Chapter 15

My body felt light.

It didn’t even make sense to compare this to the days of <Gaia Online> or even to playing <Excalibur> at home.

A high sync rate.

The term on its own sounded pretty vague, but you could definitely tell the difference by experiencing it with your own body.

When playing virtual reality games, the character movement would be much smoother.

In addition, there was a drastic reduction in the lag which meant I had the power to easily implement whatever action I wanted.

Simply put, the higher the number, the better.

This was the first time I had experienced a 93 percent sync rate so I felt like I should play properly.

[Welcome to <Age of Assassination>.]

[Player nickname ‘Sha’. New user registration completed.]

[Now entering the tutorial.]

After receiving this system prompt, my body was transported into the world of the game.

My vision was filled with a pure white light before I was greeted by a new landscape.

A fortress city enclosed by high walls lay before me.

Soldiers with red crosses emblazoned on their armour stood watch atop the walls.

I already knew what this city was meant to be.

It was Jerusalem during the Crusades.

This was where AOA’s story, which was well loved ever since the era of PC games, first unfolded.

“I’ve never played Nightmare mode before…… Ah, I don’t think I’ll be able to guide you.”

Dongsoo hyung frowned as he spoke. He was floating in the air next to me, his body taking on a misty, indistinct form.

‘Overstepping Mission Man’ sponsored 1,000 won!

[100,000 won for a no deaths run of the tutorial. Max 3 tries.]

The dashboard Dongsoo hyung had shared with me hung in the right side of my field of vision, and the mission popped up there as well.

No deaths run.

According to the research I’d done earlier, AOA’s tutorial was notoriously difficult.

Wasn’t it said that even the easiest mode, <Tranquility>, was enough to drive players crazy?

AOA was divided into 3 levels of difficulty: <Tranquility>, <Tempest>, and <Nightmare>.

The <Nightmare> mode had yet to be cleared by even the best streamers.

However, I was forced to play in <Nightmare> because of my sync rate.

This mission wasn’t rewarding 100,000 won for nothing.

If <Tranquility> mode was enough to absolutely massacre the players attempting to clear it, what about <Nightmare>?

Well, actually, there was no risk to me if I failed this mission.

I didn’t have any reason to refuse it.

“That’s easy. I’ll do it right away.”

Of course, it was important to maintain the character concept.

My calm response caused the chat window to erupt noisily for a while.

Um, everyone seemed to think I was doomed to fail.

Certainly, most of the recordings I’d watched on my way here had felt like a tribute to the streamers’ suffering.

I read through the comments and smiled. Then I went straight into the tutorial zone.

“If you have questions, let me know right away. Okay?”

“I studied the tutorial beforehand so I’ll do it by myself.”

Dongsoo hyung cocked his head at my words and nodded.

Ahh, since when did the person ranked 2nd in the server get this kind of criticism?

Dongsoo hyung gritted his teeth as he looked at the viewers attacking him.

However, he slipped back soon enough, and AOA’s tutorial began.