Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Chapter: 1

## Chapter Title: Hidden Piece

“Son of a bitch, what kind of garbage game is this?”

I tightened my hand into a ball, glaring at the ‘Game Over’ notification pulsing on the screen.

The moment occurred right as the character I had painstakingly developed was blown into a million fragments.

It required every bit of restraint I possessed not to fling the mouse across the bedroom—my fury was that overwhelming.

However, as I usually do, I forced myself to settle down and ignited a cigarette.

“…My own existence is legendary too, sticking with this single game for more than five years.”

I inhaled the smoke and stared out the casement.

Then again, who was I to label anything as trash?

Park Hyun-myeong—my folks chose that name with care, wishing for me to live with wisdom.

But I wasn’t living with any wisdom at all.

Outside the glass, the sun had already climbed high into the sky.

It wasn’t even a rest day. It was a weekday when every other person was working their tails off at their jobs.

Meanwhile, this complete loser hadn’t even bathed and was stuck to his monitor like a hermit.

“It’s time to stop.”

Pangeniar. The title that exploded in fame half a decade ago.

It was heavily criticized at its debut, called absolutely mental.

Because the moment your avatar perishes, everything is erased, and you are forced to restart from the very beginning.

Furthermore, it featured an unheard-of level of brutal difficulty with zero successful completions.

Perhaps that is why.

The excitement evaporated in the blink of an eye.

Truthfully, at this point, I wondered if any other human still played it.

The website’s server records constantly indicated 0 or 1 active users.

To be precise, 0 when I was offline, and 1 when I was logged in.

…A ghost game with a solitary player online, and they still hadn’t pulled the plug on the servers. Quite impressive, in a way.

The timing was actually perfect. I had nothing but spare time.

I had been fired from my job, and the woman who pestered me every day was gone as well.

“Sigh, damn it all.”

An abrupt recollection struck me, and I squeezed my eyelids shut.

—Oppa, you are a decent person, but… I’m sorry. I can’t stay with someone who has no prospects. We are at an age where marriage is a serious consideration.

I was dumped brutally by my partner of five years.

I suppose she visualized a future that didn’t include me.

—All my acquaintances are dating or wedded to heirs of massive corporations or high-ranking executives, and Oppa… Ugh, never mind. Let’s just finish this.

She settled everything by herself and vanished. Heartless woman.

Because of that, I walked away from that dead-end career too. What should I do now? Pick up a trade?

Click. I gripped the mouse.

Shortly, the ‘Create character?’ prompt appeared on the display.

“Life is always at its gloomiest before the sun rises, isn’t it?”

I had the same thought when I made my last character. But the genuine finish is always the very final attempt.

Naturally, aside from the one I had just wiped out, the selection menu was crowded.

Some had reached the maximum level, others were outfitted with legendary finds—but I was certain none possessed the specifications required to clear the game.

This mad game had sections where the level of challenge spiked insanely.

Boss enemies that made you wonder if victory was even possible, companions who betrayed you without warning, high-profile NPCs that tracked you down if a price was put on your head…

Consider the test avatar ‘Brainless Scammer’ the creators left for technical checks: top level, decent relic items, but he had caused so much chaos that elite NPCs placed a maximum bounty on him. If you logged in, it was an immediate death sentence.

Some high-tier elite NPCs were levels above the player cap, so once they targeted you, deletion was a certainty.

You couldn’t even stay logged in anymore.

Regardless.

“Let’s have some fun, just some fun.”

The character I had poured my very heart into for a victory? Gone.

Thinking about the equipment I had lost nearly made me weep. I had stripped rare items from every other alternate character to build him up…

There were only 15 recognized unique items in all of Pangeniar. I had gambled eight of them on that one character.

It was an all-or-nothing bet. Dying meant five years of effort going down the drain.

But he died. The character vanished, and the items turned to mist. Dammit…

“Soul Points 1.6 million? Those uniques really generate a lot of points.”

When you lose something, you gain something else.

Pangeniar utilizes the Soul Point (SP) mechanic.

When a character is lost, its total worth is turned into points.

You spend SP to get perks for your next character.

Over five years, hundreds of deletions—I had gathered about 80k SP. But erasing a beast with eight unique items? 1.6 million SP.

It wasn’t just the items; I had the highest chapter advancement too. It was definitely close to clear-level stats.

’10k SP for a single talent? I hit the lottery.’

The primary use for points was talents.

During creation, you put SP into specific talents to ensure rapid development based on the investment.

The maximum limit was 10k SP.

A past instance: ‘Pollock Conan’ put 10k into sword mastery and died holding the Swordmaster title.

‘Usually, I’d play it safe with lightning magic abilities…’

There were only a few dependable paths. The most secure: lightning-based magical talents.

But there were hundreds of talent categories. With 1.6 million SP, I could max out a huge number of them.

‘Putting 3k+ into every primary element unlocks the Void attribute. Then putting 5k more into Void grants the Void trait.’

Certain talents unlock others. There were hidden rewards everywhere. Even a veteran like myself hadn’t discovered them all.

‘The Void trait allows the use of clashing magical forces. I should grab Light and Dark affinity as well—those are essential.’

You cannot combine conflicting elements on one character without specific equipment or catalysts.

However, the Void trait bypasses that rule.

The issue: Void by itself consumes 10k SP, leaving other talents neglected.

It’s a merciless game. When you die, you lose the spent SP too. It’s difficult to start with such specialization.

‘But the real entertainment is in the luck of the draw. Let’s go with all random!’

Thinking too much just causes a migraine. For a bit of pure enjoyment before I quit for good? A randomized start is best.

Everything decided by chance, traits included!

It was a suicidal choice, but I found myself grinning.

I wasn’t going to beat the game anyway. Having a good time was the priority.

I dumped all 1.6 million SP into the random generator.

‘It’s impossible to beat this, regardless.’

I had attempted every strategy to conquer it.

My verdict: it wasn’t designed to be completed.

When it launched, the developers dared the players:

—We will fulfill one wish for anyone who finishes the game.

Any wish at all. That promise attracted crowds who tried and fell short.

Five years later, there was still no winner.

A year ago, a few people still hung around. Now, it was only me.

But for the first and final time: I wanted real excitement.

‘Should I do it?’

I had randomized my looks before, but ‘all random’? This was my first time. It was famous for being a waste of resources.

It was a difficult decision, representing the sum of my past years.

I shut my eyes.

And then.

Click!

I pushed the button.

The dice began to tumble. Every setting was randomized.

But that was not the conclusion.

[Hidden Piece triggered.]

[Well done! You have met the singularity requirement—you are invited to Pangeniar!]

Unfamiliar text appeared on the monitor.

“A Hidden Piece?”

【More radiant than light, more shadowed than dark, a resident in the whirlpool of making and unmaking. May you discover joy within Pangeniar.】

The cinematic introduction began to play.

I moved my hand to skip it as I always did.

“Wait…?”

The text started to seep out of the screen like liquid.

In that instant.

—You filthy god! I will incinerate every world you have constructed!

A raspy, metallic voice rang out.

A hellish landscape began to manifest before my eyes.

The continent of Pangeniar was colliding with the Earth, both worlds shattering.

These weren’t low-quality graphics—it was as authentic as the world around me.

Did the intro always have this scene?

A moment of uncertainty crossed my mind.

Then my awareness drifted far, far away into the dark.