Chapter 2

Chapter 2. An Uninvited Guest in the City (1)

A fusion-punk urban fantasy open-world RPG.

【R.O.K.A】

An exceptional degree of freedom, clay-like graphics that were inversely proportional to it, and an uncommon quarter-view perspective.

On top of that, it was an old game released well over a decade ago...

Yet it was a game that had once taken gaming communities and streamers in South Korea by storm.

[Wait, the starting area is Seoul? I opened the world map, and there’s Busan and other cities too.]

[They kept going on about Neo Seoul and Mega Busan, but why are these actually real...?]

[The New Korean Empire, what the fuck lol. Is this alternate history?]

One reason was that the game was set in a fictional future version of South Korea.

And.

[Anyone tried the Weeping Snail Bride quest? What’s the original story behind this?]

[If anyone’s cleared the Changgui dungeon that appeared on Bukhansan, please share a guide.]

[Live coverage of the Imugi raid at seven.]

Besides the usual fantasy elements, such as other races and magic.

Another reason was its use of modern reinterpretations of traditional Korean folklore and monsters.

There were even rumors among players that one of the developers was Korean.

However, its fame did not last long.

[AH!! How many times have I gotten “If you don’t know, you deserve to die” now? Is this difficulty seriously meant to be cleared??]

[I can’t even trust the quest descriptions... It told me to kill the target, so I assassinated him, but then it said mission failed.]

[I’m holding my breath until they announce balance changes.]

[―It says here, Professor?]

A world map so absurdly vast it made you want to vomit.

Mysterious quests seemingly designed with nothing but the developers’ malice.

Combat difficulty where failing to understand a gimmick meant your entire party would routinely be wiped out.

And on top of all that, countless bugs and a customer service center that responded to every inquiry with nothing but automated AI replies.

The list of flaws was practically endless.

It was a vicious game that, since its release, no one had ever managed to complete every achievement in.

“Hah... Why the hell did I ever touch that shitty game and end up suffering like this?”

Well, skipping the tedious and overly complicated details and getting straight to the conclusion.

Yeah.

After spending several years completing every last achievement in that idiotic game.

I was abducted into the game itself.

‘...Probably.’

The reason I say “probably” is because my memories of the moment I was abducted are hazy.

When I came to my senses, I was already in a stinking back alley.

And the only thing floating before my eyes was the status window of the last character I had created.

“Fuck...”

How many times had I wished that when I opened my eyes each morning, I would see the familiar ceiling of my rented room?

“Just let me go to work instead.”

Even muttering something that went against the very identity of a modern working adult was useless.

A noisy, damp, filthy back alley in a futuristic city where violence was the only language.

Because my reality had not changed in the slightest over the past month.

“Phew...”

I let out a light sigh and cleared my mind of distracting thoughts.

This insane world had already become my reality.

“No point grumbling. I need to get moving.”

The neighboring countries around the Korean Peninsula and new storylines.

There had also been an announcement for a major update that would overhaul parts of the existing story.

‘I don’t know whether that update I saw just before my world changed has been applied here, though...’

Because this place was both similar to and very different from the world of R.O.K.A that I had played.

Only now, after spending an entire month struggling through back alleys, gathering information, and searching around.

Had I finally managed to complete the tutorial.

[You have completed the tutorial “Defeat the Shreki Family.”]

[You have consumed ordinary material.]

[Your body will be slightly strengthened using the consumed material.]

[You have gained a small amount of proficiency.]

[Your hunger has decreased slightly.]

That damned voice that had been buzzing inside my head for a while now was proof.

These notifications went off inside my head at all hours, and I had no idea how to turn them off. It was genuine noise pollution.

“...”

After confirming that the notifications had stopped, I closed my eyes.

Then pale letters appeared within the darkness.

[ID]: Lee Gang-sik

[Status]: Slightly Hungry

[Trait]: 【Bulgasari (F)】

[Karma]: 【Endless Hunger】, 【Picky Eater (Metal)】

It was simplicity itself, but that was R.O.K.A’s status window.

After all, it was a game where, aside from health, mana, and stamina, you grew stronger by acquiring traits and equipment.

‘That was what made it fun. Even with a considerable difference in stats, you could still win if you understood the mechanics and had the right traits and equipment.’

Of course, that was only when I was on the other side of the screen.

On the other side of the screen!

“...Tch.”

Ignoring the Karma section for now, I focused on the one and only trait I possessed.

The letters distorted, then changed as though someone were turning the pages of a book.

【Bulgasari (The Unkillable)】

[Type]: Unique (F), Enhancement-Type

[Origin]: Folklore, Miscellaneous Records of Songnam

“Bulgasari at the end of the Songdo era!”

A spiritual creature that grows endlessly by devouring metal, fire, monsters, and calamities.

The “Spiritual Creature: Bulgasari,” which can never be killed by human strength, dwells within you.

As the spiritual creature grows stronger, so do you.

(Current Rank Proficiency: 35%)

[Effects]

※Due to low proficiency, some effects are restricted.

―While this trait remains active, you possess the body of a spiritual creature and cannot die from physical attacks.

―(Strengthen the trait to unlock.)

―(Strengthen the trait to...)

This was the reward for completing every achievement in R.O.K.A, including the ending.

A “Unique Trait” possessed only by beings on the level of the final boss or the five dragons who served as hidden bosses.

【Unique】

Literally, a mark signifying that the achievements of a particular existence are one of a kind in the world.

The highest rarity grade in R.O.K.A.

It was the reason an ordinary office worker who had never even been in a fight had survived the past month...

And also the reason I missed my original world.

―Crunch.

I poured the large-caliber bullets I had collected into my mouth.

Along with the cold pieces of metal came a sudden whiff of acrid gunpowder.

As I chewed and swallowed them, my throat grew hot.

“Tastes fucking awful.”

Though expecting pieces of metal to taste good was a stupid idea in the first place.

“If only I didn’t have this Picky Eater penalty, at least.”

In this game, the better the traits you selected during character creation, the more severe the penalties that accompanied them under the name of Karma.

And the penalties attached to my Unique Trait, “Bulgasari,” were twofold.

“Endless Hunger,” which prevented my hunger gauge from ever being fully satisfied, no matter how much I ate.

And “Picky Eater,” which made it impossible to consume anything outside a designated category.

When I was creating my character, I thought they were insanely advantageous penalties.

They didn’t affect combat, and they were clever penalties that even stayed faithful to the original Bulgasari folklore.

‘Of course I thought that, didn’t I?’

The basic passive effect was none other than “Prevention of Death by Physical Attacks.”

During the early stages of the game, when hardly any monsters used elemental attacks, the trait was practically equivalent to invincibility.

With an effect that powerful, drug addiction, a terminal illness, psychopathy, erectile dysfunction, and so on.

It wouldn’t have been strange for all sorts of bizarre penalties to come attached to it, even several at once, right?

And above all...

“I never imagined I’d end up inside that body.”

It was a good deal because it didn’t affect combat?

It was clever because it stayed true to the original folklore?

“Bullshit.”

Go grab anyone and make them live on nothing but rainwater and scraps of metal instead of food for an entire month.

And on top of that, they could still taste everything, and no matter how much they ate, their hunger never went away?

“Hah, even a saint would end up with a twisted personality.”

The thick smell of oil and the grime of countless hands.

Things I had no idea where those back-alley thugs and gang members had kept―

“Urgh.”

As my resentment brought up things I had no need to remember, I started dry-heaving.

At least I was fortunate enough to be able to drink plain water and distilled liquor, provided nothing else was mixed in.

“I’ve been forcing that crap down for an entire month, and I’m still only at 35%.”

I know they say enhancement-type traits are late bloomers by nature, but there has to be a limit.

Should it really take this long just to advance a single rank from F?

“...I really need to register as a hunter.”

I had been putting it off until now because I was busy gathering information.

But I couldn’t spend forever killing snails outside the beginner village.

There was a reason back-alley thugs were just thugs.

They became thugs because they had nothing.

Now that I had finished the tutorial and earned some extra income, it was time to head to my next destination.

“Hopefully the route is the same as I remember.”

I’d only ever seen it from outside a monitor, and now that my perspective had changed, I still wasn’t familiar with the roads.

Anyway.

Once I became an official hunter, I would be able to eat equipment and metals with more nutritional value(?).

And I would be able to collect the hidden pieces scattered throughout the city.

I just hoped they were still where I remembered them.

“Is this what they call playing in the big leagues?”

That was what people always seemed to say in noir movies and the like.

―Shhhhh.

“Tch, this damned acid rain has no intention of stopping.”

Even if it was just a cheap motel bed, I needed to hurry if I wanted somewhere to lie down and sleep―

“Ah!! You’re still here! What a relief!”

Just as I was pulling my still-damp coat tightly around myself and preparing to leave, someone rushed out of the bar.

It was the elderly bartender.

“I didn’t leave anything behind.”

I had only stopped there hoping I could use a shortcut to shake off the pursuing orc thugs.

Even though I could have pretended not to know anything, I had contributed a little toward the repair costs out of the last scraps of my conscience.

But if he was going to act like someone who, after being saved from drowning, demanded the rescuer hand over their belongings too...

‘Then I’ll have no choice but to be the thug this time.’

Seeing that I was now the one on guard, the old man hurriedly waved his hands.

“N-no, that’s not it.”

With an awkward smile, he took something crumpled and folded from inside his clothes and handed it to me.

What I received was a rough map and an old business card.

“What’s this?”

“You seem to have your circumstances, so I won’t ask for details. However...”

“However?”

“When you said you weren’t a hunter yet, that means you’re interested in becoming one, doesn’t it?”

What’s this?

Is he trying to scout me?

It was common for administrators to scout promising talent.

If things went well, you could even receive sponsorship from various organizations.

But.

“As far as I know, the person in charge of this district... I mean, the administrator, is a woman.”

Just like the Jamsil area where I had settled.

This district, situated across the Han River from it, was also on the outskirts of Neo Seoul and belonged to the lower-class zones.

In simple terms, it was a newbie zone.

That was why I knew it so well.

‘Most of the quests here barely gave any rewards, yet they made you run endless errands. No wonder the place was unpopular.’

That was also why many players chose the Jamsil area as their starting base instead.

“Well, you know more than I expected, young man. I’d believe you if you told me you were already an active hunter.”

The old man’s eyes gleamed sharply at my words.

“You’re right. I’ve already retired. My granddaughter is the current administrator of this district.”

“Oh...”

That was another detail that had never appeared in the game.

He really was that money-grubber’s grandfather?

Hard to believe...

“Anyway, this is the address of a bar that an old drinking buddy of mine frequents. As it happens, it’s in the Jamsil area.”

“Is that so?”

“You said you came from Jamsil too, so why not pay it a visit if you’re interested?”

An old drinking buddy of a retired administrator.

There was only one thing those words could mean.

“...Thank you. I’ll stop by.”

“Haha, I knew you’d say that! If you happen to meet my friend, give him my regards.”

I gave the chuckling old man a slight bow and walked through the rain.

“Is it a coincidence?”

Muttering quietly, I lowered my gaze to the business card in my hand.

The crude holographic letters printed on it.

【Saetani】

That was precisely where the local boss of the Jamsil district, in other words, the hunter administrator, could be found.

It was the very place I had planned as my next destination just moments earlier.

“There wasn’t an event like this... Tch, forget it.”

The mere fact that a person had fallen into a game was already strange enough.

No, to begin with, I wasn’t even sure I had actually fallen into R.O.K.A...

There were so many things that differed from my memories.

Rather than dwelling on complicated questions, what mattered right now was surviving and becoming stronger.

And I would return to my original world, no matter what.

“When I get back, I’m taking at least a week of paid leave and going on a food tour.”

A luxury hotel buffet costing hundreds of thousands of won?

A restaurant where you had to wait hours just to get a table?

As long as it wasn’t metal, anything would do.

I was going to buy and eat every single thing I had only been able to drool over while saving money because of my housing deposit loan.

Just you wait!

The desperate determination born of sheer frustration dissolved into the city’s acid rain, seeping ever deeper.

I Became an Immortal Who Chews on Steel

Author |

Mwiu

Publisher |

Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.

Managing Editor |

Editorial Department

Published by |

Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. - Dream Books

Address |

Rooms 806-810, Kolon Science Valley I, 187-10 Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul

ISBN |

G720:N+A063-20261006118

Blog |

blog.naver.com/dreambookss

Twitter (X) |

@dreambookss

Submissions |

fansycnc@samyangcnc.com

No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. - Dream Books.