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From Master to Bronze: The All-Master’s Return – Episode 001
“…Ugh.”
A heavy groan echoed across the blood-soaked battlefield.
Within that scene, several figures looked toward the source of the groan and clicked their tongues.
“As expected of the All-Master. To still be alive, even with those wounds.”
“The venom of the Ten-Thousand-Year Poison Dragon. The God-Slaying Spear. The Hero’s Sword. The Bow of the Archer God. On top of all those legendary and mythical items brought here… and this is the result…”
“I can’t help but think we did well to nip this in the bud.”
“Huh, we’ll be paid handsomely for this.”
Their appearances were all different.
One had the form of a moment, as if mixing a dragon and a human.
Another had pointed ears and sculpted features.
Yet another had green skin and a body of coarse muscle.
Finally, one was short in stature but had a sturdy build.
Among them, there was only a single human.
“All-Master, Choi Shin-hyeok. Any last words?”
The only one from Earth, the unified league’s Challenger tier, known by the absurd nickname ‘Infinity Supreme’—was Shin-hyuk.
When the moment asked for his final words, Shin-hyeok looked up at him with an incredulous expression.
“You suddenly launch a coordinated attack in a cooperative game… Do you really think you can win a Challenger-tier game without me?”
The place they stood was a Challenger-tier battlefield. Naturally, the enemies they had to face were also Challenger-tier. Losing even one player in such a place was fatal. Considering that defeat in the Challenger tier imposed severe penalties not only on the affiliated dimension but also on the individual players, it was even more so.
But those who attacked Shin-hyeok didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
“True. If we had no preparations, such a thing would have been impossible.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means every Challenger player participating in this game has agreed to your death.”
“……!”
There were 100 Challenger players in this cooperative game. The fact that 99 of them, excluding Shin-hyeok, had agreed to his death left him utterly dumbfounded.
“Without me, you’re nothing special. What could you possibly want to take from a Bronze-tier dimension that you’d plan such madness?”
“……”
The dimension Shin-hyeok belonged to, Earth, was a bottom-tier Bronze dimension among the many. Thanks to Shin-hyeok, it was on the verge of a Silver promotion, but Silver was its limit at best.
“New Humanity Empire. I’m asking, what could your dimension, which belongs to the Challenger tier, possibly lack that you’d do this?!”
Compared to the New Humanity Empire, which must have been central to the coordinated attack, Earth was utterly insignificant. That made Shin-hyeok even angrier.
Then, the moment who seemed to be the leader of the group spoke.
“According to a saying among you humans…”
“……?”
“Does a human need a reason to crush an ant?”
“……Croden. You lizard bastard—”
Shin-hyeok spewed his rage at the dragonkin, Croden, over the reason given with a bloody smile. But that was all he could do.
“Farewell, Choi Shin-hyuk. Divine one born in a frontier dimension.”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
Even as Croden looked at him with pity and sympathy, Shin-hyuk’s body was pierced by weapons, and his flesh, poisoned with extreme venom, no longer responded to his anger.
Croden swung his sword toward Shin-hyeok and said,
“Earth will become your companion on your journey.”
“…Ah.”
Squeak!
The final words. At the mention that Earth would be his companion, an image of Earth after his death flashed before Shin-hyeok’s eyes, and he let out a low sigh.
‘Father… Mother… Shin-woo… Squeak
His parents.
His only sibling.
Finally, his one true friend who always cheered him on, guided him, and later chased after him.
Feeling their images pass by like a panorama,Shin-hyeok closed his eyes.
[Conditions for ‘Another Chance’ have been met.]
[Will you acquire the reward?]
[Error! Error! Error!]
[Target cannot acquire reward in current state.]
[Reward will be automatically acquired.]
What… is this… now…?
The system’s voice echoed in Shin-hyeok mind, as if seeing him off on his journey. And then—
Whack!
“Ugh, this Bronze bastard’s lost his mind.”
“Go buy some bread. Bronze.”
“……?”
A dim alleyway. A throbbing pain in his head. The school uniform name tag on Shin-hyuk’s chest reminded him of his current situation.
[Choi Shin-hyuk / Bronze]
Bronze? Me, Earth’s only Challenger player, am Bronze?
The name tag, shining with the distinct color of bronze that proved it, said exactly that. In that moment, Shin-hyuk remembered that he had once been Bronze in the distant past. His nickname back then was clearly—
“Useless Trash. Have you finally lost your mind?”
“Ugh, with an expected tier of Bronze, if you lose your mind too, all that’s left is getting placed in Iron.”
Useless Trash. A nickname the future Shin-hyeok, known by the absurd title ‘All-Master,’ could hardly even imagine. But that was the reality. That was the past. And now, it was the present.
“Useless Trash… Did I return to my Bronze days?”
Not as the All-Master, but as Useless Trash. Not as a Challenger, but as Bronze in reality.
“Was it all a dream? No, were those all just delusions? That can’t be.”
As Shin-hyeok tore at his hair, agonizing over the suddenly imposed reality, the two boys didn’t leave him alone and swung their fists.
“What’s wrong with this guy?”
“Let’s hit him first. He’ll come to his senses.”
Seeing the fists of the two boys, who wore name tags shining silver, flying toward him, Shin-hyuk let out a hollow laugh at how slow they seemed and dodged them.
Tap— Tadak—
Just two steps. Two fluid movements to lightly deflect the two fists. Shin-hyuk then swung his own fists, striking the jaws of the two boys.
Thwack!
“Squeak!”
“H-how did this Bronze…?”
They never imagined Shin-hyeok would dodge their attacks, let alone counterattack. They couldn’t hide their bewilderment. But they weren’t the only ones bewildered.
‘Huh, they’re not even knocked out from a jaw strike? Just how poor is my condition, my past self?’
Shin-hyeok was shocked by the inferiority of his past body. Of course, the bewilderment didn’t last long.
—Ahem, all students, please gather in your classrooms.
“…You’re saved by the homeroom teacher, you know.”
“We’ll see you on Placement Day, Bronze.”
At the teacher’s voice echoing throughout the school, the two boys, holding their swollen red jaws, grumbled and disappeared. Shin-hyeok watched them leave intently, then followed them toward the classroom.
‘It’s been so long I don’t even remember which classroom it was, but this works. If I follow them, I’ll get to the classroom.’
Thanks to his excellent navigators, Shin-hyeok, who had returned to the past, found his classroom without difficulty.
Squeak—
Opening the back door of the classroom, dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward Shin-hyeok. They looked back and forth between Shin-hyeok and the two boys he had confronted, curious about what happened. Seeing no reason to explain, Shin-hyeok roughly took an empty seat and sat down.
“Shin-hyeok, what happened?”
“…Ah, Su-ah. It’s nothing. They came at me, so I just gave them a fair hit each.”
However, he couldn’t ignore Soo-ah,, who sat in front of him, twisting around to ask.
‘Soo-ah, is so young like this. It really makes me feel I’ve regressed.’
Saint of the Battlefield. A brilliant Paladin of a Dual Class, called the Holy Mother of the upper tiers. But more importantly, she was the only one Shin-hyeok could truly call a friend. The Soo-ah, just before his death was beautiful, but she couldn’t hide her age. Seeing her young appearance, Shin-hyeok swallowed a laugh internally.
“You did, Shin-hyeok?!”
“Han Su-ah. If you want to talk, go outside.”
“Sorry!”
Soo-ah,, startled by Shin-hyeok words, jumped, then was scolded by the homeroom teacher, Han Taehoon, causing a commotion. Once the classroom quieted down after Soo-ah, Taehoon lightly cleared his throat and spoke.
“As you know, today is December 30th. There are two days left until the Placement Exam on January 1st. So, use this day to prepare your minds and your practical preparations well. Show all of Korea that you are the pride of Shinwha High School.”
“Yes!”
“Thank you for the three years!”
“We’ll definitely come back placed in Silver!”
“Me too!”
At Taehoon’s words, the students, also emotional, stood up abruptly with reddened eyes and shouted. Watching them, Shin-hyeok realized what time period this was.
‘December 30th, age 19. Two days left until the Placement Exam.’
Age 19. More precisely, December 30th, right before turning 20. Exactly two days before the ‘Placement Exam’ on January 1st.
‘The Placement Exam… It’s been a really long time.’
The exam seen only once, at age 20 or the moment one first enters the Dimension Arena. As lives were determined by it, the whole world would grow quiet during the exam period. Shin-hyeok had also taken the Placement Exam. And his placement back then was—
‘Iron. Iron 5, to be exact.’
Not even Bronze, which signifies brass, but Iron, a hunk of steel. And not just Iron, but the lowest tier, 5th tier, within the five-tier division. It said it all. As he briefly reminisced about the past memory of being pushed into an abyss of despair—
“Well then, I hope you all spend the 31st well and succeed in the Placement Exam on January 1st.”
“Yes!”
With nods and energetic replies to Taehoon’s words, the students marked the end of the class.
“Shin-hyeok, let’s walk home together. We can talk about the Placement Exam too.”
“Sure.”
As Shinwha High’s sole Bronze-tier student, the Placement Exam was essentially already a lost cause, but Shin-hyuk agreed to Soo-ah,s suggestion.
‘She’s doing it for my sake. Too kind for her own good.’
A noble Paladin who wouldn’t shed a tear before enemies, but a Saint who would cry buckets over a small wound in front of allies—that was Han Soo-ah, Knowing this, Shin-hyeok walked home side by side with her.
Then, as they were walking home together—
“Young Master. Today is the day for the main family’s gathering. Please get in.”
“Ah, that was today.”
A luxury sedan parked in front of the school and a man in a high-end suit. But despite the man’s disrespectful posture, Shin-hyeok didn’t care and recalled today’s schedule.
“The Shinwha Group family gathering is today.”
Shinwha Group. The undisputed top conglomerate in Korea’s corporate rankings. The day for the owning family’s gathering was today. While some might dream of such a position, the past Shin-hyuk was not one of them.
‘The eldest grandson of the youngest son, who has fallen out of favor with Chairman Choi Cheol-ho, the very essence of Shinwha Group. And for a guy with an expected tier of Bronze, such a family gathering was more like poison.’
Just looking at how he was treated at school showed that clearly.
‘How did I handle it in my past life… Ah, I tried to run away but was caught by that secretary and dragged there by force.’
Remembering even the disgraceful acts of his past self, Shin-hyeok gently pushed aside the worried Su-ah and stepped forward. As the man in the suit flinched, ready to run out and catch him if he tried to flee—
“You said to get in.”
“…My apologies. I’ll escort you.”
With a smile in his voice, Shin-hyeok nonchalantly got into the opened back seat. The man, wiping cold sweat, got into the driver’s seat.
Shin-hyeok
“Su-ah, do well on the Placement Exam. Let’s meet after the exam.”
“…Okay.”
Leaving behind Su-ah, who couldn’t let go of her worry until the end, the black sedan carrying Shin-hyeok sped unhesitatingly toward the main house in Pyeongchang-dong
Inside, Shin-hyuk crossed his legs in a manner that seemed arrogant to the driver and gazed out the window.
‘New Humanity Empire. Before I wipe you all out, I need to sort out my family first.’
A second chance granted. With it, he would change his past properly.
