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2
“Hyung, seriously, what’s wrong with you?”
Yeonwoo shook Hanbit’s stiffened shoulders.
But Hanbit had no leeway to show any reaction.
‘That damn goddess—what the hell are you pulling?’
The moment suspicion turned into certainty, his head burned.
Even on the day two years ago when he had returned to reality.
Even now, as he ground his teeth, there had always been a corner of doubt in his chest.
Because the timing and reason the goddess let him go were far too unclear.
Moreover, the last words he had heard were still vivid even now.
‘I will be watching there as well.’
Watching.
Words the goddess had always said whenever she sent him to those problematic worlds.
He had never imagined that such a irresponsible remark would continue on Earth, and in this kind of form no less.
“Hyung…….”
At the voice calling him again, Hanbit lifted his head.
The guidebook in his hands was already badly crumpled.
Quickly regaining his composure, he asked the worried-looking junior,
“The developers who made this game—was it a team called Zero?”
“Yes. But they’ve never appeared publicly even once.”
“Not even once?”
“All external activities are handled by the representative of the Record Project company. Michael Welton’s youngest daughter, I think?”
Yeonwoo added that not even the number of people in the development team called Zero was known.
A bizarre structure that naturally invited suspicion.
Hanbit was convinced that it had something to do with that damn goddess.
The founder Michael Welton, and his daughter who was now the CEO, were surely hiding something as well.
‘But why a game?’
Hanbit fell into a fundamental question.
The world he had been sent to by the goddess was not some kind of game.
All the physical and mental suffering and emotional turmoil he experienced there could never have been virtual.
The unpleasant sensation of killing someone for the first time.
The horrific sensation of dying himself for the first time.
The hot blood running down his cheek, the rage and despair were still vivid even now.
Then why did it suddenly appear on Earth in the form of a game?
Even the release timing—right after his enlistment—matched up unpleasantly well.
‘I’ll have to see it myself.’
Having reached a conclusion, Hanbit took out the card he’d received from Yeonwoo.
“You said I can get the gear with this, right? How long does it take?”
“These days it doesn’t even take two hours. It’s instant shipping.”
“Really? Where do you do it?”
“You just need to download an app. Can I see your phone?”
Taking Hanbit’s smartphone, Yeonwoo quickly went through the procedure.
The process was over in less than a minute.
“It’ll probably be waiting when you get home.”
“Nice and fast. You’ve already started playing, right?”
“I’ve started, but I’m not at an impressive level or anything. If you’re going to head in right away, should we buy that first?”
“Ah.”
Yeonwoo pointed at the crumpled guidebook.
Embarrassed, Hanbit smoothed out the cover and paid for the book at the counter.
“Contact me as soon as you make an account. I’ll be waiting.”
Yeonwoo left straight for home the moment they exited the store.
Hanbit also headed straight for the subway station.
***
“…It’s really here.”
Arriving home, Hanbit spotted a box placed in front of the gate.
Was it really okay to just leave a five-million-won item like this?
“It’s light.”
The box, neither big nor small, was lighter than expected.
Opening the gate, he went straight inside and cut open the tape.
“Hm.”
Aside from the charger, the contents were simple.
A head-mounted gear and four white rings.
According to the manual, they were worn on the wrists and ankles.
“This costs five million?”
Letting out a sigh at the expensive item, Hanbit took the equipment into his room.
There was still plenty of time before his mother returned, but he didn’t want to be seen like this.
Click—
After locking the door, he connected the charger.
As he put on the rings and the headgear, his vision turned pitch black.
Hanbit slowly lay down on the bed.
Woooong—
After a few seconds passed.
Along with the sound of the device activating, light spread through his vision.
[Scanning biological data.]
The short message floating before his eyes felt familiar.
Because it resembled the hologram that used to show the accumulated number of regressions, possessions, and reincarnations.
[Scanning brainwaves.]
‘…Brain? Isn’t this dangerous?’
Not knowing much about the gear, Hanbit felt a bit uneasy.
He hadn’t heard anything about probing inside the brain.
Ding—
As if mocking his concern, the scan ended quickly.
The next message appeared immediately.
[Initiating link.]
Whoosh—
The letters vanished as a strange sensation wrapped around his body.
When he opened his eyes, Hanbit was standing in a pure white space.
“Oh.”
Looking down, he wiggled his hands and feet.
It felt just like moving his real body.
He looked like a mannequin for now, but movement was possible.
The slightly heavy sensation—was that the gear’s limitation?
[Creating character.]
[Moving to customization screen.]
A large mirror and messages appeared in front of him.
Yeonwoo had said it was fine to freely customize the appearance.
That the scanned data was well-adjusted in various ways.
Aside from the fact that the only race was Human, the freedom in appearance was fairly high.
“…Why isn’t it showing up?”
Hanbit grew puzzled as he waited for the screen.
Five minutes had already passed since the message appeared.
“Is it bugged?”
Since it was a machine, errors weren’t exactly new.
Letting out a sigh, Hanbit tried to press the exit button in the corner.
But then.
[Character creation failed.]
[Applying existing character.]
Along with a strange message, the screen began to flicker.
“Existing character? What the—”
He had never played this game even once.
However, even if he didn’t like it, he could guess the reason.
“This is your doing too, isn’t it?”
He hurled the question at the goddess in an incredulous voice.
Even if he wanted to go find her and demand answers right away, there was nothing he could do now.
Whoosh—
All vision went dark as the screen changed.
When the light returned, Hanbit was standing in a harbor with a blue sea in view.
‘Edlen… this is Edlen.’
The harbor city of Edlen, designed in a semicircular shape, was all too familiar.
The city he had first arrived at when sent to another world.
A city he had experienced hundreds of times over fifty-five regressions, possessions, and reincarnations.
“Oh, damn.”
“Guys, where do we go from here?”
“Isn’t there a tutorial?”
Around him, other new players were looking around in confusion.
‘It’s empty.’
He had expected something from the phrase “existing character.”
But there was nothing—no progress, not even a single item.
With a sigh, Hanbit approached the mirror installed nearby.
“…Huh?”
He was startled by the clearly reflected image of himself.
Because the person facing him was identical to his real body.
Moreover, this body—
It was the one used in the final iteration, the regression.
“Haa.”
There was plenty he could curse about, but he didn’t bother voicing it.
The damn goddess’s words and actions had always gone beyond expectations.
Letting out a sigh, Hanbit shifted his focus.
‘Yeonwoo’s nickname was Roper, right?’
Yeonwoo’s nickname sent via message.
He’d asked him no less than ten times to add him as a friend as soon as he logged in.
“Hyung?”
While looking for the controls, a voice came from behind.
Turning his head, he saw a neat-looking Human standing there.
“…You’re Yeonwoo?”
“Yes, it’s me! But hyung, why did you customize yourself like that? Hardly anyone uses their real appearance.”
The name ‘Roper’ floated above the character.
Just from his tone and behavior, it was clearly Yeonwoo.
“It just… ended up like this.”
“It suits you in a way, hyung. But wow—your naming sense is insane.”
“Naming sense?”
“Your nickname. Check the character info window at the top right.”
At his odd reaction, Hanbit followed the guidance and opened the character info window.
And when he saw the nickname written there, he couldn’t hold back his outburst.
“No, what the fuck.”
[Black Dragon – Lv.1]
[Title: None]
Strength: 4
Agility: 4
Intelligence: 4
Vitality: 4
A bizarre nickname with no relation whatsoever to regressions, possessions, or reincarnations.
It was only natural for curses to come out.
“Can’t I change this?”
“Why? It’s fun. Once you see it, you won’t forget it.”
Yeonwoo was already laughing, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Hanbit stepped closer and firmly grabbed his head.
“Can you change it or not?”
“Of course you can’t. Didn’t you see the warning at the start? Nicknames are permanently engraved into biological data.”
“Ha.”
That despairing statement hit him harder than expected.
Playing the game with a nickname like this—
It made his head spin.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Ding—
Just as his deep sigh continued.
An alert sound rang in his ears.
[The play screen will be simultaneously broadcast on Roper’s stream.]
[Do you agree? (Yes / No)]
“What is this now?”
Hanbit asked, looking at Yeonwoo.
Manipulating something in midair, Yeonwoo grinned as he replied.
“I stream too. I’m still small-time, but it’s more fun than you’d think.”
“Streaming? Like internet broadcasting?”
“Yeah. It’s called Recorder—an RP-supported platform. Oh, looks good.”
After taking his hand away, Yeonwoo stepped beside him.
Then he adjusted the angle while looking at a point floating in midair.
“Hyung, I’m going to start the broadcast now. Can you press yes for me first?”
“Do you think I’ll press it? Why would I be on a broadcast?”
“I’ll handle the broadcast—you just play the game. And profits are split fifty-fifty. Guess who gets which fifty.”
“…Fifty-fifty?”
The silly wordplay was overshadowed by the distribution ratio.
If all he had to do was play the game, there was no reason to refuse.
Whether it was 500 won or 1,000 won, it would be practically free money for Hanbit.
“What do you think? Sounds good, right? If the stream does well, I’ll even raise your cut.”
“It’s your stream—why raise it? Half is enough. You even gave me expensive gear.”
“That just means my expectations are high. Anyway, I’ll handle it properly. You’ll press it now, right?”
“…Fine.”
Click—
Having already finished thinking it through, Hanbit pressed the ‘Yes’ button.
The message vanished, and Yeonwoo’s voice burst out.
“Hello everyone! This is Roper!”
“Ah, shit—you startled me.”
The higher-than-usual energy made Hanbit flinch.
Looking at the screen in the top right, the two of them and the chat window appeared in miniature.
-Why are there two people?
-Who is that?
The chat scrolled slowly, one line at a time.
Even at the dry response, Yeonwoo didn’t falter.
“The person next to me is my hyung, who’ll be playing together with me from today. You can see his nickname, right?”
-Black Dragon?
-Edgelord?
-Small streamer trait) zero sense at all.
“…What?”
At the merciless chat messages flying in, Hanbit clenched his fist.
Already expecting this, Yeonwoo whispered quietly,
“Hyung, if you get angry, they’ll just try to provoke you more. Our goal is money, right?”
“They’re just trolls. Does this really make money?”
“That’s why we show them with results. For now, just focus on the game.”
-Dad’s not sleeping, you bastards.
-A small streamer trying to filter comments?
-You’ll wake up once you’re a one-viewer, right?
-Want me to show you what real hate comments are?
As if hearing the conversation, the chat turned sharper.
Hanbit let out a sigh at the sight of Yeonwoo’s eyes sparkling.
“So, what do we do now?”
“Since it’s the starting city, we should clear quests first. You can get the most important skill in the game and other rewards. After that, we move on to the main quest.”
“Starting city? Are there others besides here?”
“There’s one more. You have no idea how relieved I was that you chose Edlen. I forgot to mention it.”
“Real proud of yourself.”
Hanbit roughly understood the explanation.
All the countless techniques he had learned and mastered over fifty-five iterations.
If those were reproduced in the form of skills, there was nothing he wouldn’t know.
“How many types of skills are there?”
“A ton. In the long run, it’s best to fully invest in just one skill tree.”
“One?”
“If you look at the guide, there are recommended skills, right? Those are results derived from scanning electrical signals… brainwaves, I think? Anyway, it scans all sorts of things. If you have a lot, it’ll probably show about three icons.”
“Wait.”
Hanbit pressed the guide button at the top.
“Is this it?”
The recommended skills button blinking in the list.
Since it was derived from scanned data about him, he was secretly curious.
Click—
When he pressed the button, a new window appeared.
But then.
Shrrr—!
The list, which was supposed to be ‘recommended,’ didn’t stop scrolling.
