AECS 01

Chapter 01

I am a veteran

There is a mobile game.

The name of the game is “Battle of Summoners.”

It is a very common collectible RPG, just like any other game.

You summon creatures, build a team, strengthen them, fight other players, climb towers, and go on raids…

Its popularity?

Not much.

At first, it became quite popular because it used AI, but not long after, it failed.

The monetization was quite harsh, and the difficulty was too high.

There wasn’t a single material that was easy to obtain, and raising summoned creatures was also difficult.

There were even too many types of summons.

People even joked that the AI creates a new one every time you summon.

That alone says everything.

Since it was such an unfriendly game, it was only natural that it failed.

Casual players all left, and only hardcore fans remained.

The so-called veterans.

Baek Jin-woo was one of them.

He was twenty-four years old.

He had been playing this game since his first year of middle school.

A player of exactly 10 years.

He had achieved many things in this game.

• #1 in Player Battle Rankings!
• Ilcheon (One Above All)!
• Conqueror of Floor 99 in the Tower of Trials!
• Free-to-play Ranker!
• World Record holder for all Daily Dungeon Time Attacks!
• Holder of the fastest clear record for the Chaos Demon Dragon (47 seconds)!

To someone who didn’t know the game, it might not seem like much.

But for players who were deeply involved, these were shocking achievements.

God of Gods!

The idol of veterans!

That was the nickname <JinuGod>, Baek Jin-woo.

Of course.

After spending 10 years playing such a difficult game, what do you think his real life was like?

A complete failure.

His school grades, CSAT scores, and essays all dropped to rock bottom.

He couldn’t even go to college and survived by doing part-time jobs and manual labor.

It’s not that he was stupid.

If he were stupid, he wouldn’t have been able to reach rank 1 without spending money.

Baek Jin-woo was simply obsessed with this game.

Whenever he looked at text in books, information about summons would appear in his mind.

Even when he tried to do something else, he kept thinking about the farming running automatically.

What could he do?

There was nothing he could do.

His mind and heart were already inside “Battle of Summoners.”

That’s right.

Unlike the flashy world of the game, his real life was miserable.

If his parents were wealthy, he wouldn’t worry.

But both of them didn’t earn much.

Still, he had no complaints.

Why do his parents work everywhere and even take on three jobs?

It is all to support Baek Jin-woo and his younger sister, Baek Ah-jin.

They were extremely responsible people.

And also kind.

Kind to the point of being foolish.

Even though their son was a failure, they never scolded him and only encouraged him.

“…What a pathetic bastard.”

Baek Jin-woo swallowed his tears.

“I know. I’m an unfilial son. A useless piece of trash.”

A person raised in such a warm family, yet still lost in a virtual world!

Baek Jin-woo cursed the friend who recommended this game to him in middle school.

Even while cursing, he went to a nearby park and tapped his phone rapidly.

In that world, he communicated with his summons equipped with dazzling runes, used skills, and climbed the tower.

“Please.”

Just the 100th floor of the Tower of Trials…

If I clear that, I’ll return to reality, Mom.

It’s unfair.

I was the first veteran to reach the 99th floor. I can’t quit now!

Even if it was meaningless in reality, for Baek Jin-woo, this was his life.

His everything, the thing that stayed with him through his school years.

Even though they were AI, he connected with his summons and truly respected them.

And that’s not all.

He studied a lot too.

Without studying, you couldn’t properly raise summons or climb the tower.

The vast knowledge of “Battle of Summoners” in his head could surpass that of most experts.

“Just a little more.”

Tap tap tap!

His fingers moved faster on the phone.

He had been challenging the 99th floor for a year now.

Conquering the tower was close.

[Baekcheon: Damn it…! I can’t play this trash game anymore.]
[Rachel: What now?]
[Baekcheon: How did you even clear the 80th floor?]
[Rachel: LOL you’re still there? You were there a month ago too.]

Inside Battle of Summoners, there was a chat system.

A place where players could communicate, and even create private group chats.

[Baekcheon: No, I followed exactly what Sugoi-hyung said!]

Playing alone gets lonely.

So veteran players created a chat room to share information.

There were six people in total.

All of them were at the top of the game.

The so-called One Thousand Five Emperors.

It meant one heaven above five kings.

Five years ago, after Rachel—ranked #2—invited them, the group had stayed active ever since.

[Sugoi: You know everyone has different strategies. It’s meaningless.]
[Baekcheon: No… I’m seriously thinking of quitting lately.]

Baekcheon was a Taiwanese player ranked 6th.

The youngest among the Five Emperors.

His characteristic? He was very rich.

[Baekcheon: You know how much money I’ve spent on this.]
[Sugoi: 300 million.]
[Baekcheon: Yeah! And I still can’t clear the 80th floor!]
[Sugoi: Calm down, you idiot. That money is nothing for you anyway.]
[Baekcheon: What are you saying? Money is still money!]

Sugoi was Japanese.

As expected from an AI-based game, everything was instantly translated.

[Xenos: By the way, did you ask Ilcheon?]
[Baekcheon: Him? Uh… he’s busy these days.]

As Baekcheon hesitated—

[Rachel: Seriously?]
[Sugoi: What are you doing?]
[Moscowman: Idiot]
[Xenos: Pathetic]

Messages of criticism flooded in.

[Rachel: God is in our chat, and you didn’t even ask him?]
[Sugoi: I thought JinuGod was trying a new method…]
[Moscowman: Go die.]
[Xenos: Hopeless.]

The one they called “God”—

The #1 ranked player, JinuGod.

He always cleared impossible stages in unexpected ways.

He also gave advice to the Five Emperors.

Every time he appeared, he solved their problems easily.

So they respected him greatly.

Because if he left the chat, it would be a big loss.

[Baekcheon: Um… JinuGod, are you there? Are you still busy clearing the 99th floor?]

Baekcheon was over sixty years old.

He simply called anyone better than him “hyung.”

[Baekcheon: JinuGod?]

No response.

[Rachel: Wait a bit. He doesn’t check chat often.]
[Sugoi: Yeah, he’ll probably reply tomorrow.]

None of them had passed the 90th floor.

So JinuGod, who was challenging the 100th floor, felt like a god.

[Rachel: If you clear the 100th floor… that’s exactly 10 years, right?]
[Genos: Crazy.]
[Sugoi: I can’t quit because I want to see the ending.]
[Moscowman: Look at his rune setup.]
[Rachel: How is there such a difference between us?]

They were excited.

The impossible tower—

Its top was finally about to be revealed.

[Baekcheon: What happens if you clear the 100th floor?]

There was a notice from the developers.

Clear the 100th floor of the Tower of Trials!
A new world will open!

[Baekcheon: A new world? Will the game change?]
[Rachel: Probably just nonsense.]

[Baekcheon: Or… maybe the world really changes into the game world!]

You know.

A common story.

Reality becomes a game.

And the game becomes reality.

[Moscowman: Idiot]
[Genos: So pathetic]
[Sugoi: You read too many novels LOL]

They laughed.

They didn’t know.

They couldn’t even imagine—

That Baekcheon’s words would become reality.

Two weeks later.

On the way to his part-time job—

“F-Finally!”

A man shouted while tapping his phone.

“Hahahaha! Finally!”

That man was Baek Jin-woo.

His nickname: JinuGod.

“Why is he acting like that?”
“He’s crazy.”

People stared, but he didn’t care.

Finally!

At last!

He cleared the 100th floor.

He defeated the boss and reached the top.

He had sacrificed everything for this day.

“Hahahaha!”

It felt so good that tears came out.

[Clear the Tower of Trials, Floor 100.]

As he took screenshots—

“Huh?”
“What?”

People around him reacted.

Something was wrong.

[Clear the Tower of Trials, Floor 100.]

Why was the message outside the phone?

Why was it floating in the air?

“Ah…”

Had he gone insane?

But others were seeing it too.

[Beta test ends.]
[A new world opens.]

“What?”

At that moment—

Red papers began to fall from the sky.

“…A low-level summoning scroll?”

One for every human.

“What is this—”

Then—

HONK!!!

A loud truck horn—

The driver’s shocked face—

“Ugh!”

He tried to move—

But couldn’t.

CRASH!!!

As he was hit, Baek Jin-woo thought—

“This damn game…”

It was certain.

His life was ruined because of Battle of Summoners.