APGD 01

chapter 01

99th Year Debut
Pro Gamer

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Prologue

The game Battle of Legend—known simply as BOL—was the most successful game in history, surpassing 300 million players worldwide.

As an AOS (MOBA) title, its foundation was 5v5 team matches, and BOL had become immensely popular as an eSports competition as well.

And now—
Among all BOL tournaments, the largest and most prestigious of them all, the Worlds Championship, was underway.

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[And with the Nexus falling, GG~!!]
[The match is over!]
[Starting from the semifinals! What an incredible, nail-biting series, no less than the finals themselves!]
[Yes, this one was legendary! Absolutely insane in the best way possible—the Worlds keeps breaking records for excitement!]
[And the team that has secured the last ticket to the grand finals of the 2017 Worlds Championship is… the defending champions from the Chinese league, Luning Ravens!]

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The eSports stadium was always filled with fiery energy.

Ba-ba-bam!
Ba-ba-ba-bam!

Grand yet upbeat music filled the air.

“Wooooaaaaaaahhh!!”

And when that was combined with the roars of thousands of fans—
The stadium reached a fever-pitch climax.

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[With this, all the Korean league teams have been eliminated!]
[On the other hand, this sets up an all-Chinese finals, confirming their third straight Worlds victory!]
[“Yusang Esports” truly gave it their all until the very end, but it’s a shame for them.]
[Yes! From set one to set five, their Tactic Maker, player Lee Do-Soo, really shined with his incredible plays…!]
[It really was just a hair’s breadth of difference!]
[But in the end, the fact that it was another “Tactic Maker, please carry! Please!” type of match shows that the team itself was outclassed overall…]

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While commentators from around the world poured out their fiery commentary, dazzling lights shone down on five pro gamers.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those five.
I wasn’t today’s protagonist.

In the end, the losers are nothing more than premium supporting actors for the winners.

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“Haa…”

A long sigh welled up from the depths of my chest.

Quietly, I packed away my personal gear—keyboard, mouse.

The moment had come for me to exit the stage, like a supporting role should.

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Beeeep—

Suddenly, an ear-splitting ringing and a blinding headache hit me.

As if a flashbang had exploded, my vision turned completely white.

The pounding BGM, the cheers of the crowd—they all vanished.

All at once, my senses were severed, leaving only a chilling inner silence.

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“Failed again, huh?”

My hands, busy stuffing equipment into my bag, froze.

Because I realized it was pointless anyway.

Why?

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Ding!

[Mission failed.]

Once again, I had failed to “prove” myself.

And the cost of that failure was—

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[In accordance with the Pact, a penalty will be applied to ‘Lee Do-Soo’.]

Death.

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Thud!

A crushing chest pain stole my breath. My vision began to darken.

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[‘Lee Do-Soo’ has died.]
[Initiating regression to the year 2015.]

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* * *

Before experiencing my first regression—
I wasn’t a pro gamer.

No, I was someone who could never become one.

Because as a child, I had suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident.

The aftereffects left me with unilateral tremors in my right arm—a form of essential tremor.

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“Due to the shock of the accident, part of the brain—especially the motor control area—was severely damaged.”
“Yes, there’s some chance of recovery, but realistically, a full cure looks very difficult.”
“I know it’s hard to accept right now, but the important thing is your willpower. Let’s continue rehab for as long as possible.”

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Of course, it wasn’t like daily life was impossible.

With consistent rehab, I could live mostly on my own.

Even if I looked like someone with tremors, I could still play games.

I held the keyboard in my trembling right hand, and gripped the mouse with my steady left hand, and enjoyed BOL that way.

I even managed to stay in high Master tier.

But going higher—to Grandmaster, or the pro-level Challenger tier—was impossible with my condition.

Still, I never stopped playing BOL.

And I never missed watching pro matches, whether Korean or international.

Looking back, my passion wasn’t ordinary at all.

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[And that’s the end of the match!]
[Wooooaaaaahh!!]
[The 2020 Worlds Championship trophy goes once again to the Luning Ravens!]

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Maybe that’s why.

I always had this unquenchable thirst inside.

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“If not for the accident…”

If only I hadn’t suffered that accident as a kid.
If only I didn’t have these aftereffects.

Then one of the players holding up that trophy on stage—
It definitely could have been me.

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“What, they’re losing 0–3 to the Chinese team again?”

Especially when I watched the Worlds—

“Why can’t perfectly healthy guys play any better than this?”

I’d often think such immature thoughts.

And that’s why—
The devil’s whisper was something I simply couldn’t resist.

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<So, those aftereffects. I can erase them for you.>

In a space where I couldn’t even tell if it was dream or reality,
An unreal being appeared before me.

His words were an unbearably sweet temptation.

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<I’ll return your body to how it was before the accident. Perfectly.>

There was no way I could refuse.

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<In exchange, within three years, you must become the best.>

Of course, inside that enticingly red apple was a deadly poison.

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“What happens… if I fail?”

The devil didn’t even bother to hide it.

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<Fail? Then you die.>
<And you’ll be trapped forever in the cycle of ‘Proving’.>

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So why swallow the poisoned apple, even knowing?

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“I’ll do it.”

Because if I didn’t seize this chance, I’d never even get the chance to try—until I died.

And at the time, honestly, I believed I could do it.

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<Good. The contract is sealed.>

And so, I began the life I had always longed for—a pro gamer’s life.

And today—

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Ding!

[‘Lee Do-Soo’ has died.]
[Initiating regression to the year 2015.]

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Once again, I faced death—
A death I had already lost count of.