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Chapter 1
A man is lying down in a hotel suite room.
“This world is a game.”
He wore a stylish suit and a luxury watch worth as much as a decent house.
From head to toe, he is dressed in luxury brands, spouting nonsense with the most harmless expression in the world.
He was none other than Lee Shin, the scoundrel of the LeeDo Group.
“A game, huh…”
The doctor adjusted his glasses and continued the consultation.
“Is it the same game as before?”
“Yes. ‘GM’… That is my only refuge…”
“Alright. That game is called GM, correct?”
“The genre is a growth simulation, a game where you manage a guild…”
“Yes, good. It’s exactly the same. That’s a positive sign, the consistency.”
“Don’t you have any doubts, Doctor?”
“About what?”
“About this world where magic actually exists. Where humans fly through the sky, shoot flames from their bare hands, run faster than cars, and block bullets with their bare hands—oh… What a shocking world this is! Do you really think it makes sense?”
“Why do you think it doesn’t make sense?”
“Why does the sun rise in the east?”
“So you’re saying it’s just natural.”
“Great! Exactly that.”
“I see.”
Despite Lee Shin’s nonsense, the doctor maintained his benevolent expression. And he thought to himself:
‘Then does it make sense that you overdosed and got amnesia?’
About a month ago, Lee Shin had been carried in here by attendants in black suits.
They said he collapsed from overwork. But with those clearly unfocused eyes and the way he was shouting things like “Wow, bunny, hop hop!”, it was obvious to anyone he was high.
Of course, in such cases, the manual says to report to the police first…
But the doctor was also a self-employed medical professional.
The stack of cash before him was far too thick to stick to the manual.
And so, after much trouble, Lee Shin regained consciousness in three days—
—Amnesia.
He remembered nothing. Absolutely nothing.
With hands neatly folded, Lee Shin continued the consultation.
“When I opened my eyes, there was an unfamiliar ceiling above me, and my limbs were tied up. If you hadn’t appeared, Doctor, I would have thought I’d been abducted by aliens. Do you remember the first thing I said back then?”
“Of course.”
The doctor remembered it vividly.
Eyes bloodshot, tears streaming down his face, screaming, “Shiiit!! My character!! My videos!!” That’s when he thought, maybe the drugs haven’t worn off yet.
“Everything was so confusing then. I had no memory, I was restrained. And even on TV, every channel was showing my face. Junkie, scoundrel, horny dog, the world’s biggest bastard. My name—no, all these filthy words attached in front of it. Honestly, I was upset. I swear I have no memory of doing anything that disgraceful!”
“I’m sure you don’t.”
“If I had done it, I wouldn’t feel wronged.”
…Though he was a bit curious about the wild parties.
At Lee Shin’s muttering, the doctor wrote in the chart with his usual kind expression:
—Escapism.
“My memory was a mess, and some old man I didn’t even know slapped me and cursed me out. My so-called parents weren’t on my side, and my relatives pretended to console me while obviously laughing inside. I honestly thought this place was some sort of marketplace.”
“Hahaha…”
“My character was just made wrong. This really is a luck-based trash game.”
“And we circle back to the game again.”
“Heh, because that is the only truth. The fact is, I transmigrated—into the game. Ah~ And the trigger is a masterpiece. During record-breaking rainfall, I ran with my laptop in my arms, got struck by lightning, and when I opened my eyes—bam! Inside the game?!”
“Sounds like a web novel. Becoming the scoundrel inside a game.”
“Oh! Even the title… Doctor, you know web novels?”
“My son told me about them. They’re good for clearing the mind.”
“Ah… the new generation.”
Seeing Lee Shin fold his hands together and stick his thumbs up, the doctor picked up his pen again.
—Delusions of grandeur.
“Well, what can I do? Since it’s come to this, I should think positively.”
“Positivity is always a good answer.”
“That’s right. I’m a very positive person. So what if I’m a scoundrel, a bastard, or an idiot? I’m still the eldest grandson of a chaebol family. While others are stuck in suffocating hospital rooms, I can receive treatment from you in a hotel suite. It’s a decent life.”
“More than decent. That’s quite a luxury.”
“So, Doctor, do you prefer a lump sum?”
“A lump sum—plus a little extra.”
“Nice deal for you.”
At Lee Shin’s reply, the doctor nodded positively.
—Sense of reality: intact.
Once he felt he had heard enough, the doctor spoke first for the first time.
“Good, your progress is excellent. Then may I ask you one last thing?”
“You can ask two. Or even three.”
“In that case…”
The vice-chairman—that is, the patient’s parent—had ordered, “Get him out of here as quickly as possible!” and so the doctor focused more on management than perfect treatment.
Thus, he asked:
“A dream, or a goal, shall we say. What is your goal, Mr. Lee Shin?”
A person with a clear destination might wander but will still move forward.
Hearing this, Lee Shin grinned as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“I should do what I do best.”
“And that is?”
“What else? GM. I’ll create a guild.”
First, recruit famous hunters to raise the guild’s reputation, then use that reputation to scoop up promising newcomers.
Once the perfect squad is assembled, break records, pile up achievements, and use that value to expand from Korea to the world—
“—and create the greatest guild in the world.”
Damn, I’m cool.
Chuckling to himself with his eyes closed, Lee Shin basked in the thought.
The doctor, as always, kept his kind smile while thinking:
Can I really discharge this guy…?
________________________________________
Name: Lee Shin (Lee from the Gyeongju clan, “Shin” meaning trust).
Gender: Male—often the type to die young out of curiosity.
Age: Thinks he’s experienced all the sweet, sour, and bitter of life, but in truth knows jack all—32 years old.
Occupation: IT developer. Sounds impressive, but in reality, a coding slave. Or the “Firefly of Guro Digital Complex.”
Home: Owns an 18-pyeong (about 60 m²) apartment. Has an 80% mortgage—secretly sweating over skyrocketing interest rates.
Likes: Spending weekends wearing only underwear, lazing around and gaming all day.
Dislikes: “That damn manager—just die.”
Motto: Live doing what you want, and have fun doing it.
This was the profile of Lee Shin—an ordinary, even overly typical young man of this era.
Why past tense? Well, that’s the story we’re about to tell.
The fateful day was a cloudy weekend.
“Yaaawn… Slept well.”
From 6:40, his alarm would usually ring every ten minutes—but not this peaceful weekend morning.
Dragging it out, Lee Shin woke around 10.
Weekends for Lee Shin were different. At work, he was relatively diligent, but weekends were entirely his time. Nothing could stop him.
“One special beef soup, please, ma’am.”
After quickly finishing a special beef soup, he packed three Americanos as usual and sat down at his computer.
Then he logged into his only refuge—
Guild Manager (GM).
Become the leader of a guild and recruit superpowered magic users, Hunters! Train your favorite characters with the traits you choose, in your own style!
Complete your dream guild with your own squad, and conquer the world!
—Such was this growth simulation game.
He had been playing it since he and his older brother huddled together in a tiny room twenty years ago.
From the age of twelve until now, he had never strayed even once—GM was his first and last love.
With such expertise, he was a well-known veteran in the GM community, also acting as a mentor to its 300,000 players.
Some had seriously suggested he start streaming, but he always refused firmly.
Share his only refuge with others just for a bit of money? No way.
“Alright, how should I enjoy today~”
A squad of girls prettier than actual girl groups?
Or maybe some concept play, like hiding that the leader is a sword master?
An all-summoner squad also sounded appealing—sweeping gates in one go with an army of a million.
Or, the classic thrill of an all-world-class super team with maxed-out potential (200/200).
As a game that had been running for over 20 years, GM offered an enormous pool of characters and endless ways to train them—truly an insane amount of content.
The only problem—Lee Shin was a fossil.
He had already enjoyed every normal form of gameplay, and for new thrills, he now only had slightly more extreme, perverted routes left.
“Let’s try something new… Set difficulty to hard… Alright, let’s go with this.”
「 Create Manager 」
Mental (0/0)
Technology (0/0)
Physical (0/0)
Combat (0/0)
•
•
Mental, Technology, Physical, Combat—adjusted perfectly so he could never set foot on the field.
“But instead…”
Society (100/100)
Politics, negotiation, charm, wealth, lobbying, charisma…Maxed out “Society” stats, which influence others.
That alone was enough, but stopping there would be unlike the fossilized Master Lee Shin.
“Let’s tweak it one more time.”
He adjusted the detailed settings of the expanded social stats.
There were hundreds of stat values.
Due to the nature of GM, if the designated stat values fall short or exceed the limit, character creation itself is impossible. So most users would break out in a sweat trying to customize directly, and it was commonplace to just grab presets posted in the community.
But for our veteran, Teacher Lee Shin, it was an easy task.
“Since last time was too easy, let’s send my reputation plummeting and make a lot of enemies. Put all the minus stats into ‘wealth’……”
If you drastically increase the charm-related stats in the social abilities and the wealth stats……
“A character with no abilities whatsoever, but only charm and money—complete.”
As much as the overflowing money, there will be overflowing enemies. And with a reputation like maggots, all kinds of disputes will boil over.
I can see it—various events rushing in right from the start.
“Sssup……!”
Just imagining it makes me salivate.
“Hehe, at least a month’s worth of content.”
Alright, shall I chew, tear, and enjoy it now?
Just when I was about to fully enjoy the game.
That’s when the problematic incident began.
Bzzzz~ Bzzzz~
“Haa…… what now.”
The name displayed on the phone screen.
[That Damn Manager]
“Ah, what is it this time?”
There are many types of bosses.
A boss with ability and diligence. A boss with ability but laziness. A boss without ability and with laziness. A boss without ability but with diligence.
The worst among these is a boss without ability and with pointless diligence. And if on top of that, they lack tact.
……That exactly describes this damn manager.
“Hello…….”
— “Lee Shin, get to the office immediately.”
“……Manager, it’s the weekend.”
— “Hey, I’ve landed something big. Remember the accounting system program development from the meeting the other day? I pulled that over to our team.”
“What, what? The project? Manager! That was decided to go to Team 3!”
— “I know, I know. It was for Team 3. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. So I buttered up the president. You think I’ve got some skills, right? How’s that, awesome huh?”
He just grabbed a project that every team subtly pushed away because no one wanted to do it, and then he’s going, “Awesome, right?” What a load of crap.
I don’t need blood pressure meds. That guy is a human blood pressure pill.
Spending a leisurely weekend with my hand in my underwear, playing GM—that’s the only joy in my life…… ha, there was no choice.
Lee Shin gazed longingly at the monitor, then packed his laptop thinking he’d just play at the office. He could give up on underwear, but he absolutely could not give up the game.
But to get straight to the point—he never even opened the laptop.
The damn manager exceeded anything you could imagine. To think he’d swallow a project with no basis, no plan, not even a direction.
In the end, without even seeing the letter “G” of “game,” he just wasted the whole day, and by the time he got on the bus, exhausted, it was already 10 p.m.
‘I’m depressed.’
As if to comfort Lee Shin, the sky was pouring down endless rain.
He took that comfort from the sky as a lullaby and closed his eyes.
And then, 20 minutes later—
Even the sky he trusted smacked him hard in the back of the head.
‘Excuse me, Mr. Sky, but your comfort is a bit much.’
Before the tired Lee Shin’s eyes was a road flooded by an unprecedented downpour.
Staring blankly at the cars drifting along the road for a moment, he soon burst into laughter like a madman.
“Haha… hahaha……”
But so what, reality is still reality.
First, he tried to block the rain with his backpack in desperation, but then panicked and had no choice but to hold it to his chest.
‘Laptop!’
That’s right.
In that backpack was the laptop holding videos perfectly suited to Lee Shin’s tastes and the records of his half-a-lifetime companion-like character.
“Haha, nothing’s going right today.”
Lee Shin, who was always positive, found this way too much.
No, seriously, isn’t this just bad luck?!
And so, afraid that even a drop of water might touch the backpack holding his laptop, Lee Shin, with the heart of a mother bird protecting her eggs, broke through the rain.
But then, lightning struck.
KWA-ROO-ROO-ROONG—!
With a probability said to be harder than winning the first prize in the lottery—he was struck by lightning!
And when Lee Shin opened his eyes again, he found himself inside the world of the game “GM” that had occupied most of his memories stored on his laptop.
[ Lee Shin. He’s done it again. ‘A Wild Party!’ ]
[A party scene attended by many famous celebrities. Is this really okay?]
[ Assault, adultery, violence, gambling—at least in the fraud case, being the victim is fortunate? ]
With the very character he had customized himself that morning.
