Chapter 1
“…Kkeuh.”
A heavy groan echoed across the battlefield drenched in blood.
Within that battlefield, several figures looked at the owner of the groan and clicked their tongues.
“As expected of the All Master. To still be alive after taking those wounds…”
“The poison of the Ten-Thousand-Year Venomous Dragon. The Spear of Divine Slaughter. The Hero’s Sword. The Bow of the Bow God. And on top of those, countless legendary and mythical artifacts were brought, yet he’s still this…”
“I can’t help but think we were right to nip this in the bud early.”
“Hmph, we’ll be well compensated for this.”
Their appearances were all different.
Some had the form of dragon-kin, as if a dragon and human had been mixed together.
Others had pointed ears and sculpted features.
Still others had green skin with rough muscles covering their bodies.
And finally, there were those with stocky builds and sturdy frames.
Among them, there was only one human.
“All Master, Choi Shin-hyuk. Do you have any last words?”
The only one was Shin-hyuk, the sole player of Earth’s unified league, the Challenger tier, who was known by the fearsome nickname of Infinite Emperor.
When the dragon-kin asked Shin-hyuk for his final words, Shin-hyuk looked up at him with a dumbfounded expression and said:
“You suddenly launch a combined attack in a cooperative game… Do you really think you can win a Challenger tier game without me?”
The place where they currently stood was the battlefield of the Challenger tier.
Naturally, the enemies they had to face were also Challenger tier.
Playing a game without one person in such a place was fatal.
Especially considering that defeat in the Challenger tier incurred heavy penalties not only to the affiliated dimension but also to the individual player.
However, those who attacked Shin-hyuk didn’t care about that fact at all.
“Right. If we hadn’t prepared anything, such an act would have been impossible.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means that all the Challenger players participating in this game agreed to your death.”
“…!”
There were a total of 100 Challenger players participating in this cooperative game.
The fact that 99 of them, excluding Shin-hyuk, had agreed to Shin-hyuk’s death left him utterly dumbfounded.
“Without me, you’re nothing. What could you possibly gain by planning such insane madness against a Bronze tier dimension?”
“…”
Earth, the dimension Shin-hyuk belonged to, was the lowest among the many dimensions—the Bronze tier.
Thanks to Shin-hyuk, they were on the verge of being promoted to Silver, but at best, it was only Silver.
“The New Human Empire. You’re a Challenger tier dimension—what could you possibly be lacking that you’d do this?!”
Compared to the New Human Empire, which must have focused on the joint attack against Shin-hyuk, it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
That’s why Shin-hyuk was even more enraged.
At that moment, the dragon-kin who appeared to be the leader of the group spoke.
“In the words of you humans, there’s a saying like this…”
“…?”
“Does a human need a reason to crush an ant?”
“…Croden. You lizard bastard—”
Shin-hyuk spat out his rage toward Croden, the dragon-kin, at the reason delivered with a fishy smile.
But that was the end of it.
“Farewell, Choi Shin-hyuk. Divine being born in a frontier dimension.”
“Keuk! Kkeuh! Kuaaaah!”
Even at Croden’s pitiful gaze filled with pity as he looked down at him, Shin-hyuk’s entire body was pierced by weapons, and his body, poisoned by extreme venom, did not respond to his rage.
Croden swung his sword at Shin-hyuk and said:
“Earth will be your companion on the path you’re about to take.”
“…Ah.”
Swish!
The last words.
At the words that Earth would become his companion, Shin-hyuk, who could picture Earth after his death, let out a low exclamation.
‘Father… Mother… Shin-woo… Su-ah…’
His parents.
His only sibling.
And finally, his only friend who always cheered him on and guided him, and later chased after him.
Feeling their images flash before his eyes like a panorama, Shin-hyuk closed his eyes.
—
[Conditions for another chance have been met.]
[Would you like to claim the reward?]
[Error! Error! Error!]
[The target is in a state where rewards cannot be claimed.]
[Rewards will be claimed automatically.]
—
‘What is this… now…’
The system’s voice echoed in Shin-hyuk’s mind, as if seeing him off on his way.
And then—
Smack!
“Ah, you fucking bastard, losing your mind.”
“Go buy some bread, you bastard.”
“…?”
A dark alley.
The throbbing sensation in his head.
The name tag on the chest of Shin-hyuk’s school uniform reminded him of the current situation.
—
[Choi Shin-hyuk / Bronze]
—
‘Bronze? I’m the only Challenger player on Earth, and I’m Bronze?’
It was the name tag that clearly proved he was Bronze, with its distinct copper color gleaming.
Within that, Shin-hyuk remembered the fact that he had been Bronze in the distant past.
At that time, his nickname was definitely—
“Incompetent Trash Picker. Have you finally lost your mind?”
“Ugh, he’s predicted to be Bronze, and if he’s lost his mind too, he’s just got Iron placement left.”
Incompetent Trash Picker.
A nickname that the future Shin-hyuk, known by the fearsome name of All Master, couldn’t even imagine.
But that was reality and the past.
And now it was the present.
“Incompetent Trash Picker, you’ve returned to your Bronze days?”
Not as the All Master, but as the Incompetent Trash Picker.
Not as Challenger, but as the reality of Bronze.
“Was I dreaming? No, they say it was all my delusion? That can’t be.”
As Shin-hyuk tore at his hair, agonizing over the sudden reality that had struck him—
The two people who wouldn’t leave him alone swung their fists.
“What’s wrong with this bastard?”
“Just take a hit first. Getting hit will bring you to your senses.”
Seeing the fists of the two wearing silver-gleaming name tags flying toward him, Shin-hyuk let out a hollow laugh at how slow they seemed, and easily dodged them.
Tap— Ta-dak—
With just two steps.
Two movements fluidly evaded the two fists, and Shin-hyuk swung his own fists, striking both of their chins.
Thwack!
“Guh!”
“Br-, Bronze bastard, how…?”
They never expected Shin-hyuk to dodge their attacks.
Furthermore, they never expected a counterattack, and the two couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
But they weren’t the only ones bewildered.
‘Huh, I struck his chin and he didn’t even get knocked out? Just how bad of a condition was I in, my past self?’
Shin-hyuk was astonished by the pitiful state of his past body.
Of course, his bewilderment didn’t last long.
-Ah, all students are to gather in their classrooms.
“…You. Be thankful the homeroom teacher saved you.”
“See you on placement day, Bronze bastard.”
At the teacher’s voice echoing throughout the school, the two disappeared, clutching their red, swollen chins and huffing.
Shin-hyuk watched them disappear with a blank stare, then followed after them toward the classroom.
‘It’s been so long I couldn’t even remember where the classroom was, so this works out. If I follow behind them, I can get to the classroom.’
—
Thanks to his excellent navigators, Shin-hyuk, who had returned to the past, was able to find the classroom without difficulty.
Creak—
As Shin-hyuk opened the back door of the classroom and entered, dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward him.
They kept glancing back and forth between Shin-hyuk and Dong-hyuk and Ho-bin, whom he had encountered earlier—curious about what had happened between them.
But not finding any reason to explain, Shin-hyuk roughly sat down in an empty seat.
“Shin-hyuk, what happened?”
“…Ah, Su-ah. It’s nothing. They just picked a fight, so I hit each of them once, fair and square.”
He couldn’t ignore Su-ah, who had turned her body around while sitting in front of him and was asking questions.
‘Su-ah when she was this young. It’s really sinking in that I’ve returned.’
The Saintess of the Battlefield.
Later known as the Holy Mother of the upper tiers, she was a dual class who was an outstanding holy knight.
But more importantly, she was the only person Shin-hyuk could truly call a friend.
Until just before Shin-hyuk died, Su-ah had been plenty beautiful, but her age couldn’t be hidden.
When Shin-hyuk was inwardly chuckling at Su-ah’s youthful appearance—
“You, Shin-hyuk?!”
“Han Su-ah. If you’re going to make noise, go outside.”
“I’m sorry!”
Su-ah, startled by Shin-hyuk’s words, flinched, and there was a commotion as she got scolded by the homeroom teacher, Han Tae-hoon.
After Su-ah, the classroom fell silent, and Tae-hoon cleared his throat lightly and spoke.
“As you know, today is December 30th. There are only two days left until the placement exam on January 1st. So I hope you all spend the next day well preparing yourselves mentally and practically. Show the entire Republic of Korea that you are the pride of Shinhwa High School.”
“Yes!”
“Thank you for the past three years!”
“I’ll definitely get placed in Silver and come back!”
“Me too!”
At Tae-hoon’s words, the students, seemingly moved, reddened their eyes and jumped up from their seats, shouting.
Watching them, Shin-hyuk could tell what period this was.
‘December 30th of my 19th year. Two days left until the placement exam.’
19 years old.
And on December 30th, which could be said to be right before turning 20.
To be precise, it was two days before the ‘placement exam’ on January 1st.
‘The placement exam… It’s been a long time.’
A test that could only be seen once, at the moment one turns 20 or first enters the Dimension Arena.
Since life was determined by it, the whole world would quiet down during the placement exam period.
Shin-hyuk had taken the placement exam before.
And at that time, Shin-hyuk’s placement was—
‘Iron. Iron 5, to be exact.’
Not even Bronze, which meant brass, but a lump of steel—Iron.
And it was 5th tier, the lowest among the five tiers—so that said it all.
As he was reminiscing about the past memories that felt like being pushed into a pit of despair—
“Then I hope you all have a good time on the 31st and succeed in the placement exam on January 1st.”
“Yes!”
The students nodded and answered vigorously, signaling the end of the class.
—
“Shin-hyuk, let’s walk home together. We can talk about the placement exam too.”
“Sure.”
In fact, since Shin-hyuk was the only Bronze tier at Shinhwa High School, the placement exam was as good as ruined, but Shin-hyuk agreed to Su-ah’s suggestion.
‘It’s for my sake, after all. She’s so kind-hearted.’
A noble holy knight who wouldn’t shed a single tear before enemies, but a saintess who would burst into tears at the smallest wound in front of allies.
Knowing that was exactly who Han Su-ah was, Shin-hyuk walked home alongside her.
As they were walking home together—
“Young master. Today is the day of the main family gathering. Please get in.”
“Ah, right, that was today.”
A luxury sedan parked in front of the school, and a man in a high-end suit.
Despite the man’s slightly presumptuous demeanor, Shin-hyuk didn’t mind and remembered what was happening today.
“The Shinhwa Group family gathering was today, wasn’t it.”
Shinhwa Group.
A major corporation that was undisputedly number one in Korea’s business rankings.
Today was the day of the family gathering for the owner’s family of such a major corporation.
Some would have dreamed of being there, but the past Shin-hyuk was not one of them.
‘As the eldest son of the youngest son who fell out of favor with Chairman Choi Chul-ho, who could be said to be everything of Shinhwa Group—for a guy whose predicted tier is Bronze, this kind of family gathering was more like poison.’
You could tell just by looking at how Shin-hyuk was treated at school.
‘What did I do in my past life… Ah, I tried to run away, but that secretary caught me and I was dragged there by force.’
Even recalling the disgraceful behavior of his past self, Shin-hyuk pushed Su-ah, who was worried about him, behind him and stepped forward.
The man in the suit, who had been ready to run out and grab Shin-hyuk if he tried to flee, flinched—
“You said to get in.”
“…Excuse me. Allow me to escort you.”
At Shin-hyuk’s smiling words as he casually got into the back seat with the door already open, the man got into the driver’s seat, his cold sweat dripping behind him.
“Shin-hyuk…”
“Su-ah, do well on the placement exam. See you after it.”
“…Okay.”
Leaving behind Su-ah, who couldn’t let go of her worry for him until the very end, the black sedan carrying Shin-hyuk sped toward the main family home in Pyeongchang-dong without hesitation.
Inside, Shin-hyuk sat with his legs arrogantly crossed—so much so that the man in the driver’s seat thought him haughty—and gazed out the window.
‘The New Human Empire. Before I sweep you away, I need to get my family in order first.’
With the thought of using this second chance to properly change his past.
