Corner Creator

Episode 1: Creation from the Corner of My Room

My name’s Seung-woo Song.

I turned twenty this year, officially an adult. My job? Well…I’m a recluse. Or, you could just call me a shut-in.

 Today marks exactly five years since I holed up in my room.

“Son, from now on, this is our home! I bought this house with the money I earned!”

That was when I turned five. My dad used his savings to buy this house.

“Remember this, Seung-woo. When you grow up, this house will be yours.”

A thriving business, a happy family, nothing to envy—my childhood was perfect, nothing missing.

Then, on my fifteenth birthday, my parents passed away.

The cause of death was a car accident.

Many people came to my parents’ funeral: relatives, my dad’s coworkers, people I’d met at some point, strangers.

“Seung-woo, you’ve grown so much.

 I’m your uncle. Remember me?”

“Oh dear, what a terrible thing at such a young age. 

Come here, to your grandaunt.”

“Don’t worry about the funeral arrangements. Your uncle will take care of everything.”

But as soon as the issue of inheritance came up, the relatives bared their fangs like a pack of hungry wolves.

 I couldn’t trust anyone. 

It felt like everyone passing by on the street could come up smiling, only to stab me in the back.

…At least in my own home, no one can hurt me.”

When everything, including the inheritance, was finally settled, I locked the front door tightly.

Now, all I have left is what’s nearly gone off my parents’ life insurance money and the house they left behind.

A detached house on the outskirts of the city. It even has a basement and several rooms.

“…Not that it matters to a shut-in like me. It’s just a big hideout, nothing more.”

Day by day, I’m just scraping by, slowly eating away at my parents’ inheritance and life insurance.

And today, of all days, was probably the worst day I’ve had in a while.

—

I had a strange dream.

A dream where I was watching a tiny World, with people looking like tiny figurines. And in that dream, I reached out to help a young girl who was in danger of being burned at the stake.

“…”

It’s late afternoon.

I open my eyes to find the room so dark I can’t see a thing.

Plop, plop, plop.

Heavy raindrops were pounding against the window.

“…A sudden shower, huh.”

Even though it was only 4 in the afternoon, the outside was dark, probably because of the rain.

I slowly got up and turned on the light switch.

Click!

The darkness vanished in an instant, revealing my messy little room.

[Awakening Condition 1]

Create light … Completed (√)

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

As I stepped out of my room to head to the bathroom, inexplicable and ominous sounds reached my ears.

… Plop! … Plop!

The clear sound of water droplets falling.

It was unmistakably coming from the master bedroom, the one we don’t use anymore.

“Ah, seriously…!”

I quickly grabbed my toolbox and headed to the bedroom.

…drip, drip!

Water was leaking from the ceiling, soaking the floor completely.

“Ugh, here we go again.”

I pulled away the moldy, stained tarp and replaced it with a new one.

This should hold up for a while, at least.

[Awakening Condition 2]

Create the heavens … Completed (√)

“And God made the expanse and separated the waters under the expanse from the waters above it. And it was so.”

After finishing my ceiling repair work (or whatever you’d call it),

I headed to the bathroom, only to find another problem waiting for me.

“What, now the pipes are busted too…?”

Rusty water pipes in the bathroom were leaking, with water trickling out steadily.

Squeak! Squeak! Splash!

“…I’m screwed.”

While fiddling with the water pipe using a wrench from the toolbox, I somehow managed to make things worse, and the pipe burst completely.

I patched it up somehow, but by then, the bathroom had already turned into a flooded mess.

[Awakening Condition 3]

Create the sea… Completed (√)

“And God said, ‘Let the water under the heaven be gathered to one place,’ and it was so.”

Gurgle… gurgle…

To make things worse, the drain seemed to be clogged too.

“…”

I almost started crying.

I bailed out as much water as I could with a bucket, but the bathroom floor was still a soggy mess.

So, I got creative.

First, I set the air conditioner to dehumidify mode, then grabbed a fan and turned it on full blast. 

To top it all off, I switched on the hairdryer for the finishing touch.

Vrrrrrrr-

“Whoa…”

It was working better than I expected. Slowly but surely, the water on the bathroom floor began to disappear.

“Phew, finally, I can catch my breath.”

Just as I was starting to feel a bit proud of myself—

THUD!

“…”

The breaker tripped.

[Awakening Condition 4]

Create darkness… Completed (√)

“And God divided the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good.”

I fumbled for the circuit breaker by the front door and flipped it back on, restoring the lights.

Dragging my sweaty body back toward my room, something near the sink suddenly caught my eye.

Bzzzzzz!

It was a swarm of drain flies and fruit flies, born out of the pile of dirty dishes and food scraps left around the sink.

[Awakening Condition 5]

Create living creatures… Completed (√)

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.”

“…”

I stared blankly for a moment and then just walked into my room.

I don’t have the energy to deal with it right now.

Click!

As soon as I got back to my room, I turned on my computer.

“…Forget it, I’ll just play some games.”

Gaming is my only hobby. I love how I can get so absorbed in it that an entire day flies by in no time.

“…Oh, right. There’s a new class being added in today’s update.”

I hit the Create Character button and started making a new one.

A random username, a quick and lazy customization.

Soon enough, a female knight character with flowing golden hair and striking blue eyes appeared on the screen.

“Yeah, blonde hair and blue eyes are always the best.”

[Awakening Condition 6]

Create humans… Completed (√)

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

But just creating the character was enough to make the exhaustion hit me hard.

I felt all the energy drain out of my body.

‘I can’t go on like this. I need to rest for a bit…’

In the end, I threw myself onto the bed.

As soon as I did, the drowsiness hit me like a wave, and I couldn’t fight it.

 I just fell asleep right there.

[Awakening Condition 7]

Rest after completing all tasks… Completed (√)

“And on the seventh day, God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.”

[System]

All awakening conditions have been sequentially fulfilled.

1. Create light… (√)

2. Create the sky… (√)

3. Create the sea… (√)

4. Create darkness… (√)

5. Create living creatures… (√)

6. Create humans… (√)

7. Rest after completing all tasks… (√)

And then, in that moment…

BAM!

A blinding burst of light started fi

lling the corner of the room.

It was the 5th anniversary of the day I abandoned the world.

Ding!

[System]

You have awakened as the Creator of the Room!

…The world came to me.

To be continued in the next chapter –