Chapter 1: Destiny

“So these are the hero candidates this time…”

“They look promising. I haven’t seen this many A and B ranks in a while…”

“Plus there’s those two who got S ranks. They could probably topple over a country or two once they get enough experience.”

“Hmm…”

“What is it? Is this batch not to your liking?”

“No, I agree that this batch is above average in terms of quality…”

“So what’s the issue?”

“Have you seen candidate Hyong Seong-Hun’s attributes?”

“No, let me pull him up…”

“Same here!”

“You don’t have to do her bidding. We don’t monitor anyone except the top candidates, so it doesn’t matter-”

“What?! I’ve never seen attributes like this!”

“HAHAHAHA! No way a person like this exists!”

“What? Let me see that! There’s no way I would have missed any candidate of worth… Wait… His stats are…?”

My name is Hyong Seong-Hun, and I am the main character.

I had a plan for my life on earth. The first step was to attend my first choice university and become a pro gamer. I ended up in my third choice and got to diamond rank in the game of my choice, so I would say I basically achieved that first step.

The next step was to intern at a high tech VR gaming studio. With my experience gaming and being a promising university student, I would of course be selected to try their experimental full-dive VR MMO RPG.

You can probably guess the story from there. It turns out that machine transported me to an alternate dimension, where I will be tasked with defeating the Demon King and restoring peace to the world. From there, my Isekai life could now begin.

However, before I could even attend my first lecture, a bright light surrounded me and transported me to another world. Admittedly cliche, but at least not as bad as being hit by ‘Truck-kun’.

Most people would be shocked; in fact, the people that were transported with me seemed incredibly shocked by their surroundings. But of course, I always knew it was a matter of time before I ended up in front of the King of a foreign country in a new world.

Do I really need to go over the details? The King introduces himself and begs us to defeat the Demon King. He said some other things, something about cats and bears, honestly I wasn’t listening at that point.

“Wait,” some blond-haired English guy who looks like the hero from an old school RPG said. “None of us have any knowledge of this world and magic. I’ve never even lifted a sword before, yet you’re expecting all of us to fight for you?”

Despite clearly being English while I am Korean, I can understand what he is saying. I’m guessing some universal translation magic or similar plot device is translating everything everyone is saying. Lazy writing, but it’s convenient so I’ll ignore it.

“I promise we will explain everything in due time,” the King said. “And we will not force you or anyone else here to do anything you don’t want to. Should you wish to go home, you will be allowed to.”

“You mean we can go back?!” one mob-looking girl yelled.

“Yes, we do not mean to keep anyone captive,” the King explained. “However you will soon understand that agreeing to work with us will be advantageous for you in the long run.”

How dare that mob decide to run her mouth against the King? If you’re going to speak up, you either need to be extremely smart or extremely attractive. Since you’re neither, shut your mouth and wait for your turn to get killed by the first threat we face as adventurers. Or hope that I take pity and rescue a background character like you.

The wizards who were standing by the King’s side came towards us. They had the traditional robes and wizard hats you would expect to see, and of course each one held a glass crystal ball.

“Those crystal orbs will be used to measure your aptitude, from F to S,” the King said. “These ranks determine what your potential is, so don’t think you are better than someone with a lower ranking or worse than someone with a higher ranking. Do not fear if your skill levels are all Cs and Ds either. Although you wouldn’t be able to fight the Demon King, you could still fight monsters and assist your friends should you choose to stay here.”

No one trusted or understood his words. Except for me of course. Attribute scanning is fantasy 101, and it exists to show you who the main characters of the story are and who the losers you don’t need to care about are.

“Place your hand on the crystal ball now,” the King softly demanded.

“Excuse me miss wizard, but you may want to back up now,” I warned the wizard lady next to me.

“I’m sorry?” the wizard lady asked.

“This crystal ball is either about to shine a blinding light, become completely dyed black, or explode,” I explained. “It’s just how these attribute readings normally go. If it does explode, it would make things less complicated if you avoided injury.”

“I’m grateful for your concern hero candidate, however it is unnecessary,” the wizard said. “All this ball does is give your health, attack, defense, magic, agility, and luck stats a rank from S to F. Even if your abilities were all S, or somehow higher than that, this thing would simply show six symbols and nothing more.”

“Fine, it’s your funeral,” I said.

Around me people were touching the orbs and receiving their rankings.

“You have B in attack and A in health and defense!” one wizard explained to a buff guy. “You shouldn’t have to ever worry about being a burden in a battle with ranks like these.”

“Most of your stats are C and D, which may sound disappointing to you,” another wizard explained to some rich girl. “But an A in magic is what’s important here. My magic stat is B, and I am one of the King’s personal magicians. Everyone will want a magician with as much potential as you.”

“A in luck and B in agility…” a third wizard explained to a handsome playboy. “You’re very suited for the rogue role, but there is a bit of a stigma with rogues in this country, as many rogues decide to become thieves or assassins. But I’m sure when people see your heroic deeds, people will grow to respect your skills rather than fear them.”

“Um, hero sir?” The wizard asked. “Are you ready to put your hand on the crystal ball and see your stats?”

“What, no!” I exclaimed. “The main character always goes last!”

“The main character?” the wizard asked again. She looked at me as if I was insane.

“Since you clearly don’t believe me, allow me to enlighten you on what will happen next,” I said. “First, one person will awaken to an S rank skill. There will be a lot of murmuring as everyone is impressed. Once the excitement has died down, I will grab the orb you want me to grab right now and will reveal ranks that no one has ever seen before. Once the King sees that, he’ll dismiss everyone except for me, where we will talk about what these rankings mean.”

“Sounds great hero candidate,” the wizard said with a fake smile. “Now, why don’t you put your hands on the ball so we can see-”

“S rank in attack and magic?!” one wizard exclaimed.

The whole room exploded into murmurs as the wizards turned to look at the blond hair main character guy. I gave the wizard lady next to me a smug grin, but she didn’t seem to notice me. I guess now would be a good time as ever to-

“Not just him, this candidate has S ranks in speed and attack!” another wizard exclaimed.

Again, everyone turned to the source of the voice. It was the mob girl that spoke up earlier.

“Two S ranks for two candidates?!” one wizard exclaimed. “This is unheard of!”

Her?! I get the blond guy, but the mob girl has nothing going on for her! Why is she being put on his level?!

No, I gotta set things right. No way am I letting some mob take the glory away from me. I lunged for the glass orb and tore it away from the wizard lady.

The crystal ball showed six of the same symbols. The symbols were in another language, but I didn’t need to doubt what my rankings were.

“Magician lady!” I shouted. “Look, this clearly shows I have all S rank skills, right?”

“Another S ranker?” a wizard who heard me shouted. The whole crowd then turned towards me in excitement.

“Wait wait, let me verify that,” the wizard lady said. “Give that back to me, hero candidate.”

I complied and gave the orb back to her.

“Ok, let's see,” the wizard lady said as she analyzed the ball. “Eh?! What are these stats?!”

“Is there a problem?” the King asked.

“Um…” the wizard lady said nervously. “You see, he does indeed have an equal stat spread. However, they aren’t all S… They’re all Fs…”

The room was completely silent after she finished speaking.

“Oh…” the King said. He thought for a moment before continuing. “Except for the person with all F attributes, all of the heroes may leave with the wizards assigned to them. Wizards, show the heroes where they will be staying and answer any questions they have.”

On cue, all the wizards took the other heroes through the big double doors at the entrance to the throne room. I remained with the wizard lady.

“Wizard lady?” I asked.

“I am so sorry about the bad news,” the wizard lady consoled. “But you don’t have to worry. The King will explain-”

“Didn’t I tell you this is how this would go?” I bragged. “First others would show off their S rankings, then I would reveal stats like no other, and finally the King would dismiss everyone to talk to me alone! And yet you doubted me. Remember to never doubt me again when it comes to things like this.”

“Nevermind,” the wizard lady said, exasperated. “I don’t even know why I tried to console you.”

Ah yes. It’s all coming together. My dream Isekai life starts now!

Q and A!

Q: What do the rankings mean exactly?

A: They determine the maximum potential of a person for each stat. By default, everyone is equally strong in each stat. However, when leveling up (or studying for magic), you can enhance a stat beyond what the average human is normally capable of.

Let’s say you have an A in agility. You wouldn’t be able to run faster than you can currently, and running a lot will only get you to be as fast as your human limit. But if you defeat monsters and level up, you can become faster than cars while exerting as much effort as a normal run. A D in agility would only mean you could run as fast as a Great Dane, but that’s with extreme effort.

S and F stats are the only exception. S ranks mean that the potential for that stat is incalculable. Meaning one person with an S rank in attack could demolish a decently sized building with some effort, while another S ranker could level a castle with no effort.

F rank stats mean there is no potential. So regardless of how many monsters you defeat and how high your level gets, you won’t be faster, stronger, bulkier, or luckier than you were at level 1. And you would never be able to cast magic with an F rank in magic.