“Walk like a man! Put more confidence in your steps!” Deus shouted.

“Yes, Master!” Tae-Sung replied.

“Hey! Where’s your voice?!” Deus shouted.

“Yes! Master!” Tae-Sung exclaimed.

He felt like he was serving his mandatory military service[1] again.

Step…! Step…! Step…! Step…! 

Then, he walked according to Deus’ instructions.

“Walk like a man! Put more confidence in your steps!” Deus shouted once again.

“Yes!” Tae-Sung shouted in response.

“You can tell whether someone’s powerful or not from their steps alone! Do you understand?!” Deus asked.

“Yes! Master!”

“Straighten your back! Tighten your core! Sharpen your gaze! Relax your expression!”

The old man sounded like a movie director telling an actor how he should walk while pointing out every single flaw in the latter’s movements.

“That’s right! You are doing good. Keep walking like that! Good! Very good!” Deus exclaimed, seemingly pleased by what he was seeing.

After two hours of learning to ‘power walk like a man,’ his master finally seemed satisfied.

“That looks good. I think that’s enough,” Deus said before adding, “You might not look strong, but at least you’re not walking like a coward anymore.”

“Thank you for your teachings, Master,” Tae-Sung said as he respectfully bowed toward the old man.

‘Why the hell would you criticize the way I walk and ask me to learn how to walk…?’ 

Tae-Sung could not understand his master at all.

“My disciple…” Deus called out.

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung replied.

“Do you know why I criticized the way you walk?” Deus asked.

“I do not know, Master,” Tae-Sung replied.

He wasn’t the type of person who would pretend he knew something and put on airs when he was ignorant.

“You were exuding the scent of a weakling from the way you were walking a while ago,” Deus explained.

“R-Really…?” Tae-Sung muttered in response with a dumbfounded look.

“Your movement was timid and cautious while you were overly conscious of your surroundings. How can you become strong like that? Don’t forget that you are the disciple of this great me. My one and only disciple walking around looking like a weakling is something I cannot accept!” Deus explained.

At that moment, a thought suddenly came into Tae-Sung’s mind. ‘Is it because I’m trash that even the way I walked made it obvious that I was indeed trash…?’

Finally, he could somewhat understand the reason his master criticized the way he walked.

He had never realized it, but it seemed that his unstable mind reeked from the way he was moving.

***

There was a saying that said: ‘A car dealer could tell whether a customer would purchase a car or not by simply observing their speech, expression, and gestures.’

Was it because a person’s habits would show what kind of a person they were? Or was it simply a matter of self-presentation?

Whatever it might be, it seemed that the saying that one could tell a lot by simply observing a person’s body language was not entirely false.

“My disciple…” Deus called out.

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung responded.

“It is an undeniable fact that you do not have an ounce of luck, you are not talented, and you are dirt poor as well. Do you agree?” Deus highlighted Tae-Sung’s miserable life before adding, “But do you know…”

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung said.

“Do you know what you stand to gain from announcing how miserable your life has been to the world? Only beggars roaming the streets hoping for some spare change will have anything to gain from doing that kind of thing. The world is a survival of the fittest! It is only natural for you to be hunted down and torn to pieces upon revealing your weakness. I hope you weren’t thinking about stimulating the motherly instincts of women so they would sympathize and be with you, were you?” Deus said in a strict manner.

“No, Master,” Tae-Sung replied.

“Lift your head. Be confident wherever you go and whoever you meet. You are the only—and only disciple of this great me. You are not allowed to grovel and lower yourself in front of anyone aside from this great me, your master. Including even the emperor! Do you understand?” Deus asked.

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung responded.

He did not disregard his master’s teachings. In fact, he engraved every single word on his heart.

Deus wasn’t just a flashy loud NPC created by BNW.

Brave New World created NPCs based on its ‘Doppelganger Algorithm,’ and this algorithm analyzed the appearances of the users, their way of speech, personality, movement patterns, and other things to create an NPC.

Simply put, Tae-Sung‘s master wasn’t carelessly generated by the AI. He was created after analyzing various users before he was molded into a proper ‘master.’

The reason the users did not simply regard the NPCs in BNW as a block of data that could be differentiated by 0 or 1 was thanks to the system’s ability to recreate artificial humans on a never-before-seen scale even in other games.

BNW was an excellent example of the saying: ‘Imitation is the Mother of Creation.’

Deus nodded in satisfaction and said, “Let’s get moving now that I have bestowed my first teaching upon you,”.

“Huh? Where do you want to go, Master?” Tae-Sung asked.

“We will go to a place where I can further bestow my teachings upon you,” Deus replied before extending his right hand toward Tae-Sung and saying, “Place your hand on my hand.”

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung responded.

He was curious about their destination, but he decided to follow without questioning.

Tap.

He placed his hand on top of Deus’ hand.

Woooong!

A magic circle suddenly appeared beneath their feet.

‘This is insane!’ Tae-Sung thought in surprise.

Warp magic was a high-level magic that allowed the caster to travel hundreds of kilometers in a split second. It was a type of magic wherein even rankers had to spend hours drawing its magic circle before they could use it.

Despite that, its magic circle was drawn in less than a second.

It seemed that his master—Deus—was not a Level 999 Hidden NPC for nothing.

***

Deus transported himself and Tae-Sung to a vast plain with clear skies and chilly breeze.

‘Where is this?’ Tae-Sung wondered as he looked around.

Tae-Sung was active in the Rheinland Kingdom located in the southeastern region of the Nürburg Continent. However, he was certain he was in a place that could not be found anywhere on the Rheinland Kingdom’s territory, as he was definitely sure there weren’t any mountains tall enough to penetrate the clouds in the kingdom’s territory.

Tae-Sung was certain that they had traveled more than ten thousand kilometers.

“Can you see that?” Deus said as he pointed at a tall mountain before adding, “That is Mount Kunlun.”

“Mount Kunlun…?” Tae-Sung muttered in response.

“That’s right,” Deus replied.

Tae-Sung was dumbfounded once again.

‘Oh my god… It took us less than a second to arrive at Mount Kunlun…?’ Tae-Sung thought in shock.

Mount Kunlun was a gigantic mountain located at the southwestern tip of the world map, and it was more than ten thousand kilometers away from the Rheinland Kingdom.

“I will bestow upon you my teachings in that mountain,” Deus explained.

“Really, Master?” Tae-Sung said.

“That’s right,” Deus replied with a nod.

He extended his hand toward Tae-Sung and said, “Let’s go.”

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung replied as he placed his hand on top of his master’s.

***

Tae-Sung found himself at the foot of Mount Kunlun, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the imposing figure of the mountain towering above him.

They ventured into an opening on the rocky mountain and went deep inside a cave.

[Mount Kunlun: Lake Cave]

A message popped up in front of Tae-Sung, and it let him know of his current location before disappearing shortly after.

“Come over here,” Deus said.

“Yes, Master,” Tae-Sung replied and walked toward Deus.

The interior of the cave was brightly illuminated by numerous warm blue lights, and Tae-Sung found his way deeper into the cave without much difficulty.

“The mosses giving off blue light in this cave are infused with illuminating substances, and they have lived for over ten thousand years,” Deus explained the light sources inside the cave.

They walked for quite a bit before a vast lake appeared in front of them.

“Wow…” Tae-Sung muttered in amazement as he stood astonished by the lake before saying, “The lake water is very clear, Master.”

The lake water was so clear the bottom of the lake could be seen from where Tae-Sung was standing, and the water was so still that he doubted if it were stagnant water.

“That is the Lake of Purification,” Deus said.

[Mount Kunlun: Lake of Purification]

A message popped up and disappeared in front of Tae-Sung’s eyes.

“It is also the lake that will purify you,” Deus added.

“Huh?” Tae-Sung muttered in confusion.

“I don’t plan to teach you for a long time. I will only teach you for ninety-nine days. It’s short, but it will be intense, and this Lake of Purification will lay the groundwork for me to train you,” Deus explained.

“What does that mean, Master?” Tae-Sung asked.

“It’s just as its name suggests, purification…” Deus paused for a moment before he continued, “You are quite dirty.”

“Am I really that dirty…?” Tae-Sung asked.

“Yes, from head to toe. There’s nothing good about you,” Deus said.

“…”

“So there’s no other way than to turn you into a clean slate,” Deus added.

“Huh?” Tae-Sung muttered as he doubted what he just heard.

“Just hurry up and wash up,” Deus said before kicking Tae-Sung’s butt.

Splash!

Tae-Sung could not withstand his master’s kick and fell into the lake.

Ding!

After falling into the lake, a message appeared before him.

[Alert: The Lake of Purification is purifying you!]

[Warning: An excruciating pain will fall on you shortly! Brace yourself for the pain!]

Tae-Sung had no idea what purification meant, and he also couldn’t understand why the system message was asking him to brace for the pain.

Fsshhh…

However, his doubts only lasted until the Lake of Purification started bubbling like carbonated water.

“Ugh…” 

Tae-Sung let out a moan at the strange sensation. However, his moan soon turned into a scream filled with excruciating agony that reverberated throughout the entire cave.

“Euaaaaaaaaaaahhk!” 

“Hoho,” Deus chuckled as he watched with a sinister smile.

“I told you, didn’t I? I told you it is going to be a very difficult journey, and you will wish for death in every minute and every second of the day! Kuwahahahaha!” Deus burst out laughing.

“B-But this is too mu—Euuuaaaaaahhk!” Tae-Sung could not even finish his words before he had to scream in agony once more. The pain was so excruciating he felt that he wouldn’t be able to endure it unless he screamed at the very least.

“Kekeke! Look at this punk! Is it really that refreshing?” Deus asked with the same sinister smile.

“Ahkkk…! Ah…!. Euaaaaaaaahkkk!” Tae-Sung’s screams continued to fill the cave.

“Hehehe… If I knew you were going to love it this much, I should’ve brought you here sooner.” Deus nodded with satisfaction.

Sophistry.

Forget about loving it; Tae-Sung was only able to resist the urge to instinctively log out of the game through superhuman patience and tenacity.

He felt as if every single cell in his body was being purged by the water.

‘The system is actually allowing this much level of pain…? I-Impossible…! I’ve never felt such excruciating pain in my life! I’m sure having my limbs torn off won’t be as painful as this! Keugh!’ 

Even if they advertised the game as capable of inflicting realistic pain on the user, he had never imagined, even in his wildest dreams that one could feel this much pain from a game.

Who knew he would experience a level of pain that he had never experienced in his entire life from a game?

However, Tae-Sung did not log out of the game.

‘I can’t log out,’ Tae-Sung steeled his resolve.

‘I have to endure this…!’ he reaffirmed his resolve once again.

He endured the excruciating pain through superhuman tenacity and patience.

‘This is my only chance to turn this shitty life of mine around… Let’s endure this and believe in master…!’ Tae-Sung thought as he gritted his teeth.

That was how desperate he was…

But the problem was…

[Remaining Time until Purified: 59 minutes 32 seconds]

He had to endure this extreme pain for an hour.

***

An hour after falling into the Lake of Purification…

[Remaining Time until Purified: 3 seconds.]

[Remaining Time until Purified: 2 seconds.]

[Remaining Time until Purified: 1 second.]

Tae-Sung successfully endured the hellish pain for a whole hour.

‘I endured it… I endured that hellish pain for an hour…’ 

He could still feel a burning sensation all over his body, but he couldn’t help but be filled with an ecstatic feeling when he realized that he managed to endure the pain for an entire hour.

He could finally somewhat understand why some people chose to expose themselves to agonizing pain. It was actually all for the sake of achieving enlightenment.

When he was about to reach the final part of the purification process, the bubbling lake water suddenly calmed down as if everything were a lie.

Fshhhh…

‘To think that I’m capable of enduring this level of pain… hehe…’ Tae-Sung thought proudly.

However, his satisfaction did not last for long because the fruit he had obtained after enduring the hellish experience was not sweet at all. In fact, it was terribly bitter.

[Alert: Purification Complete!]

[Alert: The player’s character has been reset!]

Tae-Sung almost went mad at the messages in front of him.