Episode 1
$Gong$Geum$
Prologue: Rankers Being Model Students Is an Axiom of the Academic World
This is a press conference.
A male student is surrounded by countless reporters.
On the left side of his chest are visible a name tag and a school emblem.
『Cheongsin High School』
『Lee Gyeong-jun』
Click-click-click-click-click!
Camera shutters fired endlessly.
At the same time, the reporters’ questions poured out.
“Gyeong-jun! Please tell us how you feel about ranking first nationwide in the CSAT!”
“They say this was the hardest CSAT ever. What on earth is your secret!”
“Is it true that you passed all seven early admission rounds, including Seoul National University, KAIST, and POSTECH?”
“Which university are you planning to choose?”
“Question 30 on this year’s math free-response section recorded a historically lowest correct answer rate of 0.02% since the 1997 CSAT! How on earth did you solve it?”
Slightly flustered by the reporters’ questions, Gyeong-jun said,
“Uh… Hmm. There are too many questions. Can we just lump them together as ‘What’s your study secret?’”
“Yes!!”
Ahem.
Gyeong-jun cleared his throat and soon revealed his study secret.
“It’s simple. Focus on Korean, English, and Math….”
“Ah.”
A look of disappointment momentarily crossed the reporters’ faces.
It was the same answer every high-achieving student always gave: “I focused on Korean, English, and Math.”
They thought this year’s number one would say the same thing.
But they were mistaken.
“…Rather than focusing on Korean, English, and Math, I focused on exploration subjects—that is, Science Exploration and Social Studies Exploration.”
“What?!”
The reporters are all dumbfounded!
They had heard students say they studied hard in all subjects without discrimination, but focusing on exploration subjects?
It was an unprecedented statement.
At that moment, one sharp reporter asked,
“Wait… Gyeong-jun, you’re clearly a science-track student, so why Social Studies Exploration?”
Gyeong-jun grinned as if he had been waiting for that very question.
“It’s simple. If you study science deeply, you automatically end up studying math too. They’re deeply connected. Especially physics. And not just physics, but chemistry, biology, earth science, and liberal arts subjects too—Ethics, Ethics and Thought, Korean Geography, World History, Law and Politics, Economics… If you study everything without discrimination, eventually all the passages that appear in Korean and English become ‘familiar’ passages. In other words, no matter what questions appear in Korean, English, or Math, they all become questions you already know.”
Gyeong-jun continued.
“Don’t adults always tell you to read a lot of books? And successful people always say they read a lot. It’s exactly that. Ah, though web novels don’t count. Except for web novels where the protagonist studies.”
“Hahaha!”
The reporters burst into laughter at Gyeong-jun’s light joke.
“Does that mean Korean, English, and Math aren’t very important?”
“No. They’re definitely important. But studying only those isn’t very efficient. Honestly, you can afford to ease up on Korean, English, and Math a bit and not drop much, but your exploration subject scores will plummet. Once you’ve built your foundation in Korean, English, and Math, you need to dig deep into exploration. After all, from Grade 2 onward, it’s a battle of concentration, so studying exploration also raises your Korean, English, and Math scores.”
“Oooooh!”
Unlike other first-place rankers, extremely specific and helpful secrets!
Click-click-click-click-click!
Along with the reporters’ cheers, flashes burst out endlessly.
“Then did you solve math question 30 the same way?”
“Ah, that question 30. Yes. I got inspiration from it too. While studying something else.”
“Which subject were you studying when you got the inspiration? Physics? Chemistry? Or economics? Or something entirely different?”
“Ah, can I even say this?”
Gyeong-jun scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Then…
“Well, um… The World, have you ever played it, reporter?”
“What? The World?”
The reporter was flustered by the sudden change of topic.
“Yes, yes, yes, The World. So have you played it?”
“Well… is there anyone who hasn’t?”
“Good. Then the reporter next to you?”
“M-me?”
And so the reporter next to him, next to him, next to him…
Gyeong-jun asked the same question to every reporter in sight.
“Good. Nine out of ten have all played it. As expected of the world’s greatest virtual reality game made by the Seolha Group.”
Just as the audience’s bewilderment reached its peak, Gyeong-jun threw out another question.
“Then is there anyone here who has killed the Ruined Temple underground boss mob, the Black Dragon?”
This time, Gyeong-jun didn’t wait for an answer.
“Of course not. It has high elemental resistances all around. Its light resistance is comparatively low, but its skin is so thick that priest classes that lack damage basically can’t kill it. And that black laser it shoots from its eyes has insane damage ticks, so you can’t kill it without a healer. And it’s a forced solo raid… How on earth could you kill it?”
“Huh? But I heard the Black Dragon was definitely cleared a few months ago…?”
“That article was plastered all over our front page too.”
“Did you interview who cleared it?”
“No, we just heard the facts.”
The reporters murmured.
At that moment, Gyeong-jun simply smiled broadly without saying a word.
Then the sharp reporter from before realized something.
“Y-you don’t mean… the one who killed that Black Dragon is….”
“Yes. I was the very first to kill that Black Dragon.”
“…!!”
At the shocking confession, all the reporters were left speechless.
On top of that, Gyeong-jun gave a slight bitter smile and continued his story.
“Honestly, it wasn’t like I had some grand intention in killing the Black Dragon. I just couldn’t solve any problems and was feeling gloomy, so I cleared a quest to take my mind off things, that’s all. Anyway, after slaying the Black Dragon, I checked the dropped items and guess what!”
Gyeong-jun clapped his hands with a sharp slap!
And in an excited voice…
“The phase structure of the dropped Black Dragon’s heart hit me right in a blind spot I had never considered! Wow, I thought this was the real deal, so I researched it while crafting some items, and then a few months later, bam! It appeared as CSAT math question 30.”
Gyeong-jun calmed his excitement for a moment and continued.
“After that, it was simple. I just solved the problem while recalling the research I did while crafting the items. For the record, that was the easiest problem out of all 30 for me.”
A deep silence settled.
And not long after…
“Waaaaaaaah!!”
It soon turned into a standing ovation.
Gyeong-jun raised both arms as if embracing the world, expressing his gratitude to everyone who had listened to his story.
In six languages, no less!
“Thank you. Merci. Xièxiè. Arigatō. Shukran lak. Kamsahamnida.”
After his unprecedented press conference…
Numerous bestselling books began to be published.
『Knowing The World More』
『How to Study More in The World』
『Game Like Gyeong-jun, Study Like Lee Gyeong-jun』
『Beyond Lee Gyeong-jun』
『Games Were the Easiest』
Later, the internet coined a phrase about Gyeong-jun.
“Rankers Being Model Students Is an Axiom of the Academic World.”
Episode 1: To Study, You Need a Good Teacher
It was when Gyeong-jun was a high school student.
[You have changed jobs to the Mythic Job 『Seeker of Infinite Knowledge』.]
[A Mythic Skill has been created.]
“What the heck, out of nowhere.”
Startled by the sudden message about changing to a Mythic job, Gyeong-jun panicked.
He couldn’t afford a study room, and he hated the library because it was crowded.
And his home was noisy because of his younger siblings, so Gyeong-jun had been studying inside the game for a year using a free voucher he had won by chance at Seolha Mart.
Now, he had become a Mythic job changer.
“What is going on, seriously.”
In the Starting Village library, which was completely empty, he opened his status window for the first time in a long while.
[Gyeong-jun]
▶Job: Seeker of Infinite Knowledge
▶Race: Human (Player)
▶Level: 1
▶EXP: 0%
▶HP: 100/100
▶MP: 100/100
▶Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Intelligence: 10 Constitution: 10 Magic Power: 10
▶Remaining Stat Points: 0
The only thing that had changed was that 『Job: Beginner』 had been rewritten as 『Job: Seeker of Infinite Knowledge』.
There was no change in his stat window whatsoever.
“Ah, right, a Mythic Skill was created.”
Gyeong-jun opened his skill window with a slightly excited heart.
First, two skills were unlocked.
[Infinite Reading]
▶Whenever you study something, a stat appropriate to the subject increases.
▶Skill Level: Lv.1
▶Skill Type: Passive
▶Skill Rank: Mythic
The first skill was very simple.
Study, and stats go up.
Countless users of The World had tried it until now.
But because not even Intelligence rose, let alone any other stat, it was an act everyone had given up on.
Because no one had a special skill like Gyeong-jun did.
“This is pretty amazing….”
To be able to raise stats just by sitting still and studying.
If this were possible for everyone, all the students in the world would study and play games in The World.
Even the kids who hated studying.
Then all the top students would have gone to Seoul National or Harvard.
“But the second one, hmm….”
[Just A Rather Very Intelligent System]
▶Assists the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge in exploring knowledge.
▶Skill Level: Lv.1
▶Skill Type: Active (ON/OFF)
▶Skill Rank: Mythic
“It helps me explore knowledge…?”
Gyeong-jun tilted his head.
If it helps explore knowledge… does that mean it helps me study?
The skill name was quite strange, but figuring a developer had slapped it on haphazardly, Gyeong-jun tried using it.
[Mythic Skill 『Just A Rather Very Intelligent System』]
[Summons a magic-engineered artificial construct to assist the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge.]
Light sparkled before his eyes, and a diamond-shaped crystal appeared.
The only slightly unusual thing was that it had an expression on it?
And it even spoke.
“…?”
The crystal spoke in an extremely polite tone for its emoticon.
Gyeong-jun was momentarily flustered by the surreal situation, but decided to start with introductions.
“I’m Gyeong-jun. What are you?”
In short, it was an AI that would assist Gyeong-jun.
Gyeong-jun had no idea how it would assist him, but he continued the introductions.
“Really? But the name is too long. I can’t even figure out what to call you. If you take the first letters of the English words, it’s J.A.R.V.I.S., so if I connect that, Jarvi—.”
“Really…?”
JARVIS.
He thought it was a good name but had been rejected for some unknown reason.
Then what other name could he think of…?
Gyeong-jun finished thinking and tossed out another name that came to mind.
“How about Timo?”
“Alright, great. Timo.”
After exchanging names, Gyeong-jun now tried to ask proper questions.
What kind of skill are you, and what exactly does helping me entail?
But suddenly…
“Urk, my head…!”
[You have consumed all your MP.]
[You have fallen under the status ailment 『Mana Exhaustion』.]
[Headache will persist until MP recovers above a certain level.]
[You have experienced Mana Exhaustion for the first time.]
[Magic Power increases by 1.]
[Insufficient MP.]
[Mythic Skill 『Just A Rather Very Intelligent System』 switches to OFF.]
Displaying a dying emoticon, Timo soon crackled with light and disappeared into thin air.
Beyond that, all he saw was the librarian frowning.
‘Please be quiet in the library!’
She seemed to be saying.
What Gyeong-jun felt there was a sense of dissonance.
Light suddenly flashed in the air, a crystal spoke and used emoticons, then disappeared again in a flash of light, and that was her only reaction?
“I guess only I can see it.”
“Shh!”
The librarian didn’t even tolerate his muttering.
‘Well, she’s an NPC librarian. She’s just doing her job. Then shall I study some more?’
Today was the weekend.
Unlike the two hours every weekday, studying a bit longer wouldn’t interfere with his life.
And so Gyeong-jun opened his Chemistry 1 textbook again.
[Mythic Skill 『Infinite Reading (Lv.1)』]
[Continuous studying has increased Intelligence by 1.]
[Continuous studying has increased Intelligence by 1.]
[Continuous studying has increased Intelligence by 1.]
.
.
.
* * *
The 10th Branch of The World’s Monitoring Team.
“Chief, chief! A Mythic job changer has appeared!”
“A Mythic job changer? Really?”
“Yes, it’s certain. Look at this log.”
[Player Gyeong-jun has changed jobs to the Mythic Job 『Seeker of Infinite Knowledge』.]
“…It’s real.”
“Right?”
“I thought there hadn’t been a Mythic job since the 『Descendant of the Gourmand』 six months ago….”
The Mythic job 『Descendant of the Gourmand』, which required eating continuously for a month even if your stomach burst.
Its rank was low, but because The World took place with senses very similar to reality, it was no different from torture.
Thus, the job-change conditions for Mythic jobs were incredibly harsh.
And among them, Gyeong-jun’s was even more so.
“How did the last remaining one get triggered just like that….”
The 『Seeker of Infinite Knowledge』, the only one that had remained unclaimed.
Its condition was “Study for more than two hours every day without missing a single day for one year.”
This was a much harder condition than one might think.
Because there was a hidden condition that didn’t appear on the status window…
『Remain at Level 1, 0% EXP, and study for more than two hours every day without missing a single day for one year.』
“No, wait. He logs into the game, doesn’t do quests or hunt, just studies for over two hours every day and logs out? Does that even make sense?”
“I know, right….”
“Tch, Heuk Jong-won already has me worried sick dropping by the Starting Village to get his Wanderer title, and now a Seeker of Infinite Knowledge on top of that….”
There were libraries in the game, and since they couldn’t create every book’s contents one by one, they had mixed in real-world books occasionally. It was merely a hidden piece they had planted with a “don’t even bother trying to unlock this” feeling.
That was precisely the 『Seeker of Infinite Knowledge』.
Yet he had actually achieved that absurd condition.
It was an act that the 10th Branch Chief and his subordinate, Kim Buha, who were ordinary people, could never understand.
“The device cost and monthly game fees alone are no joke. What kind of lunatic is he? Let me see.”
“His nickname suggests he’s Korean, doesn’t he?”
“It comes out translated, so you never know. Let’s see, Gyeong-jun, Gyeong-jun… Here it is. Nationality… Republic of Korea… He’s Korean again? Man, why are there so many lunatics in Korea?”
“Because it’s Korea.”
It was such a convincing answer that the chief nodded too.
“So what’s this guy doing right now?”
“Well….”
Kim Buha hesitated uncharacteristically.
“Just bring up the monitoring screen.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gyeong-jun’s play footage appeared on the hologram projector.
And there, Gyeong-jun was….
“…As you can see, he’s studying.”
“What? Well, I suppose so. It is the job for it. Stats go up when you study.”
The first skill of the Seeker of Infinite Knowledge, 『Infinite Reading』.
If stats went up just by studying, who on earth wouldn’t study?
Moreover, the range was infinite!
Studying magic raised Magic Power and Intelligence.
Studying blacksmithing raised Strength.
Studying the thief class raised Agility, and beyond that, if one set their mind to it, they could study all sorts of skills and raise every stat.
“So, what’s that user Gyeong-jun studying? Magic? No, there are many types of magic. Water? Fire? Wood? Wind? Or light and darkness? It could be swordsmanship. If it’s a swordsmanship book in the Starting Village library….”
“No.”
Kim Buha cut off the chief with an awkward expression.
“Huh? No?”
“It’s neither magic nor swordsmanship.”
Kim Buha scratched his head and zoomed in on the monitoring screen.
What appeared there were problems.
Practice problems.
『Practice Problem 1: Explain the definitions of acids and bases, and complete the chemical formula H2O+Cl2→□+□.』
“…What the heck is that?”
“It’s a Chemistry 1 reference book published by our subsidiary, Seolha Publishing.”
“A reference book…?”
That’s right.
Gyeong-jun wasn’t even glancing at fantasy things like magic or swordsmanship; he was simply sitting there doing schoolwork as he always had.
He had just advanced to his second year of high school and chosen the science track, so it was Chemistry 1.
* * *
.
.
.
[Continuous studying has increased Intelligence by 1.]
[Continuous studying has increased Intelligence by 1.]
[Continuous studying has increased Intelligence by 1.]
Despite the status window that kept popping up, Gyeong-jun’s attention was elsewhere.
『Practice Problem 1: Explain the definitions of acids and bases, and complete the chemical formula H2O+Cl2→□+□.』
“Damn, I really don’t get this. What kind of practice problem is this? No matter how I look at it, it’s an advanced problem.”
Unable to solve the problem no matter what, Gyeong-jun kept scratching his head in frustration.
“Acid, base, acid, base….”
It was only natural.
He wasn’t a genius, and he had never opened a book before entering high school. There was no way he would do well after just one year of studying.
“Wait. Timo definitely said he’d help with all sorts of things, right?”
A flash of insight.
Gyeong-jun opened his skill window again and turned 『Just A Rather Very Intelligent System』 to ON.
His MP had long since fully recovered through natural regeneration, so Timo was summoned immediately.
“Yeah, it has been. I have something to ask. You definitely said you exist to help me, right?”
“Then I’ll get straight to the point. Can you solve this?”
Not long after, the “analyzing” display cleared and a different emoticon appeared.
“So it doesn’t work after all? Figures.”
Gyeong-jun sighed and tried to turn Timo off again.
But then…
Timo, displaying a startled emoticon, approached the Chemistry 1 book again.
Then this time, instead of “Analyzing,” a new message appeared.
Timo had instantly switched to a confident emoticon!
Gyeong-jun held out the problem book again.
“The exact same question I asked before.”
“Huh? That’s the same as the answer? Then the definitions of acids and bases from the first question?”
All manner of chemical knowledge explained without even a second’s hesitation!
Gyeong-jun’s mind grew hazy from the flood of knowledge suddenly crashing down on him.
“W-wait. Too fast. Slower. And even though I hear the words, I don’t really understand what they mean.”
At Timo’s words, Gyeong-jun checked his MP bar.
[Gyeong-jun]
▶MP: 32/110
“I think it’s going to bottom out soon… but sure, go ahead.”
The moment Timo said that, a world of acids and bases unfolded before Gyeong-jun’s eyes.