"Am I going to die…?"
The thought echoed through Kai Jin's mind as the wind howled past his ears.
He was falling from the top of a city skyscraper. The buildings blurred around him, lights flickering in a dizzying dance. The sound of the city faded, replaced by the deafening rush of air as the pavement came closer, closer...
"My name is Kai Jin. I'm just an ordinary high school student... and now I'm gonna die before I even get a chance to get married? Are you kidding me!?"
A hollow laugh escaped his lips as he twisted mid-air. He didn't know how he got there—he only remembered someone push him and a fall from the sky.
"This has to be a joke…"
And then—
SPLAT.
The world went black.
Phone ringing.
TV buzzing.
Kai jolted upright from the couch, gasping. Sweat drenched his forehead, and his heart slammed against his ribs like a drum gone mad.
He looked around—his living room, dim and quiet. The TV flickered with the ending credits of a fantasy movie he didn't even remember putting on. His phone buzzed violently on the table beside him.
"A dream?" he muttered, rubbing his face. "Holy hell, that felt real…"
He picked up his phone and froze.
7:58 A.M.
His eyes widened.
"Oh crap! I'm late for school!"
He launched off the couch, threw on his school uniform like flash, and bolted toward the front door. As he reached for the doorknob, he paused.
His eyes caught the old photo frame hanging near the door. A picture of his family—his smiling parents, his younger sister, and himself, arms around each other like nothing could ever go wrong.
Kai smiled, the dream momentarily forgotten.
"Don't worry," he whispered, brushing a finger across the glass. "I'll make you guys proud."
With that, he reached again for the doorknob.
But then... he stopped.
Something was off.
He looked down.
A strange, short creature stood outside the door, staring back at him with beady yellow eyes. Its green skin was wrinkled, and it clutched a rusty knife in its hand. Sharp teeth poked out of its mouth, and its ears twitched like it was sniffing the air.
Kai blinked. The creature tilted its head.
"…Wait. Is that a goblin?"
The goblin snarled.
"No way. I just woke up right?. This has to be a dream."
The goblin hissed and lunged.
Kai jumped back just in time, instincts kicking in. The creature's blade missed his stomach by inches.Acting without thinking, Kai grabbed the goblin from behind and locked his arm around its neck.
"Whoa—whoa—what the hell is this!?" Kai shouted, struggling to hold the writhing creature. "This is way too real for a dream!"
The goblin shrieked and twisted, slipping from his grip. Its knife slashed upward, slicing into Kai's hand.
He cried out, stumbling back, clutching the bleeding wound.
Blood.
Real blood.
The pain was sharp, hot, stinging.
"This isn't a dream," he breathed. "This is really happening!"
The goblin jumped back, hissing, readying its next attack.
Kai backed into the hallway, hand throbbing. He didn't know where the goblin had come from or why it was here—but he knew one thing:
He was in danger.
And he had to fight.
"Alright, ugly," Kai growled, wiping blood off his hand. "Bring it on!"
The goblin screamed.
Kai clenched his fists.
The real nightmare had just begun.
Kai ducked to the side as the goblin lunged at him again, blade flashing in the dim hallway light.
"Geez, you're seriously annoying!" he groaned, spinning on his heel and bolting up the stairs.
The goblin snarled behind him, relentless. It bounded after him, clambering along the walls like a deranged animal, its knife slashing through the air with wild swings.
Kai reached the second floor and sprinted. He could feel the goblin's breath on his back.
Then—
A sudden leap.
The goblin kicked off the wall and launched itself straight toward Kai's back, knife extended like a missile.
Kai's eyes widened. "Whoa—!"
His foot slipped.
He fell forward, crashing into the hallway floor with a grunt.
The goblin missed its mark and instead smashed through Kai's bedroom door, crashing into the room with a shriek and thud.
Kai groaned and pushed himself off the floor. "Ugh… That's gonna leave a bruise."
He staggered to his feet and peered into his room.
And froze.
"Wait… no. No no no…"
Inside, the goblin stood in the middle of his room, knife forgotten. In its clawed hands, it held something far more dangerous.
Kai's voice dropped to a whisper. "You... you son of a—"
In the goblin's grasp was a pristine, mint-condition limited edition anime figure—a rare collectible of a red-haired warrior woman, only 500 in the world. Kai's pride. His life savings. His everything.
The goblin inspected the model curiously… and then stuck out its tongue.
"Hey—HEY!!" Kai roared, rushing into the room. "Put that down! That's not for licking, that's for DISPLAY!!"
Just as the goblin's tongue inched closer to the figure's face, Kai's foot connected with its head in a flying kick.
CRACK.
The goblin spiraled through the air, bouncing off the wall and landing belly-up on Kai's bed. Dazed, it blinked rapidly as its own knife—flung in the chaos—embedded itself straight into its forehead.
The goblin twitched.
And went still.
Kai stood there, panting, fists clenched, his figure cradled in both hands like a newborn.
He looked down at it and let out a shaky breath.
"Three years of lunch money… saved."
He turned toward the bed. The goblin's corpse lay motionless, green skin already turning pale.
"…Oh, crap," Kai muttered. "Did I just kill it?"
Before he could process what happened, a sudden chime echoed in his ears.
A glowing window popped up in front of his eyes like a floating screen in a sci-fi game.
[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
Awakening verification complete.
Congratulations, Kai Jin. You are now an Awakened.
[Quest Completed: Kill Goblin – Rank F]
Reward: 1x Health Potion
Kai's jaw dropped.
"What the actual hell is going on now?"
He stared at the hovering text, then slowly looked down at his bleeding hand, at the dead goblin, then back to the screen.
"Did I just... level up in real life?"
The glowing message shimmered once more before fading out, leaving Kai alone in the silence of his room.
He looked down at the health potion that had suddenly materialized on his hand.
"…Okay," he muttered, his lips curling into a crooked smile. "This just got very interesting."
To be continued…