Today was another tough day.
From getting up early for work to finishing up and heading home.
Like all office workers, this repetitive, hamster-wheel-like routine is always exhausting.
Physical exhaustion?
That’s a secondary issue.
The real struggle for Joon-woo was the soulless repetition of tasks anyone could do.
‘Why does time pass so slowly?’
That’s why Joon-woo wanted to find meaning in his life after work.
This was the reason he played games.
In the game, he could exist as his true self.
In the game, unlike in reality, Joon-woo was superior to others.
He could do many things that others couldn’t.
The game ‘Over the Fantasy’.
In a way, it was a special space where Joon-woo could realize his self.
“Kim Deputy, did you draft the report?”
“Yes, Manager. It’s all done.”
“Good work, let’s start wrapping up for the day.”
“Thank you!”
Thanks to this, Joon-woo felt reenergized on his way home, separate from his exhaustion.
‘Yes, managed to leave work on time!’
Especially today, which was a bit more special.
‘It’s six o’clock now… The announcement must be up on the official website, right?’
Joon-woo’s favorite game, Over the Fantasy.
This amazing game was having its first major update in three years.
“There it is…! It’s up!”
Joon-woo’s eyes sparkled more than usual as he checked the update announcement.
* * *
Over the Fantasy was a bit of an unusual game.
It had more realistic technology than any other virtual reality game released recently.
Yet, it was the least profitable among the world-famous virtual reality games.
Was it because the game was technically advanced but not fun?
Some players thought so, but Joon-woo didn’t agree.
Over the Fantasy.
Shortened to ‘OTF’, this game had main quests and numerous small and large episodes that were more interesting and realistic than any other game.
Joon-woo thought there were three reasons for OTF’s disproportionately low revenue:
First, a poor Business Model (BM).
Second, it’s not an MMORPG.
Third, the game is too difficult.
Once you start playing OTF, there’s almost no need to spend money.
There’s hardly any Gacha System or means to purchase in-game items with real money, except for convenience items.
Of course, the package price for OTF was not cheap.
In terms of package price, it was several times more expensive than other virtual reality games.
But even so, it was only around a million won.
Considering other virtual reality game rankers spend hundreds of millions, OTF’s BM was like an angel’s.
‘People who waste hundreds on gachas in other games don’t start OTF, complaining about the expensive package price.’
Moreover, players who spend a lot of money want to show off their purchase power.
Perhaps, those pouring money into the game were trying to buy a sense of superiority.
But OTF was a package game, not an MMORPG.
According to common reviews by players, it felt like a single-player mode game with higher freedom, similar to DiabloX.
Of course, there was limited interaction between players through a special space called ‘Dimensional Rift’.
However, it didn’t have the structure where one could reign over numerous players within the game world like in MMORPGs.
Moreover, it was difficult.
In OTF, you had to become stronger through skill, not money.
In the Dimensional Rift, even if you give cash to other players to buy good equipment, if your skills aren’t up to par, you’ll just end up getting beaten by monsters and left penniless. This game was particularly disadvantageous for “wallet warriors.”
That’s why, in Joon-woo’s view, OTF inherently couldn’t generate much revenue.
But of course, that’s what made it the ultimate game for him.
‘The best game ever. Why am I so excited about this update…’
Joon-woo was, in gamer slang, one of the top veterans in OTF.
‘Thank you for the update, LB hyungs. Please just don’t let the game die.’
He had cleared more episodes than any other player in OTF.
He was the only one with as many as seven max level characters.
Considering that even the self-proclaimed veterans in the OTF community usually have only 2-3 max level characters, Joon-woo was on a whole different level.
“Wow, a new class with the major update?”
Joon-woo was exceptionally talented in this game called OTF.
‘Great. A new class, Dual Swordsman? This is awesome. I’ll hit rank 1 over the weekend.’
Joon-woo’s steps hastened on his way home.
There was still plenty of time before the update, but he had things to do as soon as he logged in.
That was…
‘Time to organize my inventory for once.’
He was about to log into his storage character, essentially his treasure vault.
‘Sorting out all the items might be tight before the update.’
Joon-woo’s reason for organizing the inventory was simple.
He wanted to set up everything necessary for leveling up a new character before the update.
Although there was still limited information about the new class, he knew which items were needed for growing a new character.
Joon-woo was well aware of the various items necessary to efficiently progress through the early scenarios.
Beep- Bee-bee-beep!
With lightning-fast hands, Joon-woo entered his home, quickly washed up, changed, and then immediately entered the capsule.
Ding-!
The familiar system message appeared before him.
[User ‘Kim Joon-woo’ iris scan complete.]
[Welcome to the world of Over the Fantasy.]
[Please select your character.]
The list of characters that appeared in front of Joon-woo was truly splendid.
Many max level characters emitting dazzling auras, equipped with brilliant gear!
However, Joon-woo passed by those flashy characters and chose a modest one in the corner.
[Character ‘Dio (Lv10) / Class (None)’ selected.]
Among the 500 level characters, Joon-woo uniquely chose a plain, level 10 character.
This character, named Dio, was created just 5 days before a known junior’s wedding day, hence the hasty naming. It was a neglected character.
[Connecting to the world of ‘Over the Fantasy’.]
The level 10 character Joon-woo logged into was created solely for item inventory.
It was, in fact, a ‘storage character’ that hadn’t even changed its class.
***
The second chapter of Over the Fantasy, “Lost Ancient Legacy,” was scheduled to begin updating precisely at midnight.
Considering Joon-woo arrived home at 7 p.m., there was quite a lot of time left. However, even five hours seemed insufficient for Joon-woo since he hadn’t organized his inventory for the past year.
‘This is taking longer than I thought.’
Moreover, Joon-woo had to organize not one, but five inventories.
In Over the Fantasy, there are ‘base villages’ for each field level, and each village provides a inventory.
Having already managed four, only one last inventory remained for him to organize.
‘Ah, only Avera Village is left.’
Avera Village, a base for intermediate players around levels 100 to 150.
[You have connected to the ‘Dimensional Rift’.]
To get there, Joon-woo connected to the Dimensional Rift.
[Using ‘Subspace Portal’.]
[100 Dimensional Coins deducted.]
[Transporting to ‘Avera Village’.]
Avera Village, a base for level 100 players, was naturally a place the level 10 character ‘Dio’ couldn’t reach by ordinary means.
However, with the Dimensional Rift and Dimensional Coins, the only cash currency in OTF, it was possible to travel to any village.
Without this system, raising a storage character in OTF would have been pointless.
‘Let’s see. The items I need to collect from the Avera Village inventory are…’
Skillfully arriving at the village inventory, Joon-woo immediately looked for the NPC.
The inventory keeper of Avera Village was an old NPC named ‘Tony’.
“Heh heh, Dio, it’s been a while.”
“Yes, Grandpa Tony.”
“You’re here to check the subspace, right?”
“Right.”
“Let’s see… The fee is 1 silver.”
“Thank you.”
After handing over 1 silver to Tony, a large storage inventory opened up before Joon-woo.
In OTF, the inventory usage fee is proportional to the character’s level.
This was why Joon-woo’s storage character was only level 10.
The higher the level of the storage character, the more costly its upkeep.
“Oh, there’s the Lycan Kukri Knife I was looking for!”
Joon-woo, finding the item he was searching for, put on a big smile and added it to his inventory.
Although Avera Village had the fewest items, and thus was the last to be organized, there were still mountains of items to sort through.
‘Ugh, why did I keep all these useless items?’
Even as system messages warning about the upcoming update rang out…
[In a short while, server maintenance for the major update will begin in 15 minutes.]
[We ask adventurers to log out at a safe location before the maintenance starts…]
Joon-woo paid no mind to the message.
After all, ‘Avera Village’ was one of the safest places in OTF.
‘Well, I’ll get kicked out when it’s time, anyway.’
If Joon-woo had been playing in a dangerous hunting ground, he would have immediately returned to the village upon seeing the message. However, in a base village, being forced to log out isn’t much of a risk. At least, based on his experience so far, it had always been that way.
[In a short while, server maintenance for the major update will begin in 5 minutes.]
[Adventurers, please…]
That’s why Joon-woo was completely immersed in organizing the inventory.
And then…
Crackle- Crackle-
[System Error.]
[Unable to transmit further messages.]
It was an irreversible mistake.
“Hmm. Did I pick everything I need?”
Joon-woo, having finished organizing the inventory, suddenly stood up.
But the next moment…
“Huh…?”
Joon-woo began to feel an inexplicable sense of unease.
‘Now that I think about it, why didn’t it kick me out?’
He was sure he had seen the message that there were 5 minutes left.
And even though he was fully focused on organizing the inventory, he was certain much more than 5 minutes had passed.
‘What’s going on, was the maintenance delayed?’
Feeling an ominous premonition, Joon-woo decided to log out and check the official website.
But the next moment…
He couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.
“Eh? What…?”
The logout button, which was always located in the upper right corner of the system, had disappeared without a trace.