***Marionette Hold***

Just as he’d been told a few days ago, the package was delivered to Yongno's place. He’d been looking forward to this, so when the delivery guy showed up, Yongno quickly welcomed him.

"It's 5,000 won.[1]"

"Ah, okay, but this is...?"

"Yeah, the interacting device."

"Are you sure?"

Feeling bewildered, Yongno stared at the parcel in his hand. It was much lighter and smaller than he expected, and it didn't seem capable of holding a device for accessing virtual reality. ‘Can it even carry two books?’

"I already anticipated your reaction since everyone who receives this packet reacts the same... but no worries. This is definitely the product, so just follow the instructions."

"But the size is too-"

"If you have doubts, install and run it. As you can see, I'm only a delivery guy."

Despite his remark, Yongno was impressed by the man’s gorgeous appearance: neatly combed hair, a chiseled jawline, fair skin, and long eyelashes. It would be difficult to find someone with a similar level of attractiveness even on TV, but what stood out the most were his eyes.

The delivery guy’s eyes were calm and subtle, and the atmosphere around him was enough to make Yongno trust his words. Even if he introduced himself as an academic institution’s youngest research lab director or a vast company’s president, Yongno would still believe him. This was how confident and dependable this man’s aura was.

"This is all I need to run the program, right? With no additional devices?" asked Yongno.

The delivery guy replied, "Yes, as I said, just run it to find out."

Yongno nodded. He ought to stop annoying the poor delivery guy to satisfy his curiosity. If the thing didn’t work, all he lost was 5,000 won; it wasn't a massive sum.

"Then, I'll be on my way. I still have much to deliver," said the guy.

Click.

The guy bade farewell and quickly left as if he were annoyed at Yongno for interrupting his work.

‘He still has much to deliver? Are there also other people around here getting this game?’

This thought flashed through Yongno's mind, but he swiftly disregarded it since extending online relationships to real life wasn’t like him. Rather than dwelling on useless ideas, Yongno closed the front door and opened the box, but all he found were a pair of earphones, a user manual, and a CD.

‘... Is that all?’ Yongno was dumbfounded.

‘They don't even provide a headset? Is it actually possible to access virtual reality with just this?’

"No way."

When Yongno heard the words 'virtual reality’ from the unidentified, middle-aged man, the first thing that crossed his mind was a capsule, a cutting-edge coffin where a player laid down with all kinds of equipment attached to them.

However, the earphones were the only electronic device in the box. What did they expect him to do with this? Did they want him to listen to the most realistic sounds?

"It's indeed a scam. Well, it didn't make sense from the beginning."

The world Yongno lived in had cars that drove on the road, not in the sky. There weren’t any space houses on the moon yet, and thousands of unconquered diseases still remained. Virtual reality wasn’t just an immersive presentation of an artificial environment but a game made with a simulated experience of the real world.

From Yongno's point of view, virtual reality likely required technology that was just as advanced as what was needed for the previously-mentioned topics. Yet...

"The android looked so real..."

Yongno recalled the unbelievable sight he had witnessed a week ago. Unless he’d been unknowingly drugged, he could tell that it was neither an illusion nor a fantasy.

While it was true that an android went beyond current technological limits, to deceive Yongno in this manner, massive scientific and technological advancements were necessary.

It was illogical to use such revolutionary technology for a mere 5,000-won scam. And now that he thought about it, the earphones and user manual seemed more expensive than what he’d paid.

"Well, like the delivery guy said, I'll figure it out once I run the game."

Yongno inserted the CD into the CD-ROM drive to install the program, and he read the user manual while he waited. The manual explained how to set up the program and equipment, but Yongno was adept with computers, so this wasn’t necessary. Instead, what caught his eyes was the precaution section.

"The fantasy world DIO (Dynamic Island Online) comes with a CD and interacting device attached to earphones. DIO, pronounced as Dee-oh, doesn't require internet. Therefore a WAN port is unnecessary. As such, there's no problem using it in isolated places––WHAT?"

It didn’t make sense. How could someone run an online game without using the internet? Yongno felt it was absurd, but he continued reading.

"DIO will run when the included CD and interacting device are linked to the same computer. However, using a pirated CD or running a copied file from the computer will result in denied access to DIO. Wearing the connector-attached headphones/earphones improperly or having the audio volume too low may cause an access-denied error. While DIO is running, if someone touches the user’s body, their earphones/headphones are removed, or if the computer shuts down, they will be forcefully logged out... WHAT? How can that be possible when this game uses no internet? And it's possible to access the virtual world with only earphones?"

Yongno wondered for a moment, then tugged at the earphones to check the interacting device on them, finding that it was smaller than his two fingers. How could adding a tiny device like this to a regular earphone allow for virtual reality?

"Ugh, never mind. If I were to start complaining, I could go on endlessly."

After deciding to move on, Yongno put the earphones in his ears. His computer had completed the installation, so Yongno ran the program. Then, a message window popped up on the right side of the monitor with a rounded icon that said [Connect].

"Do we just connect without any login page? This is..."

Without hesitating, Yongno clicked the [Message] button on the messenger and typed in random characters. When he clicked the [Send] button, a message appeared.

/No users online./

"Oh, so this allows me to send a message to the online users…."

Now he was able to roughly grasp the situation. This program was truly making an online game that didn’t require an internet connection, needing only an earphone with an interacting device to access virtual reality.

"Oh, it's already past ten."

Installing the game and contemplating many things had taken too much of his time. Yongno found that the game had already opened, but as it was merely three minutes past ten, the server would be packed with users as long as they could join.

"Let's turn it on and see what happens. First, press the connect button…."

/In the beginning, I felt sorrow…./

"What is this?"

A man's voice, close to a whisper, resonated alongside soft music. Yongno looked up again to peer at the screen. On the monitor, the loading bar’s percentage gradually increased as time passed.

/For I had nothing that I desired…./

The voice continued. It sounded masculine, dignified, and powerful, even pleasant to Yongno's ears despite being the same gender. Yet, Yongno had no idea what the speaker was talking about.

/Still, I wish and hope…./

"What the heck is this? Is this the login page?"

Yongno was perplexed that nothing had actually changed yet, but nevertheless, the voice coming through the earphones continued nonchalantly. The soft music had also grown faster and deeper at some point.

/Here I am trying to create a new world…./

"What do you want me to do...?" Yongno grumbled as the music reached its climax.

/You shall be free here and now./

As if someone had hit his brain’s power button, Yongno lost consciousness and fell asleep.

***

"So, I just finished delivering it to the 413th house, right? Geez, this is taking longer than I expected."

Indeed, the deliveries were late. Since DIO would open at ten, the man tried to hand over all the interacting devices by nine, but he still had eighty-seven left undelivered.

"Why are they so curious...? All they have to do is just turn it on."

Besides, there were other problems. Some people refused to pay the 5,000 won for the delivery. The delivery guy wasn’t obsessed with money, but he felt it wasn't fair that some paid and others didn't. He even encountered a few women who tried to flirt with him because of his attractive appearance.

"I'm tired. If it were possible, I’d like to just throw everything away."

The moment he murmured, “But I must follow the order anyway…” a paper box suddenly appeared on his left palm. He didn't pick it up or retrieve it from somewhere; it abruptly appeared like magic. However, despite this marvelous trick, the man raised his other hand apathetically and knocked on the door.

Squeak.

The wall 'opened.' There was no entrance hidden in the concrete wall, but with a cracking sound, he created a door made of wood, not stone. This was so unbelievable that others would question whether their brains or eyes were functioning properly. Yet, the man remained indifferent as he entered and shut the door.

Click.

The wooden entrance became blurry as soon as it closed, and it started disappearing from the bottom upwards, leaving no traces behind.

Yongno realized that he was standing in a strange room; this weird situation made him dumbstruck.

"When was I moved here? From what I recall, the front door was definitely locked."

Yongno was about to quickly take out his phone and check the time, but he couldn’t find it anywhere. Not only was his phone missing, but his clothes had also been changed. Everything he previously had was gone, leaving him with nothing but these clothes made of blue fabric.

"Ahaha! That funny face.” Someone giggled.

"Eh?"

While Yongno was befuddled at the sudden voice, the space before him split open, and a girl with silver hair appeared. She was a tall, slender beauty. Yongno was someone who didn’t find any actresses, models, or TV personalities interesting, but even he thought this girl looked overwhelmingly pretty.

No, instead of using the word 'pretty,' this girl in her late teens could be better described as beautiful or gorgeous. If modeling agencies or entertainment companies saw her, they’d pay millions- no, even billions to sign with her.

Just a few days ago, Yongno was astonished to see the captivating beauty, Alice, but he was now wondering when so many goddess-like ladies started appearing around him.

Then, the girl asked, "Haha, even though all of you know that you’re using a program to enter virtual reality, you all become blown away. Is it really so unbelievable?"

"You sound like you’re saying this place is a virtual world…."

"Correct." The girl flaunted a refreshing smile.

Yongno touched his body, his expression showing his strong distrust. His body was there, and his feet were touching the ground; everything felt natural, as if he was experiencing reality itself.

Yongno tilted his head and said, "No way. Did you kidnap me while I was asleep!?"

"Oh my! You aren't even some dignitary or a big shot. Do you think you're worthy enough for me to go through the effort of kidnapping you?"

‘I think so…’ The words flashed through his head, but Yongno realized she had no knowledge of his background. Still...

"Ugh, the world is full of suspicion. Am I supposed to show you evidence?" groaned the girl.

"Evidence?"

"Yeah, maybe something like this...?"

As soon as she spoke, the space before Yongno opened again. Now, the girl held two swords in her hands. The blade of her right sword glinted splendidly with a blue tint, whereas the other red one looked impressive, as though it would burst into flames at any time. As if they were made as a pair, both looked exactly the same aside from their colors. Yongno knew nothing about swords, but even he knew that their exquisite design showed that they were fine swords.