“... Sorry… but it doesn’t work…” stammered Yongno.

Mari retorted, “Of course, it doesn’t work! Did you think that you could excel at everything?!”

“... Why… are you so mad...?”

“Ugh, so annoying!”

THUD!

Something seemed to narrowly pass Yongno; then he realized Mari had blasted a huge crater in the ground.

He murmured, “Would you… please… be careful? You could’ve killed me with that blast of energy.”

“I don’t care!”

“Wow, look at you!”

Yongno’s jaw dropped to the ground at Mari’s attitude. ‘I’m your client. Please have some respect.’ If he said that to her, he could get beaten. As he sensed her anger, Yongno stealthily stepped away from Mari. For some reason, she was behaving hysterically, and so the best solution was to leave the area.

“Alright, thanks. I’ll go grab something to eat. [Log out],” said Yongno.

Mari called, “Oppa, hold on.”

“Eh? Is there something else you need me to do?”

/You are logging out. You will not be able to move for 30 seconds while the log-out is processing. If there are any enemies in your immediate surroundings, we recommend that you cancel the log-out and take appropriate precautionary measures./

A cylinder layer surrounded Yongno. It wasn’t a protective shield, so it wouldn’t protect him. Those within this layer couldn’t leave, and if they broke it, they would be penalized. Therefore, as stated in the manual, players should only log out in safe areas. Otherwise, the next time they logged in, they would be greeted with the message [Your character has died. You cannot log in for 24 hours, and your highest stat's maximum value will be permanently lowered.]

Mari replied, “No, now that I think of it, I was being hysterical this time.”

“Yes, you were overly agitated, but don’t you think you’ve been acting hysterically too often these days? You look like an angel but act like a devil,” muttered Yongno.

“Pfft. I don’t have a personality disorder. Don’t you understand why I’m acting this way?”

Yongno was perplexed. “Come on, are you blaming me-”

ZZZAP!

Yongno was about to shout something, but he disappeared since the 30-second log-out time had passed.

“Geez, what the….” Mari sighed.

As soon as Yongno left, the world began to [Close]. In fact, this place only existed for the user, so while Yongno logged out, this world would stay closed.

“What on earth am I trying to do?” Mari, the gray-haired girl who was a part of this closing world, smiled faintly and instantly vanished.

***Trauma***

Yongno was asleep in his room wearing a pair of earphones when he abruptly opened his eyes. As if he’d woken from a long, deep slumber, his eyes shone clearly. He checked the date and found that the time difference between the real world and DIO truly was in a one-to-six ratio.

“Wow, it’s incredible! How did only six days pass?!”

Yongno spent approximately a month in DIO, which was quite a long time, but it was only six days in the real world. By merely playing a CD and connecting the earphones to the computer, Yongno could gain this much time.

“This is fantastic!” he exclaimed.

This was greater than Over Technology[1], and instead of science, this was closer to magic. If a game like this were released without any restrictions, it would be a phenomenal success and cause a huge stir.

Growl.

“Let’s get something to eat,” Yongno said, rubbing his rumbling stomach.

Feeling hungry, he got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. There, he opened the fridge and took out a slice of meat, some sausages, a quarter of a carrot, half a potato, and an egg.

“Let’s cook this cheap slice of meat!”

He retrieved a knife and chopped the meat before grilling it at high heat. Next, he sliced the sausage, potato, and carrots into thin slices to stir fry them, and he then mixed them with the grilled meat.

Sizzle.

The stir-fried vegetables and meat smelled delicious. Yongno prepared a bowl of rice, added the ingredients to it, and topped it off with a fried egg.

“Okay! I have stir-fried rice!”

He took it to the computer and began to eat while surfing the web. Indeed, every forum was talking about [The Appearance of Virtual Reality], but the majority of the comments were negative. For instance….

‘Bullsh*t.’

‘If that’s true, it’s creepy.’

‘Don’t they train their reporters? I guess they’ve been reading too many video game novels!’

‘Well, I didn’t believe the news either until I played the game.’ In fact, Yongno was still doubtful even after he logged into DIO. That was how outrageous this VR technology was in this day and age. No matter how intelligent and famous a person might be, if they announced a new VR game, most people would be skeptical. For those that weren’t, they would assume it was a simulated reality, where the player would wear an electronic device on their hand and touch a virtual apple seen through a VR headset. This wouldn’t be considered a truly authentic experience.

“Come to think of it, they told me the beta test would last ten days, right?”

At first, Yongno thought that it was a relatively short test. However, since ten days in the real world was equivalent to sixty days in DIO, there was enough time to beta test the game.

“I haven’t even completed the basic tests yet, but the beta testing period is almost over, right?”

Generally, these basic tests could be carried out in as little as thirty minutes. However, Yongno had been playing for a month and still hadn’t finished them. It was clear that he wasn’t playing the game normally.

“Hmm, I didn’t even meet other users, and since the beta won’t be open permanently, I must clear the basic missions ASAP,” murmured Yongno.

Then, he brought the empty bowl to the kitchen and washed it. Since Yongno lived alone, he didn’t want to leave unwashed dishes piling up in the sink.

Growl.

He heard another signal from his stomach.

“Oh, I should go to the bathroom before logging back into the game.”

He quickly walked to the bathroom and sat on the toilet.

“As far as I recall, it’s been nearly ten days since I’ve gone to the bathroom.”

While playing DIO, Yongno was confused as to why he didn’t need to use the bathroom. This was even more ridiculous since his underwear wasn’t removable. Yongno attempted to take it off multiple times out of curiosity, but that god d*mn fabric seemed like it was melded to his skin and wouldn’t even tear. Of course, he couldn’t masturbate or make love either.

“Still, it’s weird that I don’t need to use the bathroom even though I eat and drink. This is indeed a game.”

Some games allowed their characters to eat and drink, but it was difficult to find games where these characters also used the restroom. In fact, what was the point of having that function in games? Since they are merely game characters, it was disgusting and pointless for them to empty their bowels.

Splash!

After flushing the toilet, Yongno headed to his computer with a lighter body. He literally spent all his time eating, sleeping, defecating, and playing the game. Since he slept during his time in DIO, he didn’t have to rest either.

“Geez, I became a real nerd,” Yongno sighed.

Ding Dong~ Ding Dong~

Just as he was about to take a seat, the doorbell rang abruptly.

“Who is it? There shouldn’t be anyone stopping by my house.”

It sounded pathetic, but Yongno seemed nonchalant. He put on his t-shirt and jeans that were near the desk, then headed to the front door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

“Eunhye? What are you doing here?”

When he opened the door, a girl holding a bag strode into the house. She was toned, fit, and approximately 175 centimeters tall. Her name was Oh Eunhye, Yongno’s longtime friend. They’d been in the same school for years, ever since they were children.

Eunhye said, “I was wondering what you were doing and why you weren’t attending school. You’ve been a homebody, huh?”

“Well, our college scholastic ability test is over, and I’ve completed the required number of classes, so why would I attend school every day? Aren’t there other kiddos who’re skipping school? You know the classes are ending early now anyway,” replied Yongno.

He went to the fridge and took out ice cream. It had been over a decade since he became friends with Eunhye. He knew everything about her, such as her taste, hobbies, favorite books, foods, songs, etc. So, while Eunhye wasn’t invited, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t welcome. As her friend, Yongno would never treat her that rudely.

“What have you been doing?” she asked.

“Just chilling around the house. Eating, sleeping, playing video games, reading… things like that.”

“You are enjoying your time off, huh?”

Her remark could sound offensive, but Yongno replied indifferently, “Yes, I am. All high school seniors should enjoy their time off after the college scholastic ability test. Besides, I have a gig… sometimes.”

“I’m so proud of you.” She replied sarcastically but continued to enjoy her ice cream.

Eunhye’s friends treated her as an Ice Princess because of her cold and apathetic attitude, but only a few knew how cute and lovely she looked at times like this.

Yongno asked, “Seriously, though, what’s up? Is there something going on?”

“Not really. It’s just that the test scores were released.”

“Already? What’s your score?”

“Look,” said Eunhye, and she handed him her test results.

Yongno was startled. Eunhye’s scores were high enough to apply for the law degree program at Korea’s number one university.

“How did you get these scores? Aren’t you a student-athlete?!” exclaimed Yongno.

Eunhye replied, “We also know how to use our brains.”

“But… this is… unbelievable!” Yongno kept grumbling, “You’re making all the other test takers so miserable!” Then, he threw out his garbage after finishing the ice cream.

Eunhye watched him quietly before taking out another report. “... And this is yours.”

“Eek! Why do you have mine?!” shouted Yongno.

“I asked the teacher, and he gave it to me.”

“That bastard! How could he hand out my personal information to someone else?”

However, Yongno didn’t look that upset, and he took the report and checked his test scores. He saw grades like Rank 2, Rank 4, and Rank 6[2].

“Hmm, it looks like I screwed up,” Yongno said.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Not really, but I feel like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.”

As he displayed an aimless grin, Yongno folded the test report in half and shoved it onto the shelf haphazardly. Korea was a nation obsessed with college admissions. It was so significant that some students attempted suicide if they scored poorly. Yongno’s reaction was definitely too calm and distant.

Eunhye reacted with an enigmatic expression.