There's a saying that all real-time games are, in fact, turn-based games.
If you consider "doing nothing within infinitely small units of time" as completing a turn, then it's true.
Sophistry, you say? I thought so too.
At least, until I found myself trapped in this insane game, becoming a turn-based wizard.
***
The game was a classic turn-based strategy RPG in the style of D&D. A roguelike single-player game where you descend into the deepest part of the labyrinth.
You form a four-person party to uncover secrets, face enemies, and engage in turn-based battles.
In each turn, I'm given 60 seconds to formulate a strategy. To win in battle, every move must be meticulously planned within that time limit, in sync with the order of the party members.
[Shadow Leap]
Using my rogue's movement skill, I position them next to the enemy archer.
[Sentinel Relocation]
The archer, uncomfortable with close combat against the rogue, uses a movement skill to retreat to higher ground.
I've been waiting for this.
[Position Swapping]
Next, on my wizard's turn, I swap the positions of my ally archer and the enemy archer.
This places my archer on the high ground while the enemy archer, now lacking any movement skill, stands beside our warrior.
[Dragon Strike]
On the warrior's turn, a powerful physical attack crushes the enemy archer.
It's like playing chess, predicting the enemy's moves, distributing actions to each party member, and strategically fighting.
Utilizing every possible element: flanking, area control, mines, traps, ropes, hills, cliffs, rivers, snares, bushes, trees, sticky goo, neutral monsters, poisonous gas, barrels of oil, magic arrows, bombs, summons, potions—everything.
And it was fun.
Others seemed to enjoy it too; for a while, the game Abyss of the Labyrinth was quite popular.
The problem was…
\- Damn, this game is ridiculously hard!
\- Does anyone actually reach the ending?
\- It's the last chapter, but what the hell is with this Labyrinth Master? His volcanic blast spell kills everything instantly!
\- Even the minions serving the Labyrinth Master are insanely strong!
The game was so challenging that no one had ever seen the ending.
I was the first in the world to figure out how to beat it.
The key strategy was to lure the Labyrinth Master's minions into the range of his volcanic blast spell, annihilating everyone at once.
And, in my party, I managed to keep the 'wizard' alive.
Cast the Blessing of Last Stand on the wizard, allowing them to survive with 1 HP.
[Raise Dead Body]
Next, I use necromancy to resurrect my fallen comrades.
[Clockwork of Fate]
The Labyrinth Master then casts a dispel spell to eliminate the undead. This also removes his own Status Immunity blessing, which was the goal from the beginning.
Now, it's a one-on-one duel between the wizard and the Labyrinth Master.
Using various debuff spells and CC (crowd control) items, I gradually wear him down and defeat him.
This strategy became a sort of official guide, and countless players followed my approach.
Then, I began raising the game's difficulty.
After clearing Classic difficulty, the Hard mode was unlocked for second-round players.
I spent months clearing Hard mode, too.
Difficulty Level: Strategist
The next level unlocked.
From that point on, I couldn't stop. I became addicted, like a madman, continually clearing the game with all kinds of unconventional methods and strategies.
Difficulty Levels Progression:
– Master Strategist
– Endless Struggle
– True Leader
– Hall of Fame
– Legend's Dawn
– Tribulation
– Desperate Fight
– Endless Challenge
– Indomitable Spirit
– Enlightenment
– Great Wisdom
– Ultimate Strategy
– End of Strategy
– Transcendence of Humanity
– God of Strategy
…
For a while, other players joined me, challenging these high difficulties, but eventually, they all disappeared.
So, I stopped sharing my strategies on Mutube—it was around the Hall of Fame level, I think.
But I kept going because I genuinely enjoyed strategic battles. Then, one day…
Difficulty Level: Developer
A difficulty level with a peculiar name appeared.
"Developer?"
For reference, the previous difficulty level was Turn-Based Master.
After a series of impressive names, suddenly seeing Developer was both anticlimactic and, at the same time, gave me a gut feeling that this was the end.
"What will I do once I beat Developer?"
That thought crossed my mind as I began this new difficulty.
Somewhere along the way, reaching the ending had stopped being my goal; it had just become a part of my routine.
Thinking about the game ending gave me mixed feelings of relief and nostalgia.
[Caleb]
I set my nickname and created a new character for Developer difficulty.
This time, too, I chose a wizard.
The party positions had changed many times over my runs, but my main character was always a wizard. That's because the wizard is typically the linchpin of any strategy.
[Distribute 10 stat points]
Here's how I allocated them:
[Strength (0), Agility (0), Wisdom (10), Health (0), Dexterity (0)]
The higher the Wisdom, the stronger the magic.
In the past, it was popular to put a few points in Strength and Health for wizards at the start, allowing for better armor and early survivability.
But from Ultimate Strategy difficulty onward, that didn't work anymore—no matter what you did, one hit would kill you in the beginning.
So, my new approach was to max out Wisdom. If my character was going to be fragile, I'd take out enemies before they could even land a hit.
[Select your special ability]
Special abilities were distinct from skills, unique traits for each character. Examples included Corpse Eater, which allowed you to regain health by consuming corpses, or Perfectionist, which increased attack power when at full health.
"I'll start this run like the previous difficulty… Huh?"
While browsing the special abilities tab, I was startled to see an unexpected option.
[Select your special ability.]
…
-Hourglass of Turn-Based Combat: Unlocked by clearing Turn-Based Master difficulty.
"What is this?"
The difficulty level right before Developer was Turn-Based Master, and this ability hadn't been available back then.
"Should I give it a try?"
If it didn't work out, I could just reset and start again. I didn't expect to clear Developer, the ultimate level, in one go anyway.
I selected the special ability and moved on to the next screen.
[Would you like to enter the Abyss of the Labyrinth? Y/N]
The moment I pressed Y, I blacked out.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in the game.
I had become the wizard.
***
I was screwed.
I'm not someone who curses often, but there's no word more fitting than this.
"I'm truly screwed."
Even more so than when the incompetent private in my unit once fired a shell north, triggering a broadcasted response from North Korea.
I was standing in the Magic Academy.
The scenery was familiar from having seen it countless times. It's the opening scene for when you start the game as a wizard.
The difference? My perspective.
Instead of the quarter-view looking down from above, it was in first-person. I could see the terrified expressions of the people around me—about twenty of them.
We were slaves of the Magic Academy, purchased last night from a slave trader.
"Today, you will enter the labyrinth. If you survive, you can become a student of the Magic Academy. And if you earn enough money in the labyrinth to pay off your value, you may free yourself from slavery as well."
An old professor stepped forward and explained.
I ran through countless hypotheses to understand the situation but quickly gave up.
For one, the body I was in was not my own. I was in Caleb, the character I'd customized earlier. There was no point trying to apply common sense to such a blatantly surreal situation.
The best option was simply to accept and go along with it.
"The labyrinth is dangerous, of course, but with caution, you can survive."
And I didn't have time to ponder further. This game pushes you into chaos from the start.
"Step forward and pick up a magic wand, each of you."
One by one, the slaves stepped forward to pick up wands.
I picked one up as well.
"You'll be split into teams of four. Follow the assistant into the labyrinth."
People quickly lined up in groups.
My team consisted of an elf woman and three human men, myself included.
The elf woman looked about ready to faint with fear, a heavy-set man was sweating profusely from nerves, and the last one…
"Doom zhil'akaya sarabitanya wa abrabsaro kirimantaya…"
He was frantically muttering a prayer, hands tightly clasped together. Judging from the game's lore, he was from the distant southern desert lands. On top of that, he had a limp.
From what I could gather, his prayer meant something like, "Please take me to heaven if I die."
"Fantastic."
A trembling elf woman, a terrified heavy-set guy, and a zealot with a limp.
None of them seemed fit for labyrinth combat. In this game, team composition luck matters quite a bit from the start.
I had confidence I could devise a strategy for any misfit team—when it was a turn-based game with 60 seconds per turn, that is.
"Team 3. Follow me."
We were Team 3. Our expressions, as we followed the assistant, weren't far from cattle heading to the slaughterhouse.
***
"The starting locations will be set automatically for each group of four. Once inside, it'll just be the four of you. Other teams will be randomly scattered somewhere on the first floor of the labyrinth."
The assistant explained.
He stayed behind as the four of us stepped through the labyrinth's gate.
The world went dark in an instant, and the gate vanished immediately. We'd have to find the exit gate ourselves.
In the pitch darkness, the sound of dripping water echoed from the stalactites, and the distant growls of monsters could be heard.
"Hee hee! Hee hee hee! Hee hee!"
The sound of sinister laughter.
Thud!
The elf woman dropped to the ground. She clutched her wand, trembling uncontrollably.
"I can't do this."
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"I can't do it."
"Huff… Huff…"
The heavy-set guy was barely able to breathe from the fear.
"Jarvankaya wa ellostande kromi ajaraptami wa talaqqro…"
Surprisingly, the zealot looked the most composed. He muttered a few more lines of his prayer, then his expression brightened.
"It's done! Worry no more. I've finished my prayer, so if we die, the Lord will guide us to heaven. Don't be afraid to die! Haha!"
Scratch that—this guy was definitely the most unhinged of us all.
Anyway, just sitting here like this was a problem. Unless we were in a safe zone, anything could happen in the labyrinth.
"We can't just stay here. We need to move…"
I was about to encourage them when a surreal sight appeared before me.
As if in slow motion, a grotesque green creature with a twisted grin emerged from the darkness, charging at us. It was the same creature the game called a goblin.
In the game, this would be accompanied by a message: 'Ambushed!' signaling that the enemies had the advantage and initiating turn-based combat.
But of course, this wasn't the game.
"Of course not."
Thunk!
A crude spear pierced through the heavy-set guy's back and protruded from his chest, splattering hot blood across my face.
"Hee hee! Hee hee hee!"
Two goblins stood behind him, laughing wickedly.
"Kyaa!"
The elf woman screamed and jumped back.
"O, Death! Come to me! Lord in heaven, open the gates to your kingdom wide…"
Thunk!
Another spear flew, taking the zealot in the throat.
"Damn."
I froze in place.
Stories about modern people being transported into games and becoming unstoppable warriors are all nonsense.
Modern people can't do that.
Unless they're former U.S. Special Forces veterans with experience in the Iraq War or something.
For someone like me, who just last night was relaxing in a bubble bath and grilling beef from the grocery store, it's nothing but brain-freeze.
Modern people don't encounter people getting impaled in front of them, with blood spraying everywhere. My mind went blank, and my body was paralyzed.
"Hee hee hee!"
The goblin jumped toward me with a dagger.
[Turn-Based Hourglass Activated]
The message appeared.
I thought I was frozen in fear, unable to move, but it was something else.
[It's your turn.]
The entire world, including me, had stopped.
[60]
[59]
[58]
A countdown appeared on a floating hourglass. Three seconds passed, and yet the goblin's dagger hadn't reached my neck.
"What… What is this?"
The goblin's twisted grin, the blood spurting from the zealot's neck, the dagger's blade just twenty centimeters from my neck—nothing moved except the hourglass.
***
All real-time games are, in a way, turn-based.
If we consider each infinitesimal unit of time as a single turn.
In the 0.0-whatever seconds that the goblin was about to strike my neck, I was destined to lose my head by doing nothing.
But this special ability, Turn-Based Hourglass, granted me a full 60 seconds in that instant to think and strategize.