NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10
The next day, Lee Da-ram directly handed me the VR device. She was wearing her school uniform, probably because it was a weekday.
“This is VR…… This is a full-tracking VR device. And this is a folding treadmill. It’s small, right? But it expands when you set it up.”
I grabbed two layered paper bags. The crumpled handles still held a slight warmth from Mi-on’s grip.
It was just a little warmth, but for some reason, it made my heart feel warm.
“Thank you.”
I said, gripping the handle tightly. The corners of my mouth twitched just a bit.
“…… Oh! You smiled!”
But Da-ram made a huge fuss about it.
“……”
I felt a flush creeping to my face and covered my mouth with my hand.
“Let me see!”
Da-ram leaned to either side, trying to peek at my hand.
To stop her, I quickly opened my mouth.
“But, Da-ram. Aren’t you going to study?”
“…… Ugh!”
At my words, Da-ram froze like ice, then put on a confident expression.
“…… I’m going to live for games. I can earn money through a part-time job.”
“Well.”
Living on a part-time job while just playing games? Nowadays, even in Korea, hourly wages have gone up a lot, so it’s not an impossible choice.
However, there are no wrong answers in life, but there are better choices.
“Da-ram, it’s better to have a professional career. I can help you study later. It’s not too late since you’re only in the first year of high school.”
“Huh? Are you good at studying, unnie?”
“Yeah. I did really well. I never ranked below first place in science or math, not to mention all subjects.”
That was the area where I had put in the most effort and attention since I was born.
As I spoke, a bit of tension filled my shoulders. It had been a while since I talked about my main field.
“Um, okay.”
But Da-ram, while speaking, was avoiding my gaze and spinning her hair around.
She had a somewhat subtle expression.
“…… Why are you reacting like that?”
“Uh, me? …… Hehe…… Oh! Right! My mind is somewhere else!”
Da-ram awkwardly laughed, then suddenly clapped her hands and rummaged through her pocket to pull out a small object.
“This is the most important USB for installing the VR software. I almost forgot to give it to you. Just plug it into your computer.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
As Da-ram extended her hand to me, I reached out to receive the USB.
“…….”
“……?”
But Da-ram looked at my outstretched hand and pressed her lips tight.
Then she rolled her eyes for a moment, fiddling with the USB in her hand without saying anything.
“…… What’s wrong?”
“…… Unnie. Promise me one thing.”
“Huh? Sure.”
“Don’t get too absorbed in it.”
Da-ram said this while cautiously shielding herself with her other hand.
“…… What do you mean?”
“Fiore is nicknamed the Devil’s Game. Many people have had to retake university entrance exams because of it. I don’t mind you enjoying games, but don’t get too hooked. It’s just… I’d feel guilty teaching you this stuff.”
“Okay.”
“And from what I’ve seen over the past few days, it seems like you might be a bit… no, not you.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
I kept pressing, but Da-ram continually averted her gaze and wouldn’t tell me.
I gave up and contemplated her words. ‘Don’t get too absorbed’…
It was quite a funny remark. She really hadn’t grasped me at all. I looked into Da-ram’s eyes.
“Da-ram, I wouldn’t get too absorbed in fun activities. I’m just trying to find a hobby, and if that hobby happens to be a game, I think it’s fine to try it out. I’ll return it if I think it doesn’t suit me after trying a bit.”
“…… I’ll trust you, unnie.”
Da-ram made a somewhat subtle expression after hearing my words, then extended her fingers.
The USB dropped into my hand.
Excessive gaming may disrupt normal daily life. It has been 12 hours since you started using Fist Over Legends.
The message appeared in the center of the VR screen and then disappeared. I glanced at it, then shifted my gaze to the top right.
[Resurrection Cooldown (18)]
But below, in the chat window, some text had appeared.
―――
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): Fighter!
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): Why the heck are you doing this!?
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): If you have a complaint, say it already, please!
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): Do you really think it makes sense to have the opposing Current Realm team go into Nirvana in 13 minutes?
―――
It was a chat from the wizard on my team. The opposing Current Realm had apparently gotten frustrated because they had gained points quickly with kills and objectives compared to me.
But he was misunderstanding something.
I usually don’t use chat much, but since Fiore is a cooperative game, I needed to consider the morale of the team as well.
If I kept quiet in this situation, it would likely worsen things.
After performing a specific motion, I opened my mouth. My words were sent as text.
―――
Moon Si-hyun (Current Realm/Fighter): I’m sorry. I’m trying hard, but it’s not going well. I’ll focus more.
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): lol, you’re so trash
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): You’re just throwing yourself at things, and then what nonsense is that?
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): Do you really think that saying you’re “trying hard” makes sense when you have 0 kills and 8 deaths in 13 minutes?
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): Everyone else is diamond rank here.
Moon Si-hyun (Current Realm/Fighter): Let’s keep playing. We can still win.
EffortPersistencePassion (Sky Realm/Wizard): Sure, go ahead ㅋㅋ what a joke.
―――
With that, the wizard gave up on the game.
Not long after, I let out a deep sigh as I saw the defeat message.
…… If I keep at it, I could really win this game.
It’s not that I played carelessly, as the wizard suggested.
The rising deaths were unavoidable.
Due to the nature of the Fighter character, that’s just how it is. From the start to the end, I have to tread a fine line, and when accidents happen and I die, I end up needing to take bigger risks to make up for that.
Yet, the fact remained that the four other team members had suffered because of me.
Moreover, the wizard seemed particularly unhappy about it.
That friend, it seemed like it was an opportunity for a rank-up. I felt a little bad about it.
After a moment’s thought, a good idea popped into my head.
I sent a friend request to the wizard. Before long, he appeared in my friends list.
The opposing team was the first to chat.
―――
EffortPersistencePassion: What’s up, you troll
EffortPersistencePassion: You’re really disgusting for maintaining that concept and still ended up losing your mind? ㅋㅋ
―――
It seemed he hadn’t calmed down yet.
If I don’t defuse this, it won’t end well. I opened my mouth again.
―――
Moon Si-hyun: I’ll admit that I didn’t perform well last game. However, it’s not because I was playing carelessly. I sent you an invite. Let’s show what we can do. I can do well this time.
EffortPersistencePassion: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ wow
EffortPersistencePassion: You really are insane.
―――
Just as I was trying to placate him, the chat window vanished. That meant he had blocked me.
There was nothing more I could do for him now. Reluctantly, I pressed the start button for the game.
I didn’t feel too bad about it. Initially, I was hurt by people’s harsh words, but over time, I became accustomed to the tone here.
And while I can’t give up on the game, the fact that I couldn’t perform was undeniably true.
“…… Hmm……”
I stretched, trying to change my mood.
It had been four weeks since I received the VR device from Da-ram. Aside from gaming entering my daily life, nothing else had happened.
Lying with my doll, going to my part-time job, playing games.
I invested a lot of game time and quickly leveled up to the minimum level of 25 needed for rank matches, so I could play rank matches within a few days.
At first, I went on a streak of losses. It was hard to memorize the characters’ skills and game mechanics, and the Fighter’s difficulty was challenging.
But after catching on a little after about three weeks, my rank has been skyrocketing rapidly ever since.
Certainly, my ‘physical’ skills, which is gaming jargon, improved, but my specialty of ‘cognitive’ skills skyrocketed even more.
Da-ram was shocked at how rapidly my growth was, saying it was almost unprecedented. Each time she said that, I felt a little tickle in my heart.
While waiting in the queue, I made a brief motion. The linked screen lit up.
A message popped up on Discord.
– Lee Da-ram
[Unnie]
[What are you doing?]
[Unnie]
[Don’t you dare be playing the game right now!]
[… You’re not still gaming, are you?]
[I’m checking if you’re online!! (five police siren emojis)]
“……”
I quietly changed my status in Fiore from online to offline.
I wasn’t absorbed in gaming at all. I could quit any time if I wanted to.
In fact, I was only rotating it like this because I was confident I could return to daily life at any moment.
But since Da-ram didn’t know that, she was worrying about me.
[Game found!]
Acceptance and rejection buttons appeared on either side. I felt excited, shaking my feet a little. I quickly closed the Discord window and pressed the acceptance button.
Six empty profiles appeared one by one. I placed the Fighter character.
―――
OurDamageDealer (Current Realm/Priest): Oh Current Damage Dealer!
OurDamageDealer (Current Realm/Priest): Can’t you use something other than that?
WowGiveMe (Sky Realm/Wizard): Oh! Fighter One-Champ?
WowGiveMe (Sky Realm/Wizard): Why did you ban your own character?
ThatGuySolid (Sky Realm/Warrior): No way, look at that record ㅋㅋㅋㅋ this guy’s a lunatic.
OurBowDealer (Sky Realm/Archer): Please Dodge someone!
―――
It was a familiar response. Unlike before, I didn’t feel the need to type in the chat. Morale had dropped to just the average level of a typical game, which could be proven through gameplay itself.
No one attempted to dodge, and the game began.
“…… Oh.”
But I saw a familiar nickname in the loading screen.
[Current Realm/Wizard]
EffortPersistencePassion
“…… Hmm.”
If I was going to get caught, I hoped it would be on my team instead.
The man wearing the VR device chuckled mischievously and wiggled his fingers in the air.
―――
EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard): Guys
EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard): This is a guaranteed win.
EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard): The opposing Fighter is seriously trash.
EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard): total garbage.
―――
If the man wins this round, another opportunity for a rank-up will come again.
It’s true that team luck is basically like flipping a coin, so this time, the Fighter that was supposed to be on his team ended up being on the opposing team.
The man focused more than usual and continued fighting.
He wanted to punish the lunatic who gave up on the game and harassed others with friend requests just because he died once.
[EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard) has defeated an enemy!]
[EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard) has defeated an enemy!]
[EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard) has defeated an enemy!]
[EffortPersistencePassion (Current Realm/Wizard) has defeated an enemy!]
[Last enemy defeated!]
Thanks to that, a slaughter that hardly happened in the Sky Realm occurred.
“Nice!”
The man shouted without realizing it. The team was also exchanging ‘nice!’ and ‘good job!’ praises among themselves.
After that, they got the chance to descend into the Current Realm and delay the opponents’ progress.
However, the opposing Fighter dodged all sorts of attacks from the Wizard, Archer, Warrior, and Knight and ultimately hid in the bushes. The man didn’t want to admit it, but it was honestly at an incredible level.
“…… Tsk.”
The man clicked his tongue. The descent’s timer was up, and he had to return.
The opposing Sky Realm team was now at the verge of being wiped out.
Even with the object buff difference, there was still some possibility of a counter, but it seems morale had been broken long before, leading to an overwhelming loss.
So, slowly as the game progressed, as the man’s team became more certain of their victory, there came an orchestral music that had an Eastern vibe from the sky.
The music was grand yet somehow created a sense of tension.
At that moment, the four members of the Sky Realm, including the man who had been moving dynamically for victory, all came to a halt.
That music was familiar to the players of Fiore.
‘…… What?’
As soon as the man heard that music, he doubted his ears and checked the game time.
[10:12]
“No way, what the—”
At that moment, a hole opened in the high sky that had been filled with clouds.
In the center, a woman dressed in sunlight and wings was descending.
It was in the tenth minute of Nirvana.