The Start

"Lennok, wake up!"

The harsh voice echoed in my ears, but I tried to ignore it, rubbing my eyes and tossing and turning in bed.

The voice doesn't repeat itself, instead, a sharp slap jolts me awake

With a jolt, I tumble out of bed, feeling like my jaw has been dislodged, and finally open my eyes.

A towering, hairy figure with bloodshot eyes loomed over me, growling menacingly.

The giant stepped on my face with a heavy boot and barked,

"Time to work! Get to the parts room now. Got it?"

"...Y...es," I stammered, intimidated by the guttural voice.

The giant grunted in response and stomped out of the room, leaving me to rub my stinging cheeks and survey my surroundings.

The small room was filled with basic beds and soiled linens, and around ten individuals were gazing at him with pitiful expressions.

"What a fool," one of them sneered.

"He doesn't even realize the supervisor is here, sleeping like a baby." The other one shrugged.

"Leave him be. He doesn't have much time left, you know."

The supervisor didn't bother to kick me, but instead walked away with the others, leaving me alone.

I lay there, listening to their voices fade into the distance.

When they were gone, I finally stirred, feeling my ribs and thin arms, much different from the healthy body I once had.

I stumbled to my feet and stood in front of a small, dusty mirror hanging in the corner of the room.

The reflection staring back at him was of a young man, holding his swollen cheek, looking much like a character I had created on a computer game.

"It's Lennok," I whispered to myself.

This insignificant character, created for nothing but entertainment, was now all I had in this new world.

I was thrown into this new reality without even a chance to protest.

"Step on it!"

The supervisor was bustling about the sprawling parts room, shouting out orders.

Metal components clumsily clattered over the unending conveyor belt.

"The union members will be here to collect the products soon. How long will you keep them waiting?"

The giant, with his fur and bloodshot eyes, bellowed at the workers, causing their hands to move a bit quicker.

However, this was not enough for the giant, who swung a small riding crop in his hand, striking two or three workers who were nearby, before finally turning his back and appearing satisfied.

"If you can't meet the deadline, be prepared for the consequences! I don't want any dead weight sleeping on the job who can't even keep up with the quota!"

From a distance, I watched the scene and returned my attention to the metal piece in my hand.

It had been three days since I awoke in the factory, an unnamed facility referred to simply as "the factory."

Though I still knew nothing, I had surprisingly adapted to the monotonous routine of the factory.

I would rise before dawn and work until I collapsed from exhaustion, and before bed, I would receive a bowl of gruel that was barely edible.

My entire day was spent assembling metal parts and placing them on the conveyor belt.

I had no choice but to accept this tedious and unremitting labor, which didn't even require comprehension.

Despite my attempts to communicate, the workers around me remained aloof and unwilling to engage with me.

The day before, i realized that the way they looked at me was as if i were already dead.

In the poorly ventilated parts room, the sweat and body odor of the workers mixed and formed a hazy steam that hovered near the ceiling.

Just by not being able to breathe in the fresh air, my body quickly became breathless, and the heat spread.

I don't know anything else, but the difference from this body, which was so different from what I used to be, was bothering me terribly.

The hell-like work that makes me feel like I am going to die right away continues for more than 10 hours without a break.

Fortunately, even if I stopped assembling intermediate parts, others did not scold me.

The supervisor only clicked his tongue when he saw my pale face, and he did not seem to have any intention of wasting labor by touching my dying body.

I managed to hold out until the end of my working hours by playing tricks little by little from the moment I noticed it.

After an eternity of working hours, I receive a bowl of dry porridge as scheduled, finish it in an instant, and go to bed.

I closed my eyes, staring at the dark ceiling, but my consciousness was still clear.

It was insomnia.

"Damn it…"

It's already been three days since I couldn't sleep properly.

Where this terrible insomnia came from, I had a rough idea.

One of the many penalties I put on when setting up the character. Insomnia, which has reached a kind of characteristic, is tormenting me.

Even more grim was the fact that insomnia was not the only penalty attached to this body.

All sorts of diseases and symptoms that innately weaken his body are eating away at me and dragging me down.

How long can I last?

What was certain was that the time given to me was not that long.

I didn't think that my body, which had been weakened to the limit, would be able to endure for a long time in the arduous labor environment.

I thought about it for three days, but the conclusion was decided from the beginning.

'I have to escape from here.'

Whether I wither to death in a factory or get caught and die while running away, it's just the same ending for Lennok.

I had no intention of turning the stench-filled parts room into a graveyard.

Fortunately, not everything was against me.

Perhaps because I was already being treated like a dying man, I was less controlled than the other workers, and the other workers didn't care much about what I was doing.

If I can make good use of this point and figure out the structure of the factory, I should be able to devise an escape route.

Besides, the most important thing is that this body is not useless and just weak.

In this world, if this body has various penalties, including insomnia, on the contrary, I will have the same talent as Lennok.

Magical talent is imbued with all kinds of bad traits. The quality I had filled to the limit lies dormant in this body.

If that talent could be saved somehow, escaping from this factory was not an impossible story.

"...."

I knew.

In this situation, being mentally and physically pushed to the limit due to hard labor and insomnia, able to calmly organize the situation and make plans, I know that I am a completely different person than I used to be.

The person I was not the kind of person who could keep calm under these circumstances.

It is probably the result of mental talents such as calmness, concentration, and boldness that I filled in when creating the character.

At that time, it was just an investment in the mental abilities necessary for a wizard, but as a result, it was acting as a driving force that allowed me, who had been three days and nights, to remain sober.

I did not believe in the romantic idea that human mental abilities depended on the soul. Reasonable thinking, a cold mind, and rational logic are all talents of the body called the brain.

The current mental strength that allowed me to keep my cool was also clearly part of the talent of this weak body.

Recognizing that it is Lennok's talent, not the old self who pressed the character creation button, will be the first step to overcoming the current situation.

I won't let my guard down until I get out of this hellish factory.

I force myself to close my eyes while thinking to myself like that.