BIAC 01

Chapter 1

 “Punished for Loving My Favorite Character”

“You call it a ‘favorite character,’ but if you compare them on equal terms, they’re just trash-tier. It’s amazing you even bother raising them. Why not put this effort into your real life instead? Or are you just some kind of ‘trash-connoisseur’ who loves suffering?”

He’s back again.
I tried to keep my temper from boiling over as I stared at the screen.

If you hate it so much, why keep coming back just to pick a fight? Some people really live to be miserable.

Luckily, before I could even type a reply, my subscribers jumped in first.

“Affection is performance.”
“The creator of this video’s been around since the closed beta. Show some respect.”

There weren’t even a hundred of them, but at times like this, those few felt like an army.

“Oh? Another reply?”
I scrolled down, curious.

‘Well, I guess we need weirdos like you. Otherwise, the devs would get flak for making only overpowered characters.’

“…That doesn’t sound like you’re on my side.”

And just like that, the troll vanished—after fighting a one-man war under my video’s comment section.
Why do they keep coming only to get wrecked and run away?

“Tch. People like you are the reason romance dies in games. Romance, damn it.”

I clicked over to the other window, where my favorite game, 〈Heroes, We Need You!〉, was running.

I’d been playing since the closed beta—nearly three years now—and it was exactly my type of game.
A flawless story. Film-worthy music and OSTs.
Gorgeous, personality-filled characters with “that’s what I call illustration!” quality art.

If I had one complaint, it was this: the meta never changes.
Once a few strong characters are established, they dominate everything.

For every perfectly tuned hero, there were three or four that made you wonder if the devs were drunk when they designed them.
Naturally, the weaker ones got left behind—never chosen, never raised.

The game’s lifeblood was clearing story content fast, after all.

‘Not that I can really blame it. Every game’s like that. At least this one doesn’t release broken characters every month to milk wallets.’

Still, the number of forgotten characters was staggering.
And most players didn’t even look at them.

The funny thing? Every single one of those so-called trash characters had potential.
Weird skill sets, yes—but with high ceilings.
Unique storylines. Stunning designs.

“Especially in their personal stories—they shine.”

The reason they failed was simple: it was easier to just use existing meta characters than to force those complex conditions.

That’s where I came in.

They weren’t easy to use, but if you met the right conditions—
They could fight toe-to-toe with the best.

So I made guides.
Step-by-step builds, strategies, and pairings to make the world see these “trash” heroes for what they truly were.

All for my beloved favorites.

“At first, I thought I’d lose my mind,” I muttered, laughing.
“Nothing came easy.”

And there was a reason most players avoided them.
I learned quickly why they were called trash.

Sometimes I’d catch myself thinking, ‘I’m pouring my heart into data.’
But the feeling when it worked—the moment a forgotten hero came alive—was worth it.

When I saw other players gasping in disbelief at my videos, I felt like I’d rescued something the world had thrown away.
That my devotion hadn’t been wasted.

Four characters so far. Four guides.
And somehow, my once-humble videos now reached five-digit view counts.

People told me to switch to mainstream content if I wanted fame, but I always gave the same reply:

“Affection is performance.”

If all you do is chase numbers, where’s the fun in that?
You’ll just keep replacing one hero with the next stronger one, endlessly.

There has to be one—just one—you give your all to.

There used to be romance in gaming. Now? It’s all gone.

I sighed and turned back to the screen.
“Alright… next up is you. Yes, you.”

The illustrated girl stared back at me from the screen, twin blades crossed before her.
Dark-element dual-wielding magic swordsman.

If you ranked the top three worst characters in 〈Heroes, We Need You!〉, she’d always make the list.
It was almost like the developers hated her.

And yet… she had the purest heart.
A tragic past.
Moments of sacrifice in the main story that broke you in half.

“Uriel Reich.”

One of my first loves—and the hardest one of all.
Two blades, dark element, hybrid class.
Every design choice screamed, “For display only. Do not raise.”

Honestly, I’d been putting her off.
Too much pain for too little reward.
But today, her turn had come.

I stretched, took a deep breath.
I knew what was coming—frustration, burnout, despair.

But I also knew why I couldn’t stop.

How could I make her shine?
What combination would make affection overpower performance?

She was one of the reasons I fell in love with this game in the first place.

“…What were the devs thinking when they made her?”

Days passed. Three, seven, ten.

Then, one morning—

[User: “Hey, check the official site. They just did character balancing. I think they watched your video lol.”]

“Oh, right. Today’s maintenance day.”
Balancing patch. Of course.

But why mention my video?
Wait—no way.

“Could it be…?”

Had they noticed?
Had they finally realized how much potential the “trash” characters had?

Was the sun finally rising on us—the romantics, the faithful few?

“Let’s see… patch notes, patch notes…”

I scrolled down eagerly.
And froze.

“Dear Heroes! Some characters have been performing above intended design levels… Appropriate balancing adjustments have been applied…”

Long story short:

“We noticed some users have been making our joke-tier characters viable. That was not intended. We’ve adjusted them back to their proper state. No need for love or effort anymore—just use the main deck as always!”

“……”

I clenched my fists.
Yes, I knew.
Those characters could match the main ones—but only after hours of painstaking optimization.

I’d done the impossible—and they called it a bug.

“You were watching my videos, huh? And your answer was a nerf?! Are you serious?!”

All that effort. All those nights.

I didn’t break the system. I didn’t exploit anything.
I just… wanted my favorites to be seen.

Now every one of them was dead weight again.

“Damn it…”

I looked at Uriel’s face on the screen—still smiling, unaware.
I’d just begun to figure her out. I was so close.

And now? It was all meaningless.
If I uploaded another video, she’d get nerfed next.

“What’s the point anymore…”

I’d spent over a year on this.
Not for fame, not for recognition.

Just for the feeling of seeing my beloved characters stand tall beside the others.
Heroes—finally praised, finally seen.

“…Ha.”

That comment echoed in my mind.

‘Why not use that effort in real life?’

Maybe they were right.
Maybe I wasn’t normal.
But what could I do? I’d already crossed the bridge of no return.

I pressed Login.

The familiar title screen lit up before me.
Bittersweet—but still home.

And then—

“…What the hell.”

If this were still a game, my words would’ve been censored.
But it wasn’t.
Because this—this wasn’t normal.

I wasn’t in front of my computer anymore.

I was inside it.

“Instructor.”

I turned.

A young woman stood before me—silver hair, twin swords strapped to her back.

I froze.

No way.

“Uriel… Reich.”

She blinked, then smiled faintly.
“Yes, Instructor.”

It was her.
My Uriel.
The “worst” character in the game—and my most beloved.

Her voice was gentler, realer, than any voice actor’s.
Beautiful in a way no sound file could ever capture.

“Please,” she said earnestly.
“If there’s something wrong with me, tell me directly. I can fix it. I’ll train harder.
But please… don’t tell me to give up.”

My breath caught.

She was standing there. Talking to me.
And above her head floated something familiar—something that sent a chill down my spine.

Her status window.

Exactly as I’d seen it hundreds of times before.

[Character Info: Uriel Reich]
Rank: E
Traits: Indomitable Will, Romantic Soul, Dual Blades, One Who Knows the Dark, Magic Swordsman
Growth Potential: Catastrophic

I stared blankly.

Even now—
even here—

She was still my beloved trash-tier hero.