As I rubbed my head and skimmed the chat window, I was able to confirm the identity of the one who had just struck me in the back of the head.
None other than the NPC in charge of educating players at the start.
Also known as Bbahbbah2.
Apparently, not only did she teach the basic concepts and terminology of this world, but later on she would also accept quests and hand out rewards—in other words, she played the role of a “receptionist.”
So I asked why she was called Bbahbbah2.
- You’ll know when you see her face
- Her face
- The face, man
Apparently it was because of her face.
As a series tradition, this receptionist NPC was always strangely ugly, and the nickname that resulted was “Bbahbbah2.”
“Then why do you call her Bbahbbah2 instead of just Bbahbbah?”
- Because the original Bbahbbah exists separately
- It’s a name with tradition, you know!!
- O venerable Bbahbbah of ancient tradition
- Kinda wanna see her again, it was weird how she grew on you after a while
They said it was a nickname filled with affection in its own way, but judging by most of the chat reactions—
- Just looking at her face pisses me the fuck off, that troll bastard
- All she ever did was eat and she couldn’t even keep proper records
- Thanks to her I even had to go to the dentist for implants
- At first I thought people were being too harsh, but once I played through the game I understood why they said that lololol
- Bbahbbah2? Who’s that? Then the moment I saw her I knew right away lolol
- fr lol
- But am I the only one who finds her hot?
- ???
- Excuse me?
- Are your eyes perhaps not very good?
- That’s true, but why?
- Just felt like that’d be the case
- ?
‘That seems less like affection and more like hatred.’
When I turned my head and checked the face of the NPC who had hit me, I immediately understood why the users had given her that nickname.
‘Ah, so that’s why…?’
A long midface, a bulbous clown-like nose, strange reggae hair, and eyes whose texture positions were subtly misaligned.
Normally, I would have said something about her hitting me in the back of the head, but overwhelmed by the odd pressure her appearance exuded, I couldn’t continue speaking.
“Stop spacing out, rookie, and hurry up and follow me. Don’t you know we have to reach the village before the day’s over? We’ll be late at this rate!”
And with that, Bbahbbah2 walked off on her own without even looking back.
As I stared at her retreating figure, I quietly asked the chat window.
“Is she always like that?”
- Yep
- She’s always like that
- Amazingly, this is still mild because it’s the beginning
- fr?
- yep
She already didn’t seem easy to deal with, and yet they were saying she got worse later.
Feeling slightly uneasy, I quietly began following her for now.
As I followed her, I organized the various bits of information coming up in the chat window.
The place I was in right now was the tutorial area.
They said I was on the way to the outpost while following Bbahbbah2.
From what I heard, my current role was a newly arrived “guild rookie.”
In other words, Bbahbbah2’s junior.
- I don’t get why we don’t start as a hunter
- They said they wanted to change things up
- A change-up that starts by smacking the user in the back of the head, amazing
Originally, the series had players start as hunters and carry out quests themselves, but apparently the structure was a little different this time.
Under the pretext of making changes, you had to start from the bottom under an NPC right from the beginning.
As I rubbed the back of my head, which was still throbbing, I couldn’t help shaking my head at the bizarre tastes of the developer.
‘If only the sensation of my body hadn’t felt so subtle…’
Since this was my first virtual reality game, I had been adjusting to the feeling of my body, so I’d noticed her presence just a little too late.
Letting out a small sigh, I slowly began looking around at the scenery.
‘I felt like I didn’t get to see it properly because I got hit in the head right at the start.’
Rustle, rustle—
With every step I took, the sound of grass being gently pressed underfoot reached my ears.
Whoooosh—
The wind passing through the forest shook the leaves, and broken shafts of sunlight slanted down between them.
Whenever those transparent fragments of sunlight brushed past my shoulders, it was hard to believe I was currently inside a capsule.
‘Well, at this level, buying the capsule was worth it.’
As I walked slowly, breathing in the air of the forest, Bbahbbah2, who was walking ahead, spoke to me.
“You do know where we’re going, right?”
“No?”
Of course, I had heard from the viewers that it was an outpost, so I had a rough idea, but I hadn’t heard it directly, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.
She glanced at me with a faint glare, then sighed deeply and said,
“Ugh, how long has it even been since I told you, and you already forgot? I told you earlier, we’re going to the First Garrison on the Ancient Island.”
“Ah, did you?”
“Do you remember why we’re going?”
“No.”
That, I genuinely didn’t know.
Bbahbbah2, walking ahead, shook her head from side to side.
For some reason, I felt like smacking her in the back of the head.
‘Should I hit her once right now?’
Apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking that, because the chat window reacted the same way.
- Ah, this is giving me workplace PTSD…
- I seriously wanna smack the back of her head
- I’m tempted
“A request for extra hands and transporting goods. That’s why we’re going, I told you.”
Her tone was curt, but in the end, she was telling me everything.
Was she harassing me, or being kind?
She was truly an NPC with a strange attitude.
After we had been walking like that for quite some time—
Boom!
All of a sudden, I felt as if the entire forest shook, and a loud noise began to echo from somewhere.
And it wasn’t just once. The sound continued.
Boom!
Boom, boom!!
The vibrations shaking the ground grew stronger and stronger.
“Kuaaahhhhh!!!”
Then a massive roar rang out.
The roar alone was enough to send a powerful wind blowing toward us.
“It’s him!! We have to run, now!!!”
Bbahbbah2’s face had gone deathly pale.
Without another word, she grabbed my arm and started running.
At the unexpected movement, my balance pitched forward, and as I glanced back, her face entered my vision.
Frightened eyes, a stiff expression.
‘I know I shouldn’t be thinking this.’
But she really does look even uglier like that…
While we continued fleeing from the roar, I shook off Bbahbbah2’s hand gripping my arm and asked her what that sound was.
“Brangaur!!”
Gasping for breath, she shouted.
“He’s the ruler of this forest!!”
Even though she must have been out of breath, Bbahbbah2 still provided information.
Inwardly, I praised her hard work.
‘Brangaur, huh…’
It sounded like a strong name.
As I thought about the information she had given me, one question soon came to mind.
‘If he’s the ruler of the forest, he must be strong, right? He has to be. The word ruler is in the title.’
If possible, I wanted to fight him right now.
But perhaps because this was still the tutorial and I had no weapon—
[No current weapon / Combat unavailable]
Only a window like that was popping up.
“Tch.”
Why couldn’t I fight barehanded?
With needless regret, I could only smack my lips.
A short while later, perhaps deciding that we had put enough distance between ourselves and Brangaur, Bbahbbah2 stopped as if hiding behind a tree and breathed heavily.
I quietly stood beside her as well.
Unlike her, my breathing was extremely calm.
Perhaps finding that strange, Bbahbbah2 looked at me and tilted her head.
“Huff, huff, rookie… aren’t you out of breath? We’ve already been running for more than ten minutes.”
The chat window also seemed to agree with Bbahbbah2, expressing the same doubts.
- fr why isn’t he out of breath?
- Did he even run? He’s resting so comfortably
- I’m out of breath just watching, how are you not out of breath?
- Isn’t there some kind of correction?
- Unless it’s baby mode, reality mode has no correction
- Yep that’s right, it’s not like those babies with stamina gauges
- Waaaah!!
It wasn’t particularly strange for the viewers to wonder.
Since this was reality mode, normally I should have been out of breath like Bbahbbah2.
But I hadn’t expected Bbahbbah2 to wonder about it too.
‘The AI is better than I thought.’
Looking at them, I kindly explained.
It wasn’t even a particularly difficult technique, so everyone should be able to follow it easily.
“Oh, that? You just have to breathe properly while running.”
“……?”
- ?
- ??
- Excuse me?
- You just have to breathe properly?
- Did I hear that right??
Why were they reacting like this?
This wasn’t in the realm of physical ability.
It was in the realm of technique.
It was a technique ordinary people could follow too.
“So you’re saying you’re not out of breath because you breathed properly?”
Bbahbbah2, who had already caught her breath at some point, asked as if she found it absurd.
“Yes.”
Was that difficult?
“……”
Bbahbbah2 stared blankly at my face.
Thinking she might have understood, I stared back at her, but it seemed my guess was wrong.
She shook her head as if wondering what kind of person I was.
‘What?’
As I stared, unable to understand Bbahbbah2’s reaction—
- I understand Bbahbbah2’s reaction
- Ah, so if you breathe properly, you don’t get out of breath. Learned something new today
- So even if you sprint full speed through a forest that isn’t even flat, with the ground all bumpy, dodging all kinds of obstacles while carrying luggage that looks like it weighs 20 kilos, you won’t get out of breath if you breathe properly?
- yep that’s exactly what he said
- Are you perhaps from Seoul National University?
- Is this the breathing of a 500-pointer? Damn
- “Breathing of a 500-pointer” sounds fucking cool
- fr lol
This time, I had no choice but to tilt my head.
‘Seriously, what is this?’
With neither side understanding the other, only an odd silence remained.
In the end, after awkwardly staring at each other, we quietly began walking in the direction of the village.
Perhaps thanks to running for quite a while, we had arrived near the outpost before we knew it.
The form of the outpost began to appear faintly in the distance.
We only had to go a little farther now.
Maybe because Bbahbbah2 felt relieved, she suddenly began speaking rapidly.
“Whew… I can finally see the end. I really thought I was going to die. I was so tense because of the ruler of the forest, but we’re lucky we got here without any trouble. If we just make it safely into the outpost like this… I’m going to rest properly with a mug of beer and a turkey leg. Krrr~ Sounds delicious. And tomorrow I’m going to sleep all day without anything happening. There’s no way anything followed us all the way here. We’re near the outpost, after all!”
A parade of flags flowing like rap lyrics.
Every single line was so textbook it could be called the very definition of a flag.
Startled, I immediately reached out to cover her mouth, but—
Sssrrrk.
Seeing the two enormous lizards emerge from between the trees, I had no choice but to sigh.
Each of them was about the size of a small truck.
‘Was I too late…?’
They had called her a trolling little shit, but I hadn’t imagined it would be to this extent.
Seeing the two lizards, Bbahbbah2 froze in place, her legs trembling.
“Domagirius… Why in front of the outpost…”
- As expected of Bbahbbah2, she never disappoints us
- When it comes to raising flags, she’s truly the Bbah-king
- Whew, I was dying to spoil this but held back
- This is why she’s our bro Bbahbbah2
- Everyone gets flustered here lololol
- Fucking Bbahbbah2 bro!!
- Honestly, that’s originally Bbahbbah2’s role lolololol
- So what happens now? A fight?
- Fight, my ass, you have to run
- They do give you a weapon, but it’s a complete beginner weapon right now, so two of them should be impossible, right?
At that moment, one particular chat message caught my eye.
‘Oh, so they give you a weapon now.’
If that was the case, the situation changed.
What Bbahbbah2 had done wasn’t trolling. To me, it had instead become an opportunity.
‘I was already itching to fight since I couldn’t… Perfect.’
After checking the chat window, I rolled my shoulders once, passed Bbahbbah2, who was frozen stiff, and walked toward the Domagirius.
“Ssaaaah—”
The creatures smacked their lips at the sight of me.
“Rookie, what are you doing!!! It’s dangerous!!!”
Behind me, Bbahbbah2 was shouting at me to run, but
I simply said nothing, only meeting their eyes.
“Argh, you troll!!! At least take a weapon out of the bag!!!”
- Why are YOU the one saying that, Bbah-troll? lolol
- That pisses me off every time I hear it
At that moment, the world briefly turned gray and slowed down.
Apparently, they were giving me separate time to choose a weapon.
Soon, an interface appeared before my eyes, telling me to select a weapon.
[Select a weapon.]
Greatsword / Hammer / Longsword / One-Handed Sword / Horn / Long Gun / Shotgun / Dual Blades /////
Dozens of weapons unfolded across the screen.
After hesitating briefly, I chose the one that appealed to me most.
The greatsword.
The heavy, cold sensation I felt at my fingertips.
‘It’s been a while since I used a greatsword. I like it.’
When I lifted it as if wrapping my hand around it, the greatsword naturally came to rest on my shoulder.
From somewhere deep inside my head, dopamine began surging rapidly.
At that, the corners of my mouth rose without me realizing it.
At that moment, one of the creatures tilted its head slightly and observed me.
“Who’s coming first? Me, or you guys?”
Of course, I had no intention of hearing an answer.
Putting strength into my legs, I charged straight toward the Domagirius and swung the greatsword.
The trajectory of the blade tearing through the wind announced the start of battle.