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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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‘What on earth happened?’
Kang Seol was bewildered by the system messages and the surrounding environment. Bursts of light erupted, revealing human silhouettes.
He couldn’t see clearly or hear anything, but their movements betrayed their panic.
“Are we… all caught up in this?”
A dreadful thought. He hoped it was just a delusion.
Had the entire world been swept into this? This was on a completely different level from a strange dream.
– The place you lived in will become a different world starting today. The merging of worlds is scheduled for today. Your world and the eternal world, Pandea.
Kodon’s words, once enigmatic, now made sense. The Eternal World beta had ended yesterday.
“Have people entered the Eternal World?”
It was a plausible deduction. The culprits were likely the gods who had been chattering in his dreams.
‘So they weren’t just in my dreams…’
He had thought them illusions, but they were real. Racking his brain, Kang Seol re-examined the unsettling parts.
‘No, the fact that they existed in my dreams was strange in itself…’
He had dismissed their existence because he thought it wasn’t real. But they were real. Otherwise, this would be impossible. He chuckled.
“Was I deceived? Or did I deceive them first?”
He hadn’t revealed his identity to them simply because he saw no reason to. In retrospect, it was fortunate.
If his identity had been revealed before the harvest, he would have been torn to shreds, as the gods had wished.
‘A bug… Are they so angry that I saw the world from their perspective?’
Kang Seol scoffed as he grasped the situation. His eyes were cold, despite the smile on his lips. He was filled with disappointment, betrayal, and a sense of inferiority.
The most intense emotion was anger. He had almost died without a fight.
‘Are you… so great?’
The only reason he had almost died was that he was human.
– How dare you speak to us as equals?
Just for that reason.
‘You were so angry that I was human… Then…’
A chilling aura emanated from his eyes. A gaze of firm resolve.
‘Then I have the right to be angry that beings like you are gods.’
Kang Seol was obsessed with the Eternal World. He had longed to truly experience it, not just through a piece on a board.
The strange feeling of anticipation welling up within him proved it. He was excited.
The fact that he could continue doing what he was best at, and what he could do even better in the future, was exhilarating. And that he could reach the gods through it.
He would demand an answer to his question. No matter what.
– Snowman, there is only one way to save you and your race. Reach the final adventure, Ascension.
Kang Seol didn’t consider himself a hero. The salvation of mankind? The survival of his race? He wasn’t particularly interested.
He disliked being in the spotlight and had no grand ideals. But there was one reason he had to reach Ascension: to prove his existence.
– How dare you crawl into the heavens, not knowing your place? Die like a bug, clinging to the ground!
“I’ll die like a bug? …We’ll see about that.”
How could he reach the gods? Kodon, who had saved his life, would know. For now, the only way was to head for Ascension.
He decided to focus on his immediate surroundings. He could plan for the future later. He saw a character creation screen with various options.
‘This character creation screen… is the same as in the Eternal World I know.’
The only difference was whether he was a being rolling dice or a piece on the board. The Eternal World had character creation before the game started. It was like an RPG on a board, and it was the most crucial part of the game.
‘If you don’t put effort into character creation in the Eternal World, everything will go wrong.’
The saying “a good start is half the battle” held true here. Just as in reality, with its “golden spoons” and “dirt spoons,” the game had a class system.
‘A character… Then…’
He licked his lips. He hadn’t been able to test a certain character because the beta had ended.
‘Alright, let’s go with that.’
The other characters he had tested were too dependent on their companions. They were limited in what they could do alone and had faced several crises.
In reality, they would have died. He had overcome those crises with his wits, but it hadn’t been easy, and there was no guarantee it would work this time.
‘A character that can reach Ascension without any variables.’
The character he was about to create reflected his desire. He first looked at the job selection. The job selection in the Eternal World was unique. It wasn’t simply divided into ‘swordsman, magician.’
You could choose both to play a magic swordsman or specialize in a field of magic, like Snowman, and become a master of that field.
‘Basically, infinite freedom.’
The ability to become anything was the hallmark of the Eternal World.
‘But with so many choices, there are also traps.’
With so many options, not all of them could be balanced. There were preferred jobs and obsolete ones.
“Magician… Summoner… here it is.”
Summoner.
A rather mundane job among dozens, hundreds of options. Its advantage was its versatility and safety. Its disadvantage was that it wasn’t outstanding.
As he had said, with so many jobs, many had distinct characteristics. They were valued everywhere, as they were always needed at some point. But the summoner wasn’t one of them.
A jack of all trades, master of none—that was the current state of the summoner.
‘Of course, that’s when inexperienced people use it.’
If Snowman had chosen a summoner, there had to be a reason. Those who had played with him would have said,
‘Which… school…’
Summoners weren’t just summoners; they had various branches. The first and most important branch was the school chosen in character creation. It determined which summons you would primarily use.
‘Magical Beasts, Divine Beasts, Elementals, Golems, Necromancy…’
More than ten schools. A problem that would take even someone without indecision an hour to solve. He found a school tucked away in a corner.
‘Found it.’
Shadow Summoner. Shadow was an attribute found in various fields, not just summoner school, but also magic, black magic, swordsmanship, and martial arts. But no one chose the shadow attribute except for swordsmanship.
‘It’s weak in the early and mid-game. And it’s not particularly strong in the late game either.’
The power of fire, ice, and lightning. But shadow, if built incorrectly, had only mediocre abilities. So it was abandoned.
‘Others didn’t know what kind of interaction would occur when shadow and summoner were combined.’
He chose Shadow Summoner and quickly completed the rest of the creation.
‘Stats all in Wisdom, talents in Cooking and Perception. Nickname…’
A crescent moon-like smile appeared on his lips as he thought of a nickname. For the 31st and final character, there was no more appropriate nickname.
“Snowman.”
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– I’m here!
“Please leave.”
– He really left? Lol
– A human! It’s a human!
– Beep boop! Humor and cultural code patch complete! Now all that’s left is to enjoy~
“Ugh…”
Kang Seol, Snowman, shook his head and woke up, completely unaware that unknown beings were watching and chattering about him.
You have bravely embarked on your first adventure and arrived at an unknown ruin. To survive as an adventurer, you must at least pass the first gate here.
“…The Forgotten Moon Ruin?”
He remembered. An adventure designed to help new users adapt to the Eternal World.
‘Ah… but this one.’
This adventure was troublesome. It was great that it was for a single player, but the difficulty was quite malicious.
‘Was it a method of advancing while taking continuous damage?’
If your job wasn’t a rogue or if you didn’t have the ‘Disarm Trap’ talent, your HP would be shredded by the various traps.
‘Damn it… this is disadvantageous for a caster…’
A shadow summoner was clearly a caster. A job that chanted spells and moved like a slug.
‘And I put all my free attribute points into Wisdom…’
He might have chosen a different job if he had known that the first adventure would be Moonlit Dance. He wouldn’t have put all his attribute points into Wisdom either.
But knowing what the first adventure was meant knowing that the world would turn into the Eternal World. If he had known that, he wouldn’t have lived his life so earnestly or even saved money.
“First, a checkup.”
The base attribute value was 10. He had invested all 10 additional free attribute points into Wisdom.
“This won’t be easy…”
A shabby robe and a crooked staff. He looked far from agile. He finished the checkup and acted.
‘First… I need to enter the ruin.’
A ruined garden with overgrown vines. Moonlight shone down on it.
Swoosh.
He crossed the ruined garden and arrived at the entrance.
“What’s a dream and what’s reality…”
It was probably a meaningless distinction now.
‘This is… a real game board. Where… what were the choices here?’
He unconsciously tried to recall the original choices. But something completely unexpected happened.
“Hmm?”
‘I can… see the choices?’
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