Episode 1: The Return
[Virtual Reality]
In 2040, virtual reality was no longer something that could be called "virtual."
The virtual reality game developed by Sky Soft twenty years ago.
[Another World]
This game, which would come to be called AW for short, was acclaimed for having created another world, just as its name suggested.
Now, it was a game so shocking that the twenty-first century was divided into before and after its release.
After that, the global economy was restructured around AW.
It exceeded a 90% market share right after launch, and currently, it was hard to find anyone among the global population who didn't play AW.
"Fuck, so I'm one of those people you can hardly find?"
I Taeseong muttered lowly, folding the August issue of Monthly Another World that he had been reading.
"Break time is over. Please move to your assigned work positions!"
At the site manager's shout, I Taeseong also slowly rose from his seat and moved to his assigned work position.
I Taeseong's assigned work area was the construction site of Sky Soft's new headquarters, 130 stories high. And among that, the very top floor.
In short, it was the most dangerous place on the day-labor site.
Trudging back to the work area, he overheard other workers talking.
"Mr. Gim. Logging into AW after work today?"
"Yeah, what kind of question is that? Of course."
"Haha, let's grab a drink in Loren Village."
"Sounds good! I'll send you a message when I log in, on the understanding that Foreman is buying! Haha."
I Taeseong couldn't join in the conversation of the two returning to the work area together.
'Sigh, I should just go home and watch the Ironclad Titan raid video that Destiny Guild released...'
Even when the people at the work site talked about AW—who leveled up yesterday, who succeeded in dating an NPC lady, and so on—I Taeseong couldn't participate in the conversation.
The reason was.
[Virtual Reality Connection Disorder]
I Taeseong couldn't even try to connect to AW, which most of the world's population enjoyed.
Exactly twenty years ago from now. The year AW was released.
August 27, 2020, when I Taeseong was 21 years old.
While on his way to the event venue after winning a ticket to the AW launch commemoration event with his mother and younger sister, who was three years younger, he lost his entire family in a massive nine-vehicle pile-up that was heavily reported in the news at the time, and only I Taeseong survived.
I Taeseong also suffered a severe head injury. After three major surgeries, he was able to live a normal life, but due to brain nerve damage that even the hospital couldn't clearly diagnose, he became unable to connect to virtual reality at all.
He had tried to connect countless times. The message that always appeared before I Taeseong's eyes was:
[Connection Denied. Synchronization Failed]
A miraculous world, another world, the happiness of mankind. All this praise for AW was a story of another world to I Taeseong.
The sorrow of losing his entire family and being left alone, and the long hospital life.
The feeling of being the only one left behind while everyone cheered for AW.
Because of this, it was difficult to live a normal life, and even at age forty-one, he was wandering from one day-labor construction site to another, letting the days pass by.
After finishing his grueling work, his one and only hobby and happiness was catching up on and analyzing AW-related broadcasts, videos, and information alone at home.
Although he couldn't connect directly, imagining "If it were me, I'd do it like this" and experiencing AW indirectly had become the sole joy in I Taeseong's life.
"Ha... To think I'm remembering that time again..."
I Taeseong, who had been lost in thought for a moment, shook his head at the memories he didn't want to recall and resumed working on the railing over 100 floors up.
I Taeseong's job was welding the building's steel frames while relying on a single rope at a dizzying height.
Just as he tried to shake off idle thoughts and focus on his work, a sudden gust of wind whipped through.
"U-urk... Aaack!"
In the strong gust, I Taeseong slipped from the railing and screamed.
Startled by the sound, other workers rushed to I Taeseong's work area.
"What happened?!"
"I Taeseong fell! H-he's dangling from the rope!"
Coworkers working nearby shouted to spread word of the accident, but because of the continuing gusts, they too were holding onto the steel frames for dear life, and no one could help I Taeseong.
"S-someone help! *gurk* Please! Aaack!"
Dangling from the rope and being thrown about by the gusts, I Taeseong screamed with all his might.
About thirty seconds later.
Tuh-tuk!
The sound of the rope snapping.
I Taeseong began falling from the height of the building, over 100 stories up.
'To die such an absurd death...!'
It was but a fleeting moment, yet it was filled only with resentment and sorrow.
His vision spun, and I Taeseong squeezed his eyes shut.
"Ugh! What? Was it a dream? *huff huff*..."
After waking up, I Taeseong shuddered at the vivid dream and composed himself.
"They say if you dream of falling, you grow taller..."
Muttering a pointless remark to himself, he got up and headed to the bathroom.
Walking habitually toward the bathroom, he suddenly felt something strange and looked around.
"Wh-what? Am I still not fully awake from the dream?"
What met his eyes was not the one-room studio of barely seven pyeong where he had lived for over ten years, but the house where he had lived with his family as a child. It was inside I Taeseong's room.
Feeling a strange sensation in the room from his distant memories, he was in utter confusion when a voice came from beyond the door.
"Taeseong, we're going to be late. Wash up and get ready quickly."
A voice identical to his deceased mother's echoed from outside the door like a hallucination.
Because it was too vivid to be a dream, I Taeseong pinched his cheek.
"Ungh."
It hurt. He had pinched hard, and it hurt a lot.
'What is going on?'
He hurriedly found his smartphone beside the bed he had been sleeping in and checked the displayed clock.
What he saw was not his familiar smartphone, but the outdated smartphone I Taeseong had used twenty years ago.
Displayed on that screen:
[August 27, 2020, 11:45 AM]
Only after pinching and slapping his own cheek several more times could I Taeseong acknowledge that this was reality, not a dream.
"H-how can this...!"
He had returned to the past.
I Taeseong had thought it was a dream of dying in a fall at the construction site, but it was clear he had returned to the past twenty years ago during the fall.
"This is absurd..."
While muttering to himself because it didn't feel real.
His mother's voice came from outside once more.
"Taeseong, if you're tired, should Mom and Yujeong go just the two of us?"
Barely coming to his senses at his mother's voice calling him again from outside, I Taeseong spat out words and thought,
"Ah, yeah, Mom. J-just a moment..."
'First, I've really come back. I've really returned to the past! Then I have to stop that first! What's today's date?'
The date stamped on the outdated smartphone screen he checked again: August 27.
That day. The terrible accident that had left I Taeseong all alone before his regression.
That hateful day he had never forgotten for a single moment.
So shocked, I Taeseong burst out of the room without even putting on clothes, in nothing but his underwear.
"Mom, no. No! We can't go anywhere today! *choke*"
Startled at first by her grown son suddenly rushing out, crying and shouting, I Taeseong's mother soon began to calm him down.
"Taeseong, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"No! *sob* No—I mean yes, yes! I had a really bad dream... We can't go out today, let's just stay home. We absolutely can't go out!"
"Okay, okay. I understand, so stop crying. It's embarrassing for a grown man. Hoho."
"Mom. Why is he like that?"
Just then, his sister finished getting ready in her room and came out.
With the thought that he had to stop the accident that would happen today, and the joy of seeing his family after twenty years, I Taeseong broke down sobbing uncontrollably and grabbed his mother and sister's wrists, collapsing to the floor.
Having held both of their hands for nearly two hours without reason, I Taeseong came to his senses and looked at the clock on the hallway wall.
[1:37 PM]
The time when that accident had happened before his regression was around 1 p.m.
The time of the accident had already passed.
"Oppa, why are you really acting like this? Shouldn't we go to the hospital?"
"Ha... I'm sorry. It was such a realistic dream... I'll rest in my room for a moment and come out."
"Are you calmed down now, Taeseong?"
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'll rest a bit. And today, both of you absolutely must not go outside!"
After biting his teeth and urging his family again, he washed his tears away cleanly and returned to his room, calmly reassessing the current situation.
'I don't know what's what, but I've come back. Yes, I've returned to before everything happened! Our family didn't get into an accident today...!'
The traffic accident that had tormented I Taeseong for twenty years in his previous life had been undone.
His heart pounding, the highly tense I Taeseong began to accept this situation.
'I've returned, coincidentally, to before AW's launch! Don't act foolish. This is an opportunity given to me. My family is by my side, and I don't have to suffer from that damned connection disorder!'
The joy of his family being alive again was beyond words, and soon, the acclaim from around the world—
—the evaluation that 'Another World' would raise the quality of human life. Rather than watching it from afar, the anticipation that he too could play it made him feel like he was flying.
"First, there's something I need to check..."
He immediately searched the internet and called Sky Soft's event department.
[This is Sky Soft, opening another world. How may I help you?]
"Hello. My name is I Taeseong, and I won the capsule event. I can't make it today, so I'm calling to ask if it's possible to change to another day."
[Yes, hello, Mr. I Taeseong. Could you please wait a moment?]
"Understood."
After a few seconds of silence.
[Thank you for waiting, Mr. I Taeseong. Would 2 p.m. tomorrow be alright for you?]
"Yes, that works. I'll come at that time tomorrow. Thank you."
Fortunately, the event ran for a week, so he changed his participation date to tomorrow and ended the call.
Unlike experiencing virtual reality with simple VR devices as before, to connect to AW, one had to use the 'Vega Capsule' developed by Sky Soft.
It was an elliptical device about half the size of a compact car, and according to what Taeseong had heard before his regression, it was such innovative technology that it was described as transplanting one's soul into another body in AW—that is, into a game character.
The Vega Capsule provided an optimal environment for enjoying AW, including comfortable temperatures during connection, self-sterilization, and air purification effects.
It was August 2020, which I Taeseong had returned to. AW had not officially opened yet, but advertisement videos filmed inside AW were already being broadcast simultaneously worldwide, and regardless of whether they liked games or not, people of all ages and genders were creating explosive interest and buzz over the realism the videos provided.
The ongoing capsule experience event was a simultaneously held event by Sky Soft in major cities around the world, giving people the chance to connect to AW using the Vega Capsule, which had not yet gone on sale.
I Taeseong had very luckily gotten the chance to participate after breaking through a competition ratio of 2,000 to 1.
Of course, before regressing to the past, he hadn't been able to connect even once, let alone experience it.
'This time is different. Tomorrow, I finally take my first step into that world. First, I'll test tomorrow whether I can really connect.'
In his previous life, he couldn't be sure yet whether the connection disorder had been caused by the brain surgery or whether he had been unable to connect from the start.
Unlike others, having never been able to connect to AW even once, I Taeseong had envied everyone around him, yearned for AW more than anyone else, and studied AW more than anyone else.
He prided himself on having theoretical knowledge at the highest level, and his related knowledge was vast beyond comparison. Of course, it was only because that was all he could do that he had researched it so desperately.
'Please, let me be able to connect...'
And so the first day passed with him unable to sleep, his mind uneasy.
The next morning, while eating breakfast his mother had prepared, I Taeseong broke down crying again at the sight of his family.
In his life before returning to the past, tears had dried up, and he had lived cynically toward everyone and everything around him. Being able to see, touch, and feel his family again was a miracle to I Taeseong.
The I Taeseong from before his regression cried again and again, to an extent that would have been unimaginable with his former mentality.
"Mom. Shouldn't Oppa really go to the hospital? It's not that he's sick, he seems crazy..."
Ignoring his younger sister I Yujeong's words, he left the house alone for the event venue, leaving his family at home out of an anxious sense of precaution.
[Next news. Yesterday at approximately 1 p.m., a nine-vehicle pile-up occurred on the city highway downward lane, resulting in 8 deaths and 7 injuries...]
At the radio news flowing from the bus, I Taeseong felt a chill down his spine while also realizing once again that he had truly returned.
The place he arrived at by bus was the world-renowned global company, Sanseong Group.
The parent company of Sky Soft and a leading domestic conglomerate that would manufacture and sell the Vega Capsule: Sanseong Group.
Its production factory was today's event venue.
After arriving and being guided by staff for a tour of the factory interior, I Taeseong and the other event winners finally gathered and sat in seats prepared before the finished capsules.
"Hello, participants. I am Section Chief Gim Miyeong from the Sanseong Electronics Marketing Department, in charge of today's event. Thank you so much for taking your precious time to apply for and participate in this event."
As Gim Miyeong, a bob-haired woman who looked to be in her early thirties, introduced herself and looked around, I Taeseong also followed her gaze and looked around.
The people who had won and were participating in the event totaled fifty.
Because up to two family members or acquaintances could accompany each winner, the number of people Taeseong could see now was around fifty.
Originally, I Taeseong had planned to come with his mother and sister, but out of worry about the accident etched in his memory, he had come alone just in case.
Since the event was held over the course of a week, the total participants numbered around three hundred.
I Taeseong knew the entire history after the Vega Capsule and AW's launch, so he didn't necessarily have to attend the event, but he had something else in mind.
'It should be starting about now.'
Behind I Taeseong's thoughts, Gim Miyeong's words continued.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I dare say this! After Another World is released, the world will be in for a massive shock. Everything you only imagined in reality will become possible. Did you want to fly like Superman? It's possible! Did you want to become a swordsman or wizard from martial arts or fantasy novels? It's possible in Another World! I guarantee that this innovation will not be recorded as merely a game. This game, whose realism makes it hard to believe it's virtual reality, will guide you to another world! The Vega Capsule that will connect you to Another World... experience it now!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
As soon as Gim Miyeong finished speaking, cheers burst from the people.
'This isn't the end, right?'
When Gim Miyeong finished and I Taeseong made a puzzled expression, Gim Miyeong, who had been about to step down from the podium, moved back to the microphone with a startled expression.
"Ah, everyone! I missed one thing! As you may know, we have prepared one more event. Please defeat as many monsters as you encounter in the experience zone. The person with the highest monster kill count will be provided with one Vega Capsule! Now, shall we truly begin the full experience?"
"Woooooah!"
The cheers grew even louder at Gim Miyeong's words as she returned to the podium.
'That's right. That's one of the reasons I attended, and she almost forgot to mention it.'
Unlike the noisy crowd around him, I Taeseong, who had been standing quietly, turned his eyes to the space behind Gim Miyeong.
There lined up dozens of Vega Capsules. They were familiar to Taeseong, yet had always felt so distant.
AW, which had made I Taeseong live in terrible solitude for a reason different from his family's death before his return. The sole bridge to that place.
The illness that wasn't an illness that tormented I Taeseong: 'Virtual Reality Connection Disorder.'
After accepting that he had regressed, unable to sleep at all last night, I Taeseong had stayed up all night thinking and planning his new life.
The starting point for all of it was only possible if the synchronization with the Vega Capsule succeeded first. Since the head injury and brain surgery had never happened, he was vaguely confident he would be able to connect, but—
Actually seeing the Vega Capsule before his eyes, he couldn't calm his pounding heart.
'If this is a god's prank, or if someone sent me back to the past, isn't it too cruel to make me feel that pain again?'
Putting the thought aside, I Taeseong joined the line of people moving toward the capsules.
"Please move to the Vega Capsule bearing the same number as the ticket you are holding."
The Sanseong Group staff repeated the instructions, and I Taeseong also took out the ticket he had received upon arriving at the event venue from his pocket.