The 31st Piece Turns the Tables - Chapter 0
prologue
What is a dream?
The manifestation of the unconscious or the confirmation of longed-for values is not only something that appears in various forms. How would you feel if
you
had the same dream over and over again?
This question cannot be answered even if asked to everyone in the world, but only one person can answer this question.
“Why on earth…”
The only person who could answer that question was Kang Seol, who had just turned 25 years old.
A quiet and reticent man from an orphanage.
Kang Seol was having the same dream.
For a whopping 17 years.
* * *
When Kang Seol was just entering elementary school, he had a dream.
– huh? Are you new here? Please sit this way. There’s just one empty seat.
In the dream, he was a neatly dressed adult, wearing clothes I had never seen before and a mask I had never seen before.
Not only Snow Seol but everyone there was like that.
– Now it’s time to roll the dice.
– ha ha ha! I like this time the best!
– Everyone choose their own words.
– I am the same! I’ll just go. With this red butcher!
– Then I am also a ranger of the wind.
– Uh… there… there’s a new person…
– Well then, tell him to make a new friend.
The woman wearing the fox mask spoke kindly to Kang Seol.
– Um… what should we call you?
Kang Seol was about to spit out his own name, hesitated, and then said another nickname.
“Snowman.”
– Snowman? It’s good. ruler! Then, Snowman, please create a horse to move yourself.
Snowfall chose a frost attribute mage, roughly decided on the details, and then waited for her turn.
– The dice roll!
– 6! I got a 6!
– But it was a 20-sided die.
– no!
They had fun playing the game.
The dice rolled on the board and many options arose.
– Sharpthorn, the chieftain of the Sharpthorn tribe, has appeared. Now, ‘Anyway, it’s your fault’, what is your choice?
1. Run away.
2. Fight back.
3. [Required: Intelligence 15] Persuade with words.
4. [Required: Mechanical Engineering 1] Spread a smoke screen.
– 4! Let’s do it number 4!
– this! Unfortunately, we failed to set off the smoke screen!
– Damn it! This is a scam!
The party is on the verge of extinction.
But the turn of the wizard chosen by Kang Seol came.
“number 3. I’ll go with number 3, ‘Use frost magic to grab the spiked thorn’s feet.’”
– The magic worked! Spike’s feet froze and he was defenseless for a moment.
The man next to me wearing a bird mask shouted.
– Great! Now it’s my turn! hurry!
– Yes, Cat Tower Destroyer.
The man called ‘Cat Tower Destroyer’ successfully attacked by taking advantage of the gap in the sharp thorns, and from that point on, the party’s situation improved.
In the end, the party defeated the sharp thorn and successfully completed the adventure.
– That’s it for today’s adventure. Did everyone enjoy the eternal world?
– Hahaha, tell me what to do. Even though it’s only a trial version, it’s really fun.
– Hey Snowman. Do you want to join us tomorrow too?
Kang Seol nodded.
In this way, I enjoyed the eternal world in my dreams every night, switching members with unknown people.
One time, Kang Seol told his younger siblings at the orphanage about this dream.
The answer that came back was this.
“My brother is strange… he says strange things…”
“…what?”
“Where is that?”
This is probably the obvious answer.
There will be few people who will believe you when you say that you can follow your dreams.
From then on, Kang Seol never once told anyone about this dream until she was 25 years old.
Life at the orphanage was difficult, so I rarely talked to others, and I thought that if I told anyone the secret of my dream, I would never have the same dream again.
That’s how he became an adult and part of society.
The dream continued after that.
For a whopping 17 years, I rolled dice and played with unknown people.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t curious about their identities.
But for the same reason that I couldn’t tell anyone about my dreams, I couldn’t ask them.
‘Who the hell are you?’
We meet in a dream and roll the dice.
And smile. That was it.
Snowfall once thought of them as gods.
But I soon lost interest.
To him, it didn’t matter whether the opponent was a god, a monster, or a devil.
The important thing is to enjoy this eternal world.
That alone was all he cared about.
– Snowman, didn’t you decide to join us today? …is not it?
– What are you talking about! Snowman decided to spend his last day with us! …is not it?
-Both of you be quiet! Today, Snowman will go on a solo adventure because of the Great Sage’s final adventure.
– right! Then I’ll have to see that!
Snowman, a dream creature created by snowfall.
Snowman was now an idol to those who enjoyed the eternal world.
Because we have created many legendary characters that will remain in the world of eternity.
There were as many as 30 characters that he played. Among them, there were some who lost their lives in vain, but most of Snowfall’s characters left their names in the history of the eternal world.
The Prince of Frost, the one-armed swordsman, the Immortal, and even the Great Sage.
Snowman played several roles for 17 years and reached that peak smoothly.
Luck with the dice played a part, but his wit to see through the options was also effective.
This is the result of him memorizing the rule book as he was interested in the world of eternity.
‘It’s a shame. If I had had more time, I would have tried that.’
The last character I planned to play.
The growth direction and strategy he created after thinking about it and going through a lot of trial and error while working various jobs.
I was planning to make a final compilation of it all, but unfortunately, the world of eternity lasted until today.
– Starting tomorrow, our dreams will come true.
– It may be too late. Now we must reclaim our divinity. It also serves as revenge against the bugs that made us like this.
– haha! I think more weight was placed on the latter?
‘You said the Eternal World trial version ends today, right?’
Announcement that the Eternal World trial version will be officially launched today.
Although Kang Seol didn’t know what this formal service meant, they seemed to have a general idea.
Kang Seol skipped over their words and focused on the situation in front of him.
This is because the great sage was undergoing his final adventure, ascension to heaven.
‘Please… please…’
Now Kangseol is rolling the last dice for his horse, Great Sage Milan.
Grumbling.
Rattling.
flinch!
After checking the eyes of the dice, Kang Seol quietly closed his eyes.
The die rolls 1.
[During the ascension process, magic power backflows.]
[Milan was greatly shocked by the magic power backlash.]
[Milan fails in ascension.]
“….”
– Snowman I’m sorry.
– Too bad, Snowman.
– cheer up!
Snowfall confirmed that Milan had no options left.
‘Is it again…’
Among the 30 horses raised by Kang Seol, the 10 horses that were born last were all of them who reached the final adventure, Ascension.
But I couldn’t break through it.
There is no way it would be easy to be born as a human and ascend to heaven, but the Great Sage’s last 10 words all failed.
‘How are you going to break this…’
Kang Seol looked at his words in silence and made a choice.
[Would you like to give up Milan’s adventure?]
1. That’s right.
2. No.
If option 1 is chosen, the player can no longer control the horse’s fate. Kang Seol chose number 1.
[Adventurer Milan will now create his own destiny.]
[Although the heart-pounding adventure has ended, his life continues.]
As Kang Seol looked at Milan with a blank expression, others started talking to him.
– It’s okay, Snowman. You did your best. Just reaching ascension…
– Yes, only Snowman was able to do this.
This makes the 10th horse to reach ascension.
These were all Kang Seol’s words.
It was a great achievement for those who enjoy the world of eternity, but it actually left some regrets for Kang Seol.
“Whoa…”
And just like that, the eternal world he had enjoyed for 17 years came to an end.
But this end was the beginning of a new destiny.