Galaxy Girl War (GGW)
A virtual reality mobile game developed in China, it was your standard mobile game where players had to fend off monsters invading Earth. Naturally, just like the title suggested, the heroes who defeated the monsters were mostly women. This was because of the setting where women could awaken to mana—the power capable of taking down mighty monsters.
And the player was one of the rare few men who awakened to mana by some fluke accident. Along with the many female heroes who supported him, he had to defeat the monsters and restore peace to Earth. That was the gist of the game.
A cookie-cutter game with a clichéd setup. But unlike other VR mobile games, GGW didn't require spending money to play. You could only clear it through pure player skill and control.
The raid difficulties—called raids—ranged from Normal to Heroic and Legendary, three tiers in total. This embraced both casual players and hardcore ones alike.
On top of that, the unique and stunning looks of the female heroes who followed the player, along with their distinctive charms, captivated gamers everywhere.
GGW quickly gained word-of-mouth buzz shortly after launch and exploded in popularity. Now, it had become a global mobile game enjoyed by countless gamers.
"Hoo..."
Minguk was one such gamer hooked on GGW. In fact, he was an obsessive player. He never spent a dime, but GGW was a game where you could become a ranker without paying. Minguk was famous as a GGW commander for his sharp judgment and masterful orders.
Leveraging those skills, he led the girls who followed him to conquer terrifyingly difficult monsters ahead of other gamers, earning himself quite the reputation.
Right now, a boss monster from Galaxy Girl War filled Minguk's vision.
The boss's name was Uradius. This monster boasted patterns so tricky they bordered on absurd, refusing to tolerate even the slightest mistake. Its nightmarish difficulty had gamers calling it "Damn Thing" more often than its actual name.
Thanks to that, even half a year after the Chaos Gate expansion updated, no one had cleared Uradius.
"No matter what, we're taking this guy down today."
Minguk stared down the monster ahead and addressed the girls. How many times had they faced it from this safe zone already? At least a thousand. Just the combat time alone added up to hundreds of hours.
"You're right. For the peace of Earth if nothing else, we'll help you bring that monster down, Leader."
A girl with blonde hair in twin tails steeled her resolve. She was Julia, a 5-star tank from GGW. Born as a 1-star, she'd been one of Minguk's earliest companions. With all the love and effort he'd poured into her growth, she now boasted tanking power rivaling the strongest native 7-star heroes.
"Same here. That monster bastard trampled my hometown. I can't stand not hitting him where it hurts."
A green-haired bob-cut girl flipped daggers back and forth as she spoke. Suzuki Koharu, an 8-star melee dealer. The other girls, too, bared their battle intent toward Uradius for the sake of Earth's peace. Dozens, hundreds of comrades had fallen just to reach this point.
That was when messages started popping up in Minguk's view.
💬 Comments — Viewer1 Damn Thing bastard still not cleared, huh? — Viewer2 Heard Zhang Lin Hau got it down to 2% the day before yesterday, but failed the kill. — Viewer3 Zhang Lin Hau is China's #1 ranker, right? Even he couldn't do it... What a real Damn Thing. — Viewer4 True. If Damn Thing was cleared, we'd be flooded with World First Kill articles, but nada.
These were users watching Minguk's playthrough via GGW's streaming feature. A six-digit number hovered at the top—nearly 100,000 gamers tuning in right now. No wonder the chat updated at breakneck speed.
Countless GGW players were grinding Uradius right this moment. But worldwide, fewer than ten showed real promise of clearing it—including top Korean gamers from the game powerhouse nation that developed it.
In Korea, Minguk led the pack on Uradius. His progress matched global rankers, and he was the only Korean ranker to whittle its HP down to single digits.
Minguk paused the game briefly and spoke to the viewers. They'd all gathered to watch him.
"Alright, let's get started on Uradius. I'll close chat, so don't worry if I don't respond. I've prepped thirty Revival Stones. Squeezing every last one from my Earth's resources, that's the max I could muster. Means we gotta kill it in 30 tries, but I'll make it happen somehow. World First Kill—I'm doing this!"
Korea's #1 GGW ranker.
In GGW, Minguk had risen by issuing precise orders and clever tactics. Even with a squad of low-star girls, he'd smashed tough monsters, building his name bit by bit. Once he assembled a team of higher-star girls, no one cleared raid monsters faster.
Before he knew it, battling GGW's monsters alongside his girls had made him Korea's most famous ranker.
But his nickname? Second Place. Why? Every new dungeon or monster update, he'd cleared the boss second-fastest worldwide—over ten times. And he'd never once snagged a World First Kill.
"No matter what, we're escaping Second Place today."
Minguk hardened his expression. Truth be told, this was his last real shot at ditching the moniker.
The company running GGW announced no expansions for a year after Uradius—to polish the story and prep a massive update.
Fail the World First Kill here, and he'd be Second Place fodder for another half-year at least. He could already hear the jeers. Steeling himself, Minguk resumed the game.
"Alright. Let's go!"
"Yes, Leader!!!"
"We're taking it down, no question. We've blown past a thousand tries already! Screw up, and you girls aren't even heroes!"
"Don't worry about us!"
And so, one man and nineteen girls charged at Uradius—the boss monster behind the Chaos Gate.