There are two kinds of people in this world.
Hardcore grinders and casual enjoyers.
Some people scrape by day after day with grim determination, while others just roll with whatever comes, savoring the moment.
⚔ Life and Death Tournament Rankings ⚔
1st: Shoot Towards the Sun (Starpoint Sect)
2nd: Carnivorous Dinosaur (Heavenly Demon Cult)
3rd: 97-Year-Old Grandma Kim Sam-soon's Final... (Zhuge Clan)
The young man with the nickname 'Shoot Towards the Sun', Lee Hyun, fell squarely into the camp of those desperately wringing every drop of enjoyment from life.
This ranking was all the proof anyone needed.
Dominating the World.
A classic masterpiece in the wuxia genre, so well-crafted that even over a decade after launch, players still logged in regularly.
In a game teeming with the foulest, most stagnant veterans, Lee Hyun proudly held the top spot in PvP as the rottenest of the rotten.
And he'd done it with the relatively niche Starpoint Sect, no less.
💬 Game Chat— 97-Year-Old Grandma Kim Sam-soon's Final...Ugh, that sneaky bastard took 1st again. It's assholes like you making our game get labeled a dead game!! Quit the top spot and take responsibility!!— Shoot Towards the SunDoesn't seem like something I should hear from a pervert who's grinded down 20 of my custom builds.— Carnivorous DinosaurRawrgh! Raaawr!! (Roughly: "I've beaten you a few times")— Shoot Towards the SunSpeak human, you lizard punk.— Carnivorous DinosaurGrrr... Rawrgh!! (Roughly: "Fuck off")— Shoot Towards the SunRawrgh! Raaawr!! (Roughly: "Fuck your mom")— Wudang BeetleWhy is our game full of nothing but animal punks?— YSGIf there were any humans left, they'd have quit ages ago.— Wudang BeetleTrue that.— YSGAnd that Sun Blanket punk oughta quit if he has any shame.— Wudang BeetleTrue that too.
Lee Hyun savored a spine-tingling thrill from the steady stream of curses hurled his way.
The reason these veterans, who'd poured thousands of hours into the game, spat venom at him was simple.
The Starpoint Sect, the faction his character wielded, specialized in hit-and-run tactics leveraging overwhelming mobility and attack speed.
Strike first with lightning precision, then instantly pull back out of range—a supremely intelligent, wise, and ruthlessly efficient combat style.
Some called it cowardly and cheap, but Lee Hyun paid no mind to the excuses of weak losers.
No matter how much they whined, in the end, only results mattered in this world.
Victory and first place—that was all that counted. The process? Irrelevant.
'If you're gonna play, play to win.'
One of Lee Hyun's personal mottos.
— Shoot Towards the SunThose at the pinnacle of any field always draw the world's envy. Overcoming the schemes of the foolish is just another burden the crowned must bear. Thus, I shall forgive your impudence.— 97-Year-Old Grandma Kim Sam-soon's Final...That cutesy little shit—I wanna shove a Tai Chi Radiant Sword up his ass and blender it.— Wudang BeetleHey, give me back my Tai Chi Radiant Sword.— YSGDon't give it back—shove it in and leave it there. That punk deserves it.— Carnivorous DinosaurRawr, rawrgh!! (Roughly: "Cut the crap")
And so the Dominating the World chat blazed with vitriol aimed at Lee Hyun for a good while.
If it were just an annoying playstyle, he wouldn't have drawn this much hate.
Starpoint Sect wasn't the only faction with a grating style, and everyone here was a veteran who'd mastered the game inside out.
Amateur hit-and-run nonsense? They could dismantle it with their own styles.
The real issue was...
⚔ 23rd Life and Death Tournament ⚔Overall Win Rate: 96.2% 'Perfect Victory' Rate: 90.7%
'Shoot Towards the Sun' was an overwhelmingly dominant number one.
The undisputed PvP king of Dominating the World, a monster who'd crushed them endlessly and ascended to the peak of all veterans.
That's why it pissed them off.
It grated enough getting their lovingly optimized characters and builds demolished, but by a hit-and-run rat? What gamer wouldn't rage?
— Carnivorous DinosaurGrrr... Rawrgh!! (Roughly: "Got your number—wash your neck and wait")— Shoot Towards the SunDidn't I tell you to speak human, you dumb beast?— Carnivorous DinosaurRawrgh!! (Marry me)— Shoot Towards the SunHm, was that human speech?— Without a Single ShortcomingHey psycho, does that mean chinks aren't human either?— Wudang BeetleTrue that.— Without a Single Shortcoming? Your character is a chink too, you lunatic.— YSGAnyway, Sun Blanket needs some karmic payback someday. How's a prancing fairy topping the charts in Dominating the World, a real man's game?— Wudang BeetleTrue that. But not something an archer like you should say.
It was right in the middle of this routine WWE spectacle that it happened.
⚙ New Message ⚙-Ding!
A single message popped up in the corner of his screen.
Having already wrapped up his preliminary trash-talk, Lee Hyun checked it right away—and could only gape in shock.
'Remake... announcement?'
The message was a remake notice from Wind and Cloud Pavilion, the devs of Dominating the World—a game that hadn't seen so much as a patch, let alone any notice, in years.
⚙ Official Announcement ⚙Greetings, esteemed heroes of Dominating the World. We are Wind and Cloud Pavilion, where all the world's champions rise. We are thrilled to announce the remake to those who've long awaited news. Your existing character models will carry over, and top achievers from the original will receive special privileges. While the full release is pending, select loyal players have received beta tester versions via email. We hope for your honest feedback to aid development. Thank you.
"No friggin' way... For real!? A real remake!?"
All thoughts of the chat flew from Lee Hyun's mind.
Remake! Remake!! A game he'd figured was basically in maintenance mode, just waiting to shut down, was getting a remake!!
It was like watching a coma patient who'd lain dormant for years suddenly rip out the life support and stand on their own.
'And a beta test to boot... I can't pass this up! Gonna tear into it before official launch!!'
Without a second thought, Lee Hyun installed the beta sent via email.
"...What the hell."
"Initiate Disciple Baek Hyun! Can't you focus on your training?!"
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Lee Hyun—he was Baek Hyun, an Initiate Disciple of the Starpoint Sect.