Chapter 286
“Let me say again, Seo Jun’s synchronization rate is strangely low. Truly unprecedented.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The method for calculating the synchronization rate is too complex, so to put it simply, the capsule is a nerve, no, a pathway that connects your real brain to the virtual reality.”
Oh Ji-hye started explaining from the basics again. It was something he had heard 7, no, 8 years ago.
Seo Jun guessed that Team Leader Lee’s presence was the reason they were starting from the beginning, and he was right.
“When this pathway widens, even the tiniest commands from your brain are fully transmitted to the VR server and reflected, and the information sent back from the VR is also accurately delivered to your brain, allowing you to enjoy it vividly.”
That’s why expensive capsules are better.
“0.3%. That’s the amount of signal that’s minutely lost when the synchronization rate is 50. To be precise, it's a reversed cause-and-effect explanation—the rate is 50 because there’s about a 0.3% loss under various conditions—but anyway.”
Team Leader Lee listened silently with interest from the side.
When Oh Ji-hye had come to her to ask permission, she hadn’t heard the details, so while she knew *what* had happened, she was curious about *why*.
“It means you feel reality at 99.7% authenticity. Most people don’t deviate from this range. No matter how good the capsule is.”
At this level, there would be only a very slight sense of dissonance.
“But for you, Seo Jun, it’s 1%.”
“Huh.”
Team Leader Lee sucked in a breath.
Because the difference was far greater than she’d expected.
“To 3%.”
“Huuuhk.”
Oh Ji-hye glared at Team Leader Lee, and Team Leader Lee covered her mouth with her hand, making an apologetic face.
Team Leader Lee hadn’t screamed playfully. She was truly shocked.
“There are various causes. First, your brain itself doesn’t quite fit the pathway of the capsule. But while this is special, it’s not historically unprecedented.”
That’s right.
The reasons for Seo Jun’s low synchronization rate are complex.
“The biggest cause is fundamentally the amount of information you send. This is a case unique to you, which makes it fascinating, but it’s noticeably higher than the average person’s. Do you know why? I think you definitely do, so please tell me.”
Partway through her explanation, Oh Ji-hye suddenly launched into this. It was to lighten the mood, and it was a question like an annual ritual.
However, Seo Jun couldn’t understand.
He answered honestly every time, didn’t he?
“Yes, I know. Because…”
“Not the answer about how you remember your past life, learned many things, and can feel even the finest movements of your body, that your senses are extraordinary.”
“Oh?”
Team Leader Lee clapped her hands, saying it sounded plausible.
Regardless, Oh Ji-hye continued her explanation.
“Anyway, because of that, the sense of reality you feel in the virtual world is 97% to 99%. Numerically, it’s only a 1 to 3% loss, but the actual feeling must far, far exceed what we imagine.”
Humans notice even the slightest heaviness or discomfort when their body is unwell.
So a loss of 1 to 3%...
No one could possibly imagine how bad that must feel.
Team Leader Lee, who couldn’t not know this, looked at Seo Jun with a worried expression.
As she listened, she realized it was very serious.
“Was it worse in older capsules?”
Team Leader Lee asked.
She knew that this explanation was being given for her benefit.
“That’s right. To use the analogy again: the capsule is a pathway. But you, Seo Jun, keep shoving immense signals into a misfitted capsule. Normally it’s 1%, but in special situations requiring much more concentration, we’ve seen losses of up to 4%.”
This was rare.
At most once a day. The most supremely difficult moment.
“Wait. Come to think of it, does that mean the harder the gameplay, the more the difficulty spikes for Seo Jun? Because of the low synchronization rate?”
“Exactly.”
“Actually, even easy gameplay is more disadvantageous for him than for others. And the harder the gameplay gets, the more disadvantageous... And 4%.”
“Yes. At that level, it puts a strain on you. Even though the top-of-the-line capsule uses the most robust and widest pathway currently available.”
When the pathway overheats, it needs to cool down.
If it’s within normal levels—like playing 4 hours, resting 1 hour, playing 4 hours—there’s almost no strain, but once it crosses a certain threshold, the load increases dramatically.
That threshold is 4%.
“And if a problem occurs in the pathway, the heat can even spread to the brain. The VR server is so robust, has management staff, and is so vast that no problem can occur just from a disconnection, but the human brain is different.”
That’s why forced logout exists.
The pack-hunting moments that happened on Day 3 occurred once an hour, so they didn’t quite warrant an immediate forced logout.
“This is definitely an unavoidable problem.”
“Yes. Even if the history book becomes a mess or ends in a disappointing way, it’s better than a safety accident happening.”
Team Leader Lee nodded and said to Oh Ji-hye,
“Then, when I go to explain to the other team leaders shortly, could you come and help?”
“Of course.”
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave now, cheering for Seo Jun and praying that no accidents happen.”
“Yep.”
Team Leader Lee left, and after ordering room service, Seo Jun once again organized his thoughts.
‘Hmm.’
This wasn’t a problem he could do anything about.
If asked whether the history book was more important than his health, the answer was absolutely not.
So he simply tried to distinguish between what he could and couldn’t do.
Seo Jun asked Oh Ji-hye for the criteria.
“Is resting for one hour enough?”
“One hour completely outside the capsule is sufficient.”
She meant enough for the pathway to cool down.
“If I were to continuously do pack-hunting for about 30 minutes, would that trigger a forced logout?”
“Something similar. Based on the figures we saw today, it depends on the combat situation, but 10 to 40 minutes? Assuming no breaks, your limit would be around 40 minutes.”
At the mention of “today’s figures,” Seo Jun etched the degree of concentration he’d used today into his memory.
He knew how much he had concentrated.
‘Indeed, in other games, the level of concentration that would only last a few seconds occasionally, I maintained for over 30 seconds to a minute here.’
Just as Oh Ji-hye said, pack-hunting was truly far more difficult than he’d thought.
“And after that, it’s a mandatory one-hour break, no exceptions?”
“Yes. One hour is definitely safe. I told you this when we talked after seven years as well. If it were dangerous…”
“Yes, yes. I understand. Don’t worry.”
Could he play without concentrating?
‘If I move my body in a way that minimizes the burden as much as possible?’
He wasn’t sure.
Not whether it was possible or not, but how much of an impact it would have and whether he could sustain the fight.
“Then I’ll be going now, Seo Jun. Rest well, and I’ll be cheering for you on Day 4 too.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry too much. It’s possible that throughout the entire history book period, a moment requiring the same level of concentration as today might never happen.”
That was true.
He no longer needed to do pack-hunting, and a situation of that magnitude wasn’t likely to occur often.
The probability that he wouldn’t need to rest at all was even higher.
“But if I may add something presumptuous: when that moment comes, rather than overdoing it, getting forced out, and having a hard time explaining, sometimes just losing is also an option. That is, if such a moment ever comes.”
It was a moment that had grown complicated in many ways.
***
[lololololol the reason the streamer suddenly logged out is out!]
==
The AI was so dirty and cheap that rage quit! lololololololololololololololol
==
-That’s hilarious lolololol. Well, yeah. If you keep trying to milk things, the content bans you, of course you’d get angry lolololol
-Why can’t I be happy!!!!!
└Even so, he’s still the overwhelming #1 lololol
└The rich get greedier, they say, that greedy bastard lololol
└fr the streamer seems crazy greedy lololol
[You know what?]
==
At this rate, the streamer might not come back at all lololol
History book’s screwed!!!
==
-To actually ruin the history book, he might really do it lolololololol
-The best way to screw over the AI lololololol
-A participant showing legendary moves suddenly rage quitting and dropping out? Riots would probably break out in Korea first lolololol
└Legendary
└Riots might break out worldwide, not just Korea. The streamer has a ton of fans right now
-How could he not have a ton lololol
[Holy crap. Aren’t the officials working hard to persuade him at the hotel right now? lololololololol]
==
If that’s really the case, upvote lol
==
[Was it really a rage quit?]
-What else? With that personality?
-Please come back (streamer’s inner thoughts)
└Yon’s more screwed than the streamer lololololol He pushed everything to the brink nearly dying lolololol, with all those achievement points he’s hoping something drops, and suddenly the streamer doesn’t come? lololol
[Current materials summary]
==
Divine Sword + Taesan
After Day 2.
95.
After Day 3.
149.
Streamer.
Day 3 (which is Day 1 for him)
150.
A difference of just one, so freaking close.
And seeing this, I have a reasonable suspicion that the AI deliberately cut it off here.
Last time too, it ended exactly when he could buy the prophecy.
-If that’s why the streamer left, I think this sly machine should be destroyed
└With a sledgehammer lololol
[Kael wandering around the village clueless after the streamer logged out, and]
==
(Photo of Yon panicking next to Kael, in denial of reality)
Ugh lololol
==
[How strong is that streamer AI going to be...]
==
Should I just tell it to log out every time he fights?
==
-lololololol
-I wish someone would attack that AI Kael lololol
-So is the streamer coming or not!
-If he doesn’t come, well… the last man standing fights Kael who’s loitering in the village, loses, and the streamer wins even after giving up, I guess
└fr lol this is it
└Just read a whole history book chapter
└You crazy bastards lololol as if the AI would lose lololol
└The streamer just needs to come back! Come back quick!
The viewers were making a fuss, saying Seo Jun might leave.
And fortunately, Seo Jun showed up as soon as Day 4 of the history book began, signaling that the officials’ persuasion had succeeded(?).
***
“Hyung-nim, why did you suddenly log out? You weren’t angry, were you? Huh?”
“No, not that. Now, let’s go wipe them out.”
Seo Jun grinned playfully.
“Huh? Already?”
“Yeah. I caught a bad vibe from Cresit’s reaction. If you want first place, you have to kill the competition. It’s obvious.”
“You mean literally kill them?”
Yon’s question, since Seo Jun had spoken figuratively, left Seo Jun feeling displeased.
But it was also tempting.
***
Day 4 began, and Taesan and Singeom, just as they had throughout the previous three days in the history book, moved together to a rift to find a spot to farm materials.
“Shouldn’t we take those bastards down?”
They were gathering as many different materials as possible.
They were even paying attention to whether they just needed a lot of every material, or a lot of a diverse variety.
They chose the path of gathering widely.
It might seem like overkill, but small details often make the difference.
And that’s how they discovered something:
Whenever they encountered monsters coming and going, they’d kill them and bring back one material each time, but at the last moment of Day 3, the NPC said they wouldn't accept them anymore.
“Are you sure it’s them?”
Singeom asked Taesan.
“Yeah. They’re quiet, but it’s definitely them. Though I can guess what they’ve been up to.”
Incidentally, participants were continuing to flock in after hearing rumors about the quest.
Seventeen participants had gathered here so far.
And the number would keep growing. Until the quest ended.
But if you had to pick the person among all those people capable of causing such a variable.
“As expected. We have to kill them. Let’s watch the entrance until those bastards come. That’s the priority.”
Taesan might not be at Seo Jun’s level of skill, but he acknowledged Seo Jun’s unpredictability and physical prowess in certain special situations.
So he thought that Seo Jun was the only one who could cause an abrupt variable like this.
*‘Other materials might get blocked too, but that’s unlikely. Given that only the monster materials were blocked, he must have done the pack-hunting in some manner.’*
He might have been overtaken.
Therefore, while Taesan, sensing a crisis and intending to eliminate a competitor, was watching the rift entrance from slightly afar.
Another gaze was also watching the entrance from even further away.
Climax.
China’s legendary pro gamer and the mastermind this time had finally entered the history book.
To hunt.
He was the biggest wildcard Seo Jun had called forth for Day 4.