The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

Started at 18, and now he was 21.

In that short, or long, period of time, Do-hyeon had really done nothing but game like his life depended on it.

While others were drinking and enjoying college life, he stayed cooped up in his room, solely focused on playing games.

He said it was for money, but honestly, it wasn’t for some grand reason like that.

It was because it was fun.

Although he played while cursing up a storm, the moments when he hung out with other veteran players, or when they hugged each other in excitement after finally getting lucky and receiving a rare item after countless brick drops during raids—all of it was just fun.

But in the end, all that remained was the server shutdown.

Did he really dedicate three years of his life to a game that went down this easily?

He had some skills, so if he’d played a different game, he probably could’ve made some decent money… They say that if you become a ranker in RinNiche’s VR version, you’re envied even by building owners, right?

Thinking about that made him feel unjustly wronged.

‘Why don’t I have any money when I’m ranked number one?’

The money in his possession amounted to a mere 500,000 won.

Even if you reached rank one in a game that completely failed, there was no way it would earn you any money.

No matter how great an item dropped, there needed to be someone willing to buy it.

The money he had now was painstakingly saved little by little while making pocket change during the game’s brief popularity.

“……”

If the first game he’d started with wasn’t this trash, but something like RinNiche… No, even if it was just an ordinary VR game, things might have turned out differently.

“Sigh.”

That thought didn’t last long as Do-hyeon soon shook his head.

“What can I do? It’s my fault for not being able to let go of this trash game.”

He could start earning money from now on.

Even though it was a failed game, at least he discovered that he had talent in gaming.

And it was in VR games, which were close to the dreamlike realm of virtual reality.

When considering that VR games were more profitable than PC games, there was no need to feel like the world was ending.

‘It’s not like I urgently need money right now… I can take my time looking.’

After all, he was living with his parents, so there was no pressure when it came to money.

With 500,000 won, he could easily coast for a month.

Not wanting to think too much, Do-hyeon plopped down on his computer chair.

He planned to look into new games.

However, when he turned on the computer, the first place he visited was the DemRock homepage.

“Ah.”

Was this what people meant when they said habits were scary?

Well, when he turned on his computer, all he usually did was post strategy guides or browse through other people’s posts on the homepage.

Click.

[When will this damn game shut down – Purple Taste]

Since he was already here, Do-hyeon clicked around the homepage, clicking his tongue.

‘No new posts.’

He thought maybe some hidden users might’ve posted something now that the game had shut down, but it seemed DemRock had been more of a dead game than he’d realized.

The last post had been from a month ago, written by that guy, Purple Taste.

‘Sigh. Let’s close it and gather some information.’

Just as he was about to close the homepage.

“…Huh? A new post?”

Right on cue, a new post had appeared.

And it wasn’t from an ordinary user, but from the game’s admin.

[We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the users who have enjoyed DemRock until now… Thanks to your support, we were able to end on a high note…]

Curious, he read through it. It was just a typical thank-you note.

Much like how webtoons leave a final message after their last chapter, this was just a long-winded thank-you for sticking with the game until the end.

‘Why am I reading this so carefully?’

Even as he chuckled at himself, Do-hyeon scrolled down.

He figured he might as well read the rest since it was the last message.

[DemRock, which was a test work and Season 1, has ended its service. We will be back soon with the official version, Season 2.]

The official version has been designed by incorporating as much of the data you’ve provided through your gameplay and feedback as possible.

We are confident that it will be a world full of adventures and freedom. We invite you to the Paradise of Adventure.]

“Season 2 is coming out?”

There were a lot of words like test version and official version, but to sum it up, they were saying, “The next game will be the real deal, so please look forward to it.”

It was unexpected.

He hadn’t imagined they’d been ambitiously preparing for a Season 2.

But honestly, he was skeptical.

‘User feedback, huh… It was probably all just complaints about how luck-based the game was.’

The infamy of DemRock’s RNG was so widespread that any gamer would know about it.

And if you were one of the users who played DemRock, you’d probably have poured your true feelings into your feedback submission.

And those feelings would’ve been steeped in a lot of angry curses.

‘And I’m sure more than half of those curse-filled complaints were from me.’

Most people wouldn’t know, but Do-hyeon considered himself one of the biggest victims of DemRock’s horrible luck-based system.

From skill draws to item drops, to item upgrades.

The list of grievances was endless.

So, no matter how much they claimed they’d reflected user feedback, he couldn’t help but wonder how much would actually change.

Then, it happened.

His scrolling stopped.

Something at the bottom of the screen caught his eye.

A line of text.

-Season 2 will not be a VR game, but a virtual reality game.

“…Virtual reality game?”

Do-hyeon’s face twisted at the sight of those words.

***

Every gamer in the 21st century harbored one dream deep in their heart.

A virtual reality game.

A game often depicted in secondary creations like novels or comics.

It was a fantasy because it was impossible to achieve in real life.

But after 2020, the world had taken a significant step closer to virtual reality games.

The third generation of VR.

Moving beyond the first generation where you only enjoyed the game visually as if it were reality, you now wore a helmet-like device that allowed you to experience the game like a dream.

At first glance, it was a device that seemed somewhat similar to the virtual reality games in novels.

But in reality, it was far from it.

‘Compared to the scenes in novels, the quality is laughably low. The AI is made up of lifeless graphics and patterns, and you can’t feel any sensations at all.’

Everything from one to ten was just an extremely degraded version.

It got so bad that even experts said it would take at least a few more decades before real virtual reality games could come out.

That’s why people were content with the current VR.

[…We will be releasing a virtual reality game, not a VR game. God of Savior will perfectly fill the void left by your exhaustion with VR, which only mimics virtual reality.]

“That’s bullshit.”

And that was why Do-hyeon scowled as he read the post on the homepage.

“No matter how bad a game is, this is way too much of a bait.”

Sure, the quality of the game itself was decent.

When it first launched, people had said there wasn’t a more perfect third-generation VR than DemRock.

It was a sign that they had some level of technical skill.

‘But a virtual reality game? That’s impossible.’

That was like claiming you could solve university-level math problems just because you’d memorized the multiplication table.

It was completely unrealistic.

There was no point in expecting anything.

It was frustrating that a game he’d grown attached to was deceiving its users right up until the very end, so of course, he wasn’t in a good mood.

And it wasn’t just Do-hyeon who thought that.

[Breaking News) DemRock has shut down. We can’t use the memes anymore.]

– Did that trash game finally die? I was wondering when it would, and it really did shut down.

– Yeah, but they posted an announcement saying they’re releasing a virtual reality game.

-?? What does that even mean?

– DemRock was just a test, and they’re coming out with an official virtual reality game? Something called God of Savior, or whatever.

Since the VR market was relatively small, word spread quickly among users.

It could’ve been one of the veteran players who was browsing the homepage like Do-hyeon.

Considering how fast the news spread for such a failed game, that seemed like the more logical guess.

The reactions were predictable.

– A virtual reality game? LOL, do you actually believe that?

– Exactly. If a real virtual reality game was coming out, the news would’ve spread like wildfire by now. It’d be all over the news, not just some homepage announcement. Geez;;

– LOL, but at least they have the tech, so they’ll probably make a decent VR game.

– So, are you going to play?

– No way, I’m never touching another luck-based nightmare game again. You wanna taste brick dragon bricks?

– Lol, bricks… That’s hilarious. That’s the first and last game I’ll ever play like that.

– It was fun while it lasted. Let’s never see it again. Seriously;;

Of course.

Because the idea of a virtual reality game was just that absurd.

That’s why Do-hyeon closed the community without any lingering attachment.

‘To make money from a game, I’d need to raise a character for at least two months… But it’s too late to start RinNiche now. Is there a good game out there?’

RinNiche was a game so overrun with veterans that it had started to rot.

Even if he tried to establish himself now, it would take a lot of time to climb to the top.

But if a game was too unknown, it wouldn’t bring in any money either.

A moderately famous game with mid-tier popularity would be ideal…

‘That said, I don’t want to just play any random game… Should I take a gamble and try one of the new VR games?’

He had confidence in becoming a ranker in a new game, and if possible, he wanted to enjoy himself while making money.

As he clicked his mouse and mulled things over, the door suddenly swung open.

“Hey, mom told me to give this to you.”

“Ah, you scared me. Can’t you knock?”

“Knock? What for…”

A young woman with short hair, still looking quite youthful, entered the room.

She stood about 160 cm tall with pale, delicate skin.

Her big, round eyes and finely arranged features made her the kind of girl men might find cute, but in Do-hyeon’s eyes, she was nothing more than a pig.

“She’s always acting out against me.”

“Ugh, gross. What’s with the ‘acting out’? And you should wash up, seriously. Stop locking yourself in your room and playing games all day. It’s embarrassing to even invite my friends over.”

“…It’s not like I’m ugly.”

As if he genuinely didn’t understand, Do-hyeon looked at himself in the nearby mirror.

Watching this, the girl—no, his sister Hyun-ah—frowned as if she’d seen something she wished she hadn’t.

If disgust could be captured in a look, that was it.

“Ugh… I’m already feeling sick, and now it’s worse. I’m heading out to drink…”

Without coming any closer, Hyun-ah placed an envelope on the shelf near the door and coolly walked out.

Watching her leave, Do-hyeon scratched his head.

‘Hmm. I think I’m pretty good-looking, though.’

He thought he wasn’t bad looking, even from an objective standpoint, but apparently, his sister didn’t think so.

Well, that’s just how it was between siblings.

Anyway, that was that, but now he was curious about what she’d left behind.

Using the momentum from getting up, he quickly walked over to the shelf and tore open the envelope.

“…!”

Do-hyeon’s eyes widened.

His hands trembled as he held “it,” disbelief written all over his face. His trembling wasn’t out of excitement.

It was more out of fear.

Even though it was unimaginable for Do-hyeon, who never flinched in the face of any raid boss, it was an understandable reaction.

Anyone would tremble uncontrollably if they received this.

It was a military draft notice.

[Military Service Notice]

-Name: Kang Do-hyeon

…You are hereby notified to enlist in active duty in accordance with Article 16 of the Military Service Act.

“…”

It was the call from the country that every healthy young man in South Korea eventually received.

Even the man once hailed as a god in DemRock couldn’t avoid the call of his nation.

“Damn it…”

And so, Do-hyeon, once a proud gamer, became a trainee in the Republic of Korea’s 51st Infantry Division.

Around that time, the official version of DemRock, God of Savior, was released.

And it came with the title of a virtual reality game.

[God of Savior, the first virtual reality game, is released!]

[A giant VR MMORPG appears. It aims to become the true virtual reality game…]

[Born amidst both concerns and expectations, is it a beacon of hope or despair?]

The virtual reality that had once been dismissed as a far-fetched dream had finally appeared before the world.