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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board
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Prologue
What is a dream?
A manifestation of the unconscious, or confirmation of a longed-for value—it appears in many forms like that.
But what if...
What if you kept having the same dream over and over?
No one in the world could answer that question.
Except for one person.
"What the hell..."
The only one who could answer was Kang Seol, who had just turned 25.
An orphan from a nursery home, a quiet man of few words.
Kang Seol had been having the same dream continuously.
For a full 17 years.
* * *
Kang Seol had a certain dream right around the time he started elementary school.
- Huh? Are you new? Take a seat here. There's just one spot open.
In the dream, he was a neatly dressed adult wearing unfamiliar clothes and an unfamiliar mask.
Everyone else there was the same.
- Alright, time to roll the dice.
- Hahaha! This is my favorite part!
- Everyone pick your pieces.
- I'll stick with this one! The Red Butcher!
- Then I'll go with the Wind Patrol the same way.
- Um... excuse me... there's a newcomer here...
- Oh, right. Then have him make a new one.
The woman in the fox mask spoke kindly to Kang Seol.
- So... what should we call you?
Kang Seol started to say his name but hesitated and gave a nickname instead.
"Snowman."
- Snowman? Nice! Alright! Snowman, go ahead and create your piece to move.
Kang Seol selected a frost-attribute mage and roughly set the details before waiting his turn.
- The die is rolling!
- 6! It's a 6!
- But it's a 20-sided die.
- Nooo!
They enjoyed the game with great enthusiasm.
The die rolled across the board, and choices popped up everywhere.
- Pointy Thorn, chieftain of the Pointy Thorn Tribe, has appeared. What's your choice, 'It's Your Fault Anyway'?
1. Flee.
2. Fight back.
3. [Requires: Intelligence 15] Persuade with words.
4. [Requires: Mechanical Engineering 1] Deploy smoke screen.
- 4! Let's go with 4!
- Oh no! Unfortunately, the smoke screen failed!
- Damn it! This is rigged!
The party was on the brink of total annihilation.
But then it was the turn of the mage Kang Seol had chosen.
"Number 3. I'll go with 'Trap Pointy Thorn's feet with Frost Magic.'"
- The magic was effective! Pointy Thorn's feet are frozen, leaving him defenseless for a moment.
The man in the bird mask next to him shouted.
- Yes! My turn now! Hurry!
- Yes, Cat Tower Destroyer.
The man called Cat Tower Destroyer struck at Pointy Thorn's opening with a flashy attack, and from there, the party's situation turned around.
In the end, the party defeated Pointy Thorn and successfully completed the adventure.
- That's it for today's adventure. Did everyone enjoy the Eternal World?
- Hahaha, what do you think? Even as a demo, it's so much fun.
- Hey, Snowman. Wanna play together again tomorrow?
Kang Seol nodded.
And so, he spent every night in his dreams enjoying the Eternal World, swapping members with these unidentified people.
Once, Kang Seol had told the younger kids at the nursery about this dream.
Their response was:
"Oppa is weird... saying strange things..."
"...What?"
"No such thing exists."
It was probably the natural response.
No one would easily believe you were having a continuous dream.
After that, until he turned 25, Kang Seol never spoke of this dream to anyone.
Part of it was the tough nursery life making it hard to talk to others, and part of it was the fear that sharing the dream's secret would make it disappear forever.
He grew up like that and became part of society.
Even after that, the dreams continued.
For 17 years, he rolled dice and played with these unknown beings.
He was curious about their identities, of course.
But for the same reason he couldn't tell anyone about the dream, he couldn't ask them.
'Who the hell are you guys?'
They met in dreams and rolled dice.
Then laughed. That was it.
Kang Seol once thought they were gods.
But he soon lost interest.
Whether they were gods, monsters, or demons didn't matter to him.
What mattered was enjoying this Eternal World.
That was his sole focus.
- Snowman, aren't you playing with us today? ...Or not?
- What are you talking about! Snowman said the last day would be with us! ...Right?
- Both of you, shut up! Snowman is doing a solo adventure today for the Great Sage's final quest.
- Right! Then we gotta watch that!
The existence Kang Seol created in his dreams, Snowman.
Snowman was now practically an idol among those who enjoyed the Eternal World.
He had created numerous legendary characters that would go down in its history.
He had played over 30 characters, some lost pathetically, but most left their names in the Eternal World's history.
Duke of Frost, One-Armed Sword Saint, Immortal, and even the Great Sage.
Over 17 years, Snowman had played various roles and reached their pinnacles smoothly.
Good dice luck helped, but his insight piercing through choices was key.
It was the result of memorizing the rulebook nearly by heart out of pure interest in the Eternal World.
'Too bad. If there was a bit more time, I could've tried that one too.'
The final character he planned to play.
After trying many jobs and making plenty of mistakes, he had devised growth paths and strategies.
He meant to culminate it all in his last piece, but regrettably, the Eternal World ended today.
- Starting tomorrow, our dreams will become reality.
- A bit late for that. Now we reclaim our divinity. And get revenge on the worms who did this to us.
- Haha! Sounds like revenge weighs heavier?
'The Eternal World demo ends today, right?'
The announcement that the Eternal World demo would end today and go into official service.
Kang Seol didn't know what that official service meant, but they seemed to have some idea.
Kang Seol brushed off their words and focused on the scene before him.
Because the Great Sage was undertaking his final adventure: Ascension.
'Please... please...'
Right now, Kang Seol was rolling the last die for his piece, the Great Sage Milan.
Rattle...
Clack.
Twitch!
Confirming the die result, Kang Seol quietly closed his eyes.
The die showed a 1.
[Mana backflows during the Ascension process.]
[Milan suffers massive backlash from the mana.]
[Milan fails Ascension.]
"..."
- Tough break, Snowman.
- What a shame, Snowman.
- Hang in there!
Kang Seol confirmed there were no more choices left for Milan.
'Again...'
Among the 30 pieces Kang Seol raised, the last 10 born had all reached the final adventure of Ascension.
But none broke through.
It wouldn't be easy for humans born on the ground to ascend to the heavens, but for even the Great Sage to fail made all 10 failures sting.
'How the hell do you clear this...'
Kang Seol silently gazed at his piece and made his choice.
[Will you abandon Milan's adventure?]
1. Yes.
2. No.
Choosing 1 meant the player could no longer steer the piece's fate. Kang Seol chose 1.
[Milan the adventurer will now forge his own destiny.]
[Though the heart-pounding adventure ends, his life continues.]
As Kang Seol stared blankly at Milan, the others spoke to him.
- It's okay, Snowman. You did your best. Reaching Ascension is...
- Yeah, only Snowman could do it.
That made 10 pieces that reached Ascension.
All of them Kang Seol's.
An incredible feat to those enjoying the Eternal World, but to Kang Seol, it left regret.
"Hoo..."
Thus, the Eternal World he enjoyed for 17 years came to an end.
But this end was the start of a new fate.
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board
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Chapter 1
Rustle—
'Huh?'
What kept him having this dream over and over?
Kang Seol had the same dream again today.
Splendid buildings atop the clouds.
The Eternal World had clearly ended yesterday, yet here he was walking it again today.
That said, today wasn't exactly the same as yesterday. There was definitely a difference.
'Why... is no one here?'
He was popular here, without fail.
Whenever he breathed in this world's air through his dreams, others always came to greet him.
But not today. No one came to meet him.
An ominous chill crept up his back.
Why?
Why was that?
Kang Seol learned the reason only when he reached the central plaza. A lightning mask wearer greeted him.
"Ah, the star of the show has arrived!"
"Grab him!"
'W-what!'
Seeing them charge at him, Kang Seol sensed something was wrong and turned to run.
Crackle!
But a ring of lightning flew from somewhere and bound his neck.
"Gaaah!"
The pain searing into every joint felt like his brain was burning.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"You vile human..."
"You've been fooling us all this time?"
As Kang Seol collapsed to the ground, the masked ones dragged him to the plaza.
Thud.
Curses and mockery poured down on him as he crumpled like a criminal.
"You... to think I've been talking with the likes of you!"
"Daring to converse with us on equal terms?"
"While this worm of a human sullied the heavens, what were you all doing!"
"Who let this thing through?"
"Kill it! We have to kill it!"
"Kill him!"
Amid the dizzying isolation, Kang Seol clearly heard the calls to kill him.
'Just yesterday...'
His close friends from yesterday now stabbed him in the heart.
"Why... why are you doing this..."
"You pretending not to know? A lowly human sneaking into the lofty heavens and pretending to be a god?"
"That's..."
"Enough. I don't want to talk to it anymore. Kill this thing..."
Wrong.
Their eyes were red with madness, ears closed to any words.
As Kang Seol recoiled in horror at their kill cries and tried to respond, the one in the giant-eye mask stopped observing and shouted.
"I object to that!"
"What? Cordon..."
Cordon was one of the more influential among them—a fact Kang Seol had sensed subtly in their conversations.
Anyway, Cordon stood abruptly, approached Kang Seol, and pushed the others aside.
Opposition followed naturally.
"What do you think you're doing, Cordon?"
"You're the one deceiving us right now..."
"Whoa, whoa, everyone calm down. You're way too worked up."
"Ahem... cough..."
Why was Cordon taking his side?
Kang Seol clung to a sliver of hope.
Maybe this one could resolve the situation.
But it was a huge mistake.
"Surely we can't spill human blood in the heavens? No one disposes of filth in their own bedroom."
"R-right."
"So what do we do?"
"I'll tell you what I think. Send this thing..."
Cordon grinned.
"...back where it belongs?"
"What?!"
"You think that's possible?"
"Of course, sending it back as is might feel like letting it off the hook... but have you all forgotten what day it is?"
The masked ones cheered Cordon's words.
"Right! We're starting the harvest today!"
"So... sending it back means..."
"Exactly. It goes back to where it belongs—down to the earth—to writhe and die as a sacrifice of Madness like the worm it is."
"Hahaha! Perfect! We can't stain the heavens with its filthy blood."
"I'm for it! Know your place, crawling up here? Die stuck to the dirt like the bug you are!"
"Cordon, so wise! This teaches it a lesson too—its true place, daring to mingle as equals with gods."
Cordon wasn't protecting Kang Seol. He had chosen a different way to inflict greater pain.
Kang Seol couldn't speak.
Whatever they—self-proclaimed gods—had done, his body wouldn't move.
Then, a voice pierced his mind.
- Snowman, can you hear me?
It was Cordon's voice.
- Your identity is exposed. No time for long explanations. Just this.
Kang Seol wanted to ask Cordon.
Who are you?
Why help me?
What happens if you die in the dream?
While beguiling the gods with sly words, Cordon kept feeding info to Kang Seol.
- The world you lived in changes starting today. Worlds merge today—yours and the Eternal World, Pandea.
What was this?
'Worlds... merging? How?'
- The gods chose Madness over faith to reclaim weakened power. Your hardships and tales will be sold to other gods for Madness.
'What does that mean!'
- Snowman, one way to save you and your kind: Reach the final adventure, Ascension. Stand out in it. Madness is needed for gods' power recovery, but useful for you too.
'Reach Ascension? Me, how? What are you...'
- Note: Speaking of heavenly matters gives gods pretext to intervene. That means certain death. Be wise. Good luck, Snowman. Hope we meet again.
With that, Cordon scooped Kang Seol up in one hand.
"Hahaha! Now, let's watch this worm squirm to its death..."
"Wait! Sending it like this..."
Before the mood shifted, Cordon hurled Kang Seol below the clouds.
Clutching the horrific sensation of freefall without wings, Kang Seol was exiled from the heavens.
Whiiiiiish—!
"Already tossed it, huh."
"Whatever."
Cordon chuckled back.
"Now, shall we watch the harvest of Madness, oh noble gods?"
"Heh heh... good."
"Now we reclaim our power."
* * *
Kang Seol's mind felt empty.
A hollow sensation.
Part from the fall from heaven, part the aftershock of panic from the enormity of it all.
'They were really... gods?'
Real gods with substance, not just dream figments.
Kang Seol confirmed the lightning ring choking his neck was gone and rubbed his throat.
Having brushed death, he sighed in relief at still being alive and looked around.
Dark.
The world was pitch black.
"...What?"
Messages flooded his vision in an instant.
[The Eternal World is being applied... 97%]
[Eternal World application complete.]
[Welcome to the Eternal World, Pandea.]
[Total 7,900,021,232 lives join the Eternal World.]
[Moving to character setup space.]
[Set your character's abilities.]
[First adventure begins shortly.]
Seeing the messages, Kang Seol understood Cordon's words.
It made sense.
The pieces from the Eternal World he enjoyed for 17 years.
His 31st and final piece was himself.