Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 2

2. The Chosen One (1)

“Hoo…”

A man closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

His name was Kim Woo-jin.

Although his hair was messy and unkempt, he was a man with a rather unimpressive background.

In his mid-twenties, his main occupation was unemployed.

A lifelong solo, a high school graduate working part-time, living alone in a cheap, run-down rented room.

Due to an accident, he had no remaining family, nor was there any inheritance left for him.

He wasn’t particularly gifted academically, and he couldn’t even dream of dating or student loans due to his severely tight living expenses. He was living a life of drudgery, going from one part-time job to another, without any vision for the future.

But…

“Finally!”

The access device, squeezing into the small room and taking up a prominent space.

Woo-jin looked down at the device with a blissful expression.

Some might criticize him for indulging in luxury beyond his means, but he didn’t care about such things now.

As a student, he had been madly addicted to games, and it had been his lifelong regret that he couldn’t play virtual reality games due to his perpetually lacking funds.

Even when he painstakingly saved money to buy the device with the sole intention of trying a virtual reality game, his hopes were shattered.

The reason was his constitution, which was not suitable for virtual reality games.

Most virtual reality games that had been released connected brainwaves directly to the device to enter the virtual reality, so they had some risks, even if they weren’t significant.

Depending on the constitution, one could experience dizziness, errors that prevented character movement, or, in severe cases, even shock.

Among them, Woo-jin was a severe misfit with a unique constitution, so he couldn’t even touch anything related to virtual reality.

Despite having managed to buy the access device with great difficulty, he couldn’t play the game.

Even though he received a refund, the sense of loss at the time was immense.

‘I couldn’t even try virtual reality games until now. But… not anymore!’

His situation, which he thought would never be related to virtual reality games, changed drastically last year.

It was the emergence of the virtual reality game ‘Warlord.’

The emergence of Warlord, which appeared just a year ago, was truly revolutionary.

With its overwhelming gameplay and perfect artificial intelligence system, it absorbed all the users of the virtual reality games that had previously shared the market share equally. Warlord forced all other games to shut down their services, creating a monopoly in the market, and it was still enjoying explosive growth.

You might wonder what that has to do with Woo-jin, who can’t even touch virtual reality games, but the important thing is that one of the elements they confidently promote is the highest level of stability.

Unlike the various virtual reality games that had been steadily raising concerns about risks, despite their amazing gameplay, Warlord had no side effects or errors.

Even now, with a huge number of users, not a single adverse reaction has been reported worldwide, so there is no objection to the game company using the word ‘absolutely.’

And even Woo-jin, who has a unique constitution, passed the preliminary safety test with a safe score out of curiosity.

It was the first time this had happened since he was born.

He managed to save money and buy it a year after its release due to tight living expenses, but just being able to start the virtual reality game he had only dreamed of, the best game in existence, made his heart burst with excitement.

Although he wouldn’t be able to immerse himself in it as much as he did with computer games when he was a student, there couldn’t be a better hobby to soothe a hard day.

“Quickly… start quickly.”

The installation was already complete.

Woo-jin quickly approached the access device and activated it.

Not long after lying down inside in a comfortable position, his consciousness gradually faded, and Woo-jin closed his eyes in a refreshing mood.

* * *

[Welcome to Warlord!]

[The authentication process is currently in progress.]

[User ID: KR8784638]

[Identity verified.]

“Yes!”

Woo-jin clenched his fist and cheered.

Clearly, he had closed his eyes in his room and opened them to find himself facing a wide-open field of grass.

A cool breeze brushed past his cheeks, and Woo-jin clicked his tongue in admiration.

Even though it was only a waiting area to stay in briefly before logging in, the sensation inside the virtual reality, which he had never experienced before, was truly unique.

To think that others had been enjoying this for years, he felt like he had lost half of his life.

[Entering the world.]

[Have a pleasant play today.]

Whoosh!

The scenery of the grassy field disappeared behind his vision as if sliding away, and a black space enveloped him.

A feeling of floating without a place to set foot.

Woo-jin calmed his excited heart and waited patiently.

He couldn’t hide his excitement as he imagined the scenery in the game that would soon unfold.

“Uh… is it still loading?”

After a little time passed, Woo-jin muttered in doubt.

Unlike existing games that required a considerable amount of time to start, he had heard that Warlord had virtually no loading time required for connection.

He had heard that the time was so short that it was hard for a person to perceive, but he began to feel uneasy.

And after being left in that pitch-black space for more than 5 minutes, Woo-jin realized that something was wrong.

‘Damn it, it can’t still be loading!’

Woo-jin struggled in the black space, but nothing changed.

It was impossible to manipulate settings or menu windows, and even the emergency logout, which was the last resort that should work no matter what, didn’t work.

A sense of extreme crisis that he had never felt before flashed through the back of his neck.

“Get me out! Help me! Get me out of here!”

Woo-jin started shouting with all his might.

It was out of a faint hope that a monitoring operator might see him.

However, no matter how much time passed, there was no response.

From the beginning, Warlord promoted itself as an innovative game where everything could be managed autonomously by artificial intelligence, and there was no operator monitoring the inside of the game.

‘No, that can’t be! They’ll come to save me in a little while…….’

Woo-jin knew that fact, but he tried to ignore reality.

It was difficult to face the fact that he was in the worst situation, where even his life was in danger.

But after a long time, he wiped away the tears as he anxiously tore at his hair.

“Hic… sob… I shouldn’t have started something like this.”

He began to regret his choice after denying the situation.

And soon, anger towards the game company surged.

“You son of a bitches! The pre-test said it was safe so many times! Just wait until I get out of here!”

As if bursting with frustration, Woo-jin waved his arms wildly in the empty space.

“Ugh… damn it…”

Next came fear.

He felt like something was about to pop out of the black space.

Even the scenes from horror movies that weren’t scary and that he had laughed at constantly tormented his mind, and an unbearable fear came over him.

The maddening silence and stillness rather confused Woo-jin’s mind, and an environment that seemed to drive him crazy pressed down on him.

‘Can I get out? Am I really going to die like this……?’

There is no one living with him at home, and no acquaintances who would run to his house even if they lost contact with him for a few days.

At best, the convenience store manager would send him abusive messages.

Woo-jin, who had gradually begun to resign himself to reality, began to relax his efforts and entrust his body to the space.

He could only wait for his body to starve to death while trapped in virtual reality.

30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours.

You might think that it’s not a long time.

But for Woo-jin, who was trembling with fear in the pitch-black darkness, it was no different from being trapped here for several days.

Is this what it feels like to be thrown into space with the lifeline cut off?

Woo-jin constantly grabbed his pounding heart and tried to calm down as much as possible.

Then he put his hands together.

“Please…”

He closed his eyes and began to pray.

Woo-jin, a thorough atheist, had never prayed before, except for once when he went to church with a friend when he was young, but he was grasping at straws.

When people become desperate, they want to lean on anything.

“God, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, all other gods! Please… please save me. Whoever you are, if you just get me out of here, I will believe in you and live my whole life! I really want to live. Really… really!”

As his throat became more and more choked, Woo-jin’s pronunciation became slurred and he sobbed.

Although his life was full of complaints from beginning to end, he didn’t want to die like this when death was approaching.

His expression, voice, and even small gestures were dripping with desperation.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a pure white light burst out in front of Woo-jin’s eyes.

It was such a bright and intense light, but it wasn’t blinding.

He could stare straight ahead, and it only infused strength into Woo-jin’s body, which had been listless.

And in the brilliant light, the figure of a person appeared.

“T-this is……”

The figure of a woman who was ethereally beautiful.

Unrealistic features, snow-white skin, and long, flowing blonde hair.

The shining silver armor and long sword that adorned her body revealed her righteous and strong appearance.