I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

The New Home Felt Better Than Expected.
Leaving behind the peaceful sight of Leo and Daeho stretched out in their respective sunny spots—the window and the cushy desk chair—I finally began unpacking.

I didn’t have much, but I needed to sort out the important stuff first.
My computer went up before anything else, followed by my various items.
There were a few I’d gotten after clearing the casino quest, but with everything that had happened since, I hadn’t even had a chance to properly check them.

Any items issued by Dongto had to be submitted to Baekho for inspection by regulation. And now that I had a convenient inventory system, this was the perfect time to examine everything thoroughly.
I opened a small box I’d shoved into the corner.
Inside were the three items I’d earned at the casino. But—

"...What the hell?"
Two out of the three were visibly damaged.
One had practically disappeared, and the other bore deep scratches and dents.

They were clearly bite marks. Sharp and powerful ones.
Only one suspect came to mind.
I called out toward the living room, where a certain tiger was still peacefully napping.

"Daeho! Come here right now!"
He came over slowly, clearly annoyed to be disturbed.
I grabbed his front paw and held up the damaged items to his face, scolding him.

"You did this, didn’t you? Be honest! Did you eat these or not?"
I thought back to how he’d absorbed that man yesterday—turning him into light and devouring him.
Maybe he’d done the same thing to the items?

When I pushed him for an answer, Daeho let out a pitiful "grrrr..." and gave me the most offended look in the world.
I could swear his eyes looked a little wet.
But who else could it be?
Leo may be mischievous, and he had bulked up recently, but there was no way he had the jaw strength to destroy hard items like this.

"Don’t you ever touch stuff like this again! Got it? It’s not food!"
I warned him firmly.
He gave a reluctant little nod.

Whether he actually understood or not, I had no clue.
With a sigh, I turned to the only item that was still intact.
According to the manual, it was a [Keyword Detector].

The explanation said that if you recorded a word into the device, it would locate where that word was being spoken nearby.
Seeing is believing, right?
I pressed the record button on the device and quietly spoke my name.

"Minjun."
A moment later, a short message appeared on the detector’s small LCD screen.
[Keyword: Minjun — Baekho Apartment Unit 402]

Baekho Apartment Unit 402.
I lived in 302—so it was the unit right above mine.
Apparently someone upstairs was talking about me.

I didn’t know how this would be useful yet, but it definitely seemed like a tool I could rely on someday.
Satisfied, I nodded and stashed the keyword detector in my inventory.
"Whew... all done."

After unpacking the last box, the once-empty apartment finally started to feel like a lived-in home.
With everything settled, my mind drifted back to what the keyword detector had shown me earlier.
Someone was saying my name in 402.

Part curiosity, part testing the item’s function, I quietly opened my door and walked upstairs.
The door to 402 was wide open, with boxes piled in front—someone was in the middle of moving in.
From inside, I heard a woman’s voice on the phone.

"Aaah Grandmaaa~! I told you I’ve got it under control! Stop worrying already!"
She was whining nonstop, but her voice... it sounded oddly familiar.
Through the open doorway, I saw a woman pacing around the apartment, still talking on the phone.

She wasn’t wearing anything normal.
The outfit was bright, colorful—something like a modified hanbok, or maybe ceremonial wear.
I’d never seen anything like it in person. It looked like something a shaman might wear.

Her voice continued:
"What do you mean hold on to him?! He’s not a rope or something... and who even does that anymore—ugh, seriously!"
The tone. It was unmistakable now.

Then, she turned slightly, and I finally recognized her.
Bora. I’d never seen her in anything this flashy before.
Back at Dongto, she was always in a suit—maybe this was her real look.

Her current outfit fit the title "exorcist" far better.
Still unaware of me standing in the doorway, she kept talking to her grandmother.
"Minjun? No, I haven’t tried anything like that yet… What do you mean 'do something'? Grandma!"

My ears perked up at the mention of my name.
What were they talking about?
Just as I was leaning in to hear better, Bora turned around mid-call and our eyes met.

"...Eek!"
Startled, she rushed to end the call.
"I-I’ll call you back! Okay! Bye!"

Then, face flushed, she gave me an awkward bow.
"Um... what brings you here?"
"Ah, I was just… curious about who moved in upstairs."

She stared at me for a moment, then gave up with a sigh.
"...How much did you hear?"
I shrugged.

"From the part about ‘what should I do about Minjun.’"
Bora covered her face with both hands, glanced down at her extravagant outfit, and groaned.
"Just—wait a sec! Let me change real quick!"

She bolted inside.
I smiled as I looked into the half-furnished living room.
So Bora was in 402.

We’d be running into each other a lot, I guessed. Also, the keyword detector? It worked perfectly.
She soon returned in a simple hoodie.
"You’ve got a lot of stuff. Need help?"

"Ah… y-yeah, thanks…"
The awkwardness quickly passed, and since I was already here, I helped her with the move.
Her luggage was way more than mine had been.

When I asked what was in all those boxes, she said most were exorcism tools and clothes.
I took a peek—sure enough, there were bundles of yellow talisman papers and several neatly folded hanbok.
The hanbok were beautiful, similar to what she’d worn earlier but in different colors and patterns.

"You wear hanbok often?"
She hesitated, then smiled sheepishly.
"Not outside, but at home, yeah. Especially when I’m using talismans… It’s an old habit, but I can’t focus without them."

That led naturally into a conversation about talismans.
Then, carefully, she offered me something unexpected.
"Um… Minjun, are you at all interested in becoming an exorcist?"

"Huh? An exorcist?"
She clarified:
"If you are, I could check whether you have any talent. And if you do... I can teach you how to use talismans like I do."

Her offer was tempting.
I’d seen how versatile her talismans were—attack, defense, support. Their power was no joke.
If I could use something like that, it would be a huge help in future battles.

"Of course I’m interested! What do I need to do?"
My immediate answer made her eyes light up.
Excited, she pulled out a stack of yellow talisman papers and handed me one.

"This isn’t ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) normal paper. It’s specially made to hold a person’s energy—qi. Watch closely."
She grabbed another sheet, blew a soft breath onto it, and tossed it like a paper airplane.
To my amazement, the talisman didn’t fall—it hovered, fluttering lightly through the air, then stuck itself to the far wall.

It was… magic. No doubt.
"You want me to try that?"
Bora nodded.

I awkwardly followed her lead, breathing onto the talisman and throwing it—
Flop.
It fell flat on the ground.

Again. Same result.
Bora encouraged me.
"You have to believe it’ll stick to the wall. Focus your qi into the breath. Try again!"

Qi, huh… I gripped the talisman a little tighter.
I focused my mind, repeating hit the wall, hit the wall in my head, took a deep breath, and blew it into the talisman—
This time, it fluttered and glided across the air, landing neatly on the far wall like hers had.

Bora froze, astonished.
"...No way…"
Had I done it?

"That’s not normal. Most people can’t…"
Wait, maybe it was just brute strength?
"Did you just throw a thin talisman that far using muscle?"

Her face broke into a grin at my disappointed expression. She patted my shoulder.
"Just kidding. Look at this."
She picked up the talisman and showed me its edge.

The corner was faintly singed.
"You’ve got talent."