―PSHH!
He opened a can of cola from the refrigerator to think calmly.
In truth, what he wanted to drink right now was handmade cola made by squeezing the juice from ripe lemons and limes, but he had no time to waste on that sort of thing now.
··Riley had loved the cola he made by mixing sugar and fruit juice himself.
“Useless thoughts.”
Han Woo-hyun grimaced and brought the cola can to his mouth.
―GULP!
“···The sweetness is a little off.”
In any case, it was real cola for the first time in ten years.
It felt as though his head had cleared a little.
“Let’s look again. [Status Window].”
―Bzzzzzt···
“···.”
The status window still showed no function whatsoever. Glaring at it, Han Woo-hyun decided to calmly consider the reason and mechanism behind it.
Could the warning that there might be changes or losses in stats have meant that something could go wrong with the status window?
It was a completely unexpected problem.
“Tch.”
However, he did not feel that great a sense of crisis.
The status window was literally only an information window that displayed a player’s information. It was not the source of a player’s abilities.
In other words, even if he did not have it, it would not cause any major obstacle to his plans, including combat. There would be a few inconvenient points, but that was all.
He could simply test and confirm his exact stat levels directly.
For now, it seemed he needed to check something else first.
“[Inventory]!”
Because there was something even more important than the status window.
―FLASH!
His eyes swiftly skimmed over the list of items.
“My endgame equipment is all here, and the things I need are also···.”
Fortunately, all the items he had brought from the future remained intact.
[ Current Items Held: 193,274,728 ]
Han Woo-hyun had been the raid member who remained active alongside Riley Granger until the very end.
Therefore, he had inherited every item the United States government, the raid party’s sponsor, had created or gathered.
After the United States government and the rest of the world collapsed, those items had been consumed little by little, but there were still many left.
After Riley died, he had hunted countless Villain Players as well.
He had swept up and brought with him the precious items they had obtained by betraying and threatening other players.
-[...]
-[Brain Normalizer No. 3 x9]
-[Brain Normalizer No. 4 x8]
-[...]
From devices capable of modifying the Force, the source of player abilities, and the organ from which that Force originated.
-[Orichalcum Ingot x5,241]
-[Mithril Ingot x4,987]
-[Adamantum Ingot x5,031]
Top-tier crafting materials that did not exist in reality and possessed properties that distorted the laws of physics.
-[...]
-[Elixir (Modified) - Type B x421]
-[Elixir (Modified) - Type C x309]
-[Elixir (Modified) - Type D x402]
-[...]
Even elixirs created by the world’s greatest biochemists and physiologists by decomposing and synthesizing the highest-grade recovery potions from the game.
-[...]
-[A-32-C Blueprint]
-[A-32-D Blueprint]
-[...]
Blueprints for countless theoretical weapons, armor, and machines that could never be created in the future.
-[...]
-[Player Combat Doctrine - Space Warrior]
-[Player Combat Doctrine - Druid]
-[Player Combat Doctrine - Biker]
-[Player Combat Doctrine - Bounty Hunter]
-[Player Combat Doctrine - Gunslinger]
-[Advanced Study Textbook of Physical Distortion Arts: by Alon Muhammad]
-[Advanced Study Textbook of Force Combat Arts: by Zaila Ramo]
-[...]
Even future military science textbooks that could turn players, who were nothing more than children with great strength, into true superhumans.
All of those items slept within his Inventory.
Han Woo-hyun continued scrolling down the window until his gaze finally stopped in one corner.
“[Gold Ingot] x1.”
A large, plain-looking lump of gold dropped onto his hand.
―THUD.
A ten-kilogram gold ingot.
In the game, it had been a mid-grade crafting material, and after the Blacksmith System was deleted, it had become a discontinued junk item.
Because it was a substance perfectly identical to real-world gold, Han Woo-hyun, realizing its usefulness, had gritted his teeth and scraped it together over the twenty years before his regression.
-[Gold Ingot x20,218]
Hundreds of tons of gold.
It was wealth unbelievable for a single individual to possess, and a physical asset on a scale capable of shaking the world economy.
It was the foundation of his plan to make all players obey him, swallow the entire world, and rule it.
“···Haa.”
Yet even while looking at an asset of such transcendent scale, Han Woo-hyun sighed.
Because despite how vast it was, it was by no means ample enough to successfully carry out all of his plans and obtain the results he needed.
Creating the sole organization of players that would encompass the entire world.
Hiring and cultivating countless experts to support it.
Crushing and suppressing every villain who interfered or resisted.
Restraining and controlling the governments of every nation, who would not obediently cooperate with that process.
Researching items so they could surpass the level of the game system.
··There was far too much he had to do. Too much to count one by one.
“Phew.”
Still, even so.
Compared to his worries that something might have gone wrong with the regression itself…
Overall, it was not a bad result.
He had successfully brought back every one of the countless items from the past and future.
He had perfectly understood and memorized the process by which the world would collapse, as well as all the knowledge and information he needed.
He would need to test his stats to know for certain, but at the very least, he did not feel absurdly weaker than he had been before his regression.
―WHOOSH!
―WHOOSH!
He bent and stretched his arms and legs once, loosening his body, then prepared to lightly check his physical performance.
“Hup···!”
Han Woo-hyun imagined drawing light up through his entire body.
―WOOOOONG!
Soon, a transcendent energy flowed through his whole body, strengthening his flesh another level.
Fortunately, although he seemed a little weaker…
His stats themselves were almost similar to before his regression.
“[Absolute Defense].”
―SHWAAAK!
The max-level special skill was also slightly unstable, but as long as he adjusted it delicately, there seemed to be no great problem with using it in actual combat.
“Hmm···?”
Han Woo-hyun, who had been maintaining the shining barrier around his entire body, frowned again.
Because he felt the Force, the source of all skills and player power, unsteadily bottoming out.
“What is this···?”
He focused once more and examined its state.
“At this level, is it the initial value of 100? Damn it···.”
He let out a deep sigh and glared at the status window that refused to appear beyond static.
“···No. No, it isn’t. If I adjust it properly··· yes.”
The Force had fallen to an absurd value compared to its original level. Naturally, he had grown weaker compared to before his regression.
―WOOOOONG!
But to a veteran player like him, it was not a hopeless level.
If Han Woo-hyun handled it delicately, it felt like 300··· and in short bursts, about 500.
―WOOOOONG···!
It was absurdly low compared to the maximum of 2,000.
But his experience and ability in operating Force had reached the extreme.
That allowed him to display power beyond the limits of his stats.
Of course, it was not truly unrelated to his Force value.
In his current state, prolonged battles against players or bosses would be impossible.
“Hmm.”
Force was not as absolute an indicator of strength as one’s primary stat.
However, it was the next most important stat.
Because it indicated control, balance, circulation, recovery, stability, and more.
“···.”
But it was all right.
Because for now, martial strength was not important.
It would take some time, but if he monopolized all of the first boss-clear rewards, he could raise that value as well. In any case, it was within the scope of his plan.
On top of that, for about a month after player awakening, levels, stats, and Force were not particularly important.
The players born from game-addicted shut-ins would spend that time barely managing to imitate their newly awakened skills.
They could not be his match after he had completely mastered all manner of techniques and power operations through countless real battles over twenty years.
―Tick. Tock.
Having organized his thoughts up to that point, Han Woo-hyun checked the time again.
12:30 AM.
There was not much time.
For now, all the players were still asleep, but soon they would begin waking up one by one.
And they would become aware of their changed states.
Not only would they become aware of them, they would also try to do something enormous with those abilities.
So now, it was time to move.
―Rustle.
He roughly put on the rag-like tracksuit lying around his home and left.
Fortunately, his studio apartment was in northern Gyeonggi Province, so it was not too far from Jongno.
“···.”
The largest gold and jewelry shop among those operating twenty-four hours a day.
Before coming, he had checked that it was a gold exchange frequently used by foreigners as well. In other words, it was a place with transaction patterns that suggested it might be involved in tax evasion or concealed trades.
―Halt.
Just before entering, his steps stopped.
―Seoul 24-Hour Pork Backbone Stew! Original Grandma’s Homemade Taste!
A soup-and-rice restaurant.
Originally, it was food he had not liked at all, but right now, it drew his gaze too intensely.
It had been more than ten years since he last ate Korean food at all, let alone soup and rice.
The last time he remembered putting food other than potions into his mouth was five years ago.
It was an unbearably tempting sign.
“···I don’t have time to waste.”
Han Woo-hyun had already returned to the past.
He could eat as much food as he wanted once he finished all his work.
Moreover, unlike the old days before he became a player, when he used to stuff himself with nothing but ramen and fried chicken…
For the past ten years, Han Woo-hyun had been treated as a top-priority figure in the United States.
Because of that treatment, his palate had naturally become extremely refined, quite apart from the period after the world’s destruction, when good food had been hard to obtain.
In the dry, ruined world, his thirst for excellent food had risen to an extreme level.
Since players did not necessarily need to consume nutrients anyway, he had reached the point where he would not even touch food unless it was fairly high-class.
In other words, his mouth was no longer one that could enjoy just anything.
Therefore, even if he ate soup and rice from a place like that, he probably would not be all that satisfied.
“On the way back, after I finish everything I need to do···.”
Suppressing that thirst for memory, he went inside.
―Jingle!
“Welcome.”
“Hello··· Nice to meet.”
“I don’t have time, so let’s make this quick.”
“Oh, your Korean is good···.”
“They’re gold ingots. 24-karat. Two ten-kilogram gold bars.”
“Y-you want to exchange twenty kilograms? Now?”
The eyes of the gold shop owner, who saw the gold ingots placed on the table, filled with greed.
“···But there’s no certification mark stamped on them. Do you have, well, certificates?”
“I do not. Is that a problem?”
“It’s not that it can’t be done, but in that case there’s a lot to check, and the tax issues get complicated···.”
Han Woo-hyun frowned.
“Will it take long?”
“We don’t have many employees right now, so probably until tomorrow morning···”
He had no time for this.
Han Woo-hyun glanced at the clock and decided to take a bit of a loss.
“Deduct all taxes and set the final price at 90% of market value.”
“···Pardon? 90%?”
“In exchange, right now. Half in dollars, half in yuan.”
The wrinkled eyes of the gold shop owner widened in shock, then sank back down.
“···Where on earth did these come from? No, no, never mind.”
“Can you do it?”
“Hmm··· just a moment, that’s.”
“Goodbye.”
He turned his back with an exaggerated motion.
Of course, he did not truly intend to leave this quickly.
Even in Jongno, there were not many twenty-four-hour gold shops open at this hour before dawn.
Rather than go to another shop and argue all over again, he simply intended to lower the price further.
“Hey now, wait, wait just a moment. Why are you in such a hurry?”
In any case, he had plenty of gold ingots.
He was only disposing of them clumsily like this because he needed urgent funds right now.
There was no need to be elated or upset over a few hundred million won.
“Can you do it?”
“I can. Of course I can. Dollars and yuan, yes? Just a moment. I have a friend who holds foreign currency separately. If I wake him, he’ll come right away. Please wait ten minutes, no, just five minutes.”
“One more thing. Can you give me 300 million won in Korean won checks?”
“···If an investigation comes in later, we can’t guarantee secrecy.”
“I do not need that. It is fine.”
“If you say so···.”
Fortunately, there was no need to negotiate any further.
“Put it in here, please.”
“It will be quite heavy···.”
“It is fine.”
Because only game items could be placed inside [Inventory], he crammed the dollars and yuan worth 1.5 billion won into a bag.
And then he headed to Incheon.
―Swaaash···
Listening to the sound of waves breaking on the shore, he opened Google Maps.
―Press.
Then he enlarged China, the West Sea, and the Korean Peninsula.
A rough route formed in his mind.
“[Character Preset], [Boss-Fight].”
In an instant, the clothes he wore, which had been nothing but a worn-out tracksuit, transformed into dazzling armor that made him look like a cosplayer.
Through the transcendent cognitive calculation ability that had risen with his becoming a player, he checked the concrete plan in his head once more.
Considering the ability and number of the players who had awakened tonight by server, the order of national importance was Korea, China, Indonesia, and the United States.
The United States was a country that would function well on its own, so for now, there was little need to go there deliberately.
In addition, the Korean players, who were the most important and the strongest, were too numerous, too independent, and especially disastrous in terms of personality and sociality. Therefore, it would be difficult to gather them from the beginning.
In other words, tonight…
Uniting China, occupying the area of Southeast Asia, and declaring a unified guild across every server in the world…
Would be the best plan at the present point in time.
“Haa···.”
If his goal had simply been to eliminate all Villain Players and maintain social order, there would have been no need to take such a difficult route.
He could simply visit every famous villain from before his regression and assassinate them all.
“···.”
However, boss monsters would soon emerge into the world.
As a Paladin ranker, a class designed as a pure tank, Han Woo-hyun could not kill them alone.
He needed a group of other players with exceptional attack power.
In other words, a raid party.
Therefore, he needed not merely to punish the villains, but to make them obey.
“Korea will be last···.”
His gloomy eyes looked down contemptuously at the Taegeukgi floating on the mobile map.
That cursed country, where Han Woo-hyun ultimately had to return by noon today.
The Republic of Korea would be last. He intended to use the authority of the global guild and force its membership forward as though joining were already the prevailing trend.
―THOOM!
Having made his final decision, he kicked off the sandy beach.
―BOOM!
Han Woo-hyun’s form vanished as though blurring.
―SWISH—!
Behind him, a sonic boom erupted as his body accelerated to a speed beyond the domain of human consciousness.
Toward the west.