The world had ended. Miserably.
[ Do you really wish to return to the nostalgic past? This choice cannot be undone! ]
But fortunately, I had gained one more chance.
[ Character Ranking: 1st Place (Current Total Players: 1) ]
The path I had taken had ended in failure, so this time, I would walk another.
The path of transcendent power that no one in human history had ever possessed.
And as the beginning of that path, the mad Villain Players who had brought the world to ruin.
From those things, I would demand not merely revenge, but absolute loyalty and obedience.
And thus, at last, I would devour the world.
I would normalize it.
Chapter:1 The Last Adventurer
―WHOOOOSH….
A ruined desert where crumbling buildings could be seen here and there amid the raging sandstorm.
“….”
A man clad in old, worn armor was staring blankly at a point in empty air.
[ Character Ranking: 1st Place (Current Total Players: 1) ]
There, a single hollow number shone.
―SLIDE.
His gaze dropped from the status window to his hand.
―Flutter….
More precisely, to the rainbow-colored maple leaf clutched tightly in that hand.
“Riley. Now I really am… alone.”
He waited for a long while, as though waiting for an answer.
“….”
Of course, a mere maple leaf would not answer him.
―[ Use Item? ]
―The maple leaf… please.
Instead, only the voice in his hazy memories and the item notification rang like auditory hallucinations.
“Please….”
Twenty years had passed since players appeared in the world. Ten years had passed since he began wandering the ruined world alone.
“Please, she says….”
A long time had also passed since Han Woo-hyun became able to converse with hallucinations.
Of course, it was not a normal conversation, but merely the voice of the woman left in his memories faintly spilling out at random.
“A trash world, trash humans….”
―Please save everyone, Han Woo-hyun.
“What could I possibly save…? I couldn’t even save myself.”
―I believe in you.
“Fucking trash game….”
Even so, he opened his mouth as if to argue, as if to make excuses, or perhaps as if to vent something meaningless.
“These psychotic player bastards were filled with far more malice than you ever imagined...”
World of Yggdrasill was a common Korean 2D side-scrolling MMORPG.
You chose a class and advanced it, learned skills, hunted to raise your level, farmed and enhanced equipment, formed raid parties, and fought bosses.
It was a game built on the utterly common concept of growing and adventuring in a medieval fantasy world.
The only special thing about it was…
The quality of the game. And the quality of its players. They were, well, very, very, very…
―Ah, just.. just...
Famous for being trash.
―^probability-rigging-777-less-slot-machine-no-updates-content-consumption-speed-control-fivefold-Rashomon-gold-farming-gambling-Sunshine-Loan-the-fact-is-the-game-is-becoming-healthier-abnormality-normalization-game^
And it was the source of the abilities of the insane Villain Players who had burst into reality.
―Yggdrasill’s got another incident!
―That game again?
―There are still monkey bastards playing that probability-rigging game?
Most of the players who awakened game skill abilities possessed transcendent personalities befitting that game’s infamy.
Social misfits.
Room-bound wrecks.
Lunatics.
Hatred-mongers.
Trolls.
―We failed again, again!
―The players refuse to cooperate at all!
―It’s terrorism! The villains are out of control!
―Those fucking psychotic villain bastards! The world’s on the brink of destruction!
―How low does their intelligence have to be for them to act like that?!
―According to the psychological analysis statistics of World of Yggdrasill players, more than 80% of high-level players suffer from antisocial psychopathy….
―Why on earth were such absurd powers given to those mad game-addicted bastards…!
The Villain Players, however, were not the only problem.
―Now isn’t the time for that analysis! If this dungeon raid fails too, it’ll be a Dungeon Break!
―If it follows the game setting, within a week….
―If the boss comes out of the dungeon, what are our odds of defeating it?
―They’re already low, but from there, they drop by half.
―…Is this the end?
In the game, there were always objectives for players to clear.
Opposing elements called dungeons and boss monsters appeared.
The problem was that their powers had been realized on a far more unreasonable and absurd level than in the game.
―Aaaaargh!
―Aaaagh! Why is it so strong?!
―Th-this is impossible! In the game, the first boss mob dies if you hit it once!
―Damn it, retreat! Retreat!
―No, no!
―If it’s like this from the first one, what are we supposed to do next…!
Dungeon boss raids had to be completed in order to stop the boss monsters that descended into reality.
The attempt prepared by the United States government, which had poured all of its resources into it, only managed to clear three of the twelve dungeons.
Once the time limit passed and the boss monsters descended outside the dungeons, they became even stronger, and naturally, much harder to stop.
―Aaaagh! Save me!
―I can’t, I can’t do this anymore. I’m too scared…
―Mom, Mooom…
The raid party under the United States Department of Defense, formed by scraping together sane players from all over the world, also collapsed over and over without end.
Failure.
Failure.
Failure.
Failure repeated.
Fortunately, each individual failure did not immediately lead to the raid party’s annihilation.
―I can’t, I really can’t do this anymore! I can’t! How are we supposed to fight a monster like that?
―H-hic, hhhhhic, I can’t do this either! This is insane!
―The United States government has practically collapsed already, so what meaning is there in us doing this by ourselves?!!
―Woo-hyun, Riley. You should both stop now… and give up.
―What nonsense! If the boss comes out, everyone dies anyway!
―That’s right! Running away is meaningless! Please reconsider!
―…You may have the will for this.
―But we don’t. We were ordinary people until last year. How are we supposed to fight those monsters until we die…!
Yet whenever a raid failed, even if they successfully retreated and survived while minimizing casualties, the will of the raid members had no choice but to break, one by one.
―Damn it, how many more times do we have to kill them?
―There aren’t even many raid members left now.
Even if they used every means available and managed to subjugate several bosses after suffering tremendous damage, it was all hollow.
After enough time passed, those things constantly resurrected in the dungeons and burst out again.
They were transcendent monsters so overwhelming that even if everyone in the world joined forces as one, it was doubtful whether they could oppose them. And they resurrected on top of that?
With the entire world divided and torn apart by mad players, there was no way to stop them.
And so.
The world completely ended.
“…But even so.”
Han Woo-hyun repeated in a voice filled with resolve.
“I can’t accept this kind of ending.”
With that final declaration, the information window of the maple leaf activated in greater detail.
[2005 First Anniversary Item: Maple Leaf of Memories]
[Type: Consumable Item / Event Item]
[Effect: Trace the current character’s play record and return to the most nostalgic moment of memory! Feel the nostalgia! This is the developers’ heartfelt gift, given only to veteran players who consistently played World of Yggdrasill from the first day of its opening until its first anniversary!]
This item was not originally his.
It belonged to a great figure far too noble to be compared with him.
The guardian of humanity and the final raid leader.
At the same time, she was Han Woo-hyun’s savior, his friend, and a hero so noble that no other word could ever explain her.
It was the final legacy she had left behind.
[ Item Exchange Request: Nero ]
[ Accept? ]
―The maple leaf… please.
Riley Granger. Character Name: Nero. Class: Priest.
The strongest healer in the world and the only max-level player.
And yet, she was a player who had met a futile end because of selfish trolls who could not see an inch ahead.
―At this point, raids are probably… impossible now.
―Haha… It seems so. Still, until the very end, I will…
―Do my best.
―It’s all right. Woo-hyun, you did your best too. Now, please….
―No.
When the raid party completely collapsed and broke apart before the miserable reality, only one player remained by her side.
―I’ll stay.
―…Woo-hyun.
―I have to repay what I received. How could I leave you….
―…Thank you.
―….
Han Woo-hyun. Character Name: [Arthur]. Class: [Paladin].
He, too, had originally been no different from the other psychotic players.
His reason for joining a boss raid for the first time had not been grand, either.
After his family all died, he had simply thrown himself into it with the thought that he might as well die too.
So his life was no longer something precious to him.
―Nice to meet you, main tank. I am the main healer.
―You are clearly different from the other players. I should call it talent, or perhaps another expression would be more fitting….
―First, shall we try a practice battle?
―You are remarkable! This definitely means… if only we have you, perhaps!
From the moment they first met, Riley Granger had constantly comforted and encouraged him.
She taught him, acknowledged him, and showed him a direction.
―The schedule for the first raid has been set. You and I will stand at the front.
―A useless bastard like me at the front?
―What do you mean, useless? Do you realize how important you are right now? You are the strongest tank in the world.
―What does that mean? You call me the strongest tank, but this isn’t really my own ability. The only thing I’m good at is games… and even that isn’t true in reality.
―Have courage. Have confidence. You are the only one who can do this.
―….
―If it is hard to believe in yourself, then believe in me, who believes in you.
―…If all of that is truly what you mean… then you’re an incredible person.
―That is not true. You and I are the same.
―Believe in yourself. Believe in us.
A person like light.
Han Woo-hyun was a sick man who had lived with long-standing depression, persecution delusions, and distrust of people.
Yet even he, little by little, had no choice but to be influenced by her.
―Good. Doing it this way really is different.
―To become this strong this quickly. You are remarkable!
―…How could I compare to you?
And so.
He gave her his strength.
Even until the moment everyone gave up and fled, he followed behind her as she rushed in every direction to prevent the destruction that had been foretold.
Because he wanted to return at least as much as he had received.
Because Riley did not give up, Han Woo-hyun did not give up either.
But in the final moment.
―Ah, no, no, noooo…!!!
That goodwill was not repaid.
―Hey, Riley. Since it looks like we’re almost done killing the Second Apostle, I’m asking now.
―What’s that item?
―I mean, they say you ran off with all the items the United States government had hidden away.
―…?
―Right. An item that lets you hide in secret? What is it?
―Hey, get lost. Tell me first. What’s that item?
―…!
―Damn it! Don’t resist!
―You fucking bitch! The item! What the hell is it?!
―The item! Hand over the item! Hand over every fucking thing you have! Take it all out!
―Fuck! If you don’t hand it over, I’ll kill you!
―We don’t want to do this either! Hurry!
―Damn it, bitch, you brought this on yourself!
―…!
―…!! …!!!
―Huh? Hey, wait! We were only going to threaten her...
―I told you to threaten her, so why did you stick a knife in her!
―…Fuck, I don’t know! Run!
―Screw it, let’s just run!
At the moment the final raid attempt ended.
The death of the world’s only pure supporting class ranker erased even the faint possibility that remained of defeating the boss.
It drove the final nail into the proposition of the world’s certain destruction.
“….”
Riley Granger.
A max-level player who could have survived for a long time if she had only stayed hidden.
But rather than settle for that, she was a saint who did her best until the very last moment to save the world.
And yet she was betrayed and killed by the very players she had tried so hard to protect.
By moronic, game-addicted shut-in bastards who were steeped in nothing but trolling and madness until the moment the world ended.
By trash who, because they were so horrifically stupid and selfish, never came to their senses until the very end.
By things whose intelligence was so low that they were less than monkeys, less than apes.
…Including Han Woo-hyun himself.
“If only I had done a little better. If I had been even a little stronger… no, if I had just come to my senses sooner….”
―Trickle….
Blood tears formed in Han Woo-hyun’s eyes.
The moment he failed to protect her when she was ambushed because he had been stopping the boss monster’s death throes.
Every time he remembered that moment, hatred and rage toward himself boiled up.
When he drove every skill he possessed berserk, disposed of the vermin, and lifted the fallen Riley into his arms, everything was already over.
Because she had been the only Priest left, [Resurrection] was impossible.
Later, when he encountered and captured a Villain Player and asked him about it, the answer was appalling.
―Why the hell did you do that?!
―Ri-Riley. I heard she had an item that would let her survive even if the world ended…
―Who told you that bullshit! There’s no way such an item exists!
He killed him on the spot in a rage.
―…It was real? [Maple Leaf of Memories]?
Astonishingly, those words had been true.
It was an item that even Han Woo-hyun, who had played the game since the very earliest days of its service, had never known existed.
“Memories, the past….”
Looking down at it, he reflected on his own life.
Unlike Riley, Han Woo-hyun had not done his best as he lived his life.
Consumed by depression and persecution delusions, he had spent half a year sleeping in his room even after the world became a game.
For a long while, he had only been dragged around helplessly by the hand of his younger sibling, who forced him out.
After both his parents died, and even his younger sibling died.
Only after the world had almost ended did Han Woo-hyun throw himself into boss raids with the thought that he might as well die.
Far, far too late.
Only after receiving instruction from Riley Granger, whom he had met that way, was he finally reborn.
It was an utterly different path from Riley, who had worked with the United States government to stop the destruction from the first day the world became a game.
But paradoxically, for that very reason.
If time were turned back, Han Woo-hyun could truly bring about a change great enough to alter the future.
Because she had already done her best to such a degree that no matter how he thought about it, she could not possibly have done any better.
Riley Granger must have thought the same. That was why, in the final moment, she had handed the item to him instead of using it herself.
“…Riley. I can’t let your will go to waste.”
After finishing his thoughts, Han Woo-hyun stroked the maple leaf and murmured.
In truth, he had already made up his mind. He had already finished all preparations for regression.
The reason he deliberately took out this maple leaf only now, after confirming that everything had truly come to an end…
Was because of those trash things that killed Riley Granger. Those morons who had been crazed with trolling until the very end.
He had wanted to kill them all, or at least confirm that they were dead.
And at this moment, although he had not killed them with his own hands… he had confirmed their end.
[ Character Ranking: 1st Place (Current Total Players: 1) ]
Because he was the only player left in the world now. The status window proved it clearly.
And that did not simply mean he was alone.
It also meant that, to the boss monsters, the only target left in this world was Han Woo-hyun.
―RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
A player’s transcendent sensory ability.
―KRRIIK-GRRRAAAARGH? KRAAAAGH!
It allowed him to sense the omen of monsters approaching from far away, as if closing in around him.
“…Ha.”
Han Woo-hyun sneered as he listened to the vicious sounds approaching from hundreds of kilometers away.
The sound of thunder was the symbol of the Tenth Apostle. And that grotesquely sinking howl was the symbol of the Eighth Apostle.
With just one boss, he could barely flee, let alone face it.
If there were two, even escape was impossible.
“Haha.”
And yet Han Woo-hyun laughed.
“Hahaha, hahahaha!”
He laughed as though he had gone mad.
“Nero. Riley Granger. I’ll grant your request. I’ll save the world.”
His eyes sank into madness.
“But I will be different from you. The trash, lunatics, and vermin who ruined the world!”
“I will dominate every last one of them, crush them down, and make them obey!”
―THRUST!
At the same time, he thrust the maple leaf high into the air.
[ Current Items Held: 193,274,728 ]
“Assets.”
[ Character Level: 300 ]
“Might.”
[ Character Ranking: 1st Place (Current Total Players: 1) ]
“And with all the knowledge I possess!”
―FLAAASH…!
A light that defied time flowed out from the maple leaf and enveloped him.
“I will place the world beneath my authority!”
―FLAAAAAASH…!
With that burst of light, the regressor Han Woo-hyun roared.
“That is my revenge!”