Questism : The Quest For Eternity

The last thing Jin He remembered was the betrayal.

The cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against his chest. The smirk of his right-hand man—the one he had trusted most—as he pulled the trigger. The sharp explosion of pain as the bullet tore through his heart.

Jin He had been many things: a strategist, a fighter, a king of Korea's underworld. But in the end, he had been nothing more than a man, weak and mortal.

As his vision faded, he had one last thought: regret. Regret that he had been betrayed. Regret that he hadn't seen it coming. Regret that he had lost everything.

But instead of disappearing into the void, Jin He opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ceiling of a brightly lit classroom.

The fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead. Around him, a teacher droned on about something trivial, and the faint sound of pens scratching against notebooks filled the air.

Jin He blinked, his mind racing as unfamiliar sensations washed over him. His body felt lighter, weaker, and strangely unfamiliar. He glanced down at his hands—smooth, unscarred, and far too young to be his own.

"What the hell..." Jin He muttered under his breath, his voice softer and smoother than he remembered.

Then the memories hit him.

They surged forward like a tidal wave, forcing themselves into his consciousness. A name floated to the surface: **Yun Jo.**

Jin He froze. He wasn't Jin He anymore. He was Yun Jo, a high school student. And not just any student—Yun Jo was rich, brilliant, and utterly bored with the world around him.

He leaned back in his chair, letting the memories settle as he scanned the classroom. No one seemed to notice him—or rather, no one dared approach him. Yun Jo's reputation wasn't built on fear like Jin He's had been, but on aloofness.

Yun Jo was untouchable. A prodigy. The top student in the school, heir to a powerful family, and the kind of person everyone envied but no one truly understood.

But beneath the surface, there was a void. A deep, unshakable boredom that colored everything he did. His teachers praised him. His peers envied him. His parents expected him to inherit the family fortune.

And Yun Jo didn't care about any of it.

"This privileged little brat," Jin He muttered under his breath, his lips curling into a faint smile. "He had everything handed to him, and he still couldn't find a reason to live."

But as Jin He dug deeper into Yun Jo's memories, he found something surprising. A flicker of excitement buried within the monotony.

It had been brief, messy, and utterly beneath someone like Yun Jo. But in that moment, he had felt alive. The adrenaline, the heat, the thrill of crushing his opponent—it had been the only time Yun Jo had ever felt anything close to purpose.

Jin He's smirk widened. "Maybe this kid isn't so hopeless after all."

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Jin He—or rather, Yun Jo—stood slowly, his movements deliberate as he adjusted to his new body.

The hallway outside the classroom was a chaotic mess of laughter, shouts, and the occasional crash of a locker being slammed shut. Students moved in clusters, their cliques as clear as battle lines.

Yun Jo's memories told him everything he needed to know. Gangnam High was a jungle. The strong ruled over the weak, and power was everything. But Yun Jo didn't fit neatly into the hierarchy.

He wasn't weak—far from it. But he wasn't part of the ruling class of delinquents, either. He existed outside of it all, untouchable and uninterested.

"Yun Jo!"

The sharp voice cut through the noise, and Jin He turned to see a boy striding toward him. Kang Minwoo.

Minwoo was ambitious, desperate to climb the social ladder, and Yun Jo's indifference had always been a thorn in his side.

"You've been acting weird lately," Minwoo said, stopping a few feet away. "What's the matter? Finally getting bored of pretending you're better than everyone else?"

The hallway quieted as students turned to watch. Minwoo wasn't the strongest, but he was loud, and he knew how to draw attention.

Jin He tilted his head, his expression calm but cold. "Do you always talk this much, or are you just trying to convince yourself you matter?"

Minwoo's face twisted in anger. "What did you just say?"

Jin He stepped closer, his sharp eyes locking onto Minwoo's. "I said," he began, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "you don't matter."

The tension in the air was palpable. Minwoo's fists clenched at his sides, and for a moment, it seemed like he might back down. But then he lunged forward, swinging a wild punch at Yun Jo's face.

Jin He moved instinctively, his years of experience as an underworld kingpin kicking in. He sidestepped the punch easily, his movements quick and precise, and grabbed Minwoo's wrist, twisting it sharply.

Minwoo cried out, stumbling forward as Jin He leaned in close.

"Lesson one," Jin He said quietly, his voice cold and measured. "Don't start a fight you're not ready to finish."

He released Minwoo with a shove, sending the boy sprawling to the floor. The hallway erupted in whispers as Jin He turned and walked away, his expression unreadable.

But as he walked, something strange happened.

A faint glow flickered in the corner of his vision, accompanied by a soft chime.

Jin He froze, his eyes narrowing as a glowing notification appeared in his mind:

**[Quest Activated: Defeat Kang Minwoo – Reward: Golden Card]**

He stared at the message, his heart pounding in his chest. It wasn't just the strange, otherworldly nature of the notification that caught his attention—it was the thrill that came with it.

For the first time since waking up in Yun Jo's body, Jin He felt a spark of excitement.

"So," he muttered, a slow smile spreading across his face, "this is how it works."

The system's hum echoed faintly in his ears, and the world seemed to sharpen around him. The dull monotony of Yun Jo's life faded, replaced by something sharp and electric.

"A game," Yum jo said softly, his voice tinged with amusement. "Fine. Let's play."