episode_0014

Even though Baek Sihyun seemed entirely at ease, she was, after all, a competent military officer and thus quite busy.

It was about a week later that he planned to meet her.

So, what should he do during this suddenly free week?

The answer had already been decided.

“Welcome~.”

Upon entering the store, the part-timer lazily greeted them without taking their eyes off their phone.

Although they knew the part-timer wasn’t looking at them, they politely bowed and entered the store.

This place sold various games. Of course, it also sold the essential full-dive device required to play the hottest game these days, “Save of Abyss.”

However, the price of that device… was no small sum.

“…140,000 won?”

He couldn’t help but think it might be better to save a bit more money and buy a good computer instead…

On the other hand, if one wanted to play a virtual reality game, such an investment was only natural.

Virtual reality games—the pinnacle and utopia of the gaming world that every gamer dreamed of. He didn’t want to be stopped just because of the price.

“Ugh… right. It’s just the amount needed to catch a few more wanted criminals…!”

He tightly closed his eyes and grabbed the full-dive device. Since he was buying it anyway, he opted for the slightly more expensive “[Golden Premium Full-Dive Device]” which included various additional benefits…!

Approaching the counter with the box containing the full-dive device, the part-timer, who had put down their phone to calculate the cost, suddenly stood up.

“…Uh, uh? Uh?”

They were taken aback when they saw my face.

“Cat eyes…”

“Please calculate the total.”

“Yes, yes…!”

Where did their previous annoyance go? They kept glancing in my direction, hastily calculating the items.

“That will be 170,000 won…”

…Even if it includes additional benefits, does it make sense for it to be 30,000 won more expensive?

For a moment, he felt the urge to switch to the regular device, but he ended up purchasing it, feeling irritated for no reason.

“Let’s see what those darn benefits are worth.”

Just make sure they’re worth the extra 30,000 won. I’ll wail like crazy.

After handing over the card given by Lieutenant Im and completing the payment, as I was about to leave, the part-timer cautiously asked,

“Um, excuse me…”

“Yes?”

“Do you really have cat eyes?”

“…Goodbye.”

Even just the fact that I have cat ears and a tail is enough to attract attention.

Because my name has needlessly spread, more people have been approaching me recently. It’s like I’m losing my mind trying to deal with each one.

So now, I’ve decided to just casually greet them and move on.

I swiftly dodged the part-timer who was still staring at me and hurriedly escaped outside the store.

* * *

Hurriedly returning to my lodging, I set down the box and carelessly took off my military jacket, tossing it aside.

“Hmph, meow~.”

A tune naturally escapes my lips.

How many years has it been since I last played a game? Even with a simple calculation, it adds up to 21 years. Since coming to this world, I haven’t even tried playing a game once.

Sharpening my nails, I cut the tape and open the box, revealing a small, white device.

“Oh…”

I hadn’t even checked the special features yet, but I had a feeling why it cost an extra 300,000 won.

Ordinary devices are usually gray and not very attractive in color, and I thought it would look like a helmet that covers the entire head…

But there was no need for that. Covering both ears and eyes at once… giving a futuristic glasses-like impression? It looked like a flat VR device.

Just this alone was worth 300,000 won to me.

If it had been a helmet-shaped device, the cat ears might have been uncomfortable, but there was no need for that with this.

“I’m excited! I’m excited!”

Unable to contain my excitement, I bounce around the room and then leap onto the bed, sprawling out.

Immediately, I put on the full-dive device and turn it on.

I didn’t need a manual. That’s a luxury.

Suddenly, I feel my strength draining away and everything turns white.

“Wow…! Ohhh!”

My sense of reality fades, and when I move my body, my virtual self moves as well.

It felt like if I wanted, I could move my real body too.

“Well, I am playing a game, so if a burglar comes into the house, it would be a big problem.”

In the virtual reality, I marveled at my semi-transparent arms as I moved them around.

It moves just like real!

As I adapted to the virtual reality and moved around, an interface appeared before my eyes, signaling that the loading had finally finished.

A window prompted me to register my account before playing the game.

I quickly agreed to the terms and moved on.

“Hurry up. Hurry up.”

Time was abundant, but calming the racing heart of a gamer in anticipation wasn’t easy.

Next came the account information registration.

After verifying my email and entering my ID and password, a window popped up asking for personal information.

Starting from gender, awakening status, and birthday, all the way to physical and personal details, including an identification code.

The identification code wasn’t mandatory, but knowing it would allow customization to resemble my real self, I entered it.

[TWILIGHT-CATHPALUG-DAYBREAK]

My identification code was anything but ordinary.

Twilight. Cathpalug. Daybreak.

Unlike civilians, combat soldiers had their identification codes changed based on individual characteristics for convenience on the battlefield.

It was set as an unforgettable identification code, despite my attempts to forget it.

“Well, it’s convenient in its own way.”

Upon entering the identification code, a message appeared, indicating that the registration was complete.

Now, the final step: customization.

But why did I enter the identification code? Because customizing seemed like a waste of time!

When I pressed the customization skip key, a message appeared asking if I was okay with playing as my original self.

Without hesitation, I pressed the confirmation key.

Whoosh!

With a trivial and noisy sound, I began to be sucked into some part of the virtual reality.

For some reason, I felt like I should shout.

“…Link start!”

* * *

Save of Abyss (S.O.A), abbreviated as SOA, is considered by many to be the greatest game in the world right now, with overwhelming top rankings in concurrent users for several years.

In this space, one could receive praise for being able to live a second life, as it is a realistic game created by the well-known game developer “World Tree,” famous for its meticulous attention to detail and realism.

Here, regardless of nationality, gender, or age, everyone becomes friends, fights monsters together, and engages in wars with other factions.

If you dislike combat, you can choose non-combat professions such as pharmacist, doctor, herbalist, lumberjack, or merchant… but I have no interest in that area at all, so naturally, I plan to engage in battles.

What I’m most looking forward to is hunting monsters. A demon hunter, isn’t that cool?

One of the most praised aspects of Seo-eo is not only something else, but also the fact that the monsters are truly lifelike.

Each monster’s nature, minor weaknesses, attack patterns, and so on are implemented in great detail.

According to rumors, they’ve heard various stories from demon hunters and soldiers, and have even dedicated themselves to studying demon corpses for game development.

Actually, when I first heard about it, I thought it wouldn’t be exactly like reality…

“Hmm….”

But seeing a tail swaying so realistically even in virtual reality made me think that it’s probably not just a baseless rumor.

“I never thought they’d implement ears and tails…”

There must be items to adorn ears, tails, wings, etc., so they’ve probably implemented the movement of cat ears and tails in such detail.

It feels a bit awkward, but it’s an astonishingly realistic sensation.

In fact, there seem to be other beastmen in World Tree like me.

But the ears and tail are probably fine. After all, there are plenty of people in the game with ears and tails attached.

What’s important now is that my body feels heavier than usual!

“Wow…!”

It feels like I’ve just returned to when I first awakened!

A faint but undeniable magical power flows through my body, and my physical abilities are almost at the level of an ordinary person.

It’s because I’m still at level 1.

No matter how superhuman I may be, game balance is important. Basic specs by level must be the same for everyone.

Because of this, I’ve heard that among superhuman players, many have died several times due to their bodies being unreasonably weakened compared to reality, unable to adapt.

Perhaps as I continue leveling up, there might be instances where I surpass the specs of reality.

The exact level cap in Seo-eo has yet to be revealed, but from what I know, the current top rank is at level 418.

I’ve heard that the specs of the current top player in the game are similar to those of an upper-tier A-rank individual in reality.

So, reaching level 500 would probably put me in the top tier of A-rank or the lower tier of S-rank.

People speculate that the level cap in Seo-eo is likely 500. If that’s true, then it would be impossible for me to have the same specs here as in reality.

“Well, it doesn’t matter!”

Feeling strangely light on my feet, I hopped around, which made nearby players chuckle as they watched me.

“Look at that… must be a newbie to full-dive games.”

“You did a cute job with the customization.”

“Yeah, it really does look like that famous cat-eye these days.”

Suddenly feeling all eyes on me, I awkwardly got up and left my spot.

Even while running, the sensation of the wind, the warm sunlight, and the feeling of dirt under my feet all felt surprisingly real, almost as if it were reality itself.