Chapter 15: CH 15

“... Sorry… but it doesn’t work…” stammered Yongno.

Mari retorted, “Of course, it doesn’t work!! Do you think you can do everything so well?!”

“... Why… are you so mad...?”

“Ugh, so annoying!”

THUD!

Something seemed to narrowly go past Yongno, then he realized Mari had blasted a huge crater in the ground.

He murmured, “Would you… please… be careful? You can kill me with that blast of energy.”

“I don’t care!”

“Wow… look at you…!” 

Yongno’s jaw dropped to the ground at Mari’s attitude. I’m your client. Please have some respect. If he talked that way to her, he could get beaten. Feeling her anger, Yongno stealthily stepped away from Mari. For some reason, she was behaving hysterically. In this case, the best way would be to just leave the spot.

“Alright, thanks, then I’ll go grab something to eat. [Log out]” said Yongno.

Mari called, “Oppa, hold on.”

“Eh? Is there something else you need me to do?”

/You are logging out. You won’t be able to move for 30 seconds. You can get attacked by enemies, so if you aren’t in a safe area, cancel logout and remain alert./

A cylinder layer surrounded Yongno. It wasn’t a protective shield, so Yongno couldn’t use it to defend himself from enemies. The restricted users couldn’t penetrate the layer. If they broke it, they would get penalized. Therefore, players should log out of the game only in safe areas as per the manual, or else they would see the message of [Your character is dead. Your access is denied for 24 hours. The maximum value of your highest stats is reduced forever] on their next login. 

Mari replied, “... No, come to think of it, I was hysterical this time.”

“Yes, you were too agitated, but don’t you think you’ve been acting hysterically too often these days? You look like an angel but act like a devil,” muttered Yongno.

“Pfft, but I don’t have a personality disorder. Don’t you get why I’m acting this way?”

Yongno was perplexed. He uttered, “Come on, are you blaming me…”

ZZZAP!

Yongno was about to shout something, but he had disappeared since the 30 seconds of logout time had passed. 

“Geez… what the…” sighed Mari.

As soon as Yongno was gone, the world began to [close] at the same time. In fact, this place existed for the users of the game, so as long as Yongno had left the place, this world would stay closed. 

“What on earth am I trying to do?” Mari, the gray-haired girl who was a part of this closing world, smiled faintly and instantly vanished. 

***Trauma***

Yongno was asleep in his room with a pair of earphones in his ears when he opened his eyes all of a sudden. Seemingly awoke from a long deep slumber, Yongno’s eyes shone clearly. He checked the time and found a change of date from the 1:6 ratio time difference between the real world and D.I.O.

“Wow, but it’s still so marvelous! How can it only have been six days?!”

Yongno spent approximately a month in D.I.O, which was quite a long time, but it was only six days in the real world. Just by inserting a CD and connecting the earphone to the computer, Yongno could gain this much time.

“This is fantastic!” he exclaimed.

It was more than Over Technology[1], and rather than science, this was close to magic. If a game like this was released without any restrictions, it would be a phenomenal success and cause a huge stir.         

Growl.

“... Let’s get something to eat…” said Yongno, rubbing his growling stomach.

Feeling hungry, he got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a slice of meat, some sausages, a quarter of a carrot, half potato, and an egg. 

“Let’s put this cheap slice of meat!”

He took out a knife and chopped the meat, then grilled it at high heat. Next, he thinly sliced the sausage, potato, and carrot to stir fry them, then mixed with the grilled meat.

Sizzle.

The stir-fried vegetables and meat smelled delicious. Yongno prepared a bowl of rice, put those stir-fried ingredients on it, and added a fried egg on top.

“Okay! I have stir-fried rice!”

He took it to the computer and began to eat while surfing on the web. Indeed, all the portals were talking about the news [The Appearance of Virtual Reality], but the majority of the comments were negative. For instance...

‘Bullsh*t.’

‘If that’s true, it’s creepy.’

‘Aren’t they training their reporters? I guess they are reading too many video game novels!’

Well, I didn’t believe it until I really played the game. In fact, Yongno had been doubtful about virtual reality even when he logged into D.I.O. The VR technology was that outrageous. No matter how intelligent and notable a person might be, if he or she announced a release of a VR game, most people would be skeptical about it or just assume it as experiencing simulated reality by wearing an electronic device on hand and touching a virtual apple seen through a VR headset. They wouldn’t consider the experience as 100% real. 

“Come to think of it, they told me the beta test would last ten days, right?”

At first, Yongno thought that it was a relatively short test, but since ten days in the real world was equivalent to sixty days in D.I.O., it was enough for a beta test of the game. 

“But that means I’m not even clearing the basic missions in this precious beta testing period, am I?”

Players could complete basic missions as quickly as thirty minutes, but Yongno was breaking through those missions for a month, so he wouldn’t be playing the game normally.

“Hmm, I didn’t even meet other users, and since this isn’t a game package, I must clear the basic missions ASAP,” murmured Yongno.

Then, he brought the empty bowl to the kitchen and washed it. Since Yongno lived alone, he didn’t want to leave unwashed dishes piling up in the sink. 

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Growl.

He heard another signal coming from his stomach.

“Oh, I should go to the bathroom before accessing the game.”

He quickly walked to the private space, then sat on the toilet. 

“As far as I recall, it’s been nearly ten days since I’ve gone to the bathroom.”

While playing D.I.O., Yongno was confused as to why he didn’t have any urges to use the bathroom. What was more ridiculous was that his underwear wasn’t removable. Yongno attempted to take it off a couple of times out of curiosity, but that god d*mn fabric seemed to have been attached to his skin and didn’t even get torn. Of course, he couldn’t masturbate or make love either. 

“But it’s weird that nothing comes out even though I eat and drink. This is indeed a game.”

Some games had their characters eating and drinking, but it was hard to find the setting of those characters using the bathroom. In fact, what was the point of having that bathroom function in games? Since they are just game characters, it was just disgusting and worthless to empty their bowels. 

Splash!

After flushing the toilet, Yongno headed to his computer with a lighter body. He was literally spending all his time eating, sleeping, defecating, and playing the game. Since he was asleep in the real world while accessing D.I.O., he didn’t have to sleep either. 

“Geez, I became a real nerd~” sighed Yongno.

Ding Dong~ Ding Dong~

Just as he was about to take a seat, the doorbell rang all of a sudden. 

“Who is it? There shouldn’t be anyone stopping by my house…”

It sounded pathetic, but Yongno looked nonchalant. He roughly put on his t-shirt and jeans near the desk, then headed to the front door. 

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

“Eunhye? What are you doing here?”

When he opened the door, a girl holding a bag strode into the house. She was a toned, fit, and approximately 175 centimeters tall girl. Her name was Oh Eunhye, a long-time friend of Yongno. They went to the same schools for years since their childhood. 

Eunhye said, “I was wondering what you were doing and why you weren’t showing up in school. You’ve been a homebody, huh?”

“Well, our college scholastic ability test is over, and I’ve completed the required number of classes, so why would I attend school every day? Aren’t there other kiddos who’re skipping school? You know the classes end quickly these days too,” replied Yongno.

He went to the fridge and took out ice cream. It’s been over a decade since he became friends with Eunhye. He knew everything about her such as her taste, hobbies, favorite books, foods, songs, etc. So, although Eunhye wasn’t invited, it didn’t mean that she should stay unwelcomed. As her friend, Yongno would never treat her that rudely. 

“What have you been doing?” she asked.

“Just chilling around in the house... Eating, sleeping, playing video games, reading… things like that.”

“You are enjoying your time off, huh?”

Her remark could sound offensive, but Yongno replied indifferently, “Yes, I am. All high school seniors should enjoy their time off once the college scholastic ability test is over. Besides, I have a gig… sometimes.”

“I’m so proud of you.” She replied sarcastically but enjoyed her ice cream. 

Eunhye’s friends treated her as an Ice Princess because of her cold and apathetic attitude, but only a few knew how cute and lovely she looked at times like this. 

Yongno asked, “But seriously what’s up? Is there something going on?”

“Not really. It’s just that our test scores have come out.”

“Already? What’s your score?”

“Look,” said Eunhye, then she handed him her test results. 

Yongno was startled. Eunhye’s scores were high enough to apply for the law degree program in Korea’s #1 university. 

“How did you get these scores? Aren’t you a student-athlete?!” exclaimed Yongno.

Eunhye replied, “We also know how to use our brains.”

“But… this is… unbelievable…!” Yongno kept grumbling, “You’re making all our test-takers so miserable!” Then, he threw the garbage in the trash can after eating ice cream.

Eunhye watched him quietly, then took out another test score report. She uttered, “... And this is yours.”

“Eek! Why do you have mine?!” shouted Yongno.

“I asked the teacher, and he gave it to me.”

“That bastard! How could he hand out my personal information to someone else?”

However, Yongno didn’t look that upset. He just took the report and checked his test scores. He saw grades like Rank 2, Rank 4, and Rank 6[2].

“Hmm, it looks like I screwed up,” said Yongno.

“Are you satisfied with it?”

“Not really, but I feel like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Showing an aimless grin, Yongno folded the test report in half and shoved it roughly into the shelf. Korea was a nation obsessed with college admissions. As a result, some students attempted suicide if they scored very poorly. Yongno’s reaction was definitely too calm and distant.

Eunhye reacted with an enigmatic expression.

1. technology that goes beyond the times ☜

2. the lower the rank, the lower the scores ☜

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