Chapter 1
Last Chance
A young man wearing a rough-looking helmet and greaves climbed up to the rooftop of a building, carrying a large box on his back.
He set the box down on the ground and approached the edge of the rooftop, peering over.
Even for someone without a fear of heights, the view was dizzyingly high.
Yet the young man appeared unfazed, casually leaning over the railing to look down at the street below.
The streets were bustling with people, moving busily.
The building was tall enough that the pedestrians below looked like tiny ants.
When the young man activated the helmet’s functions, his vision expanded enough to make out the faces of the people below.
“Where are you?”
He glanced at the time displayed in one corner of his vision, clearly anxious, and began scanning the streets as if fishing.
Finally, he spotted the group he had been desperately searching for.
A middle-aged man in a black suit, glancing around in panic, was surrounded by five bodyguards clad in medieval knight armor. The young man’s face brightened.
“Found you.”
Having located his target, he immediately opened the box he had set down.
Inside lay a sniper rifle, black as if it had been dipped in shadow.
With practiced familiarity, he lifted the rifle, rested it on the railing, and took a deep breath, sharpening all his senses.
The target’s guards weren’t ordinary—they were ranked players equipped with powered suits, the ultimate gear.
“Phew.”
He exhaled slowly, took aim at the target, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet pierced through the air and struck the target.
The delayed gunfire echoed in all directions.
Bang!
The bodyguards reacted first to the sudden sound.
Recognizing the sniper’s presence, they activated their suits to locate him and rushed to protect the target.
“Guh…huh.”
But it was too late—the target had already been shot.
Damn it!
The captain of the bodyguards cursed and shouted at the sight of their target, his chest riddled with bullets and torn apart.
“Get the sniper fast! At least protect some of the points!”
At the captain’s shout, the nearby bodyguards sprang into action.
Two charged toward the building’s first floor, while the remaining two used the boosters in their powered suits to soar into the air.
The young man fired at the two rushing guards with incredible speed.
They dodged all the bullets with smooth aerial acrobatics.
“Tch.”
Swallowing his disappointment, the young man put the sniper rifle back into the box.
He then drew a handgun from his chest and unleashed a hail of bullets at the guards.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Dozens of bullets rained down on the bodyguards. One would think they’d feel threatened, yet the guards only laughed at the young man’s actions.
Ha, how foolish.
Do you think these suits are that weak?
With their skill, which allowed them to dodge bullets faster than the speed of sound, ordinary bullets posed no threat. Plus, their fully reinforced powered suits were too sturdy for a handgun to penetrate.
The bodyguards, clearly finding bullet-dodging tedious, increased their flight speed and charged toward the young man.
Seeing them flying full-speed at him, he smirked crookedly, mocking them in return.
“You’re the fools.”
He pressed a button on the handgun.
Simultaneously, the bullets fired spewed out blue liquid with small pops.
The guards, shocked by the sheer amount of liquid packed into what should have been ordinary bullets, tried to evade, but couldn’t due to their high-speed approach.
Splash!
The liquid quickly coated the guards’ powered suits.
They tried to shake it off, but the more they moved, the more the liquid clung like spider webs.
Soon, the liquid hardened, restricting the movement of their suits.
What the hell—!
W-what is this!?
The guards panicked. Their powered suits, engulfed by the liquid, wouldn’t budge.
Ahhhhh!
We’re crashing!
Crash!
Their powered suits collided with a building and plummeted to the ground.
“Serves you right.”
The young man laughed at their spectacle. This time, he took out a small EMP bomb from his chest and set the timer. Then he rolled it toward the rooftop stairs he had climbed.
At the same time, the bodyguards who had entered the building’s stairwell appeared on the rooftop.
“Adios—”
He waved to the guards who had come after him and jumped over the rooftop railing.
What?!
What the—?
The guards froze, startled by his sudden leap. Their supposed coordinated encirclement had vanished.
Boom!
The small EMP bomb he threw detonated.
Unlike a grenade with flames and shrapnel, the EMP bomb emitted dense smoke and strong electromagnetic waves.
The bodyguards’ powered suits emitted white smoke and shut down.
Seeing the guards flounder, the young man smirked and activated his boots mid-fall.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from the soles of his boots, slowing his descent.
He landed safely on the ground and tossed off the boots, which exploded slightly on impact.
Looking at the bodyguard captain struggling to retrieve the target’s body, he said:
“Well then, good work. I’m off to take 10th place!”
You bastard!
The captain couldn’t tolerate the young man’s provocation. He cursed, discarded the body, and charged.
But the young man was already halfway into a manhole.
Seeing the captain rushing toward him, he chuckled and said:
“If you wanted, you should’ve scored more points. Oh? Only three minutes left, so you can’t even do that?”
Arghhhh!
The captain reached out in anger, but the young man slipped completely into the sewer.
The captain couldn’t grab him and only swept past as if brushing the floor.
“Phew, that was intense.”
I sighed in relief after finishing the mission and moving my character to a hidden spot in the sewer, then exited the game.
I immediately checked the event rankings on the game site.
“Yes! Yes!”
My name was still 10th on the ranking. The last spot to receive a reward in the event was 10th place, so I cheered loudly.
Although three minutes remained until the deadline, the gap from 11th and 12th place was significant, making my position almost guaranteed.
I was briefly reveling in the relief of barely staying in 10th place and the satisfaction of being in the rankings. Then I remembered I was supposed to watch the final rankings with a friend and logged into his server.
I found my friend sitting on the couch, watching TV.
I sat beside him.
“I secured 10th place too!”
“Oh, really? Congrats.”
He didn’t even look at me, giving a lifeless congratulation. My excitement dimmed a little.
“So, you got 7th, right?”
“No, really. I sincerely congratulated you.”
He looked genuinely frustrated, but to me, it seemed more like a casual taunt from 7th place.
“If it hadn’t been for the last patch nerf, I would’ve beaten you.”
Before the event, the game company had made a major patch, which was quite brutal.
The [Small EMP Bomb], which could stop powered suits for five minutes, and the price of bullets—essential for gunners—had been increased by 50%, crippling the gunners’ livelihood.
Gunner players protested, but the company claimed it was part of the story and offered no compensation.
“The balance patch team clearly doesn’t play the game.”
Ignoring my complaints, my friend nudged me.
“Hey, check this out.”
The TV displayed a countdown to the end of the event and highlights of ranks 1–15.
With one minute left, I worried that someone might overtake me. But my nickname, ‘GoreTack,’ remained in 10th place.
“Why? It’s the same ranking.”
Slightly irritated, I looked at him. He grinned.
“My epic play is showing.”
He called it a “mad movie” for the funeral later, exaggerating.
“You bastard.”
I cursed and glared at him, then turned back to the TV. I planned to take revenge in the beta test of the next game.
Focusing on the ranking beside his mad movie, time passed until the final ten seconds of the event.
“Huh?”
The 15th place, which had seemingly given up, suddenly shot up at incredible speed.
“Wait, is this real?”
I gasped as the 15th place’s score soared past me, claiming 10th place.
Was it a mistake? A system glitch? I stared blankly, hoping it would revert, but the event ended with no change.
“……”
I had been demoted to 11th due to the sudden rebellion of 15th place.
[Top 10]
1st: Golden Wings
2nd: Darkness of Shadow
…
7th: Big Strong Morning
8th: Triangle
9th: Woof Woof
10th: ThisIsNotAGame
Outside rankings:
11th: GoreTack
12th: …
“Ugh…what?”
I froze, staring at the screen. My friend, comfortably in 7th, nudged me.
“Hey, the event’s over. Let’s get a drink.”
I wasn’t in the mood, so I just stared at the rankings.
“What the hell? Did he slip or something?”
He shrugged, looking at the screen and nodded.
“Could happen. You’re terrible at games.”
“Kim Chang-wook, you damn bastard!!!”
I jumped up to kick him, but
“Eh, I’m out. Later.”
He logged out before I could attack.
I was thrown back to reality from his server.
“Damn it! Stub your toe on the doorstep!!!”
I cursed at him, the game company’s cruel gunner nerf, and the 10th-place player ‘ThisIsNotAGame’ that demoted me to 11th.
Nine days had passed since the cruel patch, which destroyed the chance to beta test Net Diver’s next game.
Chang-wook, who had teased me constantly, bragged three days ago that he got the device to play the next game, then went silent.
I looked for part-time jobs, but all positions were filled.
Forced into unemployment, I checked my phone hoping for a message from Chang-wook, but it was just spam.
“How fun can it be if he hasn’t even reached out?”
Either the game was so good he forgot me, 11th place, or the NDA was so strict players couldn’t even talk about it. Either way, I was frustrated.
“Judging by other players, probably the latter…”
Many tried to contact ranked players for info, but none had any useful news.
“Life…”
If I hadn’t lost 10th place, I wouldn’t be pacing like this.
After ten long days of regret, a message arrived.
“All part-time applications were rejected; no message should have come.”
Was it from Chang-wook? Or the game company?
I hesitated before checking, remembering how Chang-wook loved to tease me, and took a deep breath, preparing myself not to get upset.
I reminded myself repeatedly: No matter what, don’t get excited.
Finally, I opened the message.
“Huh?”
The sender was the game company of Net Diver—the one I had dreamed about and prayed for.
