NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 2
This world is based on the “Cyberpunk Game” I played.
But if you ask me if this world is a “Game,” that’s a different story.
Well, just take a look at a simple street vendor.
In the game, street vendors are just ordinary objects to fill boring streets.
They don’t buy or sell items or food.
They’re just devices to show off the graphic designer’s excellent modeling skills.
They merely act as display cases for food you can’t even eat.
But what if the game becomes reality?
As I mentioned before, the story changes.
You can buy and eat mysterious street food, not to mention…
A kind of “story” or “setting” that you didn’t know existed in the game emerges.
One street vendor in Neon City felt that his shop was too ordinary.
He realized he needed something unique to differentiate himself from his competitors.
The owner’s thoughts were fleeting, but his actions were quick.
Thus, the enthusiastic vendor who started applying “Mood-Enhancing Drugs” to his food was born.
Who would have thought that the friendly street vendor was part of a drug cartel?
Of course, I didn’t know that at the time.
One day, watching the news program of NCB24, the only broadcasting station in Neon City (won in the corporate war), I caught on.
By the way, the broadcast lasted about 5 seconds, which could be considered a trivial incident in Neon City.
Drugs aren’t illegal in this world.
They just call it “Mental Care Drugs.”
The reason the vendor appeared in the news was simply that he used mental care drugs without paying taxes to the city.
Anyway, when I saw the vendor’s mugshot on the news program that I watched out of boredom, I felt curious and a little creeped out.
I almost bought from him a few times.
It’s a good thing I didn’t eat the sketchy street food from Cyberpunk City.
Considering I have a negative attribute of being “weak to drugs,” it could have been a real dangerous situation.
Nobody wants to become a junkie against their will.
But a junkie wizard?
One with talent, no less?
…That could’ve been a big mess.
Anyway, the conclusion is this.
This world closely resembles a game, but it’s not a game.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.
There are definitely good aspects.
One of those good things is the “Old Mechanical Monitor” I’m using right now.
[RabbitGangDude (Archer): I’m here.]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ?]
“What kind of crazy guy is this?”
I was the one hunting first!
What nonsense is this?
Is this self-exhibition?
Yes.
Even though I fell into this “crazy Cyberpunk world” for just one “crazy reason” of having played a game,
I still couldn’t connect.
Game.
Living in a game (Part 2).
In my original world…
Well, it’s true there were many fun games in my past life.
But compared to the “Cyberpunk game” that was made with mass media drenched in capitalism and sexualization, it felt a bit lacking.
That’s pretty obvious.
It’s a fundamental difference between games enjoyed with a monitor and keyboard, and those enjoyed in virtual or augmented reality.
In the latter case, even the homeless in the back alleys of town could own a “Neural Computer Chip,” making the experience much easier, more convenient, and simpler.
Ultimately, the win-loss outcomes were even clearer.
Plus, there were no evil institutions like “Game Ratings Committee.”
That means no censorship on content based on age restrictions regarding sensitivity or violence.
It was indeed a crazy world.
Of course, nothing is funnier than age discrimination in Neon City.
This was proven by my neighbor, Bill.
By the way, Bill is a 95-year-old elder who had replaced most of his body with BioWare implants, changing his appearance to about 10 years old.
Then at least he could wear more distinguished clothing!
I still vividly recall getting scolded for casual speech at our first meeting.
He said he couldn’t believe it until he checked my corporate ID (issued by a large company and harder to forge than a city ID).
After confirming, I was scolded twice as hard.
Scary. Cyberpunk…
Honestly, thinking back, he was quite extreme.
Anyway, it was very normal for an intellectual to take up gaming in a world with a highly advanced gaming industry.
Accordingly, most of the games I play are virtual reality games.
This is both reasonable and satisfying.
But just like you can’t always eat delicious food,
Sometimes while eating high-end steak, ramen-flavored thoughts come to mind.
There always arises a desire to fill that 2% void.
Yeah.
Just like how sometimes I want to eat mint chocolate or pineapple pizza.
Why do people dislike mint chocolate or pineapple pizza anyway?
In fact, I heard there are cities where that stuff is banned by law.
Thankfully, Neon City hasn’t implemented such malicious laws yet.
You can say the game I’m currently playing evokes a similar feeling.
Every now and then,
I’m flooded with nostalgia for Korea.
I long to play a simple MMO RPG like “Land of Wind” or “Orange Mushroom Story,” where I can just hunt without any thoughts.
Though common on the streets in Korea, it was a rare genre and technology in the Cyberpunk world.
It wasn’t easy to find, not for good reasons.
Everything is virtual reality games.
Who would want to play games with a monitor and keyboard?
Finding a monitor and keyboard to obtain from an antique shop was even harder.
But the world is vast and preferences are diverse.
Just like there are people who love furry things, there are also those who enjoy garbage games in this world.
Thus, after a long struggle, I finally found the game I desired.
Now it’s become an irreplaceable part of my hobby life alongside other virtual reality games.
But,
What the heck is this guy, who’s invading my happiness?
What do they want by interrupting me?
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Nonsense. I was hunting first.]
I cautiously continued the conversation as if negotiating with a terrorist.
As a civilized being, I tried to calmly resolve the situation through dialogue.
However, despite my efforts, he naturally kept attacking the monster I was hitting, stealing it.
RabbitGangDude.
And being an archer meant his targeting speed is fast.
It was a matchup I simply couldn’t win as a warrior.
[RabbitGangDude (Archer): I’m here.]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): (Inappropriate language.)]
The first curse word I saw in this world reminded me of home.
But given that the censorship was occurring against my chat and the other party kept stealing the monster I was fighting,
forget nostalgia, I was just angry.
Ah, this cold and heavy feeling.
It was time to turn into a “Keyboard Warrior.”
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): (Inappropriate language.)]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): (Inappropriate language.)]
Ugh.
So much censorship.
But even censorship can’t break my will.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): F*ck you.]
[RabbitGangDude (Archer): ?]
Finally, the one phrase that broke through censorship reached the opponent.
It seemed that he finally recognized me, who had been merely saying, “I’m here.”
I tried to continue chatting calmly.
Until that guy suddenly attacked my character.
“No.”
My fingers frantically hammered the keyboard.
We’re too far apart.
If I had just rushed over and swung first instead of chatting, maybe the situation would have been different.
The distance between my character and RabbitGangDude was significant.
In a battle between an archer and a warrior, distance is everything.
I hurriedly used my Defense Skill.
I had to escape.
But wait.
Why is the damage so high?
This guy doesn’t seem to be at a level to hunt here.
I tried hard to survive, but my struggle was pointless.
Before long, my character’s health gauge completely disappeared.
[You have died.]
[Resurrection Waiting Time: 1 hour 0 minutes 0 seconds]
“Sh*t.”
All I could do was watch RabbitGangDude (the jerk) disappear from the gray monitor.
I should’ve just fought instead of typing!
No matter how much I regret it, my character’s corpse wouldn’t get up.
I had become a loser who had to wait an hour.
I was nothing more than a piece of garbage unable to move.
…It’s so absurd it doesn’t even make me angry anymore.
[You are asked whether your character has died.]
“Yeah. I’m dead.”
[So now you have time to check the current date and time?]
“Current date and time?”
Why were you asking that all of a sudden?
I scratched my head at the AI’s question.
In the corner of my vision, numbers signifying the current date and time appeared.
The Neural Computer Chip was so convenient.
Scary but magnificent. Cyberpunk.
So the date now is…
Hmm.
“Wow. Has it really been a week already?”
[The affirmation is correct.]
Why is the time spent gaming so happy and fleeting?
Didn’t it feel like just a few days had passed?
Has it already been a week?
It was simply astounding.
“Did I get hacked without knowing it?”
[You could not have, I denounce.]
“Of course, I’m joking.”
I stretched out widely.
Whether day or night, if I feel sleepy, I sleep and then wake up to play the game,
the flow of time felt lost.
Well, I did have excuses for this.
Due to the character traits of “Fragile,” “Weak,” and “Fatigue” I had.
My health attributes were full of bad traits, making me almost a walking corpse.
In short, I often sleep and sleep some more.
It wasn’t strange that my sense of time disappeared.
The dark circles under my eyes were for this reason.
I was at least pretending to be human thanks to occasional exercise (when I went last year) and minimum implant surgery.
Well, that’s that.
Thinking about it now, I felt a bit disappointed to end it here.
“I feel like my stress isn’t fully relieved yet. Should I give it one more month?”
[I strongly disagree.]
I shook my head.
“But ‘Eve.'”
[Why is that?]
“The doctor told me to do what I want. Did you take the NCMLE? By the way, I only trust professionals.”
[Ugh, this guy is something else.]
“What?”
[You are advised to turn on message alerts and check your message history.]
I hesitated, thinking there might have been a rebellion from the AI.
AI… Eve had said this much.
I figured it was time to check.
There probably wasn’t anyone important sending me messages.
My connections aren’t that wide.
“Wow, it’s quite a bit that came in.”
I switched on the notifications and checked the unread messages from a week ago in order.
Interestingly, there were no spam advertisement messages.
Did Eve organize them for me?
First, I deleted the not-so-valuable-looking messages.
Requests, invites, and whatnot.
They all could be ignored.
Once I skipped all unnecessary messages, I finally found the messages I needed to pay attention to.
It was from an old friend with a history stretching about 10 years.
Sender: ‘Neon City’s Best Freelancer’
– Hey. You’ve been gaming for a week?
– Stop talking nonsense and come out to the pub “No Answer” if you can.
– And if you read this, just reply.
The content was exactly from a week ago.
– At least read it.
– Please reply.
This was 6 days ago.
– Did you get shot and taken away? If that’s the case, I’ll apologize. I won’t take long.
– At least answer your phone.
And this was 5 days ago.
– What the f*ck.
– I found out. You’re really just gaming. Are you insane? And ignoring my messages?
– Read the message before coming to find me.
“Wow. That’s a lot to send.”
[Who else would have gone quiet for a week? I think.]
Eve’s pointless remarks went in one ear and out the other.
From 4 days ago, more than three messages came in daily.
It was getting scary.
But ignoring the already ignored messages wouldn’t work.
I decided to just relax.
After all, I didn’t especially do anything wrong, right?
I tried justifying myself and skimmed through the flood of messages.
Before long, I reached the last message.
Looking at the date, it was from today.
– Today is your seventh day.
– Today at 7 PM.
– Location: Pub “No Answer.”
– If you’re late, I’ll find you at your home address.
And the current time is…
“……Eve.”
[I respond.]
“I should get ready to go out.”
…It’s about time to go out.