Chapter 8 : Dancing with the Skeletons (1) (1/2)

Chapter 8 : Dancing with the Skeletons (1)

Virtual reality was able to become the forefront of the modern era because anything was possible inside a VR world. In the VR space, anyone could become the Hulk, Iron Man, or even Marilyn Monroe. One could blaze through the streets on a race car faster than an airplane, or jump down a cliff without a parachute.

Anything was possible.

But that didn’t mean one could be good at anything.

In fact, it was hard.

Although one could do anything one wanted in the VR world, but it was hard to do it well. Jumping off a cliff? One wouldn’t feel any pain, but most people weren’t able to do it. If they could, there wouldn’t be people crying and shaking in fear as they get trained at boot camps.

This was the biggest hurdle one had to overcome when playing virtual reality games, especially RPGs.

Virtual reality games gave players the power to beat a bear to death with just their fists, but even so, it was only possible for two or three out of every ten. The other seven or eight failed.

There were two reasons.

First, they couldn’t utilize their powers. Given a car with an upper limit of 600 km per hour, most people wouldn’t be able to go over 200 km per hour. Not only were they scared, but they also lacked the driving talent and experience needed to freely move around curves without crashing.

The second was their distaste for killing living creatures. To them, the virtual creatures looked no different than real, living creatures.

The first problem was something the players had to solve for themselves, but it was up to the content creators to solve the second problem. VR games creators found the need to design their games so that players could more easily focus on the game.

If blood exploded out whenever one swung his sword, or if one pierced a creature with a spear and could feel its dying heartbeats, or if the creature’s organs started spilling out through a cut on their belly, or if one crushed a monster’s head and its brain exploded everywhere, then the game creator would be wearing handcuffs.

As a result, the beginning of VRMMORPG games was childish to say the least. Monsters were shaped like jellies or polygons to make the game seem less violent. Some games even had candies spill out of monsters’ bodies like piñatas.

But Warlord was different.

Warlord’s main content involved fighting monsters, and the game creators believed polishing this aspect to the utmost was the path to success.

Thus, they made game battles as realistic as possible.

By realistic, it meant cruel. Blood spurted, and that was it. No organs spilled out from cuts, no brains exploded out, but blood spurted out realistically. Players could always turn this option off, but the fact this option existed was game-changing.

Furthermore, when monsters got injured, they wouldn’t just sit still but roar angrily. They moved to cover their injuries, and they charged at whoever gave them the injury.

This was why Warlord became the game to watch. Warlord’s battle was the cruelest and most breathtaking of any other game.

Conversely, to those playing VR games for the first time, it was a challenge. There were many who couldn’t adjust to the game even after paying the large sum of money to play it.

Warlord’s solution to this problem was simple.

They made a very thorough tutorial. The tutorial designer is said to have said the following.

“If you don’t want to play, then don’t. It’s not me being sarcastic, but my sincere advice. There’s no reason to play this game if it’s stressing. There are other games to play besides Warlord. So don’t play if you don’t want to. Why spend money and force yourself to play a game?”

There was a rumor that this employee gave a written apology… in any case, new players had to go through 280 minutes of tutorials in order to start playing Warlord.

This tutorial contained many battle situations, from killing monsters to being completely destroyed by them.

Most players who go through this tutorial come out with half of their souls drained.

The same applied now.

Figur’s Castle!

The Beginner’s Inn, famous for its melon beer, is located in Figur’s Castle.

As this was where new players started out, it was filled with newbies who just finished their tutorial. These newbies were currently sitting dispirited at the inn’s tables, staring at the melon beers they received for completing the tutorial.

‘What the hell.’

‘Is this a game or torture…?’

‘Should I just sell my V-Gear? I don’t think I can play this game if it’s like that tutorial…’

Though they managed to pass, they had received a huge shock. They had heard about the infamous Warlord tutorial, but they didn’t think it would be that bad. Of course, their opinions had changed now that they’ve experienced it.

Most of the players were contemplating whether to continue playing Warlord or not.

At that moment, a player with a completely different demeanor appeared.

“Whoo!”

A man walked down the stairs leading to the 1st floor, stretching his arms out as if he just got in a good exercise. He had a bright expression, as if he just got off a good sweat at the sauna.

‘My body’s finally moving again.’

The man was An Jaehyun, or rather, Hyrkan.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve had a good fight. A man’s really got to see some blood every once in a while.’

To him, the tutorial served to recover some of his battle sense. At the same time, Hyrkan was feeling elated.

‘It feels like I’ve finally returned home.’

Is this how salmons felt when they came back home?

Hyrkan felt like he finally put on some clothes that fit him. As a result, he was feeling extremely delighted as he hummed and tapped his feet to the beat.

The other players, who had been debating whether to continue the game or not, stared at Hyrkan as if it was the most absurd thing they had ever seen.

‘Who the hell is he?’

‘Is he crazy?’

‘He’s humming? He’s clearly a newbie with those clothes, so how can he be humming?’

They would not normally pay attention to others, but they had just come out of five hours of long torturous battles. To them, Hyrkan simply looked… mad.

On the other hand, Hyrkan paid no mind to them. He didn’t even put them in his thought.

He simply didn’t care.