Chapter 29

The man hurriedly exited the virtual world, shut down the access device, and then restarted it.

Yet, the frozen screen remained.

No matter how much he tried to move his body, it wouldn’t budge. All he could do was stare at the frozen screen until, after a while, he was automatically logged out and returned to the real world.

“F*ck, f*ck, what the hell is this?!”

The man grabbed his phone and accessed his email. Among the countless spam emails filling his inbox, there was one email at the top that stood out—completely different from the rest.

It was from Mars, the company that made the access device he had just been using.

His hands trembling, the man opened the email. Inside, it detailed the reason for the situation he had just experienced.

But he couldn’t focus on it.

His attention was drawn to a message notification from his phone’s SNS app.

‘Tomorrow’s project presentation…!’

Tomorrow was the day of a crucial project presentation at his company. The problem? The presentation materials were stored inside the access device.

Backup files? None. He had never even thought about backing up since he started using the virtual world access device.

The man quickly tried to re-enter the virtual world through the access device, but once again, he was forcibly logged out.

He tried to download the project files from the virtual world using his phone, but even that was impossible.

“I’m screwed…”

The man went online and searched for information about the access device freeze. A flood of posts about the freeze appeared, all posted today.

The strange thing was that everyone who got frozen today was a player of Leore.

On top of that, some even reported receiving calls about being sued by the police.

“A lawsuit? I didn’t get any—”

*Ring ring ring!*

The internet screen suddenly switched to an incoming call. The man’s hands shook as he pressed the answer button.

As soon as he picked up, the voice on the other end made his mind go blank.

[Is this Mr. Kim Jin-woo? Mars has filed a defamation lawsuit against you. You’ll need to come to the police station for questioning.]

The man could only stammer, “Ah, yes… yes…” before hanging up.

Not long after, another call came in—this time from his direct supervisor.

[You’re all set for tomorrow’s project presentation, right? You know how important this is, so don’t overdo it today. Get some rest and come in with a good mindset. Why aren’t you saying anything? Hey. Hello? Is your phone acting up?]

The man could no longer think straight.

==

When I woke up, a lot of time had passed.

It was time to wrap up the guild gathering. I felt a bit sad, but since we’ve formed a guild and everyone’s gotten close, the next gathering should go much smoother.

“Everyone… see you… next time…”

I couldn’t wave my hand, but everyone smiled and greeted me in return. After the gathering, we all took photos in the party room and parted ways happily.

After finishing the gathering, I closed and opened my eyes again, and suddenly, I was back at the hospital.

Anna and the doctor cleaned me up, checked my condition, and then laid me down on the bed.

The first thing I did after logging into the virtual world was, unsurprisingly, fall asleep.

After a good night’s sleep, I stretched out my newly formed arm.

It feels great to have limbs that move according to my will. I’ll need to learn how to use the prosthetic arm and leg quickly, but it’ll probably take time, which is a bit disappointing.

Using my fingers, which now moved as I wanted, I opened the menu and logged into Leore after just one day.

As soon as I entered Leore, I saw a notice alert. Thinking it might be an event preview, I clicked on it, only to find a patch announcement.

“Is this really urgent enough to warrant a notice like this?”

I slowly read the notice.

“We’ve discovered an issue where the stun system doesn’t work properly under certain conditions.”

This notice was clearly written because of me.

I had also been curious about how I could move so freely in that dungeon. After checking a few times, I realized that if I took damage to a body part that didn’t exist in reality, the stun effect would be nullified.

“What a shame. This was such a cheat.”

The reason dealers couldn’t match my damage output was because of the stun effect.

If I blocked small-range attacks with my arms or legs, I could nullify the stun and make for some fun gameplay. Now that it’s being patched, it’s a bit disappointing.

Not long after reading the notice, Pinkubelly appeared in front of me. I immediately raised my hand and waved.

“Welcome! You’re early today? Let’s shake hands!”

“Yeah. Did you sleep well, Arang? You seem to be in a good mood today. I don’t think you’ve ever greeted me like this before.”

“Ah~ I felt bad yesterday because I couldn’t wave or shake hands!”

“Oh…”

I grabbed Pinkubelly’s hand, which had paused for a moment, and shook it.

Pinkubelly seemed touched by my enthusiastic welcome.

There’s only one thing to do in Leore today.

It’s time to work on the in-depth content. Before heading to the raid, I need to finish the in-depth content I’ve been putting off.

In Leore, in-depth content isn’t just for achievements—it significantly helps with stat growth, so it’s a must-do.

So today, Pinkubelly and I will fill out the in-depth content while forming a guild.

“Arang, to the left!”

When Pinkubelly shouted, I dodged the attack from the Skeleton monster in front of me by moving to the right.

A massive Skeleton sword sliced through the air vertically and struck the ground to my left.

Just as the Skeleton in front of me raised its sword to strike again—

“Huuuuuh!”

I used the Sword Master skill [Square Quadruple] right after finishing my dodge animation.

If [Pentagon] is a 5-hit combo, [Square Quadruple] is a 4-hit combo. In terms of damage, [Pentagon] is stronger, but [Square Quadruple] is lighter.

The pre- and post-delay for [Square Quadruple] is significantly shorter than [Pentagon]. That’s why it’s used in emergencies or when there’s not enough time for a full combo.

Plus, with my [Chain Attack] skill buff stacked to 10, the pre- and post-delay for [Square Quadruple] is almost unnoticeable.

I landed four consecutive hits on the Skeleton’s weak point—its core—with [Square Quadruple], and its remaining HP dropped instantly.

Once the Skeleton in front of me died, the remaining Skeletons were no threat.

It didn’t take long to wipe out the remaining Skeletons’ HP, and they disappeared in a burst of particles.

The reason I suddenly started hunting Skeletons is that they drop an item needed for the in-depth content.

What I need from the Skeletons is [Soul of the Dead]. The in-depth content I’m working on involves collecting specific monster drops and delivering them to a research lab in the city.

By collecting these specific monster drops, you can earn various rewards and, most importantly, skill points.

This is one of the biggest reasons to do in-depth content.

Skill points are usually obtained through leveling up or completing main quests. But I’m already at max level, and I’ve finished all the main quests.

That means the only way to get more skill points is through in-depth content. Each skill point increases skill damage by at least 10%, so they’re incredibly important.

But…

“It didn’t drop…”

I slumped down after killing 50 Skeletons without getting a single [Soul of the Dead].

“Normally, it drops after 2 or 3 kills… This is weird…”

Pinkubelly’s words shocked me even more. If it usually drops after 2 or 3 kills, that means the drop rate is around 50%.

But after killing 50, not a single one dropped?

Ah… I’m so frustrated.

==

[Leore Gallery]

[Where did all the people who kept dissing middle schooler Arang go?] [327]

They were everywhere just yesterday, but today they’ve all disappeared. What’s going on?

The people who used to trash the gallery owner every single day suddenly stopped posting today.

On top of that, all the posts and comments in the Leore gallery are gone…

This is so creepy. What’s happening? Did I imagine all this?

Was I just punching the air this whole time?

[They really disappeared in an instant. What’s going on?]

[Is this even possible? This has never happened in the gallery before.]

ㄴ[Isn’t this because of the U.S. IP? I thought we couldn’t touch that.]

[The people who kept dissing middle schooler Arang got banned lol] [1421]

Everyone who suddenly disappeared must’ve gotten banned.

If you search “access device ban” on Google right now, there are tons of posts about temporary bans today lol.

I think everyone can guess what happened lol.

They used to call middle schooler Arang the gallery owner, but turns out it was true lol.

[She’s not just the Leore gallery owner—she’s THE gallery owner lol.]

ㄴ[For real lol. She’s the owner in every sense.]

[Her sister is the head of Mars Korea lol.]

ㄴ[Now we just have to worship her lol.]

[But this is the first time I’ve seen an access device ban case. Crazy.]

ㄴ[If someone used the access device they made to insult and sexually harass their daughter, I’d ban them too lol.]

[What happens if your access device gets banned? Don’t we use it for cards, files, certificates, and everything these days?]

ㄴ[You’re screwed lol. I heard some people even got sued.]

[What happens when your access device gets banned] [524]

First, you’ll have to reissue all your certificates, starting with the public certificate. That’s where the hell begins.

And if you work at a company or have a job, you’ll know this.

The access device server is currently the best in the world, automatically backing up and saving everything in real time.

But if the access device itself gets banned, you lose access to all the data on the server.

Phones, computers, laptops—everything is linked to the access device server. If you can’t use the access device…

Daily life becomes impossible;;

[These days, there’s nothing that doesn’t use the access device server. The fact that it’s free is a big deal.]

ㄴ[This is still mind-blowing. I don’t get why they’re giving this away for free lol.]

ㄴ[They’re already raking in money worldwide lol.]

[Honestly, Mars must’ve abducted aliens underground and stolen their tech lol.]

ㄴ[For real lol. Their tech is unreal lol.]