Heo Tae-seok despaired.
He was bullied for looking gloomy, mocked because he seemed weak.
People said bullying culture had disappeared, but there were still kids who were quietly isolated.
People claimed there were no "delinquents" anymore, but the errand boys still existed.
At first, he'd been shocked and confused.
He couldn't believe something he'd only ever seen on TV was happening to him.
'D-did I do something wrong to them?'
Thinking the fault was his, he tried changing himself.
But it didn't take long for reality to sink in.
'Ah… these bastards are just picking on me because I'm easy.'
He'd thought the bullying would end someday.
'I just have to hold out until graduation. Just until I graduate high school.'
With that single thought, he endured the abuse from the delinquent group.
But he'd overestimated himself.
He wasn't as strong as he'd thought.
"You little shit, did my words go in one ear and out the other? I told you to pay up every damn day, didn't I?"
"S-sorry. I-I live with m-my grandmother, so m-money…"
"What, so this little shit doesn't even have a mom or dad?"
"Then I guess his grandma's basically his mom, huh?"
"Damn, his mom's old as hell, haha."
"…"
"Even so, you still gotta bring the cash, you little fuck. Steal it if you have to. I don't care how."
"Yeah, shithead. We can't buy smokes because of you. Maybe we should bury you with your grandma when she croaks."
"…"
When they started mocking his grandmother, Heo Tae-seok understood what it meant to feel his reason snap.
"Y-you… y-you fucking bastards!!!"
That was the first time he'd ever talked back to them.
The result was, of course, miserable.
"This crazy fucker's asking to die."
"Hey, put your forehead here. I'll punch a hole in it with my cigarette."
Fsssshh—
"Aaaaargh!"
After that, the bullying only escalated.
Day after day he was dragged around, beaten, threatened, shaken down, tortured.
Their cruelty went beyond imagination; even demons would probably bow before them.
After school became hell.
'I want to die… That'd be easier.'
After feeling enough pain, death wasn't frightening anymore.
Suicide seemed like the only way out.
But Heo Tae-seok couldn't go through with it.
'If I go… what happens to Grandma?'
It would be a betrayal of the grandmother who picked up scrap paper to raise him, cherishing him more than anything.
'I have to endure. I promised I'd graduate with my head held high and make money so she can live in comfort.'
To keep his promise to himself, Heo Tae-seok held on.
He held on and held on, all for the sake of being a good grandson.
As a result, for the first time in his life, he felt proud of himself.
He'd endured three years of high school bullying without dying.
'I finally graduated. Once vacation's over…'
But in 2022—
The angels descended, and everything changed.
Every month, they were forced into a life-or-death survival game.
To make matters worse, his grandmother's health declined.
Around the time Round 2 ended—
"G-Grandma…?"
Heo Tae-seok's life crumbled.
His grandmother's death changed everything.
"Keek, hey, see that? I told you he'd lose it if we messed with the granny."
"Yeah. Hey, Heo Tae-seok, you pissed off? I warned you, right? I said I'd bury you and your grandma together."
"Yeah, trash like you shouldn't have messed with us in the first pla—guh!"
He rammed a dagger into the throat of the delinquent in front of him and immediately followed up with a skill.
A Black Arrow pierced the eye of the delinquent beside him.
"Shit, fuck! W-what the hell is this guy?! Is he a class-holder?!"
They had no idea.
They had no idea that Heo Tae-seok already had the class Dark Mage.
They'd assumed things.
That a loser in real life would be a loser in the otherworld too.
They'd overlooked something.
They thought that if they had numbers, they could beat anyone.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
When he came back to his senses, the place was full of blood-drenched corpses.
His grandmother's house was stained with their blood.
"G-Grandma…"
It was probably from that moment on.
The moment his speech started to become clumsy.
The moment he began to build walls between himself and other people.
And—
The moment he set a new goal.
'They said if you clear the final Round, any wish will be granted, right?'
His wish was simple.
To bring his grandmother back and live happily with her for the rest of his life.
He didn't care about his parents who had abandoned him.
As long as his grandmother was by his side, that was enough.
After that, Heo Tae-seok took the strategy seriously.
He had enough skill, and the Dark Mage class was stronger than he'd expected.
'Black Arrow rapidly decays the area it hits. That means I don't have to aim for the head.'
If it so much as grazed someone, the flesh would rot and crumble within seconds. As long as he landed a hit and bought time, the fight tilted in his favor.
To take advantage of that, he'd put points into Agility.
If he hit with Black Arrow and then ran around to stall for time, victory would eventually come to him.
'If I play it right, I might even be able to handle multiple enemies at once.'
Just as he'd predicted, his hit-and-run strategy—shooting arrows at monsters and then fleeing—let him take down groups efficiently.
That built his confidence.
He realized he could power-level, and from then on he never lost first place in his zone.
But there's always someone above you.
'Black Scythe… How is that guy getting so strong, so fast?'
Every time the rankings came out, there was one name that never lost first place across all zones.
Curiosity stirred in him when he saw it.
Along with a sense of admiration for someone that strong.
'I want to meet him. I want to see how strong he really is.'
He'd only ever thought that to himself, but after the zones were merged, he actually got to see Black Scythe.
Got to see how strong that player really was.
'Wow… he took down nine people in an instant…'
Watching the representative selection battle, Heo Tae-seok was captivated by Black Scythe's almost artistic skill.
He was too strong.
'If only I'd been that strong back then… those delinquents wouldn't have done that to me…'
If that had been the case, his grandmother might still be alive.
Regret washed over him.
Regret for the years he'd spent as a weakling.
'I want to become as strong as Black Scythe-nim.'
That desire to grow stronger turned into deep admiration for him.
'Should I try talking to him? No… someone like me…'
Compared to him, Black Scythe was almost godlike.
He told himself he should be satisfied just sharing a zone with someone like that.
And yet—
'M-me… in a party… with Black Scythe-nim?'
He'd never dreamed he'd actually end up in the same party.
Just being in the same group as the person he admired so much felt like a dream.
"NopainNogay."
"Y-yes?"
"Now that we're a party, we should all introduce ourselves."
"Ah…"
At Black Scythe's instruction, Heo Tae-seok fidgeted and then opened his mouth.
"M-my, my ID is NopainNogay. I'm level 23, a Dark Mage. My skills are Black Arrow and Black Chains…"
At first he stammered, but after that, the words came more smoothly.
"Nice to meet you, Nopain-nim. I'm a level 21 Buffer. Looking forward to working with you!"
"Hello, I'm Seo Arin. I'm a level 20 Summoner, and my skills are…"
One by one, the party members explained themselves, but none of it really registered in Heo Tae-seok's ears.
'What's going on? I'm not stuttering like before.'
Was it the shock of losing his grandmother?
He always stuttered whenever he spoke in front of people, but for some reason, the trembling had eased.
'Is it thanks to Black Scythe-nim…?'
Did he gain confidence whenever he stood in front of Black Scythe?
Or was it his subconscious, wanting to make a good impression on him?
He didn't know why, but one thing was certain.
'I'm glad I joined Black Scythe-nim's party.'
As he smiled to himself, Ryu Min spoke.
"Now that introductions are done, let's go hunting."
"Wait a second. I'll cast buffs on everyone first."
Min Juri went around the group, casting buffs one by one.
Bless and Swift.
Those who felt the buffs for the first time couldn't help but be shocked.
"W-what is this? My stats went up by 60%!"
"My attack speed and movement speed went up by 60% too."
"I-is this a bug?"
Players who'd never experienced her buffs gaped, but Ryu Min remained calm.
"So this is why you've been sticking with Min Juri-nim, Black Scythe-nim? Buffer-nim, you're amazing!"
"Haha, don't flatter me like that, it's embarrassing."
Min Juri laughed awkwardly at An Sang-cheol's praise.
"…"
Feeling a twinge of jealousy, Seo Arin refused to be outdone.
"I'll give you buffs with my summons too."
When she used her skill, two tiny fairy-like creatures appeared, scattering golden dust as they flew.
Then fwsssh—soil gathered and formed a human-sized golem.
"Wow, what are those cute little fairies?"
"They're called Fairies; they're summons that cast protective barriers. They didn't have combat abilities at first, but when I hit level 20, they doubled to two and started using offensive magic."
"Wow, then what about that stone one?"
"That's a Golem I got at level 20. It doesn't have buffs, but it draws aggro from monsters, so I summoned it in advance."
"Whoa… a tank and a support. That's so cool, unnie."
Min Juri showered her with compliments, but Seo Arin's eyes were fixed on Black Scythe.
'Well? What do you think, Black Scythe-nim? I'm pretty useful too, right?'
She shot him a look that begged for approval, but he seemed uninterested, looking elsewhere.
"Let's get going."
When Ryu Min took the lead, everyone nodded and followed.
'A Buffer and a Summoner… everyone's amazing. I'd better make myself useful too.'
Heo Tae-seok followed with a tense expression.
After a bit, he began to notice something odd about their pace.
'Why is it so relaxed?'
Sure, they had six hours, so time was on their side.
As long as they killed one of the 101 bosses in the field during that time, they'd clear the Round, so it made sense to be relaxed.
'But wouldn't you want to kill a boss quickly to secure first place? Why isn't anyone in a hurry to find one?'
He could only feel confused.
He didn't know what the others did—he hadn't heard the prophecy.
That there was no benefit to killing a boss quickly.
Then, a shout rang out from somewhere.
"There's a boss over there!"
He turned toward the voice and saw a huge monster.
About 3.5 meters tall, with a human upper body and a horse's lower body—a half-man, half-horse creature.
A centaur.
"First place is ours!"
"Let's charge!"
A party rushed the centaur without a hint of fear.
"Graaaargh!"
The centaur swung a massive double-headed axe, and the players struggled.
"D-damn, this thing is strong as hell!"
"S-spread out and attack!"
"Surround it in a circle!"
The five players formed a ring around the centaur.
"Go for its back! The back!"
At someone's shout, they rushed in from behind without thinking, and Ryu Min clicked his tongue as he watched.
'You're really going for a horse's back. Idiots.'
Sure enough—
Thud!
The player behind it took a double rear kick and went flying ten meters, then rolled another three after hitting the ground.
"P-PinkPrincess-nim!"
She squirmed a little; at least she wasn't dead.
But there was no way she could continue fighting.
"You bastard!"
"W-we'll avenge her!"
The remaining players unleashed their skills in a coordinated barrage.
"Graaaargh!"
The centaur collapsed after its legs were cut out from under it, and their swords plunged into its neck.
Squelch, squelch, squelch—
When the centaur finally hung its tongue out and died, the players let out triumphant shouts.
"We… we did it!"
"We're first place!"
"We finally cleared the quest as the first party!"
"That was easier than I thought."
Watching their celebration, Heo Tae-seok felt a pang of disappointment.
'Damn, they stole first place from us.'
His gaze naturally drifted to Black Scythe.
Since he was the one who always held first place in the rankings, he figured no one would be more upset than him.
'…Huh?'
But Ryu Min's expression was utterly calm.
There wasn't a trace of regret.
Just as he found that strange, the cheering from the other party started to die down.
"W-what the…?"
"Why isn't the quest clear message popping up?"
"Ah… no way…"
Watching their belated frustration, Ryu Min smirked.
'So they finally realized it. That what they killed wasn't a boss.'
It was a shame, but the centaur wasn't a boss.
'They said they released 101 bosses… they never said anything about there being no regular mobs.'
This was why Ryu Min had been watching so leisurely.
The centaur was nothing but a normal monster.