Chapter 3

I fell for my dongsaeng’s childish taunting.

To be honest, I wasn’t really the type to get riled up by that kind of provocation.

He asked me to do it, and as a hyung who cared about his dongsaeng, I couldn’t say no.

“Hyung, I’m really good at gaming. I’ll take care of you, trust me.

……..Hooooooo. Really, I’ll let him off this time.

I nodded at my brother and carefully stepped into the capsule.

It was completely different from the old-fashioned capsule that I used to use.

Back then, the A/C in the capsule never worked properly, and when I got inside, it would stink of sweat.

I would buy outdated capsule models from a local seller at a discount, so in some ways, their state was pretty much a given.

Now, for the first time in my life, I experienced the comfort of a top-of-the-line capsule.

To be honest, it felt like it would be nice to sleep in this thing all day.

The cool air didn’t escape and the cushions were soft.

It didn’t seem like it would be a bad substitute for a bed.

The basic controls weren’t that different from those of the older capsules.

As soon as I settled into the capsule, I put on a headset which looked like a small hair band but felt like a tight clamp.

However, the pressure quickly subsided.

The headset adjusted to a better size for my head and my discomfort disappeared.

Technology really had improved.

In the old days, even if it didn’t fit properly, I would have had to put up with it.

Wooooooo!

There was a quiet hum of movement and then a world filled with white light unfurled before my eyes.

At the same time, I heard Jinhyukie’s voice in my ear.

Had Jinhyukie said anything about our capsules being connected?

Strangely enough, even without a special device, we could still communicate with each other.

I nodded slowly and closed my eyes.

“Shut up and connect to the game. Which one do I need to start up?”

“How about you shut up and play?”

I already had a fairly extensive knowledge of this game.

Why was that?

In military dormitories, there were few things that men would talk about.

Women and games.

Well, that’s about the extent of it.

I’d heard about this game many times before.

<Excalibur>.

It was the type of battle royale game that most people were familiar with; the main weapons were swords, spears, bows, etc.

Its impressive dueling system had created quite a stir when it was released.

The game had such a strong fanbase that there was even a professional eSport league dedicated to it.

As soon as I heard Jinhyukie’s words, I said the name, Excalibur, into the headset, and the view in front of me quickly shifted.

Suddenly, I was in the middle of a verdant green forest.

[The home of glorious duels between heroes, <Avalon>. Here, your story can become a part of the epics.]

<Excalibur> was a typical second-gen virtual reality game.

Since the first generation of VR games represented by <Gaia Online> , the synchronisation rate had risen significantly, and the sensations felt in-game had become much more vivid.

I’d heard about it before, but experiencing it for myself was a completely different thing.

When <Gaia Online> had been released, people had said that the technology behind it was beyond imagination, but now it had progressed even further past that point.

It was indistinguishable from real life.

Honestly, I couldn’t help the fact that my heart began to beat faster.

Obviously, after what had happened, I had decided to never play again, but now even that resolve was shaken.

Damn it.

Maybe I was the one who couldn’t live without games.

In the military, I had been able to bear it.

I quickly created an account and skipped the tutorial.

The tutorial was meant for users who were new to using VR controls.

It was completely useless for someone like me, who had played when the first generation of games had come out.

As soon as I skipped through the tutorial, the character selection screen appeared.

Since my account was at level one, there weren’t many items to choose from.

What’s more, when first starting out, this stinking game didn’t even allow for free customisation.

Well, at least I could use a mask?

It wasn’t even that big.

In other words, this meant that my hair, which hadn’t grown out yet, was clearly revealed.

Oh God.

[<Streamer Jin> is inviting you to join the broadcast.]

While I was still shocked about the lack of customisation, my brother suddenly sent me an invitation.

Jinhyukie had said that the name he went by while he was streaming was Jin.

I was forced to answer my brother’s invitation with only a mask on my face.

Soon my surroundings shifted, and I was standing in a beautiful lobby filled with statues.

My dongsaeng, who was waiting there, was wearing various accessories including a stylish cloak.

“Hyung, come…. Pfft!”

“Are you laughing at me?”

As soon as he saw me, Jinhyukie wheezed and started to laugh.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh…. Hehehehe. No, Hyung, I’m really not making fun of you.”

Sharuuung.

My brother made a gesture, and a large window appeared in the air.

Messages were continually filling up the screen.

I was pretty familiar with this.

It was a broadcast mode available to streamers.

Jinhyukie had probably made it public to show me, but the chat screen was pure hell.

Even the big companies didn’t get messages this crazy.

I glanced at Jinhyuk, who was obviously trying not to laugh as he replied.

“Sorry, my viewers are a little……..”

“A little?”

“A little crazy.”

The chat box once again became noisy.

One good thing was that there were always female fans.

I’d thought it would be filled with guys, but he had said before that streamers could pull people in with their face, hadn’t he?

But the words I heard next shocked me.

“In fact, 99% of my viewers are male.”

“There are a lot of kids saying Oppa, though?”

“They’re actually men. Why do you think they were shaking over your muscles?”

What?

These crazy bastards.

Was this the kind of thing you should show someone who’s just been discharged?

I knew what these kinds of punks were.

Vicious.

The chat content was the low-level of quality you’d expect from a platform like Twipod.

The chat’s firepower was strong enough that it would overwhelm some of the biggest streamers.

I looked at Jinhyuk as horrible messages continued to fill the screen.

…….Punk.

You really were working hard to earn money without your brother.

Hyung is sorry.

“……A little heated? My viewers can get a bit fired up. Still, they’ve been pretty mild today because you’re here.”

This was mild for them?