Chapter 2

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

One day in 2010.

-Inviting Earthlings to Battle.net-

An invitation from space has completely changed human life.

"Did you watch the game yesterday?"

"I saw it, Mexico won easily."

"The Sword King wiped them all out. They're weak tanks, so they can't beat us."

Battle.net leagues around the world.

[Survival]

[Invade]

[Defense]

[Dungeons]

Battle games that consist of 4 types.

It made all professional games disappear, including the Olympics and the World Cup

The children who used to play with soccer balls in the alleys of Brazil started making friends with the King of Swords.

While the prospects of American basketball were waiting for them. They started throwing daggers instead of basketballs to pass time.

It was a strange change of reality that occurred less than a year after Earth was invited to Battle.net

It's been 10 years now, it's 2020.

[Battle.net tutorial will end at the end of the year]

[From 2021, humanity belongs to the Space League - Bronze League]

The time when mankind could remain in the cradle has come to an end.

A spacious and colorful living room.

Sung Ji-han, who was lying on the sofa, opened his eyes.

'here is...'

Sung Ji-han's head hurted as if there was a crack and the smell of alcohol wafted from his mouth.

Typical hangover symptoms.

This was an experience that Sung Ji-han had never experienced in the past few years.

But he was very happy with this feeling.

"Really, I'm back to when I first entered the league."

An opportunity for redemption.

When he saw the last system message, he didn't really believe it would come true.

It really sent him back to the past.

He jumped up from the sofa and looked around.

A living room big enough to kick a ball.

It was a very familiar place to him, his sister's house.

And Yoon Se-jin's house.

Up to this point, Sung Ji-han was living in this house.

'And...'

Even the countless wine bottles on the table in front of the sofa.

'That's right, that's when…'

At that time.

It was a time of upheaval in his life, and it was also the first time he entered the Bronze league at level two.

-Once again, the Sword King Yun Se-Jin... let's listen to the press conference-

Meanwhile, a gloomy voice resounded out of the TV.

When Sung Ji-han turned his gaze in its direction, a video of a man's press conference was playing on the TV that filled the entire wall.

-Fellow citizens.

As soon as Sung Ji-han heard that voice, he gritted his teeth

That press conference video, it was a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

July 31, 2020

He even remembered the date perfectly.

-That Yoon Se-jin herself.

Sword King Yoon Se-jin.

Ji-han Sung's brother-in-law and the strongest player born in Korea.

He was ranked 3rd amongst the world's top 11 players and was known to be the strongest member of the warrior classes.

He was called Korea's pride and national treasure.

On the screen, he was standing with a proud expression.

He spoke confidently -

-First, let me tell you about the rumors of my transfer to Japan's New Self-Defense Forces.

-That part is true

'As soon as I return to the past, I see that bastard's face.'

Yoon Se-jin's press conference.

The starting point that shook Korea and caused it to fall.

When he moved to Japan, Korea's league rankings fell sharply.

'And our country... It was destroyed.'

Sung Ji-han's expression went taut as he thought about the future.

The reporters on the screen raised their hands in front of them for a while, even making a disappointed expression.

-Mr. Sejin Yoon. Sejin Yoon!

-You're transferring to the New Self-Defense forces! Is that really true?

-It's true.

-The new Self-Defense forces are a guild under the direct control of the Japanese Government! It's known that only Japanese nationals are accepted as it's a place that selects their league's national team.

-Well then, maybe...?

-He knows it's good. New self-Defense Forces only accept Japanese.

Click. Click. Click.

The press conference room was engulfed in silence.

The flashing of cameras continued to sound.

-So that Yoon Se-jin... I changed my name to Ryhui and decided to become a Japanese citizen. Please call me Ryuhei Ito from now on.

Buzz. Buzz.

The commotion of the reporters could be heard through the TV screen.

-What?! Sejin Yoon!

-What is this... Sword King!

-You are naturalized in Japan!

-Are you saying that the national team is also retiring?

-Yes. That's Ryuhei Ito. From now on, I will play for the Japanese National Team in the World Champion's League. I'll see you then.

There was even a cool smile on Yoon Se-Jin's lips, who wanted to become Japanese.

His expression was so cold that many reporters flinched.

He had been called a Korean hero and was popular for his soft image, and he looked completely opposite to them.

-Sjin, wait a minute!

-Sjin Yoon! Is this content discussed with the Korean Government?

-Even changing your name...

Reporters tried to gather around Yoon Se-jin.

Suddenly, a black shadow fluttered across him and engulfed his body.

-What... what...?

-Where did he go?!

And then the transition screen appeared.

A large headline was written below the screen that showed off the gloomy discussion forum.

[The Departure of the Sword King. What will be the league rankings of Korea in the future?]

-Um, it's nice to see you again... it's an embarrassing issue, did the government say that it wasn't discussed in advance?

-Yes. The government is in a position to find and persuade Yoon Se-jin, but his whereabouts are currently unknown.

-The Sword King must have gone to Japan...

A moment of lamentation over the departure of the Sword king.

A panel of Battle.net experts began to talk about the future.

-The best thing would be for the Sword king to return to Korea, but...

-Even if he doesn't come back, we expect our league standings to be stable.

-The Northeast Asian leagues are so fierce, our ranking will drop right now... Still, we're at the top of the list in terms of overall country rankings.

-Yes. "Dungeons" is a phenomenon that comes from the bottom 10% of countries.

"Huh?"

Sung Ji-han snorted as soon as he heard the words "Bottom 10%"

'You're still ruining everyone's happieness'

Why do Battle.net League ranking's matter?

This is because rankings are directly related to national safety.

'If a dungeon is created, it's over. You can't even see North Korea.'

To be precise, the phenomenon of dungeons that were only seen in Battle.net games became reality.

'And the country that was hit directly by this dungeon phenomenon was North Korea.'

Fearing that it would be fatal to the regime, North Korea banned player development and boycotted Battle.net entirely.

As a result, North Korea, which eventually became overwhelmingly at the bottom of the league rankings, was devastated by dungeons that appeared across the country.

-Still, our county is still in the top 20.

-Yes! Even if the Sword King is missing, it won't go below 30.

-Rather, Japan must have paid an exorbitant price to persuade the Sword King. This will only end up hurting them.

-Okay, we can survive.

Rather, Japan suffered a loss.

Click.

Upon hearing the panel's mental victory, Sung Ji-han became annoyed and turned off the TV.

'Japan is at a loss? They're crazy.'

Sung Ji-han thought of the future.

'With him joining, Japan was able to stand proudly among the last 10 countries.'

Sword king Yoon Se-jin.

Aside from personal morality, if you look only at his abilities, his talent was unique.

Of course, the price that Japan paid was certainly high.

At the time, there were many criticisms of recruiting a player for some purpose.

'But in less than three years, that evaluation was completely reversed.'

After the Earth's tutorial ended and the world fell into hell, the recruitment of the Sword King was a godsend.

'But…'

Sung Ji-han got up from the sofa and walked towards Yoon Se-jin's family picture hanging on the wall..

Sister and little nephew, and a family photo of Yoon Se-jin smiling brightly.

Bang!

Yoon Se-jin's face was crushed in his fist.

'It won't happen again.'

Because he came back after seeing the end of this game.

After Earth was invited to Battle.net

All humans over the age of 18 were awakened as 'players' who have been given rights to play games on Battle.net.

-Play, you're a player…!

-Show status window!

When the status window that you only see in games or novels popped up, chaos broke loose on Earth for a while.

This was not the only change.

-Huh?! Channel 0… Did you have anything like this?

-Have you never installed such a program?

Battle.net was broadcasted on channel 0 on the TV

Regardless of whether there is an internet connection or not, all computers and mobile phones have Battle.net related programs installed.

-I was invited to a space civilization

-Is it real?

People couldn't hide their surprise at the strange thing that happened overnight. And of course there were people who were curious about this strange phenomenon.

-It's Battle.net… where do you want to go?

If there was one peculiar thing, almost everyone had access to this Batte.net system.

In fact, it was normal to be careful about the sudden appearance of Battlenet…

People in 2010 were not like that, because that's how it was.

'People who joined Battle.net were supposed to accept this game without questioning it.'

Seong Ji-han recalled the facts revealed in the future for a moment and recited in a calm voice.

"Status window."

Name: Sung Ji-han

Level: 2

Affiliation: Bronze league - Gangnam District 1

Power: 5

Agility: 5

Stamina: 5

Strength: 5

Class: Unemployed

Abilities: Eye of the Wanderer (F Rank)

-Knows other players well

Title: None

Achievements points: 100,000

Seong Ji-han sighed a little

'It's miserable'

The stats start at the lowest value of 5, and his class was jobless.

Although there is the existence of an ability, a chance that is given to a small number of humans.

'At that time, I thought that the gift was useless, and I was addicted to gambling.'

The ambiguous ability to "understand the opponent"

However, because it was effective beyond what it said on the screen, Sung Ji-han took full advantage of the gambling system that existed on Batte.net.

'But that's not the true value of this gift.'

Sung Ji-han thought it was just a useful gift to gambling, had a sudden change in his life due to an 'event'

Because the F-class gift was completely transformed.

'But right now, there are no conditions to meet the gift awakening conditions. let's leave this ability alone for now.'

Sung Jihan decided to look at something else.

But there was one thing that caught his attention. At the bottom of the status window, his achievement points were 100,000.