Talk of one Player gradually began spreading through communities and the media.
He had discovered the proper strategy for Underground Prison, something no one else had ever found. He possessed insane skill and insight, and numerous league teams—even K1—had approached him first to request a meeting.
[So who the hell is Shin Jaeha?]
The recently emerged supernova Warrior.
Shin Jaeha.
-You still don't know Lord Shin-saster?
└Shin-saster, Shin Ramyun, who the hell is that?
└You know, the person who discovered the Underground Prison strategy this time.
└Oh, that person was Korean?
└Stop living your real life so much and get on the internet.... Watch some streams too....
[Clip of Shin Jaeha teaching a troll a lesson lol]
(Video)
That was seriously fucking cathartic lol.
└The moment he used his Skill, that guy's head got slammed straight into the ground. It was fucking satisfying.
└I had been in a shitty mood lately because of some troll bastard I met before, but this made me feel better lol.
└Didn't they say that troll was Bronze? How did Shin Jaeha, who's still in the Under Rank, beat him so overwhelmingly?
└How dare you bring common sense into a discussion about our Jaeha hyung?
└An Under Rank Player... crushing... a Bronze match... makes... sense...?
[Videos of people who got beaten by Shin Jaeha are coming out now.]
Looking at them, he'd already been tearing through Normal Matches like a madman too.
└How many Goblins get sent flying with one swing of that club...?
└So he swept up all those Players by himself? At around Level 5?
└It wasn't Shin Jaeha making a surprise appearance.... We were the ones who witnessed Shin Jaeha's ambush....
Shin Jaeha had become new content for the Korean Player scene, which had produced scarcely any star Players since Nam Siwoo.
Korea was already short on powerful Warriors compared to neighboring countries like Japan, the United States, and China, so people were even more stirred up.
In particular, his solo defense against the waves at Valkyrie Canyon had firmly lodged itself in people's minds and set their imaginations soaring in a promising direction.
Naturally, a topic of conversation that could not fail to emerge followed.
[So, Shin Jaeha vs. Nam Siwoo—who's more extraordinary?]
Nam Siwoo was the greatest Player Korea had produced, as well as a top-tier Warrior born in a country considered barren ground for Warriors.
Shin Jaeha had appeared like a comet and was drawing the attention and expectations of countless people.
For people who loved gossip, it was bait they could never let slip away.
└Comparing him to Siwoo-god is a little much, no matter what....
└Do you think Siwoo-god is a joke? How many KPL championships has Shin Jaeha won? LOL.
└Shin Jaeha is undeniably incredible, but it can't compare to the shock of seeing Nam Siwoo for the first time. Seriously.
└Nam Siwoo is the only Player in Korea to receive a top-tier Iron placement rank. How can you even compare them?
From the time he entered K1 as a trainee, Nam Siwoo had displayed incredible performances and become an insurmountable mountain in the KPL.
└So did Nam Siwoo ever carry a Bronze match alone while he was in the Under Rank?
└Shin Jaeha was chosen as leader among Players in their twenties when he was Level 6, then cleared Underground Prison. What was Nam Siwoo doing at Level 6~?
└Setting aside blind hate and blind hype, isn't it simply a fact that Shin Jaeha's performance was better in the same level range?
└Anyone saying Shin Jaeha can't compare to Nam Siwoo clearly didn't watch yesterday's stream LOL. If you saw him pounding away with that hammer alone in the canyon, you could never say that.
A Player who had displayed overwhelming play from the start and built up enormous name recognition in the shortest possible time.
The argument over who was the superior Warrior set the internet ablaze.
[This settles it neatly.]
Since Shin Jaeha himself said he'd get a Bronze placement rank or higher, let's decide based on that. Okay?
In the end, it all came down to one conclusion.
└A Bronze placement rank on the first try? Is that even possible?
└No one's ever done it so far.
└Does it even exist in the first place?
└The accepted maximum is top-tier Iron.... Shin Jaeha really overreached LOL.
The easiest metric by which to compare the two.
Let us start with their initial placement ranks.
└So when is he streaming? He did two Placement Exams yesterday and vanished. I'm dying of curiosity!
└The notice is up! It says tomorrow at seven.
└Perfect. I'll get off work, buy some chicken, and settle in to wait.
And so anticipation for Shin Jaeha's first stream rose even higher.
Far beyond what Shin Jaeha himself had expected.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn't surprised.
[● Viewer Count: 23,113]
More than twenty thousand people were watching?
My first stream?
‘Good grief.’
I'd expected, at most, around eight thousand viewers.
This was more than twice the number I'd anticipated.
The chat was flying by so quickly that I had reached the point of giving up on reading it.
Even though I had Suhyeok, who knew a fair bit about streaming, act as my manager—
[Jeong Suhyeok: Jaeha, save me.]
[Jeong Suhyeok: This is more than your brother can handle alone....]
—he had been overwhelmed by the massive number of viewers.
“I'll switch it to followers-only chat for a moment~.”
Once I changed the setting, it calmed down somewhat.
It was still moving at a maddening pace, but I could at least read a few messages if I made the effort.
‘We've already covered the miscellaneous talk at the beginning.’
Now all that remained was—
[Placement Exam:■■□]
—clearing the one remaining Placement Exam.
“Then let's begin! The final round of the Placement Exam!”
As always.
I shouted confidently and connected to the Channel.
[Connecting to the Channel.]
[Prepare for the match!]
.
.
.
[Ranked Match: Placement Exam - Solo Match]
[Genre: Story]
[Currently selecting a scenario.]
[Please wait.]
This time, I wasn't immediately moved to the map.
Instead, I found myself in a vast gallery that looked as though someone had sliced out a piece of outer space.
Countless enormous books filled the air.
‘The Cradle of Legends.’
There was only one meaning behind this place appearing.
The genre of Solo Match selected this time was Story.
It was also called Story Mode. Unlike ordinary Channel games, where the objective was given the moment they began, Story Mode came with its own narrative.
That sounded grand, but it merely meant that characters appeared and a story existed.
-Oh, it picked Story.
-In the Under Rank bracket, the only scenarios you'll get are probably something like “Goblin Hut Subjugation” or “Wagon Escort,” right?
Each scenario also had different objectives.
The “Goblin Hut Subjugation” mentioned in the chat meant clearing out a Goblin nest alongside a mercenary troop. “Wagon Escort” ended once you safely brought a cargo wagon threatened by bandits to its destination.
-The wagon driver is so damn cowardly that he's annoying.
-Seriously. He won't do anything but panic if there is even one bandit nearby, when all he has to do is keep driving.
Well, there were no particularly difficult scenarios at this stage.
Most of them were only E-Grade scenarios.
‘Still, I shouldn't let my guard down. Every time I relaxed like this, I ended up finding a trap.’
As I waited without easing my vigilance—
[The scenario has been selected!]
[Scenario: Wagon Escort (E-Grade)]
[Map: Country Hill]
One of the gray books floating nearby flew forward and opened, becoming a door.
“It isn't the best, but it isn't bad either.”
The bandits that appeared in Wagon Escort were opponents I could beat with one hand at my current level.
Just as I relaxed and was about to step inside—
BZZZT!
My vision suddenly flickered as though it had glitched, and the space around me began to twist.
***[%$&%#%&^%#^!%%!%]***
***[!&&&^!^!%&^!8276!^^%!!]***
“What is this...?!”
This was the first time I had encountered a phenomenon like this since connecting to the Channel.
If I had to name something similar—
‘The final moment before my Regression.’
The sensation I felt as I struck ‘the being beyond’ once and died was the closest comparison.
As I endured through the confusion—
***[Con■nder Sequ■ce Acti■ated.]***
***[A Ch■■el Remnant has been det■cted within the Pl■■er.]***
***[Det■ction St■ge raised to ‘Supreme’.]***
A string of heavily corrupted messages appeared.
[The scenario has been reassigned!]
[Scenario: Princess of Ruin (???-Grade)]
[Map: Finnegans Plain]
The gray book containing the Wagon Escort scenario disappeared, and a new book appeared in its place.
It shone in countless colors as though the Milky Way had been embedded within it, with particles of light swirling around it.
It was a kind of book I had never seen before in my life.
-What was that just now? The stream suddenly cut out.
-Did something happen?
-Huh? The book changed. I've never seen anything like that before.
-Is that... even a book?
It seemed that viewers had not seen the phenomenon from earlier.
“Phew....”
Right. Was this some sort of special treatment because I was a Regressor?
I didn't know what it was, but—
‘It doesn't matter what it is.’
This was a Placement Exam, and all I had to do was clear it.
“It looks like there was a slight error for a moment. Have any of you seen something like that before?”
-How could we have?
-“Princess of Ruin”...? There was still an undiscovered scenario?
-Then can he get a first-clear scenario reward too?!
-Why isn't that scenario's grade showing?
-I'm connecting to the Channel now too, so just wait for me.
Since no one knew the scenario, it appeared to be one given only to me.
“I should change the stream title. Final round of the Placement Exam, and the first reveal of an undisclosed scenario!”
Imagining my name value rising even further—
I stepped through the book-door.
[Entering the ???-Grade Scenario, ‘Princess of Ruin.’]
[In one dimension, there once stood a kingdom that had prospered and reached its golden age....]
To sum up the sight I saw the moment I opened my eyes in one word—
“Ruined.”
It was ruined.
That was the only way to put it.
Ah, I didn't mean that my own situation was ruined.
“This whole place is completely ruined.”
Collapsed buildings and rubble damaged beyond recognition.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere, alongside dried bloodstains.
An enormous city that might have evoked a magnificent medieval European royal capital, had it remained intact, had been destroyed in its entirety.
It was so horrific that I could barely stand to look at it with both eyes open.
‘So that's why the map name had “Plain” in it.’
Everything around me had been swept away, so my field of view was certainly wide open.
[Scenario Objective: Keep the last surviving royal, ‘Princess Iris,’ alive for three days.]
“I see. It's an escort scenario.”
The objective itself was an escort mission, common in many other scenarios.
I simply had to remain near the designated person and keep them from dying. Naturally, if they died, the clear would fail.
It said three days, but the day would automatically advance once the important events ended. The structure wasn't actually meant for me to endure three full days here.
‘In game terms, it's a little like a cutscene (cut scene) playing.’
In reality, I only had to play through the important scenes.
-An escort mission, but it's a princess? Not some aristocrat with dark leg hair?
-I'm jealous!
-Shin Jaeha should pay more taxes! This is unfair! Unfair!
-She has to be some wicked young noblewoman.... She has to be some wicked young noblewoman.... She has to be some wicked young noblewoman....
I brushed aside the still-useless chat and looked around.
Usually, an escort scenario began near the target, but I couldn't see anyone who looked like a princess.
No, there wasn't a single person in sight.
“What am I supposed to protect?”
The moment I muttered that complaint—
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
A piercing scream stabbed painfully into my ears.
‘No way...!’
An event was starting as soon as the scenario began?
I immediately ran toward the source of the sound.
I concentrated Mana in my legs and increased my speed as much as possible.
A moment later, I saw an unsavory scene unfolding.
“Kehehehehe... Everything's doomed anyway, so one last time...!”
“Shouldn't we get to hold royalty in our arms at least once before we die?”
“Princess, think of it as doing one final good deed. We're pitiful commoners too, so you can grant us a request like this, can't you?”
Three burly men had cornered a woman.
She had luxuriant blonde hair and clear sapphire-blue eyes. Her refined appearance seemed to proclaim, ‘I am royalty,’ to anyone who saw her.
“E-Everyone, please... You're not in your right minds! If we all join forces, we can defeat ‘that monster’!”
“Bullshit! Listen, you little miss with a flower garden for a brain, how are we supposed to beat that? We're all dead!”
“Heh heh heh... So stop resisting and come here!”
“Eek! P-Please don't... Please...!”
Just as the tearful princess was being dragged away by a man's rough hand—
“Fortunately—”
I grinned and gripped my hammer with both hands.
“I'm not too late!”
CRASH—!
My hammer struck one man squarely in the head.
He flew away like a baseball hit for a home run before driving into the ground.
“AAARGH! W-Who the hell are you?!”
“What do you think you're doing all of a sudden...?!”
The other two men staggered backward in panic.
“Ah...?”
The princess looked up at me blankly.
I had made it just in time.
I didn't even want to imagine what might have happened if I had arrived a little later or failed to hear her scream.
I discreetly wiped the sweat from my brow.
“Who am I?”
I kindly answered their question.
“I'm the bastard who came here to fuck you up.”
The final round of the Placement Exam.
‘Princess of Ruin’ had begun.