Chapter 2
"This feels kind of empty."
Starting at 18, now already 21.
For a time that could be considered short or long, he had truly played games like his life depended on it. While others drank and enjoyed college life, Dohyun had holed up in his room doing nothing but gaming.
He claimed it was because of money, but truthfully, it wasn't for such a grandiose reason.
It was fun.
Even though he played while spewing profanities, the small talk among veterans, the grueling raids that yielded nothing but bricks, and the rare moments when luck blessed them with an item drop—gathering together to hug each other in excitement.
Everything was simply fun.
But what remained at the end was the server shutdown.
Did he really devote three years to a game that would fail this easily?
He had the ability, so if he had played a different game, he would have made decent money.... If you became a ranker in the VR version of Lineage, they said you'd be the envy of any building owner.
Thinking like that, he somehow felt unfairly treated.
'I'm ranked 1st, so why don't I have money?'
The money he had on hand was barely 500,000 won.
Achieving 1st place in a completely ruined game had no chance of becoming money.
No matter how good an item dropped, there needed to be someone to buy it. Even this current money was what he had saved little by little, spending frugally when he at least made some pocket money.
"...."
If his first game had been something like Lineage instead of this piece of shit...... no, even if it had just been an ordinary VR game, things would have been different.
"Sigh."
Such thoughts were fleeting, and Dohyun soon shook his head.
"What can you do. It's my fault for not abandoning this trash game."
Money could be earned from now on.
Even though it was a trash game, thanks to it, he discovered he had a talent for gaming.
And that too, in a VR game that closely approached the virtual reality he could only dream of.
Considering that VR games earned a bit more money than PC games, there was no rule saying he had to go out and die trying.
'It's not like I need money urgently right now...... let me look into it slowly.'
Since he was freeloading at his family home anyway, there was no pressure regarding money.
With 500,000 won, he could comfortably slack off and eat for a month.
Not wanting to think complicated thoughts, Dohyun plopped down on his computer chair.
He intended to look into new games.
Yet, the first place he went after turning on the computer was the Demlock homepage.
"Ah."
Is habit really this terrifying?
Then again, whenever he turned on the computer, it was always either to post strategy guides on the homepage or to browse posts others had uploaded.
Click.
[When is this shit game going to die – PurpleFlavor]
Since he was already here, Dohyun clicked his tongue as he browsed the homepage.
'No new posts.'
He thought there might be posts from hidden users since the service had even ended, but.
It seemed the game was even more dead than Dohyun had thought.
Considering the last post was from a month ago by that PurpleFlavor ahjussi.
'Sigh. Let me close this and look up some info.'
It was right as he was about to leave the homepage.
"......Huh? A new post?"
A new post appeared with ghostly timing.
And not from a regular user, but one posted directly by the game's operator.
[I would like to express my gratitude to the users who have enjoyed Demlock thus far.... Thanks to you, we were able to conclude the finale with joyful hearts....]
Curious, he checked it out, and it was an ordinary thank-you message.
Just as webtoons have afterwords after the final episode, it was a lengthy afterword expressing gratitude for staying until the end.
'Why am I reading this so lengthily.'
Even as he let out a hollow laugh, Dohyun was scrolling down with his mouse.
Since it was the end, he figured he might as well see what they had to say.
[Above, Demlock, which was both a test version and Season 1, has concluded its service, and we will soon return with the official version, Season 2.
The official version has been designed incorporating as much as possible the data you left while playing and the feedback you sent us.
We are confident that it will be a free world full of adventure. We invite you to this paradise of adventure.]
"Season 2 is coming out?"
There was a lot of talk about test versions and official versions, but to summarize, it was saying the next game is the real one, so please look forward to it.
It was unexpected. He hadn't imagined they'd be ambitiously preparing Season 2.
However, honestly, he was skeptical.
'User feedback...... the only thing they'd have received are curses calling it a luck-based trash game.'
The notorious reputation of Demlock's gacha system was widely known among gamers.
And any user who had played Demlock would have sent their sincere thoughts in letters called feedback.
Filled to the brim with profanity, that is.
'And wouldn't more than half of those profanity-laden inquiries be my doing?'
Most people didn't know, but Dohyun could proudly say he was the victim who suffered the most from Demlock's luck-based trash mechanics.
From skill gacha to item drops, item enhancement.
If he started listing them, there would be no end.
It was inevitable that he'd think—how much could a trash game like this really change by incorporating feedback?
That was when it happened.
Pause.
Something caught his eye as he scrolled down.
It was the text written at the very bottom of the screen.
-Season 2 will return not as VR, but as a virtual reality game.
"......A virtual reality game?"
Dohyun's face contorted violently upon seeing those words.
* * *
Any gamer in the 21st century harbors one dream in their heart.
A virtual reality game.
The kind commonly appearing in secondary creations like novels and comics. A game that was fantasy precisely because it couldn't be realized in reality.
However, after 2020, the world took a significant step closer to virtual reality games.
VR 3rd Generation.
Beyond the 1st generation, which was enjoyed like reality only through sight, this was a device where you wore a headset-like apparatus and enjoyed games as if in a dream.
At first glance, it seemed somewhat similar to the virtual reality games in novels.
But in reality, it was completely different.
'Absurdly inferior quality compared to the depictions in novels, artificial intelligence composed of graphics and patterns without a sliver of emotion, sensations that felt like nothing at all.'
Everything from one to ten was an extreme downgrade.
How severe must it have been for even experts to say it would take at least several more decades for a proper virtual reality game to appear?
That was why people were satisfied with current VR.
[......Not VR, but we will return as a virtual reality game. 'God of Savior' will perfectly fill the emptiness of those of you weary of VR that merely mimics virtual reality.]
"Bullshit."
And that was also why Dohyun frowned after reading the post on the homepage.
"No matter how much of a trash game it is, isn't the aggro-pulling a bit too much?"
Sure, he acknowledged the game's quality itself.
At the time of its initial release, it received reviews stating there was no more perfect VR 3rd generation system.
In other words, they had the technical prowess.
'Even so, a virtual reality game is just nonsense.'
It was no different from someone who had barely memorized the multiplication tables trying to solve university-level mathematics.
Not even remotely possible.
Not worth expecting.
Even though it was a game he had grown attached to, the fact that it was deceiving users until the very end didn't sit well with him.
It certainly wasn't just Dohyun's opinion.
[Breaking News) Demlock server shutdown. We can't meme anymore.]
-That trash game finally died? I wondered when it would shut down, and it actually did.
-Yeah, but there's a notice there saying they're releasing some virtual reality game.
-?? What does that mean?
-They said Demlock was a test version, and they're releasing a virtual reality game as the official version? God of Savior or whatever it was.
Since the VR market was a small industry, quick-witted users spread the news.
Or perhaps it was one of the veterans who, like him, was browsing the homepage.
Given how fast it spread for a fairly dead game, this seemed like the more rational guess.
The reactions were as expected.
-Virtual reality game ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You believe that?
-Exactly. Common sense says if a real virtual reality game was coming out, rumors would have spread everywhere by now. When there should be articles plastered everywhere, they only have a homepage notice? Sheesh;;
-True ㅋㅋ But they did have good technical skills, so they'd probably make decent VR games.
-So are you gonna play it?
-Nope, absolutely not playing that luck-based trash game. Want a taste of Bond Dragon Mountain bricks?
-Shh bricks ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅎㅋㅋㅋㅋㅎ That's seriously hilarious. That kind of game was a first and last.
-It was filthy, let's never see it again for real;;
It was obvious.
The claim that a virtual reality game was coming out was that absurd.
Thus, Dohyun closed the community without much lingering attachment.
'For gaming to make money, I'd need at least two months of building up...... Lineage is too late to start now. Is there a suitable game?'
Lineage had stagnated past the point of rotting.
Even if he tried to establish himself now, reaching the upper ranks would inevitably require investing a tremendous amount of time.
And a game with too little recognition wouldn't make money.
Something with moderate fame and a mid-tier player base would be appropriate......
'I don't want to just play any random game though...... should I look into newly releasing VR games even if it's a gamble?'
If it were a new release, he was confident he could secure a ranker position, and since he was going to play anyway, he wanted to enjoy a fun game while making money.
As he was clicking his mouse and pondering—
Bang.
"Hey, Mom told me to give you this."
"Ah, you scared me. Can't you knock?"
"Knock? What knock......"
The door burst open, and a young woman with short hair entered.
Around 160cm tall with fair, delicate skin.
Her round, large eyes and neatly arranged features made up a cute face that men would probably like, but in Dohyun's eyes, she was nothing more than a sow.
"Why is this keep talking back to her oppa."
"Ugh, what's with the creepy 'oppa.' And go wash up. Stop holing up in your room playing games all the time. I'm embarrassed to death to invite my friends over."
"......It's not an embarrassing face, though?"
Watching him look at the mirror next to him as if he genuinely couldn't understand, the sow...... no, Hyun-ah frowned as if she'd seen something she shouldn't have.
If disgust were to settle in one's pupils, this was the kind of look that would emerge.
"Ah...... I'm supposed to go drink, but my stomach already feels upset. I'm leaving......"
Hyun-ah, who placed the mail on the shelf next to the door without even coming close, left coolly.
Watching her recede, Dohyun scratched his head.
'Hmm. I think this counts as being handsome.'
Objectively speaking, he didn't look bad, but it seemed Hyun-ah didn't think so.
Then again, that was how sibling relationships usually were.
Anyway, that was that, and he wondered what Hyun-ah had left behind.
Using the momentum of rising from his chair, he quickly went to the shelf and tore open the mail.
"......!"
Dohyun's eyes went wide.
His two hands holding 'that' trembled with disbelief. This was far from excitement.
It was a reaction closer to fear.
It was an unimaginable reaction from Dohyun, who wouldn't tense up even if any raid boss appeared, but it couldn't be helped.
Even if a magic sealing stone came, it wouldn't be able to control this trembling.
[Draft Notice]
-Name: Kang Dohyun
......Pursuant to the provisions of Article 16 of the Military Service Act, you are hereby notified of enlistment for active duty as stated above.
"......"
The nation's call that arrives for every healthy young man in South Korea.
Even he, who was called a god in Demlock, could not escape the nation's call.
"I'm fucked......"
And so, Dohyun was reborn from a trainee into a proud member of the 51st Infantry Division's Mobile Battalion.
And around that time.
The official version of Demlock, God of Savior, was released.
Bearing the title of virtual reality game.
[The First Virtual Reality Game God of Savior Released!]
[The Emergence of a Super-Scale VR MMORPG. Aspiring to Become a True Virtual Reality Game......]
[A Dream Blooming Amidst Concerns and Expectations. Will It Be a Ray of Hope, or Despair?]
Virtual reality, dismissed as empty boasts, had truly revealed itself to the world.