After being driven home by the association agent, Joo-Hee finally returned to her apartment.
The moment she stepped inside, she let out a deep sigh of relief.
Mumbling inaudibly, she flopped onto her bed, sinking into its familiar comfort.
"At last… I'm finally home~ Who would've thought there'd come a day when I'd actually miss this bed?"
She lay there for a few moments, savoring the feeling of being in her own space again, before lazily reaching for her phone.
The first thing she did was reply to the messages of her friends and acquaintances—especially Jin-Woo, who, unexpectedly, had been the most worried.
After sending her replies, she casually browsed the internet, only to find herself bombarded with sensationalized headlines about her situation:
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[ Former B-Rank Healer Becomes an A-Rank Mage! ]
[ Lee Joo-Hee, a Primarily Awakened Healer, Mysteriously REAWAKENS! ]
[ Reawakening is No Longer a LEGEND! ]
[ False Hope? The Rise of Another S-Ranker Was a Hoax! ]
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Joo-Hee skimmed through some of the articles and couldn't help but find them utterly ridiculous.
Clicking into the comment sections, she immediately regretted it.
"Hah! Are all Koreans really like this? Just because I didn't get an S-Rank grade, they're already undermining and bashing me? How ridiculous…"
She rolled her eyes. "Now I understand why they say, 'casting pearls before swine.' These K-netizens are really hopeless."
Her scrolling halted when she stumbled upon a particular comment that made her eyebrow twitch in irritation:
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— "What a waste, a woman reawakening. If I had reawakened instead, I'd have done what a real man does."
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Joo-Hee scoffed audibly.
"This bastard! Is this jerk motherless? A 'real man,' my ass!"
She shook her head, suppressing the anger rising within her.
Despite being a man deep down, after being trapped in Lee Joo-Hee's body for almost a month now, she had come to understand—at least to some degree—the struggles women faced.
Her perspective had rather shifted, and she found herself more empathetic than she ever would have been before.
Slightly frustrated, she tossed her phone onto the bed with a thump before turning over to face the ceiling.
"I better not waste my time on these brain-rot peeps. There are still a lot of things I have to do besides caring about their foul mouths."
Taking a deep breath, she muttered, "Status! Open Notifications!"
A single green panel materialized in front of her.
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Notifications:
— The first system upgrade has been successfully completed. Would you like to claim the upgrade reward?
— Your Magic Power has reached the current pinnacle body limit. Stat Evolution Quest is now available. Would you like to accept the quest?
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Joo-Hee didn't hesitate, "Claim upgrade reward and accept quest!"
The moment she spoke, the panel crackled violently, and even the surrounding space began to distort.
A strange pressure filled the room, causing her instincts to scream in warning.
Alarmed, she quickly stepped back from her bed.
Then, a new set of messages appeared, accompanied by a golden hue overtaking the glitching panel:
[Master Key Holder has made an intervention within the system.]
[Preparing to transfer system authority to the Master Key Holder...]
[...]
[System authority transfer has been completed.]
Joo-Hee's breath hitched.
"What in the world is happening?! Monsters won't just pop out of nowhere, right…?"
She was dumbfounded. She never expected the so-called Master Key Holder to intervene in something as seemingly trivial as a system upgrade and a quest acceptance.
After a few moments, the distorted panel stabilized, its color shifting from green to gold.
New text appeared in an elegant, refined script.
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System Upgrade Reward
— Basic Stat Acquisition (x1)
— Basic Stat Evolution Quest Exemption (x1)
— Basic Stat Fusion Exemption (x1)
— Basic Skill Evolution Quest Exemption (x1)
— Exclusive Class Quest
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Joo-Hee covered her mouth, her eyes widening as a flush of excitement crept onto her cheeks.
"I'm not dreaming, right? Three exemptions, one acquisition, and…"
She gulped, her voice trembling with anticipation, "Finally! An exclusive class quest~"
Overcome with joy, she eagerly clicked [Accept].
The golden panel began to pixelate, breaking apart into shimmering golden blocks that compressed and converged before her.
Within moments, five distinct items materialized out of nowhere.
Four of them were golden tickets, each emanating an aura of mystery and significance, while the fifth was a green four-colored scroll, pulsating with a natural, life-giving energy.
Joo-Hee let out a small chuckle, giddy from the sheer value of these rewards, "This… this is insane!"
Excitedly, she examined their descriptions one by one.
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Item Name: Golden Ticket Series: Basic Stat Acquisition
Rank: ???
Description: One of the system tickets belonging to the Golden Ticket Series, designed to aid owners of Alphaterium in surpassing the chains of providence. Upon tearing the ticket, the user will unlock a hidden system panel, granting access to one of the Basic Stats previously concealed from view.
Restrictions: Cannot be transferred.
.
Item Name: Golden Ticket Series: Basic Stat Evolution Quest Exemption
Rank: ???
Description: One of the system tickets belonging to the Golden Ticket Series, designed to aid owners of Alphaterium in surpassing the chains of providence. Upon tearing the ticket, a user currently undergoing a Basic Stat Evolution Quest will immediately receive an exemption, skipping the quest entirely and directly advancing the stat to the After-Mortal Realm.
Restrictions: Cannot be transferred.
.
Item Name: Golden Ticket Series: Basic Stat Fusion Exemption
Rank: ???
Description: One of the system tickets belonging to the Golden Ticket Series, designed to aid owners of Alphaterium in surpassing the chains of providence. Upon tearing the ticket, it grants a 100% success rate in merging two Basic Stats into a Unique Stat, bypassing all requirements or quests needed for fusion.
Restrictions: Cannot be transferred.
.
Item Name: Golden Ticket Series: Basic Skill Evolution Quest Exemption
Rank: ???
Description: One of the system tickets belonging to the Golden Ticket Series, designed to aid owners of Alphaterium in surpassing the chains of providence. Upon tearing the ticket, the user may select one Basic Skill at max level and evolve it directly into an Advanced Skill without undergoing a Skill Evolution Quest. The user may also choose the Evolution Path that the skill will take.
Restrictions: Cannot be transferred.
.
Item Name: Exclusive Class Quest Scroll
Rank: ???
Description: A quest scroll forged from the ??? by the Master Key Holder. Upon opening, an exclusive quest for the class "Sage of Eternal Leaf" will be generated. WargTdJHV&% ing#$@%D???
Restrictions: Cannot be transferred. Cannot be destroyed.
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Joo-Hee reread the five golden panels over and over, her excitement bubbling with each repetition.
She couldn't believe the sheer cheat-like nature of the Golden Ticket Series.
"These tickets… they literally defy providence. Just what kind of existence created the Alphaterium to be able to surpass such a fundamental law? And..."
"How strong would you have to be to transcend providence itself?"
Even if she exhausted her entire lifespan, she doubted she could ever reach such a level.
"Then… is the Master Key Holder the creator of the system? That conclusion seems plausible enough..."
But that conclusion, though logical, sent a shiver down her spine.
After all, why would such a being help her?
Why go so far as to grant her opportunities that others—stronger, more talented, more deserving—could have received instead?
It was suspicious, even for a transmigrator like her.
But… the descriptions of the items mentioned 'owners', she continued, "Owners, huh? That means there are countless system users outside this Worldviews… or, who knows, there might be someone like me here."
She tapped her fingers on her knee, trying to put the pieces together.
"If that's the case, then the Master Key Holder might not be the creator… but rather just one of these users or someone who could grant a system to others. A powerful one, but still… not the origin of the system itself."
She let out a deep sigh, "Even if I keep overthinking, I won't get an answer. And the system? Hah, it'll just dodge my questions like always."
Her gaze returned to the [Exclusive Class Quest Scroll], her brows furrowing as she recalled the final lines in its description.
The text had turned into gibberish, cryptic symbols mixed with incomprehensible nonsense.
Despite her suspicions, a reward was a reward.
Joo-Hee grabbed the scroll without hesitation and care—
BZZT!
A sudden, overwhelming shock coursed through her arm, and before she could react, she dropped the scroll onto the ground.
"Aghh!!"
A screech escaped her lips as her body jerked violently, as if she'd been hit by a surge of electricity.
The pain was sharp yet strangely bearable, but what really caught her off guard was the sensation that followed—
It felt as if dozens of high-grade healing potions had been forcefully injected into her system, overhealing her body in an instant.
Her breath came in ragged gasps as she muttered, "What the hell was that?! That felt like my entire body was force-fed with healing energy at an absurd rate..."
The sensation was intense, almost too much to handle.
Then, a sudden sensation struck her.
Joo-Hee instinctively licked the inside of her mouth, testing her sense of taste.
A moment later, she tried to cough and swallow, feeling the smoothness of her throat.
Her eyes widened, "Impossible… my taste is back? My throat doesn't even feel slightly coarse anymore…!"
"Even an S-rank healer like Min Byung-Gyu couldn't heal this fast, nor was he able to completely fix me just two days ago… and yet this quest scroll can...?"
Joo-Hee slowly turned her gaze to the scroll on the floor, a cold sweat forming on her forehead.
Her heart pounded as she whispered, "This scroll… it was said to be forged by something—then whatever it was made with must be what turned this scroll into a healing treasure!"