Valedictorian

Full Dive.

That’s the name of this game.

It strongly implied being the first full-dive virtual reality game.

If you were to summarize the game’s content in one line, it would be:

‘A world of swords where you climb to the top of the tower.’

It was a typical tower-climbing game where the main objective was to defeat powerful monsters that appeared on each floor, similar to an arena, and reach the top.

Because the game itself was realistic, even though it wasn’t a real-life battle to the death, reaching the top of the tower was known to be quite difficult.

Crafting items could be obtained outside the tower, and you could expect free combat in the open-world hunting grounds.

“….”

Lee Da-hyun, now inside the virtual game, moved her virtual body.

It felt awkward compared to her real body, but there were no problems moving.

Compared to her real body, her senses were dull, and her movements followed slightly later.

This part must be because of,

[Synchronization Rate 10%]

The synchronization rate varied depending on concentration.

It usually stayed around 10 percent.

There was no need to concentrate and tire herself out if there were no problems with activity.

“It feels so real.”

That was her impression.

Da-hyun moved her body more vigorously, matching the differences with her real body.

Then she left the training ground.

The place where she was summoned after creating her character was a sandy training ground.

People who created their characters around the same time as Da-hyun gathered and swung swords at wooden training dummies.

The instructor shouted.

“I will give the title of valedictorian to the most outstanding rookie among the warriors who prove themselves today!!! Squeeze out every last bit of strength you have, warriors!!!”

Valedictorian title.

It was said that NPCs would look favorably upon you if you equipped it and walked around the village.

“….”

But Da-hyun came here to enjoy the game as she pleased.

The desire to enjoy the game quickly and the thought, ‘Shouldn’t I get the title anyway?’ caused a slight conflict.

The scale weighing the two options tilted to one side.

Because the title had an expiration date.

The title itself was for beginners, so it was only effective in the low-level sections.

‘If I play the game a few times, I’ll quickly pass the low-level sections.’

Unlike game novels, in actual games, quests, items, or titles obtained in the beginner sections almost lose their meaning later on.

Those things are only important in the early stages of the game, and now, a year later, they’ve largely lost their significance.

“Hmm…”

Still, it was tempting.

Full Dive was a world of swords.

Conquer the tower with a sword.

Having logged into the game as soon as she awakened her magic, she was newly curious about her skills.

She was curious to know how far she could handle and accomplish with her magic.

The feeling of omnipotence that she experienced immediately after awakening still lingered in her body, making it difficult to control her excited heart.

“Well, I’ll just do it for a bit.”

A simple test of just breaking the wooden dummies.

She decided to participate to get used to Full Dive.

Da-hyun stood in front of a wooden dummy and received a training sword from the assistant instructor.

As Da-hyun stood in front of the wooden dummy, other players whispered.

“She’s pretty.”

“Did she customize it?”

“Of course, she customized it. Where else would you see that kind of real-life beauty? She’s got golden hands, golden hands.”

“I should have touched it up a bit more too.”

The training ground became noisy, but the instructor said nothing.

To the NPCs, the players were warriors with the potential to save the world.

They were born with authority, so even the instructors couldn’t easily touch them.

Whether the warriors sexually harassed each other or not, the common tactic of the instructors and assistant instructors was for the warriors to solve things among themselves.

Da-hyun tried to ignore the gazes that were evaluating her avatar.

‘Being pretty is a curse.’

Anyway, this world is a game.

Even if I act up a bit, no one will say anything.

Since no one in reality would recognize her, she enjoyed the attention while she could.

Da-hyun, who was an outsider in reality, learned how to enjoy the attention.

It was embarrassing, though.

Still, being naturally timid, she couldn’t enjoy the attention for long and focused on the wooden dummy.

[Synchronization Rate 15%]

She swung the sword she was holding.

[-10]

[-10]

[-11]

[-10]

“….”

The feeling of hitting the wooden dummy remained vividly in her hand.

This is a virtual reality game?

It’s just like reality.

Her senses were dull, but even with a synchronization rate of 10 percent, the sensation of the hit didn’t seem to have dropped to just 1/10th of what it would be in reality.

Is it because it’s a game that links to the real body with magic?

“Hoo…”

She took a breath.

Since the game was based on magic, the physics of magic in the game worked just like in reality.

If you manipulated magic like in reality, you could create magic according to that feeling and implement the image of covering the sword with magic.

She covered the sword with magic.

As the hunter YouTuber had shown on his broadcast, she could strengthen the sword by infusing it with magic.

It only strengthened the durability, but hardness was equivalent to attack power.

For Da-hyun, who had just awakened, just infusing magic was excellent.

[You have acquired the skill ‘Enhance’.]

The system recognized the skill acquisition because Da-hyun demonstrated her magic technique.

Usually, you had to accumulate more proficiency over a longer period to be recognized as a skill, but her aptitude of 91 points must have also played a part in this skill acquisition.

‘Enhance.’

Regardless of Da-hyun’s will, her magic took shape as a skill.

The training supply sword filled with magic, increasing its durability and adding to its attack power.

[Training Supply Sword]

[Base Attack Power] [20(+10)]

She raised the sword,

And struck down.

[-20]

Got it.

‘As expected, the way to handle magic is the same as in reality.’

It was hard to believe it was a game.

But because it was so similar to reality, she could also understand the differences from reality.

The sense of incongruity remaining at her fingertips.

Compared to the feeling that she could put more power into the magic if it were her real body, she felt that the magic didn’t quite have the same power in her virtual body.

“Is it because of the stats?”

Magic stat was 10 points.

That number must have been reflected.

The 121 unallocated points she received were quite high among the players.

Da-hyun was secretly pleased with that fact.

Except for the training for awakening.

The fact that she, who had just awakened, was in the upper ranks compared to other awakened ones meant that her real body’s potential was that great.

‘If I measure my grade, maybe I’ll be A-grade?’

Most of the players who were evaluated with 121 points were A-grade.

“Haa…”

Her stamina was low because of [Weakly].

She invested all the additional points into charm and talent, so everything else was 10 points.

Even if she didn’t know what stats the other players had taken, they probably didn’t focus their investment only on charm and talent like she did.

Because it was linked to magic, it couldn’t be hacked, and one person per character was the basic rule.

Even if you borrowed another account, if the magic matched, you would eventually log in with the avatar you created at the beginning.

You would have to be careful unless you were just going to play around for a bit.

‘I should register as an awakened at the association tomorrow.’

She had heard that A-grade awakened could receive initial activity funds.

It felt like counting her chickens before they hatched, but even if she was B-grade, she was guaranteed an annual salary of over 100 million won.

“Hoo…”

Fatigue was quickly setting in because of [Weakly].

She was already out of breath from just this.

‘I need to buy fatigue recovery potions.’

It seemed necessary to increase her stamina to increase her fatigue tolerance.

For now, she focused only on breaking the wooden dummy in front of her.

[-21]

She felt the sensation of the hit.

[-22]

The feeling was strange.

[-23]

The sword stuck to her hand in a sticky way.

She could clearly feel the trajectory of the sword being swung along with her hand.

The impact of hitting the wooden dummy was getting better and better.

Even while feeling fatigue, Da-hyun relentlessly swung her magic sword and struck the wooden dummy.

[-24]

[-25]

[-26]

[-27]

[-28]

[-29]

How many times had she hit it?

[-30]

Crack

The sword that struck the log caused a crack in the log, and the blade was embedded.

More strongly.

She pressed down on the sword.

Crack!

She split it in two.

[You have acquired the title ‘Valedictorian’.]

[Title] [Valedictorian]

[Effect] [Favorability towards NPCs +30]

[Valedictorian] appeared above her head.

It seemed that you could receive it if you were the valedictorian or exceeded the highest record in the previous round.

It said that you receive a +30 bonus to favorability, and with a favorability of 30, you could receive goodwill even from someone with a favorability of 0.

[Charm] was also an important factor in measuring initial favorability,

“Excuse me.”

Da-hyun, who had left the training center, was immediately searching for the first floor of the tower.

The female party leader of a party consisting of 2 women and 1 man spoke to Da-hyun.

She was wearing initial equipment, so she was probably a warrior from this round.

Not all warriors were players.

NPCs could also be warriors.

Those warriors were called local warriors.

Players were called summoned warriors.

The difference between the two was where they came from, so it was extremely difficult to distinguish between them by looking at their appearance unless they made it obvious.

Even more so with initial equipment, it was impossible to tell whether they were players or NPCs.

“Would you like to join our party if you’re okay with it? It’s better than being alone.”

“….”

It would be nice, but Da-hyun, who was an [Outsider], froze at the female warrior’s suggestion.

“No. I’m okay.”

“We’re both beginners, so you don’t have to refuse. I’m from this village, so I can be helpful.”

“….”

She could feel that [Charm] and the [Title] were working together out of pure goodwill.

Judging from the fact that she said she was from this village, she probably wasn’t a player.

But due to her [Outsider] trait, she didn’t work with others. She didn’t want to either. Da-hyun politely declined the female warrior’s suggestion.

“I see. But since we’ve met like this, my name is Rose.”

“I’m…”

She almost blurted out her real name.

“Americano, that’s my name.”

“That’s a pretty name. If you have any trouble later, we’ll help you.”

“Ah, yes.”

“And if you’re looking for the tower, you can go that way.”

Da-hyun thanked her and left for the place Rose had told her about.

Rose, who was left behind, erased her kind expression and clicked her tongue. “Tch.”

“Wow, she was a really pretty person. How can someone be so pretty?”

“To have that face and be the valedictorian, God is really unfair. What should we do, sis, since we were rejected?”

Rose said with a malicious face.

“Bring the customer list.”

“…Isn’t it a waste?”

“You saw that face. She rejected us because we’re not on her level. Those kinds of people are just full of pride. She needs to taste a man to come to her senses.”

“Tsk. Still, if she’s a virgin, she’ll sell for a high price.”

“With that face, she’ll sell for a high price even if she’s not a virgin, right?”

“If she didn’t want to go through something she didn’t like, she should have just followed me when I talked to her. It’s her fault for ignoring my kindness. Isn’t that right?”

The party members outwardly agreed, saying, ‘Here we go again,’ and silently moved on.

“Enough. Hurry up and bring it! At this rate, she’ll be eliminated on the first floor and come right back out!”

Around that time, Da-hyun… Americano arrived at a plaza surrounded by fences.

She had seen it in game videos.

As she stood at the entrance, an information window appeared.

[Plaza of Trials]

The Tower of Trials.

She had found its entrance.