Chapter 9 : The Saint plays games (4)

It was late, and most people were asleep. A new post appeared on a certain forum.

Nothing unusual.

[Demon King Forum]

[Title: Demon King cleared lol]

[Wow, I never thought I’d see THE Demon King game get cleared.]

Although it lingered around 30th place among VR games, it still had a dedicated fanbase.

And given its notorious difficulty, the reactions to such clickbait were sharp.

[Upvotes: 127] [Downvotes: 137]

-Yeah, right.
-Obvious troll lol
-BS

That was the nature of minor galleries. 90% of the posts were trolls and attention-seekers, so such a post would naturally be buried.

If not for the attached evidence.

[Title: What is this? Why is an Assassin ranked #1?]

(Screenshot of a silver-haired Assassin character at the top of the Hall of Fame.)

[Upvotes: 362] [Downvotes: 6]

-I almost commented, “What the hell are you talking about, you Assassin main!!!”
-?????
-Huh?
-What the f*ck?
-Seriously, what is this?

People become speechless when something is too absurd.

Like piranhas, they momentarily united in their bewilderment.

-Photoshopped?
└Nope, I just checked. The ranking really changed.
└It’s a female player too.
-Why the f*ck am I pushed down to 11th?
-The Assassin meta is coming.
└Don’t make me laugh lol
-Must be a hacker.
└What hack in a VR game lol

[Title: 4 Reasons Why the Ranked Assassin is a Hacker]

[First: She’s an Assassin.]

[Second: Assassins get slower if they wear armor, and if they wear leather, they die in one hit. Look at the Hall of Fame picture, she’s wearing a leather vest.]

[Third: An Assassin’s main weapon is a tiny knife. To deal damage, you need to be in close combat, and that means you die in one hit.]

[Fourth: So, it requires insane physical skills… and a woman can do that?]

[Upvotes: 97] [Downvotes: 43]

-Crazy Assassin hater lol
-There’s clear evidence
-Don’t tell me what to do, Assassin is the best
-Is no one else turned on by the Assassin’s outfit?
└Black leather vest, black short shorts, and a leather coat?! Someone knows what’s up.
└Looks like she just threw on whatever she found.
└That’s clearly the Black Cat set lol
└What is that, you weeb?
└It’s a female Assassin exclusive set.
└Isn’t the top for the Black Cat set a leather tank top?
└Yeah. But if the user doesn’t disable the filter, it looks like a vest in the Hall of Fame.

The cool air conditioning tickled my hair. Feeling the cool breeze while wrapped in a cozy blanket was the ultimate luxury.

“Haaaahm.”

Objectively, it wasn’t as good as the bed at home.

But still…

This was nice in its own way.

I pulled the blanket over my face and snuggled into it.

Fresh sheets and a fluffy blanket.

‘Is this the smell of sunshine?’

Connections were important, it seemed. Seoyeon had given me so much in such a short time, both materially and informationally.

For example…

‘A blanket?’
‘Yes, I happened to have a freshly laundered one.’

I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now I was curious.

Would she have changed the sheets if we hadn’t become friendly?

Well, considering her dedication, it was probably just a needless worry.

“Hmm.”

Anyway…

I was facing a dilemma.

‘What time is it…?’

I reached out, but the smartphone on the shelf was too far.

The alarm clock was next to it. I had thought the sleek, flat design with clear numbers was quite nice, but that was when I was in the capsule.

In short, I couldn’t see the time from my current position.

And if I sat up, I would definitely wake up completely.

Had the lack of sunlight had such a big impact?

I had no sense of time, not even an approximate idea.

Since the alarm hadn’t gone off, it wasn’t time to leave yet.

I rolled slightly to the side of the bed.

The blanket wrapped around me tighter.

I stretched out my arm, and my fingertips brushed against the smartphone.

“Ugh… almost… huh?”

Damn it. Now it was even farther away.

I chuckled at how incredibly lazy I had become in just one night. I focused my energy on my fingers and twitched them.

The smartphone floated in a parabolic arc and landed in my hand.

“Success.”

Smiling in satisfaction, I suddenly realized how ridiculous I was being and sat up.

“…Now I’m wide awake.”

I still had more than four hours left until check-out.

‘It was called the ‘Minor Gallery’, right?’

It’s a good site of forums for gathering information about the game, but don’t take it too seriously, there are a lot of crazy people there. That’s what Seoyeon had said.

But that just piqued my curiosity.

Let’s see… Demon King Minor Gallery, was it?

“Oh, there it is.”

[Title: What are you having for breakfast?]

[Title: Ah, f*ck. Who said Spider Woman was soloable?]

[Title: Anyone want to duel me to the death?]

As soon as I entered, countless posts were being updated every second. Even though it was morning, dozens of posts were appearing every minute.

And those were the tame ones. There were even posts written in incomprehensible slang.

[Title: Our gal is already that girl. Argue and you’re a noob.]

[Title: Crazy bastards, has the simping already started? Simping over some faceless b*tch they don’t even know.]

[Title: Season’s first gathering of idiots.]

[Title: Thirsty simps are up early for work lol.]

It was worse than I had heard.

[Title: Anyone want to duel me to the death?]
[Inventory full of gems]

[Upvotes: 2] [Downvotes: 67]

-Idiot lol if you want a deathmatch, create a hardcore character.
-Seriously lol
-This guy’s playing on normal lol
-You can set conditions for duels.
-He’s probably after the items.

[Hardcore: Permanent death and account deletion upon character death. Given the long playtimes of VR, it’s all risk and no reward.]

Hardcore. I had forgotten about that.

Perhaps it was a system for those who wanted a more realistic experience of death in the virtual world.

But to me, it seemed idiotic.

There weren’t even any benefits, like increased drop rates or experience points. Why would anyone do it unless they wanted to suffer?

‘This is more entertaining than I thought.’

Despite the abundance of idiotic content, reading through it mindlessly brought a smile to my face.

[Title: I managed to clear Spider Woman, but Scorpio is impossible to solo lol. The #1 player is definitely hacking.]

[Just say it lol]

[Upvotes: 67] [Downvotes: 3]

-Isn’t that issue already settled? Most people here are Demon King addicts lol.
-Already reported.
-That account will be gone soon. ^^
-Ah, the hackusations are strong with this one lol.
└Yes, next Assassin main.
-Is using potions and hit-and-run the same as a no-hit, head-on fight?

[Title: Isn’t that already settled lol? It’s a hack, reported.]

Were there hacks in VR games?

[Title: Definitely a developer conspiracy.]

[Title: If it’s not cleared this year, there will be a massive balance patch, and that would be a pain in the ass lol.]

The posts were updating too fast.

[Title: No matter how I look at it, Scorpio seems impossible. Is it really soloable?]

[Wolfboi is currently speedrunning as a Druid, and he’s really good. But even he can’t do Scorpio. The damage doesn’t even register. He uses his summons as decoys and runs away, but…]

[Upvotes: 272] [Downvotes: 14]

-Idiot lol since when is playing from Act 1 with a level 99 character a speedrun?
-Then you try it lol
-Link?
–https://www.txxxxx.tv/wolf
-Wolfboi is good, for a furry.
-Stop the furry hate.

“A live broadcast?”

If it was a live game broadcast, I could probably get a lot of information.

I clicked the link, and a square, purple icon blinked before sound emerged.

[Ah, f*ck! This is such bullshit!]

A man’s voice, filled with frustration.

And then…

A moment later, the screen appeared.

A bright red screen with the words “You Died” written in blood-red letters, a screen I had never seen before.

‘Hmm.’

So that’s what happens when you die.

-lol
-That’s rough;
-Rough lol that’s normal.

Chat messages scrolled rapidly in the bottom right corner. About half seemed to be teasing him, and the other half sympathizing.

The resurrected player entered the boss room through a portal.

[F*ck! Full health again!]

-Did you expect anything else?
-You always respawn with full health lol
-Seriously lol

Despite his words, the man quickly waved his hands.

Ravens and wolves appeared, followed by a giant bear.

[F*ck! Let’s see who wins!]

With his army of summons and his bear form, the man looked quite threatening, but…

–Taste my wrath!

The boss charged with that line.

Shatter.

One of the ravens in front crumbled like sand.

Thud. The wolves and the bear fared no better.

Finally…

Crack.

The player, hit by the boss, flew through the air.

[Aaaaagh! This is bullshit! F*ck!]

The screen turned red again.

It reminded me of a deer hit by a dump truck.

Thump, crash, thump, crash.

The massive boss approached the man, its heavy footsteps echoing.

The bear, which had been convulsing intermittently, stopped moving and reverted to its human form.

It was a rather realistic broadcast of a death.