Ji-u logs into Chrono Life, eager to try the most popular MMORPG in the world. But he quickly discovers the game has a brutal player culture. He is mocked and insulted by everyone he meets, before being lured into a forest by a seemingly-kind female mage and murdered For the Evulz.
When he tries using the game's crafting system to upgrade a simple wooden stick, he somehow levels it up to 99, something that should be functionally impossible by the game's mechanics. He now finds himself in possession of an Infinity +1 Stick that can mass-murder players by the thousands, and destroy continents.
The player base is about to find out they've messed with the wrong newbie...
Can be read here.
Tropes:
- Aborted Arc: Invoked and Played for Laughs. After Ji-u stops one of the lieutenants of the Hallasan Guild from taking Sarang's expensive weapon, the scene cuts to the guild master summoning his "Four Guardians" to go after them. It appears that an increasing series of "boss fights" is being set up. Then Ji-u is shown right nearby listening to the whole thing, before effortlessly murdering them all and destroying their guild hall. He even exclaims "Let's not drag this storyline along."
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Ji-u's mass killing of the entire player base levels him up to 999, something that was only hypothetically possible and was supposed to take decades. He then finds himself transported to a heavenly realm where he meets the God of Classes.
- A Boy and His X: Ji-u joins forces with Chrono Life's Final Boss, the twin headed dragon Urus, after defeating him in battle, to circumvent his all powerful stick's durability, which is about to break because it's still just a stick. While Urus' soul inhabits the weapon, it's indestructible. Urus has his own AI and proves extremely loyal and friendly to Ji-u.
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: The game has a cash shop, and players can buy upgraded equipment instead of earning it. Ji-u spent a lot on a beginner's package, and the leader of the Hallasan Guild has spent thousands of dollars to have some of the best equipment in the game.
- Equipment Upgrade: Gear can be upgraded, but has an increasing chance of breaking the higher you go. For some reason, the breaking mechanic doesn’t work on the stick, letting him take it far beyond what the designers intended.
- Game-Breaker: Invoked, and more literal than usual — at one point, he crashes the servers from doing too much damage.
- Humans Are Bastards: A sizeable chunk of the Chrono Life gaming community are assholes. A struggling Ji-u is rejected from every party and guild because he's too weak to raid monsters with the beginner's starter kit (because that's all he can afford). When he acquires the +99 Stick he goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against everyone who wronged him, leading to the full-blown crash of the servers.
- Ironic Name: After murdering Ji-u, the female mage Luna, unlocks a hidden class, "Goddess of Life" for killing 1000 players. Ji-u notes that "Goddess of Death" would be more appropriate, and she acknowledges the irony.
- Karma Houdini: Luna is antagonistic towards Ji-u, but is rewarded with the Goddess of Life character class for making the man her 1000th kill. Under normal circumstances, this makes her unkillable. Considering Ji-u has killed millions in a fit of rage with the +99 Stick, remarks it's very unfair. Though the irony is wasted on him as Urus points out, he has the
ultimate weapon in the game. - Lord British Postulate: Ji-u kills the God of Classes, who was never even meant to be fought let alone defeated.
- One-Hit Kill: Almost any player, monster, or NPC that gets hit by the +99 Stick is annihilated. If Ji-u swings it straight down at the ground, the whole planet will explode, crashing the game. The only exceptions to this are god-tier entities or the administrators, but even they can't stop Ji-u from crashing the servers.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: As the +99 Stick becomes the Soul Jar for the dragon Urus he will flat out refuse anyone else who isn't Ji-u to wield him in battle.
- Taking You with Me: When he confronts the woman (Luna) that killed him, his attacks don't work since she's a goddess now. He responds by unleashing his full power, destroying the game's planet and crashing the servers, not caring if it kills him too. It boots them both out out the VR game.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The following are actual game events that can be found in news articles.
- Butt Man - Admin Abuse Controversy (Korean) of the Dungeon Fighter Online: Gungdaeng-i-man (궁댕이맨, Buttocks Man)
- The Starlight Flower - The Moonlight Flower (Korean) of the Ragnarok Online
- Butt Man - Admin Abuse Controversy (Korean)
- Weirdly Underpowered Admins: Subverted. When he's wreaking havoc, the game's admins are often shown panicking, since they don't seem to be able to simply eject Ji-u or delete his exploitative weapon. Turns out, there's a good reason for this. He's not breaking any rules. He didn't cheat or hack the game to acquire the +99 Stick through improbable means. So they can't touch him - merely implore that he doesn't spoil the game for everyone by crashing it.
- Writing Around Trademarks: The Hallasan Guild consists of players from "Linnage".
- Uncool Undies: After breaking all his beginning gear trying to upgrade it, Ji-u is left wearing nothing but underpants and a cloak. Sarang makes fun of this and decides to call him "Undies". He takes this in stride and doesn't seem in a hurry to acquire proper clothing.
