
Changdong snorted, turning to his friends with a crooked smile.
"Did you hear that? She says I'm not worth it," he sneered, as if the whole situation were a private comedy.
Chaerin pressed her lips together. But she said nothing more.
There was nothing more she could do.
She could rule the hallway with her presence... but she couldn't rule Changdong. Not this hot-blooded animal who responded only to force.
He looked at me again.
"All right, Suhyeon. Do you have anything to say before I disfigure your face?"
I took a deep breath. I felt a strange tingling... a mixture of fear and euphoria.
"Yes," I murmured, my voice still hoarse. "If you're going to hit me... make sure I don't get up."
His eyes widened slightly.
"Huh?"
And before he could react, I raised my knee.
THUD!
Right in his crotch.
Not with all my strength. But enough to make him let out an animalistic growl and let me go.
I staggered backward, panting. The hallway exploded with murmurs.
"He hit him?! Suhyeon hit Changdong?!"
"Are you crazy? He's going to kill him!"
"Is this a joke from the drama club?"
Changdong fell to his knees, his hands between his legs. His followers stared at him in amazement.
I took advantage of those seconds. Not to run. Not to beg.
To step forward.
"I'm not the Suhyeon of yesterday," I said, my voice firm.
And then... I committed the final act of madness.
I turned to Chaerin with a crooked smile, my cheek still red and swollen.
"So what do you say, princess? Does that count as an attempt at a kiss... or is there still more to come?"
She looked at me as if I had just broken the logic of the universe.
She said nothing.
But she didn't look away.
And on her face... for the first time... there was no contempt.
There was curiosity.
And just when I thought the system was going to reward me with a shower of cards...
"RAAAAAAH!"
Changdong rose like a bull.
"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, KIM!"
He threw a punch at me like a wrecking ball.
I didn't have time to dodge it.
CRACK!
The pain was like an explosion in my nose.
I fell to the ground.
Blood. Screams. Chaos.
And yet...
As I lay on the floor, bleeding and breathing through my mouth, I couldn't help it.
I laughed.
Because they hadn't killed me.
And this time... everyone had seen it.
The punching bag had risen.
My body ached like hell. My nose was broken, my vision blurred, and I probably had a couple of loose teeth.
But I was still awake.
I was still breathing.
And when the murmurs began to grow again, when I felt all those eyes on me, I understood.
They may have knocked me down...
But this time, everyone saw him stand up.
I smiled, spat blood to the side, and, between gasps, said quietly:
"First lesson in this world... there is no respect without war.
And I've already started mine."