[Atlas Online] has been around for over a decade — a full-dive RPG adapted from a webnovel tilted [I Entered a Romance Novel By Accident].
In the game, you play as one of ten selectable characters:
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1. Noah Seongvale — Sword Saint
2. Wei Lian — Martial Demon
3. Ryuma Kento — Sharpshooter
4. Malik Danton — Forge Knight
5. Jake — Commander
6. Seo Ji-Hye — Reaper
7. Victoria Astermont — Puppet Master
8. Han Seora — Constellation Mage
9. Ekaterina Volkhova — Phantom Duelist
10. Nabila Zahra Al-Nasir — Dreamweaver
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Now let me ask you:
Which one of these characters is considered the most useless?
It's Jake.
I mean—who picks Commander in an RPG where most people play solo?
Yeah, yeah, I know. You play alone too, you friendless gremlin.
The Commander is a class that's entirely team-reliant. Sure, it can use any weapon or skill, no matter the type—but here's the catch: you only get 30% of a weapon's full potential.
That means if a sword has 10 base stats, you get 3.
A slap in the face.
Same thing with armor. Heavy, light, arcane—it doesn't matter. You'll still only get 30% of the defense.
Players who pick Jake as their main are lovingly referred to by the community as:
[Jaking Off].
And yeah.
I'm one of those freaks.
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◇◇◇
[Initializing…]
[Synchronizing... 10%... 23%... 47%... 86%... 100%]
[Synchronization complete.]
[Jake → Kylen Noor]
[Welcome, Mr. Noor.]
A chime echoed softly in the void—clear, clinical, absolute.
And then—
"Please welcome the top ten hero cadets of the new year!"
My eyes shot open.
What the hell?
I was seated in what looked like a massive auditorium. My head throbbed like someone had jammed a subwoofer into my skull.
I groaned, slumping forward and pressing a hand to my forehead.
Yeah. This was definitely not my room.
Suddenly, a hand rested on my shoulder.
I flinched and turned—only to meet the gaze of a woman I'd never seen before in my life.
"You okay?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine… auntie," I said automatically, brushing her hand away.
…Wait. I don't have an aunt that young.
She frowned. "I told you, if you get overwhelmed around people, you can always wait in the infirmary."
And then it hit me.
A surge of foreign memories slammed into my mind like a floodgate breaking open.
Names. Faces. Places I'd never seen—yet somehow knew.
Even last night's dinner.
Kimchi stew.
Hold up.
I've never eaten kimchi stew in my life. So why do I remember what it tastes like?
Wait… right.
Now I remember.
I smacked my head on the edge of my desk yesterday. Hard.
So either this is one hell of a lucid dream…
Or this is real.
Only one way to find out.
I pinched myself.
Pain.
Sharp and immediate.
Yeah, this is as real as it gets.
---
Then a voice boomed from the stage.
"Now, please give a round of applause for Cadet Noah Seongvale."
The auditorium erupted in polite applause—sharp, measured, respectful.
The kind of applause you'd give to a national treasure.
That name—Noah Seongvale—hit me like a lightning bolt.
It was too familiar.
And when I saw him, everything just… clicked.
Noah Seongvale.
Seventeen. The prodigy of the prestigious Seongvale family.
Calm. Brilliant. Composed.
People called him "warm," but honestly?
He always looked half-dead to me.
Not creepy-dead—just emotionally vacuum-sealed.
Like the kind of guy who could tell you your pet died without blinking.
Black hair streaked with white, like someone had painted tragedy across his bangs.
Crimson eyes—not glowing, just watching, detached, like nothing in the world could faze him.
Shoulders square. Back straight. Eyes forward.
He was the definition of poise—like a wall that wouldn't budge even if a dragon rammed into it.
Noah wasn't just a cadet.
He was a legend.
And he wasn't even the protagonist of the game.
But half the playerbase treated him like one anyway.
Cool. Powerful. Silent. Unreachable.
And now he was standing right there—
in the flesh.
"Even though I've cleared this game several times," I muttered, "there's no way I'd remember all this by heart."
Ever since I woke up, I'd had a hunch about where I was.
But I kept denying it.
Not anymore.
That name.
That face.
This exact scene.
I'd seen it before—dozens of times.
There's no mistake now.
I've entered Atlas Online.