Chapter 3: Lucky (Part 2)

“Congratulations on your win, customer!”

“…….”

Sung Shihyun was dazed.

It didn’t feel real at all.

It felt like she was in a dream.

“Your winnings, after taxes, are a total of 60,567,068 won. Here is your payment receipt and transaction confirmation.”

“…….”

“Is there anything else you need?”

But, this situation wasn’t a dream.

“……No.

There’s nothing.”

And it shouldn’t be a dream, either.

She doesn’t know how many nights she stayed up since confirming that she had won 2nd place in the lottery.

Until finally Monday came, she woke up early in the morning, rushed to a bank near her house, and received the 2nd

place winnings, not even for a moment, not even an inch, did it feel real.

It felt like wandering in a dream.

But.

“…….”

This situation wasn’t a dream.

Sung Shihyun stared at the eight-digit number printed on her bankbook for a moment, then burst into a silly laugh.

No matter how hard she tried to hold it back, the corners of her mouth kept rising and laughter flowed out.

Wow!

2nd place in the lottery!

Wow!

She won 2nd place in the lottery!

“Ugh, if only I had matched one more number, I would have won 1st place…….”

She said this, but it didn’t mean she was upset or angry about getting 2nd place.

Of course, it’s natural to feel regretful unless it’s 1st place.

If she had matched just one more number correctly, she would have received almost billions of won.

It’s natural for a person to be angry.

But.

‘What does it matter?’

Her feelings ended with regret.

She was getting 60 million won for free.

She was happy, so how could she be angry?

“Anyway, it’s good.

It’s free money.”

Sung Shihyun trembled with joy, clutching the kitchen knife in her hoodie pocket.

When she went to the convenience store the other day, the part-timer seemed to notice the kitchen knife, so this time

she went to the bank wearing a hoodie.

For some reason, she felt the security guard staring at her, which made her a little nervous, but fortunately, she

wasn’t caught going to the bank with a kitchen knife.

‘If I had been caught with the kitchen knife…….’

She would have been taken to the police station.

The thought made her body tremble.

A person who went to the bank with a kitchen knife.

Isn’t that just a bank robber?

‘I just went with my beloved kitchen knife.’

Anyway.

There’s nothing she can do about it right now.

‘I feel like I’m going crazy if I don’t hold a knife.’

She was still unable to sleep or do outdoor activities without a knife.

It was practically a dependency.

In that situation, the kitchen knife was essential for her peace of mind.

Of course, she was thinking about replacing the kitchen knife with another knife.

She was starting to feel anxious about the fact that she only had such a short knife.

‘Anyway, a kitchen knife is for cooking, not for combat.’

In the end, she needed a combat sword.

‘But do they still sell cold weapons these days?’

She thought she had heard of selling swords without blades, called fake swords.

She said that if you paid a lot of money, you could also get them custom-made.

‘I can probably buy one.’

Of course, a sword without a blade is not a weapon.

Probably such a sword will not solve her anxiety.

To solve that problem, she would have to sharpen the blade.

‘……Come to think of it, there must be a reason why they don’t sharpen the blades for no reason.

Is it illegal?

Is it illegal to possess a sword?’

That would be a big problem.

Sung Shihyun was startled and quickly searched for information about sword possession on her phone.

Fortunately, sword possession itself was not illegal.

“You can get a sword possession permit.”

But, even with a permit, carrying a sword was illegal.

It was common sense.

It’s an era where it’s not acceptable to walk around carrying a sword, especially a real sword with a sharp blade.

“Hmm…….”

But she couldn’t give up.

‘What should I do?’

While she was pondering about sword possession, she suddenly saw a flashy electronic billboard.

[To a new world.]

It was an advertisement for the game the part-timer was watching at the convenience store the other day.

The advertisement showed a person riding a dragon flying over vast mountains and plains, and as she expected, it

seemed to be a game with high-quality graphics and freedom.

“Wow.”

Sung Shihyun stared at the game advertisement for a long time.

‘Come to think of it, I decided to buy a virtual reality game console if I won the lottery.’

Of course, buying a virtual reality game console now was crazy.

Even though it was free money from the lottery, the 2nd place winnings were too small to buy a game console that

cost as much as a small car.

‘Until I find a job for the time being, I have to survive with the money I have, so it’s probably better not to buy a game

console…….’

At that moment.

The name of the game written under the billboard caught her eye.

[Arfellium]

“……!!!”

That name.

The moment she saw that name, her eyes widened.

Her mouth instantly closed tightly, and her hands and feet trembled slightly.

“…….”

The name of the hellish world she was dragged into was Arfellium.

And the name of this fantasy-style game was also, Arfellium.

Was this.

Really a coincidence?

‘There’s no, way.’

There was no such coincidence.

That wasn’t called a coincidence.

Inevitable.

It was certain.

The world she was dragged into and that game were definitely related.

It may be just a hasty guess, but she knew.

The nightmare-like traumas etched into her body were telling her that her guess was correct.

“……It seems.”

That game…… she had to try it.

Sung Shihyun muttered, clutching the kitchen knife in her pocket tightly.

What do you need to play a virtual reality game?

‘First, I need to buy a game console.’

Of course, a game console was needed.

It’s virtual reality, virtual reality.

It’s not a PC game.

In the past, to play games released only for consoles, you had to buy a console.

Likewise, to play virtual reality games, you had to buy a virtual reality game console called a VR device.

Sung Shihyun searched for information about VR devices.

As expected, because it was a recent trend, there was a mountain of information about VR devices.

‘VR devices aren’t just for games.’

Contrary to her thoughts, VR devices were not only for games.

There were many fields where virtual reality was applied.

Video content, personal broadcasting, games, and even simple chat rooms could be used using VR devices.

Of course, the main content was games.

Anyway.

VR devices could be used in various fields.

In fact, it was virtually the same as adding the function of virtual reality to everything that PCs could do in the past.

“As expected, the price is quite high.”

Sung Shihyun muttered, looking at the price of new VR devices.

The price of a new VR device was a whopping 13 million won.

That was only for the lowest-performing model, and the higher-end models had a price that made you gasp.

“Hmm…….”

Sung Shihyun thinking for a long time, and finally made a decision.

‘Even so, 1300 is too expensive.’

Anyway, it was said that there was no big inconvenience in connecting and playing games even with the lower model

(the highest model had high response speed and sensitivity, so only professional gamers used it) and there was no big

difference just because it was an old device.

So Sung Shihyun decided to buy a used VR device.

The price was 8.49 million won.

It was a strangely awkward amount, so it was a little uncomfortable.

So she tried to negotiate, but the seller, who said that negotiation was absolutely not possible, somehow cut the price

by 490,000 won when they met on the day of the transaction.

He seemed to be a kind-hearted person.

So, the 8 million won VR device she bought.

The VR device was a round capsule.

It was exactly the shape that was said in game fantasies from the rental store days.

Looking at the capsule, she felt like she had to do Royal Road when she connected.

“There’s definitely some wear and tear.”

The seller said there was some wear and tear, and as he said, there were scratches here and there.

‘But there’s no functional problem.’

There won’t be any major problems.

Thinking like that, Sung Shihyun looked around the studio apartment.

Thanks to the capsule, there was virtually no space in the studio apartment.

‘It feels quite cramped, but…….’

Still, it’ll be livable, I guess.

Sung Shihyun nodded and searched for the installation instructions on her smartphone.

“It’s not that difficult.”

Plug in the power cord, connect the internet cable, and adjust the backrest of the seat.

Since it was the lowest model, there were no special convenience features, so there was nothing to set up.

Sung Shihyun quickly finished the installation.

And then she looked at the capsule for a moment.

“Hmm.”

……How do I bring the knife inside?

The space inside the capsule wasn’t very spacious, and it didn’t seem like a very wise idea to bring a knife inside.

‘I could get hurt.’

But she can’t be without a knife…….

But soon Sung Shihyun had a good idea.

She immediately brought duct tape and taped the kitchen knife to the top of the capsule.

“Yes, good.”

Now she was relieved.

Everything was completely ready.

Sung Shihyun slowly entered the capsule.

The seat inside the capsule wasn’t very comfortable.

It seemed to be because it was the lowest model, and also used.

‘I’ll have to endure it for now.’

When she makes a lot of money later, she’ll buy a higher model.

Thinking like that, Sung Shihyun put on the headgear.

And then she pressed the button to close the lid of the capsule.

-Whirr

The capsule slowly closed.

At the same time, her mind went blank for a moment, as if a fuse had blown.

The next moment.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the middle of a pure white space.