Generally, "memories" would pass by in front of those on the verge of death. Yeohwan thought blankly, blinking his blood-stained eyelids.

The pain of the shattered bones as if crushed by a giant grinder, the disgustingly bent limbs, and the blood flowing outwards with a bubbling sound instead of breathing.

He could not overcome the presence of the enormous window that enveloped the sky.

[After a moment, your soul will move to the ‘Starting Member Selection Area’.]

[Remaining time: 54 seconds]

Seeing this right before death was such a futile fantasy. I must have really been addicted to gaming.

Delayed self-hatred and remorse rushed in, and Yeohwan's consciousness was rapidly fading away.

[Hero of Knights]

Released in the first half of this year, this mobile game had the colorful identity of a ‘female-oriented card collection strategy game’. It gained sensational popularity within a day of its release and made a huge impact, rising to top 10 in sales at once.

Hero of Knights, or 'HeoKni' for short, was different from the previous female-oriented games.

'Save the world by forming your own handsome knight order.'

—Of course, there were colorful illustrations that fit the game’s big theme, and also favorite individual stories. The main story focused on battle, a detailed strategy system, and the training methods that got more complicated the deeper you dug. It had successfully grown in size by attracting other users who were fascinated by the strategy and development.

‘What the hell. It’s so much fun.’

It was natural for Yeohwan, who had started playing half-curiously, to fall in love with ‘HeoKni’. He didn’t spare any money and immersed himself in the game. His account balance, which grew smaller day by day, was troublesome, but that was all. I didn’t want to cut back on the costs, for the sake of enjoying life.

Thanks to that, he was able to collect most of the knights, and as a result of his near-obsessive analysis, the balance chart he posted on the cafe bulletin board was even registered in an announcement. Was that all? Because of the generously devoted money, time, and effort, Yeohwan had even firmly maintained his position at the top of the server rankings.

It was fun. Seriously, I drowned in it like an idiot.

So, was this the result?

Yeohwan looked around with unclear feelings. As if flooded with light, the entire space was dyed pure white. There was no floor or ceiling, and there was no end to it. It was truly a perfect space of nothingness. He was standing dazedly somewhere in the space. His body, which had been shattered in a car accident, had been completely restored, and he could feel no pain.

If it weren’t for the floating system window on the right side of his field of vision, he would have come to the conclusion that maybe this was the afterlife.

[Please select a starting member.]

There were ‘cards’ surrounding Yeohwan in a circle.

Yeohwan’s expression on his face, which was calmly looking at each card, became more and more subtle. He smirked and shook his head sullenly.

“What the. Are you kidding me?”

All the images drawn on the cards were knights appearing in ‘Hero of Knights’. He was someone who had collected almost every knight in the game and used them until he got tired of them. There was no way he couldn’t recognize a single illustration.

Was this what happened after the death of a game addict?

He was speechless for a moment, torn between bewilderment and embarrassment, then let out a deep sigh. It seemed like it would be better to think of it as something like a delusion.

“If I were to choose, a born S-grade card would be better.. what?”

A transparent screen formed in front of Yeohwan, who was approaching the S-grade card he had been using until recently. As he nervously kicked the screen, a system window popped up as if it had been waiting.

[The starting member selection criteria is maximum B-grade.]

“Then why didn’t you tell me that from the beginning!”

Who were they trying to kid?

He shook his head in annoyance, and then turned around. If the maximum was B-grade, the card chosen should of course be B-grade.

“A born B-grade..”

At some point, Yeohwan was trying to choose a card with seriousness. His head was rushing to select the card that could extract the greatest optimal efficiency among the B-class knights. Even the madness of a game addict was glimmering in that tenacious gaze.

And finally, his gaze lingered on one card.

“He’s the one I used often in the beginning.”

Van Herdos.

A berserker of the deal-tank position with an excellent balance between dealing damage and tanking. Although there was a limit to his grade, it was a card that Yeohwan had continued to use until he set up a deck of S-grade knights.

As he took the ‘Van Herdos’ card in hand, the system window appeared once again.

[Starting member selection complete.]

[Now, the system will activate ‘Soul Transfer’ for Shin Yeohwan.]

[After completing ‘Soul Transfer’, the system’s guidance will start. Please have a pleasant trip.]

Soul Transfer?

He felt confused by the unfamiliar word combination, but the white space flickered in an instant.

***

TL:

Ok so the story shifts from 3rd person (he/him) to 1st person (I/me) pretty often and I'm keeping it that way. Also the 1st chapter is kinda short compared to the other ones, so I'll post c2 sometime later today.

fyi this is all MTL with some cross-checking between Google Translate and Papago so I can't guarantee it'll be error-free.