Save Me

Before Joo-Hee's eyes appeared a vast panel, an endless cascade of stat entries, each glowing softly in gold.

There were more than a hundred innate basic stats listed, far more detailed than anything she had seen or even imagined. Her mouth dropped open in stunned disbelief.

"Just amazing…" she whispered. "I never thought a single ticket could show me my stats this perfectly. It's like I'm staring into the very blueprint of my own existence…"

She scrolled through line after line, overwhelmed by the sheer number of attributes, many of which she hadn't even realized were measurable and had already been acquired by her.

"But there are so many of them… How am I even supposed to choose one from all of this?"

_________________

Innate Basic Stats (118/1246):

...

➤ Mana Regeneration (61/100)

➤ Magic Control (49/100)

➤ Nature Affinity (51/100)

➤ Focus (40/100)

...

➤ Weapon Mastery (13/100)

➤ Speed (32/100)

➤ Cooking (41/100)

...

➤ Life Essence (26/100)

➤ Tenacity (29/100)

...

_________________

Curious, Joo-Hee scrolled further through the endless wall of glowing panels, her finger pausing briefly at each stat. Her eyes narrowed as she read them one by one.

"Life essence, tenacity, affinities, resistances... and they're even divided into elements and subtypes? Nice," she muttered, brows raised.

She kept scrolling.

"Masteries, reflex… and wait... Luck?!" Joo-Hee blinked. "Wow, it's already at 39. And to think it's classified as a basic stat... Just how broken would I be if I focused everything on it? Would I become some walking gacha cheat?"

_________________

...

➤ Elemental Affinity (49/100)

➤ Luck (39/100)

...

_________________

She let out a long whistle, both amazed and ecstatic.

"One hundred eighteen already visible... and there are a thousand more I have yet unlocked," she said, leaning back slightly, eyes wide in wonder.

Her finger froze mid-scroll, as if she'd just seen something that goes beyond normal understanding. Her brows furrowed deeply.

"Hey, system! No, Thoth…" she muttered aloud, the name rolling off her tongue as naturally as breath.

"Why is my fate… zero? I'm sure everyone has a destined fat—"

_________________

➤ Fate (0/0)

_________________

But before she could finish, a deafening silence fell upon the white void around her. Not the kind of silence that brings peace, but one so unnatural, so absolute, that even her heartbeat seemed to stop echoing.

...!

Her instincts screamed.

She stood up in an instant, unsheathing her sword. "Who's there?!" she shouted, her voice swallowed by the oppressive stillness.

'Again, what now?! I've really had enough of these abnormal situations, for goodness' sake!' she thought, exhaling deeply and taking a big gulp.

Without hesitation, she tried to activate [Nature's Embrace] and [Verdant Growth].

But nothing happened.

No surge of mana. No response. Her body remained still as if her connection to her system and nature had been severed.

Her eyes widened. This had only happened once before, when her system was being upgraded. But this… this felt different.

GLUBB—!

Suddenly, a force yanked at her legs, dragging her downward like sinking into a massive ocean. The ground beneath her vanished, replaced by an endless white abyss.

She fell, weightless and disoriented, until a voice echoed through the void.

"Remember who you are, Incarnation. You—whose Fate is, and will never be, written. You—an outsider of all realities..."

The words reverberated through her bones and soul. Resounded like a warning and a welcome.

Then, it came, a sound, sharp and final like a chain snapping free… or a lock clicking open

CLING!!

Her eyes flew open.

She was back—still in the white space, the green system lines flowing gently around her. But her heart pounded like a drum.

"H-HAAAH! Cough! C-Cough!" Joo-Hee grasped her chest, her eyes flinching.

'T-That voice… that was my voice. I-I'm really sure of it...! It was my original voice. Just what was that?! Why... did they say I have no fate? And me... an incarnation of who?!'

Her thoughts were shattered as a new notification materialized before her, making her more confused as she had yet to select from the list of basic stats.

_________________

[The basic stat, Fate, has been chosen by the host.]

[The stat will now be registered into the sys—]

_________________

C-CRACK!

A sharp, glassy noise rang out. Joo-Hee's gaze snapped to her system interface.

The once-pristine green panel began to crack. Thin, jagged lines spiderwebbed across its surface like shattering glass.

Then, without warning—

It broke.

The entire white space trembled as the color bled in where there should be none. Crimson seeped into the void like spilled ink in water, swallowing everything in an ominous red hue.

Her breath caught in her throat as a new system window flashed before her, pulsating in deep, forbidding red.

_________________

[The Master Key Holder is intervening with the host's system.]

[The stat acquisition has been interrupted by the holder.]

[The basic stat, Fate, is deemed to be invalid.]

_________________

"Dang it! Can this world at least let me rest for a second?! What the heck is happening again?!" she shouted, her hand continuing to tremble.

Joo-Hee's entire body tensed. Her limbs felt heavy. Sweat formed along her brow. Her hands curled into fists as she fought the suffocating pressure that now blanketed the air.

"Thoth!" she called. "Speak...! What's happening right now?! I didn't even click that stupid stat!"

Her voice cracked with desperation. "Shouldn't you at least explain this, Master Key Holder, whoever the hell you are!"

But there was no reply from Thoth nor the Holder.

Only another system message, one that made her blood run cold.

_________________

[The invalid stat, Fate, will now be sealed.]

[Attempting to seal unauthorized stat... 21%... 39%...]

_________________

And then the world broke again.

Tears welled up in Joo-Hee's eyes as her legs trembled beneath her. It felt so unfair that ever since she transmigrated, it had been one problem after another.

No rest. No peace. Just a relentless storm of trials.

And just when she had started to enjoy herself, just when things finally seemed to be looking up, tragedy struck again.

As if the heavens... no, the world itself was mocking her.

Next, cracks tore through the red space like dungeon gates in reality itself. From those fractures, four-colored chains erupted forth. They were root-like and shimmering in hues of spring green, summer gold, autumn crimson, and winter blue.

They lunged, piercing into her being, both body and mind, slamming directly into the [Alphaterium Cell] within her soul.

S-SHLNK!

What comes next was PAIN...

A pain so sharp and unbearable it made every other sensation she'd ever felt seem like a dull ache. Her body convulsed, breath stolen, as the chains wrapped around her thoughts like thorns around a dying bloom.

She wanted to scream. To resist. To do anything.

But she couldn't move.

Other chains—thicker, ancient, unrelenting—snaked out from the same space fractures, binding her wrists, ankles, even her throat.

The pressure was divine in weight, as if a God had decided to press down on her and remind her how insignificant she truly was.

Then—

A voice descended through the vast chamber. It was smooth, yet elegant. Sweet, yet chilling like honey laced with poison.

It was not merely heard. It was felt, each syllable was a weight upon her soul, as if a divine restriction had descended to pass her judgment.

"Jake… you poor, clueless being. Sigh... out of all the options, why choose it once more? Is this the destined path your each lifetime has...?"

It was beautiful—otherworldly, and full of vitality. The kind of voice one might imagine hearing from a God, one that whispers truths no mortal should know.

"You should have stayed as you are. Know your place. Know your limits. And..."

The room vibrated with restrained force. The air turned thick and bitter like burnt incense. Joo-Hee couldn't move—no, Jake's soul couldn't.

Everything about her was constricted. The pressure was suffocating, invisible fingers coiled tightly around her lungs.

"If not for the orders of the Overseer that forbid your death… If not for the decree that binds me to protect you, to keep you tethered within the Circle of Life and Reincarnation, know that I would have long erased your fated yet miserable existence."

The being let out a mocking laugh, voice dripping with cruel delight.

"Oops—my bad. You never had any fate in the first place, after all. Let's not call it fate, then. "

"Uhm... let's just call it... to what it really is—unlucky. Unlucky enough to be born again and again… in an endless loop." 

A silence followed. Colder than death. Deeper than grief.

"So cling to this Worldview you so wished. Remain here, Fateless..."

"... Forever and ever."