Chapter 1

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 1

The world changes too quickly.

Not that it had ever been otherwise, but it was even more so in 2015.

The Great Cataclysm.

As gates and towers appeared all across Earth, the world entered a new phase.

And amid that Great Cataclysm, there were those who awakened special abilities.

Humanity called them ‘Players.’

Thus began a new age.

But even then, there was one truth that would never change.

[Interview Result Notification]

Hello, Park Junbeom.

First, we sincerely thank you for applying to our company’s new employee recruitment for the second half of 2026.

We deeply regret to inform you that, despite your outstanding abilities and potential, we will not be able to have you join us through this recruitment process.

We wish Park Junbeom greater opportunities and good fortune in the future.

“Fuuuck~.”

And that truth was that the job market was always fucking awful.

It was like that in the past, it’s like that now, and it’ll probably stay that way in the future.

“I graduated from a pretty decent university, got certifications, and my TOEIC score isn’t bad either...”

I did everything you asked!

And yet, another rejection notice.

Just how low am I supposed to lower my standards?

I’m almost thirty. This is driving me insane, seriously.

“Fuck, even E-rank would be fine. I just want to awaken too.”

If I could just awaken, places would be falling over themselves trying to recruit me.

After all, Players who beat monsters to death were top-tier personnel who couldn’t even be replaced by A.I.

《‘Dancer’ Lee Chaeyeon Chosen as Ermas Beauty Advertising Model!》

《Jo Yeonghun Purchases Another 87-Billion-Won Cheongdam-dong Building Just One Year After Joining the ‘Firebird’ Guild...》

《Player Incomes That Make Even ‘Hundreds of Millions’ Sound Like a Joke... A Whopping 17 Members in the One-Trillion-Won Club》

Just looking at online news, there were success stories about Players everywhere.

And that was without even mentioning Players with some name recognition.

Even a B-rank could easily earn enough money to keep their grandchildren’s generation well fed.

Damn it, meanwhile someone like me is so reluctant to spend money on dinner tonight that I’m about to settle for a convenience-store lunchbox.

A completely different world from mine.

It might as well have been another-world fantasy.

“Forget it, sigh...”

It wasn’t like awakening happened just because you wanted it.

It was pure luck.

No different from winning the lottery.

“Let’s just sleep~.”

Maybe because this was already my Nth failed job hunt of the season, I was exhausted.

I should stop going on about an awakening that would never happen, get a good night’s sleep, and start looking for jobs again afterward. Fuck...

______________

Boom― Boom―

Boom...!!

Majestic drumbeats echoed across the wasteland as though pounding upon heaven and earth.

Black ash swirled chaotically through the sky, while pillars of flame pierced through the ground, and at the center of that hellscape.

An immeasurable, seemingly infinite number of monsters stretched all the way beyond the horizon.

There were all sorts among them.

From utterly lowly demons to the great dragon race said to be the progenitors of magic.

Warriors from the lowest and darkest dimension known as the ‘Demon Realm’ stood assembled into legions, staring at the towering hill ahead.

And at the summit of that hill.

“...”

A man stood there indifferently.

A black-haired man dressed in clothes as white as snow.

A greatsword easily taller than the man himself was strapped to his back, a spear coursing with lightning was gripped in one hand, and golden radiance surged around his entire body like an active volcano.

Even the ash and pillars of flame that had swallowed the entire world did not dare intrude upon the space surrounding him as he stood there like a sovereign.

It was a sight that made it seem as though the world itself feared the man’s existence.

Despite bearing the murderous intent and gazes of countless monster legions all by himself, there was not the slightest tremor in the man’s eyes.

Boom―!!

With the thunderous beat of the drum, the demons and dragons roared in unison and advanced.

The black-haired man also kicked off the ground.

Leaping high enough to take in the demon army covering the land at a single glance, the man hurled the spear in his hand.

KABOOOOOOM―!!

Lightning surged like a storm from the spear embedded in the earth, sweeping through the demons.

At the center of the formation that had collapsed in an instant.

The man descended leisurely into the opening.

Whoooosh―!!

When the man swung the greatsword strapped to his back, hundreds of waves of sword energy scattered in every direction, massacring the demons.

Yes, a massacre.

It was not a war, but an overwhelmingly one-sided massacre.

Even amid the carnage where blood flowed freely and chunks of flesh flew through the air, the man never lost his astonishingly lofty presence.

As they watched the man overwhelm an infinite army all by himself.

One terror-stricken demon muttered a single incomprehensible word.

―...God-King.

______________

...So yeah, I had a dream like that.

“Ah, shit. What was that?”

I wondered why the bed felt damp, only to realize my entire body was soaked in cold sweat.

Was it because of the dream?

‘For a nonsense dream, it was pretty damn dynamic.’

What did they call him again, the God-King?

I wasn’t exactly sure, but it had been a dream where I possessed that man who was single-handedly mowing everything down.

Man, I’ve lived long enough to have all kinds of ridiculous dreams.

Well, like any other dream, only the vague feeling of how vivid it had been remained, and I couldn’t remember the details very well.

‘What time is it, anyway?’

I reached toward the phone lying beside my pillow...

...Huh?

I froze halfway through reaching for it, stuck in an awkward position.

I had no choice.

[Congratulations! You have awakened!]

[From this moment onward, you may challenge the ‘Tutorial Battlefield.’]

[To officially participate in the ‘Dimension Battle Royale,’ you must first clear the ‘Tutorial Battlefield.’]

A holographic window floating in midair.

And filling it were words declaring that I had awakened.

“...Is this real?”

Maybe I’d finally lost my mind after repeatedly failing to find a job.

Or maybe I was experiencing Inception right now.

“Th-this isn’t a dream, though?”

No matter what, I wasn’t stupid enough that I couldn’t distinguish reality from a dream.

Which meant I really had awakened.

First, stay calm.

There was one thing every newly awakened person was supposed to say first.

“Status window.”

Ding!

=====

[Park Junbeom (Human)]

Affiliation: Earth (Republic of Korea)

Class: Newbie

Level: 1

Strength (1) Stamina (1) Agility (1) Mana (1) Luck (1)

Unique Trait: Access to <​Transdimensional Divine Intelligent Entity Exchange: Pantheon>

Skills: -

Assimilation Rate: 0%

=====

My God.

Seeing the status window appear confirmed that I really had awakened.

Let’s go through it one by one.

...Starting from the third line, a question mark popped into my head.

‘Newbie?’

I mean, I had only just awakened, so in a sense I really was a newbie...

But I’d never heard of anyone whose class outright had the word ‘Newbie’ stamped onto it.

Weren’t they normally intuitive things like [Swordsman] [Summoner] [Mage] [Bard] [Ranger] and so on?

But if it just suddenly calls me a Newbie, how the hell am I supposed to know what type of ability user I am?

Thinking about it wasn’t going to give me an answer immediately, so let’s move on.

‘The level and stats look fine, and the unique trait is... What the hell is this?’

Transdimensional divine, what?

It was hard to read and hard to pronounce.

Unique traits were normally just like classes.

Usually things like [Physical Enhancement] [Mana Amplification] [Weapon Mastery] [Future Sight], and so on.

They were formatted so you could roughly tell what the ability did just by looking at the name.

But what was written on my status window... I seriously had zero idea what it was supposed to mean.

And then there was the very last item.

‘What the hell is an Assimilation Rate?’

Did status windows normally even have an ‘Assimilation Rate’ category?

I immediately searched it on my phone.

Sure enough.

No matter how many posts from people showing proof of their awakening I looked through, the ‘Skills’ category was always the last thing at the bottom of the status window.

Meaning I was the only person with a status window containing an ‘Assimilation Rate.’

‘Awakening is great and all, but what the hell is wrong with my status window?’

I had more questions than I could count, but for now, I should figure out my unique trait properly.

I remembered seeing a post like this back when I used to lurk around communities related to awakened people.

When you didn’t know what something was, muttering it aloud usually solved the problem.

“Tran-transdimensional divine intelli—ah, fuck. Transdimensional, divine, intelligent, entity, exchange, Pantheon, access.”

It was so long that I even bit my tongue halfway through.

Anyway, the moment I finally succeeded in clearly reciting it word by word.

[Congratulations! By satisfying the conditions, you have become the first person from Earth (111.111) to acquire authorization to access ‘Pantheon’!]

[For the time being, your nickname will be fixed as ‘Anon (111.111).’]

Another incomprehensible system message appeared.

[Should I Just Settle for 7th Circle?] (21)

[Why Half-Elves Are Fucking Superior...] (4)

[Pantheon Bro in Deep Shit Right Now;;]

[Fuck, I Seriously Want to Smash the Skulls of Every Bastard Who Doesn’t Pay Their Offering] (30)

[Sniff Sniff, Day 1198 of Climbing the Tower] (2)

[Would Drinking an Elixir Fill in My Bald Spot?] (0)

[These Fucking Demons] (15)

[Saw the Lord This Morning] (3)

[Yaaawn,,, Big Brooos, Necro-chan Is Gonna Go Sleep Now,,,] (1)

[Any Mods Here? Please Ban the Bastard in the Post Below] (0)

[A Surprisingly Mainstream Preference] (27)

[Rate the Artifact I Made Today? Seriously] (6)

“...”

I found myself staring at something that seemed to embody the very word chaos.

The distinctively classless way they spoke, along with the interface design.

No matter how I looked at it, this was that.

That...

Wasn’t it practically identical to the most famous online community in Korea?

“What the hell is going on?”

Just as my head was beginning to spin, another system message appeared.

[When accessing the ‘Transdimensional Divine Intelligent Entity Exchange: Pantheon,’ a dedicated five-sense interpretation filter optimized for the user’s cultural sphere will be applied.]

[This measure is intended to prevent cognitive overload and mental collapse in the user.]

“Why the hell is this so complicated...”

I suddenly felt my temper flare up, but I calmed down and carefully interpreted the system messages that had turned into an exposition machine.

‘In short, this transdimensional-whatever exchange only looks like a certain website to me.’

The system was applying a kind of filter to make it easier for me to understand.

‘If it’s an exchange for divine intelligent entities... does that mean the guys here aren’t Earthlings?’

To satisfy my curiosity, I opened a random post.

When I focused my gaze on a post that happened to catch my interest, a new window appeared over the first.

=====

[Title: A Surprisingly Mainstream Preference]

Author: ILoveFur

(An image of a burly, muscular werewolf proudly showing off his pecs)

And that preference waaas beastfolk

Upvote if you agree lol

=====

-Ah fuck why did I click without looking at the username

-Please just die

-HolyQueen) You!! Fucking!!! Bastard!!!

└Author: He’s literally a wolf beastman, so that insult doesn’t do any damage...

-Upvoted lol Get that belly ready for raspberries

└?;

└CyberpunkMetalPoisoningPatient) Once I escape this labyrinth, the first thing I’m doing is killing these fur-loving bastards

“...”

The guys here didn’t seem all that different from the internet idiots I already knew...?

Or was this also because of the filter the system had applied for me?

There was no way to know for now.

‘Either way, it seems highly likely that these guys aren’t Earthlings.’

There was the system message that had called me the ‘first on Earth’ to access this place.

And there were all those post titles that, overall, seemed far removed from the reality of Earth.

Apparently, the beings using this transdimensional... in other words, this message board called ‘Pantheon’ were most likely beings from other dimensions.

I decided to call this place the ‘Pantheon Gallery’ from now on.

‘...So how exactly is this supposed to help me?’

I finally awakened, and my ability is browsing an online gallery?

No fucking way. That can’t be it.

I decided to struggle however I could to uncover the advantages of this ability.

For now, I needed to gather more information about the Pantheon Gallery.

Asking them directly would probably be the fastest way.

And to do that, I’d have to write a post on the gallery.

“How do I make a post... Ah.”

The moment I thought that I wanted to write something, a holographic window with a proper posting form appeared, astonishingly enough.

Then the characters I imagined in my head were entered exactly as I thought them.

Easy.

=====

[Title: What Is This Place?]

Author: Anon (111.111)

This is my first time on the Pantheon Gallery.

Could someone tell me what people do here...?

=====

If I wrote something like this, surely at least one kind angel would show up and explain things to me, right?

...No sooner had I thought that than countless comments began appearing.

-Oh what’s this, never seen those dimensional coordinates before, damn

-HolyQueen) lol It’s been almost 100 years since we got a newbie

-Never seen an Earth with coordinates 111.111 before; is it a different dimension from the Earth where IAmLegend lives?

-IMadeExcalibur) You’re not even one of those knife-ears, so where’d you learn the bad manners to use honorifics with someone you just met?

-If you’re a newbie with a registered nickname, first tell us the story of how you died

-CyberpunkMetalPoisoningPatient) What do you mean ‘Pantheon Gallery’? Is this some kind of roleplay?

The problem was that not a single bastard answered my question.

What the hell kind of people get pissed off because someone used honorifics?

“What was I expecting?”

Apparently, it really had been nearly a hundred years since the last newbie joined, so I was grateful that the general atmosphere was welcoming, at least.

And they weren’t just welcoming me with words. I was also getting quite a lot of ‘upvotes.’

By the time I came to my senses, I had reached a whopping one hundred upvotes in less than a minute.

But screw that. Could you bastards please start answering my question already?

Just as my temper was beginning to rise.

[You have collected all the upvotes required to increase your Assimilation Rate!]

[As a privilege of the unique trait, ‘Access to Transdimensional Divine Intelligent Entity Exchange: Pantheon,’ your Assimilation Rate will increase!]

[Current Assimilation Rate: 1.01%]

[The ‘Mana’ stat evolves into ‘Divine Power.’]

[To increase your Assimilation Rate, collect at least 300 upvotes in the ‘Pantheon Gallery’!]

“...Huh?”

Along with yet another incomprehensible system message.

Fwoooosh―!!

Golden radiance began seeping into my body.

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents

Author │

Brown Panda

Publisher │

Choi Wonyoung

Editorial Director │

Lee Hojun

Editor │

Jeong Jaeung

E-book │

Park Hansol

Published by │

D&C Media Co., Ltd.

Registration │

April 25, 2012, No. 20-260

Address │

1301-8, Kolon Digital Tower Villant 1, 30 Digital-ro 32-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul

Main Telephone │

(02)333-2513 Fax (02)333-2514

Email │

papy_dnc@dncmedia.co.kr

Website │

blog.naver.com/gnpdl7

UCI G720:N+A092-20260914045

*This book was published by D&C Media Co., Ltd. (Papyrus) under a contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.