GWTM 01

“Renok, get up!”

Even with the rough shout rattling his eardrums, he rubbed his eyes, which wouldn’t open, and tossed and turned.

It was an unconscious action, but the voice didn’t speak twice.

SMACK!

With an intense impact that felt like his jaw was being ripped off, he tumbled off the bed and flung his eyes open.

A massive, hairy giant with murderous intent pouring from his face and bloodshot eyes was glaring down at him.

The giant ground his boot into the man’s face and growled lowly.

“It’s work time. Get your ass to the parts room right now. Understand?”

“…..Understood.”

A voice so hoarse it startled even himself.

As soon as he heard the answer, the giant strode out of the room.

Only then could he clutch his stinging cheek and find the leisure to look around.

It was a cramped room filled with simple beds topped with heavily grimed sheets. About ten people were looking at him with pitying glances.

“You stupid bastard. Sleeping like that, not even knowing the foreman was here…”

“Leave him be. We all know he hasn’t got long left to die. That’s probably why the foreman just gave him one slap and let it go.”

“True, if you beat that guy up, he really might die.”

They muttered amongst themselves like that, then stood up abruptly and left him, disappearing somewhere.

Dazed by their words, he finally raised both hands and felt his own body.

A skinny body where his ribs were clearly palpable. Forearms as slender as tree branches and calves where veins showed through.

A sickly body—completely different from the one he remembered all his life, one that wouldn’t be strange to collapse at any moment—existed beneath his head.

“…….”

He stumbled to his feet and stood before a small mirror hung in a corner of the room, which was full of musty air. Only then did he realize everything.

The sight of the young man in the cracked mirror, clutching his swollen cheek, was too similar to the appearance of the third character he had created beyond the monitor.

“They called me… Renok.”

A character he had created for the sole purpose of enjoying a game, without any real meaning or value.

That insignificant body, which he hadn’t even bothered to properly name out of annoyance, was everything he had now.

And so, Renok was thrown into a new world, unable to utter a single complaint.

.

THUD!

“Move it, move it!”

The foreman was yelling at the top of his lungs as he bustled around the vast parts room.

Clumsily assembled metal parts rolled onto the non-stop conveyor belt.

“The union member will be here to collect the products soon! How long do you plan to dawdle?!”

As the hairy giant barked an admonishment at the workers with bloodshot eyes, the hands of those standing in front of the belt sped up slightly.

Not satisfied, the giant swung the small horse whip in his hand, lashing two or three nearby workers before finally turning his back, as if his rage was satisfied.

“You’d better be prepared if you don’t meet the deadline! I have no intention of housing trash that can’t even meet their quota!!”

Renok, who had been watching the scene from a distance, turned his gaze back to the piece of metal he was holding.

Three days had already passed since he woke up in this nameless parts manufacturing facility, which was called ‘the Factory.’

Although he still knew nothing, Renok adapted to the monotonous factory routine surprisingly quickly.

He gets up before sunrise, works until he’s on the verge of exhaustion, and before sleeping, receives a bowl of gruel worse than food waste.

The labor that occupies his entire day is to assemble scattered metal parts and place them on the conveyor belt.

Other than accepting this monotonous and grueling routine, which required no understanding, there was nothing Renok could do.

Even if he tried to ask something, the workers stationed around him stubbornly refused to speak with him.

He only noticed a day ago that the way they looked at Renok was no different than looking at a dead body.

“Haa, haa….”

In the parts room, which wasn’t even properly ventilated, the sweat and stench of the workers mixed, turned into vapor, and hovered near the ceiling.

Just from not being able to breathe fresh air, Renok’s body quickly became breathless and flushed with heat.

More than anything else, the sense of alienation from this body, so different from his old self, was severely tormenting Renok.

The hellish, grueling labor, which felt like it would make him gasp his last at any moment, continued for over ten hours without a single break.

The good news was that even when Renok paused his hands from assembling parts, no one verbally abused him (or complained).

The foreman merely clicked his tongue upon seeing Renok’s pale face and didn’t seem to have any intention of wasting labor by bothering a dying body.

From the moment he realized this, Renok was able to survive until the end of the working hours by gradually taking shortcuts (or easing up on the work).

The eon-like working hours ended, and Renok, receiving a bowl of thin gruel as expected, quickly finished it and lay down to sleep.

He closed his eyes while staring at the dark ceiling, but his mind was still wide awake.

It was insomnia.

“Damn it…”

It was already the third day he hadn’t slept properly.

Renok had a rough idea where this terrible insomnia came from.

One of the several penalties he had slapped on the character during setup. The insomnia, which had reached the level of a character trait, was tormenting him.

The more grim truth was that insomnia wasn’t the only penalty attached to this body.

All sorts of diseases and symptoms that inherently weakened his body were eroding and pulling Renok down.

How long could he last?

What was certain was that the time he had left was not very long.

He didn’t think a body weakened to the extreme could endure this grueling work environment for long.

He had worried for three days, but the conclusion was set from the start.

‘I have to escape from here.’

Whether he died of exhaustion in the factory or was caught and killed while escaping, it was the same end for Renok.

He had no intention of making the stench-filled parts room his grave.

The silver lining was that not all circumstances were unfavorable to Renok.

Perhaps because he was already treated as a dead man walking, the intensity of control was less for Renok compared to other workers, and the other laborers didn’t pay much attention to his actions.

If he could utilize this well to figure out the factory’s layout, then plotting an escape route would be possible.

Moreover, and most importantly, this body was not merely weak and useless.

If Renok’s body carried the various penalties, including insomnia, in this world, then conversely, it must also carry Renok’s talents.

The magic talent he had instilled by adding all those bad traits. That potential, filled to the very limit, was dormant within Renok’s body.

If he could somehow awaken that talent, then escaping this factory truly wasn’t an impossible story.

“…….”

Renok knew.

That the person he was now—calmly assessing the situation and formulating a plan in this moment of extreme mental and physical exhaustion from grueling labor and insomnia—was a completely different person from his former self.

The self he knew was not the kind of person who could maintain composure in such a situation.

That was likely the result of the mental talents he had poured into the character during creation, such as composure, concentration, and audacity.

At the time, he had merely invested in the mental stats necessary for a mage, but the result was now acting as the driving force that allowed Renok, after three sleepless days and nights, to still maintain his sanity.

Renok didn’t believe in the romantic notion that human mental abilities were based on the soul. Rational thought, a cool mind, and logical reasoning were all talents of the physical body: the brain.

The mental strength he currently possessed that allowed him to maintain his composure was, strictly speaking, also part of the talent this weak body held.

Clearly recognizing this as Renok’s talent, not that of his old self who pressed the character creation button, would be the first step to overcoming the current situation.

He wouldn’t let his guard down for a single moment until he got out of this hellish factory.

Whipping himself on, Renok forced himself to sleep.