Under the eternal black skies of the night with twinkling stars, a lone girl stood at the edge of a bridge. She balanced precariously with just her fingertips touching the railing. Her eyes were set out into the horizon, devoid of any emotion or vision. She thought that today would really be the day where she would end it all. She was tired of her own pathetic fear of committing to her death. She was tired of the world that never seemed to stop moving or even slow down. But most of all, she was tired of herself. Her personality, her weaknesses, who she was, everything about herself. She hated it.

  With those last thoughts, she let her fingertips slip from the railing and allowed her body to plummet into the void.

  When her eyes opened, the lone girl found herself within that void. She blinked. She was confused as to why she was still conscious and able to form thoughts. Was she not dead? If so, where was she?

  She started to walk around, looking around into the void trying to see if she could make out any shapes. Each step she took was like taking a step in a shallow puddle. The sound of the ripples gently waving from her steps was strangely calming despite the strange situation she was in.

  “Hello?” she called out. But her call was only met with silence. She took a couple steps more before calling out louder. “Hello?”

  “Mind being more quiet? It is quite loud.”

  The voice that appeared behind her sent shivers down her spine. She slowly turned around to see a tall masked figure gazing down at her.

  Unlike his surroundings, the tall masked figure was emanating a brilliant golden-white glow, making the girl’s eyes hurt from looking at him. At first she thought it was another human-being. But as she looked closer, she saw the unnaturally long fingers with long claws. The tall horns that curled at the end that she thought was part of the mask were actually directly attached to the creature’s head. The swishing sound made her look behind the creature to see a long, jagged tail that was waving around. Almost like a curious cat.

  “What– Who are you?” she asked, intimidated by such a creature.

  When the creature smiled at her question, she flinched, surprised by the canines that flashed in the darkness.

  “I’m someone here to help you. And–” the creature’s eyes glinted as he leaned in closer to her, “ –punish you.”

  The girl stumbled back before falling. Instead of falling onto solid ground, she fell into a deeper puddle and pools of the void slowly started to swallow her. Rather than being panicked, the girl was more confused about what was happening. And smiling at her confusion, the creature simply said:

  “Let’s talk somewhere else, shall we?”

  The girl let herself be consumed in the void and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting in a large open field. Above her, were the eternal dark sky of the night that was similar to the one she saw when she was on the bridge. She turned her head to see the creature casually sitting next to her with his long legs neatly crossed before him.

  “Where are we?”

  “This,” the creature raised his arm gesturing to all that was before the two, “ is the nexus of all your thoughts, memories, imaginations, and so on. Everything that has been going on in here,” the creature gently flicked the girl’s forehead, “ is right here.”

  “It’s… surprisingly calm…”

  “That’s, of course, because I’m helping you control it right now. If I was not helping you… ” the creature laughed. The girl thought his laugh was strange. It sounded pleasant like the sound of wind charms but it felt cruel. “... it would be utter chaos.”

  “So… who exactly are you and why am I here?”

  “Hm…” The creature looked up to the skies with a pondering expression as he tapped his finger against his chin. “A name… a name… What should my name be?”

  “What?” The girl was more confused than ever. Wondering how a being couldn’t have a name. The creature looked over at her before leaning forward with a big smile. The girl leaned back, slightly suspicious of his intentions.

  “Why don’t you name me?”

  “You… want me to name you?”

  “Yes!” the creature beamed, smiling seemingly innocently.

  “Um… I don’t know. I can’t name you if I know nothing about you…”

  “Hm… that is a problem isn’t it…” The creature suddenly clapped his hands together. “Then let me tell you about myself!”

  “Okay…”

  “Hm… let’s see… I’m 8 foot 2. I’m about 900 hundred years old… Hm… what else…”

  “Um… don’t you have other things you can share?” the girl asked hesitantly. “Like your background, what you do…?”

  “My background…?” The creature frowned as he pondered. “All I remember was that I was drifting among the stars until you came to me. As for what I can do… well, that depends on you.”

  “What do you–”

  “Name first!” the creature interrupted. He seemed eager to be named, as though he had been waiting to be named all this time.

  “Um… I still don’t know…”

  “Ugh… so indecisive…” The creature grumbled under his breath before throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Fine! For now, I’ll let you temporarily call me One!”

  “One?”

  “Yes! Because I’m your number one!”

  Silence fell between the two. A silence so heavy that it felt as though even the slightest brushes between two blades of grass could be heard. The girl wondered if she had finally gone insane as she questioned the creature’s existence.

  “Okay… One… Now, can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “How to explain this…” One looked up to the skies as though the twinkling stars could give him an answer. “You see… Right now, you are at the precipice of life and death.”

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  “So… I’m in a coma?” The girl looked down and plucked a lone white flower next to her. As she twirled the flower between her two fingers, she muttered, “But it feels so real…”

  “Of course! Because right now we’re at your nexus. So everything you feel, do, say, will all be ‘real’.”

  “So, why am I here?”

  “You were given a choice.” One stood up and walked before the girl. He turned around with a serious expression as he stared her down. At the moment, the girl felt the same intimidation that she felt when she first saw the creature. “You can either choose to submit to the endless void of death now or live your favorite fantasy.”

  The girl blinked, thinking that she had misheard One. Perhaps it was due to the height difference. She stood up, cranking her head back to be able to meet One’s eyes.

  “Sorry, but did you say the choice was either to die right now or… live my favorite fantasy?”

  “That is correct,” One smiled, returning back to his seemingly childish self. “I’m glad you’re smart.”

  “What exactly do you mean by ‘live my favorite fantasy’?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like. I know you spent a lot of your time reading manhwa, books, and the alike. You have the option to choose one of your favorite Fantasy and live it out.”

  The girl frowned. The two options seemed to be too different. It was too obvious which option was the more favorable one.

  “What is the catch?” she asked. At her question, One grinned, showing the hint of evil that he seemed to be hiding.

  “The catch is that should you choose to live your favorite fantasy, you must save all the characters you become attached to.”

  “What happens if I fail?”

  “If you fail, obviously you die,” One shrugged, as though the answer to her question was indeed obvious.

  “But that’s it? The only catch if I fail to save all the characters I like is that I die? Then if I succeed, then what? I live again?”

  “Well…” the creature tilted his head. “Hypothetically, yes.”

  “Hypothetically?”

  “This isn’t all fantasy. Should your body fail in your world, you will feel the effects while living your fantasy as well. And therefore, should you die in your world, you’ll die for real. The connection you have with your world is currently faint but that doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent.”

  But even then, the girl felt as though this was too good to be true. To live out her favorite fantasy? Countless books, manhwas, webtoons, and more flashed through her mind. She could feel her heartbeat running faster as her head filled with the endless possibilities. The choice was obvious. She glanced back at One. Even if this foreign creature wasn’t fully being truthful, it didn’t matter. If she just had the chance of living her fantasy… really… she could really die without any regrets.

  “I want to live out my favorite fantasy,” she said.

  One’s lips curled up into a smile that almost looked cruel. For a split second, the girl wondered if she had made the wrong choice. But that thought quickly disappeared as the One snapped his fingers.

  “Done! Now, before we start, there’s a brief contract that I have to go through with you and a few questions you must answer. The paperwork you see.”

  The girl nodded. Although she looked calm, she was very eager. She couldn’t wait to get started. Just the thought of entering a fantasy world was enough to make her this excited.

  “Alright, first the contract.” One snapped his fingers and a sheet of paper materialized in his hand. He cleared his throat before reading: “The Wanderer must understand that everything that happens in the Fantasy is in fact real. Any injuries that the Wanderer receives will not be covered by the Company. Upon entry, the Wanderer will gain the skill to identify characters and obtain information about those characters. Once the Wanderer has agreed to this contract, they will not be allowed to leave the Fantasy by whatever means. The following are the rules that the Wanderer must follow. Should the Wanderer break any of these rules, there will be penalties.”

  One looked up from the contract. “You got that all?”

  The girl nodded.

  “Okay, now for the rules.

  “Firstly, the Wanderer may not reveal this contract to any being.

  “Secondly, the Wanderer will be prevented from exposing their origin to any being in the Fantasy. Should any attempts be made, those attempts will be blocked and there will be a penalty.

  “Thirdly, should the Wanderer stray too far from the Fantasy story, they will be immediately executed and the contract will be terminated.

  “Fourthly, should the Wanderer die in the Reality or in the Fantasy, this contract will immediately be terminated.

  “Fifthly,” One paused, clearing his throat. “This one’s important. Ahem.

  “Fifthly, should the Wanderer face a situation where they must ask for help from the Contractor–” One raised his hand, indicating that he was the Contractor, “ –they are allowed to call the Contractor’s name three times. By doing so, the Contractor will be able to provide them with the help needed. That’s all.”

  “Okay,” the girl nodded. “Where can I sign?”

  “This isn’t a simple signing thing,” One chuckled. He lifted a single finger which caused the paper to diminish into that finger, leaving a glowing golden trail. He then gently tapped the girl’s head, leaving a mark with the same golden glow. “Now, the contract is done! Next, the questions. Firstly, what is your favorite Fantasy that you would like to enter?”

  “That’s my first question?” For the first time since this whole situation started, the girl was taken back. She didn’t expect such an important question to be the first one. “Um… hold on…”

  She turned her back to One as she frantically thought of all the different possibilities. She had read too many to be able to quickly pinpoint one. She knew for sure that she wanted to enter a fantasy-type genre. But even within that genre there were many different types! There were the isekai types where the heroine is reborn as the villainess and falls in love with a handsome duke of the north. Or there were simple fantasy settings where dragons and mages existed. Or the types where the main character was a regressor who had to experience the same life over and over.

  But even among those numerous different types, she knew that there was only one light novel that stuck with her. The one that she had reread countless times and every time it would struck a chord in her. The one with all the fantasy elements but had characters from the modern world as well. The one that was filled with camaraderie and tragedy and joy. The one with characters that she wished she could comfort but could only connect with through lines on a page. The decision was already made the moment she started thinking about which Fantasy she should choose.

  The girl turned back around with a slight smile on her face.

  “I want to enter the Fantasy ‘Dreaming of a Savior’.”

  “Oh! Interesting choice, very interesting,” One chuckled as a glowing text appeared before him. In swirling, golden writing, the text said:

  Fantasy: Dreaming of a Savior

  “Next question: How would you like to run your Fantasy?”

  “Uh, what does that mean?”

  “Oh! I guess I forgot to explain. You see, when you enter a Fantasy and you’re trying to save characters, obviously you’re going to need some skills. You as yourself can’t do anything against, say, a dragon or something.”

  “That… makes sense…”

  “And so!” One grinned mischievously, excited. “You need some kind of system to help you gain these skills. For example, you can collect a specific item. Or, another example could be you invest two weeks and gain elite skills. And so on and so forth.”

  “So… it’s like a game?”

  “A game?” One wondered for a bit before laughing. “Yes! I guess so!”

  The girl hesitated before asking, “Do you have any recommendations?”

  “Hm… not really,” One shrugged. “Each type has its own drawbacks. If you’re collecting skill items, you have to spend time traveling and searching for those items. And time investment, well that obviously takes time.”

  The girl pondered. She thought back on the content that she read that included a character that would increase their skills through some kind of game system. Like One said, some of those characters would collect items or invest time. However, One was right when saying that those types would have its drawbacks. There was one other type she could think of:

  “What about gaining skills through achievements? What would be the drawback?”

  “Achievements… Hm… yes, that could be better. I guess the drawback would be that the achievements would get harder and harder. So, it’s kind of an unreliable variable. Obtaining an achievement could be extremely difficult or come with small rewards.”

  “I’ll choose achievements then.”

  “Gotcha. Finally, one last question, then we’re off to Fantasy world!” One smiled at her as he asked, “What’s your name?”

  “My name is Seo Baekha.”