The whole world turned gray and stopped.
[Savor the memories! Feel the memories...]
Then, a confirmation window popped up with graphics that looked as though they were packed with childishly colorful autumn leaves.
It seemed designed to stir nostalgia with its gaudy, old-fashioned colors.
"···."
Naturally, however, Han Woo-hyun could not sympathize with that intention.
Even though he had played the game that mad players had used to destroy the world for over twenty years since its launch.
It was only natural that he felt neither nostalgia nor longing.
[What moment of memory do you wish to visit?]
Yet the status window asked its question without caring about his feelings in the slightest.
“As far back as possible. As far back as you can send me. Before the world ended. No, much earlier than that.”
Han Woo-hyun, who naturally had not expected any comfort from it, answered at once.
The farthest past possible.
Ideally, the best answer would be a time before that cursed game had even launched.
[Searching...]
[Error! Conflict found with character creation date.]
[The farthest memory you can currently visit is 7,305 days ago.]
··As expected.
Naturally, there were limits.
Tch.
Exactly twenty years ago. More precisely, midnight on January 1, 2025.
A game was overlaid upon the world.
Therefore, if he was going to return to the past, he had to return at least to that moment.
The first week of chaos and madness.
Because during that time, many powerful top-ranked players died meaningless, futile deaths.
However, that was only the bare minimum. Ideally, the farther back into the past he went, the better.
Even without player abilities or items, he could use all the knowledge he possessed to make preparations and take countermeasures in advance.
Unfortunately, it seemed that was impossible.
“Since this is the current character’s play record, the first record must be when the character appeared in reality.......”
It was regrettable, but since this was the best he could do, he had no choice.
[Date Set: January 1, 2025]
[Do you really wish to return to a moment of memory? This choice cannot be undone!]
[Caution! This item is a consumable item and will disappear ‘permanently’ upon use.]
[Caution! Stat changes or losses may occur during the process of returning to a moment of memory.]
[ Yes / No ]
At last, just before pressing Yes.
“Hmm.”
He checked the warning phrase once more.
A sentence that definitely did not state that items other than [Maple Leaf of Memories] would be lost.
If it specifically warned only about ability stats, then that had to mean the other elements would be preserved.
[ Current Items Held: 193,274,728 ]
That meant he could take his inventory with him.
The greatest backbone and stepping stone of his plan.
Countless items he had gathered while wandering the world for twenty years.
Discontinued items from every server around the world, and items created through development and testing by geniuses in reality.
“…Yes. January 1, 2025.”
After he finished checking all of those items, he finally made his decision.
He wished to return to that time.
[Confirmed. Returning to that memorable moment! Joyful memories of the old days! Thank you for playing World of Yggdrasill!]
“Memories? Joyful memories? What nonsense...”
―BOOM...!
With his mockery, the maple leaves burst forth in a dazzling explosion.
―WHOOOOSH...!
Colorful autumn leaves scattered, covering his surroundings as if pouring down in countless numbers.
***
"...Ah."
Han Woo-hyun came to his senses.
[ Character Name: Arthur ]
Click. Click.
―CLACKCLACKCLACK!
He was typing on the keyboard.
Why?
To hunt in the game.
Which game?
World of Yggdrasill.
The game that Han Woo-hyun had not stopped playing for a single day from his elementary school days, through graduating middle school, dropping out of high school, being expelled from university, and all the way to the present.
Behold! The true workers of this world! We sing of our suffering!
We will endure extreme pain every day and uphold our values!
O God, help me! If there is a God, please listen!
On one side of the screen, a YouTube video was playing for him to watch while hunting.
Seeing the so-called righteous young man singing, it seemed to be a musical video.
It was the sort of multitasking users commonly did because hunting was too boring.
“K-Kuh, kh-kh-h-h...!”
Han Woo-hyun sobbed as he watched that hateful screen.
A game whose service had ended when enraged players destroyed the game company and its servers immediately after the world was turned upside down.
The greatest proof that time had truly, truly turned back.
In front of the screen lay soggy ramen and kimchi with a sour smell.
Had he left it there to eat while playing the game?
―Clatter.
Han Woo-hyun picked up the kimchi with trembling hands and chewed it.
―Crunch.
Sour, spicy, and salty.
It tasted absolutely terrible, but it was a taste from a memory so distant it felt ancient.
When was the last time he had eaten Korean food?
“Kuhhhhhhh…!”
Han Woo-hyun laughed.
It was not a laugh of joy, but a mad laugh mixed with despair and hope.
"···Ha."
He stopped laughing and naturally took his hands off the keyboard.
―Halt.
The character that had been hunting also stopped moving.
[Would you like to exit the game?]
Click.
[Caution! The effects of the 32 currently applied buff skills and 14 buff potions will be removed!]
[Caution! The effect of the ‘Spirit Necklace,’ heated for 8 hours and 25 minutes, will reset when you exit the game!]
Warning messages poured down.
But Han Woo-hyun did not care at all.
Click.
Because none of that mattered to him anymore.
The one standing here now was no longer Han Woo-hyun, a patient with depression, paranoia, and anxiety disorder who had sacrificed twenty years of his life to a trash game.
A man who had fought and survived against absurd boss monsters and Villain Players hundreds, even thousands of times over decades.
A master of skill-based combat.
The number one player in tactical command.
A veteran raid leader of great boss raids.
The world’s strongest tank and Paladin.
The final player who had collected every item in the world.
And yet, a regressor from a ruined world who had ultimately failed.
He was simply Arthur.
“Then I need to move... huh?”
Talking to himself was a habit formed during the long years he had spent wandering alone before his regression.
Han Woo-hyun, who had been about to rise naturally from his chair, felt a slight sense of unease.
―Creak...
A fat, bloated body. Oily skin and hair.
Both his body and the speed of his thoughts were unbelievably slow.
Dull.
It felt alien because it was so different from the ideal, even transcendent player body he had possessed before his regression.
―Slide.
So, naturally, he checked the time.
[December 31, 2024, 11:59:01 PM]
A time slightly different from what he had expected.
It was not immediately after gamification, but right before it.
All the better.
No, if anything, it was better.
The day the world was overlaid with a game was January 1, 2025, by South Korean time.
At midnight that day, all players fell into a drowsiness so severe that they could not possibly stay awake.
Normally, even hardcore gamers who played all night would have been forced to bed by that drowsiness.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Han Woo-hyun would also have dozed off without thinking around this time.
“Phew.”
With tension spreading through his entire body, he decided to endure it this time.
The process of a wretched human body transforming into a player’s avatar.
This was an opportunity to experience that process directly.
Han Woo-hyun glared and gritted his teeth.
―GRIND!
He bit down hard.
―Ngh!
Soon, he felt an unbearable drowsiness.
[December 31, 2024, 11:59:55 PM]
But he endured it.
For twenty years, Han Woo-hyun had faced countless boss monsters and Villain Players.
He had not been able to defeat all of them.
But he had always survived.
Compared to all those terrible things and all those terrible years…
This mere drowsiness was nothing.
[December 31, 2024, 11:59:59 PM]
And so.
“I will make it happen. I will… change everything.”
―SHAAAA...!
With that resolve repeated in his heart, his vision was bathed in white light.
[January 1, 2025, 00:00:00 AM]
―WOOOOONG-WOOOOONG-WOOOOONG!
The pineal gland in the center of his brain unleashed explosive power.
The source of all transcendent player abilities.
The hidden true brain that Descartes claimed existed deep within the mind, governing the soul and mysteries.
―CRACKLE, CRACKLE!
―BZZZZT!
The Yggdrasill Force spread out from the pineal gland like a pulse, remodeling, twisting, and sublimating his body into a form suited to wielding power.
"···!"
One second.
No, it was a moment not even 0.1 seconds long.
However, Han Woo-hyun, who had focused all his attention, clearly felt it.
Branches of spreading power.
The energy source that became the origin of all power, mystery, and magic within the game.
―SCREECH...!
―BZZZZZZT...!
Structures spread out in order, piercing through the diencephalon, the entire brainstem, the cerebrum, then the cranial nerves, spinal nerves, and every last terminal peripheral nerve throughout his body.
―WHOOSH!
―WHOOSH!
At the same time, the muscles, bones, and blood throughout his body burned as if evaporating.
They were replaced by transcendent substances.
He clearly felt that entire process.
“Hmph, hmph, ngh...”
It was tremendous pain.
Far from falling asleep, the pain was so severe that he doubted he could have endured it even if he had fainted.
“Ngh...!”
But he endured it.
It was worth enduring.
The branches, structure, and sequence of the power and energy extending from the pineal gland, dominating it, and manipulating it…
All of it was drawn out as though engraved into his brain.
He could understand it.
"Ah···."
Han Woo-hyun was a veteran player, but he had never been a player who could perfectly control his power.
Now, it was different.
He had clearly felt and understood the process.
He could feel that he would now be able to handle his abilities more skillfully.
Because he had clearly witnessed the principle by which the Yggdrasill Force moved through and dwelled within the body.
And then.
[January 1, 2025, 00:00:01 AM]
One second that felt like hell passed.
―FLASH.
Han Woo-hyun slowly opened his closed eyes.
The resolution of the world had changed.
It was clear and sharp, and everything appeared precise.
The position of his field of vision had changed as well.
It had risen by about twenty centimeters.
Needless to say, his strength, brain processing speed, and reaction speed had all changed too.
It was time for the final inspection.
―Step. Step.
Han Woo-hyun went to the bathroom to look in the mirror.
In the past, he had not wanted to face his original self, so he had deliberately not kept a mirror in his room.
The only mirror was in the bathroom.
“Status window.”
Han Woo-hyun muttered while looking at a sculpted Western man with blond hair, blue eyes, and artistic nine-head proportions.
His voice was sweet, utterly unlike the hoarse, cracked, phlegm-filled voice he had possessed two minutes earlier.
===
Character Name: Arthur
Character Ranking: 1st Place (Current Total Players: 1,022,941)
Class: Paladin
Level: 3??
...
===
And with that first call, the status window appeared.
A notification rose before his eyes.
[You have reached Lv. 300!]
[Lv. 20 Unique Skill ‘Queen’s Shield’ is transcending...]
[Acquiring Lv. 300 Transcendence-Grade Skill ‘Absolute Defense’···##@%₩&]
[Error! Error! Error!]
“What?”
At the sudden, unexpected alert, Han Woo-hyun let out a question.
[Resetting character stats···₩&%@]
[Error··· Error··· Oh#₩@&]
With a flash that sounded like crackling static, the status window went out as though it had exploded.
“Damn it... what is this?”
His flustered voice echoed through the empty space.