[ Countdown: 167 hours 58 minutes before dimensional convergence is complete ]
5:40 a.m. Back washing area of Mae Wilit's Curry-and-Rice Shop
The dead silence of the predawn morning was shattered by the hiss of an Abyssal Slave Rat the size of a Siberian husky. Black acidic drool dripped onto the concrete with wet plops, sending wisps of white smoke curling into the air.
In the split second before death came hurtling toward Bing, a red System Window popped up and completely blocked his vision, accompanied by an artificial female voice so affected it was downright irritating.
[ The System recommends: New Hero Training Mode! ] [ Step 1: Shout to boost morale! ] [ Step 2: Find the heaviest weapon in sight and clash with the enemy using brute force! ]
"Get the hell out of the way, you shitty screen! You’re blocking everything! How the fuck am I supposed to fight?"
Bing swore at the top of his lungs. He didn’t follow a single one of the System’s idiotic recommendations. Shouting wouldn’t make minced pork any more finely minced, and it wasn’t going to help him survive a giant rat either. The young man held fast to his philosophy: Ordinary is the highest ideal. Wasting effort was a waste of humanity.
ROAR! The giant rat sprang toward Bing’s throat, its razor-sharp claws tearing through the air.
Bing had no superhuman strength. All he had was instinct honed by dodging splattering hot oil and Mae Wilit’s ladles. The young man dropped and rolled across the concrete, dust and grime coating him without a thought for looking cool. He narrowly evaded the deadly claws.
But he hadn’t rolled away for nothing. His sharp eyes had already calculated the distance and coordinates of everything around him. The instant he braced himself and got back to his feet, Bing whipped his right leg around and kicked the massive yellow municipal wet-waste bin with every ounce of strength he had!
CRASH! SPLASH!
The lid flew open. Completely spoiled braising broth, leftover sour curry from the night before, and fermented fish sauce packed with lactic acid and biological bacteria splashed directly into the rat demon’s face and blood-red eyes!
"SKREEEEEE!"
The giant rat shrieked in agony, clawing frantically at its own face. The destructive power of spoiled curry paste and fermented fish sauce was even more potent than light-element magic. They reacted with the demon’s eyes and respiratory system, burning them until it was completely blinded.
The instant the rat lost its balance and exposed an opening, Bing calmly stepped in from behind. He didn’t wildly swing his knife like some cheap-ass protagonist. Instead, he aimed his battered Zebra Brand kitchen knife at the junction between the vertebrae in the neck... the nerve nexus that was the fatal point of every vertebrate.
Stab!
The blade pierced the joint with millimeter precision. Bing twisted his wrist ninety degrees, severing the spinal cord. The giant rat convulsed twice, then collapsed into the puddle of spoiled braising broth, motionless. The Rank F demon was finished with the absolute minimum expenditure of effort.
[ Ding! ] [ Congratulations! You have slain a Rank F demon minion for the first time! ] [ Trainee status ended. Status Window unlocked. ] [ First Kill Bonus: +50 EXP / +5 free stat points ]
The holographic window changed from warning red to brilliant gold. Bing panted lightly as he pulled the knife from the rat demon’s neck. He wiped the black blood onto his apron, then glanced at his Status Window.
Name: Bing Level: 1 Class: None Strength (STR): 4 (Below manual laborer standard) Agility (AGI): 6 (Equivalent to a street racer running from the cops) Intelligence (INT): 5 (Equivalent to an average high school graduate) Remaining stat points: 5
[ The System recommends: Please allocate your stat points to “Strength (STR)” to pave the way toward the powerful, durable “Frontline Warrior” Class! ]
Bing stared at the System’s recommendation, then gave a dry laugh.
"Frontline warrior, my ass..." Bing said flatly. "You think I’m stupid, System? In a capitalist world, the people who use ‘brute force’ are the ones who work the hardest and get exploited the most. I’ve seen plenty of them—construction workers hauling concrete to build luxury condos, while they can’t even afford a shitty little room to sleep in. If I want to survive and live comfortably in a fucked-up world like this, I need to use my ‘brain’ to control all the muscleheads!"
Having made his declaration, Bing dismissed the System’s suggestion and dumped all five free stat points into **“Intelligence (INT)”** in one shot!
[ Stat allocation confirmed: Intelligence (INT) 5 -> 10 ] [ Warning: Allocating too many points to a single stat at the starting level may place an unbearable burden on the body! ]
"Guh...!"
Before the warning had even finished, Bing suddenly felt as though someone had shoved dry ice into his skull. A stabbing headache raced along his nerves, followed by a sensation of weightlessness...
When he opened his eyes, the entire world had changed. It hadn’t changed color. It had **slowed down**.
Drops of braising broth falling from the edge of the garbage bin... Dust motes suspended in the air... Even the blinking rhythm of the neon light—everything appeared to move in slow motion. Bing’s brain processed the data around him at supercomputer speeds. He calculated wind velocity, impact angles, and the physical structure of everything around him in a fraction of a second.
This was the **“Slowed World (Cognitive Acceleration)”** state, the result of suddenly possessing superhuman Intelligence!
Instead of using his genius-level brain to contemplate philosophy or the truths of the universe, Bing narrowed his eyes at the Heavenly System’s holographic screen and noticed something no ordinary person could possibly have caught.
In the extreme lower-right corner of the screen, tiny pale-gray letters no bigger than ants were scrolling past at the speed of light.
"Wait... stop the screen right there," Bing ordered.
His eyes scanned the letters as his mouth clearly read them aloud, word by word.
"Terms and conditions for use of the System... The player acknowledges that the Heavenly System shall not be liable for any damage to the player’s property or the property of any third party incurred during missions... In the event of death, the soul shall become the property of the Heavenly Soul Bank..."
Bing finished reading and drew his brows together. The veins in his temples throbbed as a second wave of anger erupted.
"You shitty System! This is clearly an ‘unfair employment contract’ under the Consumer Protection Act!" Bing pointed at the holographic screen and ranted. "You force quests on me without letting me click to accept the terms, then dump all the risk on the employee. No compensation for wear and tear, no social security, and now you’re just going to seize my soul too... Do you know that if I take the shop’s security camera footage to the labor court, they’ll order your Heavenly Corporation shut down?"
[ Ding... ] [ The System is processing the counterargument... ] [ Logic detected outside the algorithm’s database... Error in negotiation system... ]
The holographic screen flickered rapidly between red and blue. It had probably never encountered a “hero” with a high enough INT to sit there reading the fine print and curse out Heaven with labor law before.
"Don’t try to fake a malfunction, you piece of shit! You wrecked my mom’s concrete floor! The municipal garbage bin reeks like hell! If you don’t pay me ‘compensation for breach of contract’ right now, I’ll refuse every quest and let the demon generals take over the world. Then you won’t have any souls left to suck dry. Serves you right!" Bing hissed, folding his arms tightly.
[ Ding! ] [ The System has detected a high-level risk to its soul-harvesting plan... ] [ Mediation approved! A Rank N random compensation box has been awarded to settle the dispute. ] [ Please note: This is an out-of-court settlement. The player has no right to make any additional claims in this case. ]
"That’s more like it... Bloodsucking capitalists need to meet someone who won’t take their shit." Bing accepted it with a smug grin as a small wooden box dropped into his hands.
[ Ding! You have received “Spectral Monitor Glove” (Rank N): Provides excellent protection against sharp objects and low-level poisonous acids. ] [ You have also received a monster drop from the rat demon: “acid venom gland,” quantity: 1. ]
Bing slipped the pitch-black leather glove onto his right hand. It fit perfectly and felt flexible yet durable. He nodded in satisfaction, then all the System screens dissolved into the air, leaving the back washing area quiet once more.
The hellish scene was over. The demon had been defeated, the bonus had been collected, and the rat demon’s body slowly disintegrated into black dust that scattered on the wind.
The young man with superhuman Intelligence stood motionless in the darkness. He drew a deep breath... then his eyes happened to catch the watch on his wrist.
5:50 a.m.
"Oh, shit..."
The face that had been cool as ice while shamelessly arguing with God had now gone deathly pale. His genius-level brain calculated the true disaster a hundred times faster than the Heavenly System.
Mae Wilit... would wake up and open the back of the shop at exactly six!
And right in front of him was braising broth splattered all over the wall, foul-smelling curry paste scraps, and most importantly... a **hole in the concrete floor** the size of a noodle bowl, caused by acidic drool!
"To hell with being a world-saving hero... Today, I’ve got to save my own ass first!"
Bing tossed aside the kitchen knife, then ran around bug-eyed to grab a basin, a brass brush, and a bottle of Fire-Breathing Duck brand bathroom cleaner from the corner. He poured the cleaner over the floor like a madman and started scrubbing for dear life. The Rank N Spectral Monitor Glove, an item of magical equipment, proved perfect for protecting his hand from the bathroom cleaner’s corrosive effects.
Because in the real world... no matter how smart you are—smarter than the universe itself, or fresh off killing a boss-level demon— if you wreck the floor in the back washing area... “Mom” is still the most terrifying creature in all three realms!