2025-10-30 17:55:09Episode 6 – Slave Job for the Brain
The flickering blue glow from his triple-monitor setup lit up the room like a low-level spell. It was late morning, but the curtains were shut. Kim Do-hyun (김도현) sat in his chair, slouched forward, chewing on the edge of a chopstick. His eyes were dry, but he refused to blink. He was reading every single thread on the Awakened Status Web Archive. There were over 700 pages of user reports, system screenshots, theories from lunatics, and occasionally, gems of actual knowledge. “The stats you’re born with at Level 1, that’s it,” said one commenter. “You can improve them, but only through awakening paths. Training might move them by like... 0.01 per month. Useless.” Do-hyun exhaled slowly and sat back. “So unless I awaken something wild, I’m stuck being a fat gamer with slightly better stamina.” He cracked his knuckles and opened a second tab. This one was an archived research dump from a known data miner named [ManaDoctor22]. Hidden stats are real. They're just not visible until you awaken or get scanned by an S-Class Awakened examiner. Known hidden stats: Regeneration, Mentality, Tenacity, Luck, Spiritual Sync. Regeneration allows your body to naturally heal without potions or medical help. Mentality controls how you resist mental-type skills or curses. Tenacity helps you survive death-level wounds. Nobody knows how to raise these. Do-hyun chewed the inside of his cheek. “If regeneration is hidden… and it’s part of vitality... then maybe I do have something inside me waiting to pop.” He opened his system again and stared at the same plain window. No changes. No surprises. Just slow progress from clone running. His real body got thinner. Reflexes ticked up. But... he needed more. And fast. Because life in his apartment was no longer sustainable. He glanced at his banking app. ₩921,350. Roughly 700 dollars. “That’s grocery money. Rent’s already overdue. Electricity bill... pending disconnection.” His clone was out there sweating under the sun, but he was in here drowning in bills. And worse? He was eating double now. His real body needed food. But so did the clone. He learned the hard way that if the clone ran on an empty stomach, it vanished within minutes. Apparently, even magic clones obeyed the laws of metabolism. “I’m a commander,” he muttered, fingers drumming on the table. “Like in a game. I’m the brain. My clones are the pawns. So I just need more pawns. Or... I need one pawn doing everything I can’t.” His hand trembled toward the job board tab. He had used it in the past. Gig work. Most of it was trash. “Translator needed. Must be fluent in 7 languages.” “Design 3D models for dungeon portals in Unreal Engine 5.” “Teach kids mana breathing techniques (must be C-Rank Awakened).” Too complex. Too skill-based. He scrolled fast, filtering by ‘no qualifications’ and ‘manual labor’. That’s when he saw it. Job Title: Warehouse Laborer Company: Crazy Monkey Logistics Description: Carry boxes. Follow orders. Get paid daily. No questions asked. Location: Busan outskirts Pay: ₩90,000/day Contact: Kwon Beom-gu His eyes narrowed. “Crazy Monkey? What kind of cursed company name is that?” The listing even had a low-res monkey in a hard hat. He clicked it. Three reviews. “Sketchy, but they pay.” “Don’t talk too much. Just work.” “The guy running it’s kinda crazy. You’ll know when you see him.” Do-hyun rubbed his temples. “This screams red flags. This is the kind of place where people go missing in webtoons.” But... ₩90,000 a day. That was more than game farming got him in three days. He picked up his phone and dialed. Ring... Ring... A gruff voice answered. “Yeah?” “Uh, hello. I’m calling about the job opening for the warehouse.” “Good. You got hands?” “Uh… what?” “You got two hands? You can lift boxes?” “Yeah…” “Then you start today.” “Oh. I mean, I was planning to—” “No. You’re coming today. I already lost a guy. Show up before 3.” “Wait, where exactly—?” The call ended. Do-hyun stared at the phone. “…What the hell just happened?” Two hours later, Do-hyun stood near a rusty chain-link fence on the outskirts of the industrial zone. The air smelled like oil and river sludge. Buildings here were half-abandoned, concrete cracked, old metal vents breathing warm fog into the sky. A wooden sign creaked on chains: CRAZY MONKEY LOGISTICS – NO CAMERAS – NO QUESTIONS – NO REFUNDS He took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” He found the gate open and stepped inside. A large man stood beside a shipping container, scratching his chest with a crowbar. He had a shaved head, cargo pants, and sunglasses, even though the sun was behind the clouds. On his neck, a tattoo of a monkey skull grinned. “You Kim?” “Yeah.” “I’m Beom-gu. You work, you get paid. You don’t work, you disappear.” “I’ll work.” “Good. Do not speak to anybody. You saw something strange, you did not. Got it?” “…Sure.” Beom-gu tossed him a pair of gloves. “Inside there is a shipment. Just boxes. Take them to the loading dock. Pile them up. It is not your back that you use, it is your legs.” “Got it.” Do-hyun entered the container. And at once called Number 1. There was hissing smoke. The clone was at his side, already perspiring at the call in so near a heat of industry. “Orders, Master?” Do-hyun said, in a low voice, “Move the boxes. Pile them up to perfection.” The clone set to work. Do-hyun was sitting in the corner, sipping water, and watching. Box by box, Number 1 trudged along. His shoulders were moving as gears of a machine. Balanced. Measured. Efficient. The warehouse was filled with the thumps of cardboard and skidding pallets. Other workers looked at him. One of the guys murmured, “Is this man doing everything?” Another replied, “I believe he has a clone ability. Lucky bastard.” Beom-gu walked by with a piece of gum. He gave the clone an eyebrow, then Do-hyun. “You are not as dumb as you are pretty.” Do-hyun responded, “I am poor. That is how people are creative.” Beom-gu laughed. “You are hired on a full-time basis. Be here tomorrow. Whether they are clones or not, I like people who shut up and lift.” At the end of the day, Do-hyun was in his room, lying in bed, watching the ceiling fan lazily rotate. A new message flashed on his wrist. [Stamina +0.05] [Strength +0.02] [Vitality +0.01] He smiled. Then arose. His clone had been working all day, day in, day out. He had not done a thing. But his body... got better. He mumbled, “I am a manager. The clone is my employee.” His bank app vibrated. [₩90,000 received from Crazy Monkey Logistics] His belly rumbled. He launched his food app. Time to feed the real body... and the clone's too. This was just the start.
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episode 12
Episode 12 – A Clone’s Limit, A Human’s DreamIt was a low, lazy sun outside, and the cramped windows of the apartment were tinted warm orange. The light filtered in through thin curtains, falling over piles of instant ramen wrappers, sweat-soaked gym clothes, and the single futon that marked Kim Do-hyun’s (김도현) tiny kingdom.He threw off his shoes and closed the door behind him with the heel of his foot, a heavy sigh coming between his lips. Home again. His back was sore, his calves were on fire, and his neck was chewed up by a very bad-tempered gorilla. But all that did not appear on his face.“I swear... If I don't get a reward for this grind, I’m gonna start charging the clone rent,” he muttered, voice dry as sand.Yet something was... wrong.The flat was silent. A little too silent. He looked across at the little corner table where the clone folded its work clothes. Nothing. No sign. Still gone?“Seriously?” Do-hyun rubbed his hair that was now a bit greasy and took out his phone
episode 11
Episode 11 – The Little Spark in the GirlThe sun came in through gauzy curtains into the silent living room. Textbooks and papers were scattered on a small wooden table, each page having sticky notes in bright colors as a miniature flag of despair. There was the smell of perfume, baby shampoo, and tension in the air.Kim Do-hyun (김도현) inhaled slowly and stepped back from the table. There was the sound of a soft hum in his mind, like the memories that lingered in the air of yesterday and today.Min-joo was sitting across the table with her head down. Her black hair fell upon her shoulders like a dark cascade. She would not look at him. She was smaller than yesterday—shy, remote, concealing more than her half-formed sentences.Do-hyun ahemmed.“Okay, give me your score.”He saw her fingers shake a little as she opened the test paper. She folded it out, the folds crisp.The room was silent, as though he was an intruder entering into the dream of another.He bent over, reading the figure
Game 10
Episode 10 – The Tutor and the TornadoOutside, the morning air was dry and strangely still, as though the world were waiting to breathe. Kim Do-hyun (김도현) stood at the bus stop in his plain sneakers, feeling the heat of the asphalt beneath his feet. He had two phones in his hands. One was the battered old Android he played games on, which now was the property of the clone. The other was his real phone. The actual one. His lifeline. His stress. His chain to the wild world beyond.It buzzed.He glanced at the screen and saw the name: Oh Deok-su (오덕수).The warehouse manager. The person who gave him this insane tutoring job because he saw his so-called genius.His thumb glided over the screen, and he responded with a sluggish, “Hello?”[“You free right now? Come and teach my daughter. She’s home.”]Do-hyun paused. He looked up at the sun as though it had offended him. “Right now?”[“Yeah, right now. She's being difficult again. Come fix her.”]He heaved a sigh. He was tender after yester
Game 9
Episode 9 – The Gym of Gains and Chicken DreamsIt was a warm wind that morning, and the sun was peeping over the congested skyline as though he were too timid to rise. Kim Do-hyun (김도현) stepped off the bus with a quiet sigh, slinging a cheap nylon gym bag over his shoulder. There was a clean towel, a bottle of water, and nerves he could not quite swallow down.His clone was out there working in the warehouse, performing push-ups on his breaks and living off of old ramen. That left the actual Do-hyun alone on his way to the gym entrance. His steps were irresolute, careful yet firm. That old feeling in his stomach? It was just like it was when he first pressed the button marked Start on some online game—the fear and excitement of going into a dungeon.And then—“YO, YOU BASTARD!”A big palm struck him on the shoulder like a hammer dropped out of the sky. Do-hyun turned around with his eyes wide and was about to run when he saw a mountain of muscle in front of him.It was Nam Tae-joon (
Game 8
Episode 8 – [Clone on Duty, Boss in Training]The thin curtains of the studio apartment were bleeding morning sunlight through, giving the wooden floor a pale gold shimmer. There was a faint smell of instant ramen, sweat, and cheap detergent, which were all indicators of two bodies living on borrowed time and borrowed energy.Kim Do-hyun (김도현) groaned as he peeled one eye open. His arms and legs seemed to be full of sand. Muscles he didn't even know he had were sore. He turned over and looked at the clock on the wall.7:12 AM.His copy was not returned.Do-hyun sat up slowly, his body grumbling at every movement. He rubbed his eyes, got up, and shuffled over to the kitchenette. A rice cooker, two empty ramen bowls, and three half-opened protein bar wrappers greeted him on the counter like silent witnesses to last night's grind.The click of a door opening behind him turned him.His clone intervened. The garments it wore were wet with perspiration, the face pale, and the eyelids heavy.
Game 7
EPISODE 7 – “Double Shift”The morning haze still clung to the edges of the city like a sleepy fog refusing to let go. Gray clouds floated lazily overhead, hiding the sun but not the heat. The sidewalk shimmered faintly, soaked in yesterday’s humidity and sweat. Somewhere in the distance, a crow cawed. Seoul, even in its laziest hours, never truly slept.Kim Do-hyun (김도현) tugged at the collar of his oversized shirt as he approached the rust-covered gates of the logistics center. His nerves were tight, his stomach a tangle of tension, caffeine, and cheap ramen from last night.Next to him stood his “cousin brother,” John Dong.Tall, chubby, silent, with eyes that didn’t blink much. That was the clone. His expression was blank, but that wasn’t new. Emotion wasn’t something Number 1 was programmed to care about.“All right,” Do-hyun whispered, keeping his voice low as a small delivery truck rumbled by behind them. “Simple words. No full sentences unless you’re forced. Don’t talk too much
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