Chapter 1

Living Twice as a Ranker

Volume 1

Chapter 1. The Invitation of the Pocket Watch (1)

March 21, 2018. Incheon Airport.

Yeonwoo straightened his clothes as he stepped onto the platform.

His closely cropped hair, his neatly pressed uniform.

The太极旗 (Taegukgi, South Korean flag) on his uniform, indicating his affiliation with the deployment unit, sparkled in the light.

After tidying up his backpack, he made a call.

Click.

"Corporal Cha Yeonwoo, I have arrived in Korea."

[Good. Try to cheer up. While you're here, try to comfort your parents.]

"Thank you."

After expressing his gratitude to the unit commander, Yeonwoo ended the call and lowered his phone.

Korea, which he had returned to after three years, was much warmer and more peaceful than Africa.

But Yeonwoo's heart was troubled.

He put a cigarette in his mouth and fished something out of his pocket.

It was a letter he had received a few days ago while on a mission.

On the outside, it read:

'Obituary (赴古)'

His younger brother, who had gone missing five years ago. This was a death notice for him.

* * *

The funeral was over.

His brother's ashes were scattered in the sea in front of Taesongdae, a place he had loved in life.

His brother, who had been missing for five years, had returned in a cold urn.

"These are the personal belongings your brother was holding when he was found."

The man who had contacted Yeonwoo about the discovery of his brother extended a small box.

Yeonwoo opened the box carefully.

There were two items inside.

A faded photograph and...

"......A pocket watch?"

In the photograph, his brother was wearing armor that looked like it belonged in a medieval movie, standing with people who had peculiar appearances, against a strange background.

Had his brother been filming a movie somewhere during the time he was missing?

Yeonwoo, who had been on deployment for over three years, had seen all sorts of dangerous places, but this was something he had never seen before.

"Sir...!"

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Yeonwoo, who had been absentmindedly stroking his brother in the photograph, came to his senses at the man's words.

Though he had questions, given the circumstances, he only thanked the man and returned home.

* * *

In his room, he quietly examined the photograph.

His brother was still smiling.

They were identical twins, born with the same face and appearance, yet he and his brother were so different.

His brother was a model student, but he was frail and introverted, enjoying reading books and watching movies.

In contrast, Yeonwoo was outgoing, excelling in sports and aiming for a physical education university or a military academy.

People around them were amazed at how different they could be despite being twins.

Still, they were always together.

His brother would teach the carefree older brother how to study, and the older brother would tell the younger brother, who was often bedridden, how exciting and fun the outside world was, several times a day.

They were that close.

One day.

The day before the college entrance exam, his brother disappeared.

After that, many things happened.

His mother, who had been suffering from a chronic illness, passed away. Yeonwoo, who had been searching for his brother for over two years, gave up everything, became a non-commissioned officer, and volunteered for deployment to Africa, leaving Korea behind.

From then on, his outgoing personality became much more cynical.

Contact with home naturally ceased, and he thought he would never return to Korea.

But then.

His brother returned after five years, in the form of a death notice.

"......"

At first, he was angry.

His brother, who had disappeared without a word, had returned in this state. The first thought that came to mind was that his brother had always been impulsive.

But when the funeral began, it felt as if his soul had been torn out, and everything seemed meaningless. When it came time to scatter his brother's ashes at Taesongdae, his heart felt like it was being torn apart.

He wanted to ask what had happened.

What had he been doing all this time? Why did he have to return in this state?

But the brother in the photograph remained silent, just as he had for the past five years.

"Ha."

Yeonwoo put down the photograph and examined the pocket watch.

The pocket watch looked as if it were over a hundred years old, worn and dirty in many places.

The 'XII' indicating 12 and the hour hand were the only things left, and the watch had stopped. When he took it to a watch repair shop, he was told that it was too rusted to be repaired.

'This is the watch I gave him.'

At 19, in his senior year of high school, the brothers had given each other birthday gifts. His brother had given him a book to study, and Yeonwoo had given him a pocket watch to do well on the college entrance exam.

It was that watch.

Yeonwoo held the pocket watch. It fit perfectly in his hand.

'Of course, it fits.'

He had searched for a pocket watch of the right size by visiting many watch shops.

Then, Yeonwoo turned the pocket watch over and looked at the cursive writing scribbled in the corner of the back.

J. W. CAH

-Oh! I needed a watch anyway. Thanks, bro. This is cooler than an electronic watch.

-Haha! What do you think? This is my style.

-But what's written here? J. W. is my name, so that's fine. But CAH? Haha!

-What? It's my last name. 'Cha.'

-How is 'Cha' CAH? It should be CHA!

-What? Damn! Give it to me.

-Why?

-I need to go to the uncle and ask him to fix it.

-Come on, it's fine. I'll just carry it. If I need to write my name, I'll just use CAH.

His brother, who had said this confidently, then put the pocket watch in his pocket.

Later, when he made a real passport, he confidently wrote 'CAH' in the LAST NAME field.

At that time, he felt both grateful and sorry.

Yeonwoo smiled slightly as he recalled the past.

While stroking the watch, he accidentally pressed the winding part.

Click.

'Huh?'

Wasn't it broken?

The winding part went inside.

At that moment.

Tick. Tick.

The stopped hour hand started moving.

At some point, when the older brother hears this diary...

A familiar voice echoed in his mind.

"......!"

Yeonwoo involuntarily jumped up from his seat.

The voice he hadn't heard since five years ago, the voice of his brother, whom he thought he would never hear again.

Thump. Thump.

His heart started beating wildly.

If the older brother hears this diary, I will probably no longer be in this world.

It was definitely not an auditory hallucination.

Yeonwoo examined the pocket watch, wondering if his brother's voice was recorded in it, but found no such device.

The voice was clearly echoing in his mind.

How is this possible?

I'm sorry. I know I caused everyone a lot of trouble. I just wanted to get medicine for Mom. I thought I could come back quickly, but it didn't work out.

"What?"

The moment Yeonwoo opened his eyes wide.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the events his brother had experienced over the past five years flashed before his eyes like a panorama.

It was a diary.

* * *

October 9, 2013.

A strange text message arrived on his phone. It said it could grant any wish. It was a strange content for a spam message.

It didn't provide any other explanation. It only asked if he wanted to participate or not. Normally, he would have ignored it, but the image of his mother, who was looking frail in the hospital, came to mind.

So, just in case, he pressed the button to agree.

Nothing happened.

He felt disappointed and ignored it, thinking it was just a prank message.

But from that day on.

He started having strange dreams.

Dreams of climbing a 99-story tower that rose endlessly into the sky.

October 12, 2013.

This was definitely not a dream!

It was clear. It was reality.

A world where elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, dragons, and other monsters lived. A world where various dimensions and universes intersected like a Venn diagram.

The tower at the center was a place where people from all over the world aspired to climb. It was said that the moment someone broke through the 99th floor, they would become a god.

So people called the tower:

The Sun God's Tower.

The Obelisk.

But I couldn't see any of that. Instead, the only thing that caught my ear was the panacea, the elixir, said to be somewhere inside the tower.

If I could get it, I could cure my mother's illness.

October 28, 2013.

I formed a team with people I got along with and started climbing the tower.

It was not easy at all.

We had to defeat all sorts of monsters, and each time, we faced a crisis. This place was like a game, but it was not a game; it was reality. If you died, it was really the end.

But my teammates and I had talent. Even I, who had always been sick and worried my family, could see light through runes here.

They said we were the first to break through to the 10th floor in less than four days.

From then on, I started to seriously consider.

Balancing reality and the tower was not easy.

November 9, 2013.

I made a decision.

I tried to explain this place to my older brother several times. But when I tried to speak, I didn't know what to say. Should I tell him about the world of the tower and that I would go there to get the medicine?

But even though my brother seemed tough, he was actually very caring. What would he say if he heard this? He would probably insist on going himself.

That couldn't happen.

In the end, I decided to run away. Everyone would look for me, but if I endured for about six months, I could easily get the medicine by then.

So I cut off my connection with reality.

December 1, 2013.

My team and I were named 'Artia.'

Artia was the best in every aspect. Teamwork, individual skills, and strategy.

We climbed the floors at a rapid pace and became well-known. There was no one in the tower who didn't know us.

I thought I might be able to get the elixir faster than I expected.

...

September 7, 2014.

The progress was slower than expected. I thought six months would be enough, but it might take a year.

November 11, 2014.

A conflict broke out with the upper clans who had seen us as a thorn in their side. It became an obstacle to our progress.

...

February 31, 2015.

Negotiations broke down.

The war began.

...

July 2, 2015.

The alliance of clans that had been hostile to us was shattered.

Artia, which had been operating with a small team of twelve, gained such fame that it entered the top ten clans, and all the team members became top rankers.

I, who led Artia, managed to rank 9th. They said it was the fastest case of entering the top ten in history.

But I couldn't just be happy about it.

I had been too busy with the war to have the means to get the elixir. I had to push the progress again.

...

March 4, 2016.

I fell in love.

...

September 19, 2016.

The war broke out again.

A conflict arose between Artia, which aimed to conquer the upper floors, and the upper clans that wanted to settle.

I tried to persuade them, but it wasn't easy.

Some of the team members even agreed with their thoughts, but they just didn't say anything because they were afraid of me.

I knew this, but I hurried the progress, and eventually, a conflict was inevitable.

Time kept passing, and I felt like I was going crazy.

...

January 2, 2017.

Artia ranked 5th in the clan rankings. But the war continued, and everyone was exhausted.

...

June 6, 2017.

A traitor appeared.

I killed him before he could act, but it caused discord within the clan. Everyone started to suspect each other.

One by one, the team members left.

July 1, 2017.

My body felt heavy.

It was due to poisoning.

October 30, 2017.

Half of the members left the clan. We kept retreating on the battlefield, and conquering the upper floors became a distant dream. I tried to find a way to get the elixir, but I couldn't find any information anywhere.

My body was also slowly deteriorating.

November 1, 2017.

My lover left me, stabbing my heart.

I barely managed to stop it with a skill, but I couldn't suppress the poison anymore. My body started to rot.

December 30, 2017.

I miss my older brother.

...

February 1, 2018.

I was the only one left in Artia.

Where did it all go wrong?

Was it because I trusted people too much? Or because I didn't take care of the struggling team members and only pursued my own desires?

Or was it because...

I left my family behind?

February 28, 2018.

The last day of February. I finally got the elixir.

I need to send this home, but there's no way. I can't leave the tower because others are surrounding me.

Did they think I would cure the poisoning?

Everyone started to come after me, trying to kill me. I had no allies anywhere.

Then I realized.

I only have one ally in this world.

But I can't show weakness to them.

* * *

So I'm ending this diary here. I believe that if I leave this diary, my older brother will eventually come here.

If it's my older brother, he can find the elixir and bring it back to Mom safely.