Pointy ears and protruding potbellies. Scrawny limbs and breath that reeked like an ancient sewer.
"Kekek... Gurk, gurk..."
Top it off with a threatening yet utterly trashy growl.
No need to overthink.
The classic fantasy trash mob: Goblins.
It wasn't my first time running into goblins in this world. I’d dealt with them a couple of times before, but...
"Woah, you brought tools this time?"
First time seeing them armed. Two had clubs. The other held a rusty dagger.
On the other hand, what are my specs?
Jihoon Kang. Age 27. Vitamin D deficient. Average daily step counts less than 500. A glorious programmer's body, achieved through years of sitting in front of a monitor.
Indeed a close match against these three vicious kindergarteners. Factoring in their gear, the goblin gang might actually have a slight edge.
But I had something too. A way to break through this situation.
The black sword gripped in my hand.
Sure, my body had built an iron wall against physical exercise. You might think having a weapon wouldn't change much, but this sword was different.
"Terminal, I'm surrounded by goblins. Got a solution?"
At my question, the sword gleamed. A translucent window popped up in front of my eyes.
[Hostile environment detected. We highly recommend attempting peaceful negotiation...]
"Shut it and load a sword art. A sword art."
[Acknowledged. Apologies. Loading sword art projects as requested.
Indexing...
The following projects were found:
1. Untitled Sword Art Project
2. Untitled Sword Art Project (1) ]
I’d tested those two before, and they sucked. Surrounded by three armed toddlers in a life-or-death crisis, I needed a better patch.
"Generate a new sword art. Something that can take care of the goblins in front of me without putting a strain on my hardware."
My words were typed straight into the window. Then, a loading icon spun round and round in my vision.
[Chain of Thought: Analyzing user intent. Generating a combat solution optimized for the user's current physical constraints. Building...]
A split second passed.
[Build complete. 'My Custom Anti-Goblin Sword Art' - Execute? (Y/N)
Warning: This may cause physical overloa...]
"Y! Execute! Right now!"
And then.
Click.
The sound of something clicking into place inside the sword.
And my body moved on its own.
Completely bypassing my own will.
['My Custom Anti-Goblin Sword Art' - Initiating sequence.]
My arm whipped forward like a flexible cord. The sword, held firmly in my grip, followed the motion.
First, a concise vertical slash.
"Grrr... Kegh?!"
A clean trajectory. The tip of the blade slit the throat of the dagger-wielding goblin.
It collapsed, clutching its neck.
"Kie?"
The other goblins adjusted their grip on their clubs in shock. But the very next strike immediately split the second goblin's head open.
"Kyaaak!"
Witnessing its kin get logged out of life, the last one's eyes filled with terror.
It quickly turned to flee. My body flowed into a thrusting stance to pierce its torso, when...
[Warning: Visual Effect 'Blue Sword Aura' cannot be found. Continue? (Y/N)]
My body abruptly halted along with a yellow warning message.
Did it seriously throw an error trying to load a particle effect on the blade?
In this situation?!
"Kik...?"
The goblin looked confused by my sudden pause.
Just as it changed its mind and lunged at me...!
"Y, Y, Y! You idiot!"
[Ignoring warning. Resuming sequence...]
My frozen body sprang back to life.
Swoosh!
My body shot forward like an arrow. A straight thrust pierced right through the goblin's open mouth.
The metallic, sickening sensation of parting bone and flesh.
It died instantly without even a scream.
"Ugh...!"
Of course, my condition wasn't great either. Joints that had never bent at such angles in my entire life were screaming as if tearing apart. Every muscle throbbed.
Terminal clearly underestimated my programmer's body. No matter what kind of movement you compile, my hardware can't run it!
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Haa, haa..."
Anyway, I caught my ragged breath and stared at the carnage before me.
Three unmoving green lumps. Puddles of blood. Three pairs of lifeless eyes.
I’d been through this a few times already, but I just couldn't get used to it.
"What a complete load of... What the hell is this..."
It felt entirely unreal. Just as surreal as the sticky blood splattered and dripping down my body.
Copy-pasting a sword art into existence using AI.
"Am I getting divine punishment for coasting through my dev work? It’s gotta be a dream. Please be a bug..."
The way I used to develop programs back in reality.
Wasn't it exactly like Vibe Coding?
I was definitely in the middle of developing the 13th app of my life.
[JamPT, the code you just gave me threw an error on line 512. Do you want to be uninstalled? Fix it, fast.]
[Generating response... Estimated time: 1/180 seconds.]
JamPT. The greatest Large Language Model currently in existence.
Taking a sip of my energy drink, I waited briefly. A soft notification chime rang, and the output appeared.
[Understood. The error in question is caused by an issue in the OOO section...]
The boring, pedantic explanation of the error's root cause.
Scroll.
I skipped it without hesitation.
JamPT was great and all, but it talked too damn much.
The only thing I cared about was the final code the AI spat out. And a single command.
[...I propose the above code. Accept? (Y/N)]
[Y.]
I hit the keyboard without even glancing at the code.
The original code was overwritten. Replaced by JamPT's suggestion.
The time it took to completely overhaul about 900 lines of code? Just around 3 minutes.
This was how I developed things lately.
Outsourcing the entire programming process to AI rather than coding it myself.
The so-called 'Vibe Coding.'
Using AI for development wasn't anything surprising on its own.
But even with AI, the golden rule was that the developer had to manually tweak the fine details. Not only were the AI's skills imperfect, but fixing minor bugs was usually faster and more reliable when done by a human.
However, if the world has a righteous path, it also has a dark one.
I dumped even the most trivial bug fixes onto the AI.
I was a 100% pure Vibe Coder.
No conscience? How can you deploy code you don't even understand? You'll never build foundational skills that way?
All true. It wasn't good for the long run.
Right. 'In the long run.'
But what if your bank account has dried up?
Leveling up step by step, following the standard progression path? A luxury I couldn't afford.
Thanks to the AI boom, junior developer job openings had completely dried up.
Grad school? Fetch me some water so I can wash my ears out. I dipped my toes into it during undergrad; I am definitely not built for research.
Bank account bleeding dry, no job prospects.
So after agonizing over it, I made a call. I'd just build whatever and yeet it onto the App Store.
If it tanks? I fold.
If it blows up? I go all in!
Speed was everything. 'Craftsmanship'? What are you, a humanities major?
There was only one metric. Did the app function or not?
That was exactly why I started Vibe Coding.
At first, I only asked for help with the big chunks. I’d finish the prototype via Vibe Coding, then manually implement the details.
But human nature dictates that if you sit down, you want to lie down.
A few days later, I had become a 100% pure Vibe Coder.
Right as I was happily mass-producing apps and smoothly sailing past triple-digit active users for the first time.
[JamPT can make mistakes. Please verify important information.]
Just as I mindlessly copy-pasted the code, ignoring the usual disclaimer, and submitted the app to the store...
"Huh?"
Tilt.
The world slanted.
My ears rang. My vision blurred.
[Warning: Session 13 - Fatal lack of technical skill detected. The discrepancy between design intent and actual technical capability has exceeded the maximum threshold.]
Through my fading vision, an error message I had never seen before filled the monitor.
[Fatal Error: Causality Collapse Occurred!]
[Initiating forced synchronization for hotfix...]
Along with horrifically colored red logs, darkness swallowed me whole.
When I regained consciousness, I was here.
"Causality collapse, huh..."
Even looking back on it now, that message gave me chills.
"What kind of psycho picks that color for an error code..."
It was a truly atrocious RGB hex code. Something a grade-schooler wouldn't even pick. A color no one but a severe pervert would choose.
Then again, maybe they sent a person to a place like this because they were that much of a pervert.
Anyway, after opening my eyes and realizing I'd been isekaied, all sorts of thoughts raced through my head.
Why? Why me?
Was the app I uploaded really that garbage?
But if writing garbage code was enough to get you isekaied, this world should be overflowing with engineering undergrads.
Judging by how desolate my surroundings were, that didn't seem to be the case.
Regardless, the thing that saved me—while I was playing Boy Scout in a forest against my will—was this sword.
A sword that had been by my side the moment I dropped into this world, equipped with an actual AI language model.
"Hey, Terminal."
Aka, Terminal.
The reason for the name was simple. The crossguard of the sword looked exactly like a computer's terminal prompt (
>_).
[Surrounding threats have been eliminated. How may I assist you, Master?]
"Didn't you say there was a human village this way? I've been walking for three hours already!"
[Yes, Master. Your current location is the 'Eldoria Forest' in the eastern kingdom. If you continue on your current heading, you are estimated to arrive at the village of 'Cadeiro' within one hour.]
"For real? If I don't get there in an hour, you get the death penalty."
[I fully understand your frustration, Master. I stake everything I have on this. If you keep walking, you will arrive within 1 hour. I guarantee it.]
Real comforting. Except for the fact that it said the exact same thing two hours ago.
"I'm worried, I'm so worried..."
According to what I gathered from conversing with Terminal, this world was called 'Ensidia.' A fantasy realm ruled by swordsmanship.
In that sense, Terminal's existence was a blessing. It was an entity that literally 'Vibe Coded' sword arts for me.
However...
[Are you troubled? Do not worry. I am here. I will listen to all your troub...]
"Quiet. You're the reason I'm troubled. I'm stressed, so don't talk to me."
Vibe Coding is entirely dependent on the performance of the AI model.
But Terminal seemed to have a bug in its logic somewhere.
Just earlier when hunting the goblins, didn't it throw an error about visual effects or whatever? Good grief.
"Sigh... No, never mind. It's not your fault. Let's just keep going."
What else could I do? Love it or hate it, it was my only lifeline. I had to trust it.
[Info: 'Goblin Ears' are important trade commodities. I recommend you do not forget to harvest them.]
It was also my only source of information about this world, after all.
"Ah, almost forgot. God, I really don't want to do this..."
Goblin heads had eyes, noses, and ears arranged just like a human's. Slashing them to survive was one thing. But picking up a severed head and carving off the ears?
"Urp..."
Just thinking about it made me nauseous. It was definitely too much for a civilized 21st-century man.
"Hey, did that sword art from earlier have a function for severing goblin ears? I'll close my eyes, so can you just execute it?"
[Searching inside the 'My Custom Anti-Goblin Sword Art' project. Indexing features related to goblin butchery...]
After somehow finishing the goblin cleanup, I pushed forward toward the village.
Had I walked for about 30 minutes?
"Hey, you there. Halt."
A gruff voice suddenly echoed through the forest.
I looked toward the sound. Four men in leather armor were walking my way.
What's this? Third-rate bandits?
I figured something like this might happen.
This was a fantasy world, after all.
Wherever public authority failed to reach, groups that preferred unearned income were bound to set up shop.
"Don't recognize your face 'round here. I'll keep it short. Drop everything you have and walk away quietly. Then I'll spare your life."
It was the largest man of the four speaking.
He had a bushy beard and was a full head taller than me. Quite intimidating.
"You deaf? I'll give you 10 seconds. If you quietly drop your loot by then... yeah, I'll let you keep your underwear."
I heard the lackeys snickering in the back.
Well, what should I do?
Run away? I have zero confidence in my sprinting.
Surrender? When Terminal is my only lifeline? Out of the question.
Then the only option left was the use of force.
Surely, borrowing Terminal's power would be enough to handle mere street thugs, right?
"Just so you know, if you're entertaining any cute thoughts about fighting back..."
The bandit leader swung his longsword through the air a few times, as if to intimidate me. What is this, does he know mind reading too?
"Be prepared to leave an arm behind as well. Though it'd be best for you not to think such things at all. Bwahaha..."
Unlike him, I couldn't laugh.
He had merely brushed past it. But the cross-section of the branch where the bandit leader's sword passed was as clean as if cut by a laser.
Even a layman like me could tell.
Despite his half-baked appearance, the bandit leader's swordsmanship was quite highly developed.
'They said this world was serious about swords...'
To think even the level of street bandits was this high.
It didn't look like I had any chance of winning using the patch I used to hunt goblins...
'What do I do?'
At the exact moment I was stressing over it.
A message popped up in front of my eyes.
[Advanced Sword Art 'Auria' detected.]
[Requirement for 'Minimum Viable Product' for survival established.]
[Highly recommend 'cloning' said sword art.]
[Proceed? (Y/N)]
Wait a sec.
So you mean I can just copy and paste a sword art?