Choi Hansung

Choi Hansung is a former professional gamer and Elder Lord ranker who plays the elf commander Rommel. His hidden War Maestro class turns soldiers into a coordinated fighting force, helping him rise to first place in the achievement rankings and lead the Heaven and Earth Clan’s imperial campaigns. After exposing crimes committed by Keynes and Luin, he rebuilds his public role during the Great Monster Era as one of Earth’s foremost hunters and the protector known as Captain Korea.

Biography

Orcrox and the Warrior’s Laws

Hansung is first introduced through a broadcast of a later confrontation between Rommel and Crockta. The program presents Rommel as a top-ranking elf player, the master of Heaven and Earth, and a genius at controlling large armies. Crockta’s question about why the users attacked places whose inhabitants could die permanently exposes the motive behind that prestige: quests, items, levels, wealth, and power. Hansung cannot admit those incentives in front of the cameras and instead calls Crockta’s side the enemy. The scene establishes the contradiction that follows him through Elder Lord: he understands the moral accusation but initially protects the public role built by conquest. (Chapter 1)

His early reputation rests on a real specialization rather than publicity alone. Battlefield Penetrating Eyes is publicly identified as an Essence-grade skill, and a hidden piece later advances him into the rare War Maestro class. Before Elder Lord, Hansung had been a professional gamer; the new class converts that experience into exceptional group-battle command. He builds influence with nobles, earns wealth and achievements, and turns Heaven and Earth into a first-rate mercenary organization. At this stage, however, his idea of success remains the player’s idea Crockta challenges: victories and institutional access matter more to him than the laws by which Crockta has learned to judge a warrior. (Chapters 14 and 56)

The Northern Cities and Great Clan War

Hansung’s standing rises rapidly while Crockta travels north. Heaven and Earth cultivates close relationships with NPCs and declares war on the American-led Metatron Clan, making Rommel the Korean community’s leading representative in a conflict treated as national competition. Hansung reaches second place in the overall ranking, receives advertisements, and even lends his name to a ramen campaign. His celebrity depends on the same political and military model used by the former Thawing Balhae Clan: convert NPC favor into quests, territorial power, and content that attracts viewers. (Chapter 87)

That model becomes destructive in the south. Through a connection to the human kingdom, Heaven and Earth receives enormous rewards for destroying settlements, then turns images of ruined cities and villages into a celebration of Hansung’s advance. Some viewers praise this as national prestige, while people who regard the residents as lives rather than scenery withdraw from filming the clan’s wars. Hansung nevertheless accumulates enough war achievements to become the top-ranked player at level 95, even though the ranking measures achievement rather than raw level and Mystery already exceeds him in that respect. His ascent therefore reflects what the clan accomplishes through organized war, not proof that Rommel is the strongest individual combatant. (Chapters 100, 125–126)

Crockta’s northern campaign creates a rival model of fame. Videos of the orc defending the north displace Hansung’s war footage, and Crockta resolves to confront the clan because its actions offend the obligations he has accepted toward Elder Lord’s people. At the same time, former Thawing Balhae members enter Heaven and Earth: Keynes becomes vice clan master through his NPC connections and friendship with Hansung, while Luin becomes an executive. Rommel remains clan master and battlefield commander, but most clan policy increasingly comes from Keynes. That division of labor—Hansung supplying command and elite access, Keynes supplying political manipulation—prepares the imperial project that will bring Rommel and Crockta into direct conflict. (Chapters 56, 127, 130, and 149)

The South and the Heaven and Earth Conflict

Hansung first commits himself publicly against Alaste when he signs a memorandum promising that Heaven and Earth will honor the result of the city’s formal duel with the kingdom. He signs because he believes Adandator cannot lose, although he concedes beforehand that the clan would have to comply if the impossible happened. When Crockta defeats Adandator and the kingdom violates the agreement, Rommel responds with a stiff silence rather than enforcing his promise. He then continues serving the empire whose expansion he and Keynes helped design. Keynes wants greater wealth and achievements, proposes a continent-wide species war, and supplies the political blueprint; Hansung accepts the plan and supplies the War Maestro command that makes the empire’s user army useful. (Chapters 149–160)

As imperial commander, Rommel receives ordinary troops from the emperor because his class can strengthen and coordinate them alongside the respawning “cursed” users. When Crockta tries to lure him into a direct engagement, Hansung follows Keynes’s suggestion to attack Espada instead, forcing Crockta to respond on Heaven and Earth’s terms. He orders the city occupied and permits its people to be wiped out if resistance requires it. Both men acknowledge in private that the broadcast will cast them as villains and that Crockta behaves more like a knight, yet they proceed because the quest promises to unify the south and enlarge their accomplishments. Hansung’s self-awareness therefore does not excuse the campaign; it shows that he can recognize the ethical difference and still choose advantage. (Chapters 154 and 161–164)

The campaign also demonstrates both the power and the limits of his command. Rommel’s presence restores soldiers’ morale, fills gaps in their formation, and conveys orders with minimal visible direction. When Crockta is unexpectedly joined by Kumarak, Tiyo, Anor, and Simba, however, the encounter no longer follows his predictions, and Hansung chooses an orderly withdrawal. In the later battle against Crockta, he removes vulnerable common soldiers, commits knights, and repeatedly changes the formation to contain Crockta and the Rehabilitation Brothers. Strong individuals and unplanned reinforcements eventually rupture that control. Crockta reaches him, and Maguchwi’s Concrete ability immobilizes him after the defensive formation collapses. (Chapters 164–174)

Capture produces the choice that finally breaks Hansung from the clan. He tells Crockta that Keynes and Luin have been drugging vulnerable people, placing them in illegal capsules, and forcing them to remain connected as clan labor. Hansung did not operate or initially know the details of that real-world system; he had grown suspicious, and information from Edgar convinced him. He gives Crockta the evidence and vulnerabilities needed for the Rehabilitation Brothers, Robina, police, and prosecutors to intervene. Keynes—Choi Sunggil—and Luin—Kim Hyunchul—are arrested, their assets are seized, and Heaven and Earth is destroyed. Hansung admits that he stayed because he genuinely enjoyed commanding in Elder Lord, not because he still needed the money, but says the criminals must pay. He remains at Katalu while the operation unfolds and asks Crockta to become his friend; Tiyo answers that friendship must be proved through later actions. (Chapters 175–176)

The War of the Gods and the Grey God

The fall of Heaven and Earth ends Hansung’s momentum, and Mystery replaces him at the top of the rankings. He later appears with a small user group at Appalachia after users become trapped inside Elder Lord. Rather than attempt to dominate every anxious player, Rommel leaves a self-sufficient user settlement alone and says that people must accept responsibility for their own safety. He uses his fame and established NPC relationships to gain an audience with the mayor and obtain information, showing that his useful assets now include access and intelligence as well as battlefield control. (Chapters 213 and 217)

The mayor reveals that every species and the gods are gathering against the Grey God, while a system notice gives the users seven days until the decisive event. Hansung proposes sending a conventional army, but the mayor explains that ordinary soldiers would only impede the extraordinary forces already assembling. Rommel therefore does not command the war against the Grey God and receives no direct credit for Crockta’s victory. His part in this phase is narrower: he assesses the crisis, restrains players he cannot responsibly control, and recognizes that the scale of the coming battle exceeds the army-centered solution on which his old identity depended. (Chapter 217)

The Great Monster Era

Years after Elder Lord, Hansung becomes a frontline hunter who leads South Korea’s response to dimensional gates. His arrival at Mungyeong changes exhausted hunters’ despair into confidence: within Rommel’s domain, fatigue recedes, fighting spirit and vitality rise, and people who follow his commands become several times stronger. His voice reaches everyone in the area, and his awareness covers the battlefield well enough to identify hunters by nickname and reorganize unfamiliar teams against flying enemies. By this point his hunters have killed dozens of ogre-class monsters, helped make South Korea a first-grade safety zone, and earned him the name Captain Korea. He rejects a merely defensive closing operation after civilians die, reasoning that intelligent monsters will simply learn to attack less protected places; Team Rommel instead commits to eliminating the incursion. (Chapter 229)

The Mungyeong battle reunites him with Tiyo, Anor, Tashaquil, and Driden, who have crossed from Elder Lord. Hansung recognizes Tiyo and becomes the visitors’ host and practical guide on Earth. He does not appropriate their feats: when Tashaquil judges another gate dangerous, Hansung offers support, while the newcomers perform the decisive attack. His hunter registration, reputation, government contacts, and information network let him enter restricted operations, arrange transport, and look for Jung Ian. In ordinary incidents he also declines to steal another team’s paid target unless public danger requires intervention, reflecting a more restrained use of the status he once pursued without similar concern for those affected. (Chapters 229–233)

When Hansung learns that Ian has gone directly from two dragon-class battles to confront Azi Dahaka in Australia, he refuses the government’s instruction to remain in Korea. He argues that Korea can survive without him but humanity cannot survive without Ian, then swallows his pride and calls the official back to secure travel for companions who have neither legal identities nor passports. Government cooperation follows from Hansung’s relationship with Raven and footage proving the visitors’ power. He promises the Hunters Bureau that he will bring Ian home and accompanies the group toward Alice Springs rather than treating their arrival as an opportunity to enhance his own fame. (Chapters 233–234)

Hansung drives the off-road vehicle that Tashaquil lifts onto Uluru as Ian is about to enter Bagamadra’s dimension. He has no time to explain or plan the interdimensional battle, and he is not among the companions who agree to cross. His final contribution is personal and logistical: he lends Ian his phone for a brief call to Han Yeori, receives it back, thanks Ian, and asks him to return safely. Ian then enters the gate with Tiyo, Anor, Tashaquil, Driden, and Garuda, while Hansung remains on Earth. This final boundary preserves the difference between them: Hansung has become a committed protector and dependable friend, but Crockta is still the warrior who takes responsibility into the unknown. (Chapter 236)

Appearance and personality

Rommel’s Elder Lord avatar is a handsome elf. Unlike the lightly equipped image commonly associated with elves, he wears heavy armor suited to an army commander operating near the front. His composed face and mounted position reinforce his public authority, although that composure distorts when a battle escapes his calculations. The corpus does not give an equally stable physical description of Choi Hansung’s Earth body, and features belonging to Rommel’s avatar should not be transferred to him. (Chapters 1, 164, and 173)

Hansung is analytical, pragmatic, and intensely absorbed in command. He studies maps even during private conversation, recognizes political leverage, and can withdraw without panic when an encounter becomes unfavorable. Those strengths initially coexist with ambition and moral cowardice. He accepts villages as the cost of achievements, helps Keynes turn a king and emperor into instruments, and publicly reduces Crockta’s allies to “enemies” when the truthful answer would expose his motives. His disclosure of the capsule crimes is meaningful because it opposes his own organization, but it does not erase the imperial violence he knowingly commanded. (Chapters 1, 149, 159–175)

On Earth, a less controlled and more generous personality becomes visible. Hansung enjoys his fame and material success, yet uses his home, money, contacts, and reputation to care for visitors who cannot navigate Earth’s institutions. As Ian’s friend, he can be needy and comic—calling with supposed emergencies to arrange dates or crying after a quarrel with his girlfriend—but in a real emergency he acts quickly and accepts being reprimanded. His national pride and exasperation with Tiyo’s party supply humor, while his decision to risk the Australia journey shows that the promise to prove himself through action has become durable conduct. (Chapters 230–236)

Skills, powers, and limitations

War Maestro and Battlefield Penetrating Eyes

Hansung obtains the War Maestro hidden class after finding a hidden piece. The class specializes in large-group combat: soldiers under Rommel move to fill openings, receive orders with little visible communication, recover morale, suppress fear, and fight with greater coordination and strength. Battlefield Penetrating Eyes is separately identified as an Essence-grade skill belonging to Hansung. It supports his reputation for reading an entire battlefield, but the early corpus does not give a precise activation method, range, or exhaustive list of information the skill reveals. (Chapters 14, 56, and 154–166)

His performance depends on units he can organize. Rommel is capable of deploying infantry, knights, magicians, and user specialists into layered formations, redirecting an army toward an operational objective, and conducting an orderly retreat. The class does not make him an elite direct combatant, guarantee that soldiers are literally incapable of disobedience, or make his predictions infallible. Crockta and other exceptional fighters can break his formations; unexpected allies force him to abandon a planned battle; and when opponents penetrate his protection, Hansung can be wounded, punched, and immobilized. (Chapters 159–175)

Hansung’s achievement ranking reaches first place at level 95 through the scale of his wars, but Mystery is already level 117. The distinction matters because the ranking records accumulated achievement rather than simple personal power. After Heaven and Earth collapses, Hansung loses momentum and his rank falls behind Mystery. His class remains valuable, yet neither its rarity nor his former ranking puts him on the same individual martial level as Crockta. (Chapters 126, 153, and 213)

Strategy, leadership, and operational access

Hansung’s underlying craft predates the class. Experience as a professional gamer gives him strong tactical instincts, while his work in Elder Lord develops relationships with nobles, royalty, mercenaries, and ordinary soldiers. He combines those relationships with maps, intelligence, media timing, and knowledge of respawning users. Keynes is usually the political manipulator and architect of Heaven and Earth’s policy; Rommel is the partner whose command turns those plans into successful military operations. Hansung knows Keynes has a hidden class but not its precise mechanics, and he is not shown controlling Keynes and Luin’s illegal real-world capsule business. (Chapters 56, 149, and 158–175)

During the Great Monster Era, his operational reach becomes a public-defense asset. Hunter registration and international fame open restricted areas, combat personnel recognize and trust him, and his government contacts provide information and exceptional travel arrangements. These are institutional advantages rather than supernatural authority: he still has to persuade officials, apologize after insulting them, and rely on the visitors’ demonstrated power before the government will cooperate. Likewise, his information network locates Ian’s mission but cannot replace Ian in a dragon-class fight. (Chapters 230–234)

Great Monster Era domain

Rommel’s Earth-side domain restores fatigue and evokes vitality and fighting spirit in people who enter it. Hunters who receive his orders become several times stronger, his voice is heard across the formation, and he perceives the battle broadly enough to address individuals he has not met. The ability lets mixed teams respond as an organized force, and his arrival itself has a powerful morale effect. The corpus does not state whether every aspect is a direct continuation of War Maestro, a transferred form of Battlefield Penetrating Eyes, or a combination of old class powers with later hunter growth. (Chapter 229)

Years of fighting also leave Hansung with high physical statistics and threat perception despite his non-combat command class. He senses that the cyclops incursion conceals something more dangerous and correctly treats basilisk- and death-knight-grade beings as exceptional threats. Even so, he does not defeat those monsters personally; Tiyo’s party destroys the basilisk, and Tashaquil, Tiyo, and the others handle the later ogre-grade gate while Hansung supports them. His domain magnifies a force and his judgment deploys it, so allies remain both the source of his greatest effectiveness and a practical limitation. (Chapters 229–231)

Power progression

Relationships

• Crockta: Hansung begins as Crockta’s strategic and moral opponent. Capture gives him the chance to expose Keynes and Luin, and Crockta accepts friendship only after Hansung proves it through later conduct. On Earth, Hansung knows that Jung Ian is Raven, fights beside him, helps reunite him with his former companions, and remains behind when Ian enters Bagamadra’s dimension. (Chapters 1, 127–176, and 229–236)
• Keynes: Keynes joins Heaven and Earth as vice clan master and becomes the main architect of its political choices, while Hansung supplies legitimacy and battlefield command. Hansung willingly collaborates in imperial conquest but later exposes the coercive real-world operation that Keynes and Luin concealed, causing their arrests and the clan’s destruction. (Chapters 56, 149–176)
• Tiyo: Tiyo first fights against Rommel’s forces and tells the captured commander to prove any claim of friendship through action. Years later Hansung recognizes him on Earth, houses and transports his party, and helps him reach Crockta at Uluru. (Chapters 163–176 and 229–236)
• Anor, Tashaquil, and Driden: Hansung becomes the Earth-side host and organizer for Crockta’s other visitors. He respects their assessment and combat power, uses his institutional access to support them, and drives them to the final reunion without claiming their victories as his own. (Chapters 229–236)
• Han Yeori: Hansung has no developed independent relationship with Yeori, but his phone gives Ian a final chance to call her before leaving Earth. He receives the phone back and remains present for Ian’s farewell. (Chapter 236)

Items

No notable personal item belonging to Choi Hansung is established in the supplied corpus.