“Did you just say… invincible…?” Tae-Sung muttered in surprise.

The word ‘invincible’ was stuck in his mind as he recalled the overwhelming power that Deus displayed moments ago.

Tae-Sung agreed. That power was definitely worthy of the word ‘invincible.’

“That’s right,” Deus replied as he nodded.

“Is that right… elder?” Tae-Sung asked.

“Hey!” Deus exclaimed as he grimaced. It seemed that being called elder did not sit well with the old man.

“What do you mean by elder? You are to address me as master from now on, you got that?” Deus said.

“Ah, yes,” Tae-Sung replied.

“Who am I?” Deus asked.

“You are my master,” Tae-Sung responded.

“That’s right. I am your master, and you are the only disciple of this great me,” Deus said.

“Yes, Master!” Tae-Sung exclaimed.

Tae-Sung resolved to serve Deus as his master without any hesitation.

It was not an exaggeration to call the Level 999 Hidden NPC, who was capable of dealing 999,999,999,999 damage in a single hit, a supreme being.

Tae-Sung concluded that someone like this old man was not only a master worthy to be served, but it was Tae-Sung’s honor to serve him as well.

“You will learn how to become an invincible being underneath this great me. It is going to be a very difficult journey. You will wish for death in every minute and every second of the day. Are you prepared for it?” Deus asked.

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung confidently replied.

His master warned him of the difficulty awaiting him, but he remained unfazed. After all, he had been about to check the temperature of the Han River with his own body.[1] He was prepared to drink even a bottle of lye water if it meant receiving a second chance.

“Alright,” Deus said with satisfaction as he looked at Tae-Sung’s resolute expression.

“Since it’s just our first day, go back to your hometown for today. Come find me tomorrow. Ah, and…” Deus said before he started to rummage through his clothes, looking for something. He then took something out and extended it to Tae-Sung. “Take this. You look so pitiful right now. Go ahead and sell this, then get yourself some decent clothes and eat something nice. This is my first gift to you as your master.”

“What is this…?” Tae-Sung asked as he looked at the item in Deus’ hand.

It was just a small necklace.

The problem was…

‘Blessing of Persia?!’ Tae-Sung exclaimed inside.

It was a necklace being sold for a hundred million won in real-life money.

***

「Web Message」

「117,000,000 won has been deposited to your account from ‘Trade Mania Co., Ltd.’」

「Thank you.」

「Woosan Bank」

That evening…

“This is awesome…” Tae-Sung muttered to himself.

It was only after the item ‘Blessing of Persia’ was sold on the item trading site, Trade Mania, that he finally acknowledged that he had truly met his master, Deus.

“Is he really an NPC, and not a moderator…?” Tae-Sung said to himself.

It still seemed surreal to him.

A Level 999 Hidden NPC suddenly appeared and gave him a quest to become the former’s disciple. The former even gave him an item on top of that.

Who would believe him?

“I hope the developers are not playing with me…” Tae-Sung said with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

“Still… there’s no way that the developers would bother with someone like me…”

That thought was totally eliminated from his mind when he recalled what the vice chairman of Hive, Oppenheimer, said in an interview.

「There is no such thing as a ‘balance patch’ in Brave New World. BNW is not just another game, it is another reality as well.」

「The game scenario, ‘Nürburg Saga’ coupled with the Artificial Intelligence program, ‘Doppelganger Algorithm’ is perfect. As such, we are not going to get involved with the game. We are simply going to observe quietly from the sidelines.」

They would observe without getting involved.

This was Hive’s policy and motto when it came to Brave New World, and this showed the level of trust they had for the game they had developed.

“Let’s see how it goes for now…” Tae-Sung muttered. For now, he decided to stop doubting the entire situation.

There was a saying that a person would receive three opportunities in life, right? It could be possible that meeting Deus was one of the opportunities he rightfully owned.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape from this shithole of a life.

He had to grab this opportunity no matter what.

Of course, there were a few things he had to settle first before anything else.

“First…” Tae-Sung muttered as he booted his computer and accessed his Internet Banking. “Let’s pay this month’s interest first.”

He made the smart choice of servicing his debt before anything else as soon as he earned money.

***

Tae-Sung was in debt.

A bit of debt was something like a passive life skill for those born dirt poor.

To make it worse, Tae-Sung took even more debt to buy all sorts of expensive items only to become empty-handed in the end. His debt naturally evolved into a monster that amounted to hundreds of millions of won.

He was able to earn a huge sum of money after selling the item his master gave him as a gift, but after paying whatever he could pay, what he had earned was reduced to almost nothing in the blink of an eye.

Debt…

Utility bills…

Phone and internet bills…

Months of rent due…

Game account fee…

Other miscellaneous costs…

After settling his urgent debts and bills, he only had three million won left.

Tae-Sung took fifty thousand won from the three million and wired the remaining 2,950,000 won to his sister and mother living in the province.

He decided to call his mother after a long while.

“Mom,” Tae-Sung said over the phone.

—Why didn’t you call back? You didn’t even answer your phone. I was worried.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been a bit busy these days,” Tae-Sung said.

—Are you having a tough time these days? It has been a while since you visited as well.

“Not at all,” Tae-Sung replied and put up a front.

—I’m sorry.

Tae-Sung felt like tearing up when he heard his mother’s trembling voice.

His mother had been suffering throughout her entire life. Her life took a turn for the worse after meeting his father, who was a violent, irresponsible, and patriarchal man. However, she did not give up on Tae-Sung and his sister. She withstood all the abuse for more than thirty years.

This was the reason why Tae-Sung prioritized sending money to his family whenever he made any money.

—I’m sorry that you have to suffer because I’m lacking…

“I’m not. Don’t say that,” Tae-Sung replied, and then he added, “You did nothing wrong, Mom. You did everything right. You did everything you can, and you did not abandon Tae-Hee and me. You raised us as best as you can.”

—Son…

“I’m not struggling at all so don’t worry about me. Oh, I sent you some money just now,” said Tae-Sung.

—You didn’t have to do that, Tae-Sung. You… you have to save up and get married, too.

“What do you mean by I didn’t have to? It has been three months since I last sent you anything so you guys must be struggling there. Just use that for now,” Tae-Sung said.

—Tae-Sung… if things get too difficult for you—

Tae-Sung noticed that his mother was about to suggest that he return to their hometown, so he immediately cut her off.

“Mom, I’ll have to hang up now. I’m busy, so I’ll call back next time,” he said before one-sidedly hanging up.

He had to end the call, as he felt like he would not be able to control his emotions if he spoke with her any further.

“Hoo…” Tae-Sung exhaled as he composed himself.

“Let’s not become weak and do something stupid again. My family is going to suffer if I fall down now. Mom and Tae-Hee can live comfortably as long as I work harder…” he said as he steeled his resolve once again.

He vowed not to ruin himself ever again and put his family in jeopardy.

***

The next morning…

Tae-Sung woke up early and went to the convenience store nearby.

He purchased a bottle of water, noodles, a lunch box set, and some other things with the fifty thousand won he still had.

He could have splurged and bought some meat after earning a huge sum, but he had his priorities.

The part time worker at the convenience store, Kim Young-Hee, scanned the items Tae-Sung had brought to the counter.

“That will be 50,100 won,” Kim Young-Hee said in a cold voice.

“Here,” Tae-Sung replied as he extended his debit card to her.

「Insufficient Funds」

His card was declined.

“Ah… please remove this,” Tae-Sung said.

He took out a bowl of instant rice[2] out of the plastic bag after realizing he was short by a hundred won.

‘Is this guy a beggar? Geez… I wish I won’t see this damned junkie bastard anymore. I’m sure he played games all night again,’ Kim Young-Hee thought as she glared at Tae-Sung with eyes full of disgust.

Kim Young-Hee hated Tae-Sung, who frequently came to the convenience store. She hated seeing his disheveled hair, his messy beard, his worn-out shirt, and his pants riddled with holes.

The only saving grace about him was the fact that he did not stink like an old man or of cigarette, but Tae-Sung was still the very definition of someone a woman would hate to talk with.

‘She’s looking at me with those eyes again,’ Tae-Sung thought.

He knew very well that Kim Young-Hee’s eyes would always be filled with disgust and contempt toward him, and he also knew very well that he looked quite detestable right now.

‘Does she really think I want to live like this?’ he grumbled inwardly.

It was inevitable for him to live like this.

How could it be possible for someone riddled with debt and at the lowest point of his life to even have the luxury of thinking about dressing up and grooming himself?

Still, there was no way anyone would not be offended after being glared at with those contemptuous and disgusted eyes just because of their appearance. Of course, the one looking at him with those eyes could be uncomfortable with his presence, but Tae-Sung couldn’t help but feel that he was being wronged here.

‘Please… let’s not live while being stared at by those eyes anymore. Let’s live with dignity…’ 

Tae-Sung steeled his resolve after leaving the convenience store.

He might not become the person everyone would look up to, but he vowed to work hard and strive not to be looked down on by anyone anymore.

***

Tae-Sung ate a triangle kimbap[3] and a cup noodle before going inside the VR capsule and accessing the BNW client.

[Loading…]

[Connection Established!]

The message disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and Tae-Sung found himself inside a dark cave.

“I live in a cramped room in real life, and I’m in a cave in the game, too…” he grumbled.

Other people lived an entirely different life in the game compared to their real lives, but that was not the case for Tae-Sung. After all, there wasn’t that much difference between the life he had been living in the game and his real life.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of him.

[Alert: Your master, Deus, is waiting for you deep within the forest.]

A message alerted him that his master was waiting for him.

“Let’s get moving,” Tae-Sung said as he left the cave to go to his master.

***

It took Tae-Sung thirty minutes before he finally met his master deep in the forest.

“So you have finally arrived, my disciple,” Deus said.

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung replied.

“But…” Deus inspected Tae-Sung from head to toe before he grimaced and said, “Does your stomach hurt and you want to take a shit or did you choose to become a girl from now on?”

“Huh? I do not understand what you mean…” Tae-Sung muttered in response.

“Why is a man walking without an ounce of confidence in his steps?!” Deus shouted.

His thunderous voice reverberated throughout the forest.

“Aah!” Tae-Sung exclaimed. The thunderous boom felt like it would pop his eardrums.

He tried to cover his ears, but that was nowhere enough to block off his master’s thunderous voice. His master’s shout just now was not simply a loud sound, but it was similar to a shockwave that shook Tae-Sung’s brain.

Tae-Sung felt as if his brain was shaken. His heart felt like it was being pressured as well, and his legs trembled from the shout. The hair throughout his body all stood on end.

His master’s shout could be classified as an attack rather than a rebuke.

In fact, that single shout had reduced his HP by ninety percent.

[HP: ⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜]

‘Crazy…! How is this even possible?!’ he exclaimed inwardly.

He had never imagined that a single shout could deal so much damage.

“Try walking again,” Deus commanded. However, he grimaced when he saw that Tae-Sung was still in a daze. As such, he exclaimed to get the latter back to his senses, “Get moving!”

“Eh…? Ah, yes!” Tae-Sung replied.

He started walking while fearing for his life.

Gulp…! Gulp…! Gulp…! 

He did not forget to hurriedly drink a healing potion while he was at it.