<h4>Chapter 1: Prologue & 1st Closed Beta (1)</h4>


    I love to y games.


    Yes, I love them more than anybody else, so much so that I wish I could have a traffic ident.


    I thought I would be better off with every part of my body including both hands alright, except for my two legs that I wish could be disabled.


    In such a situation I could y games as much as I wanted without being conscious of anybody, and I’d even gain sympathy from people around me.


    When I could not get any better grades despite my hard efforts day and night, I particrly felt obsessed with that kind of thinking more strongly than ever.


    Of course, my understanding or memory or concentration might not be as good as that of an ordinary person.


    When I was very frustrated and disappointed with theck of any tangible progress in my grades despite the enormous efforts and time I had given, I first experienced the so-called MMORPG (massively multiyer online role-ying game), an online video game that allowed multiple yers to y in the same space simultaneously.


    It was a new world to me because I got rewarded for all the efforts I made in that game.


    In other words, when I created the characters to rece me and killed the monster with the entry-level weapon in the game, I always received EXP or experience points for that.


    It was not the kind of stuff that required me to make the enormous efforts to recite English words hundreds of times to memorize them, but I received a certain amount of EXP in proportion to my performance.


    I saw my level going up and stronger than before in the game because of my repeated actions.


    And surprisingly I continued to level up, which was something quite opposite to the situation where I found myself trying hard to recall the English words that I had managed to memorize but soon forgot.


    Of course, I sometimes had bad luck when I had to drop items after hunting monsters, but it was okay anyway because I could keep hunting until I found the item that I wanted.


    And all the efforts that I continued to make until I secured the item I wanted were never wasted like my studying in vain.


    Obviously, there was something I earned in the process of obtaining the item, which was none other than experience.


    I also obtained other items that proved useful to me, even if they were not what I wanted.


    Over time I forgot everything I tried so hard to memorize, but I never witnessed my level, experience points, and items decrease or disappear in the games.


    And I didn’t have to worry about it from the beginning.


    Naturally, I was supposed to be hooked onto the games, but I wasn’t.


    In fact, I failed to do so because of my parents who wanted me to study hard and my elder brother and sister who were smarter than me.


    As they say, there really were people who never masturbated, but none masturbated only once in their lives.


    That could be applied to me in the games.


    Once I came to know the games, I often thought about them while I was wrapped up in studying.


    So, I purchased the second-generation popr VR interface adapter without my parents’ knowledge.


    Although it was a used item, I paid over five million Korean won ($5,000) for it. But I had no problem buying it because of my handsome allowance.


    Right after I purchased it, I didn’t ess the MMORPG that opened a new world for me because I was not sure if I could get out of it once I essed it.


    Anyway, I am a student at the moment, so I’m not foolish enough to forget my ce.


    To be honest, I was more scared of my father’s scolding.


    That’s why I began to search for the kind of game that I could y with all my heart before stopping once and for all.


    Of course, there were some games that I was looking for, such as the strategic simtion games like ‘Star Wars.’


    But such games had fatal shorings that didn’t draw my attention.


    Namely, theycked sustainability and continuity.


    After all, I found one while I was trying to find role ying games.


    It was a game I yed in closed beta. In other words, it was a role ying game in closed beta where any specified user could enjoy the given content for a certain period of time.


    As the game in closed beta suggested, it was a game which was not yetpleted.


    I liked it better for that reason because I once wished I could lose interest in the game after getting sick and tired of it. I needed to concentrate on studying.


    Anyway, the gamecked sustainability and continuity because of its closed beta attribute, but it was the type of game that satisfied my tastes most. So, I surfed the inte immediately and searched for a closed beta version at the earliest date, and I finally found one.


    Then I entered my email address and mobile phone number in the closed beta participation form, namely the role-ying game called Forgotten Legend.


    ***


    Ring, ring.


    “Ugh?”


    I heard a message beep on my mobile phone while I was sitting on a chair blindly memorizing math forms that I could not understand. Since I turned off all my chat room notifications including the open ones, I lifted my mobile phone and double checked it curiously. And I confirmed it.


    It was a message informing me that I was picked to participate in the ‘Forgotten Legend’ game that would be yed in the first closed beta.


    “Oh! I made it!”


    Of course, I didn’t bet everything on this particr game.


    That’s why I applied to participate in all the closed beta games for fear that I might not be picked for ‘Forgotten Legend.’


    But I waited for the results because it was this role-ying game that would proceed with the closed beta as quickly as possible.


    I slightly checked the time. It was 8:30 PM.


    “Why did they send out a message in the evening?”


    I waited for the next message while grumbling a bit.


    At 9:00 PM, the housemaid was supposed to bring me some snacks and a bowl of herbal medicine that would allegedly stimte my brain. Of course, after bringing them to me, she would immediately report to my mother about what I was doing.


    “Dang it! The second-generation popr VR interface adaptor can’t download programs by itself.”


    The 2nd generation popr VR adaptor.


    When I checked the production date on it, it was produced almost 12 years ago.


    Compared to the 3rd generation VR adaptor these days, it must be junk.


    Of course, I’ve got the 3rd one which is more expensive and iparably more efficient than the 2nd one and an unpopr high-end one.


    But I don’t use it because the 3rd one is equipped with a highly efficient AI helper, unlike the 2nd one that only allows mechanicalmandnguage. Besides, it basically reports the users’ usage history to their parents if they are a minor.


    That’s why I had to buy the 2nd generation VR adaptor for 5 million won.


    Anyway I idled away, waiting for the housemaid.


    Exactly at 5:00 PM, I heard her footsteps outside the door.


    “Juyoung, can Ie in?”


    “Yes, pleasee in.”


    It’s been already five years since she started working at my house, so she was not just an ordinary housemaid to me. So, I replied gently.


    In no time she came in and put down the herbal soup chongmyongtang and some snacks and fruits by the desk.


    “Studying is tough for you these days, right?”


    “Well, not really. I have to do it anyway as a student.”


    “I see. If you need anything else, let me know.”


    “Sure.”


    She left after that, and I opened the wardrobe quickly.


    Then I took out the helmet-shaped 2nd generation popr VR adaptor, rather crudepared to the 3rd one.


    “I hope it works well.”