Chapter 6: Episode 6 – Slave Job for the Brain

Chapter 6: Episode 6 – Slave Job for the Brain Episode 6 – Slave Job for the Brain The flickering blue glow from his triple-monitor setup lit up the room like a low-level spell. It was late morning, but the curtains were shut. Kim Do-hyun (김도현) sat in his chair, slouched forward, chewing on the edge of a chopstick. His eyes were dry, but he refused to blink. He was reading every single thread on the Awakened Status Web Archive. There were over 700 pages of user reports, system screenshots, theories from lunatics, and occasionally, gems of actual knowledge. "The stats you’re born with at Level 1, that’s it," said one commenter. "You can improve them, but only through awakening paths. Training might move them by like... 0.01 per month. Useless." Do-hyun exhaled slowly and sat back. "So unless I awaken something wild, I’m stuck being a fat gamer with slightly better stamina." He cracked his knuckles and opened a second tab. This one was an archived research dump from a known data miner named [ManaDoctor22]. Hidden stats are real. They’re just not visible until you awaken or get scanned by an S-Class Awakened examiner. Known hidden stats: Regeneration, Mentality, Tenacity, Luck, Spiritual Sync. Regeneration allows your body to naturally heal without potions or medical help. Mentality controls how you resist mental-type skills or curses. Tenacity helps you survive death-level wounds. Nobody knows how to raise these. Do-hyun chewed the inside of his cheek. "If regeneration is hidden... and it’s part of vitality... then maybe I do have something inside me waiting to pop." He opened his system again and stared at the same plain window. No changes. No surprises. Just slow progress from clone running. His real body got thinner. Reflexes ticked up. But... he needed more. And fast. Because life in his apartment was no longer sustainable. He glanced at his banking app. ₩921,350. Roughly 700 dollars. "That’s grocery money. Rent’s already overdue. Electricity bill... pending disconnection." His clone was out there sweating under the sun, but he was in here drowning in bills. And worse? He was eating double now. His real body needed food. But so did the clone. He learned the hard way that if the clone ran on an empty stomach, it vanished within minutes. Apparently, even magic clones obeyed the laws of metabolism. "I’m a commander," he muttered, fingers drumming on the table. "Like in a game. I’m the brain. My clones are the pawns. So I just need more pawns. Or... I need one pawn doing everything I can’t." His hand trembled toward the job board tab. He had used it in the past. Gig work. Most of it was trash. "Translator needed. Must be fluent in 7 languages." "Design 3D models for dungeon portals in Unreal Engine 5." "Teach kids mana breathing techniques (must be C-Rank Awakened)." Too complex. Too skill-based. He scrolled fast, filtering by ’no qualifications’ and ’manual labor’. That’s when he saw it. Job Title: Warehouse Laborer Company: Crazy Monkey Logistics Description: Carry boxes. Follow orders. Get paid daily. No questions asked. Location: Busan outskirts Pay: ₩90,000/day Contact: Kwon Beom-gu His eyes narrowed. "Crazy Monkey? What kind of cursed company name is that?" The listing even had a low-res monkey in a hard hat. He clicked it. Three reviews. "Sketchy, but they pay." "Don’t talk too much. Just work." "The guy running it’s kinda crazy. You’ll know when you see him." Do-hyun rubbed his temples. "This screams red flags. This is the kind of place where people go missing in webtoons." But... ₩90,000 a day. That was more than game farming got him in three days. He picked up his phone and dialed. Ring... Ring... A gruff voice answered. "Yeah?" "Uh, hello. I’m calling about the job opening for the warehouse." "Good. You got hands?" "Uh... what?" "You got two hands? You can lift boxes?" "Yeah..." "Then you start today." "Oh. I mean, I was planning to—" "No. You’re coming today. I already lost a guy. Show up before 3." "Wait, where exactly—?" The call ended. Do-hyun stared at the phone. "...What the hell just happened?" Two hours later, Do-hyun stood near a rusty chain-link fence on the outskirts of the industrial zone. The air smelled like oil and river sludge. Buildings here were half-abandoned, concrete cracked, old metal vents breathing warm fog into the sky. A wooden sign creaked on chains: CRAZY MONKEY LOGISTICS – NO CAMERAS – NO QUESTIONS – NO REFUNDS He took a deep breath. "Let’s do this." He found the gate open and stepped inside. A large man stood beside a shipping container, scratching his chest with a crowbar. He had a shaved head, cargo pants, and sunglasses, even though the sun was behind the clouds. On his neck, a tattoo of a monkey skull grinned. "You Kim?" "Yeah." "I’m Beom-gu. You work, you get paid. You don’t work, you disappear." "I’ll work." "Good. Do not speak to anybody. You saw something strange, you did not. Got it?" "...Sure." Beom-gu tossed him a pair of gloves. "Inside there is a shipment. Just boxes. Take them to the loading dock. Pile them up. It is not your back that you use, it is your legs." "Got it." Do-hyun entered the container. And at once called Number 1. There was hissing smoke. The clone was at his side, already perspiring at the call in so near a heat of industry. "Orders, Master?" Do-hyun said, in a low voice, "Move the boxes. Pile them up to perfection." The clone set to work. Do-hyun was sitting in the corner, sipping water, and watching. Box by box, Number 1 trudged along. His shoulders were moving as gears of a machine. Balanced. Measured. Efficient. The warehouse was filled with the thumps of cardboard and skidding pallets. Other workers looked at him. One of the guys murmured, "Is this man doing everything?" Another replied, "I believe he has a clone ability. Lucky bastard." Beom-gu walked by with a piece of gum. He gave the clone an eyebrow, then Do-hyun. "You are not as dumb as you are pretty." Do-hyun responded, "I am poor. That is how people are creative." Beom-gu laughed. "You are hired on a full-time basis. Be here tomorrow. Whether they are clones or not, I like people who shut up and lift." At the end of the day, Do-hyun was in his room, lying in bed, watching the ceiling fan lazily rotate. A new message flashed on his wrist. [Stamina +0.05] [Strength +0.02] [Vitality +0.01] He smiled. Then arose. His clone had been working all day, day in, day out. He had not done a thing. But his body... got better. He mumbled, "I am a manager. The clone is my employee." His bank app vibrated. [₩90,000 received from Crazy Monkey Logistics] His belly rumbled. He launched his food app. Time to feed the real body... and the clone’s too. This was just the start.