Ervin's mind was in chaos. The dissonance was overwhelming — his consciousness tearing, splitting, then reassembling. He struggled to focus, to make sense of what was happening to him.
Then, cutting through the confusion, a system message appeared.
[[System]
[Coming from Seoul, a young Cheon Seul-ah decides to abandon her studies for personal reasons, to pursue a new life in Busan.]
The name appeared. And instantly Ervin felt suspicious. He stared at it, momentarily confused.
'That's a feminine name, isn't it?'
Before he could process further, he was ripped away from Han Joon-seong. His consciousness was yanked across the city, flying over buildings and streets at impossible speed. He shot through the air, past the towering skyscrapers, over the bridges connecting the city, until he reached the destination.
The KTX station. The high-speed train that connected cities across the country.
He saw himself — no, he saw a new perspective — stepping out of the train. A foot touched the platform. Then another. The view shifted, and he realized what was happening.
'This is the new body.'
Finally he stopped flying, when he noticed when he was. He floated above, looking down, trying to locate himself. And down below, the body, trying to do the same thing, looked up at his direction.
Ervin obviously noticed theonly person in the entire station looking directintly at him.
And what he saw left him completely speechless.
Standing below him was a woman. A woman of breathtaking, shocking beauty. Her black hair was tied back in a high ponytail, sleek and immaculate. Her eyes were sharp and dangerous, with a sensual edge that commanded attention. Her eyelashes were long, like delicate brushes framing her gaze.
Her body was also incredible — a narrow waist, long legs, and a big full chest, a figure that was nothing short of stunning. She wore a fur coat, soft and luxurious, that draped over her shoulders. Her jeans were tight, hugging her curves perfectly. In her hand, she carried a small rolling suitcase, the kind used for travel.
She looked up at the sky, directly at where Ervin was hovering.
Ervin stared back.
'No. No, this isn't right. I'm looking at... Cheon Seul-ah'
Ervin took control of the body. And slowly, her expression began to shift, reflecting his own emotions. She stared up at the sky, completely shocked.
She stood there for a long moment, frozen, looking up at where Ervin was floating.
Then a voice came from behind her. "Excuse me, miss? Can I get through?"
She turned quickly, flustered. "Ah, yes! Sorry! Of course!"
She stepped aside, moving out of the way. She walked toward a corner of the station, her mind racing. Ervin followed from above, hovering over her.
'What is happening? What? My second character... is a woman?!'
She stopped in the middle of the station, utterly confused, staring at the ground.
Above her, Ervin decided to pull up the status window. He focused, and the system interface appeared before him.
[[System]
Player: Ervin Mandor
Character 1; Han Joon-seong
--> Character 2; Cheon Seul-ah
[Characteristics:
Adaptation(Perfect)
Talent(Perfect)
Auto Pilot
Money(Perfect|Middle‑class)
Stealth(Lvl. 1)
Looks(Lvl. 5)
Speed(Lvl. 6)
Strength (Lvl. 5)
Endurance (Lvl. 3)
Vigor (Lvl. 4)
Intelligence (Lvl. 5)
[Tasks: None]]
Ervin stared at the screen. The first thing he noticed was that these were not the stats of Haan Joon-seong.
'Oh god. What have I done?'
He started to panic, but then he forced himself to focus. He looked more carefully at the attributes.
The Characteristics were almost identical to Han Joon-seong's. But there were two differences. She didn't have Muay Thai. And she had something called Stealth at Level 1.
He also noticed that her stats were essentially Han Joon-seong's stats, just rearranged. Where Han Joon-seong had Strength at 6, she had Speed at 6. Her Strength was 5 instead.
He focused on the Stealth characteristic.
'Stealth? What does that do?'
She looked around the station, then made a decision.
'Let's test it.'
She activated the skill. Her demeanor shifted — she lowered her head, her expression turning cold and serious. She started walking, and her footsteps became completely silent.
She approached a man standing nearby, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet in one smooth, quick motion.
She looked at the people around her — normally, they would have noticed, people weren't stupid to miss someone getting picpockited this obviously. But no one was looking at her. They were ignoring her. Like she wasn't even there.
She was shocked.
'That's... intriguing.'
She tapped the man on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir."
He turned around. "Huh?"
He saw her — and his eyes went wide. She looked like an angel standing before him.
"You dropped this," she said, holding out his wallet.
He stared at her, mesmerized, his face turning red. "Ah! Th-thank you! Thank you so much!"
She gave him a polite smile. "It was nothing. Goodbye."
She walked away, leaving him standing there, completely dazed.
'Okay. I need to find Han Joon-seong.'
As she walked, she noticed something strange. Her movement felt... off. Awkward. She wasa off balance. Curious about what was happening, she looked down, and realized why.
Her chest was bouncing. Her breasts, which were fairly large, were making her walk feel unbalanced and awkward.
She stared down at them, completely stunned.
'Oh. Right. Those.'
She decided to let Auto Pilot take over. She released control of the body, and Auto Pilot activated immediately. Her walk became smooth, and natural. She moved with an almost hypnotic sway, her hips rolling with each step, her suitcase rolling behind her.
Ervin watched from above, completely stunned.
'Man... this.... Okay. That's... I'll need to do something about this.....'
He just stared, unsure how to react.
She continued walking, eventually stepping out of the station and looking for a taxi. While none appeared, she found a bench, and sat down, placing the suitcase besides her. just then she realized there even was a suitcase with her, so she placed her it on her lap.
'What's even in this thing?'
She opened it. Inside were clothes — all women's clothing. A hair dryer, lip balm, various beauty products. She rummaged through the contents, and then her fingers found something.
An ID card.
She pulled it out, her hands trembling slightly. She opened it.
It was a real ID. A real person's identity. The name on it was Cheon Seul-ah, age 18, date of birth in 20XX. She looked at the back — the section for parents was completely redacted, covered in black blocks.
Her expression grew serious.
'So... this girl was a real person before? Then... this really is an infection power? A conversion ability. I turned a real person into one of my characters...'
She didn't know what to dowith that information. honestly, being proved right was... not as "Casual" as she had hoppen, in all honesty the thought was.... quite terrifying.
She stared at the ID, feeling a strange mixture of emotions. Something close to guilt. Sadness. She looked down at the ground, lost in thought.
Minutes passed.
Then, a shadow fell over her.
She was unsettled, she looked up.
And what she saw was Han Joon-seong standing in front of her. His posture was erect, his expression cold and blank, like a doll staring down at her.
For the first time, seeing that expression from someone else's perspective, she felt a chill. She was intimidated by him. By herself.
Then she remembered. 'Ah. Right. That's me.'
She focused on Han Joon-seong's perspective, and his expression softened. He became a normal, living human again.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
Han Joon-seong put his hand on his hip. "Okay. This is bizarre."
She nodded. "This is a little strange."
They just stood there, not sure what to do.
He crossed his arms, looking at her. His eyes naturally drifted downward — and then he realized what he was looking at.
'Well. At least I won't have to stare at Lee Hye-jin's chest anymore.'
She looked down at herself. "I guess so."
They both let out a long, synchronized sigh. And then, in unison, they spoke:
"This is so stupid. I'm talking to myself."
They stared at each other again.
They decided to stop talking. They were connected through Ervin anyway, so there was no need.
Meanwhile, Ervin was floating above them, his mind completely scrambled. He was watching both of them- of him, at the same time, trying to process everything they were doing. He was controlling both of them- of him- at once, and his thoughts were a tangled mess.
He reached a point where he couldn't think anymore. He let go of both bodies, letting Auto Pilot take over.
When he did, Han Joon-seong's expression went cold and doll-like again. Cheon Seul-ah's expression shifted too — she looked aggressive, unapproachable, her eyes cold and threatening, as if daring anyone to come near.
Ervin looked at them both.
'They're both cold... but in different ways.'
He thought about it for a moment.
Cheon Seul-ah spoke suddenly. "Yeah, I think so too."
Ervin froze. he was as frozen as a disenbodied sight could be when he ehartdit, and a imaginary chill ran down his spine.
He controlled Han Joon-seong and turned to look at her in horror.
"Did you just speak?!"
But he already knew the answer. He felt it in his mind — her mind? — the confirmation that yes, she had spoken. He felt the body's response to the question.
"How?!" he demanded.
She shrugged, her tone arrogant, matching the Auto Pilot's personality. "Must be something to do with Auto Pilot."
He opened her status window and looked at the Characteristics again. And then he saw it — something he hadn't noticed before.
Her Auto Pilot wasn't Perfect. It was just Auto Pilot. No level, no "Perfect" tag.
He stared at it, a cold dread creeping over him.
'What? It's not Perfect? What does that mean? Does that mean she's not under my control? That I can't control her?'
Before he could finish the thought, she answered him. She didn't speak this time — she just sent the thought directly to his mind.
"No. And you know it's not like that."
He could feel it. She was him. The thought wasn't from some separate entity — it was from his own consciousness, using her brain to reason.
He started to understand. Auto Pilot not being Perfect meant that her body still had its natural neural connections. Chemical reactions, reflexive responses — the way an eye blinks when water is splashed on it. It wasn't out of control, just more... natural. He could still control her completely. But her body would react more like a normal human body than Han Joon-seong's Perfect vessel.
He processed this, looking at her.
"This is so strange. You're talking to me, and I'm... it's like my thumb is having a conversation with my head."
She nodded. "Yeah. Something like that. It's pretty weird."
They both let out another long sigh. In unison, they said:
"I'm talking to myself."
Even befor elosing his phisicality, orion never felt as such a loser like he was feeling like now
'Trully i have reached the bottom of the well... But it's hard to stop, i just feel like i have to speak when i see a actual human ebing in front of me....'
They looked at each other again. Then they blinked, sighed again, and both spoke at the same time:
"Let's go home."
They stood up from the bench, waited for the taxi to arrive, climbed in together, and headed home.