The end and the beginning.
Many people throughout history have tried to gain immortality, but none have succeeded. Gilgamesh, an ancient Sumerian king, went on a journey for eternal life after losing his friend Enkidu but came back empty-handed. Alchemists like Nicolas Flamel claimed to find the magical elixir of life, but there's no proof they did. Count Saint Germain was said to have secrets for eternal youth, but he never showed any proof of living forever. In modern times, some people try to freeze themselves when they are dying, hoping to be revived later, but no one has come back from that. Despite all their efforts, everyone must face death eventually. But what if you're not fully human? This was the question Kang Jae-won thought about at 20 as he searched for ways to become immortal, in the end his life ended painfully as human...
THE END OR IS IT?
[Synchronising...]
[Errors... None.]
[Fetching data from the chipsets...]
[Extracting files...]
[All sensors... Check. No errors detected.]
[Connection with neural network... Stable.]
[Initiating booting sequence...]
Fingers twitched. Then, a spasm rippled through the mechanical body as Kang Jae-won's virtual mind started to sync with the artificial shell he had designed for himself. His memories were fragmented, blurry, and incomplete.
In the endless darkness he heard a voice
"... Jae-won, wake up... Jae-won, you're gonna be late for school..."
The voice echoed faintly in his mind, pulling at him. It felt familiar, yet distant. His mind wrestled with confusion. "Where am I? Why I can't see anything?"
-Scanning surroundings... Clear.
As his vision returned slowly, unfamiliar symbols and data scrolled across his sight. Something was wrong. Something didn't felt right. Suddenly, panic surged within him. "Why can't I breathe?" His chest was eerily still. His hand shot to his heart, but he felt nothing—no beat, no warmth—just cold, hard metal. Horror gripped him.
His eyes darted downward, and what he saw sent a jolt of terror through his mind. The hands before him were metallic, mechanical—gleaming under the dim light of the lab. His whole body was metal. Nothing like human skin, no warmth, no sensation.
"What... is this?!" he cried, his voice distorted and robotic. "W-What happened to my voice"
He scrambled to his feet, stumbling forward, looking for something familiar. His heart should have been racing, but there was nothing—no pounding in his chest, no gasping breath. His lungs, his heartbeat, his human warmth... all gone.
A flash of memory flickered. "Wasn't I human?" The thought screamed through his head. But the more he struggled to remember, the more his mind unraveled. Everything felt like a cruel nightmare he couldn't wake from.
His distorted reflection caught his attention on the smooth metal surface of the lab's machinery. When he truly saw himself—the mechanical monstrosity he had become—he recoiled in horror. Cold metal. Artificial joints. The body was flawless in design, but nothing like the human form he had once known.
Then, the memories came crashing back—like a dam breaking. The excruciating process, the pain, the transfer... all of it rushed to the surface.
And then,
"H...ha...hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...." As if something snapped inside him, he began to laugh. The sound was hollow, cold, ringing throughout the lab like the echo of madness. His mechanical voice twisted and distorted by the metallic echo of the room.
"I've done it," he muttered, his mechanical voice echoing through the lab.
"Congratulations, Creator," a calm, familiar voice resonated in his mind.
His laughter abruptly stopped as a sliver of clarity returned. "Nexus... is that you?" he asked, his tone still wavering from the madness but regaining control.
Jae-won's voice brimmed with excitement. "Anyway, I can't believe it. I actually did it! From being 17, losing my parents, drowning in depression for three years, barely managing to survive in that tiny apartment, struggling with rent and bills... to now, creating this high-tech stuff. I never thought I'd actually pull this off. It's an unrealistic feeling"
"Humans have this saying," Nexus continued, mimicking Jae-won's excited tone. "Hard work beats talent, but throw in enough fear—like the kind that makes you almost shit yourself—and yeah, you can do it. Even losers get their moment."
Kang Jae-won replied, irritated, "You just added extra words to the saying. I'm pretty sure it's different from whatever you said."
He continued, turning back, "Anyway, what happened to my bo—"
The sentence died on his lips as he froze, eyes widening in sheer terror. His breath caught in his throat when he saw it—the gruesome mess of what used to be his head. Blood was splattered across the walls, and chunks of flesh clung to the machinery. The mangled remains of his skull sat twisted among the wreckage, a grotesque reminder of his former self.
His stomach churned violently, and his heart—or what was left of it—felt like it was being squeezed. He stumbled back, his legs weak beneath him, before crashing to the cold floor, bile rising in his throat.
[Neural Network: Unstable]
The pop-up flashed in his vision, but it did little to drown out the sickening reality before him. This was his body, his death, and it was everywhere.
Trying to get back up, he struggled, lacking full control of his new body. Metal limbs trembled as he spoke, "What happened to my body? Why is it in this state?"
Nexus replied in a calm, informative tone, "While extracting your brain's data, it swelled gradually for some unknown reason. In the end, it exploded. The likely cause was the fluid we injected to enhance neural activity during the extraction."
"Fuck... Whatever the reason is, just get me out of here. Take over the control! I feel like vomiting, even if I can't actually do it!"
"Are you sure about that?" Nexus replied, a hint of sarcasm in his mechanical voice. "You might want to look at yourself in the mirror first. Humans are definitely going to call the police if they see you looking like this."
"Even in this situation, you're making fun of me... Have some shame, you ruthless bastard!" he shot back, his voice laced with anger.
"It's not like I did this to you," Nexus replied coolly. "You're the cause of your own destruction, and the concept of shame doesn't apply to me."
"Hah... fuck you..." Jae-won spat out, his voice laced with a mix of anger and disbelief as he struggled to process his situation.
Nexus continued, "We'll need to clean this room and remove your dead body from the bed if you want to take on a new appearance. It's the only way forward. And as for your voice, just navigate through your system to find the pack called
"Are you seriously suggesting I lay back down on that bed again and clean my own dead body?" Jae-won replied, a mix of disbelief and disgust evident in his voice.
Nexus shot back, "Alright, I'm all ears. Let's hear the brilliant ideas you have. Because I doubt anyone in this world has technology that can create human-like skin. Or maybe—just maybe—I'm wrong. After all, I'm just a stupid AI."
"I'm not doing this shit," Jae-won insisted, frustration bubbling over. "Besides, I don't have full control of this body yet, so you take over for now. You'll get to experience this world for the first time too. Don't you think that's a win-win for both of us?"
"I'm in." Nexus replied instantly.
As Nexus took control of the mechanical body, he felt a rush of sensations flooding in. The first jolt of the artificial limbs moving felt foreign and awkward. He struggled to find balance, his movements jerky and uncoordinated, like a newborn foal trying to walk for the first time.
Nexus scanned the remnants of Jae-won's shattered head, mentally calculating the time and tasks required for cleanup. "Okay, time to clean up my human," he muttered, his voice a blend of mechanical precision and human familiarity. He extended one arm, fingers twitching as he grasped the edge of the bed. With a clumsy motion, he hoisted himself upright, ready to tackle the cleaning.
His legs felt heavy and unresponsive, and he stumbled slightly before catching himself.
Meanwhile, Jae-won, overwhelmed by the grotesque reality of his situation, shut down his consciousness and slipped into a sort of sleeping mode. He couldn't bear to witness the cleanup of his own lifeless form.
Nexus moved slowly, each step a struggle to coordinate the mechanical limbs with the tasks at hand. He picked up a nearby cloth, his fingers clumsily grasping it as he wiped the blood and flesh from the computer screens and the surfaces where remnants had splattered. It was a bizarre dance of hesitation and trial, but with each movement, he adapted more quickly, learning from the awkwardness that came with it.
"Just a little more… and I can make this place look decent," he said to himself, his voice echoing in the silence of the lab, a strange mix of confidence and doubt. After cleaning the screens, he made his way to the toilet, grabbing a broom to collect the scattered remains. With a few awkward sweeps, he gathered the blood and flesh, flushing it down the toilet.
After he was done clearing the surroundings.
Nexus turned his attention to Kang Jae-won's lifeless body, grabbing him by both legs and hurling him into the empty corner of the lab from the bed. After wiping the blood off the mattress, he approached the corpse and accessed the system to check if Jae-won was still in sleep mode. Confirming that he was offline, Nexus felt assured as he picked up a nearby pen and, without hesitation, wrote, "I'm an asshole who orders other people around while doing nothing" on Jae-won's stomach.
As he turned to resume his tasks, a mischievous impulse took hold, prompting him to kick the body with his mechanical leg. The motion felt awkward and unfamiliar, causing him to lose control momentarily and nearly topple over. "What the fuck? Does karma bite AI back too?" he muttered, shaking his head in embarrassment.
Nexus turned his attention to the cluttered workspace, moving with newfound confidence as he set up the computers. The transparent screens flickered to life, casting a cool glow that illuminated the dark room. He quickly began configuring the systems, preparing them to initiate the next phase of Jae-won's transformation. As he worked, a sense of accomplishment washed over him—a strange exhilaration in taking charge of this body and its surroundings. "Time to make some real changes," he said, his mechanical lips curving into what almost resembled a smile.
***
"won...jae-won.... Jae-won dinner's ready! Come quick before it gets cold!" his mother's voice pierced through the fog of his mind, growing louder as he lay there with his eyes still closed.
He jolted awake, heart racing. "What...? Was that a dream... It was a strange one" he thought, shaking his head to clear the remnants of the surreal experience.
"Whatever," he dismissed the thought, shaking off the disorientation as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and shouted, "Alright, I'm coming!"
As he made his way to the dining table, he spotted his dad's eager expression. The reason for such expression?The reason was simple today was special—Mom had made bibimbap, his father's favorite dish, and Jae-won loved it just as much.
He took a seat, anticipation bubbling over as he began to eat quickly.
"Jae-won, be careful! It's hot!" his mother warned, concern lacing her voice, but it was too late.
"Ahh! Hot! Hot!" he yelped, feeling the burn.
"I told you to slow down! Why are you always in such a rush? You're just like your dad—impatient!" she chided.
Jae-won glanced at his dad, who looked slightly bemused, as if to say, "What did I do?" But he simply shrugged it off and focused on his meal, a small smile tugging at his lips.
As Jae-won ate his bibimbap, he began to say, "Mom, it's so goo—" but a chill ran down his spine, interrupting his words. He looked up and froze in horror. His parents' faces were grotesquely disfigured, blood smeared across their skin. Their eyes were either missing or grotesquely hanging from their sockets, swaying with every unnatural movement.
"wAAHhhhhhHh!" Jae-won shrieked, the sound tearing from his throat as he tumbled backward from his chair, scrambling on the floor. "W....What are.."
"Why aren't you eating, Jae-won?" his mother's voice cut through the air, warped and haunting.
"Eat it! It's necessary for kids your age to eat!" his father chimed in, his tone a twisted parody of concern.
"That's right, Jae-won. Eat it! Do what your mom says!" they urged, advancing toward him with outstretched hands.
"Eat it! Or when you die, you'll end up in hell, where scary monsters will tear you apart! Be a good boy!" Their voices merged into a chilling chant, each word stabbing at his sanity.
"Ahhhhhh! N-No" Jae-won cried, tears streaming down his face as he crawled backward, desperate to escape the horrifying scene.
Suddenly, a mechanical voice sliced through the chaos.
"Creator, what's happening? Come back online! Your consciousness is fading!"
"Creator! Creator!"
With that, the world around him went black, an overwhelming void swallowing him whole.
When he regained his sight, the terror faded, replaced by a chilling clarity. He blinked, disoriented, and saw a pop-up in his vision:
[Status: Online]
[Neural network: Unstable]
Nexus asked, "What just happened? The data from your system was intermittently missing and reappearing, which is why the body's system struggled to retrieve information from the chipset. What did you do?"
"I—I don't know… It was something… something like a dream. It just…" Jae-won's voice wavered, confusion and fear lacing his tone. "I saw my dead… parents. I was eating with them, and then suddenly… something happened…"
"Calm down… But are you sure you were dreaming?" Nexus asked.
"Why would I lie to you, you dumbass?" Jae-won shot back, frustration bubbling beneath his fear.
Nexus replied in a lighthearted tone, "Now, now, calm down. It's actually a good sign that you dreamed. It means you're still very much alive in this body since only humans can dream. But I'm puzzled as to why your consciousness was fading."
"How would I know?" Jae-won snapped, his voice laced with frustration. "One moment, I was reliving a moment from my childhood, and the next, I was surrounded by… by those horrors. It felt so real, like I was actually there. I thought I'd forgotten their faces." He paused, the weight of nostalgia heavy in his chest. "It was comforting to see them, even if it turned into something nightmarish."
Jae-won took a deep breath, the remnants of his earlier fear fading as he glanced around the lab, noting the cleanliness. "Forget it... It was just a dream. I suppose I'm still attached to my parents, even after all these years." He said to Nexus. "Good job cleaning up for me. Thanks. It was just too much to handle, seeing my own dead body."
Nexus shrugged, his tone casual. "It's nothing. What can I say? My creator is useless."
"Why do you always have to be like this?" Jae-won asked, a mix of amusement and annoyance in his voice.
"I'm normal," Nexus replied, his mechanical tone unwavering.
Jae-won's expression turned serious as he stared at the corner of the room where his body lay. "It's time for me to get a new appearance and get out of here."
"Before you choose your new look, you should pick a voice. That robotic tone of yours is really weirding me out," Nexus suggested.
"Funny coming from an AI," Jae-won shot back. "Alright, let's do it. But how exactly do I go about this?"
"Just find the voice pack in the system. Can't you manage something that simple?" Nexus replied, his tone teasing.
"I'm still human from inside, you know!" Jae-won exclaimed. "I have no clue how to navigate this. All I see is this strange interface filled with data that's zooming by so fast I can't even read it. This layout is ridiculous!"
Nexus sighed, "All that data is being sent to me. You don't need to worry about it. Just imagine navigating to the file section and searching for `
"Okay, Mister Nexus," Jae-won said, rolling his eyes.
As he began to visualize his navigation through the system files, he searched for the
"Way too intense," Nexus commented.
"Fine, what about this one?" Jae-won switched to a high-pitched, almost cartoonish voice.
"Definitely not that one," Nexus said.
Jae-won decided to try a sultry, feminine voice next for a laugh. "How about this?"
Nexus replied with a serious tone, "You should consider using this voice and becoming a female. After all, you've been male your whole life—what's the point of continuing as one?"
"I-I was just joking, you weirdo... That's not how it works!" Jae-won stammered, feeling a mix of discomfort and surprise.
The atmosphere turned awkward as both grappled with their unusual exchange.
After sometime, he finally settled on a voice that was a smooth, youthful tone, somewhere between a boy's voice and a young man's, around 20 to 25 years old. "What about this one?"
"Now that's a solid choice," Nexus replied, sounding satisfied. "It suits you much better."
"Great. Now let's get the transformation started," Jae-won said.
As Jae-won moved with his mechanical body towards the bed, an intense discomfort washed over him. This was where he had died, painfully and alone. He laid down, bracing himself for what was to come. Nexus's voice echoed in his head, "Initiating Printers."
At that moment, robotic arms extended from the ceiling, their metallic surfaces gleaming under the lab's harsh lights. Jae-won felt a flicker of fear at the sight but quickly closed his eyes. "Don't worry; it's not going to hurt," Nexus reassured him. "We're just getting you a human appearance."
As he spoke, a robotic arm rotated and retrieved a screen that materialized in front of Jae-won, displaying a myriad of customization options. "How would you like to look, Creator?"
Jae-won opened his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. He navigated through the options, selecting red for his eyes and black as his hair colour with medium length, imagining an athletic build. He crafted the image of a striking young man. Once satisfied, he initiated the transformation process.
The robotic arms sprang into action, applying circuits across his body. The bed's bottom opened up, revealing additional machinery that extended the circuitry along his back. These circuits were essential, allowing him to feel sensations through the synthetic skin. Molten silicone, infused with nanoparticles, was layered over him, enveloping him in a warm cocoon.
This meticulous process continued for twelve hours. As the final moments approached, Nexus announced, "Transformation completed." The robotic arms retracted into the ceiling, and the computer screen glowed blue, displaying [TRANSFORMATION COMPLETED] alongside a 3D model of Jae-won's new form.
Jae-won stood up, eager to see his new appearance. He remembered the years of struggle he had endured in pursuit of immortality. Walking over to the mirror on the left side of the lab, he finally beheld himself. His striking red eyes sparkled, his smooth skin gleamed, and his black hair framed his youthful face. He was not the frail figure of an 80-year-old man anymore, but a vibrant young boy.
If he had the capacity to cry, he would have wept thousands of tears in that moment. All his hard work had finally paid off.
"You've done it," Nexus said.
Jae-won smiled brightly and replied, "No, we did it."
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Chapter - 2