Episode 1: Special Reward
At the age of eighteen, when even iron could be chewed through, Oh Hyun-woo, going through a late puberty, wrote a new history in the collectible RPG game <Legend Seven>. He was the first to subdue the final chapter’s boss.
《Final Chapter Villain: Defeat the Black Prince Theo and clear the game!》
A pop-up message urging game completion.
But Oh Hyun-woo wasn’t one to simply follow tooltips.
“What, you think I’m crazy? Why would I kill Theo? He’s so damn cool.”
With a hipster streak that recoiled at following the mainstream, it was only natural that he came to admire the game’s “villains.”
Home, school, cram school.
A stifling routine spinning like a hamster wheel.
His life wasn’t lacking, but it also lacked anything exceptional—a perfectly ordinary existence.
At eighteen, Oh Hyun-woo felt infinitesimally small.
But the villains in <Legend Seven> were different.
They didn’t care about others’ gazes.
Born with the seeds of heroism, they had fallen into villainy through their own trials.
Yet, they possessed the audacity to challenge the world for their beliefs.
Oh Hyun-woo admired their lives.
He sought every means to make these villains his subordinates and finally succeeded.
The last piece of the puzzle was subduing Theo, the villain of the final episode.
Theo repeatedly shouted at Oh Hyun-woo—no, at Lucifer—who stood in his way.
“Kill me. A useless king who couldn’t even avenge his parents has no reason to live.”
Hearing Theo’s lines, Oh Hyun-woo paused to think.
“Hmm, what should I say to win him over?”
Legend Seven, being a collectible RPG, was packed with elements that appealed to otaku sensibilities.
Above all, it featured a communication function with summoned characters, powered by generative AI.
Each summon had its own personality and backstory, allowing real-time interaction with the adventurer.
Finally, Oh Hyun-woo lowered his voice and spoke into the speaker.
“Are you giving up, Theo, the unforgivable one? Foolish king raised by the hands of your enemy.”
“…”
“If you intend to abandon your responsibilities so carelessly, you shouldn’t have taken them up in the first place.”
“How dare you speak with that filthy mouth…”
“How long will you keep blaming yourself? Do you truly believe that’s what your parents would have wanted?”
“…!!”
“If it’s too much to bear, entrust it to me.”
“…What?”
Theo looked at Lucifer with clouded eyes.
“All your sins—pain, sorrow, resentment, anger, despair. I’ll take them all.”
“What… are you saying…?”
“I’m saying I’ll bear the weight of your sins in your place. So don’t think. Don’t grieve. Just become mine, young king.”
Theo stared at Lucifer for a moment, then, with trembling hands, laid down his weapon and knelt.
Lucifer approached the kneeling Theo and patted his head.
“That’s enough.”
In the fervor of youth, Oh Hyun-woo was thrilled by his own lines.
‘Hell yeah! That was epic. Insane. The dialogue was unreal!’
Having finally won Theo’s heart, Oh Hyun-woo had all the villains in his grasp.
《You have acquired the final chapter villain, ‘Black Prince Theo.’》
《You have achieved the hidden achievement: ‘Hate the sin, not the sinner.’》
《You have acquired all seven villains.》
《A special Special Reward has been granted to Lucifer-nim.》
《The Special Reward can be claimed later.》
Oh Hyun-woo, who had finally made all seven villains his subordinates, was overjoyed but kept it low-key.
Making a fuss in the middle of the night would only earn him a scolding.
But tonight, he felt he could sleep soundly.
He believed that achieving such a great feat meant he could surely become someone special.
***
Ring ring
“Hello.”
[Hey, oppa. What’s up?]
“I sent you some money. Buy something nice to eat today.”
[…You don’t have to. I’m working part-time now, so you don’t need to help so much…]
“Oh, come on. How much can you make from a part-time job? Just take it when I give it.”
[…Thanks.]
“Yeah. How are Mom and Dad?”
[They’re fine, no issues.]
“Good to hear. I’ll stop by this weekend.”
[Alright, see you then!]
Click
…That’s what he believed, ten years ago.
Sadly, his life remained utterly ordinary.
And it seemed it would stay that way.
Like everyone else, he graduated from high school, went to an average college, and got a job at an average company.
After playing a game this much, you’d think you’d get a sense of how it goes.
As a twenty-eight-year-old assistant manager at a small company, it was time to face reality.
“Sigh…”
As a kid, he used to attach all sorts of meaning to a game.
The belief that he could become someone special.
But that experience didn’t exactly help his life much.
‘Ugh… Another month in the red.’
Hospital bills for his ailing parents, student loans, and supporting his younger sibling, who had taken a leave from school to prepare for civil service exams due to financial struggles.
Even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough to handle it all.
Honestly, he felt it was unfair.
If his family hadn’t been caught in that accident during the world’s upheaval, things might have been better.
‘Has it already been five years?’
Five years ago, the “Great Cataclysm” changed the world.
Some damned game had overtaken reality in an instant.
Towers sprang up across the globe, each with 100 floors.
Each floor had a time limit for conquest.
If the deadline passed without clearing a floor, monsters would pour out, causing a “dungeon break” that attacked people.
And his parents were victims of the first dungeon break.
Because of that accident, they had been in the hospital for years.
[Exclusive interview with America’s top adventurer, ‘Dwayne’!]
‘…Must be nice to be an adventurer.’
Adventurers.
Those who awakened the power to control “summons” to fight monsters.
The term came from the game’s title for the protagonist, “Adventurer-nim.”
Influencers or celebrities?
Nowadays, adventurers are the trendsetters.
What they wear and drink becomes the fashion.
The successful ones earn unimaginable sums.
And the name of this game?
Legend Seven. A trash game with no proper strategy community, just floundering.
And Oh Hyun-woo was a hardcore veteran of that trash game.
‘Seriously, if anyone should’ve awakened, shouldn’t it have been me? I was the only one to clear the final chapter before the game shut down.’
Even now, if he awakened, he was confident he’d grow faster than anyone.
Until the game’s service ended, he was the unofficial number-one ranker.
Unofficial because he kept his account private.
I hated it when people outside my circle commented on my collection.
On the ranking charts, I was only listed as <Unknown Adventurer>.
‘Idiot. What an idiot. I should’ve just revealed my nickname and been active.’
Back then, I thought this “shadowy master” concept was cool, so I went all-in on it. But after the world turned into this mess, I regretted it countless times.
Right after the Great Cataclysm, I tried selling some information online to make ends meet during tough times.
Surprisingly, no one cared.
Whenever someone commented, “So, what’s your rank?” I had nothing to say.
In a chaotic society filled with rumors, unverified information posts were naturally ignored.
Sure, if I kept posting, eventually my info would’ve been validated, and people might’ve thought, “Oh, this guy’s not lying.” But…
[Major Guild ‘Revolution’ Tyranny! Strictly Controlling Legend Seven Information Leaks!]
[Japan’s Top 5 Guild ‘Tora’ Guildmaster: “We won’t let loose lips go unpunished.”]
After things calmed down, the “first movers” formed their own elite circle.
They monopolized information, threatening or even kidnapping unawakened rankers.
The rumors were so bad that I quickly stopped my activities and deleted all my posts.
Now, public order has somewhat recovered, so they can’t do such things openly. But we all know—they’re still up to no good behind the scenes.
‘These newbies. They know nothing but act like they’re the best.’
In this situation, even if I had valuable info, I had to stay quiet as a mouse.
‘They probably still don’t know, do they? That episode villains can be used as summons.’
There are so-called “wall decks.”
A term used in card games or turn-based games like Legend Seven.
It’s called that because it feels like you’re up against an impenetrable wall.
And the villains I loved? Every single one of them had cheat-level skills.
Each one was practically a “wall deck” on their own.
‘Well, even if others got them, they wouldn’t know how to use them properly.’
There’s just one problem.
These villains are insanely hard to recruit, and even after you do, it’s not over.
They don’t listen to a word you say.
To get them to even pretend to follow orders, you have to go through all sorts of humiliating antics to build rapport.
If you enter battle without bonding?
《Black Prince Theo ignores your command and ends the turn.》
《Witch of the Apocalypse Hertia, consumed by rage, attacks allies.》
《Siren of the White Valley Ruinbringer, caught up in excitement, buffs the enemy.》
They’d cause absolute chaos, worse than disobedient kids.
But through relentless effort, I managed to tame them.
By the end, they were following me willingly…
‘Tch. What’s the point?’
What good is that now?
I’m just an unawakened nobody.
Even if I awakened, I wouldn’t be able to keep them as my summons.
Awakening as an adventurer doesn’t mean you inherit your old summons.
In other words, I’d be starting from scratch, a level 1 with no resources.
‘Ugh… I miss the old days.’
I miss the days when I could lose myself in the game.
No worries, laughing at the smallest things.
But now, I can’t find anything to smile about.
Ding!
“Ugh.”
Even my phone’s notification sound scares me now.
It’s probably either a late loan payment notice or some loan ad.
Still, I can’t ignore it, so I check with unease…
「A Special Reward has arrived for Lucifer-nim!」
‘…? What’s this?’
At first, I thought it was one of those trendy AI phishing scams.
But something felt off.
‘A Special Reward for Lucifer-nim?’
This was different.
The nickname “Lucifer” was only used in Legend Seven.
Since I personally kept my account private, the only entity that could connect Oh Hyun-woo to Lucifer was one place:
<Legend Seven Pictures>, the game’s developer.
“Wait, hold on. Hold on, hold on…”
My heart started pounding.
The Special Reward promised by the developers as a reward for clearing the final chapter.
I’d forgotten about it since they never mentioned it again until the game shut down.
And now, a message after ten years?
In a world that’s become Legend Seven?
This couldn’t be an ordinary item.
With trembling fingers, I read the rest of the message…
「The Special Reward has arrived at your doorstep. We apologize for the delayed delivery.」
Thud!
With my heart racing, I leapt up and rushed to open the front door.
Right beside it was a small box.
A delivery package the size of my palm.
No shipping label.
For a moment, I thought it might belong to someone else, but it didn’t.
At the bottom of the box was my nickname, 「Lucifer」.
‘It’s mine!’
I returned to my room, grabbed a knife, and carefully sliced open the top.
Inside was a tiny ticket, about the size of a finger.
As I picked it up, a message shimmered before my eyes.
《This is a ticket containing a Special Reward.》
《To claim the Special Reward, please tear the ticket.》
“Whoa! A message window!”
My heart felt like it would burst.
“Could this be?!”
I didn’t know what this Special Reward would grant, but I wanted to hold onto hope.
I had an unfounded premonition that it would lead to a better future.
Rip-
Holding my breath, I tore the ticket—
Ding!
Pop! Pop!
Fireworks of celebration exploded before my eyes.
《Congratulations! To Lucifer-nim, who cleared all episodes of Legend Seven, we present this Special Reward with our gratitude!》
《Would you like to check the Special Reward?》