At the lowest point in his life, a bizarre twist of fate transported him to Korea in this parallel world, where he found himself in the body of a top student in high school named Henry Thompson. Perhaps it was destiny at work, for in this life he still lived in a single-parent family with only his father. The only difference was that this time, he also had a younger sister named Emily Thompson, and his father, Brian Thompson, was an ordinary supermarket warehouse manager.

Just like in every melodramatic Korean drama, their beautiful mother despised their father's poverty and divorced him to remarry when he and his sister were very young. For all these years, their father had struggled to raise the siblings on his meager salary.

There was one more difference: in this life, he was his father's pride.

He took about a month to adapt to life here, and soon discovered that the esports industry in this parallel Korea was not only still thriving, but even more prosperous than he could have imagined.

In this world, Koreans had a strong aversion to the term "computer games," because in their eyes, electronic sports was a very serious industry. This industry brought in billions of dollars in economic benefits to Korea every year and boasted a large number of well-paid professional players whose popularity rivaled that of sports and entertainment stars. The Korean government even had a dedicated department for game management, and there were over 25,000 professionals and a huge number of well-paid pro players in the country.

Many Koreans had the faces of famous pro gamers printed on their credit cards. At every competition, players would be meticulously styled by makeup artists backstage, while hosts and fans eagerly awaited their appearance. Moreover, in this world, Korea had 95 vocational schools, including one that offered specialized courses in game engineering and related fields.

Additionally, some of Korea's well-known media platforms and TV stations like MBC and SBS would broadcast major esports tournaments during prime time. Professional players enjoyed fame on par with entertainment and sports celebrities, and could earn substantial income through product endorsements or by releasing MADs (highlight reels of their in-game or competition plays, edited together and set to hit songs by famous singers, released in a format similar to an album).

For example, the "Watch" that Jessica Bennett and the others had just mentioned was a jungler who rose to fame at this summer's OGN Masters, Korea's top league. He became an overnight sensation thanks to his handsome looks and outstanding in-game skills. After the summer season, with the help of his club, he quickly connected with G-Dragon, the leader of the wildly popular group BIGBANG, who created an original BGM for his MAD, which was released simultaneously.

Remembering that today was the release day of that Watch album, Henry Thompson tightened his backpack and quickened his pace—he had a part-time job at the record store.

When Henry Thompson arrived at the record store not far from home, he found a long line had already formed outside. Many students were still joining the queue after school. He hurried in through the side door and changed into his staff uniform at the locker.

"Henry, you’re finally here! Come help me out, your aunt and I are swamped, and that rascal James is hiding in the back playing games again—he won’t come out no matter how much I call him." The store owner, William Harris, was a man in his forties with a gentle personality. Since he lived nearby, he knew about Henry Thompson's family situation, and after Henry Thompson started high school, he offered him a part-time job at the store, indirectly helping to ease his father's burden.

"Okay, I’m coming!" Henry Thompson replied quickly, glancing back at James Harris who was hiding in the back playing games. He couldn’t help but think of his past self, and for a moment, he chuckled and shook his head as he walked over.

Henry Thompson's main job was to restock the shelves with albums of celebrities or pro players' MADs from the warehouse. But today, with the release of Watch's MAD, many of his fans and G-Dragon's fans had come to buy it, so the WatchShow MAD at the special counter was in short supply and had to be restocked from the warehouse frequently. His aunt, Grace Foster, was also extremely busy at the cashier.

As Henry Thompson was carrying a box of albums from the warehouse to place on the special counter at the entrance, he unexpectedly spotted a few familiar faces in the long line outside—it was Jessica Bennett and a few boys from his class.

"I told you to hurry up! Look, all the record stores around the school are sold out, so now we have to come all the way here. Do you know how popular Watch is right now?" George Clark complained anxiously to the chubby David Foster as he looked at the long line ahead.

David Foster looked a bit frustrated and glanced at Jessica Bennett, only to find the class president covering her mouth and giggling.

"Hey, isn’t that Henry Thompson?" A boy named Edward Thompson in their group suddenly noticed Henry Thompson stocking the special counter at the entrance.

"Yeah, that’s him. Hmph, no wonder he never joins club activities—turns out he’s using his free time to secretly make money here. No wonder he’s a top student, his brain really does work better than ours," George Clark said sarcastically, pointing at the busy Henry Thompson.

"Hey, don’t say that. What if he has some difficulties at home?" Jessica Bennett clearly had a good impression of Henry Thompson and defended him. "Oh right, I remember seeing on the student registration form at the start of the semester that Henry Thompson comes from a single-parent family!"