1-Second Invincible Player in the Game

1. Prologue

An unbelievable event has occurred.

Where should I begin the story?

Yes. It’s best to start with the cause.

Let’s talk about my school days first.

Like other boys at that time, I too enjoyed gaming.

It was a topic ripe for discussion, subtly stirring up a competitive spirit, naturally drawing us in.

Most of the joy during my school days came from gaming, and it wouldn’t be an understatement.

Indeed, we were enchanted by it.

As time passed, games continued to be released, following trends and naturally drifting away like seasons.

The games we cleared kept piling up.

Except for one.

There was one game that stood in the way of us, who were confident in our gaming skills.

The name of this notoriously difficult game was this:

‘Asares Chronicles.’

The genre is a medieval fantasy, set against a backdrop of nobles, monsters, swords, and magic.

The main content involves selecting one of the more than 100 playable characters, forming a party with a few others, and completing the main scenario.

Each character is assigned an independent scenario, and those not chosen by the player are automatically progressed by AI.

As the characters clear stages, the goal points gradually converge, sharing a common scenario.

Growing and converging to one point, the party’s identity can be said to be clearing the final scenario together.

Such was the epic narrative of the vast characters, the graphics that were called high-quality at the time.

And the excellent musical production once received the spotlight, but the enthusiasm soon cooled. The reason is simple.

The most malicious element, of course, is that if you die, the save data disappears.

Ironically, this also made it easier to play other characters.

It was such a diabolical act that it even erased the attachment we had cultivated.

Thanks to this, we conquered all the characters in the hope of finding one that was easier to break, but the result was the same.

Game over before even getting a clue about the final boss.

Because of this feature, my friends placed bets.

Recalling the game titles I had cleared, I accepted the challenge out of pride.

So, did anyone ever beat this wickedly difficult game?

No.

Months of staying up all night, yet the game remained unbeaten. Like many of my peers at the time, fortunately, the bet just fizzled out.

That’s a slice of my school days’ memories.

Let’s talk about something more recent.

Eight years later, I found myself working in IT, handling information security.

The salary was decent, but job satisfaction was lacking.

Not to mention the frequent overtime.

And the constant nagging.

It was far from my dream.

Since childhood, I loved games and wanted to create one, which led me to learn coding.

But by then, the South Korean package game market had already collapsed.

This job was a shelter I settled for, a compromise with reality halfway through my journey.

Leaving behind the dreams I once cherished, I knew satisfaction would elude me for life.

What can you do?

Such is the plight of adulthood, the natural order of things, and I had grown numb to it.

The silent commute and the lonely footsteps had become all too familiar, all too mundane.

As it is for most people.

Then one day, amidst this monotonous routine, a message arrived.

A casual notice about a class reunion.

And suddenly, I remembered the bet we made back then. A good idea struck me.

What if I cleared Asares before the reunion, a month away?

‘The long-forgotten bet. It would be perfect for reminiscing, a great topic over drinks, right?’

A week had passed since I threw myself into Asares.

I died at the halfway point.

Another week went by.

I died just before the final scenario.

With no progress, I had no choice but to compromise.

I decided to hack it, using my major.

So, did it go well?

Turns out, it’s harder than I thought.

Despite being a game that’s been out for over a decade, cracking its security was no easy feat.

Driven by stubbornness, I secretly wrote code on my personal laptop at work, and even at home, I’d snatch bits of sleep as I continued to work on it.

At the end of all that effort,

I created a code engine that could even breach the most robust defenses.

Not that it allowed me to manipulate the game like a god.

Due to my limited skills, there was only one thing I could alter.

That was the invincible state.

As befits a game with over a hundred characters, there exists a wide variety of unique traits.

These could be seen as a kind of skill or personality, but none related to invincibility.

In other words, I alone possessed an unofficial trait that didn’t exist in Asares.

I planned to use this to aim for a clear.

Of course, I had no intention of lying about beating it with skill at the reunion.

Just, do you remember the bet we made back then?

That’s how the game’s scenario ended.

I was just preparing a bundle of stories that would make for good gossip.

With high hopes, I entered the last scenario with my invincible character.

That’s as far as the story goes.

Well… as you can see, this is the result.

Here I am, inside the game.

When I opened my eyes, I had become a tall, blonde, handsome guy.

Judging from the circumstances, it seems I’ve been punished by some unknown entity for hacking the game.

No, I’m certain of it.

If you ask how I can be so sure,

The trait window reflected in my retina will explain it.

◇Noble Remnant of Blood◇

Elevates dignity in front of others.

Exudes a lofty charisma in the presence of others.

Ah, my mistake.

That was a trivial trait originally possessed by the owner of this body.

What I meant to show you was this.

◇Invincible for 1 Second◇

It nullifies any threat for 1 second.

Cooldown: 60 seconds.

Just a mere second without a single offensive trait.

On the flip side, it’s like saying survive 59 seconds of danger without any offensive abilities.

I’ve asked myself over and over why I’m faced with such an absurd situation, but there’s only one answer that comes to mind.

‘Because I’m a cheater who used an invincibility hack.’

Therefore, the trait of being invincible for 1 second is a fitting punishment for my crime. The malicious intent is palpable, the correlation is clear.

Anyway, the situation is certainly not good.

But somehow, it’ll work out…

After all, the body I’ve possessed belongs to the eldest son of a grand noble family.

“What danger could there possibly be for the young master of a wealthy house?”