After walking for what felt like an eternity, Jin-cheol Si-hyeon came to an abrupt halt. He stood in an empty clearing off the mountain trail, a place seldom touched by human feet. A sudden chill traced a path down his spine, raising goosebumps on his arms. “Ha.” He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. ‘The world has become the game I knew.’ The game he’d poured his life into was gone. Vanished. The app itself had been wiped from existence, as if it had never been there at all. “Sigh.” What in the world was happening? He suspected clearing the 100th floor of the Si-ryeon ui Tap had triggered… all of this. ‘Damn it.’ It felt like an elaborate prank, or maybe a hallucination brought on by the aftereffects of his accident. But the cool wind brushing against his skin, the scent of damp earth in the air—it all felt too real. The world he saw was undeniably real. Gulp. Swallowing nervously, Si-hyeon pulled two summoning scrolls from his pocket. They felt familiar in his hands, objects he had used thousands, tens of thousands of times over the past ten years. ‘Yeah.’ In a strange way, this was better. His father had been right about everything. His future had been a dead end. Maybe this new world was a chance, a world that might finally have a place for him. ‘Of course…’ That was all dependent on getting a useful summon right now. The odds for a low-grade scroll were brutal. He knew them by heart. [F Rank: 94%] [E Rank: 5%] [D Rank: 1%] This was one of the core reasons 「Hwan-su Dae-jeon」 had been infamous as a soul-crushingly difficult, luck-based game. The summoning rates were a complete nightmare. ‘Please, just an E-rank. Anything but an F.’ Here goes nothing. Riiip! He tore the summoning scroll with a decisive tug. FWOOM! A blinding flash erupted from the torn paper, lightning arcing across its sundered edges. “Whoa!” Startled, he stumbled backward. [You have used a ‘Low-grade Summoning Scroll’!] [Player ‘Jin-cheol Si-hyeon’ has obtained the summon ‘Ba-ram Yo-jeong’ (EX Rank)!] What? “……” Ba-ram Yo-jeong? The Ba-ram Yo-jeong he knew? No, wait a minute. Forget that. …What did that rank say? Si-hyeon frowned, narrowing his eyes. Through the fading light of the summon, he could make out the dazzling, platinum-colored letters. EX Rank? No way. What the hell was that? The ranks of summons in 「Hwan-su Dae-jeon」 were simple, running from F to S. F, E, D, C, B, A, S. A total of seven tiers. Naturally, the closer a summon was to S-rank, the more powerful it was, and the more impossible it was to obtain. An S-rank summon was the equivalent of winning the lottery. In ten years of playing, Si-hyeon had only ever pulled one. Out of the legendary O-gun, only Oh Ha-rin had managed to summon one. Even an A-rank was a rare prize. After a decade of grinding, a veteran player might have a few. For the first three years after the game’s release, they were practically myths. They only became slightly more common later on. Realistically, a B-rank summon was the best a player could hope for. ‘Wasn’t the chance for that, like, 1% from a high-grade scroll?’ If you pulled one, you thanked the heavens and treated it like a priceless treasure. But EX rank? He’d never seen or heard of such a thing. Besides, low-grade scrolls were only supposed to yield summons between F and D rank. —Yaaawn… What’s going on? Just then, a tiny girl, no bigger than his forearm, materialized in the air before him. She stretched languidly and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Then, her eyes shot wide open in shock. —What the—! I’ve been summoned? For real? She carried a small wand and wore a dress the color of new spring leaves. A pair of delicate, translucent wings fluttered on her back. Her name was ‘Ba-ram Yo-jeong.’ Si-hyeon knew her intimately. How could he not? She was the E-rank summon he had doted on and raised with care back in middle school, when the game first launched. He had no idea why she now bore an ‘EX’ title, but… “Are you… Cho-rong?” —Yeah, I’m Cho-rong… No, I’m the Ba-ram Yo-jeong! Wait a second. You…! The Ba-ram Yo-jeong—no, Cho-rong—stared at him, her tiny face a mask of astonishment. —Only one person ever called me that… Shin Si-hyeon! Who are you?! ‘I should be the one asking that,’ he thought. How was this even possible? And could Cho-rong always talk? As far as he remembered, summons were silent. The nickname “Cho-rong” had just been a custom command he’d set up in the game’s AI chat system. “You said it yourself.” —Said what? “That only one person uses that nickname.” —Then… Cho-rong’s expression shifted to one of pure disbelief. —Could you be… Shin Si-hyeon? Yeah, I’m Shin Si-hyeon. I’m Si-hyeon, you little fool. The Ba-ram Yo-jeong, Cho-rong. An E-rank fairy of the wind attribute, she was a buff specialist. In the early days of the game, she had been the cornerstone of Si-hyeon’s farming strategy. However, she had been unceremoniously deleted during a patch update in the game’s first year. Si-hyeon remembered the day vividly. He remembered the frustration. ‘What was their excuse again?’ They claimed she was overpowered and had been removed for game balance. The summon he had painstakingly raised for a year was gone in an instant. Compensation? There was none. Contacting customer service was useless. They’d spouted some nonsense about the AI flagging her for removal, citing some obscure clause in the user agreement. The jargon-filled documents they sent had nearly driven him mad. At first, he’d been furious, but the anger eventually faded into resignation. ‘They weren’t wrong. I was getting way more out of her than was reasonable.’ Cho-rong. Though officially an E-rank, if you understood her hidden potential and equipped her with the right runes, she became an absolutely broken summon. —JinuuuuuGod! Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you? Waaaaah… The tiny fairy buried her head in Si-hyeon’s chest and began to sob. They were real tears, he realized, as a damp spot slowly spread across his shirt. —Sniff… I got dragged into some weird place… I was trapped and I couldn’t get out… Hic, hic! Listening to Cho-rong’s tearful confession felt completely surreal. He couldn’t help it. This wasn’t just the first time he was seeing her in three dimensions instead of on a phone screen… ‘It’s been nine years.’ It was also the first time he’d ever heard her speak. Summons in 「Hwan-su Dae-jeon」 were not supposed to talk. ‘Hmm.’ Si-hyeon’s mind was racing. Why had she appeared from a ‘Low-grade Summoning Scroll’? First things first. “Status Window.” Let’s see what we’re working with. [Summon: Ba-ram Yo-jeong] [Race: Yo-jeong Tribe] [Rank: EX (Isolated)] – Isolated due to detected balance-breaking factors in certain situations. [Level: 1] [Stats] Strength: 1, Intelligence: 1, Stamina: 1, Agility: 1 HP: 1,000, MP: 0 Critical Hit Rate: 20% Critical Hit Damage: 20% [Skills] – Wind Pressure: Increases the attack speed of a single allied summon by 3% with every swing of the wand. ‘Just as I remembered.’ It was exactly the same as before. Just one meager-looking skill. But that one skill was a game-breaker. As Cho-rong leveled up, her own attack speed would increase. If you equipped her with speed runes and pushed that stat to its absolute limit… ‘It was insane.’ She could exponentially boost the attack speed of any nearby summon. Every swing of her wand added 3%, stacking like compound interest. If she was buffing an A-rank summon? She could elevate its power to S-rank and beyond. ‘I farmed so much with that setup.’ —Anyway! Now that we’re together again, we’re never separating! Okay? Promise? “Hold on.” Si-hyeon gently pushed the still-sobbing Cho-rong away from his chest. —Huh? “I need to ask you something.” —Ask me anything! You’re Shin Si-hyeon! The one who summoned me after I was isolated! I’ll answer anything I can! “What is this ‘isolation’? Who isolated you, and how does summoning work here?” —Uh… Caught off guard by his rapid-fire questions, Cho-rong faltered. Then, suddenly, her face contorted in pain. —Agh! Ow! “Huh? What’s wrong?” —My head! It hurts so much! It must be some damn restriction! A restriction? That came out of nowhere. She winced, looking a little awkward. —Sorry, there’s not much I can tell you. We were isolated, and no matter how many players tried, we couldn’t be summoned. “What do you mean, ‘we’? There were others?” —Yeah. We were all separated, so I don’t know who they were, but… there were definitely more of us. Maybe about ten. Other isolated summons. If there were around ten of them… ‘Damn.’ It all clicked into place. ‘These were the summons the developers removed because they were considered bugs.’ Ten of them, including Cho-rong. It seemed all those broken summons had been reclassified as EX-rank and locked away. —Anyway, Shin Si-hyeon, you’re definitely different from other players. When you tore that scroll, it was like you opened a door for us. Even I was surprised. It’s been so long since I heard a call from a low-grade scroll. Ah. He was starting to understand. Did this mean he was the only one in this new world who had a chance to summon these EX-rank units? Did Cho-rong respond to a low-grade scroll because she was originally an E-rank? This was huge. “Why do you think that is?” —I don’t know either. Hmm. Could this be some kind of reward for clearing the 100th floor of the Si-ryeon ui Tap? In any case… Rip! Si-hyeon tore his second ‘Low-grade Summoning Scroll.’ A moment later… [You have used a ‘Low-grade Summoning Scroll’!] [Player ‘Jin-cheol Si-hyeon’ has obtained the summon ‘Teol-bo Go-ril-la’ (F Rank)!] Ah. The Teol-bo Go-ril-la. He knew it well. A completely useless summon, good for nothing but being used as level-up fodder. This confirmed it. ‘So tearing a scroll doesn’t guarantee an EX-rank.’ In other words, if he wanted to get back the other summons he’d lost over the years… he would need to open a massive number of scrolls. But if he could gather them all, and get them working together? He could become a player far stronger than anyone in the One Heaven. Thump, thump-thump! —Urgh… The newly summoned gorilla lumbered toward him, then lowered its massive frame, placing its knuckles on the ground as if kneeling. What the hell? Was it swearing fealty? “Cho-rong.” —Yes! Shin Si-hyeon! “Stop calling me Shin Si-hyeon. Call me Si-hyeon.” —Ehh? Why? The name Shin Si-hyeon was known worldwide. The O-gun—those veteran players had made sure to spread his name far and wide over the past three years. ‘It’s too early to draw that kind of attention.’ He might have the knowledge and experience, but those players had a three-year head start on him. Plus… ‘If I’m the only one who can use EX-ranks in this world…’ Becoming a target of jealousy right now would be suicidal. If he was going to become a target, it would be after he was already the strongest. “Just do as I say.” —Ugh, fine. You’re still as cool as ever. Hehe! I’m so excited to climb the Si-ryeon ui Tap with you again! We only made it to the 10th floor last time, remember? It was so tough! “The Si-ryeon ui Tap?” —Yeah! “I’ve already cleared it. All 100 floors.” —Whaaat? For real? That impossible tower? “Yeah. I definitely cleared it.” In the game, at least. Things would be a little different now that this was reality. —I guess it has been a long time since we were separated… Cho-rong looked up at Si-hyeon, her expression a mixture of awe and disbelief. Her chubby cheeks were much cuter in person than they had been on screen. “Besides, with your current stats, you wouldn’t even clear the 1st floor, let alone the 10th.” —That’s true… Sniff. I’m completely reset. No runes, and I’m just level one. “So we need to focus on leveling you up. First, guide me to the synthesis station.” That gorilla over there. He planned to use it as synthesis fodder to level up Cho-rong. —Wait, Si-hyeon! “Hm?” —How am I supposed to know where that is! “What?” —I told you, this is my first time here, too. This is your world. You should be the one guiding me. Huh? At that very moment. [You have obtained a summon.] [Proceed to the next step.] A tutorial message shimmered into existence before his eyes. RUMBLE! Blue light surged from the ground with a low groan. [A basic beginner’s dungeon has appeared.] [Please enter.] ‘A dungeon.’ Gulp. Si-hyeon’s throat went dry. He had cleared countless dungeons in the game, had even conquered the 100th floor of the tower, but… This was the first time he’d ever faced one in reality. Was this real? Was he actually supposed to go in there? [Please enter.] Damn it. Of course he was scared. The tutorial monster was the Hwae-saek Neuk-dae, an F-rank. It was laughably weak in the game, but how many people have had a real wolf snarling in their face? Then again, maybe he had nothing to fear. The summons were the ones who would be doing the fighting, right? ‘A world turned upside down.’ He had to adapt. That was the only way forward. He took a deep breath. Then another. Ten seconds of forced calm before he squeezed his eyes shut and lunged forward. It was his first time entering a dungeon.

Chapter 3: The Game Becomes Reality