The spacecraft sliced through the night sky, its engines emitting a soft hum that reverberated throughout the main cabin. The control panel glowed with a myriad of alien lights and symbols, casting bluish and greenish shadows across the metallic environment. Adam sat in one of the side chairs, watching with fascination every detail of the technology surrounding him. His fingers drummed on the armrest—a habit that always accompanied him when his mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour.
Madame Jae-hee Kim occupied the pilot's seat with an erect, confident posture. Her movements were precise as she adjusted holographic controls with the familiarity of someone born to it. Occasionally, she smiled to herself, as if piloting an interstellar spacecraft was just another day at the office.
Park Sang-min remained standing, leaning against the opposite wall. Arms firmly crossed over his chest, distant gaze fixed on some undefined point through the front window. His face was a mask of studied indifference, broken only by occasional furrowing of his brow when the ship made a sharper maneuver.
The silence had lasted too long for Adam's taste. He adjusted his posture, discreetly studying the expressions of his new companions.
"So..." Adam broke the silence with a casual tone, calculatedly relaxed. "You do this often? Kidnap people with golden tickets and take them on interstellar joyrides?"
He smiled, leaning slightly forward, his eyes attentive to the reactions his question would provoke. The words "kidnap" and "golden ticket" were deliberately chosen—a small bait to see how they would react.
Madame Jae-hee swiveled her chair in a fluid motion, her technological visor covering the upper half of her face. She let out a genuine laugh that echoed through the cabin.
"Kidnap?" she raised her eyebrows dramatically. "You practically threw yourself onto our ship, my dear Adam! Besides, we're merely following the call of cosmic righteous destiny! The golden tickets don't choose their bearers by accident!"
Adam immediately noticed the dynamic—Madame's almost theatrical exuberance contrasting with Park's apparent disinterest.
"Cosmic, huh?" They're not from Earth? he thought.
Adam leaned back, feigning relaxation. "And what exactly does this cosmic destiny expect to find here on Earth? We're just a tiny blue planet in the middle of nowhere, from what I understand."
Madame Jae-hee exchanged a quick glance with Park before responding, an almost imperceptible gesture, but one that didn't escape Adam's attention.
"Earth may seem like a 'tiny planet' to you, Adam, but to the realm we come from..." she paused dramatically. "It's a legendary place!"
"Legendary?" Adam arched an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued.
"Yes!" Madame stood up, gesturing broadly. "A world without space-fold technology, without telepathic communicators, without floating cities... and yet..."
"And yet it produces individuals with extraordinary potential," Park completed, speaking for the first time with something beyond disinterest. There was a note of... respect? Or was it apprehension?
Adam noticed the subtle change in Park's tone and decided to press in that direction. "Potential?" he smiled, as if finding it amusing. "We're just normal humans trying not to destroy our own planet. Nothing special."
Park uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, his eyes now fixed on Adam with disturbing intensity.
"Your species has a unique capacity to..." he began, but was interrupted by a stern look from Madame.
"Be the best system users!" Madame quickly completed, positioning herself between the two. "Humans from Earth possess systems that we consider... fascinating."
Adam froze. The air suddenly seemed denser around him, as if the ship's artificial gravity had increased. His eyes widened, and for a moment, he completely forgot his carefully constructed facade of control and confidence.
"Systems?" The word escaped his lips almost as a whisper. "You... you're talking about systems? As in... interfaces, levels, abilities?"
Park and Madame exchanged confused looks.
"Well, yes," Park replied, raising an eyebrow. "What else would it be?"
Adam felt a strange tingling at the nape of his neck. For years, he had devoured countless webnovels—stories of ordinary protagonists who received magical systems, invisible interfaces that allowed them to evolve, gain abilities, become invincible. It was fiction, pure nonsense. Or at least, that's what he had always believed.
"This... this isn't possible," Adam stammered, his usual composure completely forgotten. "Systems are fiction. Inventions of writers. They're not real."
Madame let out a genuinely surprised laugh. "Webnovels? Ah, I see! You've turned systems into novels!" She clapped her hands, delighted. "That's absolutely fascinating! All orchestrated by destiny!"
Adam felt dizzy. His mind was working frantically, trying to process the information. Systems—real? All that fiction he consumed to escape reality was, in fact, based on something true?
"Wait," he raised his hand, trying to organize his thoughts. "You're telling me that systems are real?"
"Of course they are," Park replied naturally, as if explaining that the sky is blue. "Not everyone, obviously. Systems are rare even where we come from. Perhaps one in a thousand individuals is born with the aptitude to develop one."
"But Earth's inhabitants," continued Madame, her eyes shining with enthusiasm, "the quality is much higher! All of your people who set foot on our planet left a mark in history—they weren't just system users, they were masters at it. That's why your planet is so interesting to us."
Adam sat down heavily, his legs suddenly weak. "So... I have a system? Is that why the ticket chose me?"
Park and Madame exchanged another look, this time more serious.
"Not exactly," said Madame, choosing her words carefully. "You have the potential to develop one. The golden ticket recognizes that potential."
"In your... webnovels," Madame pronounced the word carefully, as if it were exotic, "how do systems work?"
Adam ran his hand through his hair, still stunned. "Well, usually the protagonist receives an interface that only he can see. He earns experience points, increases attributes like strength or intelligence, learns special abilities..."
"That's not far from reality," commented Park, seeming genuinely impressed. "Although the details vary quite a bit from person to person."
"What's your system like?" he asked Park directly, regaining some of his usual confidence.
Park narrowed his eyes, clearly uncomfortable with the question. "That's personal. Nobody shares details of their own system unless it's absolutely necessary."
"It's considered extremely rude to ask," added Madame apologetically. "Like asking about... well, intimate body parts."
"I understand," Adam nodded, storing this cultural information. "Sorry. I'm still processing all this."
"It's understandable," Madame smiled gently.
Adam looked out the ship's window, watching the stars pass by. A slow smile began to form on his lips. Systems. Real. And he had the potential to awaken one.
Adam leaned forward, his eyes shining with genuine curiosity. The initial tension had dissipated, replaced by an almost palpable thirst for knowledge.
"So, in your world... how exactly do people awaken their system?" he asked, carefully choosing his words, now aware of the sensitive cultural territory he was exploring.
Park exchanged a brief look with Madame before answering.
"Some people are born with a latent potential within them," he explained, his voice taking on an almost professorial tone. "In certain defining moments in their lives—moments of extreme danger, extraordinary achievement, or profound personal transformation—this hidden potential awakens and manifests as a system."
He paused, observing Adam's reaction before continuing.
"The system then becomes personalized for the one who awakened it," continued Park, gesturing subtly with his hands. "It varies depending on the person's lifestyle, personality, natural aptitudes, and crucially, the specific catalyst that activated it."
Adam nodded slowly, processing the information. His fingers drummed on the armrest.
Madame Jae-hee, who had been observing the interaction with growing interest, leaned forward. The communication system in her suit emitted a slight buzz, giving her voice a metallic timbre when she spoke.
"There's also another way. A method created especially for Earth's people, although it works in an... inferior... manner for us from the System World."
Adam raised his eyebrows. "System World?"
Madame smiled but continued without explaining the term. "Generations ago, a great inventor from Earth, who resided in the central continent, noticed that his countrymen were dying at an alarming rate before they could naturally awaken their systems."
She made a broad gesture with her hands, as if presenting a great revelation.
"This genius created a machine capable of forcing hidden talent to manifest, artificially initializing the system," she continued, her tone mixing admiration and a subtle note of envy. "A remarkable achievement, even by System World standards."
Park crossed his arms, his expression hardening slightly. "But the downside of this machine," he interrupted, "is that its inventor was thinking only of his own people, who overflowed with natural talent. It's extremely rare for people from our world to possess the level of latent potential that rivals that of Earthlings."
"Consequently," concluded Madame, exchanging a significant look with Park, "the machine can't create truly personalized systems for our people. It generates inferior, standardized systems, without the depth and uniqueness of naturally awakened ones."
Adam leaned back in his chair, an enigmatic smile on his lips. Systems. Real power. Evolution. Everything he had always read about in webnovels, now within his reach.
Fiction had become reality. And he was determined to become the protagonist of this story.
The ship began its smooth descent, passing through the clouds. Madame Jae-hee observed Adam for a few moments, noticing how his gaze had become lost at some distant point, probably lost in his own thoughts.
"We've arrived," she announced, her metallic voice cutting through the contemplative silence of the cabin. "South Korea."
Adam blinked, returning to the present, and followed the elegant gesture of Madame's hand toward the front window. Below them, a futuristic metropolis stretched to the horizon—skyscrapers of glass and steel reflecting the sun and blue sky, illuminated avenues winding between buildings like luminous arteries.
"Incheon," he murmured, impressed by the beautiful city.
He adjusted his posture as he turned to his companions.
"What are we doing in Korea?" he asked, his casual tone contrasting with the analytical intensity of his gaze.
Park, who had remained silent during the descent, finally uncrossed his arms. His profile was serene but with a hint of disdain as he viewed that primitive civilization.
"We're here for the second ticket bearer," he replied dryly, without taking his eyes off the landscape below.
Madame swiveled her pilot's chair in a fluid motion, facing Adam with a provocative smile appearing on her lips. The light from the control panel reflected off her visor, giving it an even more technological glow.
"What?" she inquired, tilting her head slightly. "Did you think you were the only chosen one? The last cookie in the package?"
Her tone was light, but Adam caught the underlying test—a small provocation to assess his ego, his reaction to the idea of sharing the stage with another "chosen one."
Adam didn't bother responding to the provocation. Instead, a genuine smile slowly formed on his lips.
'Interesting.'