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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The All Master Who Regressed to Bronze
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"...Ugh."
A heavy groan echoed across the battlefield soaked in blood.
Several figures amid the carnage looked toward the source of the groan and clicked their tongues.
"As expected of the All Master. Still alive even after wounds like that."
"The Man-Year Venom Dragon's poison. The Spear of Divine Death. The Hero's Sword. The Bow of the Divine Archer. And countless other legendary, mythical artifacts on top of that... yet he's only this resilient."
"Makes me glad we nipped him in the bud early."
"Heh, we'll get paid handsomely for this job."
Their appearances varied wildly.
One resembled a hybrid of dragon and human—a Dragonkin.
Another had pointed ears and a chiseled visage.
Yet another boasted green skin and a hulking, rugged physique.
And the last was short and stout with a sturdy build.
Amid them, only one was human.
"All Master, Choi Shin-hyeok. Any last words?"
The sole human was Shin-hyeok, the Earth's one and only Unified League Challenger Tier player, bearing the grandiose moniker of Infinite Emperor.
When the Dragonkin asked for his final words, Shin-hyeok looked up at him with utter disbelief and replied.
"Teaming up on me out of nowhere in a co-op game... You think you can win a Challenger Tier match without me?"
The ground they stood on was the Challenger Tier battlefield.
Naturally, the enemies they faced were also Challenger Tier.
Fighting one short in such a place would be fatal.
Especially considering the massive penalties Challenger Tier defeats imposed on both the affiliated dimension and individual players.
But those who attacked Shin-hyeok didn't care a whit.
"True. Without precautions, this would've been impossible."
"What do you mean?"
"Every Challenger player in this game agreed to your death."
"...!"
There were 100 Challenger players in this co-op game.
The fact that 99 of them, excluding himself, had consented to his death left Shin-hyeok dumbfounded.
"Without me, you're all nobodies. What, did you think screwing over a Bronze Tier dimension like Earth was worth this insane plot?"
"..."
Earth, Shin-hyeok's dimension, was the lowest of the low—Bronze Tier among countless dimensions.
Thanks to him, Silver promotion was in sight, but Silver at best.
"New Humanity Empire! You're a Challenger Tier dimension—what the hell do you lack to pull this?!"
Compared to the New Humanity Empire, which had focused on ganging up on Shin-hyeok, Earth was a mere drop in the ocean.
That only fueled Shin-hyeok's rage further.
Then the Dragonkin who seemed to be their leader spoke up.
"To borrow your human saying, there's a phrase for this."
"...?"
"Does a human need a reason to crush an ant?"
"...Crodon. You lizard bastard—"
Shin-hyeok spat fury at the Dragonkin, Crodon, over the reason delivered with a venomous smile.
But that was the end.
"Farewell, Choi Shin-hyeok. Divine being born in a backwater dimension."
"Kuh! Ugh! Kraaaah!"
Even as Crodon gazed at him with pity, his body riddled with weapons and wracked by deadly poison refused to heed Shin-hyeok's rage.
As Crodon swung his sword at the fallen Shin-hyeok, he said.
"Earth will be your companion on that road."
"...Ah."
Slash!
Those final words.
At the declaration that Earth would follow him, Shin-hyeok envisioned its fate after his death and let out a low gasp.
'Father... Mother... Shin-woo... Su-ah...'
His parents.
His one and only sibling.
And finally, the sole friend who always cheered him on, guided him, and later chased after him.
As their images flashed by like a panorama, Shin-hyeok closed his eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [The conditions for one more Opportunity have been met.] [Would you like to claim the reward?] [Error! Error! Error!] [Target is unable to claim rewards.] [Reward claimed automatically.]
'What... is this...'
The system voice echoing in his mind bid farewell as Shin-hyeok departed.
And then—
Smack!
"Ah, this Bronze scrub's out of it."
"Go buy us some bread, Bronze."
"...?"
A dingy alleyway.
A stinging pain on his scalp.
The name tag pinned to Shin-hyeok's school uniform chest reminded him of his current situation.
[Choi Shin-hyeok / Bronze]
'Bronze? Me, Earth's sole Challenger player, Bronze?'
The gleaming bronze tag proved it plainly.
Then Shin-hyeok recalled he had indeed been Bronze in the distant past.
His nickname back then was surely—
"Useless Scrub. Finally lost your mind?"
"Sigh, placement's Bronze, and now your head's gone too—you're Iron-bound."
Useless Scrub.
A moniker the future's Infinite Emperor, All Master, couldn't even fathom.
But it was reality. The past.
And now, the present.
"Regressed to my Bronze days, Useless Scrub?"
Not as All Master, but Useless Scrub.
Not Challenger, but Bronze.
"Was it a dream? No way—all that was just delusion? Impossible."
As Shin-hyeok tore at his hair amid the sudden reality,
The two wouldn't leave him be and swung their fists.
"What's with this guy?"
"Beat him first. That'll snap him out of it."
Seeing the fists from the two silver-tagged boys flying at him, Shin-hyeok dodged them effortlessly—they felt glacially slow. He let out a hollow chuckle.
Thud—thud—
In just two steps, two motions, he flowed around the punches like water and countered with his own to their jaws.
Bam!
"Gah!"
"H-How'd the Bronze...?"
They never expected Shin-hyeok to dodge, let alone counter.
They couldn't hide their shock.
But Shin-hyeok was shocked too.
'Heh, hit 'em square in the jaw and they're not out? How trash was my past body?'
His dismay at his pathetic former physique didn't last.
-All students, please gather in your classrooms.
"...Thank your homeroom teacher for saving you."
"See you on placement day, Bronze."
The teacher's voice boomed school-wide. The two grabbed their swelling jaws, grumbled, and vanished.
Shin-hyeok watched them go, then followed to class.
'Forgot where the classroom even is after so long, but perfect. Tail 'em and I'll get there.'
Thanks to his fine "navigators," the regressed Shin-hyeok found the classroom easily.
Slide—
Entering through the back door, dozens of eyes locked on him.
They alternated glances between Shin-hyeok and the two he'd faced, curious about the drama.
Seeing no need to explain, Shin-hyeok just took an empty seat.
"Shin-hyeok, what happened?"
"...Ah, Su-ah. Nothing much. They came at me, so I gave 'em a fair shot each."
But he couldn't ignore Su-ah, who sat in front of him, twisted around to ask.
'Su-ah this young. Regression really hits home.'
The Battlefield Saintess.
Dual class: upper-tier Madonna and stellar Holy Knight.
But more importantly, Shin-hyeok's one true friend.
The Su-ah up to his death was stunning, but age showed.
As Shin-hyeok swallowed a smile at her youthful face,
"You, Shin-hyeok?!"
"Han Su-ah. Out if you're gonna chatter."
"Sorry!"
Startled by Shin-hyeok, Su-ah jumped, then got scolded by homeroom teacher Han Tae-hoon.
Class quieted after Su-ah. Tae-hoon cleared his throat lightly.
"As you know, today is December 30th. Two days till the January 1st Placement Exam. Prepare your minds and gear well. Show all of Korea that you're Shinwa High's pride."
"Yes!"
"Thank you for three years!"
"We'll place Silver for sure!"
"Me too!"
Students, moved, stood and shouted, eyes misty.
From that, Shin-hyeok gauged the time.
'December 30th at 19. Two days to Placement Exam.'
19 years old.
Just before turning 20, on December 30th.
Precisely two days before the January 1st "Placement Exam."
'Placement Exam... It's been ages.'
A test seen only once, at 20 or first Dimension Arena entry.
Lives diverged by it, so the world hushed during the period.
Shin-hyeok had taken it too.
His placement then was—
'Iron. Iron 5 at that.'
Not even Bronze, but Iron lump.
Bottom of the 5 sub-tiers.
Briefly reminiscing that despairing pit,
"Spend the 31st well, and ace the Placement Exam on the 1st."
"Yes!"
Students nodded vigorously, ending class.
"Shin-hyeok, walk home together? Talk Placement Exam too."
"Sure."
Shinwa High's sole Bronze made Placement Exam a lost cause before, but Shin-hyeok agreed to Su-ah.
'For my sake. Too damn sweet.'
Stoic Holy Knight who shed no tears before foes, but wept floods over allies' scratches.
That was Han Su-ah. Shin-hyeok walked home with her side by side.
Then,
"Young Master. Family meeting at the main house today. Please board."
"Ah, right."
A luxury sedan before school, a sharply dressed man.
Ignoring the man's irreverent stance, Shin-hyeok recalled today's event.
"Shinwa Group family gathering today, huh."
Shinwa Group.
Korea's undisputed top conglomerate.
Today was the owner family's meeting.
A dream seat for some, but not past Shin-hyeok.
'Chairman Choi Cheol-ho's—Shinwa everything's—black-sheep youngest son's eldest. Bronze-projected? Pure poison.'
School treatment said it all.
'Past life... Ah, tried ditching, got dragged by this secretary.'
Recalling even his past shame, Shin-hyeok brushed off worried Su-ah and stepped forward.
The suited man, poised to grab a runner, flinched.
"You said get in."
"...My apologies. This way."
At Shin-hyeok's amused quip boarding the open rear casually, the man broke cold sweat, took the wheel.
"Shin-hyeok..."
"Su-ah, ace the Placement Exam. See you after."
"...Yeah."
Leaving Su-ah's lingering worry, the black sedan sped toward the Pyeongchang-dong estate with Shin-hyeok aboard.
Inside, he crossed his legs arrogantly—arrogant to the driver—gazing out the window.
'New Humanity Empire. Before I wipe you out, time to clean house first.'
This second chance.
He'd use it to rewrite his past properly.