Chapter 3: The First Strike

Eternal Battle

The name of the game I was stuck in for five years.

The genre is primarily PVP, but it’s divided into several modes.

• Battle Royale
• Team Battles
• Duel Arena

The most popular mode by far is Battle Royale.

66 players compete to survive until only one is left standing.

This Battle Royale format was just beginning to gain popularity when I was transported into the game world.

However, Eternal Battle, or E-Battle for short, had a distinguishing feature compared

to other Battle Royale games.

It had a survival element.

In addition to fighting enemies, you had to survive harsh environments.

If you didn’t eat, you’d feel hungry. If you didn’t drink water, you’d become thirsty.

Your body temperature also changes depending on the weather.

If you didn’t take care of these survival aspects, your stats would drop dramatically,

and you might die without even being able to fight.

In fact, during my time in the game, these survival elements were often far more pressing than the battles themselves.

Of course, some people might have enjoyed this system.

But, to be blunt, I thought it was a major drawback, raising the entry barrier and disrupting the flow of combat.

So, I was firmly convinced that the game would fail.

To my surprise, though, E-Battle became a massive success and is now one of the most popular games worldwide.

Can you imagine how ridiculous it was when I returned to the real world and realized this?

I heard it gained popularity due to a Japanese streamer.

After being relentlessly targeted, around 50 people followed the streamer around, and that moment sparked a cult following.

To be honest, I had secretly hoped the game would fail.

But, what could I do?

The game company had completely abandoned the game while I was preparing for my pro debut,

and I was dragged into that damn game world, where I faced life-threatening dangers for five years.

When I returned to the real world, I made one resolution:

I would never touch that game again.

But, of course…

That resolution didn’t last long.

My earlier determination is long gone, and here I am, logging into E-Battle while waiting for my Jjajangmyeon.

But what could I do?

Games were my lifelong hobby.

The game I used to play had long since decayed and was abandoned.

They even had the audacity to patch it once a year like it was some kind of annual event.

And E-Battle was objectively a well-made game.

If it wasn’t, there’s no way it could have become a global hit.

Still, I feel justified.

After all, I lasted three months in that game world.

I only started E-Battle last week. It really has been a long time since I began.

And, just as expected, E-Battle was a lot of fun.

The sharp hatred I had once felt slowly turned into a blunt mix of affection and resentment.

I can’t emphasize this enough it was inevitable.

Five whole years!

1,825 days. 43,800 hours of direct experience inside the game.

No one knows more about this game than I do.

I’m even certain that the creators couldn’t say otherwise.

So, I’m confident I can beat anyone.

I will never lose.

That reason alone is enough, right?

The sweetness of victory is always exhilarating.

I decided to play a normal match.

I didn’t have enough time for a ranked game.

Generally, a match in E-Battle takes at least 30 minutes.

It only takes about 20 minutes for Jjajangmyeon to be ready.

So, I planned to casually enjoy a normal match and exit midway.

“Ah, I got matched.”

Once the match begins, the participants gather in the waiting room.

You get 30 seconds to prepare, during which you can check the map and see who your teammates are.

You can also check other minor details like the weather.

Since I was playing solo this time, there are no teammates. All 65 other players are my enemies.

The map is the Ruined Wasteland.

It’s one of my favorite maps.

Because it’s one of the few places where you can still feel traces of civilization.

Before I returned to the real world, I used to cheer when this map appeared in the battle.

When the preparation time ends, every participant has to choose where they will start.

Not anywhere goes you can only choose from a few random locations each round.

This time, I decided to spawn in an apartment complex.

Since I was planning to exit soon,

I wanted to pick a popular area and cause some chaos from the start.

After making my choice, I suddenly found myself collapsed on the ground, having been moved to the location.

How I moved there is left out.

Whether in the game or in reality, when you lose consciousness and wake up, you find yourself at the destination.

The important thing to note here is that the time it takes to wake up differs based on the distance from the waiting room.

The waiting room for the Ruined Wasteland is located at the bottom-left,

so if I chose the northeast, I would start a little later than the other players.

It’s not a huge difference, but it’s something to keep in mind.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Once I wake up, the first thing I need to do is gather my main weapon.

The strategy in the game depends on what your main weapon is.

By the way, E-Battle doesn’t have a clear setting for the game’s time period,

and because of that, the weapons are all mixed up.

There are two-handed swords, katanas, muskets, modern rifles everything from different eras is included.

The one good thing is that there aren’t any overly futuristic or fantasy-like weapons yet.

The main weapon itself can be easily farmed from anywhere.

What really matters is the weapon’s grade.

I found my main weapon in the neighboring house right after spawning.

It was a regular-grade Bastard Sword.

This isn’t bad.

The grade could be better, but for a melee weapon, this is decent for the early game.

There’s still a lot more to gather besides the main weapon.

Armor, in particular, is crucial in E-Battle.

“What was the Bastard set equipment again?”

I recalled it was a leather armor set.

If you equip armor that complements your main weapon, you get a set bonus, which makes you much stronger.

So, it’s not just about the stats you have to aim for set equipment.

Of course, getting the full set isn’t easy.

In fact, if you complete all five pieces of a set, the effect is so powerful it’s called Exodia.

I first equipped the black coat next to the Bastard Sword.

Once I picked up my main weapon, what should I do next?

There’s no clear-cut answer, but if I had to choose, I’d say there are two main paths: hunting and farming.

Here, hunting doesn’t refer to killing other players.

Combat is most efficient once you’ve gathered all your weapons and equipment.

It’s more important to survive and become the last one standing than to take down someone.

Hunting refers to catching animals or NPCs.

By doing so, you can get meat, food, or equipment with a low chance.

Farming, similarly, is a way to gather food and equipment.

It’s much safer than hunting and faster at acquiring equipment.

However, farming alone doesn’t give you experience points.

You need to gain experience to upgrade your main weapon and learn weapon skills to become stronger.

Farming is fast and safe but has clear limitations.

Hunting is slower and riskier but guarantees growth.

The strategy I chose is simple.

Combat.
In other words, hunting players.

Didn’t I just say combat was inefficient in the early game?

That’s true. Generally, it’s a very inefficient move.

However, I have no intention of winning this round.

Since I plan to quit midway, I’m just going to fight and clear my head.

Plus, E-Battle has such precise controls that,

as long as my physical skills are on point, I can dominate even in the early stages where the gap is minimal.

In short, I was confident.

Confident that I could easily defeat anyone I encountered.

As I mentioned earlier, the apartment complex is quite a popular spot.

Because of that, there were a few other players who had spawned here besides me.

They obviously hadn’t finished farming.

Most likely, they’d only gotten their main weapon, just like I did.

I walked out of the house and down the long hallway.

Is there no one here?

As I swung my sword, I heard footsteps above.

Smiling to myself, I immediately took the stairs up to the next floor.

Sorry.

Just think of it as bad luck.

I soon ran into the opponent coming down the stairs from above.

Their equipment was about the same as mine.

They only had a pistol and a regular pot helmet.

The opponent turned on their mic and spoke.

“Just leave, will you? Don’t get in the way.”

Their tone was incredibly relaxed.

It seemed they didn’t want to waste time,

figuring that with such low-level weapons, it would take too long to kill me, so we might as well part ways.

In response, I lightly raised my sword and aimed it at them.

Only then did they realize the seriousness of the situation, and they said,

“Damn. Stepped in it.”

Bang! Bang!

Shots fired from the pistol.

Without panicking, I swung my sword twice.

Clink! Clink!

“…What the hell? Are you messing with me?”

The opponent was dumbfounded.

And it was understandable.

How many players would use parrying in such a casual match?

I didn’t have time to waste either.

I lunged at them and swung my sword.