Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Spendthrift NecromancerSpendthrift Necromancer (1)

I Became the Wastrel of a Chaebol FamilyEveryone has at least one game that defines their life.

For Woojin, that game was ‘Gate Hunter.’

Gate Hunter was a virtual reality game set in a modern hunter world. Graphics that seemed a good ten years ahead of the competition, a vast open world, and even NPCs that reacted just like real people.

“Holy shit. Did they torture aliens to make this or what?”

“The combat's insane too. This is seriously nuts.”

“And it's not even online, but a single-player package? Shut up and take my money!”

Released while he was still in his teens, the game took the world by storm. At its peak, it saw millions of downloads in a single day.‘But it still went under in the end.’The reason was simple.

It was too hard.〈(Tip) Death returns everything to nothing. Treasure your life!〉The very first message that appeared when starting the game.

Players who underestimated that warning were in for a world of pain.

Because you only had one life in the game.[Park Siwoo(Protagonist, Starting Character)][Traits: Swordsmanship Genius][Clear Difficulty: ★][Recommended Class: Swordsman][Fastest Clear Rankings][1. KukuruPingPong - 365 days][2. Hello - 533 days]..[Park Siwoo User Board]―Why the hell is killing five tutorial goblins so hard? Is it normal to keep looping back from here??―Completely fucking normal lolololol Give it a solid month and grind your ass off lol―He's a swordsmanship genius, so why the hell does he keep getting butchered by goblins!―Ah lol guess your brain isn't a genius lololol―Ah fuck. Said one wrong thing and got reset to the starting village lol This bastard is one star?―My Siwoo I'd been playing for two years is back in his underwear because of one mistake lololol What the hell do I do lololol―Reset Life Starting from Zero RECOMMENDED RECOMMENDED RECOMMENDED RECOMMENDEDEven the protagonist, the very first playable character, took an entire year before news of the first clear appeared.

The difficulty was so brutal that anyone with ordinary talent had no hope of clearing it.

And then there was Han Sia, the second character unlocked for play…….〈(Tip) To become a great mage, you must learn to control mana properly.〉[Han Sia(Heroine)][Traits: Magic Genius][Clear Difficulty: ★★][Recommended Class: Mage][Fastest Clear Rankings][1. KukuruPingPong - 401 days][2. Hello - 703 days]..[Han Sia User Board]―Oh fuck lol how the hell do you use magic lolololol―Teacher…… I want to use magic so badly……!―Breaking news! Fireball successfully manifested on run 20, BIG★SUCC★ESS!―Fucking talent freak is annoying as hell. Downvoted. 🖕🖕🖕―Shitcademy exam, run 30. Another massive failure lolololol―Ah, I seriously can't fucking do this anymore!

Forget hunting monsters. Most players failed out during the ‘Academy’ section, where they had to personally sense mana, manifest magic, and graduate.

It was hardly surprising that players trapped in endless resets began dropping the game one by one.

Now, fifteen years after the game's release, only a tiny handful of people still played Gate Hunter.

And no wonder. Plenty of games had come out that were much easier, looked better, and offered far more satisfying power fantasies. By now, Gate Hunter was half a nostalgia game.‘There probably aren't many left besides masochists like me.’He logged in from inside the capsule.[Welcome, KukuruPingPong!][These are the characters currently available to play!][1. Park Siwoo(★)][Fastest Clear][2. Han Sia(★★)][Fastest Clear][3. Namgung Min(★★★)][Fastest Clear][4. Seo Yerim(★★★★)][Fastest Clear][5. Kim Minwoo(★★★★★)][Day 1,832 in progress.]

“God, I'm sick of seeing these.”

Woojin grinned as he looked over the character list. Those five lines contained the whole of fifteen years of his life.

Fortunately, Woojin was one of those people whose life had become much easier because of a game.

His personal streams while playing Gate Hunter had absolutely exploded in popularity.

Woojin, clearing a notoriously difficult game in record time.

His streams gave players tremendous vicarious satisfaction, and the donations came pouring in, completely changing his fortunes.

As a bonus, he became famous as the world's greatest virtual reality gamer. That remained true even now, after Gate Hunter's popularity had faded.

Even if they no longer played themselves, plenty of people still ground their teeth while studying Woojin's guide videos. He had earned enough by now to live comfortably for the rest of his life without ever touching the game again.

Gate Hunter had been cursed six ways from Sunday, but to Woojin, it was practically a lifelong benefactor.

“I'm seeing the ending today.”

Kim Minwoo.

Five-star difficulty.

Known as Gate Hunter's final challenge character, this bastard had a level of difficulty infuriating enough to make anyone start swearing.[Kim Minwoo(Eldest Son of Ilseong Group)][Traits: Diamond Spoon, Talentless, Arrogant, Lazy, Coward, Lecher, Whiner, Freeloader][Clear Difficulty: ★★★★★][Class: Swordsman][Goal: Hunt the Dragon Lord within 3 years of game time.]

The eldest son of Ilseong Group, the number-one conglomerate in the country.

Aside from that one fact, everything about the character was garbage.〈(Tip) Kim Minwoo has a stronger sense of self than anyone else. Please respect his opinions!〉“Goddamn bastard.”

He recalled the opening message he'd seen so many times it made his teeth grind.

Each of the five characters had their own way of being cleared.

Kim Minwoo was no exception.

A strong sense of self.

Woojin only learned what that meant after he started playing.

This bastard was a character who directly ‘interfered’ with the player's actions.

The way he interfered was simple.

For example, if Woojin tried to enter a Gate…….[Kim Minwoo refuses to enter!]―A Gate? Why would I go somewhere that dangerous? I've awakened, isn't that enough? Items? I can just buy those with money.[Kim Minwoo refuses the action!]―You want me to take an elixir and strengthen my body? No. I heard that hurts like hell. I can't stand pain.[Kim Minwoo refuses to train!]―Ugh, grinding skill proficiency is such a fucking pain. I can eat well and live just fine without doing this crap.

Even sadder was the fact that no matter how brutally Woojin forced him to train, he could never rise beyond the level of an intermediate Awakened. He was horrifyingly untalented in every possible field.

And why the hell was he such a coward on top of that?

Woojin still vividly remembered meeting the first boss.[Kim Minwoo is gripped by extreme terror!][All stats decrease by 50%!][All skills are sealed!][Kim Minwoo refuses all combat actions and flees!]―Eeeek! Run![You have died.][Game over.]

Three years of game time.

No matter how much he optimized the route, he could find absolutely no way to hunt the Dragon Lord.

How the hell was he supposed to beat the final boss within three years using a bastard like this?

Most of the reactions on the user board after that day's stream were about the same.―Watched the guide stream and Kim Minwoo is seriously fucking legendary lololol―This thing's a swordsman? Siwoo was an angel lmao―Like Pingpong said, maybe it'd be different if he at least had another class, but lololol―For real. If he were a necro, maybe. But you can't change classes in this game lololol He's gonna suffer like hell lolololThat first battle had been filled with nothing but despair.

It would have been far better if his class had been something like a Necromancer, one that summoned minions.

Kim Minwoo was the one without talent. That didn't mean his summons had to be talentless too.

Even an F-rank Skeleton could do its job perfectly well if you loaded it up with all sorts of precious relics.

And undead summons weren't cowards like this bastard, either.

But to Woojin's despair, Kim Minwoo's awakened class was Swordsman.

Kim Minwoo truly lived up to the majesty of his five-star rating.

From that day onward.[Kim Minwoo Attempt 1,024. Let's try making some companions!]

If his talent was hopeless, maybe companions could solve the problem. With that thought, Woojin tried party play for the first time ever.[Kim Minwoo flies into a rage!]―A lowborn dares lecture me?

The way he could turn someone Woojin had painstakingly won over into an enemy in the blink of an eye was impressive even to Woojin.‘You socially maladjusted bastard!’That was when he realized.

This bastard had been born fundamentally incapable of having companions.

After that came a horrifying period of endurance.

Eventually, Woojin managed to carve out a new path.

He clawed Kim Minwoo's pathetic standing within the family upward, gained more authority, made money, and bought up every artifact he could get his hands on.

If you don't have talent, make up for it with money.

If money doesn't solve it, pour in more money. And if that still doesn't work, spend even more!

1,832 days invested in reaching the clear.

Now it was time to see the fruits of all that effort.[Entering the game!][Broadcast starting!]

Soon, a massive door appeared before his eyes.[Entrance to the Hall of Dragons][The final boss, the Dragon Lord, sleeps within this place.][1 day remains until the Dragon Lord awakens.][The game will be cleared upon hunting the Dragon Lord.]‘I can do this.’Right before the Dragon Lord awakened and began wreaking havoc. This was when Kim Minwoo was at his strongest, and the Dragon Lord at its weakest!

“LET'S GOOO!”

The door opened.

A monster with a colossal form like a dragon revealed itself.* * *―An uninvited guest.[You have witnessed the form of a dragon!][Overwhelming fear descends upon you!]

That was the moment.

Crack……!

The rings on his fingers began cracking all at once.[Mental Protection Artifact activated!][Iron Man(S) activated!][Indomitable Will(S) activated!][Clear Mirror, Still Water(S) activated!][Viking's Valor(S) activated!][Berserker(S) activated!][Resisting the Dragon Lord!][Resistance successful!][You are immune to fear for 15 minutes!]

All five rings shattered in an instant.‘Fuck!’Do you have any idea how much shit I went through to get those?!

Every single top-tier ring had been destroyed just to resist one attack.―Fuck lol five artifacts gone from one look lol Is that exchange rate for real?―This is actually insane lol Did they really make this thing to be beaten?15 minutes of fear immunity.

He couldn't waste even a single second.

He activated every artifact he'd gathered while charging relentlessly forward all this time.[Dwarf King's Roar(S) activated!][All equipment worn by Kim Minwoo gains 50% increased stats!][Hymn of the Sacred Relic(S) activated!][Kim Minwoo's talent limit increases by 100%!][Lightning Blade(S) activated!][The attack power of Kim Minwoo's equipped sword increases by 100%!][Sword Dance(S) activated!][Kim Minwoo's swordsmanship proficiency increases by 200%!]

No matter how garbage his talent was, if enough boosts stacked together…….

Shhk!

Even the Dragon Lord's hardened scales could be cut.

Slash, and slash again.

The battle continued in a near-trance.3 minutes.―Holy shit. How the hell is he dodging all that and still landing hits?―Pingpong isn't world number one for nothing lol[The Dragon Lord's health has fallen below 85%!][You have achieved an astonishing feat…….]..8 minutes.[The Dragon Lord's health has fallen below 63%!][You have achieved an impossible feat…….]―We're fucked. Didn't he already use every item he brought?―This isn't gonna work, is it? The patterns keep getting more complicated;;―Wait, there was such a thing as an impossible achievement? First time I've ever seen that.―Same.14 minutes 50 seconds.[The Dragon Lord's health has fallen below 50%!][Incomprehensible

Achievement, ‘One Who Discovered Possibility,’ achieved!]

That was the moment.―The amusement ends here.[Dragon Tongue(EX) activated!][Artifact activating…….][You cannot resist!][Control over your body is lost!]

Thud.

His body collapsed like a kite with its string cut.‘Ha…….’An EX-rank skill.

A hollow laugh escaped him.

This thing hadn't been made to be beaten.‘Goddammit. Maybe with another class, but as a Swordsman, it's impossible.’Cowardly Kim Minwoo and the Swordsman class were the worst possible combination.

From his early-game growth speed all the way to his late-game potential, everything was simply too low.‘How the hell am I supposed to clear this?’Woojin had conquered this game countless times, but this time, he simply couldn't see an answer.

Then it happened.

The screen began to freeze, and instead of the usual red messages, blue messages appeared.〈Player.〉〈Congratulations.〉〈You have exceeded our standards and shown us possibility.〉[Notice: The final stage, Stage 6, has been unlocked!][Kim Minwoo][Clear Difficulty: ★★★★★★][Traits: Diamond Spoon, Talentless, Arrogant, Lazy, Coward, Lecher, Whiner, Freeloader][Class: Unawakened][Clear Goal: Hunt an Outer God within 7 years.][Special Conditions][1. Kim Minwoo's class changes from Swordsman to Unawakened!][2. All main characters in the game will gather in a single world!][3. Growth elements will become more widely diversified!][4. The scope of activity will greatly expand!][Entering Stage 6 in 10 seconds!]‘……

What?’Woojin stared blankly at the messages appearing one after another.‘There was a Stage 6?’Was reducing the Dragon Lord's health by more than half the condition for unlocking it?

It was also his first time learning that an enemy called an Outer God even existed.9 seconds.8 seconds.

Watching the time plummet, he thought.‘Stage 6, huh. Sounds fun.’With a Stage 6, he wouldn't have to worry about streaming material for quite a while, would he?

And on top of that, the damn class was now Unawakened.

Just the fact that Kim Minwoo wasn't stuck as that rage-inducing Swordsman anymore guaranteed it would be fun.

And when ten seconds had passed.

Woojin's consciousness began to blur. His body vanished in an instant.

Not only from the game, but from inside the capsule as well.

When the screen finally began moving again…….―Did Pingpong log out?―What's with the sudden stream ending?―Something happen?

Only the chat continued scrolling busily across the now-ended broadcast.