Wiiing-.

Jinsung, who roughly dried his hair with a blow-dryer, quickly changed his clothes and left the house in order to meet with Harin.

‘As expected, I think it was a blessing to have been born a guy.’

The time it took for Jinsung to get ready to go out including his shower was a short time of a little less than 15 minutes.

If he was a girl, it was a short time where he wouldn’t have even been able to wash out all the shampoo bubbles in his hair.

If that was the case, Jinsung may have not even moved a foot from inside the capsule at all.

‘It looked like the weather has gotten quite chilly…’

Jinsung, who rummaged through his closet and threw on the department jacket he was pressured to buy in the beginning of the year, walked towards the station with light footsteps.

There was still quite a bit of time left until the time he was supposed to meet with Harin.

“Shall I buy some custard cream buns on my way there?”

Suddenly remembering the custard cream buns that Harin liked, he went into a bakery that was at the entrance of an alleyway before he arrived at the station.

Ding-ding-.

However, at that place, Jinsung was able to meet an unexpected person.

“Caught you!”

It was no other than Yoohyun.

He had run into Yoohyun, who happened to stop by the bakery on his way to school.

“What? What do you mean you caught me? What are you talking about?”

While glaring at Jinsung, who asked with a flustered expression, Yoohyun’s words continued.

“I’m going to kidnap you to school no matter what today. Don’t even think about going back home again.”

At Yoohyun’s determined words, Jinsung smirked.

“Don’t worry, dude. I came out to go to school anyways.”

However, Yoohyun’s doubt didn’t disappear so easily.

“Don’t make me laugh. Do you think I don’t know? Based on the fact that you came to the bakery, you’ve run out of bread. You got hungry while gaming.”

Yoohyun’s reasoning was quite sharp, but Jinsung was really dejected.

“Ah, no. I’m telling you, I’m supposed to meet with Harin at the station. I’m going to school with Harin. Don’t worry.”

Yoohyun’s two eyes, which were bleary, immediately rounded.

“Huh? You’re meeting up with Harin?”

And the corners of Yoohyun’s mouth slyly turned upwards.

“This, this. So you came out to pick up Harin?”

Jinsung responded with a bitter expression.

“That, that’s right.”

“Ooh…”

Yoohyun carefully approached Jinsung’s ear and asked carefully.

“Are you guys dating now?”

“Hmm… That…”

Jinsung wore an embarrassed expression.

At that, Yoohyun shook his head and clucked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, be honest now.”

“What?”

“You’re… an eunuch, right?”

At Yoohyun’s attack that was sharp enough to go to the heart, Jinsung became as dumb as an oyster.

“How can you say such…!”

“You can’t deny it.”

“No, it’s because I’m so dumbfounded. Why are you making a normal person an eunuch?”

“No, if you’re not an eunuch, then why are you still not able to confess when a girl as pretty as Harin treats you so well?”

For a moment, Jinsung wasn’t able to find the words to retort back.

“Ha, what to do with this stifling dude.”

While looking at Yoohyun, who sighed as if it was his job as they left the bakery, Jinsung flew into a rage.

“Yo, then what about you? On the topic of you, a solo as well. Solos shouldn’t be like that to each other.”

At Jinsung’s words full of depression, Yoohyun wore a smile of satisfaction.

“What? Who did you say was a solo?”

“You. I’m talking about you.”

“Hoo-hoot.”

Yoohyun, who wore the smile of a winner, took the lead as he walked and laughed at Jinsung.

“Hyung[1] is no longer a solo now, dude.”

“…!”

Those were indeed words that was the same as a bolt out of the blue.

However, it was then.

From far away, he saw a somehow familiar-looking silhouette headed towards them.

“Yoohyun!”

A voice dripping with honey.

Jinsung, who checked the main character of the voice was shocked.

“No… No way?”

“Huhu, I’ve been dating Mina since a couple of days ago, Jinsung.”

For a moment, at the sense of loss that surged forward like a tsunami, Jinsung dropped the bread bag that he was holding onto the ground.

Plop-

Mina, who was a colleague in the same VR Department, and Yoohyun, who he thought was in the same solo unit as him, weren’t satisfied with just being a couple, and had become a department CC[2].

“…”

To Jinsung, who stood with a dazed expression, Yoohyun distanced himself after leaving one last word.

“Hyung’s going to go ahead first, dude. You need to come to school holding Harin’s hand! You can’t go back home!”

Yoohyun didn’t forget his request until the end.

Jinsung mumbled with a dispirited expression.

“For Yoohyun to have left…”

* * *

The two eyes of Carwin, who was in charge(?) of greeting for the Lotus Guild, had become sunken in from checking all of the application for admission, which were piled high,

“Wow, the influence of the trailer videos was seriously big. No matter how many I see, there’s no end.”

The Lotus Guild, which had gotten to quite a high rank now, usually had gotten an endless amounts of applications for admission.

However, just from the last couple of days, they had received 2 thousand applications for admission.

The fact that they went as far as raising the level restriction to 90, which was quite high, was even more surprising.

“Should I just raise the level restriction to about 110?”

First cutting off all users that were below lv 100, Carwin sighed continuously while staring at the applications for admission mails, which there were still hundreds of remaining.

However, because Carwin himself, who was in the executive team, was in the lv 110-range, that would be unfair.

“Let’s see here, the number of remaining spots in the guild now is…”

• The total number of people in Lotus Guild (225/250)

Before the territory system opened up, unrelated to whether a guild’s rank was high or low, a guild’s total number of people was limited to 200 people no matter what.

However, with the creation of the base system, whenever there was an additional base possessed by a guild, the maximum number of guild members that could be accepted expanded.

Of course, the maximum number of guild members expandable wasn’t just with the number of bases owned, but also applied with the rank.

Currently, the Lotus Guild’s base was one place, the Lotus Domain, at a ‘Domain’-rank.

A base at a Domain-rank increased the maximum number of guild members by 50, and because of that, the maximum number of guild members that could be recruited into Lotus Guild right now was 250 people.

“Since we’ll be able to merge Ollibus Village tomorrow or the day after as well…”

If Ollibus Village, which was a Village-rank, became a base belonging to the guild, the maximum number of people would increase by 25 more people, and if that was the case, then there would be quite a bit of leeway.

Carwin rubbed his bleary eyes as he began to thoroughly read through each and every mail.

“Whew… I should ask Fiolan to help with interviews.”

Once they filtered through for the last time, the majority remaining would be users in the lv 100-110 range, and with a level difference like that, it was more important to figure out whether they were a user that would fit with the guild well rather than if they were one or two more levels higher.

Because of that, an interview was essential.

Carwin, who became even more exhausted at the thought of interviews, let out a deep sigh as he mumbled.

“This break, I’m going to go up to Seoul and get the hyungs to buy me food no matter what.”

“Park Jinsung, Park Jinsung!”

“Whoaa, it’s Ian! Ian went to our school!”

The auditorium of Korea University.

And in that large auditorium, ten VR capsules were arranged in the middle.

That incredible cheer poured out to Jinsung, who went in and was preparing for the game.

“No, how do they know my ID?”

To Jinsung, who still didn’t know the fact that his face was prominently sold to the game broadcast, it was a flustering enough situation.

“Ha, because it’s so loud, I wonder if I’ll even be able to focus on the game.”

Jinsung grumbled as he closed the lid of the capsule.

Whooo-!

The incredible excitement could be felt even inside the sealed capsule.

Of course, it wasn’t like the excitement of the E-sports competition against the departments was this incredible.

Someone began to recognize Jinsung’s expanded face that popped on the main screen of the auditorium, and with that as the beginning, the atmosphere began to bubble up.

The VR Department students, who were sitting on one side of the auditorium, wore pleased expressions as they began to watch the match.

“Yo, Yoohyun, what number is this match?”

“Right now… Since we’ve beat the Physical Education Department and the Business Administration Department, it’s the third one.”

“Then if we just win this one, is it the semi-finals?”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Keu…”

Sewon’s gaze turned towards the box of spirits that were piled on one side of the auditorium.

“Then we can have a hearty drink, right, Yoohyun?”

Yoohyun nodded his head as he clenched his fist tightly.

“Of course. From what I see, Jinsung, that dude, he hasn’t even warmed up.”

“What? Really?”

Right now, the game that Jinsung was out playing as a representative of the VR Department was an AOS[3] genre game that was an incredible sensation for a while.

The first AOS game that had VR systems grafted into it, League of Chaos.

AOS games were games that proceeded with the method of five users on each team, ending up with a total of ten users, and they had to attack their opponents camp within a fixed map, but the AOS genre in VR had a different feeling from when it was the pre-existing PC AOS game.

When AOS games were PC games, there was a limit when a user controlled a character.

No matter how exceptional of a user they were, it seemed like they were gaming while using a mouse and keyboard, and unrelated to the user’s abilities, it was a structure where if they used the same skill, it couldn’t help but deal the same amount of damage.

However, AOSs in VR weren’t like that.

With combat in VR, depending on the development of one powerful person’s control, the ‘control’ element acted that importantly that they could even win matches 5:1.

Even if they were to use the same attack skill, depending on where they hit and how exactly they timed it, the damage dealt varied incredibly.

And in the last two matches that were just held, Jinsung showed his simply overwhelming abilities.

He was literally carrying a game that involved 5 people with just his own strength.

However, at Yoohyun’s words, who thought that he was still not completely warmed up even now, Sewon turned his gaze towards the screen with an expression full of anticipation.

“Alright, show them what you’ve got this time as well, Jinsung!”

Their opponent this time was the Computer Science Department, who were known as quite a strong team.

However, thanks to Jinsung, who showed the difference with his overwhelming abilities in the last two matches, no one in the VR Department was thinking of losing.

“I was a little anxious because Seungchan is a hole, but Jinsung even covers that hole and more.”

At Sewon’s excited words, Yoohyun nodded his head.

“You bet. He’s a dude that even received an offer to play pro in high school. Of course, his mother flatly cut him off…”

“…”

While the two people talked, the game started, and the atmosphere of the auditorium began to burn up even more.

Jinsung’s position in the AOS game was mid.

As he was the core attacker of the team, who could move up or down whenever he wanted while he cared for the team, it was the position that shown the most in the AOS game.

And as if he was trying to meet the expectations of the VR Department’s students, within just 3 minutes of the game starting, Jinsung grabbed the first kill point.

• Perfect blood! User ‘Jinsung’ of the Undead Team has gotten the first kill point!

Along with that, Jinsung’s face showed up on the screen for a moment, and cheering voices burst out from all directions!

However, that was just the beginning.

“What, what the hell? How are such movements possible there?”

“No, how can someone’s reflexive speed be like that? Is that a human?”

Exclamations full of astonishment popped up from here and there.

Jinsung easily showed plays that were only theoretically possible as if he was eating a meal as he began to oppress the opponent team.

• Triple kill! User ‘Jinsung’ is running amuck!

The hero that Jinsung was playing was one that had a skill format with a feeling similar to a mixture of a Magician and Assassin if compared to classes of an RPG game.

With a teleportation skill with a comparably short cooldown time, as well as a time restoring skill that could make a ton of variables.

However, as its Vitality was incredibly low, if there was even a slight control miss, it was also a weak character that could die just like that.

‘However, if I don’t get hit, that’s all.’

While remembering the words that Jinsung lived off of while they played League of Chaos, Yoohyun smirked.

“Woow, he climbed that wall and went over there!”

“No, how did he know that they were there and shoot a prediction shot? Are you sure he’s not map-hacking?”

Jinsung stirred the battlefield like a fish that met water.

The game was entering the middle phase before they realized, and through the kill points that he collected so far, Jinsung had become an incredibly strong person to the point he was untouchable.

• Double kill! Triple kill-!

Whenever Jinsung’s skill shot out, the Computer Science Department’s players turned into a grey light without doubt.

• Quadra kill!

As the ‘Quadra kill’ message, which appeared when four out of the five opponent heroes were killed one after another, popped up, the students of the VR Department’s students stood up simultaneously.

Yoohyun shouted out of excitement.

“Let’s go, Penta kill!”

And the white ray of light that shot out from both of Jinsung’s hands penetrated through the back of the neck of the last remaining Computer Science Department’s player before it passed by.

• Penta kill! ‘Jinsung’, he is a legend.

[1] Hyung = what a younger male calls a related or close, older male.

[2] CC = “Campus Couple”

[3] AOS = Aeon of Strife. The more well-known acronym/definition would be MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), which is a game genre including DOTA, League of Legends, etc. I wasn’t sure how many people would know, as I definitely didn’t, so I thought I would just include it here even though it kind of gives an explanation in the chapter.