The D-Rank Guild Master of the Number One Guild, Episode 1
[Round 1 of great anticipation is beginning. Please survive safely. Good luck.]
The moment I came to my senses, a strange broadcast announcement struck my ears.
I staggered to my feet and looked around to find myself inside some kind of jungle. Even the rustling of the leaves felt incredibly realistic.
Where on earth is this?
In a daze, I looked down at my body.
Beneath short basic clothes, I saw slender and delicate arms and legs.
To see my appearance more clearly, I plopped down in front of a nearby pond.
A face of oriental beauty.
Who is this?
As I slowly traced back my memories, a single memory soon flashed through my head.
Ah…… I remember now.
[Name] Rudel
Will the above character survive this round?
[Yes] 3% [No] 97%
It was a face that had been posted on the homepage of a newly released game not long ago.
One of the characters in a simulation game that would soon open, on which users had bet game money.
And she was a character whom 97% of people had voted would die early because all her stats were the lowest grade.
In short, a trash-tier character who, if compared to a novel, would be an extra among extras.
It was beyond understanding why I had suddenly become a character inside a game, but I first examined the status window that had been floating before my eyes since earlier in order to grasp the situation.
[Name] Rudel / [Level] 1
[Gender] Female / [Age] 21
[Intelligence] High
* * *
[Stamina] 85 / D
[Strength] 80 / D
[Agility] 106 / D
Haha, all D-Rank. There's no hope.
If what was before me were a well, I would have thrown myself in, but unfortunately, it was a shallow pond.
I dropped my head down in despair. I couldn't understand why I, who should be in reality, had ended up inside a game.
And a killing game at that, where a single mistake could mean death.
“Do you desire an ecstasy unlike anything you've experienced? Everything lies within this game.”
Introduced with an unsettling tagline, this game was the most popular title that had hit 2 million pre-orders domestically even before its release.
Truthfully, while it was called a game, it was closer to a kind of viewing program.
Users didn't actually play the game; they had to watch a survival simulation of characters living and moving within the game.
They could predict the round's winner or bet game money on their favorite characters to increase or spend their money.
In other words, it was like a modern-day Colosseum viewed through virtual reality.
The game had become a full-blown sensation after its closed beta, receiving tremendous praise and rave reviews from beta testers upon release.
“All the characters feel like they're alive and breathing.”
“The realistic yet sensual character designs draw gamers in.”
“We laugh and cry at their battles and deaths.”
There were some voices criticizing the danger of VR viewing and the brutality of combat, but that was safely overcome through the game company's content regulation measures.
It was a time when not much remained until the game's launch.
When I came to, I had become that game character, reduced to struggling for survival beneath the eyes of viewers.
“How did I end up here?”
I tried to recall what had happened right before I arrived here, but aside from memories related to the game, most everything seemed erased, leaving only hazy fragments.
As if someone had intentionally tampered with my memory…….
My head began to hurt, but that wasn't what was important now.
Even at this moment, the other characters would be preparing to surge ahead.
To avoid being killed, I had to put aside pointless worries for later.
I raised my head and looked at the status window again.
“The 97% of viewers who bet I'd die? They can all go to hell. I just have to survive.”
I was certain.
Rudel had originally been a frail character not much different from what the viewers expected, but because I had entered her, she would survive to the end.
Some information about the survival game that the company had released on their homepage early for the viewers' betting contents—I had read through it so thoroughly that I practically memorized it.
With just this, I was already far ahead.
And one more thing—a video uploaded by one of the beta testers with the game company's cooperation.
Only Day 1 had been uploaded, but thanks to it, I could figure out the core of this simulation game.
“Ah, this game is totally cruel, huh? And look at how experience is calculated. Character popularity voting is freaking huge! No matter how much the characters run around, if they don't get votes from the off-screen viewers they don't even know about, they can't level up and they die!”
Meaning, the more popular a character was with viewers, the more advantageous they were in-game.
Since the other characters didn't know this was inside a game, this was information only I could use.
Various emotions swirled in my head, but I slowly took a deep breath and calmed my trembling emotions.
Alright, let's survive somehow for now.
And while doing so, I'll slowly find out who I am and why I ended up inside this game.
* * *
As a horn sounded to announce the start of Round 1, I quickly scanned the game manuals I had been given.
The contents were nothing much.
Just the fact that I had to survive in this jungle throughout Round 1 and a fragmentary explanation of the overall game progression.
Since today is Day 1…… the game must have just launched too.
“How many viewers are watching me right now? There were 2 million pre-orders, so probably that many?”
No. I doubt there are many people watching the screen of a frail girl just sitting there blankly.
The character I had entered was quite pretty, but that was true of everyone since they were game characters.
Her unremarkable appearance didn't seem like it could become my weapon.
So I had to try harder.
Then, what is the first thing a character should do when they first open their eyes in Round 1?
It was to find the basic supply boxes scattered throughout the field.
“Come to think of it, when I looked at the pond earlier, something seemed to flicker inside.”
Upon checking again, I saw a brown box flickering in the center of the clear water.
I rolled up my sleeves and put my arm in, but it was deeper than expected and I couldn't reach it.
Was there no long shovel or something around?
But the surroundings were full of jungle trees, and no helpful tools were in sight.
In the end, I only had my own body.
“If I give up on this and go out of the forest to find another box, I'll become a target in an instant, won't I?”
Having judged there was no other way, I scrunched up my face and splashed into the waist-deep pond.
The box was stuck in the mud, so I couldn't push it out with my bare feet. This frail D-Rank body.
It can't be helped. I had to hold my breath and stick my head all the way in to pull the box out with both hands with all my strength.
About two minutes later, I succeeded in retrieving the box but had to come back above the surface completely soaked.
I quickly opened the box to find contents close to a basic starter pack.
Inside were clothes made of tough leather, a pocket knife, a bag to wear around my waist, a piece of hardtack, and some water.
“Well, since the clothes I'm wearing are all wet, should I change into new ones?”
I recalled a basic function provided to each character that I had read in the game rules earlier.
“Pause Mode.”
The moment the command left my mouth, an enclosed space of about four pyeong formed around my body.
This was a place where characters could change clothes, wash, or relieve themselves.
No matter what means were used, it couldn't be invaded from the outside, and viewers couldn't see it either.
In other words, a place prepared for content moderation in a game where realism was paramount.
However, there were restrictions so it wouldn't affect the game. Pause Mode couldn't be used during combat, and items couldn't be stored inside the space.
The time limit was 15 minutes, and the cooldown was 2 hours.
Inside the bathroom-like confined space, I washed my body and dried the water with a towel. Then I changed into the leather clothes.
With this, hadn't my survival probability increased by about 1% now? Though it was probably just going from 3% to 4%.
When the 15-minute limit passed, Pause Mode automatically deactivated. I was placed back in the middle of the jungle.
I looked down at the pocket knife in my hand.
I had to kill someone with this knife to earn points and rewards, right?
“If I think of my opponent as just a game character, there's nothing I can't kill, but…….”
If weak me carelessly revealed killing intent toward other characters, I would likely be the one killed instead.
Then what I should target was indeed the viewers' popularity vote.
I'll have to try. So that I, who have nothing, can win the viewers' hearts.
Until recently, I had been in those viewers' shoes, so I could probably do it—pull off that much showmanship.
I had to gain the viewers' favor to survive.
No matter how well I slit throats, a character who failed to win the viewers' hearts would receive terrible rewards.
I briefly looked at my face reflected in the blade, then sheathed it at my waist again.
* * *
The moment I first left the forest, I immediately came face-to-face with a murder scene.
One character lay dead with his tongue sticking out, and the character who had killed him was rifling through the dead man's belongings for anything useful.
A handsome boy with dark skin. His pupils had a unique shape, and his curly hair was wildly disheveled.
Unlike me, his arms looked sturdy, suggesting he probably had a high Strength stat.
He probably had the kind of strength to instantly strangle an adult male to death.
As I carefully observed the boy from afar, a translucent window rose before my eyes.
Ah.
Sorry to the other participants, but the privilege given to me didn't seem to be merely knowing information.
I could see other characters' status windows.