"You'll disappear once your character is completely designed."
Minpyo felt a chill creep up his spine. Disappear?
He had heard about the Gods, but school never really taught much about them. Maybe a few pages on books, but was never included in tests. The names came back to him now, their titles heavy with meaning.
The Writer. The one who created the stories.
The Adaptor. The one who ensured stories followed the world's logic.
The Director. The one who guided the Artist to shape the world's appearance—how scenes looked, felt, and unfolded.
And then there was the Publisher. Mysterious and kind of unknown. The prophet had little knowledge of them. Were they a god? A collective? No one really knew.
"That's the first lesson, Minpyo."
Minpyo glanced around, expecting murmurs of agreement. Instead, he heard silence. No one else was paying attention except some diligent(?) students at the back trying their best to stay awake.
He let out an awkward laugh.
"Oh... I understood it very well." (He did not.)
Seonggu on his right side let out a chuckle. Minpyo had been wondering, this guy seems mature. From his face and to how he talked earlier. It was like he was reading Minpyo's mind.
The prophet's cheerful expression didn't change. "It's time to review your stories, then."
Review the stories? Minpyo frowned. What did she mean by that?
His confusion must have been all over his face because the boy beside him—curled up with a chocolate bar in hand—spoke up between bites.
"We do it every day," he mumbled, mouth half full. "Gotta make sure our stories are intact so we don't get abandoned—"
He paused, mid-chew.
"—by the Gods," he finished, then took another bite like he hadn't just said something terrifying. To Minpyo, or not? He looked around and no one looked tense. Yeah, probably only to him.
Minpyo stiffened. Abandoned? His stomach twisted. He'd been casually enjoying the perks of being a main character which were people who can buy his whole existence bowing fully to him, money falling into his lap, and long-kept secrets unfold before his eyes. And now he learns it could all be taken away?
He gulped.
"What happens after someone gets abandoned?" Minpyo murmured.
His question went unanswered because the students were already forming a line in front of the prophet.
"What's happening now?" Minpyo whispered.
Chocolate Boy raised an eyebrow. "Reviewing their stories." The boy stands up and walks to the line too, and it was only him sitting.
Right. That was obvious. Minpyo felt his face heat up.
Should I go there too? He wanted to ask.
"Minpyo, you don't have to join right now, We'll review yours in a few weeks when your story has progressed enough."
Fortunately, he didn't have to ask.
The prophet puts her hand on the shoulder of the first person in line. Her eyes glow white, scanning their story with ease. Occasionally, she'd nod, offering simple comments:
"Your story's in good shape."
"Good job."
"Your story's progressing well."
Then, she stopped.
The student before her—a black-haired, tan-skinned boy who looked ordinary—stood frozen as the prophet frowned.
"Your story hasn't progressed in four days."
Minpyo swallowed hard. Four days?
The boy didn't say anything and nodded. He just stepped back with slumped shoulders and returned to his seat.
When the boy sat down, his seatmates turned to him and started comforting him while he smiles and brushes it of with a smile.
"It's okay, Jin-oh. Cheer up!"
The boy nodded with a genuine smile.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. The reviews continued, but Minpyo barely paid attention. His mind kept repeating the same question—what happens after you're abandoned?
Eventually, the prophet finished her assessments. The moment the last student stepped away from the front, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Conversations filled up the room, some students pulling out their phones, others chatting like nothing had happened. A few gathered in small groups, messing around and laughing.
Minpyo frowned. That was it?
His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"That's it for today," Joo Ryuin said, stretching his arms behind his head. "Lecture's only twenty minutes. We just hang out unless there's something specific to do."
Minpyo stared. "That's it?"
Joo Ryuin popped a piece of chocolate that he stole from Chocolate guy into his mouth. "Yeah. Pretty lit, right?" When did Joo Ryuin even get behind him? "The whole purpose of these classes were for the MC's to get along."
Minpyo didn't know what he expected. This place was already nothing like a normal school. It was literally inside a study academy, disguising as a normal class.
He glanced toward the front of the room. The prophet remained at her desk, suddenly surrounded by piles of paper, back in her younger form. She hadn't moved, her head bent in concentration as she flipped through pages, jotting down notes.
Minpyo hesitated. "She's still working?"
"Teacher things, actually, she's also a teacher in this academy were in. I bet you didn't know that" Joo Ryuin said with a shrug. "She's always like that."
And now that he took a better look at the room, a lot of students had coloured hair, including him and Joo Ryuin.
It was strange. Everything about this secret school was strange, in a good way. The casual atmosphere and the way people acted like being abandoned was something not worth sweating for. Even the boy who's story wasn't moving for four days was laughing his stomach out with his friends at the back.
Minpyo shook his head away from his thoughts and his gaze lingered on the prophet, the steady scratch of her pen filling the quiet gaps in conversation. He had a feeling she knew more than she claims to know, she is a prophet after all.
And if he wanted to stay a main character, he needed to find out everything he could to keep his story intact.
"Check this out, Minpyo-"
Minpyo turned his head and looked the picture Joo Ryuin has on his cellphone. Minpyo thinks how it's been so long since he had someone talking to him so comfortably.
Maybe he should talk more to Joo Ryuin at campus. He's been avoiding the him since they were both freshmens. Minpyo decided it's time to give the poor guy a chance.
---
It's been two weeks already since his first day at Mains of Net and they got transported to the World of Stories five times only. It was less than usual.
And turns out, the first day was for him to know his fellow Main Characters and that the following days included sitting with the propet for forty-five minutes to be taught all the major things he needed to know to the tiniest details while the rest of the class do their own thing for the whole evening.
When the forty-five minutes are up, Minpyo joins the rest of the class.
Minpyo's social life went up by a margin in such a short of time and he never expected that he was gonna enjoy this side of youth other than being ordinary.
And he couldn't lie, it was fun. He even got closer to Joo Ryuin, who he used to avoid at campus. But aside from Joo Ryuin, he got along with a lot of the students, especially those beside him, Chocolate Guy (his name was Dalgyu) and Seonggu.
But the parts of finding out he was changing crazily fast and could disappear out of thin air anytime when he least expects it, wasn't fun at all.
Three days after his first day—as usual, he wakes up in the middle of the night, his whole body feeling heavy and sore along with the feeling of another headache coming.
He settled on taking some medicine that did absolutely nothing and went back to sleep. (He barely slept.)
When the morning light finally entered his window, Minpyo got up, washed his face, and decided cook himself some eggs to eat before showering. And also the same morning he found out something was incredibly wrong with his body.
Of course, Minpyo just cooked the egg normally, breaking it straight to the hot pan. But he also craved omelet. And he also craved fried rice, steamed dumplings, instant noodles, food, and more food just kept showing off inside his brain.
Of course, Minpyo wont ignore his cravings, listening to his stomach grumble like the engine of motorbikes.
He quickly checked his e-wallet expecting his money to not cover the expenses of the mountain of food he was planning to buy. But oh man, it was more than enough.
Minpyo forgot his bank account was packed and ended up ordering literally everything he was craving.
The crazy part was, he was still hungry after demolishing every single order that entered his door.
"What in the world.." When Minpyo finally came to his senses, he still felt like eating another portion of sushi but thankfully, he had a strong control of himself and cleaned up the mess.
He was thankful he already finished his assignments the day yesterday or else he was really, really doomed.
Checking the clock, 8:26AM, he found out he spent two hours and a half waiting for his food to come and eat.
There really must be something wrong with me...
He lifted his shirt and stared, expecting a round and big stomach but he was greeted with the blinding sight of faint abs.
"Is this God's way of telling me that my end is near?" Minpyo cried. Maybe out of joy, or maybe not out of joy. But anyways, he felt like he had to thank the Artist.
Later that morning, he stared at the bathroom mirror thinking about the fact that his body didn't match his face anymore. It was like looking at a muscular ken doll with the head of a cartoon character.
Maybe he grew taller for this reason, gaining a fit body.
'Didn't they say it takes like, a long time to see changes? Am I abnormal?' Minpyo scrunches his eyebrows while spraying expensive black hairspray to his white hair.
The lesson from two days ago crossed his mind.
[ "How long does it usually take for one to change completely into the final design?"
"Oh, great question. The minimum is probably not less than 9 months but the longest can be years. You see, time passes differently between us and the Gods, a minute passes for them and years will pass down here." ]
Does that mean he'll continue to change for months? Or worse, Years?
The thought made Minpyo want to jump off a building.
Minpyo sighs for the nth time before and after leaving his doorstep.
He still didn't know what was wrong with him.
---
"Hey can you stop sighing already? Want me to tape your mouth-" Jiwoo's threat took a halt seeing the person taking a seat beside Minpyo. It was Joo Ryuin. The person who Jiwoo admires and fears the most.
Minpyo didn't glare at Ryuin like a cat preparing to murder, and just let him. Jiwoo heard another sigh and Minpyo's face expression changed into something much more relaxed. Oh, he's thought of an excuse already didn't he...
Joo Ryuin's attention went to Jiwoo and waved before turning to Minpyo with a grin.
'What a friendly guy, I don't understand why Minpyo's avoiding someone so fun to socialize with.. wait, that's the reason.' Jiwoo grimaced at the realization
"Is there something wrong, Minpyo-ah? You look very tired. It's been a while since we talked." Joo Ryuin poked Minpyo's cheeks, something that Minpyo hates a lot. And he called him "Minpyo-'ah'"
The other people around them looked tense for another reason, though, they knew Joo Ryuin was one of the people Minpyo refuses to be friends with.
But to his and everyone's surprise, Minpyo replied,
"I'll tell you later." Everyone froze in shock and Jiwoo's jaw dropped to the floor. Jiwoo could hear everyone's minds going: "LATEERR?!?!"
Minpyo was someone who avoided a few selected people, and Joo Ryuin was one of them. And now Minpyo was acting normal towards Joo Ryuin like he does to everyone aside the said few selected people.
As Jiwoo observed, Normally, Minpyo will make a smooth excuse with a convincing smile to send them away without feeling bad. But not with Joo Ryuin anymore, he guessed.
"Okay then!" Joo Ryuin then got called by a group of girls and started talking to them instead. Joo Ryuin was popular so it wasn't something strange.
"Man, since when did you decide to, you know, not avoid Joo Ryuin?" Jiwoo whispers to Minpyo.
"I think he's not a bad guy... Anymore." Nonchalantly, Minpyo pulled out his phone, not minding the stare of almost everyone in the huge room.
This guy, really...
Meanwhile Minpyo put on a mukbang video on his phone, hoping it would make his hunger go away. And at the same day at lunch, he ate like a pig while listening to Joo Ryuin's divagating talk.
---
Now back to the present.. Minpyo was no longer starving like a ghost and currently was feeling all kinds of feelings overflowing inside his body. Whether it was negative or positive, it made Minpyo anxious.
"Haah... Yesterday was fun.." Like a miracle, Minpyo felt nothing at all physically yesterday. No leg cramps, random headaches, and a grumbling stomach every fifteen minutes. It was like reaching the eye of a tornado.
"I have a feeling something bad's gonna happen soon. It doesn't just end at the eye."
And like the heaven heard his anxious voice, his friend, Jiwoo, silently walks behind him and creeps up on unsuspecting Minpyo.
"Yo!!"
Minpyo felt his soul jumping out of his body and launching straight to the World of Nothingness. In fact, Minpyo was so startled he didn't even react and straight up fainted. The shock so severe that he got sent home.
Was what he hoped happened. Unfortunately, Minpyo did not pass out and slapped Jiwoo straight at the face on instinct instead.
"Since when were you so strong?" Jiwoo, who had a visible red mark on the left side of his face sat beside him and hugs his legs—tears pooling in his eyes.
"You startled me!" Minpyo who was panting hard from being scared to death dodges the question. He can't telt Jiwoo his body mutated and that he gained a little muscle overnight. He's been trying his best to hide that fact.
"I thought you deserved it but looking at your face, I kind of regret it now." Jiwoo glares at Minpyo's face.
Minpyo made a confused face and Jiwoo snorted.
In Jiwoo's eyes, Minpyo looked like a tired, abandoned cat all while having a glow on his eyes that makes him look quite good-looking. Jiwoo couldn't put it to words and said,
"You look like a damsel in distress."
Jiwoo ended up with both the sides of his face red.
"But my girlfriend looks even cuter." Jiwoo mumbles to himself while rubbing his face, sulking. Minpyo scrunched his face at what Jiwoo said and started talking,
"Yeah, she definitelyoo is. Go spend time with her instead. And what did you mean I 'deserved' being scared to death like that?"
"I was trying to make you make an ugly face. You look different than usual from afar."
Minpyo grimaced, "What do you mean?" Minpyo asked knowing well that he knew what Jiwoo meant. Because for some reason, his body started mutating again at night, and it was his face. He was too idiotic to believe everything was finally okay after his body changed one and a half week ago.
His face, well, he looked decent before, but now he looked more than decent though his features didn't change much. He just looked younger. What do you call it... Handsome?
He also noticed that people looked at him more often when he was on his way to class, someone also talked to him and asked what type of skincare he does tp get result in such a short time. Minpyo fumbled and said a random brand. Therefore, it was definitely noticeable.
Since the change on his body wasn't noticeable, Minpyo decided to not tell the prophet despite her warning that any extreme changes should be reported immediately.
But he felt like he should tell her now regarding his face.
"You have some kind of sparkle around your head, it makes you look kind of handsome even when you're frowning." Jiwoo started to pick up his bag seemingly planning to find his girlfriend and accepting Minpyo's complain.
Minpyo hummed.
"Well, I just hope you didn't get plastic surgery." Jiwoo added.
"You prick, why would I do that?" Minpyo swung his fist towards Jiwoo again. Jiwoo dodged it while laughing and exited the room.
At that very moment, he heard Joo Ryuin calling his name from behind.
"Minpyo!"
Minpyo thinks Joo Ryuin could be considered his "friend" now because the guy practically follows Minpyo around everytime he has a chance.
When Minpyo asked why he was following him around and that he should spend more time with the friends closer to him, Joo Ryuin's answer was: "You're the only one I can talk to without getting cut off. And you're the only Main Character with the same major as me!".
"Oh, Ryuin." Minpyo tought he should tell Ryuin about what happened to his face. Joo Ryuin took his usual seat beside Minpyo and took out two bottles of stawberry milk and placed one infront of Minpyo.
"What's this for?"
Minpyo's question was ignored and he recieved a wink instead.
"Woahh, wait, Minpyo why do you look so handsome today? Let's take pictures!" Joo Ryuin took out his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket.
"Wait, I have to tell you something first!" Minpyo grabbed the phone pointing at them and exited the camera app.
"What is it?"
"The reason I look handsome today is not because I took a plastic surgery. Got it?" Joo Ryuin tilts his head in confusion.
"Why would you do that?"
"Well, just saying. Anyway, it's probably my design."
"Why'd it appear quickly though?"
It sounded strange that Joo Ryuin actually knew what he was talking about because he looked like he wasn't the type to remember these things.
He seemed smart for a second, but if only he wasn't taking hundreds of pictures of him and Minpyo, he would've thought better of Joo Ryuin.
'And since when did he take ahold of his phone? It was clearly on my hands a second ago..'
"I don't know, I'm gonna tell the prophet later."
"Great idea." This time, Joo Ryuin sounded uninterested.
"Stop taking pictures!" Minpyo extended his arm to grab Joo Ryuin's phone, annoyed. This shook the guy and made him take a blurry picture.
"Alright, alright! Haha!"
Joo Ryuin stopped taking pictures, puts down his phone when he almost dropped it while dodging Minpyo's attacks and laughs when he checks out the last picture.
"Your face is blurry here, but you look good in other pictures."
Minpyo smirked proudly at the compliment, but Joo Ryuin started opening his SNS account.
"Don't even think about posting my face.."
"Why not?"
Minpyo's second attempt at taking Ryuin's phone failed when the first period professor arrived, the scary professor.
Minpyo had no chance but to give up while the guy beside him selects a number of photos to post and typed in a caption for the post as the professor infront starts talking. Minpyo diligently followed the professor's orders while Joo Ryuin fiddles with his phone under the desk.
His thumbs hesitated and selected another picture, the one where Minpyo's face was blurry.
'Don't you dare...'
Minpyo glared daggers at Joo Ryuin but the guy didn't care and grinned while pressing the post button.
---
"Minpyo, are you okay?"
The person that asked had straight bleached hair with black growing roots that was tied up to a bun and paired with sharp but somewhat calm eyes, it was a familiar face. She was classmate of Minpyo with the same schedule as him and currently, she just approached him beside the vending machine.
Too many people were talking to him during lunch and Minpyo felt so drained trying to shoo them all away so he ended up running away and hiding.
But this kind soul approached him and asked if he's okay, Minpyo's eyes brightened and he smiled, "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."
The girl's eyes widened, she then smiled and laughed, "What's your secret?"
"Pardon?"
"On looking so gorgeous, I swear I didn't recognize you until lunch!" Minpyo couldn't get a word out.
'Was the change that big? I don't think so?'
"Oh... I don't know. It just kinda happened, you know." He akwardly laughed.
"Got it. Be careful though, handsome. I'm getting kind of worried." The girl buys something from the vending machine, inserting money, pressing a drink, and hands it to Minpyo who was watching.
"Here, drink it, it's my favourite."
Minpyo tilts his head and hesitated whether to take the bottle or not. But the girl shoved it into his arms instead.
"Gosh, why did I hesitate on trying to talk to you for so long? You're so different from what I expected."
"Thank you for the drink. And what do you mean?"
"I was afraid you'll try to avoid me too. Every single time I saw someone talking to you, you end up not talking to them for a second time. But I really wanted to be friends with you, so I kept on fumbling and avoided real conversations with you."
Minpyo understood what she meant. If it wasn't now that she talked to him and asked if he was okay, they would've avoided eachother until they graduate. Minpyo wasn't the type to talk to someone because they saw eachother everyday. Besides, she already had plently of friends so Minpyo didn't even think about it that hard.
"You should've talked to me, I wouldn't avoid you."
Minpyo remembered that from time to time, the girl would bow at him or greet him both inside and outside lectures. They kind of developed friendliness towards eachother by seeing eachother often and exchanging bows and a few words. Just that would make Minpyo think of the other as worthy to be his friend like Jiwoo.
"Really?" She hopped out of joy with shining eyes and it reminded Minpyo of Jiwoo somehow so he chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah? Then you better be ready, I'll start talking to you an awful lot now. Just in case though, the name's-"
"Cho Nara." But Minpyo knew her name already.
"Oh? I'm flattered. Nara it is, nice to meet you."
By the time she finished talking, it was almost time for another class. Nara offered they walk together since they had the same schedule. They also met Jiwoo on their way and the three of them humored eachother pretty well. Much more than what Minpyo expected.
---
His schedule finally got cleared with the company of a new friend and he tasted the taste of freedom. Because all afternoon, Minpyo got chased by random people he has never seen before asking for his number, how he was friends with Joo Ryuin, and what his name was.
It was new to him. And it seemed like everyone was new to him too, probably because he didn't look 'ordinary' anymore and also because of Joo Ryuin's SNS post from earlier.
Minpyo saw the post. There were 10 photos. All of them selfies of Ryuin posing and Minpyo talking. But he indeed looked good, somehow, he turned photogenic.
The caption wrote by Joo Ryuin was:
"My handsome Cat friend~ Look at the last picture LOL #SNS #JooRyuin #Friend"
The last picture looked chaotic. Wait, it was a defferent one. Minpyo had a blurry face, but it was distorted, making him look wierd. He must've mis-seen what picture Ryuin added.
The comments were a whole different story, every single person was complementing Joo Ryuin and asking about his "Cat friend". Some conplimented him and talked smack about him as he scrolled further through the comments.
Minpyo swore he would go back at Joo Ryuin but he ran away the last period they had together.
Now he could catch Joo Ryuin at Mains. (- Of Net)
Minpyo rummaged through his bag to grab his teleportation device and went straight infront of the study academy from inside a stall of an outside public restroom.
He immediately thought of how he would tell the prophet about the abnormalities that's happening to him while walking inside the academy. There were students walking around, finding their way to their respective rooms, as usual.
Though Minpyo was a college student, he fit in very well with the highschool students in uniforms. And Minpyo couldn't help but wonder how it was different in this place.
The students were normal, they would chat and laugh but never seemed to mind Minpyo walking on casual clothes.
His height wasn't a problem too, perhaps this generation's height were unsually tall for their age that they catch up to their elders fast.
Once Minpyo reached his classroom, he looked straight for the prophet but she was nowhere to be found.
Some of the Main Characters that were already inside greeted him and some minded their own businesses. He waved back to to those that waved at him and proceeded to walk to his seat, placing his bag under his desk and crossing his arms.
And as soon as he sat down, his eyelids started to fall against his will while trying to entertain his brain. Before he had the chance to slap himself away from his sleepiness, his head dropped and he travelled away to the world of zzz's.