In front of Changshin Villa, there was a street food stall that prided itself on being open every single day of the year.
On regular days, it operated from 9 AM to midnight, though it often opened earlier or closed later. During the day, it sold taiyaki filled with sweet red bean paste, and at night, it added various side dishes paired with soju or beer.
The stall was quite popular, but it wasn’t always packed with customers. During slow periods, especially between the odd hours of 3 and 6 PM, the stall often sat empty. During these times, both Hakase and Kiriel took breaks, although they had different ways of relaxing.
Hakase spent his time experimenting with recipes to create tastier side dishes for customers or drafting blueprints for machines he planned to build back in his nest. And Kiriel?
[Dwarf Goblins are causing trouble in the village. Please, esteemed Knight, eliminate the Dwarf Goblins.]
[Quest: Defeat 30 Dwarf Goblins.]
After receiving a smartphone as a gift from Hakase, Kiriel had recently become obsessed with an MMORPG game. It was said that this game, once a popular PC title on Earth, had been remade as a mobile game after smartphones gained widespread popularity.
“He’s completely hooked...” Hakase muttered as he approached Kiriel.
Holding the smartphone with both hands, Kiriel guided his character out of the village and hit the “Auto Hunt” button, letting the game take over to start killing the target Dwarf Goblins. To Hakase, the game didn’t seem all that interesting, but for Kiriel, who was playing a game for the first time, it seemed to be an extremely thrilling experience.
Well, I guess there’s no harm in some gaming, thought Hakase. Kiriel was enjoying his break in his own way, so he didn’t see the need to interfere.
While Kiriel’s character was hunting spider monsters in a field called the Forest of Mirrors, he was suddenly approached by another player’s character, who started attacking with a sword.
Thwack! Thwack, thwack!
[Your character is in danger.]
“Huh? Huh?” Kiriel’s face filled with panic as he continued his quest.
Each hit reduced ten percent of his character’s health, and the screen flashed red with each blow.
[Your character is in danger!]
[7.34% of your experience points have been lost.]
[Item ‘Worn Bow’ has been dropped.]
A message announcing his death appeared on the screen, along with a skull icon. The player who had killed him, a character named YeongHoonTheKnight, mocked him by spamming laughing emojis every second. Kiriel’s character respawned back in the village.
“That son of a—!” Kiriel cursed, his face twisted with frustration.
He had spent two hours grinding for ten percent experience points, only to lose more than seven percent in an instant. All his hard work, squeezed in between helping at the stall, had gone to waste.
“Why are you cussing and making a scene?” Hakase snarked with a frown, as the customers at the stall briefly looked at Kiriel before returning to their soju and conversations.
“This bastard killed me!” Kiriel cried out.
The character YeongHoonTheKnight arrived at the village and kept spamming laughing emojis at Kiriel, clearly mocking him. His face flushed red with anger.
Using the broken Korean he had learned from Hakase, Kiriel painstakingly typed on the smartphone’s keyboard, “1v1 me, see me outside the village!” to challenge YeongHoonTheKnight to a rematch, who gladly accepted and left the village, where the fight began.
Thwack! Thwack, thwack!
Kiriel frantically used health potions while firing arrows at his enemy; however, YeongHoonTheKnight just stood there, unfazed as if his attacks were mere mosquito bites. After a few leisurely attacks from YeongHoonTheKnight, Kiriel started getting the dreaded messages.
[Your character is in danger!]
[Your character is in danger!]
“Aaaaargh!” Kiriel screamed in frustration.
There was a concept called “pay-to-win.” It referred to games that made it difficult to see any real progress without buying in-game items with real money, which would allow characters to grow stronger quickly and give players a big advantage.
In this game, character growth depended on common elements found in other games: high levels, good items, and powerful skills. However, the most important feature was transformation. It allowed characters to take on a different appearance while significantly boosting attack speed, movement speed, and stats.
[Transformation Draw (1 roll): 120 diamonds]
[Transformation Draw (11 rolls): 1,200 diamonds]
The issue was that to transform, the user needed to purchase a draw ticket with real money.
[1,200 Diamonds: 33,000 won]
Scratching his head, Kiriel sneaked over to Hakase, who was prepping for the evening’s business.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Lend me 33,000 won.”
Hakase’s expression hardened. “What?”
To Hakase, 33,000 won was a significant amount of money. Plus, since he had already spent a million won buying Kiriel the smartphone just a few days ago, he was reluctant to lend him more.
Hakase demanded an explanation. “Explain why first.”
“I need to make my character stronger,” Kiriel responded.
“So... you’re going to spend my money on your game?”
Hakase sighed and resumed his work.
“Please! I’m begging you! That bastard disrespected me!” Kiriel shouted.
“A guy named YeongHoonTheKnight sent me this message.” Kiriel showed Hakase his smartphone.
[From: YeongHoonTheKnight]
[Content: Hakase, maybe know your place, okay?^^]
“What the hell is this nonsense?” Hakase muttered upon realizing that Kiriel’s in-game character was named after him. “Why the hell did you create a character using my name?!”
Kiriel avoided his gaze. “Anyway! This is an insult to both you and me, Lizard!”
Hakase, who initially thought this had nothing to do with him, found himself getting annoyed as he stared at the message. The words “know your place” began to feel personal, as if he had been directly insulted.
His anger started to bubble up. “Fine. I’ll lend you the money.”
The transformation grades were divided into six categories: Common, Advanced, Rare, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic.
Naturally, Mythic was the highest and best grade. However, no player had ever managed to draw a Mythic transformation through the draw system. Most players ended up with Common or Advanced grades, and occasionally, someone lucky might get Rare. From Heroic onward, the odds became abysmally low.
On average, players needed to spend about 3 million won to get a Heroic transformation card. By now, Hakase had already spent an astonishing 660,000 won. He had intended to stop after just one attempt, but he had already done over twenty rounds of eleven draws.
He hadn’t pulled a card above Rare.
“D-dammit!” Hakase clenched his fists, staring at his shrinking balance and the growing pile of Common and Advanced transformation cards. How could he have spent so much money and not drawn even a single Rare card? It felt like a scam, plain and simple.
Even with an Advanced-grade transformation, challenging YeongHoonTheKnight had been futile. He used a Rare-grade transformation. The difference in attack speed alone was staggering, not to mention his higher level and better equipment.
“Just wait. I still have synthesis left,” Kiriel said.
Synthesis allowed players to combine four cards obtained through the draw to try for a higher-grade transformation card. Kiriel began the synthesis process using cards from the draw, starting with the Common-grade cards and attempting to combine 150 of them.
“Mistah! Taiyaki, pwease!” Byeol arrived at the street stall just before 8 PM.
The rich smell of simmering fishcake broth filled the air, and she sniffed eagerly as she walked in. Unlike usual, today the stall was unusually noisy.
A group of middle-aged men in their forties and fifties had gathered around Hakase and Kiriel, talking animatedly.
“Ugh! Another L!” Kiriel cried out in frustration.
“I play this game too, but man, this always happens when I roll for transformations.”
“Bossman, maybe it’s time to stop. You’ve already spent over 3 million won.”
“This is wild. How come we haven’t seen a single Heroic card? No wonder people take out loans to play this game.”
As Hakase and Kiriel’s expressions grew increasingly grim, Byeol called out again, “Mistah! Taiyaki, pwease!”
Were they ignoring her?
Holding a thousand-won bill, Byeol marched up to Hakase and tugged at his apron. “Byeol has money! Taiyaki, pwease!”
But Hakase only stared blankly at the smartphone, not responding. Byeol’s face scrunched up in frustration.
“Someone stole your soul?” she asked.
Finally snapping out of his daze, Hakase muttered, “Oh, hi, Byeol.”
“Hi. Now, taiyaki, pwease.”
“Alright... just let me finish this first...”
“What’s that?” Byeol looked curiously at the “Purchase 11 Rolls” button on Hakase and Kiriel’s phone screen.
Hakase sighed deeply and replied, “It’s a draw game.”
“Yeah. Wanna try? Just press here.”
“Okay! But only if you give me taiyaki after!”
Byeol pressed the purchase button. Soon, eleven cards appeared on the screen, showing only their backs.
Kiriel explained, “Touch a card, and it’ll reveal itself. Watch me first.”
He tapped a card. The grades spun: Common, Advanced, Rare, Heroic.... Finally, it landed on Common.
“Tsk. Of course. Anyway, that’s how it works.” Kiriel shrugged.
Byeol tapped a card. “?”
The card spun, and then cries erupted.
“Bossman, it’s a Legendary card!”
The crowd cheered excitedly.
Hakase and Kiriel were stunned.
“My god!” They stared in disbelief at the glowing purple Legendary card on the screen.
Hakase lifted Byeol into the air and hugged her tightly. “Thank you! Thank you, Byeol!”
“M-Mistah! I can’t breathe!”
One of the onlookers spoke up. “There are still nine more rolls. Why not keep going?”
Byeol, now finding the game more annoying than fun, quickly tapped all the remaining cards.
The room fell silent. Two additional Legendary cards had been drawn, and identical ones, at that.
“H-how is this even possible?”
The men in the stall were all shocked.
“Wait! Doesn’t this mean we can try for Mythic transformation?”
“No one’s ever gotten a Mythic transformation before...”
Hakase and Kiriel, along with everyone else present, became solemn.
“Byeol, press this button,” Hakase said.
“But Mistah, what about my taiyaki?”
“I’ll give it to you if you press this.”
“Okie.” Byeol tapped the Synthesize button and then selected the cards.
Then, a bolt of yellow lightning flashed across the screen. The golden card sparkled, revealing an archer with a radiant bow.
[Hakase of the Arden Continent has obtained a Mythic Transformation card.]
Everyone in the stall went silent as their jaws dropped in astonishment. A sense of awe and wonder swept through the stall.
Then, a loud rumble came from Byeol’s stomach. Tugging on Hakase’s apron, she held up her one-thousand-won bill.
“I’m hungwy. Taiyaki now, pwease.”
The living room table was piled high with taiyakis.
“Byeol, where did you get all this?” Yoon-Hee asked her.
“The taiyaki Mistah gave it to me!”
Yoon-Hee looked flabbergasted. “All this for a thousand won?”
“He said it’s fwee today!”
Meanwhile, Do-Jun, who was browsing on his smartphone, noticed the trending search terms update.
[1. Mythic Transformation]
The person who had just made history was happily munching on a taiyaki, smiling as brightly as ever.