Chapter 2

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Hyung, seriously what’s wrong?”

Yeon-woo shook Han-bit’s stiffened shoulder.

However, he had no leeway to show any reaction.

‘That damn goddess, what the hell is she doing?’

The moment his doubts turned into certainty, his head heated up.

Even on that day two years ago when he returned to reality.

Even now while clenching his teeth, he had harbored doubts in a corner of his heart.

It was because the timing and reason the goddess let him go were far too unclear.

Moreover, he still vividly remembered the very last words he heard.

‘I’ll expect much from you there as well.’

Expectations.

It was what the goddess always said whenever she sent Han-bit to that problematic world.

He never dreamed that those irresponsible words would continue on Earth, let alone in this sort of form.

“Hyung…”

Hearing his voice again, Han-bit raised his head.

The guidebook in his hand was already deeply crumpled.

Immediately pulling his emotions together, he asked his younger brother who was wearing a worried expression.

“The developer who made this game, they were a team called Zero, right?”

“Yeah. But they’ve never once revealed themselves to the public.”

“Never?”

“External activities are handled by the CEO of the Record Project company. The youngest daughter of Michael Welton, I think? It should be her.”

Yeon-woo added an explanation that it wasn’t even known how many members were in the development team called Zero.

A bizarre structure that would naturally arouse suspicion.

He was certain that there was definitely some relation with that damn goddess.

The founder, Michael Welton, and his daughter, the current CEO, were surely hiding something as well.

‘But why a game?’

Han-bit fell into a fundamental question.

The world he was sent to by the goddess wasn’t some sort of game.

All the physical pain and emotional turmoil he experienced there couldn’t possibly be virtual.

The unpleasant sensation of killing someone for the first time.

The horrible sensation of dying himself for the first time.

The hot blood, anger, and despair running down his cheeks were still vivid.

If so, why did it suddenly appear in the form of a game on this Earth?

The timing of its release also disgustingly coincided with right after his enlistment.

‘First, I should see it for myself.’

Han-bit, who had promptly reached a conclusion, took out the card he received from Yeon-woo.

“You said I could get the gear with this? How long does it take?”

“Nowadays it shouldn’t even take two hours? It’s shipped immediately.”

“Really? Where do I do it?”

“You just need to download a single app. Let me see your phone for a sec?”

He took Han-bit’s smartphone and quickly went through the procedure.

The process was done in less than a minute.

“It’ll probably be right there when you get home.”

“It’s good that it’s fast. Have you already started playing it?”

“I’ve started, but there’s nothing amazing yet. If you’re going right away, shall we buy that first?”

“Ah.”

Yeon-woo pointed at the crumpled guidebook.

Awkwardly smoothing out the cover, Han-bit paid for the book at the checkout counter.

“Contact me right away when you make your account. I’ll be waiting.”

Yeon-woo left for home as soon as they came out of the store.

Han-bit also immediately headed straight for the subway station.

***

“… It’s really here.”

Arriving home, Han-bit discovered a box placed in front of his gate.

Was it really okay to just leave a 5 million won item here like this?

“It’s light.”

The box, neither big nor small, was lighter than expected.

Opening the gate, he came straight in and removed the taping.

“Hmm.”

Excluding the charger, the components were simple.

A headgear to wear on his head and four white rings.

Looking at the manual, they were items to be worn on the wrists and ankles.

“To think this is 5 million.”

Sighing at the expensive merchandise, Han-bit took the gear into his room.

There was still quite a bit of time left until his mother came back, but he didn’t want to get caught in this state.

Click.

After locking his room door, he connected the charger.

As he put on the rings and the headgear, his vision went pitch-black.

Han-bit lay down on his bed very slowly.

Vwoong.

After a few seconds had passed.

Light flickered in his vision along with the sound of the device operating.

[Scanning biometric data.]

The brief message that appeared before his eyes was familiar.

It was because it was similar to the hologram that showed his accumulated regression, possession, and reincarnation counts.

[Scanning brain waves.]

‘… Brain? Isn’t this dangerous?’

Han-bit, who didn’t know much about the gear, felt slightly anxious.

He had never heard about digging all the way into his mind.

Ding.

Putting those worries to shame, the scan ended quickly.

The next message surfaced right away.

[Starting link.]

Shooop.

A fascinating sensation wrapped around his body as the letters vanished in a flash.

When he opened his eyes, Han-bit was standing in a pure white space.

“Oh.”

Looking down, he wiggled his fingers and toes.

It felt exactly like moving his real body.

Even though he looked like a mannequin right now, moving was possible.

Was the slight heaviness a limitation of the gear?

[Creating a character.]

[Moving to the customization screen.]

A large mirror and a message appeared in front of him.

Yeon-woo had explained that he could freely customize his appearance.

Something about the scanned information being adjusted quite well in various ways.

Other than the race being only Human, the freedom of appearance customization was considerably high.

“… Why isn’t it loading?”

Han-bit, who was waiting for the screen to pop up, felt puzzled.

It had already been 5 minutes since the message appeared.

“Is it a bug?”

Since it was a machine, an error wasn’t particularly a new thing.

Letting out a sigh, Han-bit was about to press the exit button in the right corner.

However.

[Character creation failed.]

[Your existing character will be applied.]

The screen suddenly began to ripple along with a strange message.

“Existing character? What does that…”

He had never once played this game.

However, he could guess the reason without even wanting to.

“Is this your doing too?”

An exasperated question thrown at the goddess.

Even if he wanted to go directly find her and complain, there was nothing he could do right now.

Shooop!

Every bit of his vision went dark, and the screen changed.

When the light returned, Han-bit was standing at a port overlooking the blue sea.

‘It’s Edlen… right.’

The semi-circularly designed port city of Edlen was all too familiar.

The city he arrived at first when he was sent to the other world.

It was a city he had experienced hundreds of times during his 55 returns, possessions, and reincarnations.

“Oh, awesome.”

“Guys, where does this lead to?”

“Isn’t there a tutorial?”

Other new players were looking around nearby.

‘It’s entirely empty.’

He had held onto some expectations at the words ‘existing character.’

But whether it was his progression or items, there was nothing at all.

Han-bit sighed and walked up to a mirror installed next to him.

“… Huh?”

He was flustered by his appearance that was clearly reflected.

It was because a person looking exactly like his real body appeared in front of him.

Furthermore, this body was…

Also the one utilized in his very final timeline of regressions.

“Hah.”

He had a lot of curses to say, but he didn’t bother speaking them aloud.

The damned goddess’s words and actions always strayed beyond his expectations.

Exhaling a sigh, Han-bit turned his attention.

‘Was Yeon-woo’s nickname Loafer?’

The nickname he received via text from Yeon-woo.

He had been repeatedly begged about ten times to immediately send a friend request as soon as he logged in.

“Hyung?”

While looking for the controls, a voice came from behind.

Turning his head, a tidy Human stood there.

“… Are you Yeon-woo?”

“Yeah, it’s me! But why did you customize your character like that? People hardly ever use their actual real-life appearance.”

The text ‘Loafer’ hovering above his character.

Only by his way of speaking and behavior, he could discern it was Yeon-woo.

“Just because. It somehow ended up like this.”

“I like it because it feels like you… But your naming sense is even more insane?”

“Naming sense?”

“Your nickname. Look at your character info window on the top right.”

At his somewhat strange reaction, Han-bit opened his character info window following the guidance.

And upon seeing the nickname written firmly on top, he couldn’t hold back his outburst.

“No, what the f*ck.”

[Black Dragon-Lv.1]

[Title: None]

Strength: 4

Agility: 4

Intelligence: 4

Stamina: 4

A weird nickname completely unrelated to regressors, possessed individuals, or reincarnators.

It was natural for curses to instantly spew out.

“Can I not change this?”

“Why? It’s fun. You won’t forget it after seeing it just once, will you?”

Yeon-woo was already bursting into laughter, enjoying the situation.

Approaching closer, Han-bit tightly grabbed his head and twisted it.

“Can I change it or not?”

“Of course you can’t change it. Wasn’t there a warning sign in the beginning? Nicknames are permanently imprinted onto your biometric data.”

“Ha.”

He was inwardly shocked by those despairing words.

To play a game with a nickname like this.

His mind felt dizzy.

“It’s driving me crazy, really.”

Ding.

Just as a deep sigh was escaping him.

An alarm sound rang in his ears.

[Your game play screen will be concurrently broadcasted to Loafer’s stream.]

[Do you agree? (Yes/No)]

“What in the world is this now?”

Han-bit asked while staring at Yeon-woo.

Having operated something in the empty air, he grinned and spoke.

“I’m streaming too, you know. I’m still a small fry, but it’s more fun than you’d think.”

“Streaming? You mean internet broadcasting?”

“Yeah. Recorder, a platform supported by RP. Oh, it looks great.”

Taking his hands off, Yeon-woo stepped right next to me.

Then he stared at a dot stamped in the air and adjusted the angle.

“Hyung, I’m going to turn on the stream now. Could you just hit ‘Yes’ for me first?”

“Why would I hit it? Why would I do a broadcast?”

“I’ll run the broadcast, and you just have to play the game. And the profits are 50/50. Try guessing who gets which 50.”

“…50/50?”

The funny wordplay was overshadowed by the distribution split.

If all he honestly had to do was just play the game, he had no reason at all to refuse.

Whether it was 500 won or a 1,000 won, to Han-bit, it was practically free money.

“How does that sound? It’s fine, right? If the broadcast does well, I’ll even increase your cut later on.”

“What are you increasing when it’s your own stream? Half is enough. You even got me that expensive gear.”

“That means my expectations for you are high. Anyway, I’ll take good care of that as I see fit. You’ll press it now, right?”

“… Fine.”

Beep.

Having already made up his mind, Han-bit pressed the ‘Yes’ button.

Then the message faded away, and Yeon-woo’s voice burst out.

“Hello! I am Loafer!”

“Ah damn it, you scared me.”

Han-bit feigned surprise at the tension that was higher than usual.

Looking at the screen that floated on the top right, their two faces and a chat window were displayed small.

– Why are there two of you?

– Who are you?

The chat scrolling up slowly one by one.

Even at the dry reaction, Yeon-woo didn’t lose his spirit.

“The person standing next to me is my hyungnim who will be playing the game with me starting today. You can see his nickname, right?”

– Black Dragon?

– Is he an eighth grader? (chuunibyou)

– Small fry special) His sense is completely dead.

“… What?”

Han-bit’s fist clenched at the merciless chat flying in.

Having already expected it, Yeon-woo said in a soft voice.

“Hyung, if you get mad they’ll just try to provoke you more. Our goal is money. Right?”

“Those guys are just malicious commenters. Does it even make money?”

“That’s exactly why we just need to show them through our results. For now, please just focus on the game.”

– Daddy’s not sleeping, you bastards.

– A small fry like you is choosing what hate comments to receive?

– You’ll only snap out of it when you hit 1 viewer, right?

– Should I show you what a real malicious comment is?

As if they had heard the conversation, sharp and hateful chats went up.

Han-bit let out a sigh looking at Yeon-woo, whose eyes were shining.

“So, what do we have to do now?”

“Since it’s the starting city, we have to clear quests first. We can get the most important skills in this game as well as other rewards. Then we proceed to the main quests.”

“Starting? Are there other places besides here?”

“There’s one more. Do you know how relieved I am that you picked Edlen for me? I forgot to tell you about it.”

“Such bragging.”

Han-bit roughly understood the explanation.

All the skills and techniques he had learned and mastered throughout his 55 runs of time.

If those were replicated exactly in the form of skills, there was nothing he didn’t recognize.

“How many types of skills are there?”

“A whole lot. Looking ahead, it’s actually best to stick deeply into one single skill tree.”

“One?”

“You saw the recommended skills on the guide, right? There is some electrical signal… brainwave? Anyway, it’s a result derived from scanning all sorts of things. It’ll probably show around a maximum of 3 icons?”

“Hold on.”

Han-bit pressed the guide button at the top.

“Is it this?”

A flashing recommended skills button on the list.

Since they said it was a result drawn from scanning his information, he was inwardly curious.

Beep.

As he pushed the button, a new window popped up.

However.

Whoosh!

The list that was supposed to only have “recommendations” continued non-stop without end.