A certain day in the year 2010…
['Humanity' has been invited to the Battle Net.]
A certain invitation from space forever changed the way humans lived.
"Did you see yesterday's match?"
"Yes. We beat Mexico easily."
"The Sword King swept them away. Their tank is weak, so they aren't a match for us."
The Battle Net League happened all around the world, and the battle games had four formats: survival, invasion, defense, and dungeons.
It made all other professional sports events like the Olympics, the World Cup, and more vanish.
The kids kicking soccer balls in the alleys of Brazil changed soccer balls for swords, and the American kids that wanted to become professional baseball players began throwing daggers instead of baseballs.
All of these changes happened in the first year that Earth was invited to the Battle Net.
The year was 2020; it had been 10 years since that day.
[Battle Net's Tutorial Season will end this year.]
['Humanity' will be placed in the Space League - Bronze League from 2021.]
Humanity's peaceful years reached an end.
* * *
Sung JiHan, who was laying on the sofa in a large and fancy living room, opened his eyes.
'This is…'
His head hurt, and he smelled alcohol on his breath, which were the typical symptoms of a hangover.
It was something JiHan hadn't experienced in quite some time, but he didn't hate it.
"I really went back in time."
He was given a chance to rechallenge the system…
He didn't think it would really happen when he read that last system message.
He got up from the sofa and looked around.
The living room was so big that he could probably kick a ball around in there. It was a familiar place to him since it was the house his noona and Yoon Sae-jin shared.
JiHan was just a freeloader in their house for the moment.
'And…'
He looked at the countless bottles of whiskey in front of him.
'Oh, yeah.'
He was back when his life had started to change, back when he turned level 2 and entered the Bronze League for the first time.
- We'll now listen to Sword King Yoon Sae-jin's press conference.
A sad sound came from the TV.
JiHan turned his head and saw a certain man talking in front of reporters.
- Dear citizens…
As soon as JiHan heard the man's voice, he clenched his teeth.
That press conference…
He'd never been able to forget it.
'July 31st, 2020…'
He even remembered the date.
- I, Yoon Sae-jin…
Sword King Yoon Sae-jin was JiHan's brother-in-law and the strongest Korean player.
He was ranked 3rd among the top 11 strongest players in the world, and it was said that he was the strongest among those in the Warrior class.
He used to be called Korea's national treasure.
The TV screen showed him standing with a proud expression on his face and confidently speaking.
- I came here to talk about the rumors that have been going around.
- I'll first talk about the rumors saying that I will transfer to Japan's New Self Defense Force…
- That much is true.
'To think the first thing I see after returning to the past is this bastard's face.'
Sae-jin's press conference was the starting point of Korea's fall.
Korea's ranking in the League quickly fell after he moved to Japan.
'Thanks to that… Korea ended up collapsing.'
JiHan frowned as he recalled what would happen in the future.
The reporters stood still, confused only for a brief moment. They soon began raising their hands to ask questions.
- Mr. Yoon!
- You're going to join the New Defense Force?! Is that true?!
- Yes, it's true.
- But the New Defense Force is a guild under the Japanese government's control! That's where they pick the League's national representatives, so it's widely known that they only accept Japanese players.
- Then… are you…?
- I know that the New Defense Force only accepts Japanese people.
Click. Click. Click.
The press conference room went silent, and only the shutters of the cameras could be heard.
- That's why I decided to change my name to Ryuhei and naturalize as a Japanese citizen. From now on, please call me Ito Ryuhei.
The reporters let out confused yells.
- Wh-what?! Mr. Yoon!
- Sword King… What are you talking about?!
- Naturalizing as a Japanese citizen?!
- Are you going to quit being a Korean national team representative?!
- Yes. I, Ito Ryuhei, will start participating in the world's Champions League as a Japanese representative. I'll see you then.
There was a chilling expression on Sae-jin's face that made many reporters flinch.
It was completely different from his usual look.
- W-wait a moment, please!
- Mr. Yoon! Did you talk with the Korean government about this?!
- To think he'd also change his name…
Reporters flocked around Sae-jin, but his shadow began moving and suddenly devoured his body.
- Wh… What?!
- Where is he?!
The screen changed, and a large headline appeared on the lower edge.
[The Sword King has deserted Korea. What will happen to South Korea's League ranking?]
- Hmm… No matter how many times I see it, it's still a frustrating scene. The government said he didn't say anything to them beforehand, right?
- Right. Government officials said they would try to convince Mr. Yoon to change his mind, but right now, his whereabouts are unknown.
- To think that the Sword King would desert…
The talk about the Sword King leaving only lasted for a brief moment, and the Battle Net specialists soon began talking about the future.
- The best outcome would be for the Sword King to return…
- Even if he doesn't, I think our League ranking will remain stable.
- The Southeast Asian League is quite competitive, so our rank will decrease in the short term… but if we look at the bigger picture, it will remain stable.
- That's right. After all, 'dungeons' only appear in countries that are among the lowest 10%.
"Pf!" JiHan laughed at those words.
'To think they're saying things like that.'
Battle Net League rankings were important because they were directly connected to a country's safety.
'If dungeons appear, that's the end. They've seen what happened to North Korea, but they seem to be unaware of that.'
When dungeons came up, the dungeons that appeared in games would appear in real life.
North Korea was a country that had suffered such a fate.
The people from the government there had thought that raising players would harm them, so they'd boycotted Battle Net's League participation.
As a result of that, dungeons appeared all over North Korea and swept it away.
- Despite that, South Korea's still maintaining its position as a top 20 country.
- That's right! Even if the Sword King leaves, we won't drop below 30.
- Yes. Japan paid the biggest price in its efforts to convince the Sword King. This will end up harming them.
Basically, they were saying, 'It's okay. We can survive. It's Japan that will pay the biggest price.'
Beep-
JiHan turned off the TV, feeling annoyed as he listened to them.
'Japan's going to lose in the end? Nonsense.'
JiHan remembered the future.
'Thanks to him naturalizing as a citizen of their country, Japan was able to remain as a top 10 country.'
Sword King Yoon Sae-jin…
Leaving his morals aside, his talent was impressive.
Of course, the price that Japan paid for him was high, and at the time, many people complained and asked what the point was of paying such a price to naturalize one player.
'Those complaints disappeared after three years passed.'
After Earth's 'Tutorial' ended and the world became hell, naturalizing the Sword King was considered a great move.
'But…'
JiHan got up from the sofa and walked toward the picture of Sae-jin's family.
His noona, his young niece, and Sae-jin were smiling brightly in the photo.
BOOM!
He punched Sae-jin's face.
'This time, it won't end like that.'
After all, he'd returned after seeing things through all the way to the end.
* * *
After Earth was invited to Battle Net, everyone who was at least 18 years old awakened as a 'player' and received the right to game in Battle Net.
- P-player…?!
- I can see a status window!
As soon as people could see status windows like those in video games or novels, Earth went into an uproar for a while, but that wasn't the only change…
- Huh?! Channel 0…? Was this here before?
- I've never installed a channel like this.
The TV's channel 0 streamed Battle Net content.
Regardless of connection to the internet, Battle Net-related programs were installed on all computers and cell phones.
- Invited by a space race…
- Is this real?
People couldn't hide their surprise, and naturally, many people became interested in what was going on.
- Battle Net… Should I try?
What was strange was that almost everyone openly approached the Battle Net system. Normally, people would have been cautious about something like that appearing out of the blue… but due to the way everything was set up, the people in 2010 didn't have that kind of reaction.
"Battle Net was set up to ensure people wouldn't have any doubts about it and would accept it without giving it any second thoughts," JiHan said in a low voice while remembering the truth that would be revealed in the future.
"Status window."
Name: Sung JiHan
Level: 2
Affiliation: Bronze League - Gangnam 1 Area
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Vitality: 5
Magic Power: 5
Class: None
Gift: Wanderer's Eye (Rank F)
- Can analyze other players well.
Title: None
Achievement Points: 100,000
JiHan sighed.
'This is terrible.'
At five points in each stat, he had the lowest he could possibly have, and he also had no class. He did have a Gift though, which wasn't something everyone was given.
'I used to think this Gift was useless.'
He had the ability to analyze others.
Since he could use his Gift from the other side of the screen, JiHan had taken advantage of the betting system in Battle Net.
'This Gift was worth more than that.'
He'd thought that his Gift was only useful for betting, but JiHan's life changed after a certain incident where his F-rank Gift changed.
'I don't fulfill the conditions to unlock this Gift's next awakening right now.'
He decided to leave it aside for the moment and looked at a certain number that caught his attention below that.
There, at the bottom of the status window, he saw he had a hundred thousand achievement points.