The world had changed. I lost consciousness, and in that void, a long dream took hold. It was a fantasy of running across vast plains, playing with summoned creatures under an endless sky. “Oh, Si-hyeon…!” “Ugh, Oppa…” “Si-hyeon, you fool… Haaa…” My family’s voices drifted through the dream. Mum, Dad, and my younger sister, Jin-cheol Seo-yeon. Each time I heard them, a flicker of awareness returned. Ah, I’m dreaming. I remembered the car accident, knew I was unconscious and couldn’t wake up. I have to wake up. I have to find out what that ‘low-ranked summoning scroll’ was, and what happened after I cleared the 100th floor of the Si-ryeon ui Tap. But my body wouldn’t respond. The shock of the accident had been too severe, and it was forcing itself to rest. Damn it. Shit. “Huh?” “Oppa!” “Nurse! My brother just moved his hand! Come quickly!” “Mum! Yes! Right now! I’m serious, hurry!” The voices grew louder, insistent. So loud I couldn’t sleep anymore. I had to get up. Ugh. When Jin-cheol Si-hyeon opened his eyes, he was met with a flash of brilliant white. The light flooded his dilated pupils, so intense it was blinding. “Patient Jin-cheol Si-hyeon? Are you conscious? If you can hear me, blink your eyes.” “Oppa! Can you see me?” Jin-cheol Si-hyeon winced, his brow furrowing. As the light faded, two blurry faces swam into view. A nurse, and a tearful Jin-cheol Seo-yeon. He glanced around, realizing he was in a hospital room. He recognized the logo on the wall—a mid-level hospital in his neighborhood. It made sense; his family couldn’t have afforded anything more. “Ugh…” A raw, scratchy sound came from his throat. His body felt like stone, his muscles devoid of strength. How long had he been lying here? “Can you see my fingers, patient?” He blinked. Once. Twice. “Si-hyeon!” “Jin-cheol Si-hyeon!” Thud, thud, thud! His sister must have called them, because seconds later his mother and father burst into the room in a panic. In that chaotic moment, a thought surfaced through the haze. Huh? The status window still hovered in his vision. [The beta test is ending.] [A new world is opening up.] There was no doubt. It was the same message he’d seen right before the truck hit him. And just below it… [Do you want to start the tutorial?] [Y/N] Those words were there, too. “…” He let out a slow, shaky breath. Mum, Dad… No, the world… What in God’s name happened? It was unbelievable. After he’d regained his senses and listened to his family’s frantic explanation, Jin-cheol Si-hyeon was left speechless. It had been three years since the truck hit him. And on that very day, they said, the entire world had been turned upside down. “…So it’s like this,” Jin-cheol Si-hyeon murmured, struggling to process it all. “A message saying ‘A new world is opening’ appeared in front of everyone, and everyone was given a ‘low-rank summoning scroll.’ Then dungeons started popping up, and if you don’t clear them, monsters come pouring out?” That wasn’t even the worst of it. Apparently, modern weapons were completely useless against the monsters. Not just guns—missiles, tanks, everything. Only summoned creatures could harm them. The only way to fight monsters was with other monsters. Somehow, everyone in the world had become a player in “Hwan-su Dae-jeon.” “Does that even make sense?” “That’s how we all reacted at first.” His father sighed deeply. “It was impossible to believe. But what could we do? It was real.” Jin-cheol Si-hyeon’s father, Jin-cheol Jin-cheol, had seen this new world as an opportunity. Physical limitations had always kept him from manual labor, but summoned creatures? They did exactly as their summoner commanded. The creature he’d summoned was a golem, no bigger than a small child, but it could carry heavy loads with ease. He’d started a new career loading and unloading parcels, and the money he earned had helped pay his son’s hospital bills. “Si-hyeon, I see this as a blessing from the gods.” “This is?” “Honestly, your life was pretty hopeless before, wasn’t it?” “Excuse me?” Wait, Dad. Did you have to be so blunt? “You barely studied since middle school. We were so worried about your future. It wasn’t like you were rebelling or even hanging out with bad friends.” “Is that really something you should say to your son who just came back from the dead?” “I never said it in front of your mother, but I knew you were obsessed with that weird mobile game.” “Ah.” “Hwan-su Dae-jeon.” He thought he’d hidden it so well, but his father had known all along. How could he not have? He’d been completely consumed by it. Though he probably had no idea what kind of game it truly was. “Anyway.” Jin-cheol Jin-cheol rose from the chair beside the bed. At that moment, with a simple wave of his hand through the air—Vroom!—the floor trembled. Rumble…! A small, rocky golem emerged from the tiles. “Don’t be surprised. This is my summoned creature.” “…!” “This isn’t a world where you can succeed just by studying hard anymore. It’s these summoned creatures. The people who know how to handle them are the ones who will succeed now.” Impossible, Jin-cheol Si-hyeon thought, his eyes widening. What the hell is that? It was a Jo-yak-dol Gol-lem, one of the most basic monsters in the game—an E-rank creature, good for nothing but leveling fodder and useless in a real dungeon. Hah. Now he truly understood. For real. The game he knew… it had become reality. “So recover quickly and pull yourself together. You need to start the tutorial.” “…” The tutorial. To hear that word from his father’s lips… This had to be another dream, right? But his father had been living this reality for three years. It was Jin-cheol Si-hyeon who still couldn’t believe it. After a full day of rest, he checked himself out of the hospital. The doctor protested, but he insisted he was fine. He had no desire to lie around any longer. He had to understand what had happened to the world, and fast. [Do you want to start the tutorial?] [Y/N] The damned message kept flashing in the corner of his eye. What would happen if he pressed N? Not that he would. Even if he knew the game inside and out, reality could be different. If he was going to do this, he had to do it right. He spent the day trying to acclimate to his new reality, calming his racing heart while gathering what information he could. But it wasn’t enough. The internet was still the best place to learn. Beep, beep, beep~ beep! Ding-dong! Jin-cheol Si-hyeon keyed in the code and opened the door to his family’s home. His legs were shaking and he was already out of breath, but he couldn’t afford to rest. Thankfully, the password hadn’t changed. It was his parents’ place, a small, old apartment. Unlike his sister, who had gotten into a good university and was living in a dorm, he was still freeloading here. Moving out cost money, after all. His parents weren’t home. They were both working late. “…” A pang of bitterness hit him. He could only imagine how hard they must have worked to pay for their useless son’s medical bills, already struggling just to make ends meet. He clenched his fists. If this was real. If this world was truly the one he knew… Then the ten years he’d wasted would finally pay off. He could turn a decade of being a burden into a lifetime of filial piety. “First things first.” Computer! He had to turn on the computer. He needed information, as much as he could get. “Unbelievable.” Jin-cheol Si-hyeon clicked his tongue as he scrolled. Everything his father said was true. [Korea's Top 10 Players! A-Rank Summoner Clears Dungeon!] [Perennially Last Place. Is Korea's Future Doomed? A So-Called Gaming Powerhouse?] [Korea's Top University to Establish a Summoner Department!] Every single news article was about summoned creatures. Summoners here, summoners there. And then he saw it. “Huh?” [Where is Korea's 'Shin Si-hyeon'?] “Shin Si-hyeon?” He froze, an article title catching his eye. He couldn’t help but click on it. That was his ID. Click! In the international league rankings, which determine the benefits a nation receives, Korea has once again ranked near the bottom. The continued poor performance has left top league players from other countries puzzled. According to Oh Ha-rin, the top-ranked player in the UK, Korea is home to a phenomenal player known as 'Shin Si-hyeon'… She also mentioned that she learned a great deal from him. That's not all. Japan's top-ranked player, Yoon Min-ho, also had this to say: "Korea must find Shin Si-hyeon as soon as possible. It is imperative for the sake of Korea, and for the sake of all humanity, who must ascend the Si-ryeon ui Tap. If they don't find him? Mankind will have no future." He stressed the absolute importance of Shin Si-hyeon. Meanwhile, experts… “…Crazy.” He was stunned. “These are the guys I knew, right?” The so-called top-tier players. The One Heaven, O-gun. The name was cringey as hell, but they were the people he’d spent nearly five years with, fighting alongside them, sharing strategies. They had been close. “Yoon Ji-seok… So his real name is Yoon Min-ho.” Ha. Jin-cheol Si-hyeon took a deep breath. Player vs. Player battles, raids, dungeons, the Si-ryeon ui Tap, runes, synthesis shops, improvement workshops… all of it was real. It was like some twisted joke played by the gods. “…If that’s the case.” If this was really happening. A fierce determination filled Jin-cheol Si-hyeon’s eyes. “This is huge.” This was bigger than winning the lottery. “Hwan-su Dae-jeon” had been his life, his everything. Even now, after waking from a three-year coma, information about every summoned creature, every dungeon, every strategy, flowed through his mind as if it were second nature. With this knowledge alone… this was his chance to completely change his life. [Do you want to start the tutorial?] [Y/N] “…” Jin-cheol Si-hyeon stared at the status window again. Right now, he had nothing. No runes, no summoned creatures, nothing. But he was confident. When it came to this game, he knew he could be the best in the world. “Yes.” He reached out and pressed the shimmering letter. Let’s do this. [The tutorial begins.] The moment he made his choice, a brilliant light washed over his vision, followed by a stream of information on how to control the new interface. [By saying 'Status Window', you can see your status.] [By saying 'Summoned Creature Information', you can see the list of your summoned creatures.] … [By saying 'Summoning Scroll Window', you can view the status of your summoning scrolls.] [Saying 'Item Window' will allow you to view the status of various materials and runes.] And then… [This is your first day of attendance.] [Attendance Reward has arrived.] [Reward: Low Rank Summoning Scroll x 1] They even had attendance rewards. [Now say “Summoning Scroll Window.”] “…” So the tutorial had begun. It seemed the first step was to teach him how to summon. After all, you couldn’t do anything without a creature. “Summoning scroll window.” As he mumbled the words, a new window materialized before him. [Summoning Scroll Inventory] 1. Low Rank Summoning Scroll x 2 Vroom! Two crimson scrolls floated in the air above the window, bathed in a soft light. One from the day of the accident, and one from the attendance reward. Two in total. [Please place your hand over the summoning scroll.] Whoosh. He reached out, his fingers brushing against a tangible surface. Before he knew it, he was holding two physical scrolls. [Tear the scroll.] [A random summoned creature will appear, and you will be able to tame it.] [You may feel a slight vibration.] [Be careful!] [It is recommended that you do this outdoors.] “Hoo.” He let out a tense breath. Even for someone like him, who had once been called one of the One Heaven, summoning a useless creature right now could be disastrous. Something like that Jo-yak-dol Gol-lem his father had… “Well, it did say to go outside.” Nodding to himself, Jin-cheol Si-hyeon stepped out of the apartment. “Please, give me something I can work with.”

Chapter 2: You Opened The Scroll