Chapter 100: Problem Child (3)

“The world is so unfair. Hey, don’t you think so?”

Before connecting to the capsule.

Dong-su hyung and I recalled the conversation we just had with Sung-su hyung.

Sung-su hyung had called the headquarters of in the United States.

In other words, .

Although there is an organization called in Korea, it is just a subsidiary.

It is an organization that cannot refuse orders from the headquarters.

There must be a reason why Sung-su hyung called the headquarters on purpose.

“He probably thought that was in cahoots with CEO Lee Sung-man.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Because Sung-su hyung treats us very well, but originally, he’s a person with no mercy. Even though he looks sloppy, I’ve heard he’s recognized in his family.”

Certainly, this kind of issue is better handled directly at the headquarters level.

But no matter how much of a chaebol third-generation he is, I didn’t expect him to have such connections in this area.

As I made a puzzled expression, Dong-su hyung looked at me and smiled slyly.

“Probably, Sung-su hyung’s group is the major shareholder of Lion.”

“Ah….”

“Anyway, don’t worry too much about Sung-shin. It’s actually Sung-shin who is worried. He didn’t talk about his contract because he was afraid it would affect you.”

At that time, he definitely said he had a place to go.

Who knew it would be China?

A Chinese team that had been watching Sung-shin’s performance as a substitute in the league and his recent rapid rise in solo rank approached him discreetly.

It wasn’t a direct transfer offer, but they said they had been watching his plays and asked if he would consider playing for their team someday if given the opportunity.

Sung-shin, of course, said he would have to talk to his club since he was under contract with Unicorn.

The problem started from there.

Somehow, CEO Lee Sung-man found out about it and accused it of being unilateral tampering, starting to threaten Sung-shin.

He told Sung-shin that if he didn’t listen, he would spread rumors about tampering and ruin his career.

For a young student, those were frightening words, so Sung-shin had no choice but to comply.

In short, CEO Lee Sung-man threatened Sung-shin to sell him overseas.

That’s why Sung-su hyung got angry and tried to intervene in this incident.

Anyway, the die was cast.

From now on, the situation was out of my hands.

The only way I could express my gratitude to Sung-su hyung at the moment was this.

“I’m going to work really hard on today’s advertisement, hyung.”

“…Chan-sik, can’t you go easy on me?”

“No, hyung. You were really good during . You were flying in the arena.”

“Is it the same now? I’m almost thirty.”

“Hmm.”

Doing my best in today’s advertisement.

It meant entrusting Sung-shin to him, and also because it was my first advertisement shoot.

I planned to be more focused on today’s advertisement shoot than ever before.

Besides, I had been slightly excited since earlier.

“Wow. By the way, how many years has it been?”

“Hyung, have you played any games since the Apocalypse Dragon incident? The service ended a month after that incident.”

At my question, Dong-su hyung glared at me for a moment and then replied curtly.

“Thanks to someone, I quit gaming too. Do you think I had a chance to play?”

“Our last play was two years ago.”

“That’s right.”

paved the way for the current virtual reality game market.

The game was so popular that many people bought capsules just for .

Thanks to that, capsules were widely distributed, allowing current virtual reality games to exist.

The impact of was tremendous.

Not just because of nostalgia, but it was indeed a highly complete game.

When we were having a brief conversation, the capsule engineers and programmers finished their check-ups and approached us.

“The synchronization settings for the capsules are complete, and we’ve finished the game bug checks. Please confirm a few things before we proceed with the video shoot.” 𝘳

“Thank you.”

“Can we use it right away?”

“Yes.”

They said that and then shouted loudly.

“We will conduct several test plays before the advertisement shoot!”

The start of the huge project called .

I heard that the overseas interest in this project was very high.

And at the beginning of that project was , the worst villain.

I exhaled lightly and slowly walked to the capsule.

“We’ll meet in Azirat after a long time.”

“Indeed.”

“See you soon.”

Dong-su hyung also said to me with an excited expression before entering the capsule.

It was the game that made Dong-su hyung who he is today.

He must feel as emotional as I do.

Ssshh.

As I entered the capsule, the humidity adjusted automatically, and I felt a soft cushion.

And soon, as soon as I put on the headset, virtual reality unfolded.

There was only one game installed in the capsule.

With more excitement than ever, I immediately started the game.

[Launching !]

[This game is currently a closed version. Please report any bugs you find immediately.]

After a brief message, the scenery in front of me changed instantly.

The game that took away my entire school days.

The very familiar intro of the game, which had countless stories intertwined, flashed before my eyes.

After a while.

A character that made my heart ache with joy greeted me.

[Welcome back, legend, player .]

[Player: , Race: , Status: .]

[Would you like to select this character?]

I stood still for a long time, just staring at .

Why was this so emotional?

Until the engineers outside asked if there was a problem, I just blankly watched my old character.

2.

#### -Currently, the synchronization rate is 97%. Are there any issues?

As soon as I successfully logged into the game, I heard the voice of the capsule engineer waiting outside.

It seemed they were paying extra attention since this was a crucial advertisement shoot.

The familiar sensations of felt refreshingly good after such a long time.

Items, skills, stats.

Everything was as it had been when I deleted it two years ago.

After moving my body lightly, I immediately responded to the engineer.

“Yes, no problems.”

The engineer gave an okay sign and added a comment.

-It’s really nice to see Shia again. I actually liked Shia a lot back in the day. Haha, of course, that was before the incident.

“…Thank you.”

-I’ll be cheering for you today! Now, I’ll hand over to the programmer.

The programmer’s check wasn’t long either.

Since the game had few bugs to begin with and we brought over the same files, there wouldn’t be any unknown bugs.

The programmer also left a few words of encouragement before exiting.

“Hey there.”

With an outdated greeting, Dong-su hyung appeared, clad in black armor and a blood-red cape.

Player name: Kan.

A character who pompously called himself the Black Knight of Blood. It was terribly childish.

But the look was decent.

Even though it looked like that, the armor he wore was made from the bones of the Black Dragon we hunted together.

Of course, I also had the same armor in my warehouse.

The reason I wasn’t wearing it was that I had better armor.

Dong-su hyung looked at me while lightly swinging a huge greatsword.

“If this was broadcasted, it would have made great content. Too bad.”

“You got paid, didn’t you?”

“The more money, the better. But hey… I still want that armor you’re wearing. Don’t you want to trade?”

“Come on, hyung. You don’t even qualify to wear this.”

The armor I was wearing was on a different level compared to Dong-su hyung’s.

It was armor made from the bones and heart of the Corrupted Dragon Lord.

A unique item, the only one in this world, bound to me.

I lightly swung the two black swords I held and nodded.

“Alright.”

Since I had confirmed the items and skills, there didn’t seem to be any major problems.

Just as Dong-su hyung and I were about to reminisce while looking at each other, the voice of the PD in charge of the advertisement shoot was heard.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

-Hello, I’m Na Tae-seok, the PD in charge of today’s advertisement shoot. The scene you will be shooting today is a battle scene.

A battle scene, huh.

If that was the case, wouldn’t it be better to do it on a raid scale and call in as many people as possible?

However, I had to nod at the explanation that followed from the PD.

-You will be facing an avatar of the Apocalypse Dragon. It has been significantly weakened for the purpose of the advertisement shoot.

The Apocalypse Dragon was the final boss, and reaching it required passing through numerous gates.

The avatar of the Apocalypse Dragon was essentially a fragment containing some of the dragon’s power.

Even though it was originally a raid boss meant for 40 players, a weakened version should be manageable.

I listened to the PD’s words, nodding slowly.

-The weakened avatar’s skill set is the same as the original. Only the stats are reduced. Since it’s been a while since you faced it, we’ll give you a few practice sessions.

As soon as I heard that, I looked at Dong-su hyung and asked.

“Hyung, do we really need practice?”

Dong-su hyung tilted his head slightly and answered in an uncertain tone.

“We’ll have to try and see?”

“I’ll help you. Do you remember when we played duo matches in the arena?”

It was about three years ago.

A tournament hosted directly by the game company, .

I participated in the tournament with Dong-su hyung. Thanks to that tournament, I emerged from the shadows.

At my words, Dong-su hyung nodded.

“Of course.”

“Let’s go with the same feeling as back then.”

“We were the first and last champions, right? Hearing you talk about it brings back some memories.”

I smiled and nodded at Dong-su hyung, who seemed eager to reminisce.

“I’m glad you remember. Shall we get started right away?”

“…You’re so mean to hyung.”

“We need to finish the ad shoot quickly so we can go have a drink. I told everyone I’d be off streaming today because of the advertisement.”

Dong-su hyung’s expression suddenly brightened.

“Alright. Let’s wrap this up quickly then?”

“Whoever looks worse in the video buys the drinks today.”

“Okay.”

As soon as we finished our brief discussion, the PD started the process.

-Then, we will send you to the nest of the Apocalypse Dragon for the advertisement shoot.

Soon after.

Paahhh!

The scenery before my eyes was dyed in a brilliant light, and then the , with its ashen sky, appeared.

The final dungeon of with an apocalyptic atmosphere.

Despite its extreme difficulty, it was the place our guild almost conquered.

Dong-su hyung glanced at me while looking at this nostalgic place.

“Remember this?”

“…Sorry, hyung.”

“When else can I tease you like this?”

This place held many memories.

I never imagined I’d return here.

I smiled lightly as I looked at the surrounding scenery.

Then, I spoke to Dong-su hyung.

“The strategy is simple, hyung. Just block the Apocalypse Dragon’s spear attack with your shield.”

I’ll handle the rest.

The was a mid-boss, so its patterns weren’t that tricky.

I was a veteran of , and so was Dong-su hyung.

Even if we had forgotten, muscle memory existed.

We had tried countless times to conquer this nest back then.

Dong-su hyung nodded, and the shoot began immediately.

-We will summon the avatar of the Apocalypse Dragon.

Soon, a massive dragon flew in from the sky.

It was so huge it covered half of the ominous ashen sky.

[Boss has appeared!]

[Heroes who stand against the end, please illuminate the world!]

Along with the red warning messages, the landed.

Then it transformed into a human form and summoned an ashen spear in its right hand.

“This place heralds the end of the world. Your arrogance will be the offering for the beginning of the apocalypse.”

The pre-set lines were spoken by the avatar.

I looked at it and grinned wickedly.

“Dong-su hyung.”

“What?”

“Honestly, even with reduced stats, it would look cooler if we took it down in style, right?”

“…Hey, don’t….”

“It’s nice to see you again, you damn lizard.”

As those words echoed, the roared violently, excitedly.

“How dare you, lowly creatures!”

[The is enraged by your remark!]

[The dragon’s fury is hotter than the hellish flames.]

[The ’s attack patterns have become more vicious!]

I looked at the message and nodded in satisfaction.

“Now, this is more like it. Don’t you think so, Dong-su hyung?”

### End of Volume 4