Ch.22 – SOS

[IlllIllIl: Anyway, the stream is today. Since this was a proposal that the majority approved from the start, our clan can’t blame me no matter what happens, right?]

[plzplzlqzlq: What majority? Only you and Sia approved out of 4 people. If our clan gets destroyed, you better be prepared for real consequences.]

[IfSunnyFallsThenNightComes: Well, since Min-jun sacrificed himself by showing his face, shouldn’t it be fine? If the clan gets destroyed, we can just make a new one]

[IlllIllIl: NoName has a mute concept and you’re counting her in the majority vote? lol]

[IfSunnyFallsThenNightComes: Even Mir was surprised when he heard how much the appearance fee was]

[IfSunnyFallsThenNightComes: They’ll deposit it right after the broadcast ends]

[plzplzlqzlq: What about NoName? Are you really not planning to share with her?]

[IlllIllIl: What? Have I already stolen it or something?]

[IlllIllIl: She won’t tell me her account number, what am I supposed to do?]

[IlllIllIl: I even told her she could whisper it to me if she wants to maintain her mute concept, but she still won’t say a word]

[plzplzlqzlq: Anyway, Min-jun, you’re responsible for making sure she gets her share.]

“This guy is only snapping at me!”

As soon as Yi Mir, the clan leader of “PleaseIBegYou,” left the clan home, Min-jun irritably slammed the floor. The middle finger was just a bonus.

He opened his friends list and scrolled down looking for the person in question.

[NoName – In Game 13:47:08]

“Doesn’t she ever get tired…”

At 8 PM, when most people were getting off work, eating dinner, and starting to enjoy their leisure time, NoName had already been logged into Legacy of Legend for 14 hours.

LoRe, released in 2009, had taken the world by storm, and no computer game afterward could match its wild popularity.

However, from the late 2030s, as capsules became mainstream, virtual reality games began popping up everywhere.

Riot Games jumped on the trend and released “Legacy of Legend,” a capsule-based sequel that immediately rose to the top market share despite being a latecomer.

Recently, it had been slightly overshadowed by “Resonance” and “World of Arsheria,” but it still maintained a thick player base.

Pyo Min-jun himself couldn’t find a suitable alternative and kept grinding this damn game for 3000 matches every season.

But that seemed insignificant compared to someone who had played 8,150 matches last year alone and over 50,000 matches in the past six years.

Even the most talentless person would have succeeded at something else if they had invested that much time elsewhere.

Yet NoName seemed to disprove that theory, as the tier difference between her and Min-jun was clear.

“Bronze 3… Maybe someone like this is truly successful in life? Someone who genuinely knows how to enjoy games as games! Not like me, shortening my lifespan by getting angry every match.”

In contrast was Min-jun’s Grandmaster emblem, though he didn’t look particularly happy about it.

On one side was the unresponsive friend window, and on the other, famous streamer “Delete’s” “Docu 4 Days” was being broadcast.

It was a content series that had recently blown up on Twissy and VTube.

The show featured interviews with pro gamers, streamers, and internet celebrities from various games.

It would still be some time before the episode featuring his clan would air.

“Is this really that entertaining?”

Honestly, Min-jun had gladly appeared on the show because they offered money, but he couldn’t understand why this content was so popular.

* * *

[NoName – Searching for Game 14:39:40]

[NoName – In Lobby 14:39:43]

[NoName – Entering Clan 14:39:48]

When I opened my eyes, I found myself summoned to the clan lobby. Fortunately, the person I was looking for was nearby.

500,000 won per person. That’s money I could barely earn working 18 hours a day for a whole week.

In my world where economic bankruptcy meant saying goodbye to this life, clan member Min-jun’s suggestion to appear on a streamer’s documentary was appealing.

At first, Mir took a negative stance on this.

However, with Min-jun and Sia in desperate need of money voting in favor, it was decided that we would appear on Delete’s Docu 4 Days.

Although I was just a virtual reality body, my avatar was clearly shown in the background during the clan room filming, so it was only fair that I should get my share.

I approached Min-jun and stood squarely in front of him.

“Kid, just staring at me like that doesn’t tell me what you want.”

Min-jun snapped viciously.

Why is he so angry again?

What should I do?

I needed to attempt communication, but I couldn’t.

I didn’t even have a bank account in my name.

The sheer number of problems to solve was already giving me a headache.

Whether it was an issue with the Chinese capsule or the doing of the criminal organization that kidnapped me, the language processor module wasn’t connected to the server, making it impossible for me to communicate either in-game or externally.

Strangely, I could understand what was said within the clan, which I was grateful for.

What about sign language? I had tried that too.

Since virtual reality is essentially a space comparable to reality, there’s a system that prevents stalking and sexual harassment by blocking interaction, in accordance with regulations on telecommunications media obscenity.

In other words, when you try to communicate or express your intentions, it suppresses the action by blocking brain waves, and all unregistered accounts are subject to this restriction.

All I could do was blink my eyes.

Blink

Blinkblink

“This is so frustrating!”

While Min-jun continued to express his frustration, I came up with a potential solution to the account issue.

I had a temporary account for receiving cash when trading titles on Chinese sites, which would remain valid for a little over a week, so I could ask him to send the money there.

452-5213-8019-108903

I went to a stats and analytics website, took four screenshots, and displayed them in the air one by one.

Then I stared intently at one specific spot, enlarging it in front of Min-jun.

“What am I supposed to do? Look at this?”

Since I was so blatantly showing him the window, Min-jun couldn’t ignore it.

“Is this another troller like you? Only did 452 damage by the end of the game.”

Good.

Keep going like this.

“Is this your record? Are you even human? 5213 damage?”

I had done exactly 5213 damage in the previous game, which is why I thought of this method.

Praising myself for being smarter than I thought, I imprinted the other two numbers.

“What are you trying to say?”

When Min-jun still expressed confusion, I finally realized my mistake.

What good is my intelligence if he’s so thick-headed?

Plus, since it’s a Chinese account, the number of digits differs from typical Korean accounts, making it harder to guess.

As he lost interest and tried to leave, I quickly blocked his path and kept blinking frantically.

How could I convey this desperate situation?

I turned my gaze toward the statue engraved with our clan name.

[PleaseIBegYou]

Please, I’m begging you.

If you don’t give me this money, I’ll die if the game has extended maintenance.

This life that my mother sacrificed herself to protect…

Do you know how it feels to despair at being trapped in a capsule you can’t escape from, only to reconnect to virtual reality?

I’ve done this much, please understand.

“Oh, our Namei is here too? What are you two doing?”

“Sia? This kid seems to be trying to tell me something, but I can’t understand a thing.”

“452, 5213, 8019, 108903? Is it some kind of code? I’m not good with these things.”

“You think I am?”

“Didn’t you call her here? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come.”

“I told her to give me her account number if she wants the money. If she doesn’t, I’ll take it all.”

“…?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t this an account number?”

Min-jun and Sia’s heads turned simultaneously.

Two heads are indeed better than one.

Blinkblinkblinkblink

“This stubborn concept-obsessed jerk…”

“Hey, no bad words in front of the child!”

“Seriously, we don’t know if there’s a 50-year-old man or a 70-year-old grandma in there, yet you say such things.”

“Namei is a baby. We need to protect her.”

While Min-jun and Sia were playfully bickering, I carefully watched the Docu 4 Days that Min-jun had playing.

I figured I could relax a bit since the 500,000 won would be coming in tomorrow.

Despite having only four clan members, I wondered why we were so popular.

After covering the real lives of pro gamers and full-time streamers, followed by two commercial breaks, the familiar entrance to our clan appeared.

With birds chirping in the background, it seemed like it would unfold from a peaceful perspective, but reality always exceeded my expectations.

[What’s with the Ignite Teleport Karmil! You had Cleanse Ghost when you sniped me last game!]

Min-jun’s character, showing overwhelming prowess against a streamer in his promotion series, dominated the battlefield with an impressive 25 kills.

The streamer’s expression was even more pitiful as he moved further away from his Master dream with a devastating win-win-loss-loss-loss record.

[They’re waiting here with three people for a counter-gank? Wait, is he stream sniping?]

Another streamer preparing for a three-man dive was met with a four-person counter-gank from Mir, resulting in an explosive game.

[I get money for doing this. You should try it too, oppa.]

Sia, who was thought to be a female beginner playing the game for the first time during a duo broadcast, stole the show by taking all available resources as a support.

The streamer ended that game with a dishonorable 0/7/9 record, while Sia dominated as a support with 18/1/2.

The real highlight came when their main account nicknames were revealed. The comment section went wild.

[IlllIllIl: GrandMaster / Ladder Ranking 512 / Top 0.00669%]

[plzplzlqzlq: GrandMaster / Ladder Ranking 780 / Top 0.01019%]

[IfSunnyFallsThenNightComes: Challenger / Ladder Ranking 294 / Top 0.00384%]

People really do love numbers.

Look at the comment section. They were cursing them before, but suddenly public opinion improved.

Comments like [OMG] and [POGPOGPOG] were pouring down.

The viewers were given no time to rest as highlight clips of their gameplay followed.

In a realm inaccessible to ordinary people, filled with monsters, Min-jun, Mir, and Sia shone like protagonists.

Even Delete, the final producer, was so pleased with the response that he added various commentaries.

And that’s when I finally realized why I wasn’t featured with them.

My gameplay scenes that followed…

In them, I would stand still in the Starting Village for minutes, ignore dying teammates as I passed by, or sometimes take pictures as if to mock their deaths.

Public opinion was, of course, terrible.

Again, countless text combinations flooded my vision.

Some contained words too awful to repeat, quickly changing to “Comment deleted.”

Unfortunately, the content before censorship was clearly imprinted in my mind.

Perhaps their anger was justified.

I understand why people would be upset if someone like me was trolling in a game they were trying to enjoy during their limited free time.

But one comment in particular wasn’t deleted and continued to scroll down.

Down.

Until it touched the top of my head.

[This guy’s mom probably died of cancer lol]

The final part of the video returned to a close-up of the “PleaseIBegYou” clan’s garden, bringing the story full circle.

I stood expressionless, separated from the other three.

All I could do was blink my eyes rhythmically, praying that someone watching the video would recognize my distress signal.

Blink blink blink

Bliiink bliiink bliiink

Blink blink blink

This world is truly hell.