Chapter 1

Lее Нusеong, who hаd bееn disсhаrged from the militаrу and entеred soсiеtу.

Тhrее yeаrs had alrеаdy раssеd sinсе he hоled uр in his room аnd did nоthing but рlаy gamеs.

Tаp. Taр. Тap.

Taр. Тap. Tap.

Сliсk. Click.

The sounds оf kеyboаrd and mоusе сliсks echoed thrоugh the roоm.

Вut оnly for а mоmеnt. Suddenly, hе stopрed typing and using thе mоuse, raising bоth hаnds high into thе air.

BАNG!!!!

CRACК!

As hе slаmmed the keyboаrd down оn thе dеsk, it shattеred to рiесes.

“Hа… Hоw thе hеll аm I suрpоsеd tо clеаr this?”

Back when he was in the military, Lee Huseong had set many dreams and goals for himself.

After being discharged and entering society, he planned to work hard at part-time jobs first and steadily save money.

Because he wasn’t satisfied with the meager monthly salary he received in the military.

But after being discharged, Lee Huseong didn’t even look for part-time jobs; he just holed up at home.

The game he was currently playing, <Geo Arc>.

It was a masterpiece among masterpieces, released about three months before Lee Huseong’s discharge and still holding the number one spot in game rankings.

“This piece of trash game is number one?”

BANG!

Lee Huseong grabbed the mouse on the right side of the desk and threw it, shouting.

About five minutes later, as his excitement subsided, Lee Huseong looked at the shattered keyboard and belatedly realized his mistake.

“How much did this cost… I must be crazy.”

The shattered high-end mechanical keyboard.

And his character, dead on the other side of the monitor.

“Seriously, how many times is this now? How did I even get this far…”

<Geo Arc> is an MMORPG game, as we commonly know.

Its game story composition and graphics are overwhelmingly better than other games, making it a hit. Lee Huseong was currently a Ranker in that very <Geo Arc>.

Not just any Ranker, but the undisputed number one.

“It’s still a long way before anyone catches up, but they said if I just clear this, I can see the ending…”

Lee Huseong planned to see the ending of <Geo Arc> and then start living a proper life.

The reason he could rise to become a Ranker just a few months after his discharge and maintain that position was because he had some talent for gaming.

The reason Lee Huseong had been a pro gamer was also thanks to that talent.

“…An ambiguous talent.”

Of course, Lee Huseong, who was a second-string pro gamer, not first-string, was an unknown B-grade pro gamer.

Since it didn’t pay well, he had no choice but to retire and immediately went to the military.

“I want to be the first to see the ending, at least in this <Geo Arc>.”

Lee Huseong, facing a massive wall just before the final ending.

He had already died twice to <Geo Arc>’s final Monster.

Of course, it was just his game character dying, so it didn’t matter, but it would take quite a long time to reach the final Boss Monster again.

“I suffered like a dog for a month to get here, and now I have to do it all over again.”

The tower where the final Boss Monster resides.

It takes months just to reach the top of that tower.

For other Players, it would probably take years.

Of course, that was only possible because Lee Huseong had been playing the game nonstop, even cutting back on sleep.

“It would be nice if I could save in the middle. Why did they make the game so damn hard?”

When a Character dies, you have to restart the Quest you were on from the beginning.

How nice would it be if you could save in the middle of a Quest?

And if you did this Quest in Party Play instead of Solo Play, it would probably be a bit easier to clear.

Of course, there wasn’t a single Player suitable to form a Party with Lee Huseong, the current undisputed number one in the rankings.

“Should I just quit…”

He muttered softly to himself and picked up the mouse he had thrown.

Click. Click.

Without a keyboard, he couldn’t play the game any further today.

He was looking over the items he had collected so far and the Hidden Skills he had luckily obtained.

[Skill: Sage’s Heart]

• Skill Rank: 10th Rank

• Skill Description: You can maintain composure no matter what situation arises.

The first Skill Lee Huseong obtained when he started playing the game.

It was largely thanks to this Skill that he became the number one Ranker in <Geo Arc>.

“At first, when I didn’t know anything, I thought it was just a trash Skill.”

When Lee Huseong first started playing the game without any knowledge, he didn’t know the value and performance of a 10th Rank Skill.

So far, the known Skill Ranks in <Geo Arc> range from 1st to 9th Rank.

Even 9th Rank Skills are called truly overpowered because they are incredibly powerful.

Only a few Rankers have them.

It was only about a week after obtaining the Skill that Lee Huseong learned the value of a 10th Rank Skill from the <Geo Arc> Community. It seemed that no other User besides himself had a 10th Rank Skill.

Back then, when Lee Huseong posted in the Community that he had a 10th Rank Skill, no one believed him, and they mocked him, telling him to provide proof.

The Users of <Geo Arc> probably still don’t know if a 10th Rank Skill even exists.

“I got trapped in the Tutorial Forest due to a bug and luckily obtained it.”

The composure mentioned in the Sage’s Heart Skill Description.

At first glance, it seemed really useless, but given <Geo Arc>’s characteristics, ‘composure’ was truly overpowered.

If there was a Level difference between a Monster and a Player, the Character couldn’t even approach the Monster.

But thanks to this Skill, Lee Huseong could approach Monsters with a Level difference, allowing him to defeat high-level Monsters.

Of course, killing Monsters higher level than himself was really difficult, but Lee Huseong overcame it with god-like Control.

That’s how he could rise to the number one ranking spot even though he started three months later than other Players.

Moreover, it even provided 100% Resistance to ‘Fear’-type attacks and various mental attacks.

“Haah, I thought with just this Skill, I could smoothly see the ending.”

Lee Huseong let out another deep sigh.

Aside from the ‘Sage’s Heart’ Skill, the rest were ordinary Skills averaging around 5th to 6th Rank.

Of course, ordinary Players would go crazy wanting to obtain 5th and 6th Rank Skills.

Crucially, because he could also see additional effects derived from ‘composure,’ he truly thought he could see the ending.

“First, let’s quit the game and eat something.”

He looked at the black screen and his dead Character, then clicked to quit the game.

Click.

Even after pressing quit, the game didn’t close and remained as is.

“What’s this, why is it doing this?”

The highest-spec computer he bought immediately after being discharged with the money he saved during his three years in the military.

Had its performance already degraded?

Click. Click.

He kept pressing the quit button, but the game still wouldn’t close.

As Lee Huseong was about to press the power button on the main unit to force a shutdown, he stopped his hand upon seeing a message that suddenly appeared on the screen.

[Do you want to see the ending of <<Geo Arc>>?]

He stared blankly at the suddenly appearing message.

“What is this?”

Lee Huseong, who checked the <Geo Arc> Community daily, had never seen anyone mention receiving such a message.

As he stared blankly, the same message appeared again below.

[Do you want to see the ending of <<Geo Arc>>?]

At first glance, it felt similar to a Quest acceptance message.

But that was the entire message; there were no accept or decline buttons in sight.

“What am I supposed to do? Of course I want to see it. Ah, seriously, why is this happening?”

Thinking he would report this new bug to customer service tomorrow, Lee Huseong moved his stopped hand toward the computer’s main unit.

[Understood. Then, please do not die and see the game to its end! Good luck!]

“Is this a joke? Ha… Fuck, I’m really about to curse.”

Click.

Lee Huseong spat out curses at the absurd message and pressed the power button on the main unit.

Swoosh.

At the same time, Lee Huseong’s vision went dark, and his eyes closed completely.

* * *

“Are you the one who came to kill me? For a mere human to climb this far, you’re quite a useful one.”

When Lee Huseong opened his eyes, a Monster he had seen somewhere before… no, the final Boss Monster from <Geo Arc> was standing before him.

The strongest being in <Geo Arc>’s worldview.

The one who called himself ‘God.’

“…….”

An overwhelming killing intent and pressure.

Goosebumps rose all over his body.

But for some reason, Lee Huseong could stand calmly even while looking at such a being.

Of course, he couldn’t easily open his mouth.

“Wait a moment. Looking closely, you seem a bit strange.”

The final Boss Monster, whose form was indistinct, looked at Lee Huseong and spoke as if he didn’t understand.

“You, how did you climb this far? For a weak human with no abilities to climb this far, what exactly have you done?”

“…….”

Lee Huseong said nothing.

He ignored the words and looked around, trying to grasp the situation.

And soon realized this was inside the tower of the final Quest, where the final Boss Monster resides.

Then, he asked the being before him.

“Where is this?”

A rather composed tone.

Even though it seemed he could die at any moment to the Monster before him, his tone was unbelievably calm.

“…You must have entered this place willingly. You’re quite a strange one. Are you perhaps hiding your power?”

“…….”

Lee Huseong felt that something was terribly wrong.

Because of the unknown energy emanating from the being, it felt like his body would burst at any moment.

“It seems you have no intention of answering me. Fine, then die.”

The final Boss Monster was shrouded in black light but vaguely had a human-like form.

As such a being stretched its hand through the light, a black tentacle appeared.

He couldn’t even see the tentacle emerging.

The reason Lee Huseong could perceive it was because of a feeling as if his chest was being seared hot.

Thud—!

Squelch!!!!

The black tentacle pierced Lee Huseong’s heart.

The moment he realized this, an immense pain washed over him.

But even in the midst of it, he didn’t even scream.

“So you were nothing special after all.”

Thump.

‘What is this? Am I going to die like this? Could this be a dream?’

Lee Huseong wasn’t completely dead yet, but he knew he would die soon.

[@#$#@%%#@!%#@%#@]

Just before his eyes closed completely, something like a game message appeared before him.

He couldn’t understand what it said, but such message windows usually appeared in <Geo Arc> when obtaining a Skill.

Swoosh.

Unable to resist his fading vision, Lee Huseong soon closed his eyes.

* * *

….

…….

“!!”

Lee Huseong, who thought he was surely dead, opened his eyes in a startled hurry.

“This place is…”

But his surprise lasted only a moment.

He soon regained his composure.

The place where Lee Huseong found himself was a vast forest teeming with greenery.

It was a landscape he had definitely seen somewhere before.

His mind quickly spun as he tried to understand the current situation.

“It wasn’t a dream.”

He realized that the final Boss Monster of <Geo Arc> he met just before dying, and his own death, were not a dream.

Although the current situation was unbelievable, for some reason, his judgment of the situation was happening quickly.

Rustle. Rustle.

But that too was brief.

As if not giving him time to think, a sound immediately came from the grass behind him.

Squeak…!

Squeak…!

A Monster that appears in the Tutorial Forest.

Two green-skinned Goblins appeared before Lee Huseong, drooling.