Baek Jin-Woo shoved a crumpled paper flyer into the chest of a passing businessman. The man swatted it away without even looking up from his phone.
"Take it," Jin-Woo said to a teenager in a school uniform. The kid walked right past him.
"Jin-Woo, you're doing it wrong again!" Han Tae-Soo shouted over the roar of the Seoul traffic, waving a thick stack of flyers. "You have to smile! Look friendly! We need believers, not people scared of being mugged!"
Jin-Woo crushed the remaining flyers in his fist. He glared up at the eighty-story glass-and-steel skyscraper looming over the sidewalk.
"Five hundred years ago," Jin-Woo muttered, "my grand temple stood exactly where that monstrosity is. Millions bowed at my feet. Now, I am a twenty-two-year-old mortal handing out garbage on the street."
"Welcome to 2026," Tae-Soo sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Real estate is expensive. Even for gods."
"It has been two weeks, Tae-Soo. Two weeks since I woke up in this weak body. Two weeks since we launched that website. Where are they?"
Tae-Soo rubbed his temples. "I told you, 'War' isn't a popular search term in an era of peace. The God of Victory handles all the conflicts now. You're yesterday's news."
"There is no true peace," Jin-Woo said coldly. "People have just forgotten how to fight."
"Philosophy doesn't pay the rent. Let's go back. My feet hurt."
They returned to Tae-Soo's cramped basement apartment, a disaster zone of empty ramen cups and tangled wires. Tae-Soo immediately flopped into his chair, waking up his dual-monitor setup. On the screens was a dark, sleek website: www.shrineofwar.com.
"Analytics check," Tae-Soo mumbled, rapidly clicking his mouse. "Traffic is zero. Engagement... zero. We are broke, man."
"It takes time."
"It takes money—wait." Tae-Soo froze, leaning closer to the monitor. "Jin-Woo! An actual message!"
"Open it."
Tae-Soo clicked the inbox. An anonymous text box filled the screen.
Message: I don't know if this site is real. I don't care. I am cornered in the old school gym. They took my shoes. They told me I am nothing. They told me to jump off the roof. My backpack feels like it's made of lead. The shadows here are moving. I am so scared. If you are really a God of War... just make the weight stop. I can't breathe.
The basement went completely silent.
Jin-Woo closed his eyes. Deep inside his chest, a spark of ancient, dormant power flared to life. This wasn't just misery; it was a desperate plea for a weapon.
"Can you track her IP?" Tae-Soo's fingers flew across the keyboard.
"I don't need a machine."
Jin-Woo opened his eyes. They glowed with a faint, terrifying golden light. The basement walls seemed to fade as he felt the city pulse. Amidst millions of dull souls, a sharp, desperate heartbeat of terror and rage was screaming three miles west.
"I found her," Jin-Woo said, grabbing his leather jacket.
"Wait! Your power isn't fully recovered!"
"A War God does not wait." He slammed the door behind him.
Yoon Seo-Ah sat curled up on the dusty floor of the abandoned school gym. Wearing only socks, her knees were pulled to her chest, her body shaking violently.
Right above Park Min-Ji, the leader of the bullies, was the source of the weight.
It wasn't a mere shadow. It was a grotesque, heavy mass made of tangled backpack straps, fused metal zippers, and unread textbooks. Its "face" was a distorted digital clock constantly flashing '00:00'. Hovering right over Min-Ji, its immense pressure was crushing Seo-Ah's soul.
Only Seo-Ah could feel it. The bullies just thought she was pathetic.
"Transfer schools already, Seo-Ah," Min-Ji sneered, tossing Seo-Ah's white sneakers into a corner. "Nobody wants you here."
Seo-Ah wanted to scream, to grab the bat Min-Ji was holding. But her body wouldn't obey. The shadow's weight was absolute. Me? Fight? They are too strong. I'm just me.
CRASH!
The gym's heavy metal doors were kicked inward, echoing like a grenade blast.
The three bullies screamed and spun around. A young man in a leather jacket walked into the dim gym, his glowing golden eyes fixed entirely on the ceiling.
"Who are you?!" Min-Ji yelled. "This area is closed!"
Jin-Woo ignored her, taking slow, deliberate steps forward.
"Hey! Are you crazy?!" One of the other bullies stepped up to push him.
Jin-Woo didn't blink. He simply released a fraction of his aura. A wave of heavy, suffocating pressure slammed into the three girls. They collapsed instantly, gasping for air, faces pale with primal terror.
"Run," Jin-Woo commanded, his voice vibrating with unnatural power.
They didn't ask questions. They scrambled to their feet and sprinted out of the gym.
Seo-Ah sat alone, stunned. Who is this guy? Why did they run like that? She stared in confusion, her fear momentarily replaced by disbelief. Is he... seeing it too?
The creature on the ceiling shrieked, its clock-face flashing a rapid red. It dropped from the rafters, hurtling straight down toward Jin-Woo, metal tendrils aimed to impale him.
"Manifest!"
A sharp, cracking sound echoed from Jin-Woo's arm.
A blinding flash of gold erupted from his palm. His human body was too weak for divine weight. As the weapon materialized, the muscles in his forearm ripped, his wrist cracking under the immense strain. This vessel... it's breaking faster than I thought, he realized, gritting his teeth.
A broken, rusted blade appeared in his hand, shattered down the middle.
The creature's tendrils descended.
Jin-Woo sidestepped with agonizing effort, his mortal body screaming in protest. He swung the broken blade upward. It wasn't the metal that cut the monster; it was the absolute authority of the swing. The air itself split.
A golden arc of energy sliced through the tangled mass.
The creature's digital clock flashed 'ERROR'. Its tendrils snapped. The entire structure violently shattered into thousands of fragments of black ash, raining down on the gym floor before vanishing completely.
Silence returned.
Jin-Woo lowered his hand. The broken sword dissolved into golden particles. He let out a ragged breath, stumbled slightly, and clutched his left arm. A small thread of blood ran from the corner of his mouth as his piercing gaze shifted to the girl on the floor.
Seo-Ah stared back, eyes wide with shock. The blinding flash, the shattered shadow—it had all been real. The crushing weight was just... gone.
"You..." Seo-Ah stuttered, her voice trembling. "Did... did you read my message?"
"You asked for the strength to fight back," Jin-Woo said flatly, pointing a shaking finger at her. "I killed the parasite feeding on your fear. The rest is your war."
Seo-Ah froze. He repeated the exact words I typed. The absurdity of the website suddenly made terrifying sense.
"Me... fight back?" Seo-Ah looked at her hands. But they'll just come back. What can I do? I'm just a girl in socks.
"You don't need a weapon, Yoon Seo-Ah," Jin-Woo ordered, his golden eyes piercing through her doubts. "War doesn't start with swords. It starts with a decision. Stand up."
Seo-Ah hesitated. Me? Stand up? She looked at her scraped, trembling knees. For years, she had kept her head down, hoping the storm would pass. It never did. The magical weight was gone, but the heavy habit of fear remained. She gritted her teeth, her fists clenching on the dusty floor.
If I stay on my knees today... I will never stand again.
She grabbed the floor and pushed. Her legs were weak, but they held. She stood up. The lack of fear in her chest was terrifying... and exhilarating.
"Are you..." she swallowed hard, staring at the blood on his lip. "Are you really him?"
Jin-Woo simply held her gaze.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice shaking but filled with absolute awe. "God."
As the word left her lips, Jin-Woo felt it. A pure, warm rush of energy entered his chest. It was small, but it was real.
Suddenly, a massive, holographic blue screen shattered into existence in front of his eyes.
[System Alert: The first drop of Faith has been registered.][War God's Authority recovering... 0.001%][WARNING: Mortal body cannot sustain Divine Weight. Durability decreased.]
Jin-Woo smirked. It was working.
But before he could close the window, the screen glitched violently. The blue light turned a sinister, blood-red. A blaring alarm echoed in his head.
[WARNING: Unauthorized Divine Activity Detected.]
The air in the gym didn't just turn cold; it crystallized. The remaining dust on the floor slammed into the ground, pinned by an invisible, crushing gravity.
Jin-Woo's knees buckled for a fraction of a second. He grunted, forcing himself upright, his cracked wrist throbbing. The sheer pressure of this aura was suffocating, leagues beyond the Ghoul's. It was the presence of a deity at the absolute peak of his power.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, echoing applause came from the dark bleachers.
"Five hundred years," a young man in a flawless white suit stepped out of the darkness, casually checking his expensive gold watch. The shadows seemed to part around him out of sheer respect. He had a perfect smile, but his eyes were completely hollow. "And the great God of War finally returns. Just to bleed for a crying high schooler?"
Jin-Woo pushed Seo-Ah behind him, recognizing that arrogant aura instantly.
"You are trespassing in my era, Baek Jin-Woo," the man in white smiled. He took a single, deliberate step forward, the concrete floor instantly spider-webbing beneath his polished Italian shoe. "I am the God of Victory. And in my world, even gods need permission to win."