Ughh, my head.
The pain didn't throb; it pressed, dull and constant, like his brain was slightly too large for his skull. Lee Heuk-jae squinted against the dim light. No, not dim. It was just one flickering, oil-soaked lantern hanging crookedly from a low, timber ceiling.
He blinked, rubbing the grit from his eyes. His hand was rough, calloused, and stained with something dark—a laborer's hand, definitely not the soft, pale hands of the college student who had been sitting in front of a laptop just moments ago.
Laptop? Kitchen? Gulp, gulp... The memory was already hazy, feeling less like a recent event and more like a scene from a movie he'd watched last week.
Heuk-jae tried to sit up and was instantly met with a sharp, sickening resistance. A heavy chain, thick and rusty, tugged against his throat. He looked down and choked on a gasp.
Clamped around his neck was a thick, iron slave collar. It was crudely forged, black with age and neglect, and fastened with a massive, padlock-sized contraption that looked impossible to pick. The chain ran from the collar down to a heavy iron ring bolted into the wooden floorboards.
This is bad. This is seriously, ridiculously bad.
He scrambled backward until his shoulders hit the rough wood of a barrel, his eyes darting around the space. He was in a large, windowless room, dimly lit and smelling overwhelmingly of stale straw, sweat, and cheap metal. Around him, dozens of others—men, women, and even children—lay huddled on straw piles, chained just like him, their faces a mixture of exhausted despair and vacant trauma.
This wasn't just a prison. This was the hold of a slave ship, or perhaps a fortified transit camp. Heuk-jae didn't need to ask. He knew.
This setting, this oppressive weight, was instantly recognizable. The slave collar, the specific iron chain gauge, the terrible aroma of fear and filth—this was the notorious Fourth Sector Slave Auction Holding Facility, located just outside the neutral city of Aegis.
Heuk-jae was inside The Evering.
The world he had just finished—first by reading the sprawling, seven-volume web novel, and then by grinding through its notoriously difficult tactical-RPG adaptation—was now his reality. He hadn't just cleared the game; he'd completed the rare Second Ending, which was supposed to unlock the "Reality Ending" achievement. He had dismissed the final message—[Let's dive in]—as some kind of meta-joke.
The game, The Evering, was set in a massive, sprawling fantasy world powered by arcane technology and feudal politics. It was infamous for its brutal difficulty and its complex, interconnected narrative paths. The novel was even denser, containing thousands of minor character biographies, precise maps, and an entire economic structure.
And Heuk-jae, the master strategist who knew every plot twist, every hidden item cache, and every character's secret weakness, was now an Extra. A commoner. Specifically, based on his location, he was one of the nameless, expendable masses who made up the first major side-quest in the game: The Aegis Slave Escape.
He ran his fingers over the collar, a cold dread mixing with a rising tide of almost delirious excitement. He was trapped, yes. He was powerless, yes. But he also held the definitive, perfect strategy guide in his head. No one else knew that the slave masters' supply cart had a poorly reinforced axle bolt on the left side, or that the guard captain, Borin, had a crippling fear of rats.
I am Lee Heuk-jae. I know the future of this world.
A rough voice ripped through his focus. "Up! All of you, up! Breakfast is served!"
A hulking man with a scarred face and a heavy whip stalked into the room. Heuk-jae noted the leather uniform: a Garrick Mercenary Guard, low-level henchman, stat block: Strength 8, Agility 5, Weakness: Intimidation (requires status effect). Easy.
A message appeared, not on a screen, but like a sharp, painful thought carved into the front of his mind:
[QUEST ALERT: SLAVE ESCAPE - DAY 1]
Objective: Survive and Escape the Fourth Sector Holding Facility.
Condition: Must escape before the main auction begins (3 Days).
Reward: Access to the "Commoner's Grimoire" skill tree.
Failure: Permanent enslavement (Immediate Game Over).
Heuk-jae smiled, a thin, feral thing that felt alien on his face. The game had begun, and he was already starting from the worst possible save point.
"Alright," he muttered, using the last of his modern-world strength to push himself up on shaking arms. "Let's see if the walkthrough holds up."