Chapter 1

◈ Universal Kingdoms

It is truly a sad thing for a person to have no roots.

This is not a discussion about the fundamental issues of international football.

Hiding his body behind a semi-transparent partition, Sangmin had been staring at the monitor endlessly when he suddenly laughed in a hollow manner.

Then, he bit his lip and got up from his seat.

It was already 8:15 PM.

Most of the employees had already left, except for a few from other departments who were staying late.

Putting aside the issue of overtime pay, he decided to go home since he wasn't getting any work done.

I tried to channel the pain of a breakup into work, but it didn't go as well as I hoped.

In movies and books, people immerse themselves in work and forget everything.

Yeah, how can I forget my sad thoughts with such a boring life?

The Line 3 route from Apgujeong to Oksu.

Wearing earphones and leaning against the wall of the front carriage, Sangmin watched the Seoul night view over the Han River through the window, lost in thought.

The dynamic city became even more splendid at night.

Life is so hard.

Sangmin was a person without roots from birth.

He was from an orphanage and had no relatives, let alone any inheritance.

He managed to get into one of the top universities in Korea, thanks to his intelligence.

But let's be honest, it was more due to his perseverance, working so hard that he developed a boil on his buttocks during the exam period.

Thanks to his family's financial situation and high grades, he received a lot of scholarships, and he managed to cover his living expenses with tutoring and part-time jobs. However, as a young professional, he realized he had saved nothing.

Even with the preparation for marriage, owning a house in Seoul, not just a lease, still seemed far off.

What hurt him more than the economic hardship was the lack of trust in human relationships.

He had no parents or siblings to confide in and seek comfort from.

He had worked hard enough to have many group chats on KakaoTalk, and the notifications kept updating non-stop.

But there were few people he could confide in about his troubles.

Is this what it means to be lonely in a crowd?

The breakup with his girlfriend, Sohyun, wasn't that sad.

They had been together for a long time, so the emptiness after the breakup was significant, but he had expected it to end this way eventually.

Instead, it made him even sadder to realize his own situation.

Now in his thirties, among men of marriageable age, he was probably at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Kim Sangmin.

The most common surname in Korea is Kim, and the name Sangmin is also very common.

The Chinese characters for his name are even funnier, not some fancy ones but 常民 (Sangmin), meaning "common people."

Who would name their child like that?

Are they saying to be grateful for not being a commoner?

His parents, who abandoned him, left only that name and have been out of touch ever since.

I don't care if they're dead or alive.

Ultimately, the problem was his mindset, the fundamental issue of being abandoned from birth.

So, he unconsciously hurt others as a self-defense mechanism.

A sigh escaped from behind his mask.

Sangmin shook his head.

Resignation was something he was familiar with.

'My mind is all over the place. Should I go to the gym and work out a bit?'

No, there was something important today.

I'll do the lower body workout tomorrow.

—

After arriving home, he took a quick shower and sat on the sofa in just his underwear.

He ordered chicken and draft beer from a delivery app and lounged, playing with his phone.

There were quite a few posts on the communities he frequented.

Since it was the release day, many people were already getting antsy.

He spent some time browsing and imagining, when the doorbell rang.

He had finished the chicken and was watching a variety show, checking his phone, but it was still before 10 PM.

He washed his hands, cleaned his face, and grabbed a can of beer, then hurried to his room.

What Sangmin had been looking forward to all day.

It was released at exactly 10 PM.

The release of Alternative History – Universal Kingdoms.

Oh, what a great game.

How many years had he been waiting for this game?

He was a top-tier Hanwoo (a term for a hardcore fan) who owned all the games and DLCs from the developer Contradiction Games.

He even translated the foreign development updates and posted them on the sites he frequented, so he could be considered a die-hard fan.

He was even a mod developer.

The reason he was so obsessed with this game was not only because he had a passion for history but also because the game itself dealt with fundamental issues.

The grand strategy game, where you play as great historical figures and nations, stimulated his fantasies.

Among them, European Kings, which covered the medieval period and involved leading a family to change world history, was his favorite.

If he had played the series for 10,000 hours, almost half of that time was spent on European Kings.

The Alternative History series was divided into several parts, including European Kings (medieval), Imperial Realm (modern), and World Wars (World Wars), but this new game covered all the eras of the previous games.

It seemed that pre-downloads were available on the platform after 9 PM.

He hurried to download it.

The graphics had improved significantly, and the file size was larger than any other Contradiction Games series he had seen.

It was almost as large as some of the older RPGs on the market.

Given the nature of grand strategy games, the vast amount of data was really exciting.

While browsing the game forums and galleries and making a fuss, the installation completed, and at exactly 10 PM, he was able to log in.

The Contradiction Games series is primarily single-player.

Since no one was familiar with the game yet, multiplayer would probably only be possible after a few weeks.

Korean support was currently only in the basic alpha mode, with the rest still under development, so he had to keep that in mind.

Sangmin, a graduate of a prestigious university with high grades, had no problem with English.

– ♬♪♩

The loading music made him nod his head. The music was a pass.

This time, the game was primarily in the first-person perspective.

However, it was much more complex than the first-person starting point in European Kings.

Sangmin felt a deep respect for the developers.

They must have lost a lot of hair.

They boasted about combining the best aspects of the series, but it would be decided soon whether that was true.

A creeping sense of unease about bugs and optimization issues lingered in the back of his mind, but his excitement for the game kept him from worrying too much.