As a kid, Kim Jaehyun had always loved reading webtoons. They were his refuge—his own patch of peace in a world that refused to give him any.
No matter how relentless the bullying became, no matter how many times his classmates mocked him for being an "otaku freak," he never stopped. Webtoons were the one thing that made him feel alive, the one thing nobody could take from him.
He realized they were more than a refuge the moment he awakened the Webtoon System.
Now, sprinting through the alleys with Jihoon and his lackeys hot on his heels, Jaehyun's mind wasn't on fear or pain—it was on webtoons.
All the ones he had read.
All the ones he had loved.
All the ones he still longed to read someday.
To anyone else, this was a chase.
But to Jaehyun?
He called it the beginning of an exciting journey.
...
They eventually stopped chasing him.
For nearly an hour they had played a twisted game of cat and mouse through backstreets and alleys, but even Jihoon wasn't insane enough to keep running forever.
Jaehyun slowed to a halt near Hannam–dong—his neighborhood.
A place people liked to call "a sanctuary for rich families."
It wasn't some glittering palace district, but it was quiet, clean, and undeniably wealthy.
Jaehyun himself was a rich kid, and ironically, that probably made things worse for him.
At Seonghwa High, money didn't protect you.
It marked you.
Seonghwa High wasn't the prestigious private school its brochures bragged about.
It was a breeding ground for delinquents dressed in expensive uniforms.
A place where wealth attracted envy, envy attracted hatred, and hatred turned into fists.
And Jaehyun, with his webtoons, his timid nature, and his well–off family, was the perfect target.
At least they stopped…
Jaehyun bent over, hands on his knees, huffing like a dog that had sprinted a marathon.
"I should avoid meeting them for a while," he muttered between breaths. "Though… I doubt that'll be easy."
With legs that still trembled, he walked the rest of the way home.
His family villa stood there—clean, modern, and almost painfully perfect.
A place that looked like it belonged in a drama, not the life of someone like him.
As he stepped inside, he barely had time to take off his shoes before she appeared.
Kim Ara.
His sister.
The untouchable beauty.
The girl whose mere existence made his entire school life miserable.
She crossed her arms, her long black hair swaying as she frowned at him.
"What took you so long? It's not like school is far from home, you idiot."
"Hey, leave me alone. I'm not in the mood," Jaehyun snapped, annoyance carving his features.
Ara's expression softened for a moment, concern poking through her irritation. "Were you beaten again? I'm a twelfth grader and on the student council — you know I can get them expelled if you tell me."
"No," he lied, voice flat. "I was reading webtoons on the way and lost track of time. Sorry."
Ara gently patted Jaehyun's head. "If you say so. Oh — your food's in the microwave. And Mom and Dad are going to be late again; some business meeting."
"Okay," Jaehyun muttered.
He headed straight to his room, washed up, and then ate his reheated kimchi stew — simple, spicy and comforting.
Afterward, he returned to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling, his mind already drifting back to the system and the chaos waiting for him tomorrow.
"If it's a system that gives out quests like that webtoon… then tomorrow I'm definitely getting some outrageous quest," Jaehyun muttered, half-excited and half-terrified.
He sat up and exhaled, then thought, System, open.
[Ding.]
[Quest #1: Cleared.]
[Rewards: One Black Scroll, Two White Scrolls.]
The notifications hung in the air like divine scripture.
Jaehyun swallowed.
The webtoons he read weren't cute romance or slice-of-life fluff. They were the hardcore ones — brutal, violent, dripping with despair and insane techniques. Gangism. Reality Quest. The Boxer. All those worlds where a normal kid wouldn't last a second.
And now he had a system based on those stories.
"…I'm so screwed," he whispered, even as his heart pounded with excitement.
With all that said, Jaehyun stared at the floating message and wondered what the scrolls actually were.
Were they like panels? Did he have to read them to learn a technique?
"Can I really… be as strong as those characters?" he whispered to himself.
Then, as if responding to his curiosity, the three scrolls materialized in front of him with a soft radiance.
The Black Scroll pulsed with a thick, shadowy aura, while the two White Scrolls emitted a warm, bright glow.
The sight made Jaehyun feel something unfamiliar—something caught between happiness and fear.
Was he excited?
Or terrified that excitement might kill him on the spot?
He reached for the Black Scroll first, thinking, Darkest color probably means the unluckiest, right?
Before he could tear it open, the system cut through his thoughts:
[Black Scroll: Grants the reader Energy Points required to perform techniques.]
[White Scroll: Grants the reader a technique for a specific purpose.]
Energy Points," he muttered, tearing open the Black Scroll, thinking that's how they were supposed to be used.
And then—
[500 Energy Points Gained]
So that meant he could perform skills using that much energy, right?
He estimated he could probably pull off about twenty moves with that reserve—at least, that was his initial thought.
Then he grabbed one of the White Scrolls and tore it open—
[Stellar Punch Gained!! 400 Points]
"Huh… Stellar Punch?" he muttered, eyes wide. "I've never seen this technique in any webtoon I've read… and 400 points?!"
It was a rare chance to wield a completely unknown skill.
But… what would happen if he missed?
He quickly grabbed the other White Scroll and did the same—
[Falcon Drop Gained!! 300 Points]
"Okay… I kind of know this one, but 300 points is still a lot."
With only 500 Energy Points, he realized he could only perform one technique at a time.
It was… a bit pathetic, but that was the system for him.