Chapter 1
Long ago, a certain entertainer on a famous South Korean weekend variety show said these words:
“I have no dreams, I just want to play.”
That catchphrase became Ji-woo’s life motto from that day forward. It might be a motto that others would mock as pathetic, but Ji-woo was quite serious about it.
When he conveyed this sentiment directly to his parents, Ji-woo’s parents nodded their heads and never stopped providing their overflowing support.
His parents were wealthy, but they weren’t from a privileged family that had inherited wealth for generations. They were a case of self-made success, having walked the path of bone-grinding hardship in their youth. The couple, who had lived lives where they couldn’t rest even one day out of three hundred sixty-five days, working day and night, at some point withdrew their hands from all the shackles of work.
That timing was from the day Ji-woo suffered an unexpected accident. The couple reflected on how they had neglected their child under the excuse of being busy.
From then on, feeling the futility of making money, they prioritized the value of time spent with family and living a life of luxury and comfort.
‘Son, since we have money, don’t worry and live comfortably.’
His parents, who said such things as casually as eating meals, transferred ownership of an entire building to his name on the day Ji-woo became an adult, then didn’t show their faces even once for five years. It was because they traveled overseas continuously, saying they needed to enjoy life.
Hidden beneath this was also the cowardly truth that they were afraid to face Ji-woo, trapped by something called guilt. But regardless of past memories, Ji-woo was satisfied with the perfect unemployed lifestyle he was currently enjoying.
He enjoyed such an easy life that laziness and idleness could be considered the most representative words describing Ji-woo.
His daily routine consisted of nothing more than washing, eating, and sleeping.
It was an extremely perfect life where he didn’t have to watch anyone’s mood, suppress his extended desires, force himself to do things he didn’t want to do or maintain meaningless human relationships.
Although he had lived a more socially integrated life during his school days than now, even then he hadn’t lived diligently. He had simply occupied his seat at designated times and given half-hearted responses to those who spoke to him.
Ji-woo had never lived his life earnestly. There was no need to allocate Ji-woo’s time to bothersome and troublesome actions. In Ji-woo’s past life lived this way, there had always been no shortage or problems, and he believed his life would continue to be the same in the future.
Even now, the price of the building his parents had handed over was soaring day by day, and the monthly rental income deposited in his bank account was infinitely more than the living expenses Ji-woo spent.
So he never envisioned a future where that belief would be shattered.
He was certain it wouldn’t happen.
But then.
『Jung-hoo heard a voice ringing in his ears.
[The Natrene Empire, connected to Earth, invites you all.]
After hearing the gentle voice, when he opened his eyes, there was a lush green forest and a brilliant blue sky so gorgeous it was hard to see easily pouring down.
Behind him, as he looked around trying to adapt to the new space, he heard the sound that had been ringing before he lost consciousness.
Jung-hoo hurriedly turned around, and before him stood a woman—no, someone who could be called a goddess—so mysterious and beautiful that she couldn’t be considered human.
From “Killing the Demon King” Episode 1』
‘Killing the Demon King.’ Commonly called ‘Majuk’ [abbreviated title].
It was both the hobby and novel that wealthy unemployed Ji-woo was most absorbed in.
Regardless of its half-hearted title that wouldn’t even be used for a mobile game title, ‘Killing the Demon King’ brought unprecedented success.
The only issue consistently pointed out by readers of the novel was its title, so the outcome may have been expected.
‘Majuk’ was a novel set in the Natrene Empire that exists in this world. The story begins with the Emperor of the Natrene Empire recklessly summoning people from Earth to defeat the ‘Demon King’ who poses a great threat to the empire.
The protagonist ‘Han Jung-hoo’ was also one of those summoned for the same reason.
Like all fantasy novels, it was content where ‘Han Jung-hoo’ showed protagonist-like aspects and abilities along with ‘Joo Do-young,’ who could be called the second protagonist, as they built strength to defeat the ‘Demon King’ and went on adventures.
Despite such a common story, there were several reasons why ‘Majuk’ became popular.
Despite being a worldview with demon kings and demon races, there uniquely existed dungeons that had absolutely nothing to do with demons.
It combined uncommon settings that would be seen in hunter stories [Korean webtoon/novel genre about people who hunt monsters in dungeons], such as dungeons teeming with monsters inside and dungeons overflowing with monsters pouring out if not cleared within a certain period.
The heterogeneous dungeons that sat like wrong pictures in the adventure-focused hero story gave items and raised experience points when cleared, like one of the elements in a game.
Such items with mysterious effects had the characteristic that, except for special cases, they could only be obtained from dungeons.
Even if you killed demons that actually posed the greatest threat to the empire, or adventured through harsh terrain, you might gain experience points, stats, and skills, but item acquisition was limited only to dungeons.
The strange and peculiar phenomena didn’t stop there. Only summoned people from Earth could enter dungeons, only they could use obtained items, read status windows, and gain skills, and most importantly, only Earth people could inflict meaningful damage on demons.
As if all qualifications for eliminating demons belonged only to Earth people, the empire’s people were excluded and couldn’t even be greedy for them.
These restricted settings left questions and curiosity for readers while creating a unique atmosphere that only Majuk possessed.
Another fun element was the enemies that the protagonist Han Jung-hoo faced. Besides the common enemies of the empire—the demon king and demon race—there was also the empire’s greatest human villain ‘Lee Jin-sung,’ who was summoned with the same human status but awakened to evil power, and guilds that schemed against fellow Earth people for profit.
The growth story of the protagonist group defeating pouring villains, gathering companions, and ultimately overcoming everything had much content that gave readers deep resonance.
Political aspects, relationships of interest with allies, and battles with enemies. Everything was complexly intertwined to give exciting tension—that was ‘Majuk.’
Additionally, with various developments plus the detailed descriptions and settings the author unfolded, Ji-woo fell for it in an instant.
The fact that he had already read through the dozens of volumes multiple times and memorized all related settings and names was proof of his affection from the beginning.
However, no matter how much he liked a work, that was limited to when he was lying in a warm room reading it. It didn’t mean he wanted to see these headache-inducing incidents unfold before his eyes.
But why on earth?
[The Natrene Empire, connected to Earth, invites you all.]
While reading the latter part of Majuk that he had opened after a long time, with a faint voice ringing in Ji-woo’s ears as the last thing, his vision was dyed black. Even within his encroaching consciousness, he clearly heard only the flowing voice.
Natrene Empire.
That name was one Ji-woo knew—no, couldn’t not know.
Flash—. Just because he had suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar space overnight didn’t mean he couldn’t understand the correlation between the sentence he had heard earlier and this bright background.
It was certainly a view he was seeing for the first time, but there was a picture he had imagined and drawn dozens of times in his head. Perhaps because of that, even though he was encountering it for the first time, it was a natural landscape as if he had visited sometime before.
However, just because Ji-woo could regard this landscape as natural didn’t mean he could fully understand the situation.
What? Did I really dimension-travel? Me? Really? Even if it’s possession or dimension travel, there should be some plausibility. How can such a hopeless situation exist?
It wasn’t like he fell asleep while reading a book, nor did he have an accident. No matter how much he thought about it, Ji-woo clutched his head at the absurd situation and swept over the brilliantly beautiful scenery thick with blue-green foliage, at least for the sake of calming down. As expected, looking again, it was exactly as described in the novel.
[Welcome, Earth person.]
It was when Ji-woo couldn’t come to his senses due to confusion.
Goddess Anes, who appears at the beginning of the novel, appears flaunting her existence.
The goddess he encountered was incomparably more beautiful than webtoons or illustrations. He could understand why the usually indifferent protagonist Han Jung-hoo had reacted, even if slightly, upon seeing the goddess.
Ji-woo too had imagined and drawn Goddess Anes hundreds of times, but if not for the absurd situation, it was an appearance that would be more than enough to bewitch him.
[Chosen ones, please pass through the Forest of Trials and protect the Natrene Empire.]
The goddess’s words beginning with ‘Chosen ones…’ were undeniably the same as the novel’s introduction. The moment when the Natrene Empire gained the goddess’s power and kidnapped people from Earth.
Perhaps because his expression wasn’t visible due to his tightly shut eyes, the goddess paid no attention to Ji-woo staring blankly at her and mechanically spouted only her own words.
[For the next 7 days, prepare for your survival.]
What is this, really.
After recognizing that the background he witnessed was the Natrene Empire and that it was reality, not a dream, Ji-woo immediately checked his own body without delay.
Hoping it wasn’t the worst-case scenario where he had possessed the protagonist or one of the major characters from the original work.
Fortunately in his misfortune, a scar from childhood remained intact, proving Ji-woo’s existence.
It was already troublesome enough to have fallen into the complex and headache-inducing novel world, but if he had possessed one of the protagonists who had to save the empire, Ji-woo couldn’t guarantee how much time he would waste falling deep into a swamp of despair and struggling to get out.
“Goddess, I’m sorry, but I think something’s wrong with me?”
Ji-woo, who found some comfort in the fact that he wasn’t a character from the novel, tried calling out to the one still spouting explanations, but the goddess maintained her aloof attitude.
[After 7 days pass, the Forest of Trials will be dyed with darkness.]
“No, Goddess. Please listen to me just once. Of course, the other kids besides me will also be screaming to be taken home, right? I understand your hard work, but I’m different.”
Despite consistent ignoring, Ji-woo also showed consistent calling, but the goddess didn’t waver. Ji-woo realized that the goddess’s form wasn’t AI with set values.
Whatever power it was, all the goddess forms appearing simultaneously before tens of thousands of Earth people to explain the situation had self-awareness. That was official information the author had provided, so it was an undoubtable fact.
So Ji-woo called her… no, the goddess even more persistently.
“I’m not even an Earth person from this world.”
[After the Forest of Trials is dyed with darkness, you must survive for 83 days…]
“I really want to go back. I absolutely have to go back.”
Even with repeated responses, the goddess’s reaction was consistent and without pause.
[Then I wish you good fortune. Future savior.]
“Yes, my good fortune! For good fortune’s sake, I really have to go, you know?”
The goddess, who ignored Ji-woo to the end, finished what she had to say and began to fade away dimly.
“Ah, where are you going, Goddess? Don’t go. What is this—please put me back where I was!”
Ji-woo, who threw meaningless gestures into the air, sat down powerlessly on the ground when the goddess’ figure completely disappeared.
Natrene Empire. Goddess Anes. Everything was fine. It was true that when it came to ‘Majuk,’ he had the obsession of wanting to get closer to even one more thing with his eyes rolled back.
However, that enjoyment was also a hobby to have when in a comfortable corner of the house that was cool in summer and warm in winter. No matter how much he liked it, it wasn’t enough to overturn Ji-woo’s leisurely life. A hobby was just a hobby, after all.
I’m finished. My happy life. My unemployed life is now over.
Ji-woo’s long twenty-five years of dissolute living thus came to a forced end against his will.