The 31st Piece Turns the Tables

Chapter 2

‘What the hell happened?’

Seol was surprised by the system message. Not just the message though, he was also surprised by his surroundings.

Rays of light poured in as human-shaped silhouettes appeared.

Even though Seol couldn’t see nor hear them, he could tell by their movements that they were panicking.

“Were they also… dragged into it?”

It was a horrible thought and something he prayed wasn’t true. He hoped that the people of Earth weren’t all dragged into it.

Because in the end, reality becoming a game is on another dimension from having some special dreams.

- The place where you lived has turned into another world. The World Merge was scheduled for today. Your world will be combined with The World of Eternity, Pandea.

That was something Kodon told him.

Seol finally understood what those cryptic words meant.

And yesterday, coincidentally, The World of Eternity ended its trial period.

“Have people entered The World of Eternity?”

It was a reasonable guess.

The people behind it were probably those gods he talked with every night.

‘I can’t believe it wasn’t something that only existed in my dreams…’

Seol used to believe that they were just figments of his imagination, but it turned out they were actual gods.

Seol thought back and went over the parts he was reluctant to think about.

‘No, it would’ve been even weirder if they existed only in my dreams…’

Because Seol thought they were imaginary, he simply didn’t think too much about their existences.

But it was clear that they were real.

Because this wouldn’t be possible unless they were real.

Seol stood blankly for a second before laughing.

“Pfft… I was tricked? No, maybe I tricked them?”

In Seol’s excuse, he didn’t take off his mask for the others to reveal his true identity because he didn’t see a reason to.

But now that he thought about it, he was glad he didn’t. If they found out he was a human before it was the time of harvest, he would’ve been ripped to shreds like they initially wanted to.

‘Insect, huh… Was me looking at the world on the same level as them, something to get that mad about?’

As Seol understood what situation he was in, he chuckled. The scary thing was that even though he was smiling, his eyes were cold.

Seol was filled with a sense of disappointment and betrayal but he was also filled with a sense of inferiority.

But the biggest emotion he felt was rage. He almost died in vain without even being able to resist.

‘Are you guys… really that amazing?’

There was only one reason he was about to die… it was because he was human.

- How dare you try to talk with us like we’re on the same level!

It was only for that simple reason.

‘If me being a human pisses you off that much, then…’

His eyes were ice cold. It was the eyes of someone who had resolved themselves.

‘I’m also allowed to be pissed that you fucks are gods, right?’

Seol was someone who was crazy about The World of Eternity.

To the point that he wanted to explore the world himself instead of his game pieces.

There was a pessimistic side to him but there was also another strange feeling growing within him.

He was looking forward to it.

He was excited that he was able to continue something that not only he was the best at but could even improve.

And through this, he would even be able to reach the gods.

He was going to find the answers to his questions no matter what.

- Snowman, there is only one way to save you and your race. Reach Ascension, the Final Adventure.

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Seol didn’t think of himself as a hero.

Saving humanity? Saving my race?

To be frank, he didn’t care about any of that.

He didn’t enjoy receiving attention and neither did he have some grand ideology.

But still, there was one reason he had to reach Ascension. He wanted to prove himself.

- How dare a human not know his place and sneak into the heavens? He should be stuck to the land and die like an insect there!

“You think I’m going to die like an insect? I wonder about that…”

How is he going to reach the gods though?

Seol thought that Kodon, the god who saved him, must know.

Regardless, the only method that came in his head was heading to Ascension.

For now, Seol decided to focus on the current situation. It wouldn’t be too late to plan for the future after he passes through the immediate danger.

What he saw was a set-up screen with a bunch of words on it.

‘This character set-up screen… it’s just like The World of Eternity’s set-up screen.’

The only change was that he was no longer the person rolling the dice, he was the game piece.

Before The World of Eternity started, the players set up their characters.

It wasn’t too different from simply playing an RPG on tabletop but in truth, this was the most important part in The World of Eternity.

‘If you don’t set up your character properly in The World of Eternity, everything gets ruined.’

The proverb ‘Well begun is half done’ was true for The World of Eternity as well. Just like how in real life your parents’ wealth decides how much success you’ll have in life, it was the same for this game as well.

‘A character… then…’

Seol licked his lips.

There was a character Seol failed to test because the trial version was over.

‘Yeah, let’s go with that.’

The characters that he tested and played so far were all too reliant on their comrades. They all had limits on what they could do alone and because of it, it was dangerous multiple times.

If this game had become reality, these were situations that he could even die from.

He was able to overcome those situations before with his wit but it wasn’t easy. And there was no guarantee he would succeed this time again.

‘I need a character that could reach Ascension despite all the variables.’

The character he was about to make was a character that fully reflected his thought process.

Seol first looked at the Class Set-Up.

The World of Eternity’s class set-up was quite unique.

Classes weren't separated by simply ‘swordsman’ or ‘magician’.

You could select both and become a magic swordsman. You could also choose a specific application, just like how Snowman focused on Frost, and focus on that school.

‘You practically have unlimited freedom.’

The World of Eternity’s distinct feature was that you could become whatever you wanted.

‘The problem was that because there were so many choices, there also were traps you needed to avoid.’

Just because there were a lot of options doesn't mean that everything was equally strong. There were obviously classes that were more powerful and classes that were weaker.

“Magician… Summoner… here it is.”

Summoner.

It’s quite a plain class among the hundreds of classes.

If you had to pick the pros of the class then it would be that it’s a jack-of-all-trades.

The cons would be that there was nothing exceptional about it.

As stated earlier, because there were so many classes, there were classes which had strong colors.

Those types of classes were always welcomed no matter where they went because there was always, eventually, a need for them.

But summoners weren’t like that.

It was in an ambiguous spot whether it came to dealing damage, healing, or supporting. That was the current stigma about them.

‘But that’s only the case when people don’t know how to use them.’

If Snowman chose to become a summoner, there must’ve been a reason for it.

Those that played with Seol would’ve said something like that.

‘Let’s see… the school of magic…’

Seol didn’t end after picking summoner, there were still multiple other decisions to make.

The first, most important decision he had to make in character set-up was which school he would be in. It basically meant he was choosing what type of summons he would use.

‘Demonic beasts, divine beasts, spirits, golems, souls…’

There were over ten types to choose from.

Even if you weren’t indecisive, this was a question that would take at least an hour to think about. However, Seol quickly found a school that was out of sight.

‘Found it.’

Shadow Summoner.

The shadow attribute wasn’t just exclusive to summoners, people who used magic and black magic also had access to it. The shadow attribute could also be used in swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat, it was an attribute with multiple options to choose from.

But no one, other than the swordsman class, chose the shadow attribute.

‘It’s because it’s weak in the early-mid game. And it’s not like it becomes strong in the late game either.’

Attributes allow you to burn, freeze, or even rip your opponent to shreds.

But the shadow attribute, unlike the other attributes, only had mediocre skills if you chose the wrong parts of the skill tree.

And that’s why the shadow attribute was tossed away.

‘Because they didn’t know how the shadow attribute and the summoner class interacted with each other, they gave up on it.’

Seol, who chose to become a shadow summoner, finished the rest of his set-up in an instant.

‘I’ll put all of my stats into wisdom, choose cooking and insight as my talents, and for my nickname…’

As he was coming up with a nickname, a big grin appeared on his face.

His final, 31st character.

There was no nickname better than this.

“Snowman.”

[You have finished setting up your character.]

[‘Snowman’ the Shadow Summoner, enters Pandea, The World of Eternity.]

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

[<Hardcore Roleplayer> enters <Snowman>’s Room.]

- I’m here!

- Please leave.

[<Hardcore Roleyplayer> has left <Snowman>’s Room.]

- He really left? LMFAO

- Human! It’s a human!

- Ding! Sense of humor and culture have finished patching! The only thing left is to enjoy it now~

“Urgh…”

Seol, Snowman, woke up while shaking his head.

He didn’t know that mysterious entities were watching and talking about him.

[Your 1st Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 1. Moonlit Dance]

[Adventure 1. ‘Moonlit Dance’

There are countless traps in Pandea, The World of Eternity. There are traps which make even experienced adventurers unknowingly lose their lives. You must practice to not suddenly die from those traps. This place is suitable for such practice.

You started your first adventure with a heart full of curiosity and have arrived at a mysterious ruin.

To become an adventurer, you must at least clear the first gate.

Objective: Clear at least the 1st Gate of the ‘Forgotten Moon Ruins’ and get the rewards.

You will die upon failure.

Remaining Time ⌜5:59⌟]

“...Forgotten Moon Ruins?”

Seol remembered it.

It was the Adventure that was considerate to new players of The World of Eternity so that they may get used to it.

‘Ah… but this one’s…’

This Adventure was tricky.

It was great that it was a Solo Adventure but the difficulty was vicious.

‘Don’t you have to press on while continuously taking damage to clear it?’

If you weren’t a rogue or if you didn’t choose the ‘disarm trap’ talent, you were bound to be low HP from the traps installed here.

‘Damn it… A caster wouldn’t be good then…’

Shadow summoner was a clear ‘caster’ type.

Casters were classes that casted spells and had snail-like mobility.

‘And since I put all of my unallocated stats into Wisdom…’

If Seol had known that the 1st Adventure was going to be ‘Moonlit Dance’, he would’ve picked another class. He also wouldn’t have put all of his stats into Wisdom.

But knowing what the 1st Adventure was would require as much insight as knowing that the world would’ve eventually merged with The World of Eternity.

If he had known that, he wouldn’t have lived so hard and he also wouldn’t have invested into a savings account.

“First, I’ll check my stats.”

[[Snowman]

Title: N/A

Race: Human

Level: 1

HP: 100/100

MP: 200/200

Unallocated Stats: 0

Strength 10 Dexterity 10 Constitution 10

Intelligence 10 Wisdom 20 Spirit 10

Talents: Cooking 1, Insight 1

Skills: Shadow Summon 1, Shadow Hand

Shadow Space: 0/700]

The base stat you start off with is 10.

Seol had used the additional 10 stats he was given and invested them all into Wisdom.

“It’s not going to be easy…”

All he had on him was a loose-fitting robe and a shoddy staff.

It was the exact opposite of what you would expect someone dexterous to look like.

Seol, after checking his stats, started to make his move.

‘First… I need to enter the ruins.’

He was in a simple garden made of vines.

The moonlight lit up the garden.

Slide.

Seol passed through the wild, decrepit garden and headed toward the entrance of the ruins.

“I don’t know which part is my dream and which part is reality, but…”

It probably didn’t matter too much now.

‘I’m practically a piece on the board… What… What were the options here again?’

Seol subconsciously tried to think of the original options given in the scenario.

But something unexpected happened.

“Huh?

[[The ruin’s door is made out of solid stone. What will you do?]

1. Force the Door Open.

2. Pull the Right Lever.

3. Pull the Left Lever.

4. [Required: Analysis 1] (It seems you need to pull the levers in a certain order to disarm the traps) Pull the Left Lever First, then the Right Lever.]

‘I can see… the options?’