Golden Mage - Chapter 1

Volume 1, Episode 1

Prologue

“Wow~!”

The arena was filled with the audience’s enthusiastic cheers. It was an intense and spectacular battle.

The game was so breathtaking and nerve-wracking that one couldn’t help but sweat profusely. It was a clash of titans, fierce and evenly matched.

However, the outcome of the fight was already decided.

Seizing the opportunity during a critical moment of the match, the unaffiliated pro-gamer, Lee Jun-hyuk, demonstrated his prowess as he took control of the game.

Seizing the gap in the opponent’s focus, he executed a brilliant play!

“Woohoo!”

The tumultuous cheers erupted again like thunder.

“And the winner of this Hanuri StarCraft League is none other than the player Lee Jun-hyuk!”

The intense battle concluded with Jun-hyuk’s victory.

Having claimed the championship, he fixed his golden-rimmed glasses before expressing his gratitude. It was his way of releasing the extreme concentration he had been holding.

The spectators erupted into cheers and applause, and in response to their laughter, Jun-hyuk smiled brightly and waved in acknowledgment.

People thought he was happy for winning the championship.

But in reality, he was thinking about something entirely different.

“I won 20 million won for the championship and 50 million won for the bet, so I still have 650 million won left!”

Chapter 1: Busted

“Here’s your part-time pay.”

“Thank you.”

A young man in his early twenties took the offered envelope and stuffed it into his pocket. He looked like he was in his twenties, but he appeared older due to his circumstances. The middle-aged man who handed him the envelope spoke.

“Jun-seong, don’t you want to work as a regular employee? The hourly pay is 4,500 won, and there are very few part-time jobs that pay this well. If you become an employee, the conditions will be even better.”

Jun-seong found the offer very attractive, but unfortunately, he had the gloomy title of a high school student. He shook his head regretfully.

“You know I can’t. I’m a high school student, and I’m juggling other jobs too. Please understand.”

The middle-aged man patted his head in frustration.

“Argh! You should work well, boy. Oh well, you got your part-time pay; take this as a bonus. Understand?”

Jun-seong smiled awkwardly.

“Ahaha… Oh, by the way, did you watch the Star League match on TV yesterday?”

“Don’t change the topic. Jun-seong, wanna take this offer?”

“Hmm… Let’s think about it when you raise the hourly wage first.”

“Hmph, you little rascal. Fine, I’ll give you a raise… Tsk.”

The young man burst into laughter.

“Anyway, there’s no other way. I’m off now. See you tomorrow!”

He bowed to the boss and left the bar.

His name was Kim Jun-seong, a 19-year-old high school student.

His biological parents had passed away when he was young, leaving him with a monstrous debt of 1 billion won. That’s why Jun-seong had been working since elementary school to earn money.

And once he found lucrative ways to make money, he had stuck to just two part-time jobs.

One was as a server at a bar, and the other… was a professional gamer.

Despite his grueling days, Jun-seong managed to make time for studying after finishing his part-time jobs. He was quite intelligent, and he had already secured his spot in a prestigious university with his excellent academic record.

But going to a prestigious university was not his only goal. He wanted a better life than others, so he pushed himself to study constantly.

His best subject was mathematics, as it was essential for his economics studies. He couldn’t afford to neglect it.

As a result, his math skills surpassed those of most students studying natural sciences at universities.

“Phew… 47 days left.”

Today, as always, his day started with the sound of the alarm clock at the right time. After arranging money for transportation to school, Jun-seong fixed his bangs with a headband and headed to school.

Sitting at his desk in the classroom, he took out a math workbook and started solving problems. Suddenly, someone greeted him. It was a cheerful and teasing female voice.

“Hey, hi there!”

“Uh, hey.”

Jun-seong greeted half-heartedly without taking his eyes off the workbook.

“Hey! When someone says hi, you should respond properly!”

Whack!

Without warning, she snatched the workbook from Jun-seong’s hands.

“Why did you take my workbook like that?”

The girl with a cute short haircut, hands on her waist, stood there.

With a triumphant tone, she declared, “If someone says hi, you should respond properly, right? Right? If you don’t, I won’t give it back!”

Jun-seong frowned in frustration.

“Ugh, come on, Hye-mi! …No, wait. How can I stop you?”

Hye-mi pouted in response to his dismissal.

“Geez, are you for real? Your speech is a complete mess, you know?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you guys are fighting again?”

As they bickered, another voice chimed in from the side. Turning his head, Jun-seong saw a slim, short-haired girl named Kim Myeong-a.

Jun-seong turned to Myeong-a and said, “Hey, Kim Myeong-a! Perfect timing. Take her away quickly. She’s annoying.”

Ignoring Jun-seong’s dismissal, Hye-mi tried to grab his ear, but he evaded it slightly.

Hye-mi’s body tilted, and her hand, which was trying to grab his ear, ended up catching his headband.

Whoosh.

Jun-seong’s headband, which had fixed his bangs, disappeared, revealing his hair cascading down his forehead.

Jun-seong scolded her with a grimace.

“Ah, come on! What are you doing?”

“Well, I just…”

Caught off guard by Jun-seong’s anger, Hye-mi was flustered and didn’t know what to do.

Seeing her like that, Jun-seong realized he had been a bit harsh.

“Sigh… Sorry.”

Jun-seong quickly smoothed his bangs with his hand and extended it to Hye-mi.

“Give me the headband.”

“Ugh, okay.”

Hye-mi hesitated in her response, and Myeong-a, who had been watching Jun-seong’s hair covering his forehead, exclaimed in amazement.

“Wow! It really suits you. But why do you keep your hair down like this?”

Jun-seong combed his hair with a comb as he spoke.

“Oh, there’s a reason for that.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake… You really are a weirdo.”

Jun-seong’s words made Myeong-a laugh.

“Anyway, look at you two. Are you fighting again?”

When Myeong-a asked, Hye-mi pointed at Jun-seong’s hair and blurted out, “He looks just like Lee Jun-hyuk!”

“Out of the blue, what are you talking about, Hye-mi?”

Inquisitive, Myeong-a asked, “Who’s Lee Jun-hyuk? …Ah! That Zerg demon, no, the devil Zerg, Lee Jun-hyuk?”

While saying that, Kim Myeong-a looked at Jun-seong’s face and clapped her hands.

“It’s true! Jun-seong really looks like Lee Jun-hyuk!”

…

The classroom fell silent in an instant, and most of the students turned to look at Jun-seong.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that anyone in South Korea’s youth didn’t know who Lee Jun-hyuk was.

The devil Zerg, Lee Jun-hyuk.

He had a monstrous record of 191 wins and 19 losses, and he obtained his pro-gamer license at the tender age of 14.

Since his debut, he had almost never lost a match, and he had never missed a single victory in any tournament he participated in.

But that wasn’t all. He was also a free agent pro-gamer who had repeatedly turned down offers from various pro-gaming teams.

Each team was willing to go to extreme lengths to sign him, offering exorbitant amounts of money.

However, Lee Jun-hyuk had declined all these offers, and numerous rumors spread about him.

Among the most credible ones were these two:

Lee Jun-hyuk played games as a hobby.

He was wealthy enough to not care about money, so he didn’t need to be tied to any team.

And it was because of his strong aversion to having his private life exposed that these rumors spread.