Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Into a God-Tier Game with Failed-Game Perks
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Failed Game Master
When I came to my senses, it was a darkness so complete I couldn't see an inch in front of me.
What the...?
I'd just gone to the supermarket to restock my empty fridge for the first time in a while.
I remember finishing checkout and leaving, then a sudden explosion of white light. After that, nothing.
Don't tell me North Korea, always looking for a chance to provoke us, finally launched a nuke?
So is this the afterlife?
Damn it. If I'd known I was going to die so pointlessly, I would've just blown all my money like those YOLO people say.
While my mind raced with all sorts of thoughts, the surrounding darkness suddenly lifted, and my vision cleared.
It looked like some kind of plaza, and it was packed with people.
At a glance, there had to be well over a hundred. I could see kids who still had a youthful innocence about them, an old man with pure white hair, a pot-bellied middle-aged man, and even foreigners with blonde and silver hair.
What kind of criteria did they use to drag us all here?
They all looked just as bewildered as I felt, clearly dragged here without a clue. I tried to say something, but for some reason, no sound came out.
When I tried to approach them, it felt like something was blocking my way.
Wait a minute... I think I've seen this somewhere before.
As I was glancing around, a blue light and a white orb appeared.
“I've done this so you can all hear me without a thousand voices chattering at once. Be patient, even if it's frustrating.”
It seems what I was thinking was right.
Because I've seen a scene similar—no, identical—to this before.
On buses, in subways, on giant billboards, and even in WeTube ads.
The MMORPG Elsia, which had been massively promoted for the past six months, to the point that every citizen of South Korea had likely seen it at least once.
This scene was identical to the commercial.
“I'll skip the explanation, as you should all be familiar with it already. Instead, I've prepared a small gift to help you adapt.”
Wait a minute, you drag us here without any warning and now you're skipping the explanation?
I know about it from the insane amount of ads, but I've never actually played Elsia.
Elsia had been praised with every good modifier imaginable—'God-tier game,' 'The miracle of Korean online games,' and so on. I like games too, but my job was...
*****
“Alright, everyone, that's it for today's review of 'Three Kingdoms: Miracle Sword'.”
[5thArmoredElem: Ung, you're ending the stream already? You haven't even given it a score.]
[EomJoonSik2: Why even ask? It was another one of those mass-produced Chinese games, just like always. It's gonna be a 1-star.]
[Froggy2: Even 1 star is too generous. Nothing was fun except the free gacha pulls.]
[NalKangDooCheon: Today's stream won't even get views if you edit it for WeTube. Congrats on the wasted time lol.]
[AekkuPangPang: Don't you just refund everything after the stream anyway? So it's not a real loss. But seriously, stop bringing the same trash games every time and do some different content. So f-ing boring.]
That son of a...
[AekkuPangPang has been kicked from the channel.]
[Froggy2: lol I knew that would happen. The gacha pulls were fun though.]
[SpankMyButt: Hitting him with facts was a low blow. But yeah, I'm tired of these mass-produced trash games. Do some other content.]
[PangjinIsBaby: It is getting kinda old.]
[SaysWhatIWant: Bring some new content.]
I kicked the troll, but looking at the chat, which had already been swayed, gave me a headache.
“Thanks for watching till the end. I'm taking tomorrow off, and I'll post an announcement the day after.”
I quickly said my goodbyes and ended the stream.
Seriously, a bunch of armchair producers.
Of course, I had been doing this 'Failed Game Reviews' content for a while.
For over two years now, two or three times a week.
On top of that, I'd recently run out of games to review, so I'd been doing a string of mass-produced Chinese knock-offs. I could understand why my viewers were pissed.
But do they think creating content is easy?
This was the golden goose content that took me from a nobody with a thousand subs to 10,000.
Besides, even if it wasn't what it used to be, it still pulled in decent views.
I clicked on my editing software, wondering what game to do next.
****
A WeTuber specializing in failed game reviews. That was my job.
Why didn't I play Elsia?
Why else? If I played a fun game like that, I wouldn't be able to get into the right mood for my content.
If I'd known this would happen, I would've forced myself to play it.
The regret was immense, but that train had already left the station.
“From the actions you frequently performed or the abilities you possessed in your original world, I will randomly grant one as a trait.”
The moment the orb finished speaking, a blue light flashed from my body and from everyone else around me.
“Alright, I've given you what I came to give. Talk amongst yourselves, check your traits... It seems there's a little time left. I'll take one question. Raise your hand.”
As soon as the orb finished its magnanimous offer, I shot my hand up, but I wasn't chosen.
The orb's choice was a young woman standing closest to it.
“Is there no way to return to where we came from?”
Thankfully, it was a question I'd been wondering about too.
“The Summoner's Shop sells an Orb of Wishes. It's a bit pricey, but you can use it for wishes other than returning home. Now then, the Time of Choice will begin in 30 minutes. Feel free to talk.”
Wait, what the hell is a Summoner's Shop, and what's this 'Time of Choice'?
As the orb disappeared, shouts erupted from all over.
It seemed we could speak again, so I immediately asked the man next to me.
“Excuse me. Is this by any chance the world of the game Elsia?”
“I think so. This is where you create your character, right?”
Damn it.
“Why was I brought here?”
“How should I know? I'm just as confused.”
“But I've never even played Elsia.”
“What? You've never played Elsia?”
He gave me a strange look and walked away.
“This is Elsia, right?”
“I've been playing it a lot lately, but why are we suddenly in the game world...”
“Oh, God, what is happening... To be inside a game world.”
A cacophony of voices filled the air. I saw people crying, others with their heads buried in their hands in despair.
Most people seemed unable to accept the situation. I felt like crying myself, but I instinctively knew now wasn't the time for that.
I didn't know what the 'Time of Choice' was, but it was happening in 30 minutes.
First, I should probably check the gift that 'angel' gave us...
How do I check it?
Of course, I would know if I'd actually played the game.
I was about to lose my mind, but thankfully, I quickly learned how to check.
“Excuse me, everyone's played Elsia, right? Why don't we all check our status windows first? If you say 'Status Window,' you can see the trait the orb gave us.”
Thank you, you helpful busybody!
“Status Window!”
“Status Window!”
From all around, people started shouting, 'Status Window!'
“I got the trait 'Path of the Swordsman.' It's EX-rank and says my sword proficiency increases twice as fast.”
The man in the black kendo uniform who'd first told us how to check the status window spoke. I didn't know what it meant, but it sounded good.
“I have 'Path of the Healer'? It's also EX-rank and increases the effect of healing-related magic by 20%...”
This time, it was someone in a white coat who looked like a doctor.
I remembered what the orb had said.
‘From the actions you frequently performed or the abilities you possessed in your original world, I will randomly grant one as a trait.’
It really seemed like the traits were being granted based on abilities from our original world.
“'Two Tireless Hearts'? It says my stamina is doubled. Is that good? Mine is EX-rank too.”
“'Unyielding Mind.' It says 'All status effect resistance +50%.' What does that mean?”
The rank seemed to be fixed, which made me a little anxious.
If it was related to my actual job, it wouldn't be very helpful for surviving in a world like this.
I didn't know the details, but I knew it was basically a fantasy-setting game.
If I got an ability like 'Video Editing' in a setting like this...
No, that wouldn't happen, right?
I'd been getting personal training recently and hitting the gym hard, so I hoped for something related to that as I shouted.
“Status Window.”
[Oh Hyeon-ung - 34th Wave
Level: 1
Class: None
Title: None
Strength: 7 / Magic: 0 / Stamina: 6 / Agility: 5 / Luck: 3
Trait: Failed Game Master (EX)]
...Failed Game Master?
It seemed to be a game-related ability, but the name didn't sound very promising.
An exercise-related ability would have been better...
It looked like the trait was assigned based on my profession, not my actions.
My main content as a small-time WeTuber and streamer with 10,000—or to be precise, 12,322—subscribers was failed game reviews.
I'd played over 300 failed games in two years.
I had no choice. Game companies only give sponsorships for popular games to major WeTubers and streamers.
It was a strategy for a small-timer like me to make a living, and it had been reasonably successful. I never thought it would bite me in the ass like this...
Of course, I hadn't checked the effect yet, but as they say, you can judge a tree by its sprout. And judging by the name, this didn't seem like a very good ability.
With little expectation, I clicked the trait to check its details.
[Failed Game Master (EX)
Grants the trait holder 'Failed Game Perks'.]
The description was simpler than I expected, but it was so simple it was a problem.
What are 'Failed Game Perks'?
I tried clicking the status window again, thinking a more detailed explanation might appear, but it just returned to the main screen with no further information.
Everyone else's was so straightforward, so why did I get this piece of trash... Huh?
A man and a woman had approached me at some point.
“What is it?”
“Did you happen to see what trait you got?”
“Why do you ask?”
Ever since that guy in the kendo uniform shouted his, other people had been casually revealing their traits, but I had my doubts.
What good could come from telling everyone your trait?
To be honest, it was partly because my ability seemed crappy, but there was no reason to tell a complete stranger my trait.
“Haha, no need to be so guarded. I've been observing everyone for a while, and you seemed remarkably calm.”
“Huh?”
“The fact that you're not carelessly blurting out your trait suggests you're level-headed. You heard we have the 'Time of Choice' in 30 minutes, right? Would you be interested in moving with us from now on?”
The man, who looked to be in his early thirties, and the woman in her twenties beside him both spoke with friendly smiles. I was a little surprised.
They must be just as flustered as everyone else, yet they had the presence of mind to observe others. It was impressive.
What kind of people were they?
“Weren't you a ranker in Elsia? We were rankers, too, actually. In a situation like this, it's better to be in a group than alone, don't you think?”
A ranker? Me?
I've never even played the game.
Plus, I don't even know what my trait does...
No. Wait a minute, rankers?
If they're rankers, wouldn't they know a lot about traits?
They could be lying, but their clothes looked expensive, and they had an air of wealth about them. They seemed like people who lived well in the original world.
“I was on WeTube, too. Lee Ji-woo, maybe you've heard of me?”
Oh! I knew her.
She had 200,000 subscribers, a pretty famous WeTuber known as the 'Goddess of Mobile Games'.
I was a subscriber myself...
Did she usually use a lot of filters?
She wasn't ugly now, by any means, but she looked quite different from how she did on screen.
“I'm a subscriber. I was too flustered to recognize you.”
“Oh, really? A subscriber! It must be fate. You should join us.”
Her expression brightened when I said I was a subscriber, but she had guessed completely wrong.
“Actually, I've never played Elsia. And on top of that, I don't really know what my trait does. Could you maybe help me figure it out?”
I hesitated for a moment, but Ji-woo had such a good reputation that I thought she would help, so I told her the truth.
“Uh... You've never played Elsia?”
“I thought everyone was brought here because they played Elsia. And the description shows up when you click on it.”
Both of their expressions suddenly soured.
“The description is weird, too. Please, just help me.”
“It's not a big deal. Fine.”
Relieved, I told them my trait and its description.
“'Failed Game Master'? Never heard of it.”
“Me neither. It's definitely a bit strange... No, I mean, unique. Have you felt anything different?”
“I'm not sure.”
The two of them looked increasingly displeased.
“Hmm, may I ask what you did for a living in your original world?”
“Actually, I was a game WeTuber too. I also streamed on Atlanta.”
“Oh, so you were in the same line of work. How many subscribers... No, what was your channel name?”
“'UngTV.' You probably wouldn't know it. Only in the low ten thousands... And I think I got this trait because my main content was reviewing failed games...”
Now their expressions changed so drastically it was impossible to miss.
Anyone could see they had completely lost interest.
“Well, whatever. Your name was Hyeon-ung, right? I don't think we'll be able to work with you, Hyeon-ung.”
He's colder than he looks.
“Look, I may not have played Elsia, but I've played a huge variety of other games...”
“So what? You just said you've never even played Elsia.”
She snapped at me sharply, leaving me with nothing to say.
“We came over because you looked like you had something going on, but you're just trash. Let's go. What a waste of time.”
Trash?
I mean, I thought my trait was trashy too, but it's still *my* trait.
Isn't it a bit much to say that to someone's face?
We just met.
“I'm already pissed we wasted our time, and now you're scowling? Hey, you got a problem?”
“Oppa, he said he's a subscriber, let's just...”
“So what if he's a subscriber? Is he gonna stream here or something? Hey! I asked if you have a problem!”
He suddenly came up and shoved my chest, and I went sprawling.
He didn't even look that big. How is he so strong?
It didn't feel like a hard push, but I still fell, and my chest was throbbing.
“If you're trash, act like it and keep your eyes on the ground. Don't act all mysterious and waste people's time. *Ptui!*”
He even spat before leaving. I was dumbfounded.
And to think they were the ones who approached me first...
I sat there, waiting for the pain in my chest to subside, clicking all over the status window, but nothing changed.
Looking around, I could see others gathering people, just like that pair had.
A few more people came up to ask me, but they all left with troubled expressions after hearing the name of my trait.
Of course, none of them were as rude as that first man and woman, but it still felt... no, it felt incredibly unfair.
Being dragged into the world of a game I've never even played.
Being treated like this just because my trait is a little weird.
As I sat there, stunned and dejected, a transparent window popped up in front of me.
[Time of Choice.
Please select a starting point.
A. Kramis Labyrinth
B. Kershna's Tower
C. Aurelia's Sea of Trees]
Is it already the Time of Choice?
It looked like I had to pick a starting point. The only one I recognized from the commercials was the labyrinth, so I chose A.
A blue light flashed and my vision changed... Huh?
[Entering the starting point has activated the 'Failed Game Master' trait.]
[Welcome to Elsia. You have received: 1000 Free Gacha Pulls, VIP1 Benefits, 100 Million Jewels, 1x Legendary Weapon Guaranteed Summon Ticket, 1x Unique Mount Guaranteed Summon Ticket, and 1x Rare Wings Summon Ticket.]