TL: Knight Errant
From the moment he realized he couldn’t log out, Kim Joon-woo felt a suffocating sensation for some reason.
The weight of the air, which he shouldn’t be able to feel, began to press down on his entire body.
It was strange.
Even though OTF’s virtual reality technology was said to be the best in the world, he had never felt real-world sensations this vividly.
It was more about user safety issues than a lack of technology.
If blood splatters and flesh being torn felt exactly like reality in battle…
Then it could no longer be called a game.
“Ugh- Ugh-!”
Perhaps due to a sudden surge of anxiety, Kim Joon-woo found himself retching involuntarily.
However, the system sent no signal.
‘What on earth is happening.’
Thus, Kim Joon-woo’s anxiety only deepened.
The system was designed to prioritize user safety.
Under normal circumstances, he should have been forcibly logged out already.
‘Something is seriously wrong. I should head to the Dimensional Rift.’
The moment he thought of seeking external help, Kim Joon-woo headed towards the ‘Dimensional Rift.’
The only place in OTF with a ‘multiplayer’ function.
He wondered if there might be other users experiencing the same phenomenon there.
Kim Joon-woo thought so, but…
“Haak!”
The entrance to the Dimensional Rift, located north of all base villages, had disappeared without a trace.
The very entrance that Kim Joon-woo had used a few hours earlier to enter Avera Village.
“……!”
This was impossible.
No, it was something that shouldn’t happen.
“Ugh!”
A violent contraction occurred in his stomach.
Anyone could see that Kim Joon-woo, clearly a player, was in an unstable psychological state, but still, the logout-related system remained silent.
Kim Joon-woo staggered with unpleasant nausea and dizziness, and was shocked by the vomit he spat out.
Vomiting? In virtual reality?
This discomfort, the vivid pain felt during vomiting, all of this shouldn’t be happening in virtual reality.
No matter how much he denied it, the state Kim Joon-woo’s body was in only amplified his anxiety.
“This is… reality? Don’t talk nonsense…!”
There must be a solution.
No matter how much he loved the game…
If he gets out of here, he would sue the damned game company.
Clenching his teeth, Kim Joon-woo once again began to contemplate a way out of this cursed virtual world.
* * *
One day…
Two days…
Three days…
A full 3 days had passed.
And Kim Joon-woo…
Eventually had no choice but to accept it.
“Damn it.”
The Dimensional Rift, just like logout, had vanished.
100% realistic five senses, indistinguishable from reality.
Expressions of emotion impossible for artificial intelligence NPCs.
Except for logout and the Dimensional Rift, all other system functions worked normally.
But too much time had passed and too many experiences had been had to hold onto hope.
A virtual reality game with physiological functions was unheard of.
Kim Joon-woo’s favorite game, OTF, was now…
Unfolding as reality.
“How is this even possible?”
Once he accepted everything, a wave of despair and emptiness washed over him.
Trapped in a game?
What can I do here?
As these thoughts continued, a sense of injustice surged within him.
The character Kim Joon-woo logged into today…
Of all the characters, was the only one not at max level, a ‘Storage Character.’
‘It’s not just not at max level… It’s a mere level 10, a weak character that hasn’t even changed classes.’
If he had possessed one of his max level characters, he might have been rationalizing the situation by now.
In the world of OTF, if he had been an absolute max level character, he could have lived confidently, unlike in reality.
‘Can’t I reconnect using another character right now?’
Please.
I won’t ask to be taken out of the game.
Just let me reconnect…
Muttering this internally, Kim Joon-woo collapsed to the ground.
Despite his troubled heart, Avera Village was lively.
Children of the village, innocent and playful, laughing and running around, no different from reality.
But at least now, tears no longer flowed.
Such melodramatic acts, he had already done enough during the past three days.
Gurgle-
Hearing the rumbling sound in his stomach, Kim Joon-woo weakly got up from his spot.
The one silver lining in this worst-case scenario was…
‘At least I’m lucky to have enough money.’
He had enough money in his storage that he wouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while.
‘Right. I should at least eat three meals a day. A ghost that dies after eating looks better, right?’
Step- Step-
As Kim Joon-woo started walking again, this time the sound of blades clashing reached his ears.
Clang- Clang-!
The very rhythmic sound of metal hitting metal.
Kim Joon-woo’s gaze instinctively turned in the direction of the noise.
He knew where it was coming from without having to see.
‘It must be the start of the vigilante corps training.’
But the next moment.
‘Wait. Vigilante corps?’
With a sense of foreboding, Kim Joon-woo recalled a fact he hadn’t thought of.
His expression soon turned ashen.
* * *
In the base cities of OTF, various regular events exist.
And the most important regular event, known in-game as ‘The Wave.’
The Monster Wave (Monster Wave) was, of course, also present in Avera Village.
“Dio! What brings you to the training ground?”
“……Just. But why are you suddenly conducting group training?”
“Why, it’s to prepare for the subjugation. Are you here to train too?”
“Of course… It’s because of ‘The Wave,’ right?”
“Right. You know it, so why ask?”
Kim Joon-woo’s head throbbed as his suspicions were confirmed.
The Monster Wave, which periodically attacks Avera Village every two weeks.
In fact, this Monster Wave is a trivial event under normal circumstances.
It was an event designed as a sort of incubating system to allow users who just moved to higher areas to hunt monsters safely with the help of base NPCs.
For users who first came to Avera Village under 100 levels, it was naturally difficult to adapt to the hunting grounds.
LB Corporation designed this ‘Wave’ system as a consideration for such users.
‘Really, this is maddening.’
But for Kim Joon-woo.
No, for the current ‘Dio,’ this consideration was practically a disaster.
The Monster Wave was naturally designed to match the level of the base villages, but the current level of ‘Dio’ was just after finishing the tutorial.
Again, this place is an average 100 level base village.
Dio’s current level is merely 10.
If it were a game, he could log out or briefly take refuge in the Dimensional Rift, but Kim Joon-woo already knew that wasn’t possible.
‘It’s dangerous.’
Feeling the cold sweat running down his spine, Kim Joon-woo’s mind started racing.
In this situation, he couldn’t just lament his fate.
‘What happens if I die here? Will I log out? If not…’
The vigilante corps leader, worried by Kim Joon-woo’s pale complexion, asked…
“Are you alright?”
Kim Joon-woo, without even proper greetings, quickly left the training ground.
“It’s nothing. I’m busy, so I must go……”
The first task given in the world of OTF had suddenly become ‘survival.’
‘If I die here, I really die.’
The time left until the Monster Wave is… about 10 days.
“Sigh-”
Kim Joon-woo wiped his face dry and organized his thoughts.
And the conclusion he reached was…
He needed to start moving.
’10 days. 10 days… I need to find something I can do within that time.’
Ironically, as his life was at stake, endorphins began to secrete again in Kim Joon-woo’s body, which had been lifelessly slumped.
* * *
Kim Joon-woo.
Who is he?
The user with the most episode clears in Over the Fantasy, and the officially recognized holder of the most max level characters in OTF.
He owned no less than seven max level characters in a game where it’s challenging to even make one…
He was the top-ranker, referred to as a rotten water beyond stale water.
And he’s trapped in the world of OTF, facing death?
It’s unthinkable.
Kim Joon-woo couldn’t even remember the last time he experienced ‘death’ while playing OTF.
And now, at this life-threatening juncture, he’s trembling at the mere ‘Wave’?
It doesn’t make sense.
Thinking this, Kim Joon-woo began to ignite his fighting spirit.
‘A tiger’s den… Well, not exactly, but if I keep my wits about me, I can definitely survive in OTF.’
It might have been a flow of thought to suppress his anxiety, but separately from that, it was a fact that vitality was returning to Kim Joon-woo’s body.
Right, first things first: status check.
Kim Joon-woo, for the first time in a long while, opened the status window of his Storage Character, ‘Dio.’
“Status Window.”
—————
[Status Window]
<Level> : 10
<Class> : None
<Stats>
Strength : 50
Agility : 5
Intelligence : 5
Health : 5
Mana : 5
<Owned Mastery Skill> : Inventory Expansion Lv MAX
—————
“Phew…”
After checking the status window, his energy instantly drained.
Level 10?
No class?
So far, no problem.
He was already aware of these facts.
But what made Kim Joon-woo sigh again was…
‘Damn. I didn’t think of this.’
The stat distribution of Dio was bizarrely skewed towards ‘Strength.’
‘Why was I such an extreme efficiency fanatic in the past…’
In OTF, the ‘Class’ you get upon reaching level 10 determines the character’s traits.
Therefore, if you have a desired class route, you must distribute your stats to meet the minimum requirements of that class.
However, a Storage Character is not initially created to grow the character.
Therefore, obtaining a class through a job change was completely excluded.
“……”
Then why are ‘Dio’s stats focused so heavily on strength?
The reason was because of a passive skill called ‘Inventory Expansion.’
In OTF, the minimum requirement to acquire the ‘Inventory Expansion’ passive was precisely ‘Strength Stat 50.’
‘Was there a basic class that only required strength? Even the Warrior class needed at least 10 agility… And the Knight class needed 15 health…’
This meant he was blocked from changing classes.
And being blocked from changing classes essentially meant being blocked from leveling up as well.
In OTF, if you don’t acquire a class, you can’t gain experience after level 10.
“Ugh…”
Kim Joon-woo wanted to scream out of frustration.
But it was better to spend that time contemplating more.
Knowing this, he began to wrack his brain even harder.
‘Think, Kim Joon-woo!’
Kim Joon-woo, synonymous with the term ‘rotten water,’ immediately started connecting all possibilities with his knowledge of OTF.
There was no way to revert his level that had already been raised to 10.
It might be possible with cash items, but all cash items could only be used in the ‘Dimensional Rift.’
So, the only remaining option was to find a way to change classes. Excluding the class change station, the only method left was a ‘Class Change Scroll.’
The various classes existing in Over the Fantasy.
Most users don’t know, but most of the hidden classes require a Class Change Scroll to change into them.
That was the only hope left for Joon-woo.
‘Right. There must be… one or two Class Change Scrolls in the storage.’
With this thought, Kim Joon-woo moved back towards the storage, hoping that at least one of the stored scrolls would match the conditions for the Dio character.
It didn’t need to be a good class.
Please, just let the conditions match.
“Granpa!”
“Oh, Dio?”
“Subspace Portal!”
After taking a deep breath, Dio, with trembling hands, opened the storage inventory.