Chapter 29: Hunter’s World (1)

Is there anything more to say?

The second video I uploaded to iTube was a huge hit, to put it mildly.

[Trending Now #1]
[E-rank Gate]
[5.03 million views]

As it surpassed 5 million views in just one day after uploading the video, the revenue was also very good.

The first video I uploaded was also steadily increasing in views, so money was literally being copied.

For reference, we decided to split the revenue from iTube 50/50.

Actually, I first suggested that Yu Ayeon take 6 and I take 4.

But Yu Ayeon shook her head vigorously and refused, so it was adjusted to the current ratio.

There may not be a male hunter in the world with an appearance that rivals mine.

But if you search through 7 billion people like lice, there will be a man with a similar appearance to me, and there will be a hunter stronger than me.

But Yu Ayeon is different.

I’ve never heard of anyone who has awakened an ability similar to Yu Ayeon’s filming skill.

The filming skill is a unique skill that only she has awakened.

Yu Ayeon deserved to be respected and treated well enough for that skill alone.

Frankly speaking, even if I started iTube alone, I would have definitely succeeded someday.

I thought I was a character who couldn’t help but become popular.

How can you resist the pretty boy + hunter combination?

But could I have been as successful as I am now, from the first video I uploaded?

I don’t think so.

Yu Ayeon was capable enough that it wouldn’t be a waste to call her the best in this industry.

A boss who uses her body and mind to seduce a capable subordinate to keep them.

This is hot.

While I was having idle thoughts, I thought of my fattened bank account and lay down on the bed.

The first condition for finding happiness. The money problem is gradually being solved.

If I slowly raise my hunter rank and film videos with Yu Ayeon every time I enter a gate, money will quickly accumulate.

Then what should I do now?

‘… I can’t think of anything.’

When I was in Grandia, I made a bucket list to achieve when I returned to Earth.

But when I actually returned, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

What the hell did I do before I went to Grandia?

My memory is blurry, but if I try to remember…

A life pattern of going back and forth between porter, home, porter, home.

I didn’t have anyone to call a friend.

Very occasionally, I would play games, read manga, or watch anime.

I don’t think I had any special hobbies.

… Huh? What kind of life have I been living…?

No, is that kind of simple life happiness?

… I don’t know.

The more I lazed around at home, the more I felt an unknown frustration.

Just a few days ago, I couldn’t have been happier to come to this house.

But now, somewhere in my heart felt empty and lonely.

Is it because I’m bored?

But there’s no TV at home, and the one computer I had was broken by Cutie♡Angel, so I can’t use it.

If I keep lazing around like this, I’ll only keep having bad thoughts, so I went outside first.

As I breathed in the cool, but not clear, outside air, my head started to work.

First, let’s walk a bit.

There’s one new thing I’ve noticed while walking the streets.

“Isn’t that man that person? The person in the Ogre video?”
“… I think it is?”

A different kind of gaze from the sticky gazes of women that I’ve been feeling ever since I came to the reversed world.

The current population of Korea is 40 million. The appearance of gates has caused more deaths than war.

The number of 20 million views includes quite a few foreigners, but the majority of them were domestic viewers.

Half of the nation watched the video I was in.

It was not strange that there were people who recognized me.

I should wear a hat or mask next time I come out.

Without much thought, I drank Dr. Pepper and looked around as I walked, when an advertisement playing on a large electronic display caught my eye.

[Hunter’s World! The world’s best virtual reality game welcomes you!]

Along with the formal phrase, a colorful gameplay video was played, showing off skills as if they were real hunters.

Come to think of it, there was virtual reality in this world.

I remember being interested because it looked pretty fun when I saw a broadcaster playing Hunter’s World on iTube a while ago.

After doing some research, I learned that the genre of virtual reality was quite popular in this world.

What’s with the full dive technology… It stimulates the five senses to make virtual reality like real reality…

Most game genres have moved from PC to virtual reality, and various other industries are looking for opportunities to enter virtual reality, so it seemed like a pretty amazing technology.

It’s faster to find someone who hasn’t played virtual reality than someone who has, so it’s hard to even describe its status.

No wonder virtual reality games are the second most popular content after gates.

But there’s one problem…

‘It’s f*cking expensive…’

The cheapest virtual reality access device started at 300,000 won.

How many Dr. Peppers is this?

No matter how much money I’ve made now, I had no intention of spending 300,000 won on something I’ve never heard of.

Still, once I became interested, I wondered if virtual reality was that fun.

I’m willing to invest as much as I want if it’s fun.

I want to try it once.

While worrying about how to do it, I searched the internet on my phone and found out that there was a place called a VR room.

A new entertainment facility that was built after PC rooms went out of business.

Like PC rooms provide computers, VR rooms provide virtual reality access devices.

I was walking around aimlessly and impulsively headed to the VR room.

And when I actually arrived, I realized that I hadn’t learned how to use VR.

While I was looking around inside, a person who seemed to be a part-timer approached me.

She looks strangely familiar.

… Ah. This woman is the convenience store part-timer from that time.

“Welcome- Oh… Welcome.”
“Weren’t you at the convenience store last time?”
“I’m working two jobs.”

The convenience store part-timer… No, the VR room part-timer asked me for my purpose.

“Aren’t you here to play VR?”
“Yes. But I have no experience with virtual reality…”
“… Huh? Then you’re accessing virtual reality for the first time?”
“Yes.”
“Wow… There are still people who haven’t tried virtual reality… Ah. If it’s your first time, you need to register an account first. Did you bring your ID?”

With the help of the female part-timer, I created a virtual reality account and received something that looked like a motorcycle helmet.

“This is a virtual reality access device called NevGear. The usage fee is 2,000 won per hour. You can go into that private room and play.”

A helmet that looks like you’ll be playing a death game where you can’t log out once you enter.

I listened to the suspiciously kind explanation of the VR room part-timer and entered the room.

I lay down on the bed in a small room like a one-person hotel and put on the NevGear.

I pressed the button on the helmet and focused my consciousness, and a wide white space unfolded.

It’s a free space called a waiting room or my room.

I was definitely lying down wearing the NevGear a little while ago, but I could feel my senses, including the five senses, completely.

‘This is virtual reality.’

I moved my body around and tested it, and I could really move exactly like in reality. Amazing.

As I looked around the white world, a red warning window appeared in the sky.

[For the user’s safety, virtual reality will be forcibly logged out when a gate occurs in the vicinity. Please keep this in mind.]

It seems to have at least minimal safety devices.

As the warning window disappeared, numerous game pictures were displayed in the air.

It seemed to be a game that came pre-installed on the NevGear for VR rooms.

Among them, I chose Hunter’s World.

The trailer for Hunter’s World played with magnificent sound.

Swords, greatswords, sabers, spears, halberds.

Various weapons are stuck in the red plain, and the camera moves forward.

A woman in armor draws a sword stuck in the plain and swings it horizontally, splitting the view in half and showing a new place.

As the split view folds, a female spearman in leather armor rushes towards the camera.

A spear stuck in the center of the angle.

The camera moves as the spearman swings the spear and is plunged into the ground.

The angle facing the ground shakes frighteningly and is bounced off by something that sprang up from under the ground.

Cracks began to appear one by one on the bounced camera angle.

The figure of a female assassin was faintly captured at the edge of the completely broken camera.

The angle of the broken camera gradually rises.

A male character with a worried expression closes his eyes and recites a prayer, and the camera is covered in white light and returns to its original, intact appearance.

The male character smiles at the camera.

And suddenly, the camera angle rises to the sky and captures the title logo of Hunter’s World.

My impression of watching that trailer was.

‘I feel like I’m having cognitive dissonance…’

Usually in these games, the healer is a woman and the man is in a physical position, right?

I thought that these roles were reversed because it’s a gender-reversed world.

The title logo disappeared and the game start button appeared.

When I pressed it, I moved to the character selection screen.

[Swordsman] [Spearman] [Assassin] [Archer] [Mage] and various other attractive classes, but among them, there was a class that particularly caught my eye.

Muscular barbarians with wild eyes like hungry beasts.

Guys with the same eyes as me when I was just adapting to Grandia.

[Barbarian]

It was the Barbarian.