《The Bookworm Teacher becomes a Swordsman》


 1 A Last Coffee in the Snow

    "I can''t do this anymore. I''m leaving."


    Seojoon looked up from his papers and stared at his girlfriend in confusion. "Excuse me-"


    "I can''t stay with you. I''m done. I want to break up."


    Seojoon let out a dry laugh as he placed his papers down and slowly stood up. "Is this some sort of joke? Are you angry that I forgot about our anniversary? I promise you that I would make it up-"


    *Paak*


    Seojoon flinched as a sharp pain appeared on his cheek. He had been slapped.


    Holding his burning face, he slowly faced his girlfriend once more with a dumbfounded expression.


    "Dear-"


    "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"


    Seojoon watched his girlfriend with a blank look and saw many things he hadn''t seen before. The dark circles under her eyes, puffy eyes from many nights of crying, her trembling lips, and her tearing eyes. A scarlet gem glittered sadly on her chest, a necklace he had bought her for her birthday many years ago.


    How long had it been since he had last celebrated it?


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    Seojoon took a deep breath before lowering his hands. ".... how can I make it up?"


    She shook her head before taking off the necklace around her neck. She stared at the glittering red gem in her hand for a moment before placing it on his desk. "You''ve done enough. All I want you to do is for this to end. We never spend time together and you love this job more than me."


    "It''s not that I don''t love you, it''s that I need to work-"


    "I DON''T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR WORK!" She screamed, causing Seojoon to flinch.


    "I CAN HANDLE THE FACT THAT WE DON''T HAVE MONEY! WE CAN JUST WORK TOGETHER TO EARN A LIVING! I CAN UNDERSTAND IT IF YOU GET ANGRY WITH ME OR FIGHT WITH ME! ITS HOW WE GET CLOSER! BUT YOU DONT DO ANYTHING! YOU DONT EVEN TRY TO SPEND TIME WITH ME! YOU ARE ALWAYS WORKING OVERTIME FOR WEEKS AND MONTHS! YOU NEVER SHOW UP AT OUR HOUSE!"


    She burst into a torrent of tears as she stood screaming at Seojoon.


    "I LOVED YOU! I STILL DO! BUT IF YOU ARE GOING TO TREAT ME LIKE I NEVER EXISTED! THEN I''M GOING TO LEAVE!"


    Seojoon watched her with a blank emotion. His head whirred at a high speed as he tried to formulate a plan, just as he would do when he was trying to help his student with a question. However this time he didn''t have an answer.


    All he could do was stand and stare at his girlfriend.


    ".... is this your answer?" She said, biting her lips. "After all this, you still have nothing to say to me?"


    At her burning gaze, Seojoon couldn''t help but avert his eyes. He had no response, nothing at all.


    ".... fine. I didn''t expect much anyways. Good bye.... Mr. Kim, I hope you find success rotting area in your run down academy. It''s the only thing you cared about anyways."


    She grabbed her stuff that was over the chair and marched towards the door. Just as she was about to exit the doorframe, she gave one last look at Seojoon.


    The light behind the door illuminated her tears, painting the scene in a much sadder tone. Her face was akin to a weeping angel, more beautiful than sad.


    "What is the point of becoming a teacher to help kids, when you aren''t even determined enough to take care of yourself? Stop being so selfless and live for yourself more. If you can do that.... maybe we can give this another try."


    Seojoon watched as the last of his girlfriend disappeared on the other side of the door. He slowly sat back down in his seat and took out a cigarette pack out of his pocket and lit one up.


    He glanced up to the ceiling and let out a sigh.


    Just where did he go wrong? At what point did his life turn into a mess? Was it when one of his students committed suicide? When both of his parents died of cancer? When he had focused on studying instead of making friends? Just where did he go wrong?


    Seojoon took in a deep of the smoke, letting it fester in his lungs for a while before breathing out.


    Letting out a wry smile, he gave himself a self derisive laugh. "Maybe I should leave for home early for once."


    He packed up his materials and placed his work bag over his shoulder before leaving through the same door his now ex girlfriend came out of. He made his way down the stairs and outside of the building.


    The night sky was dark with only a few stars peeking out here and there that were mostly overshadowed by huge glowing broadcasts that featuring a battle scene from a game.


    It was a game that came out when he was still in high school and had become interestingly popular over the years. However, he never had the time to play as he was to focused on studying. He thought that studying would bring him happiness.... look where he was now.


    Seojoon flinched as he felt something cold touch his nose. He flicked his eyes upwards and saw that it was beginning to snow. How beautiful it was, the first snow of the season.


    Seojoon stared at the sky for a moment before resuming his walk towards his house. Along the way, he saw a coffee shop and couldn''t resist but go in and few minutes later, the fresh voice of a female waitress said goodbye to him as he exited back into the cold frosty air with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand.


    Taking his time with the cup, he stopped at a nearby park and sat at one of the benches to drink. Snow was falling at a faster pace and Seojoon was starting to get colder, his only source of warmth being the slowly disappearing coffee in between his hands.


    His hair and clothes soon became covered in white snow but Seojoon didn''t mind it. Instead, he sat there on the bench and closed his eyes. The cold provided him a decent distraction him which he fully welcomed.


    His breaths drew a foggy painting in the air in front of him, as each successive intake and outtake took longer and longer. He felt oddly peaceful and calm, any earlier thoughts of pain and regret gone from his mind.


    Now, all he wanted to do was take a short nap in the snow. He would go home after he woke up but for now, it was time for a short sleep.


    Just as he was about to fall asleep, his eyes caught one of the glowing broadcast that featured the game from earlier and Seojoon couldn''t help but entertain a simple and brand new desire he never had until then.


    "Tomorrow...." Seojoon said, his voice becoming thick and heavy. "Tomorrow.... I''ll give the game a try."


    Seojoon closed his eyes as his breaths took longer and the snow had almost painted the entirety of his black hair white. Eventually, his breaths came to a stop and the still warm coffee cup in his hands fell to the ground.

 2 Time Travel is a Chea

    "Everyone, pay attention. You better do well on the test because if you fail, I will have to haul you back in during the break."


    "Ehhhh, but teach! The new game is about to come out! You can''t do this to us!"


    "Do you think that I want to be stuck at school? Hah! They won''t even pay me extra for the remedial lessons. I have a nice virtual game date planned during the break so if any of you fail.... I''ll make sure to make your lives a living hell!"


    "That''s not fair!"


    "Come on teach! Give us a break!"


    "That''s what I''m trying to do god dammit!"


    Seojoon opened his eyes and was met with a familiar yet unfamiliar view. All around him were teenagers wearing school uniforms sitting down in desks. It was a nostalgic classroom, which was very odd to Seojoon.


    He slowly got up and rubbed his eyes. The last thing he could remember was that he was out on the bench during the snow before he had fallen asleep.


    Seojoon did a small stretch before getting up out of his seat. Although the students looked familiar, he was a hundred percent sure that they were not his students. He did not know why he was in a different classroom, but now he had to go back to his class. He had his duty as a teacher to teach his students.


    Seojoon was just getting up when the teacher of the current classroom let out a shout.


    "Kim Seojoon! Why are you getting up during the middle of class?"


    Giving a little start, Seojoon stared at the teacher who had yelled at him. Now that he had a good look, he realized that the teacher wasn''t one of his coworkers. However, some part of his brain told him adamantly that the teacher in front of him was no doubt a teacher he knew.


    Unintentionally, Seojoon started to use honorifics while addressing the teacher.


    "Er.... sir. I''m trying to get to my class," answered Seojoon tentatively, still not sure what exactly was going.


    There was a burst of laughter as the teacher gave Seojoon an annoyed look. "Are you still drunk on sleep? You are already in your class! Now sit down in your seat before I give you detention for disrupting class!"


    "....yes sir."


    Seojoon slowly sat back down into his seat, now fully awake. He gave a quick glance around and came to a shocking revelation that the students around him looked exactly like the young versions of his old school friends.


    Seojoon shook his head. It wasn''t that the students looked like the young version of his school friends, but that they were his school friends. Seojoon immediately glanced down at his clothes and saw that he was wearing his old high school uniform.


    "What the fuck is going on?" He muttered quietly under his breath.


    Seojoon sat in his class and listened to the lectures that he had already learned before as he tried his best to make sense of what exactly had happened.


    Was this all some sort of realistic dream? He was a thirty eight years old man not even a day ago and now he had reverted back to his....


    Seojoon gave a quick glance at the class calendar up in the front.


    ....He had reverted back to his sixteen year old self once again.


    It had to be a dream or something. It didn''t make any logical and scientific sense. Many people had fantasied about going back in time but Seojoon had enough knowledge to know that it was impossible with human means. Even if by some miracle God had decided to give him a second chance, why the hell would he do that? And why would he do it to a person like him? There was no other possible solution other than that the reality he saw before him was only a well constructed dream that highly realistic qualities.


    Seojoon felt a painful twinge on the top of his head as his teacher smacked him with a ruler.


    "Stop spacing out Kim Seojoon! I don''t care if you know everything I teach already!"


    "Yes sir! Sorry sir!"


    Seojoon snapped out of his daze and immediately straightened his back as another bout of laughter decorated the classroom. It definitely wasn''t a dream. The pain from the ruler still lingered on his neck even after quite some time had passed by. But he had to completely make sure that he had indeed went back in time.


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    Seojoon gave another look at the calendar before squeezing his brain for anything about what was going to happen that day.


    October fourth.... what was going to happen during October fourth of the year 2047?


    Seojoon slowly scribbled down everything that came to his mind


    One, he went to school.


    Two, he would eat his lunch that was made from his mom.


    Three.... he would get asked out by a girl?


    Wait, no. He would have to take a test first before he got asked out by the girl.


    Three, he would take a test.


    Four, get asked out.


    Five..... he went home and did homework before reading books.


    Seojoon nodded in satisfaction at his superb memory before glancing at the clock. The hour had just passed the two o''clock mark which meant that-


    "Ok everyone! Take out a pencil or pen and place everything else in your bags. If I catch you cheating, I''ll make sure to add you to the list of people who will need to stay behind durning the break."


    -it was time to take a test.


    Seojoon silently watched as the teacher placed the test onto his desk. He just had an ingenious thought. If he had went back in time, wouldn''t it mean that all the tests would be the same as well?


    In his previous life, he was known as the demon of studying. He would rarely spend time on anything that wouldn''t increase his academic abilities to a higher level. Any worksheets he got, he would solve them five times until he got everything right. Any question he got wrong, he would practice similar ones six times over. Any reading assignments he got, he would read them ten times over. In his brain were a thousand of accumulated tests and questions that he had hammered into his brain to the point where he could grade a single test faster than a bubble sheet scanner.


    Now, if time truly didn''t change and everything was the same as before.... then....


    Seojoon slowly flipped his test over and did a quick glance at the test on his desk. A small grin crept up his face as Seojoon confidently picked up his pencil.


    He remembered the test that was in front of his eyes. He had taken it twenty two years ago yet it was still fresh in his mind. He remembered all of the questions and all of the answer choices. But most importantly, he remembered all of the answers.


    Time traveling was such a cheat.

 3 Recollecting Memories

    "I-I-I really like you! Please go out with me!"


    "I''m sorry but can''t go out with you right now."


    "A-ah.... ok."


    Seojoon watched silently as the high school girl walked away with a dejected expression. Now, four events that he had predicted that had came true. All he had to do now was go home and do his homework, study a bit, and read some books.


    He immediately made his way out of school and into the outside world. The world seemed to be brighter than usual for Seojoon as he started to dash across the city blocks.


    Trees covered in a small layer of snow painted the world white for him as each successive minute of running made his breath more visible in the cold air.


    He passed a multitude of sleek cars out on the pavement next to him that seemed to flow instead of roll. Seojoon was passing his neighborhood grocery store when he suddenly received a call.


    He picked up his phone and answered.


    "Seojoon-ah, can you buy some milk and other groceries on the way home? School is over right?"


    "Yes, School is over."


    "That''s great! I''ll give you some extra money to buy a book as well. Deal?"


    Seojoon paused, a wave of nostalgia washing over him before giving his reply. "Sure Umma, I''ll be home in thirty minutes."


    "Perfect, I''ll send the list of items to buy along with the money in a sec."


    "''Kay, bye Umma."


    He quickly entered the grocery store and went to the milk section and looked for the jug that had the furthest expiration date.


    "Omo, you look pretty today~"


    "Thank you, I did my best."


    "It''s such a waste to look so good when you are only going shopping. You must be going somewhere special right after. Didn''t you say that today was your birthday?"


    There was a ding as Seojoon received a message from his mother containing a list of things he needed to buy. Soon after, there was another notification saying that a hundred dollars had been deposited to his account.


    Seojoon loaded the milk jug and made his way around the shop, picking things off of the isles and placing vegetables in bio degradable plastic bags.


    "So where are you going? For your birthday?"


    "Fufufufu, my husband is taking me to the famous steak diner in the next city. I can''t wait!"


    "How romantic, a date with just you and your husband."


    "To be honest, I wanted my son to come as well be he was going on about some game that was going to be released today."


    Seojoon stopped what he was doing and blankly stared at the package of cheese in his hand.


    He felt as though he had missed something important, something very important. But after a moment of thinking to himself, he shrugged and finished shopping.


    When Seojoon left the store, several holograms floated high up in the sky, flashing advertisements in a natural light. Most of them featured a game that would apparently release tonight.


    Seojoon stared at the advertisements for a second before continuing along. He had more important things to do than playing games.


    Seojoon ran around carrying his grocery bags until he came upon a small little building. He took a deep breath before finally walking in.


    The bell on the door let a crisp jingle as the voice of an old man called out to him.


    "Back again already? Didn''t you buy ten books just the other weekend? Seojoon-ah, are you trying to make your parents go bankrupt?"


    "Ahahaha.... nice to see you again ajushi."


    "Bah! I''m not young or shameless enough to be called ajushi. Hurry up and pick out a book already."


    Seojoon gave the old book keeper a wide grin before heading off the the bookshelves. The book keeper watched from the sidelines with a sigh.


    "These days no one wants to buy books except for you. It''s just so easy to buy a book online and read electronically. If it weren''t for your idiotic desire to read physical books, this shop would''ve closed down years ago."


    "Sorry for being an idiot ajushi."


    "Bah! If you were an idiot, all those other kids at your school would be rocks. Now hurry up and pick a book."


    Seojoon nodded his head and scanned the rows for anything new to read when he suddenly let out a frown.


    He had read all of the books on the shelves. Every single one. He could remember each and every story that slumbered within the book covers with almost perfect recollection. There was not a single book that he had left untouched.


    Now that he thought about it, Seojoon had read at least one book every single day for the past 22 years. He had nearly read almost all of the books in his current time and even the books that were to come in the near future. He had nothing new to read.


    Seojoon let out a groan as he cursed at his time skip for the first time. He then dejectedly picked up his groceries from the floor before slowly heading out the door.


    "Not going to buy anything today?" Asked the book keeper in surprise.


    ".... I''m just not feeling it today."


    His one source of entertainment, the one joy in his life. Gone, reduced to a futuristic event that would take place in twenty two years in time.


    The book keeper let out a satisfied nod.


    "You should forget about books for once and have some fun. Kids like you shouldn''t be reading all day. At least interact with other people, make some friends."


    What would he do now? Study? He couldn''t study when he already knew everything he needed for school. He wouldn''t be able to bear the torture of reading something that he could recite.


    "At least try to act like other kids. All my grandson does is play games, even when I told him multiple times to stop. His grades suffer from it you know? But if a smart kid like you plays a video game from time to time, I bet that you will still be able to retain your excellent grades and relax a bit. I read an article once saying that over studying will lead to mental problems relating to stress and a lack of communication skills-"


    Seojoon immediately perked up.


    "Did you say games?"


    "My god, you must''ve eaten something different today. The boy who lived for books is interested in playing a game? Hah! I guess I can live another twenty years after all."


    Seojoon furrowed his brows deep in thought.


    He remembered that there was a popular game that came out during his high school years. A game that remained unrivaled twenty years after its release. He thought back to the conversation the two ladies at the grocery store had, his classmates, and even his teacher.


    A game was being released tonight, for sure. However, could it be the same game that would eventually take over the gaming world?


    What was it called? What was the game called again?


    Seojoon glanced out of the window and stared into the sky. His eye caught a hologram that flashed in a multiple of colors as it opened a window to a fantasy world. His eyes were drawn to the top of the advertisement where golden words written in medieval font flashed flamboyantly.


    [Rising Worlds


    Releasing today.]


    Immediately, Seojoon was flashed back in time to when he was out in the snow, staring into the night sky with a cup of coffee in his hand. The scene from then started to merge with his current reality as everything became a part of the same canvas.


    Tomorrow....


    "Tomorrow...." whispered Seojoon softly as he saw the snowflakes from that night land on his warm face. He could no tell if he was seeing reality or an illusion. All he knew that both worlds had the same exactly thought.


    Tomorrow.... I''ll-


    "Today.... I''ll-"


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    -give the game a try.


    "-give the game a try."


    The bell on the shop door let out a wild jingle as Seojoon ran out the door with his grocery bags swaying in the wind.

 4 I Just Want To Play Games

    Seojoon sat down at his desk and took out his homework. After scanning the tens of papers filled to the brim with mathematical, literary, and science questions, he let out a sigh of relief. Everything was still the same, which meant that he could finish it easily.


    He glanced at his phone and saw that it was 3:59. Dinner was approximately 4 hours away. Seojoon gave a smirk as he glanced at the stack of papers in front him. Finishing the homework in four hours was no impossible feat, even if he show his work. It would be easier than copying off of an answer sheet, as the only thing that held him back would be how fast he could move his pen.


    Seojoon put on a pair of wireless earbuds and selected a playlist on his phone. The moment he heard the first note of music, he fell into his own world as his pen scribbled away madly against the paper.


    Time seemed to lose its meaning because the moment Seojoon finished the last piece of homework, his mother''s voice interrupted the flow of music, dragging him back to reality.


    "Seojoon!"


    He took off one earbud and waited for a continuation of her line but never received it. Shaking his head, Seojoon placed his pen down and stretched his arms before getting up from his desk.


    He picked up his phone and checked the time before placing it in his pocket.


    It was 7:56, his mother had called him for dinner. Seojoon gave a last look at his pile of finished homework with satisfaction before heading out to the kitchen.


    His father had arrived home from work and was at the kitchen cooking while his mother was sitting at the table drinking some coffee. Four clean bowls and four sets of silverware were set neatly on the table.


    As Seojoon sat down, his mother took a sip of her coffee and let out a relaxed sigh.


    His mother was a korean lady with very pale skin. Her warm brown eyes and short cut hair made her seem very energetic and full of youth. Although she was wearing a standard work suit, that went very well with her black hair, she looked very relaxed and comfortable.


    "How was school today? Are you excited for the break?"I


    Seojoon nodded his head. "School was fine, took a test and I think I did pretty well."


    Pretty well was an understatement.


    As if she had heard his thoughts, his mom let out a snort. "Pretty well? More like another A+, or maybe a perfect score? I wonder what will happen when you take the SAT or the National Exams? I bet people from Harvard or some other famous college will come to recruit you?"


    Actually, they begged and pleaded him to go to their school.... but Seojoon didn''t mention that piece of information. Time skipping wasn''t an everyday event after all.


    His father let out a chuckle as he brought a pot of steaming meat stew. "Leave our son alone, it''s a miracle that he is this smart."


    His father was an American white man with kind eyes and a warm smile. His raised black hair had a few gray streaks that did not make him look old. In fact, it added to his charm causing him to look mature and handsome. His stormy gray eyes would twinkle as he stared at Seojoon.


    "It didn''t come from me and it definitely didn''t come from you. If he wasn''t the spitting image of me, I would''ve suspected you of committing adultery."


    His mother let a laugh. "I suspected myself of committing adultery as well. Now what did you cook up for me today my dear hubby."


    "Don''t call me that. It''s so cringe."


    "That''s exactly why I''ll keep calling you that. Now hurry up and present me my dinner, my little hubby."


    His dad let out a sigh of defeat before placing the pot of stew onto the table. "One pot of beef stew served and ready for consumption."


    "Thank you very much hubby," said his mother giving his father a nudge on the shoulder.


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    "Thanks for the meal dad."


    "You''re welcome. Now, where the hell is your older sister?"


    His mother let out a sigh. "She is out drinking with her friends again. Just because she is in college, she thinks that the whole world is hers to play in. Can''t wait until her grades come back. The amount of nagging that I will be able to do...."


    His dad shrugged. "I guess we will eat with only the three of us. Let''s dig in."


    Seojoon took a sip of the broth and nodded his head in bliss. It had been such a long time since he had tasted his father''s home beef stew. He really missed it.


    He scarfed down the bowl as fast as he could.... and choked.


    "Wow, is my stew that good?"


    "You dumb ass husband, you should be asking him whether he is ok or not!"


    "Ah, you''re right. Seojoon-ah, you alright?"


    Seojoon coughed a couple times before giving his parents a reassuring look.


    "I''m perfectly fine, thank you. The stew just tasted so good."


    "Hah! My son likes my cooking more that yours," bragged his father as smirked at his mom. "No wonder you make me cook all the time."


    His mother gave his father a scowl.


    "The only reason why you are cooking today is because I feel lazy and you lost at Rock Paper Scissors. He only choked because he was especially hungry today. Don''t get cocky."


    His father shrugged before teasingly remarking "Our son never choked on any of your dishes due to eating quickly did he? Isn''t it obviously clear who has the better cooking skill in this house?"


    "...."


    Seojoon''s mother gave him a demonic glare as his father gave him a pat on the back.


    "Seojoon-ah~ Ask me for anything and I''ll buy it for you. It''s not everyday that I win an argument against your mother. What do you want? A textbook? A book? Cash?"


    Seojoon immediately thought about the game that was coming out tonight.


    "Erm, I actually do have one thing I want to buy...."


    "Tell me what it is, I''ll buy it for you as long as it is below a hundred dollars."


    Seojoon hesitated. Should he ask them to buy him a game? Would they allow it?


    After a split second of debating his choices, Seojoon gave in. He had to strike the iron while it was hot.


    "Can you buy.... a game for me? It''s coming out tonight and I was kinda interested in it."


    His mother dropped her spoon and her dark look immediately morphed into one that represented shock.


    His father froze completely as if he had heard something utterly absurd. As an attempt to regain his mind, his father tried to weakly laugh it off.


    "Ahahaha, do you want to buy some sort of game book or something? Sure, dad will buy it for you no problem."


    "No, not a game book but an actual game. It''s the virtual reality game that always pops up in the adds these days. I want to buy that game."


    The room went silent as the three of them stared at each other with different expressions.


    "Hubby, we should go call an ambulance."


    "Yes we should. We should also contact the police. Call our daughter as well. She might be able to fix him."


    Seojoon gave his parents a confused look. "What is wrong? Why do you need to call the police? Fix who?"


    His father took out his phone and started to call his sister while his mother stared at him from a distance away.


    "What did you do to my little Seojoon-ee! Give him back you imposter! My son would never care about playing a game! What do you want from us!"


    "Hurry up and come home. Your brother is gone. He was replaced with a fake that wants to play games. I''m serious. Come home right now."


    "...."


    Seojoon realized that maybe he studied a little too hard in his previous life.

 5 I Play a Game

    Seojoon sat on the couch with a face devoid of all emotion. He was starting to think that playing a game was more trouble than it was worth.


    Seojoon sighed as his eyes slowly moved back to his parents.


    "Hubby! It''s a dream come true! Our son is finally becoming a normal boy!"


    "Darling~ How long has it been since we''ve given up on raising our son like a normal child? All these years of suffering.... all these years of doubting our parenting skills.... he finally asked us to let him play a game...."


    "We should celebrate! We need to drink over this! What do you want hubby? Champagne? Wine? Vodka? Soju? A Spirytus Rektyfikowany 2020?"


    "Anything you want my darling~"


    Seojoon stared at the clock that was on the wall and let out another sigh. It was 9:17. He had been on the couch for forty odd minutes now.


    His dad''s eyes slowly glazed into the distance as he started to speak in a nostalgic tone. "I remember the old days when I was still young. I would play for hours and hours on my Xbox RX with my father and brothers. Such great times. Now my son is asking me if he can play.... my long awaited dream of playing games together with my son...."


    His father started to cry as his mother patted his father on the back. Seojoon could see a couple of empty bottles of some kind of alcohol on the table behind his parents.


    "Just when did they drink all that?" Muttered Seojoon lifelessly.


    The front door suddenly opened with a burst as his sister bathed into the room with flushed cheeks while panting heavily.


    "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LITTLE SEOJOON! WHERE IS HE? YOU SAID HE WAS KIDNAPPED!"


    Oh great, thought Seojoon to himself mockingly, another troublesome person had entered the fray.


    His sister was a very pretty lady, her face could be described as gorgeous in both Asian and American terms. She had smooth black hair that stopped just above her shoulders and had startling gray eyes. She also wore very skimpy clothing that revealed a lot more than was necessary. She also smelled like alcohol.


    "YOU SAID MY BROTHER WANTED TO PLAY GAMES! WHERE IS THAT FAKE ASS SON OF A BITCH IMPOSTER! I''LL BEAT HIM UO UNTIL I GET MY BROTHER BACK!"


    Seojoon followed in his father''s footsteps and cried a little as well.


    His mother gave his sister a good look before scoffing. "Who gave you permission to scream in my house? Sit down you silly girl, your brother is completely fine."


    His sister hesitated, still breathing heavily from running all the way home as she was not allowed to drink and drive.


    "Didn''t you say.... that my Seojoon wanted to play games and that he was kidnapped? And why is dad crying?"


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    "Oh you silly girl, your brother is just finally going through his ''normal person phase''. It''s nothing dramatic and it''s very silly to over react like you just did now."


    Seojoon sent a dark look to the floor. His mother was such a hypocrite.


    "As for your father.... he is just very overjoyed-"


    "I CAN PLAY GAMES WITH MY SON!"


    "-and a little bit drunk as you can tell."


    His mother shook her head before immediately sharpening her gaze as she observed his sister.


    "The only person who is out of their minds is you. Going out in public dressed like that. S. M. H."


    His sister blanked out. "But I like these clothes?"


    "You look like a hoe, now hurry up and change clothes before I strip you naked and toss you outside. Maybe that would help you learn some shame."


    "But mom, it''s snowing outside! I''ll freeze to death-"


    "Good point, I''ll make sure to douse you in water as well. Now hurry up and wear something decent before I give in to my desires."


    Apparently his mother was very drunk as well. Normally, she was never this harsh.


    As Rachael went to her room with a sulk, his father sat down at the couch and placed an arm around Seojoon.


    "Seojoon-ah. Whurt game did yer wunna buy again?"


    Seojoon hesitated. "It''s called Rising Worlds."


    "Issunt that ther new game thats releasing todur?"


    "Yes."


    "Geerd thing fur yur.... I huve a gaming capsule in ther gaming room. Yur can huve it. It''s yurs to keep-"


    His father collapsed onto Seojoon''s shoulder and started to snore.


    Seojoon sighed before moving out of the way to give his father a more comfortable position for sleeping. His mother was in his sister''s room bullying his sister and his sister was getting bullied.


    Seojoon made the very smart decision to ignore his sister''s pleas of help and went to the gaming room on the opposite side of his house.


    He opened the door tot the room and walked in. Immediately, all the lights turned on and illuminated the entire room. A large TV was hooked up to the wall that would turn off and on with a simple command with his voice. A cozy sofa was placed directly across the TV while four gaming capsules sat on the four corners of the room. He had used one of the capsules at school once as a school assignment. He had most of the basic processes down.


    He opened one of the lids to the capsules and entered it with a sense of novelty and excitement. This was his first game ever, what would it be like?


    The capsule slowly closed its lid and Seojoon closed his eyes. He heard the mechanical whirring of the machine and then silence. Seojoon opened his eyes and was now in a completely different place. He had moved to a black room and in front of him was a selection menus featuring a variety of games.


    He immediately selected the game that said Rising Worlds and watched as the world around him changed sceneries.


    [Please wait a moment. The game has not been released yet. It is scheduled for release at 9:30. Thank you for your patience.]


    Seojoon pulled up the capsule clock and saw that it was 9:28.


    Very quickly the time changed to 9:29.... and then 9:30.


    [The game has been released. Welcome, player, to Rising Worlds.]

 6 What a Wonderful Game

    Seojoon listened carefully as the game gave him a quick rundown on the tutorial.


    [What would you like to be referred as? It is recommended that you do use a real name instead of a fancy title.]


    "Kim Seojoon please."


    [Confirmed. Would you like to set a nickname? This will be the name that goes on the worldwide leaderboard.]


    Seojoon tilted his head sideways. "Why do I need a nickname?"


    [It is to prevent players from targeting other players based on their position on the leaderboards as well as to improve the in game flow of interactions between the player and Intellectual Non Player Characters. Originally, only the nickname would be registered until problems occurred when one of the alpha testers had a title like name.]


    Seojoon raised an eyebrow.


    [The conversations with the INPC''s would start to get weird and uncomfortable. An example being- "hello mister Call Me Papa~" and "Oh brave hero I Kill For A Living, please save this town!" And plenty of others. It would be a deterrent to experiencing the full gameplay and thus it was fixed.]


    Seojoon squinted his eyes in disbelief. What kind of idiot would name themselves Call Me Papa?


    [What would you like to set your nickname as?]


    Seojoon racked his brain for a decent sounding nickname as he didn''t want to look stupid as he played the game. This was the first time he had to come up with his own nickname and it was harder than he thought. He was about to set his nickname to be something random when a memory of the future surfaced on his mind.


    ''Hey teach, why do you read so much? Shouldn''t you do something a little more productive like exercising?''


    ''Lol, teach is such a bookworm. Wait, I know. We should call him that from now on.''


    ''Good morning bookworm teach!''


    A small smile slowly itched itself onto Seojoon''s face, creating a nostalgic tone in the air.


    "I would like to set my nickname to Bookworm Teacher Please."


    [You would like to set your nickname to Bookworm Teacher, is this correct?]


    "Yes."


    [Your nickname has been set. Your character will be generated based on your current physical aspects and will be unable to be changed. This is prevent unfamiliarity with your in game body when you start playing the game. It is also a preventive measure for traps and catfishers from playing the game.]


    "What is a trap and a catfisher?"


    [I am forbidden from providing an answer. Please refer to the internet or older peers. Your hair color and minor physical details will be able to be changed in game at a later time.]


    "Cool."


    [Generating character model.... done. Welcome to Rising Worlds. Please do enjoy your experience.]


    A bright light enveloped Seojoon and the next thing he knew, he was in the middle of a village square surrounded by many other people.


    [Welcome to Beginner''s Village.]


    Seojoon glanced at his hands and marveled at the sight. His hands looked perfectly ordinary, a complete copy of his real life hand. He started to jump around and stretch as he got a feel for his virtual body all the while listening to the other players talk.


    "Wow, it''s a lot less crowded than I thought." Said a player to his left. "Most VR games are crowded on the day of release. As expected, the game devs must''ve created multiple Beginner Villages so that we would be able to play leisurely. Rising Worlds is indeed worthy of its popularity and high ratings."


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    "I should walk around and find some NPC''s to talk with. I need to hurry up and obtain quests."


    "Apparently the village head is giving out quests for people. Let''s hurry up and go before the line gets too long."


    Seojoon tilted his head. What in the world were quests? Why did people want to get them? Did they provide some kind of benefit?


    Seojoon followed a group of players who were all heading off to find the village head. And when they did, they also found a very long line.


    Seojoon took one glance at the line before turning the other way immediately. Instead of fighting to gain these.... quests, Seojoon felt that he would be spending his time better by exploring the village.


    Seojoon traveled down the streets observing everything that he could see. The sky was a very natural blue and was dotted with clouds. He could feel the wind blow past his skin, gently tickling him. Everything was so real that it was hard for Seojoon to remember that everything was only a game.


    A delicious scent of cooking dough suddenly stopped Seojoon mid in his tracks and forced him to turn towards the source of the smell.


    He made his way to a building with large windows and gave a little peek through the glass. True to what he had smelled, he could see loafs of bread and slices of cake decorating the interior of the building looking very appetizing.


    Next thing he knew, Seojoon had entered the bakery.


    The already strong smell of bread only served to strengthen itself the moment he stepped inside causing him to relish in the scent. The girl at the counter saw this and gave Seojoon a warm smile.


    "Welcome, how may I help you."


    Seojoon snapped out of his trance and faced the girl. "Do you make bread and cake here?"


    "What a weird question," said the girl while laughing. "Of course we sell bread silly, it''s all around you isn''t it?"


    Seojoon gave a wry smile before picking up a bread. He could still feel a lingering warmth radiate from the bread as if it had just came fresh out of the oven. "Can I take a bread?"


    "Only after you pay for it, silly."


    Seojoon hesitated before regretfully placing the bread back down. "I''m sorry, I don''t think I have money on me right now."


    "It''s ok lol. You can always come back later. I''ll be waiting for you."


    "What a shame, this place just smells so amazing, I can''t wait to give the bread a try." Said Seojoon with a sad sigh.


    The girl at the counter gave a smug smile before calling out to Seojoon who was about to leave. "Hey, you. Thank you for the compliment. You can take the bread that you touched from earlier. Think of it as a service."


    Seojoon widened his eyes, taken aback. "You are giving me this bread for free? Doesn''t it require money?"


    "I''ll give it to you for free this time. Just make sure to visit again okay?"


    Seojoon nodded before grabbing the piece of bread he had just placed down and took a big bite. It tasted just as good as it smelled. He could feel the crunch of the toasted bread in his mouth as well as the small amount of Italian herbs that had been sprinkled over the top as seasoning.


    It was as if the bread was real.


    "Thank you very much," said Seojoon once again to the girl. "I''ll definitely come again later."


    "You are welcome," replied the girl cheerfully. "Before you go, do you mind telling me your name?"


    Seojoon nodded his head after taking another bite of the bread. "My name is Seojoon."


    "Cool name! I''m Amy, what you ate was my first attempt at baking. Thank you for the compliments."


    "You are welcome."


    Seojoon left the bakery in utter awe. Everything in the game seemed to be as realist as real life. If anything, his sense of touch, sound, smell, taste, and sight seemed to be even better than before.


    Seojoon didn''t even realize that the baker Amy was a NPC until a message appeared in front of his eyes.


    [Beginner Baker Amy''s affection towards you has risen. Beginner Baker Amy - friendly.]


    What a wonderful game.

 7 The Beginner Gamer

    Seojoon walked around the village until he came upon a small wooden gate. At the gate were two soldiers standing guard while talking to each other in a light hearted mood. As Seojoon got closer, the guards noticed him and gave a friendly wave.


    "Hey you, I don''t think I''ve seen you around here before.... are you an outsider?"


    "What is an outsider?" Seojoon asked with curiosity.


    "You must be an outsider if you don''t know what it means," said the guard with a laugh. "An outsider is someone who teleports in at the village center and can come back to life after dying. It''s a pretty cool ability if you ask me."


    "Ah, thank you," replied Seojoon while bowing his head feeling a little embarrassed from being complimented.


    The guard saw this and raised an eyebrow. "You aren''t like the other outsiders, at least you know how to thank others."


    The second guard sighed. "Those god damn bastards ignoring us even after we gave them our sincere warnings.... not that they need it anyways. If they die, then can always come back to life."


    The first guard poked the second guard in the ribs. "Oi, watch your tone. Getting in trouble with outsiders is very risky business."


    "I know man, but they all have self important attitudes and treat us like worthless people. I wonder why I even bother to give them advice."


    "It''s our job man. Nothing we can do about it."


    Seojoon felt guilty for the two guards and decided to bow down and apologize. "I''m sorry for my fellow outsiders behavior."


    The first guard waved it off while laughing. "You have nothing to apologize for, so you don''t have to feel bad about it."


    The second guard gave Seojoon a good look before giving a small smirk.


    [The guards start to see you in a good light. Beginner''s Village Guards - friendly.]


    What?


    Seojoon stared at the message blankly when all of a sudden, the second guard started to speak. "I like you kid. Tell you what, let me help you out a bit."


    The guard drew his sword and pointed it to the field that was just beyond the gate. "Out there are a few beasts and monsters. Out of them, the rabbits and slimes are the easiest to kill. I''ll give you my sword so go out there and kill five rabbits and five slimes. If you manage to complete it, I''ll give you a reward."


    Almost instantly, a message appeared before Seojoon.


    [Hunting Quest


    One of the guards has decided to help you learn how to fight. Go out into the field and hunt five slimes and five rabbits. Please be careful of other strong mobs.


    Rabbits - 0/5


    Slimes - 0/5


    Reward: something good]


    "So, will you accept or not?" Asked the guard with the same small grin.


    Seojoon hesitated. He did not know how to fight in the game, but he figured that he would be able to work it out.


    Seojoon bowed once more towards the guards to express his gratitude. "Thank you very much."


    "It''s nothing."


    "Go hunt them rabbits and slimes already. Be wary for crazy dogs though. They have a mean bite."


    Seojoon took the sword from the guard before making his way out to the field. He immediately spotted a few players swinging their fists at a few slimes or chasing rabbits. None of them had a weapon.


    One of the players noticed that Seojoon had a sword and immediately ran over.


    "Bro! Where did you get that sword? I''ve been hitting these stupid slimes for ages and I only do 1 damage to them! To make matters worse, they give me an abysmal amount of xp so I need to kill at least a hundred to level up once!"


    Seojoon tilted his head sideways at the player before asking, "what are levels? Are there like an increasing difficulty that happens the more you play?"


    The player froze and stared at Seojoon like he was some complete idiot. "....have you ever played a game before?"


    Seojoon shook his head. "Not really, this is my first one ever."


    The player''s eyes slowly got smaller and morphed into two a (3_3) shape as he got more and more confused.


    "Did you go to the village head and obtain your quest?"


    "The line was too long so I skipped it and came here."


    "....how the fuck did you get that sword?"


    "The guard gave it to me, he gave me a... quest as well?"


    "WHAT THE FUCK? WHY DIDN''T HE GIVE ONE TO ME?"


    Seojoon watched the player immediately dash off back to the village with a confused look. He still had no idea what levels were and why quests were so important and a lot of things did not make sense to him. For now, only one thing was clear to him. Kill five rabbits and five slimes and go back to the guard.


    Seojoon quickly found an round monster, which had to be a slime, and slowly made his way to it while holding his sword towards the slime. The slime responded by shifting into a multitude of colors and jumped once before going still.


    Seojoon gently poked the slime with his sword.


    [-2]


    "What in the world?" Muttered Seojoon as he stared at the red letters that appeared before his eyes. He gave the slime a harder poke.


    [-4]


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    Seojoon took a step back as the slime jumped towards him and furrowed his brows before taking a swing at the slime.


    [-15]


    He gave one last slash and flinched in surprise as the slime lost its round shape and turned into a gooey liquid.


    [-15. You have killed a slime.


    +1 exp.]


    Seojoon raised an eyebrow before lowering his sword.


    "One down, nine more things to kill. That was easier than I thought."


    Although Seojoon still had no idea what to do and what was happening, he carried his sword and made his way to his next victim who was flashing a multitude of colors a couple of meters away.


    If he completed the quest, he would surely understand how things worked, right?

 8 Can I Read a Guide?

    "You back already?" Asked the second guard with a grin on his face.


    "Yes I have." Replied Seojoon with a small nod. "It was quite easy with your sword. Do you want it back?"


    The second guard shook his head and smiled. "You can keep it. I have a better one at home."


    "Thank you," said Seojoon accepting the sheath from the guard and sheathing his sword before giving a ninety degree bow. During the five minutes he spent hunting, he had learned just how lucky he was to have gotten the sword.


    Out of curiosity, he had tried punching a slime with his fists and came to the conclusion that no matter how hard he hit it, it would never deal more that 1 damage. To make matters even worse, if he didn''t hit the slime with all his strength or did not hit it directly in the center, he would deal no damage at all.


    [Hunting Quest Complete


    You have not disappointed the guard and have achieved his quest safely and soundly. Although he is far from being impressed, he now holds you in a better light.


    Rabbits - 5/5


    Slimes - 5/5


    Reward: 50 exp, a chance to learn swordsmanship.]


    Seojoon raised his eyebrows when he read the rewards for completing the quest. 50 exp was not a small amount of exp at all. He could see why people were desperate for quests. 50 exp was worth 50 slimes and rabbits. Since most people didn''t have a sword like him, they would need to grind at least an hour to get that much exp by hunting alone since each mob would take 2 minutes to kill.


    The second guard placed his arm around Seojoon''s neck before giving him a sly grin. "Now that you completed my request, let me uphold my side of the promise."


    "Yes sir."


    "I like your spirit. Have you completed your Class Quest yet? The one you got from the village head?"


    Seojoon shook his head. "I haven''t met the village head yet, there was too long of a line."


    The first guard sighed. "Makes sense. We just received an influx of outsiders in the past hour alone. The line must be insane as of the moment."


    "Yep, I heard that a lot of them have been fighting as well. Our men have arrested at least seven outsiders already. Well, go complete your Class Quest first and come back. If you decide to become a swordsman, I''ll get the captain to teach you some techniques. He owes me a favor anyways."


    The first guard raised an eyebrow. "Why does he owe you a favor?"


    "I helped him out when he got caught going to a brothel by his wife."


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    "Damn."


    [Get Your First Class Quest!


    The guard wishes to help you progress through the game smoothly. He has offered you a choice, become a swordsman and learn the art of swordsmanship or receive another prize.


    Class Quest - 0/1


    Reward: 20 exp and a reward that depends on your class.]


    Seojoon hesitated before nodding. "It will take me some time to complete though. I think the line got even longer...."


    The guards sighed in an understanding manner when the first guard suddenly widened his eyes. "Wait a moment, we can escort him to the front of the line can''t we? The village head said to bring any extraordinary outsiders to him immediately!"


    "Yes, he said to bring someone extraordinary. Not, bring anyone we want."


    "But he is extraordinary! He is extraordinarily kind!"


    The second guard opened his mouth to argue before hesitating. "Hmmm.... seems like a good enough reason. You can go take him to the village head. I''ll stay here and finish out guard duty."


    "Cool," said the first guard with a smile before turning around to face Seojoon. "What is your name? I don''t recall you telling us what to call you by."


    "My name is Seojoon."


    "That''s cool! You can call me Mike and the other guard is Zie. Let''s get going shall we? The captain will get angry me if I don''t get back here quick."


    The two of them left Zie at the gate to guard by himself and made their way back to the village center.


    Seojoon could see that the line had grown exponentially when compared to before. Even the amount of guards that glared at the rowdy players had increased as well.


    Mike gave the guards a wave, who responded by waving back, before promptly ignoring the entire line of annoyed players and guided Seojoon directly to the front.


    Immediately, Seojoon felt an incredible amount of bloodlust fall upon his back. When he turned around to determine what the cause of such bloodlust was, he was met with the wrathful eyes of all the players waiting in the line.


    Seojoon hesitated and wanted to go to the end of the line and wait but Mike pushed him from behind to keep him moving. When they reaches the door to the village head''s house, Mike knocked three times and waited.


    After a moments pause, a player came out of the house with a satisfied look with a somewhat young man following right behind.


    The young man watched the player happily leave before turning his to give a smile to Mike and Seojoon. "Good afternoon Mike. Are you not on guard duty today?"


    "I am, Village Head," Replied Mike with a sigh. "And it''s terrible. I''ve seen at least 5 outsiders attempt to kill a crazy dog and die."


    "What a pity. So I assume that the person standing next to you is someone you consider to be special?"


    "Yes."


    "Very well then, come inside. And you, Mike, you should hurry up and go back to the gates. The captain will get angry if you are gone for too long."


    "Yes, village chief. I''ll be going then. Good luck Seojoon."


    "Thank you."


    The young village head guided Seojoon into the house and offered him to sit before sitting down himself. After a moment of silence, the village head gave Seojoon a smile.


    "So, what do you need from me, sir Seojoon?"


    "I want to get a class quest please."


    The village head nodded his head in a knowingly manner. "I offer that quest to every outsider who visits my house. It is a simple matter to complete. Is there anything else you wish from me?"


    Seojoon was about to shake his head when he hesitated and thought of something to ask.


    "Can you help me understand what is going on? Is there like a guide that I can read?"

 9 Who wants to be Next?

    The village head tilted his head sideways with a puzzled expression. "Is this your first time acting as an outsider?"


    "Excuse me?"


    [Is this your first time playing a game?]


    "Ah yes, this is my first time.... being an outsider."


    "I see, well that explains a lot about your confusion. To start things off, why don''t you say status for me?"


    "Status?"


    Immediately, a transparent two dimensional box appeared right before his eyes.


    [Kim Seojoon (Bookworm Teacher)


    Class: none


    Lvl: 1 (60/100)


    Health: 100/100


    Vitality: 50/50 Mana: 50/50


    ]


    Seojoon furrowed his brows and started to bite his thumb as he went deep into thought. "I''m guessing that.... health represents the amount of hits I can take?"


    "Indeed."


    "Is vitality.... my endurance? How long I can keep up strenuous activities?"


    "Correct."


    "And if I am correct, mana helps me determine how many more spells I can use?"


    "Wonderful."


    Seojoon frowned. "So what happens if I lose all my health? I suppose that I die and come back to life?"


    "That is correct."


    "What if my life is at 1? Will I die if I take a single hit? Or will I require a fatal blow to die? It does not make sense after all if I die after getting lightly smacked on the hand."


    The village head let out a grin. "You are absolutely correct. Are you sure this is your first time as an outsider? You seem to understand how things work even without my help."


    Seojoon shrugged. "It''s basic logical reasoning. I apply the terms that I''m already familiar with to the current situation and make an educated guess. Besides, I never knew that seeing your status was a possible thing."


    Seojoon squinted his eyes as he analyzed the status screen for any other information he could obtain.


    "I''m guessing that my skills tab contains skills that I have learned? As for this attribute tab.... show attributes."


    [Attributes


    Agility - 1 Dexterity - 1 Intelligence - 1 Strength - 1 Endurance - 1


    Attribute points - 5]


    Seojoon frowned once again before looking up at the village head. "I can understand what the general use of my attributes are but what exactly do they correlate to? Agility probably refers to my speed? But does that factor into my linear speed or into my angular speed? Or maybe both? Strength is obviously my strength but what kind of strength? Will my strength increase my speed or unaffected it? More power should mean more bursts of speed, but the faster I strike, the stronger my blow becomes. I''m guessing that dexterity is referring to my flexibility? Or maybe the control I have over my body? Intelligence has to do with increasing my mental strength and if I refer to most fantasy magic books, more mental strength means a higher capacity for magic so I''m guessing this attribute affects my mana capacity? Endurance most probably refers to my vitality but then again it could also affect my health.... is that correct village head?"


    Seeing Seojoon expectantly stare him, the village head wore a wry smile on his face. "It sounds about correct. Better than any example I could''ve came up with."


    "Thank you, village head. I''m guessing that the attribution points can be allocated to one of my five basic stats to give myself a power gain?"


    "It is indeed so, but once you allocate them, you will not be able to take them back."


    Seojoon nodded his head in satisfaction. This was almost exactly like contracted investments, something that he could understand.


    "From what I''ve experienced so far, quests are like extra credit assignments right? Not necessary but very beneficial."


    "Erm, I don''t really understand your comparisons-"


    "It''s ok village head. You have cleared up things for me greatly." Seojoon gave a deep bow as he expressed his gratitude. He finally understood how the game worked. Classes would most likely be something akin to professions in the real world. He enjoyed how much inferring he had to do to understand the game. It was like solving a puzzle or a really tricky passage analysis.


    The village head shrugged his shoulders. "If you don''t have anymore questions, do you want to obtain your class quest?"


    Seojoon nodded. "Yes please. That would be great."


    The village head''s eyes immediately sharpened as a slight grin slowly creeped up his face. "What do you wish to be? A warrior? A swordsman? A ranger? Or a mage??


    Seojoon hesitated. He honestly did not know which class to go. A warrior would most likely be a class that would have a high health pool while rangers would be damage dealers with high dexterity. Mages were obviously high damage dealers while swordsmen could be a mix between a warrior and ranger.


    Seojoon''s mind flickered to his current quest. If he chose to become a swordsman... would getting a chance to learn swordsmanship benefit him?


    ".... I wish to become a swordsman."


    The village head nodded his head as he gave a quick glance at the sword on Seojoon''s hip. "Makes sense I guess. Well then receive your first class quest sir Seojoon. You must head out and slay ten rabbits and one crazy dog. Once you do, the goddess shall grant you your class."


    [Become a Swordsman!


    The village head wishes to test your resolve before the asking the goddess to grant you your class.


    Crazy Dog - 0/1


    Rabbits - 0/10


    Reward: the Swordsman Class]


    Seojoon nodded his head in satisfaction before standing up from his chair. "Thank you very much. I shall now take my leave."


    "Good luck to you sir Seojoon''s make sure not to die. I will enjoy watching your progress."


    "You are too kind."


    Seojoon made his way outside of the house before letting out a weary sigh. Although expected the scene, the eyes of a hundred angry players was still something that he couldn''t ignore.


    "Oi you mother fucking line cheater. Do you wanna die? Can''t you wait in line like a normal fucking person?" Asked the nearest person with a demon like glare.


    Seojoon shrugged. "There was nothing I could do. The guard wanted to move me to the front and I can''t exactly ignore him can I?"


    "Fuck! Why is he so arrogant?"


    "Let''s kill him until he never gets on this game."


    "Line cutters don''t need to be treated like humans!"


    Seojoon sighed before massaging his neck. Seojoon watched the angry players with alert eyes. "I guess I should assign my attribute points now while I still can. How do I assign points again?"


    [Say the stat you wish to increase as well as the number of times.]


    "Thank you. Strength 2, Agility 3."


    [Strength + 2


    Strength -> 3]


    [Agility + 3


    Agility -> 4]


    Seojoon felt around his cervical spine before furrowing his brows. "I wonder if human anatomy applies in the games as well?"


    His entire surroundings erupted as multiple players charged at Seojoon. Just as the nearest player got within striking distance with Seojoon, Seojoon drew his sword and sliced it towards the players neck.


    [Player Lonely Monkey has shown aggression towards you. You will not be penalized for retaliating.]


    [-100. Critical Hit! Fatal Hit! You have killed a player.


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    +50 exp]


    [You have leveled up!


    Lvl 1 -> 2


    All stats have risen by one.]


    He felt some resistance as his sword hit the cervical spine, but ultimately, he was able to cut through.


    The player''s head span around in the air as his head and his body slowly dissolved into light particles.


    Everyone who was about to rush Seojoon paused immediately and blankly stared at the now dead player''s particles.


    "Damn, it''s harder to control a sword than I thought. I was aiming for in between the vertebrae. Oh well."


    Seojoon swung his sword around in the air before pointing at the crowd. A small cheeky grin started to creep up the corners of his cheeks as he said his next words.


    "Who wants to be next?"

 13 First Bolt- Piercing Ligh

    [You have taken 2000 damage. Fatal hit. Health: 0/220]


    [You have died.]


    [As you are level one, you have not lost a level.]


    [You have gained insight for the sword art .


    - 99%]


    [You will respawn in thirty seconds.]


    [30]


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    [29]


    [28]


    [Your soul has been summoned back to the over world. Automatic respawn has been canceled. Respawning now.]


    The moment the colors of the world appeared before his eyes, Seojoon, drew his sword and held it in front of his chest. There was a loud clang as Seojoon was forced to tumble back several meters.


    The Vice Captain rested her sword onto her shoulder and gave a laugh. "I have to say, Seojoon. You have the biggest balls of any man or woman I''ve seen. I don''t think many people can stand being killed over and over again like you have.... how many times has it been? Sixty? Seventy?"


    Seojoon gave the Vice Captain a wry smile. "This is my sixty eighth death. You could say that I''m a little stubborn."


    [Vice Captain Estancia is in awe of your resolve. Vice Captain Estancia - admiration.]


    "I wonder where your determination comes from. No normal upbringing would give birth to someone as unique as you."


    Seojoon smirked. His determination was one of the strongest points about him. No other person in the world would be crazy enough to commit to memory every single assignment and question he had taken in his life. It was the power of the former number one student in the world.


    "You have gotten faster," the Vice Captain said with a grin. "You are becoming more nimble as well."


    "Thank you."


    "Your strength has gone up quite a bit as well."


    "It was all thanks to you."


    One thing that Seojoon discovered was that his attribute stats would increase sometimes when he completed a difficult task.


    "Attributes."


    [Attributes


    Agility - 9 Dexterity - 6 Intelligence - 4 Strength - 7 Endurance - 12


    Attribute points - 0]


    He had gained 2 points of agility and dexterity as well as a 1 point increase in strength. His endurance, on the other hand, increased by a shocking three attribute points.


    The vice captain took her sword off her shoulder before pointing it towards Seojoon with both hands on the hilt. "Are you ready for another round, Seojoon?"


    "I''m ready as I''ll ever be." Seojoon quickly guarded his front and prepared for the eminent attack.


    Although the vice captain was going easy on him, he understood that part very well as she lowered her speed to match his, she was still very deadly. One hit was all it took for him to go from max health to zero. If he was lucky, he would dodge a fatal blow and survive with one health and lose an arm or leg.


    Seojoon opened his eyes widely as he observed the vice captain for even the slightest indication that she was about to attack. However, like always, she seemed to be as unreadable as a rock. Seojoon watched her instantly blink towards his direction at an incredible speed and thrust towards his heart.


    Without a split hesitation, Seojoon took a step back and tilted his body sideways. He felt a small pain in his left arm and let out a wince.


    He watched as his arm spun around in the sky and shattered into light particles and let out a sigh.


    [You have taken 2000 damage. As it was not a fatal hit, you will not die. Health: 1/220]


    Seojoon has survived again. How lucky he was indeed.


    Seojoon glared at his remaining hand with an annoyed expression. He was only 1 percent away from obtaining the skill yet he knew that it would not be easy. It took him five deaths alone to upgrade the percentage from 98% to 99%. How many more deaths would he need to get it to 100%? Maybe there was a secret?


    Seojoon narrowed his eyes as he stared at the relaxed vice captain who had calmly walked back to her original spot. "Have you collected your resolve, Seojoon."


    "Yes. Yes I have."


    "Then prepare yourself."


    From what he had experienced so far, was not a singular skill, but a multitude of skills. Although the vice captain. Had only shown him her lightning fast thrust repeatedly, he guessed that it was safe to assume that there were eleven other techniques other than her thrust. Something he noticed about the thrust was that it was always a linear movement. Although it''s speed was unparalleled, it could not change directions mid way. As long as he could move away from its original path, he would be able to survive. However, Seojoon had no idea how the Vice Captain accelerated so quickly in a single instant. It was the last mystery that he had about .


    Then, he saw it. Just as the Vice Captain was about to flicker, he saw a wisp of blue light spark around her body. Instinctively, Seojoon realized that this was the missing piece to learning the skill.


    Without a second thought, Seojoon raised his blade towards the vice captain and watched as the whole world suddenly slowed down. Although he was aware of everything going around him, he was unable to control his movements at all. While he was still in the slowed down world of his own, he could see the vice captain making her way towards him at a quick pace. However, there was a very important difference in the situation now. He was able to see where from where she was heading.


    Seojoon felt a blue veil of energy surround him as he shot towards the vice captain with a thrust of his own. For a moment there, the tips of their blades collided with each other stoping them both from advancing when Seojoon''s one arm gave in to the power of Vice Captain''s two arms and was deflected out of the way. He felt a sharp stinging sensation in his left chest and watched as the world went black.


    [You have taken 2000 damage. Fatal hit. Health: 0/220]


    [You have died.]


    [As you are level one, you have not lost a level.]


    [You have gained insight for the sword art .


    - 100%]


    [You have gained the sword style Lvl 1]


    [You have learned Basic Swordsmanship Lvl 1]


    [You have learned the skill Mana Control Lvl 1]


    Seojoon gave the darkness an exhilarated laugh. He had done it.

 14 Master and Studen

    Seojoon opened his eyes and gave a smile at the shocked Vice Captain. "How did I do?"


    Instead of receiving praise like he expected, he was observed with silence and shock.


    ".... you.... Seojoon. What did you do."


    "???"


    Seojoon tilted his head sideways. "All I did was learn your swordsmanship.... wasn''t that the point of you killing me over and over again?"


    The vice captain shook her head very quickly. "No no no. That isn''t the point. I said I would teach you swordsmanship, but what you learned just now wasn''t any normal swordsmanship. You took my skill. How?"


    "???" Seojoon was starting to get confused., "You showed me how the skill worked, so I copied what you did. It was basic reverse engineering. I saw the skill firsthand and analyzed the components before instructing my body to do the same. Isn''t that how you learn skills?"


    They stared at each other for a moment before the vice captain let out a sigh. "You are a monster, you do realize that right?"


    "I''m a monster in bed, or at least, that''s what my girlfriend says."


    Ex girlfriend, you mean- Said the part of Seojoon''s brain that liked to inflict self pain.


    The vice captain let out a groan. "I was supposed to only teach you swordsmanship, damn. is supposed to be a secret family technique. My father must be teasing me up in heaven right now...."


    "So did I pass?" Asked Seojoon with a wry smile.


    "Passed? Hah! You definitely passed," said the Vice Captain with a bitter smile. "All you had to do was survive my training through the end yet you went beyond that and stole my skills god dammit."


    [Survive the vice captain!


    The Game designers are absolutely stunned. You have managed to stump even the demon trainer Estancia. Like what the fuck? How was this even possible? What kind of nerves do you have to die 69 times without giving up? Is something wrong with you? How do you complete a quest that shouldn''t have been completed?


    Requirements:


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    Survive for as long as you can - (time survived: never gave up)


    Rewards: (number of deaths * 10) exp, an one level increase in all skills learned from the Vice Captain.]


    [You have leveled up! Lvl 1 -> 2


    All stats have risen by one.]


    [You have leveled up! Lvl 2 -> 3


    All stats have risen by one.]


    [You have leveled up! Lvl 3 -> 4


    All stats have risen by one.]


    [Sword skill Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2]


    [Sword skill Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2]


    [Sword skill Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2]


    Seojoon opened his eyes very widely. He died 69 times and in exchange for 690 exp.... Seojoon felt like it was a fair deal seeing as he was only level 2 when he began. And now....


    "Open status."


    [Kim Seojoon (Bookworm Teacher)


    Class: Swordsman


    Lvl: 4 (90/400)


    Health: 220/220


    Vitality: 95/95 Mana: 200/200


    ]


    "Open Attributes."


    [Attributes


    Agility - 11 Dexterity - 8 Intelligence - 6 Strength - 9 Endurance - 14


    Attribute points - 10]


    He was way above where he had started.


    The vice captain let out another sigh. "Since you can use the first stage of successfully, I''m guessing that you also learned ?"


    Seojoon nodded. Not only did he learn it but it was already level 2.


    "The reason why I was surprised that you learned was due to the prerequisite of needing to know how to control mana. And knowing how to control mana is entirely different than learning how to swing a sword. You usually need a highly skilled magic swordsman or wizard to help you attain it."


    Seojoon let out a smirk. "So basically what you are saying is that I''m a genius?"


    "Hah, a Child of Heaven is what I would say." The Vice Captain sighed. "Well, since you have already stole my sword style, I''ll take you on as my student...." the Vice Captain gave Seojoon a sad smile. The way her eyes glossed over made Seojoon feel as though the person she was seeing wasn''t him but someone else. ".... I was in need of a heir anyways. And as you can probably tell, I''m a little past the age to be playing around with young men."


    Attempting to help her lighten the mood, Seojoon quickly shifted his mind away from her sad expression and gave a smirk. "Just a little? You are way past the age to play around."


    "Bah! Just because you are my disciple, it doesn''t mean that you are allowed to talk back to me! Now get the hell over here. I need to beat my sword style into you. You might have learned one sword style, but you still have eleven others to learn."


    The Vice Captain places her arm around Seojoon''s neck and pulled him in closer and ruffled his hair. Seojoon was immediately reminded of his grandmother and felt a little bit warm inside. All these AI''s felt so real. It was as if he was talking to actual real live people''s


    "By the way, if you want to be my disciple, you will have to join the village guards. At least until you reach Level 10."


    "I''m fine with that I guess." Said Seojoon with a shrug. "Do I get paid?"


    "Hell no. But you get money from dismantling and selling animal and monster drops."


    "Dismantling? How do dismantle animals? They just explode into light for me."


    "My my my, you have much to learn my child."


    Seojoon smiled as he walked down to the village with the Vice Captain right next to him. As if the world was matching its feelings with Seojoon, the sky started to glow an orange red as the sun slowly fell behind the horizon.


    [Vice Captain Estancia''s affection towards you has risen incredibly. Vice Captain Estancia - Teacher.]

 15 Seojoon’s Rise

    Three guards were at the gate of the village watching a crowd of people enter and a hoard of people exit. Two of the guards had bored expressions on their faces as they fiddled with their swords while the last guard was quietly reading a book that was in his hand.


    A young girl pushed her way through the crowd and made her way to the three guards. With a flushed expression, she called out to the guards in a very adorable manner. "U-um, excuse me?"


    One of the bored guards sighed before snapping his fingers. "Oi Seojoon, it''s another outsider girl. You handle it."


    The guard who was reading a book lifted his head up and gave the girl a smile. "Hello, how may I help you?"


    The little girl froze up and her face started to turn incredibly red as she faced the smiling guard before bursting into an explosion of words. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh! You are as hot as my friend said you were! I''m so glad that I''m I spawned in this village!"


    "Ahahaha...." Seojoon laughed wryly.


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    "Do you mind if I take a screenshot with you? Oh wait, NPC''s don''t know what that term means.... erm, do you mind if I stand really close to you and smile as we both stare into a certain point in space?"


    Seojoon shrugged. "I don''t mind at all."


    "Honestly," said Zie while shaking his head. "Why these outsider girls all say the same thing to Seojoon is a complete mystery. Ain''t it Mike."


    "Woes of having an above average face my friend," said Mike as he lazily watched Seojoon stare into blank space with the outsider girl. "Imagine if you ended up with a beautiful lady like the captain''s wife?"l


    "Imagine if you landed yourself with a handsome man like the captain. Two people, both equally unfaithful yet above average in looks, bonded forever in the restricting contract called marriage. Fitting for people like them. As for Seojoon...."


    They watched as Seojoon waved the outsider girl away with heavy looks.


    ".... Oi Zie, let''s make sure to protect this kid from bad women."


    "Agreed."


    "What are you two talking about?" Seojoon said, as he came back to the gate while giving Zie and Mike a suspecting look. "Are you talking behind my back?"


    "It''s nothing you should worry about." Said Zie with a warm smile. "Someone like you who can survive the vice captain''s training doesn''t need to worry about trivial things."


    "But I didn''t survive. I died 420 times over the period of this week."


    "Surviving her training doesn''t mean you never died. Surviving her training means coming back for more."


    "Whatever you say."


    Seojoon sat back down and opened his book once again as Zie and Mike once more stared at the crowd with bored looks.


    As the sun began to set, Seojoon snapped his book shut and got up. "It''s about time for me to go, have fun you two."


    "Lucky son of a bitch. Why don''t I get my night shifts off," complained Zie. "It gets so cold during night these days."


    "Maybe you should ask the Vice Captain for training, she might give you the same preferential treatment then." Said Seojoon teasingly.


    "Hello no. Night shift is like dreaming compared to her. Plus, I can''t respawn like you do you cheating outsider."


    "Can''t help you then. Good luck have fun, Mike."


    "You too, Seojoon."


    Seojoon waved at the grumpy Zie and friendly Mike before heading back into the village. He continued to walk in a straight line until he came upon the village center.


    He went up to the village heads home and knocked twice. The door opened after a few seconds and the village head popped his head out with a smile. "Back again? Are you finished with that book I gave you?"


    Seojoon nodded his head before handing the book over to the village head. "It was a great read, thank you."


    "What a pity it is that you are not a mage. With the amount of time you spend reading, your Intelligence stat must be over the roof. Are you sure you don''t want to reconsider on becoming a mage?" Asked them Village head with sparkling eyes.


    "I''ll pass up on your offer. Being a swordsman is more exciting for me right now." Seojoon politely refused.


    "What a shame," said the village head who was obviously very dissatisfied, "at least I have hope when you become Lvl 20 and are allowed to have your second class. I can convince you then to become a mage and take you on as my disciple."


    "Hahaha.... I''ll be off then."


    "Goodnight Seojoon."


    "Goodnight to you too sir. Logout."


    Seojoon felt his eyelids get heavier and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in his capsule. Seojoon clicked a button to the side which opened the lid and slowly got out. Seojoon watched the glaring light coming out from the window and did a couple of stretches before making his way to the kitchen.


    "-the new recently released game, Rising Worlds, is taking a storm in the hearts of all ages-"


    "Good morning Mom," Seojoon said as he drowned out the voice of the television. "What''s for breakfast?"


    "My breakfast specialty, fried eggs with a serving of crispy non oily bacon with kimchi fried rice. I have to show your father not to get too cocky."


    "-the most stunning aspects of the game are its stunning visual aspects as well as the very realistic gameplay-"


    "Where is Dad?" Asked as Seojoon sat down at the table and took a sip of coffee that had been prepared for him in a mug.


    "He''ll be down in a few minutes. He is still in the shower I think."


    "And sis?"


    "Still recovering from her hangover from last night. Honestly, that child. What am I going to do with her."


    "MY SON!"


    Seojoon''s father came barging into the kitchen with a bright expression.


    "How it the game going for you so far?"


    "It''s going great Dad." Seojoon said before biting down on a piece of bacon.


    "Are you out of the beginners village yet? Dad will carry you when you leave the village and come to the Empire''s capital! I''m Lvl 16."


    "I''m only Lvl 9, but I''m almost close to 10. I''ll see you then Dad."


    "-in the game, there seems to be an increasingly viral trend going on lately about this one NPC character, can we have the dev''s opinions on this matter-"


    "Good morning lil Seojoon, how was the game? Want me to play with you?" Said his sister, Rachel, as she walked in while rubbing her eyes. As always, she was wearing very revealing clothes.


    "Oi, Rachel. I thought I told you to wear clothes didn''t I?"


    "Come on mom, it''s my house as well. Give me some freedom for a change."


    "The only freedom you get, is the freedom to choose whether to obey or starve. Change. Now."


    "Ughhh- Wait." His sister paused mid sentence as her eyes went wide with shock as she stared at the television. "Isn''t that Seojoon on the news?"


    Everyone''s heads quickly whipped to face the direction of the TV as they all stood still and watched.


    A picture of Seojoon wearing armor while smiling next to a girl covered about half the screen. On the other half was a pretty reporter and one of the leading game developers speaking to each other.


    "-this NPC called Seojoon, he seems to be an exclusive character in one specific village, is he not?"


    The game dev nodded his head with a smile. "Every village has very slight differences. Just like how there are many different villages to prevent overcrowding, each village has a different story line from each other. Using the technology of AI adaptation, we managed to structure our game world similarly to real life. The NPC''s are born and created, as well as grow without human intervention. All we have to do is introduce important quest essential characters at certain points in time. Everything else is taken care of by the algorithms and AI''s."


    "So are you implying that this NPC Seojoon is a quest essential character?"


    I cannot say." Said the game dev with a shrug. "The quests are handled by the design team."


    "Then can you explain the almost perfect looks that the NPC Seojoon holds?"


    "A lucky roll on the random generation probably? I don''t really know. Once again, you will have to speak to the designer team. Will that be all?"


    "Yes, thank you for your time. This is Poppy Smoria ending today''s morning report. How will Rising Worlds continue to develop in the future? Who is this mysteriously handsome NPC called Seojoon and what role will he play in the soon to be revealed Main Quest Scenario? Remember, this weeks theme is Virtual Reality Games and stay tuned to Pew news to be continually updated on new information. Thank you and have a good day."


    Holy fuck.

 17 A Perfect Offer

    Araka turned off the camera, fully satisfied with what she had accomplished. She had conveyed the game update without any mistakes, none at all.


    "It was one hundred percent perfect!" She unintentionally spoke out aloud.


    A boy to the side of her let out a snicker. "Unless you count the time you tripped and fell out of the camera frame."


    Araka blushed and gave a pout at Cross, "You are such a bully sometimes you know? A mood killer. Party pooper."


    "Unbiased fact provider." Said Cross with a shrug. "So now that you gave the update for the game, how are you gonna address the mistake made by the Game Developer team? I mean, Seojoon isn''t an INPC is he?"


    Araka sighed. "Nope, he definitely isn''t a randomly generated INPC. We''ve double-checked it twenty-one times. He is absolutely most definitely a player."


    Cross let out a groan. "I told the stupid dev team to not release any information about the stuff they aren''t too sure about. Now we landed ourselves in this stupid mess. We can''t tell the public that there was a mistake and Seojoon isn''t an NPC. We would be making a fool out of our dev team."


    "But we can''t just let the idea of Seojoon being an NPC continue to spread," said Araka hotly. "That would be bad and irresponsible."


    "We could steal Seojoon''s account and make it into a real NPC." Said Cross with a shrug. "No one will know the difference."


    Araka gave Cross a disbelieving stare. ".... that''s even worse than leaving this situation alone! That will only create more problems in the long run!"


    Cross sighed. "Then let''s proclaim that Seojoon is, in fact, an NPC that was designed after the player in real life."


    "What? I no understand?"


    Cross flicked Araka on the head causing her to wince and pout.


    "We proclaim to the world that Seojoon is an NPC based off of a real-life person, and give Seojoon some hush money."


    "Ooh! Let''s also make it so that Seojoon can give quests and stuff! A player who is an NPC.... such an interesting concept! I love it!"


    "What? Wait, no. That wasn''t what I was trying to say-"


    "You are the best!" Araka gave Cross a big hug- or tried to before she caught her foot on the table leg and tripped.


    Cross watched Araka on the floor with a pitying look.


    ".... do you want me to enroll you in some ballet lessons? It might improve your gracefulness and help mitigate the number of times you trip by quite a bit."


    ".... shut up Cross. I don''t want to hear you speak again."


    "Shame," Cross shrugged before grabbing a black coat and a pair of sunglasses. "Hurry up and get ready, Araka. We have a player who needs our explanation and hush money."


    "Yes! We need to meet the NPC player! Let''s go~!"


    "Time to go full edgy."


    ?-?-?-?


    Seojoon slowly sipped his coffee without a worry in the world as he was mercilessly attacked by all three of his family members.


    "Kim Seojoon, tell me now. Did you sign some suspicious contract with some weird old hag? I told you to never sell your face as a product."


    "Noona, I never sold my face."


    "THEN WHO THE FUCK WAS THE NPC ON TV! FUCK! I''M GOING TO KILL WHOEVER TOOK ADVANTAGE OF SEOJOON''S PRECIOUS HANDSOME FACE!"


    "Rachel, shut the hell up," said his mother with a frown. "You are causing a loud ruckus. And this is a great thing, isn''t it? My beloved son is finally going to become famous."


    "MOM! THIS IS OUR LITTLE SEOJOON THAT THEY ARE USING! MY LITTLE BROTHER!"


    "Stop being such a brocon Rachel. You should be proud that your brother got on TV." Said his father while giving a pat on Seojoon''s back. "He is finally breaking out of his cocoon of studying and entering into the outside world of politics and fame."


    "NOT YOU TOO DAD!"


    Seojoon took another sip of his coffee wondering when he would be able to escape. Just then, the doorbell rang.


    "I''ll go get it," Seojoon said seeing his chance, and immediately dashed to the door and opened it. At the door were two people, a boy and a girl wearing black coats and black sunglasses.


    "Excuse me, is this the home of Kim Seojoon? We are from the Design Team of Rising Worlds and we would like to talk to Mr. Kim."


    Seojoon gave himself a bitter smile. Out of the pan and into the fire.


    "Seojoon doesn''t live here-"


    "Who is at the door Seojoon-ah~ is it the delivery man?"


    The boy with sunglasses raised an eyebrow at Seojoon and smirked. "Mr. Kim was it?"


    ".... you got the wrong person. Goodbye-"


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    "You really do want to talk with us, Mr. Kim." Said the boy. "We have an offer that you possibly can not refuse."


    Seojoon furrowed his brow in suspicion. "And what would that offer be?"


    Before the boy could answer, the girl who had been silent until now quickly answered for him.


    "Would you like to work with our design team in Rising Worlds?"


    "Huh?" Said Seojoon.


    "Sigh," sighed Cross.


    "Who is at the door, Seojoon-ah," said his mom. "Why is it taking so long?"

 18 A Player or Person?

    "To be quite frank. I wish to enjoy the game and working for your game company might ruin it for me."


    "We fully understand! Since the fault was on our side, we wish to come to an agreement that will not hinder your virtual experience in any way."


    "But we do need to borrow your face. So this is our deal," said Cross while taking off his sunglasses and placing them onto the table next to a briefcase. When Cross opened the briefcase, a pile of neatly stacked green dollar bills presented themselves before Seojoon. "If you agree to lend us your face for advertisement and a few minor commercials, we will provide you ten million dollars, a 100% Exp boost in the game, as well as-"


    "Excuse me," interjected Seojoon, "I don''t really care about money."


    He was never one to care about money, in this life and the previous.


    Cross hesitated before continuing. "No matter then, the Exp boost and-"


    "I don''t want to obtain the Exp boost either. I feel like it will give me an unfair advantage and will thus ruin my gaming experience."


    Seojoon has enough gaming knowledge to understand that an exp boost was similar to cheating on a test, listening to an audiobook at two times the speed, or even taking steroids to win a match. It would ruin the thrill and the sense of accomplishment he would feel after he succeeds. And that was something Seojoon would never do. He would study until his memory was better than cheating, he would read until he was faster than the audiobooks at twice the speed and he would practice until he could finally win a match. For Seojoon, unfair advantages were never an option.


    Seojoon slowly stood up and gave the two black-cloaked figures a warm smile. "I appreciate the efforts that you two are going to have me as some sort of a mascot, but I must decline. If you are willing to provide me any unfair advantage, then I will have to respectfully decline."


    Cross and Araka stared at Seojoon in silence for a moment before giving each other a smile.


    "Hey Ara, I really like this kid."


    "Me as well, Cross."


    Cross and Araka stood up to match Seojoon before closing the suitcase filled with money. "Then as you wish, we will leave you and your character alone, no benefits that will give you an edge above other players."


    "Thank you for your understanding." Said Seojoon while bowing. "Let me guide you towards the exit-"


    "Mr. Kim," said Cross with a small little smirk. "Just because we said we would give up on providing you unfair advantages doesn''t mean that we will give up on recruiting you, sir."


    Seojoon furrowed his brows. "If you want my face, then you can have it."


    "Ah, Mr. Kim. What we want isn''t only your face." Said Cross. "We want your cooperation."


    "For what?"


    Instead of answering immediately, Cross dragged out the silence a bit while staring into Seojoon''s eyes. "....Mr. Kim. Do you know who I am?"


    "...Aren''t you the storyline writer for the game?" Answered Seojoon tentatively.


    "Precisely, I am a writer Mr. Kim. And what do writers wish to accomplish in their lifetimes?"


    "...they wish to create a story that everyone enjoys."


    Cross nodded his head sagely. "Well, you see Mr. Kim. This game is my story. And I wish to provide a storyline that every gamer is able to enjoy and immerse them into. I wish to create natural disasters that only heroes will be able to endure. I wish to create battles that will shower the entire world in a blood frenzy. I wish to express a love story that will tug on the heartstrings of all players."


    Cross stopped for a moment as if he was choosing his next statements carefully before proceeding.


    "We, staff members of the Rising Word design team, pride ourselves on our game''s realism. How a player can sometimes forget that what they are doing isn''t real, but a virtual game. Can you understand that feeling, Mr. Kim?"


    Seojoon nodded. He knew that feeling too well. Everyone in the game seemed so alive and real that it was hard to comprehend that everything was made from code.


    "However, Mr. Kim. There is still a slight difference between the INPC''s and the Players. Some sort of hidden bias and arrogance maybe? I am sure that you have seen this while playing the game, yes?"


    Seojoon nodded. He recalled to what Mike and Zie said when he had first met them. How players tended to ignore their warnings and heat out into the field.


    "You are a gamer who doesn''t like to take the easy way out, Mr. Seojoon." Said Cross with a smile. "But you are also a reader, a reader who wishes to experience a wonderful story to the fullest. In the end, there is a difference between a player and an NPC. One group considers everything to be real while the other doesn''t. One refers to the other as, an Outsider."


    "Mr. Kim, no. Seojoon-ssi, as an NPC, you will be able to experience a world that isn''t fiction but reality. Players who stick around you will automatically receive a quest that requires no effort from you. This will give others an edge over you but I feel like you are a person who likes a challenge."


    Cross outstretched his hand as if he was expecting Seojoon to shake it and smiled. Seojoon-ssi, let me ask you for the final time. Do you wish to stay a player, or do you wish to become a person?"


    "I-I...."


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    Seojoon stared at the outstretched hand with hesitation before ultimately grasping the hand firmly with his own.


    "I will accept."


    "That is great." Said Cross with a satisfied smile. "We will be looking forward to how the NPC Seojoon will be able to change the preconceived story that I have created. After all, all writers are innately also a reader. Now provide me a story that I can get immersed into, Seojoon-ssi."


    "I''ll do my best, Mr. Cross."


    "I wanna shake hands as well-"


    *Crash!*


    Seojoon watched as Araka fell over and planted her face onto the table in a not so gentle manner.


    Cross sighed.


    "Please do excuse her. She does that quite often."


    "..."


    (A/N: join my discord for any questions (VERY TINY BITS OF SPOILERS) and a chance to complain at me, the author. Link is: I shall be waiting for you....)

 19 The True Beginning

    [Strength has increased by 1.]


    [16 -> 17]


    "Status."


    [Kim Seojoon (Bookworm Teacher)


    Class: none


    Lvl: 10 (0/1000)


    Health: 300/300


    Stamina: 150/150 Mana: 210/210


    ]


    "Attributes."


    [Attributes


    Agility - 18 Dexterity - 17 Intelligence - 21 Strength - 17 Endurance - 20


    Attribute points - 40]


    Seojoon looked over his status screen for a short moment before finally letting go of his sword. The straw dummy soldier in front of him was all but demolished.


    The recent update to the game received a lot of praise and hate at the same time. The first change was how the attribute system affected the player''s stats. Every point of endurance would add 10 points to the original base health of 100. Vitality became Stamina and would increase by 5 per attribute point starting at 50. Mana was 10 times intelligence and the amount of damage he could deal was equal to his points in strength as well as the attack value of his weapon.


    (A/N: Sorry for the info dump.)


    But as for the change that Seojoon cared most about, it was him becoming an official NPC.


    "Mr. Seojoon!" Said a random player who had been waiting for Seojoon to finish his sword swings. "How can I become a strong swordsman?"


    Seojoon shrugged. "Hit the scarecrow a hundred times.... you should start to get a feel for your sword after you complete it-"


    "YES! I GOT A QUEST!"


    Seojoon watched as the player let out a loud cry and started to mercilessly attack a scarecrow.


    While the game was shut down due to its update, Seojoon decided to do a bit of light reading and read a couple of Rpg and system type novels. In his previous life, he never really had any interest in reading those types of novels, but he quite fairly enjoyed them. He had finished TKA, Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, and a couple of other novels in a matter of two days. It was the best light reading session he had in a long time.


    Another thing that changed for Seojoon was that he now had to log out in a bed or an inn. It was not very troubling and instead made everything about the game a tad bit more real. He also got to know the innkeeper very well, a very good man.


    Seojoon did a couple of stretches to recover his stamina before making his way back to the village center.


    "Hello Seojoon, are you done with your daily training already?" Asked the lady who sold flowers.


    "Yes I am, thank you for asking."


    "Come by my shop at night, Sonny. I''ll give you a free meal." Called out the owner of the only diner in the village.


    "That would be great, thank you."


    "It''s nothing to thank me for."


    Seojoon didn''t know when but he had stopped considering the villagers as NPCs but as real living people. Even the villagers started to stop referring to him as an outsider but as Seojoon.


    *ding*


    The crisp sound of a bell drifted into the air as Seojoon opened the door to the bakery and smiled as the familiar scent of recently baked bread tickled his nose.


    "Hello Seojoon, how was training?" Asked Amy with a smile.


    "It was nice, the Vice-Captain said to train by myself again today so it was relatively relaxing. By the way Amy, can I have a-"


    "You want your usual Honey Glazed Toast with a side of warm milk correct?" Amy interrupted as she already started to head into the kitchen to prepare his plate.


    Seojoon let out a chuckle. "You know me too well, Amy."


    "You''ve been asking for the same breakfast for the past two weeks."


    "What if I changed it one day? Just to throw you off?"


    "Har har har, very funny. Wait two minutes, the milk takes a bit of time to warm up."


    "Yes, ma''am."


    Just as Amy brought out a plate of toast and warm milk, the bell rang and an old lady wearing armor came in.


    "Nice to see you Vice-Captain."


    "Nice to see you too, Amy. I expected you would be here, Seojoon."


    Seojoon took a bite of honey glazed toast and let out a happy moan before addressing the Vice-Captain. "Amy, I swear to the heavens this is always sooo good."


    "Thanks," Amy replies with a cheeky grin. "I expect a big tip this time."


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    "You deserve it. Do you need something from me Vice Captain?"


    Estancia nodded. "I believe that it is time for you to go to the capital. I have taught you enough for now."


    "Is that so?" Said Seojoon with a shrug. "I don''t really care if I stay here though."


    "I heard that the capital has a decently sized library-"


    "When do you want me to leave?" Said Seojoon with a sparkle in his eyes.


    The vice-captain sighed and shook her head. "What is it with you and books? Are they that interesting?"


    "It''s wonderful." Replied Seojoon with a dreamy look. "All of the stories, fantasy tales, epics, and history notes, are all very interesting."


    "You finished the Village head''s personal library in a week. That''s not what you would expect from a swordsman. How high is your intelligence anyways?"


    "21."


    "God, I wonder why you chose to become a swordsman instead of a magician. I feel as though you would''ve become a splendid mage."


    "I felt like learning swordsmanship. How much for the meal Amy? Is it still 10 coppers?"


    "14. I''ll take the extra four as a tip."


    "Fair."


    Seojoon placed 14 copper coins onto the counter before heading out. The vice-captain followed after Seojoon quickly as well.


    "Hey Seojoon, I have a friend over at the Empire''s capital. He''s a mercenary and will take good care of you. Don''t worry."


    "That''s nice to hear. Anything I should watch out for?"


    "Be wary of the nobles. Some of them are good and righteous but others...."


    "Gotcha. I''ll head out right now then, see ya Vice-Captain."


    The vice-captain patted Seojoon on the back and laughed. "See you soon Seojoon, I might go visit the capital sometime as well."


    Seojoon waved goodbye at the villagers he passed and made his way all the way to the village gate in that manner. At the gates were Zie and Mike, guarding as usual.


    "Leaving so soon Seojoon?"


    "I''m gonna miss you, buddy. I had a good time spending time with you."


    "Thanks, I promise I''ll come back sometime."


    "If you want to go to the capital, go straight in that direction-"


    "I know where to go, I read the map on one of the village head''s books." Seojoon gave a final wave at Zie, Mike, and the Vice-Captain, before heading out into the plains.


    It was now the true start of his adventure.


    [Book 1 End]

 20 The Dark Star

    The world was still and dark, not a soul was to be seen. Everyone had already fallen soundly asleep, placing their trust into the soldiers that would watch over the silent night.


    "Cover his mouth," whispered a cold voice that radiated power.


    Three men immediately jumped out from the shadows and grabbed one of the soldiers, making him incapable of escaping or calling out for help. At the soldier''s feet lay two other soldiers, who had already been dispatched of. Their blood decorated the golden blades of the unknown assailants.


    The quietly muffled groans from the detained soldier softly penetrated the night air like an ephemeral dream.


    "Place a sound barrier around us."


    "Yes sir."


    A thin film enveloped the five of them like a bubble and the cold voice once more called out to his subjects.


    "Let him speak."


    One of the three men removed their hands away from the soldier''s mouth who immediately began to speak.


    "What do you want. Why are you doing this."


    The cold voice let out a chuckle. "Will you not threaten us? Reveal to us how great the Empire''s soldiers are and how the nobles will eradicate us all for once?"


    The soldier spat onto the ground. "Tell me why you are going to kill me. At least then I will be able to curse you when I meet my maker."


    The cold voice let out a smirk. "I like how brave you are. The empire''s royal guardsmen sure are a different breed than the normal soldiers that we have killed."


    The royal guardsman let out a bitter laugh. "So you are the cause for the recent multiple deaths of our soldiers. Filthy traitors."


    "Cut off his hand," said the voice coldly.


    There was a flash of gold as one of the three men severed the guardsman''s hand from the arm.


    The guard let out a scream that revealed the pain he was feeling, yet when he raised his head once more, his eyes still showed how defiant he was. "Filthy rebels. You stand no chance. Our king and our god will not stand by as you terrorize our Empire-"


    "Take off his leg, he bores me."


    The Guard let out another scream as his right leg fell to the floor. Red water now seeped into the cracks in between the cobblestone road. The moonlight reflected off of the red dyed stone, casting their surroundings in an eerie silvery red.


    The cold voice waited for a moment as the guard gasped for air before asking a question.


    "Where is the Light of the Sun?"


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    The guard let out a spiteful laugh. "You will never get it."


    "Pain will loosen the lips of anyone. We just have to figure out where it will cut deepest."


    "The information you seek is an information I cannot provide." Said the Guard with a smug smile. "We only know that it exists."


    "Lies. Tell me the truth."


    "They never told us," said the guard with a smug look. "In case we would be tortured by idiots like you. We only serve to protect."


    The cold voice let out a sigh. "Is he telling the truth?"


    "It seems that he is not deceiving us, master."


    "Then kill him, he has lost his value to us."


    The guard let out a wild laugh. "Search as you will, you will never find the light. You will never replace our sun."


    "Who said we wanted to replace the sun?" Said the cold voice with a laugh. "We will build upon its foundation, change it. We will turn it black."


    The guard went pale. "Wait, you can''t mean-"


    Under the silvery light, the voice let out a smile. "We will taint the sun in black. For we are.... the Dark Star."


    "You mustn''t-"


    Before the guard could finish his sentence, a final flash of gold decapitated his head.


    "Let''s go... the Light of the Sun must be in our hands if we wish to achieve our goal."


    "Yes sir."


    "As you wish master."


    "..."


    The cold voice hesitated before staring up into the sky. "We will take this tainted white and purify it into black. Now find me what I desire."


    The three men nodded before each of them disappeared into separate dark alleys. The man with the cold voice took out an locket from his pocket and opened it. On it was a picture of a young blonde lady with a young boy and girl.


    "Just you wait," said the man with a soft voice. "I will fix this kingdom for you."


    The man closed the locket before flickering away under the moonlit sky.


    ?-?-?-?


    Estancia sighed as she took a break from the letter she was writing. She was never one for such eloquent activities. What she did best was when she was on the battlefield or teaching.


    The corners of her mouth slowly lifted upwards as she reminisced about the old days where she used to train the knights at the capital. Now, she had weakened with age and had passed on her mantle to the curious little boy with an attitude that was stubborn but cute.


    She knew that Seojoon would soon become a famous person, even more than she was in her prime. She could rest easy knowing that she could trust his blade.


    Estancia have a quick glance at a picture frame to the left of her desk and placed her pen down. In the picture was a young version of her and a small little cheerful boy.


    The smile disappeared from her face and her expression became dark. She had a son once, a son that she had inevitably lost to a group of rebels that used to plague the streets of the Empire''s capital.


    They had long since been exterminated, but her son would never come back.


    Estancia shifted her gaze from the photo to the night sky where the moon flowed in a silvery sheen.


    Her son was nothing like Seojoon. Seojoon was stubborn while her son gave up easily. Seojoon had a talent for learning her sword while her son had become a mage. But one thing they had in common was that they both brought joy into her heart.


    Estancia chuckled to herself in a self derisive way before picking up her pen.


    "It seems that old age has finally caught up to me. Look at me, the former Sword Saint becoming sentimental from an old memory."


    Estancia wrote down the final sentence on her letter and gave it a quick read.


    -take care of the boy and don''t go easy on him. He is a lot more stronger and stubborn than you would expect. He is my disciple after all. Take good care and don''t exert yourself. We aren''t young anymore after all.


    Love,


    Estancia


    Satisfied with what she had written, Estancia folded her letter up and placed it into an envelope. In the morning, a messenger would take her letter and take it to the capital. But for now, Estancia grabbed a bottle of wine from underneath her desk and popped it open. She took a swing of the wine straight from the bottle before once more staring into the night sky.


    Although she hated the pain her memories brought her, she couldn''t bring herself to forget them. It was who she was and what she had learned.


    As Estancia stared into the night sky, tears started to form in between her eyes. She would never make the same mistake again.


    Never.

 21 Father and Son

    Seojoon sighed as his phone vibrated inside his pocket again for the hundredth time.


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    "How do I disable notifications alerts that come from Socichat, noona."


    "Just turn on do not disturb. That should solve everything."


    Seojoon took out his phone and did as his sister advised before letting out a weary sigh. The reason for his unending alerts was due to another video conference that Cross made regarding him.


    Seojoon cut apart his steak as his ears unintentionally caught on to what was playing on the TV.


    "-it has been revealed that the NPC Seojoon is actually a new type of NPC called a player NPC. An NPC that is commandeered by a player."


    His father let out a chuckle as he stared at the TV just like everyone else in the restaurant. "My boy sure has gotten famous recently.... just the other day, my boss asked me to get a signature for his daughter. I''m getting a promotion soon."


    "Is that so darling? I''m so happy for you~ let''s go somewhere expensive on our anniversary shall we~"


    "Of course my dearest wifey~," said his father before giving his son a pat on the back. "Seojoon really is my golden goose. Ever since he wanted to start playing games, good things have started to happen one after the other."


    "Papa, buy me a new phone for raising Seojoon to become such a good boy-"


    His mother and father snorted before giving his sister a look of disdain. "What bullshit is coming out of your mouth? All you did was laze around and act selfishly."


    "But mom, I was a good example for him wasn''t I?"


    "A good example of what not to become."


    "That''s still a good example."


    "Not a good example that I want to reward. Hurry up and eat your meal quietly. It''s unbecoming of a person to eat with your mouth open."


    "Tch."


    Seojoon slowly chewed on the square bit of steak in his mouth as he ignored his family and listened carefully to Cross, who was explaining stuff to the reporter.


    "-you see Poppy, what Seojoon is, what he represents is a brand new path in virtual gaming and gaming career. Instead of using AI''s as INPC''s, we can use actual people to serve in as an NPC''s."


    Poppy tilted her head sideways in a confused manner. "Wouldn''t this be more costly to hire people than to create INPC''s?"


    "Not at all," said Cross with a smug smile that Seojoon was starting to really hate. "You see, the person who plays the character Seojoon is actually not receiving any salary or payment."


    Poppy widened her eyes in shock. "You are not paying the player for Seojoon any money? Isn''t that illegal?"


    Cross nodded his head understandingly. "Indeed, it should be illegal however, instead of Seojoon working for us, it is more similar to Seojoon volunteering for us. We offered him money but he refused."


    Poppy gave Cross a look of disbelief. "And why is that Mr. Cross? Why did he deny the money?"


    Cross let out a smirk. "You see, Seojoon is a man who loves a challenge. When we offered him to become an NPC, he said that he would do it for free."


    "Doesn''t the ability to become an NPC give you an unprecedented edge over all other gamers?"


    Cross vehemently shook his head. "Not at all, in fact, it provides a better edge for everyone except for Seojoon."


    "And why is that?"


    "You see, Seojoon can hand out quests to others and help them level faster and but he cannot give quests to himself. Thus, he is a player that is only able to benefit others."


    Poppy let out an amazed look. "So basically, Seojoon''s player is playing the game in hard mode?"


    "Yes," said Cross with a smug grin. "Seojoon is playing in hard mode."


    Poppy glanced over her notes for a few seconds before turning her gaze back to Cross. "The final question that I have for today is, is the character of Seojoon a replica of the player of Seojoon?"


    Cross paused and thought about his answer before giving an evil smirk. He then stared directly into the camera and Seojoon could swear that Cross was staring right at him.


    "Poppy, in the end, everything in my game is nothing but a replica of reality. Seojoon included."


    "Do you mean that the player of Seojoon looks different in reality?" Asked Poppy with a somewhat let down expression.


    Cross nodded his head, causing Poppy to let out an even more disappointed look.


    "Poppy, the replica in Rising Worlds is incomparable to the person in real life. There is only so much we can replicate Seojoon into the virtual world."


    "Wait! Does that mean the player for Seojoon is, even handsomer in real life-"


    Cross waved at the camera in a teasing manner. "That concludes today''s report. Thank you for listening. Please follow to Seojoon''s Socichat account called Kim_Seojoon! Please don''t forget that it''s the one with the verified checkmark. Thank you~"


    Seojoon glared at the tv as the channel switched. He could already feel the unending alerts that were going to assault his phone.


    "I''m happy that our son agrees to come out to eat dinner with us.... what a wonderful change."


    Seojoon rolled his eyes. "Don''t exaggerate dad. I would eat dinner and breakfast with you guys most of the time."


    "But whenever we went out to eat, you would always decline to say that you had to study."


    "If only Rachel had two percent of your studious energy, I wouldn''t have to worry about her future life...."


    "Mom! I''m only failing one class!"


    "And with Seojoon''s two percent, you would be passing them all with B pluses."


    "Kek!"


    Seojoon quietly finished his plate before widening his eyes in realization.


    "Hey dad."


    "What is it son?"


    "I just arrived at the Empire''s capital. Do you wanna help me around and you know, give me some tips?" Asked Seojoon hesitantly.


    "...." his father spaced out for a moment before a single tear escaped his eye. ".... I would love to. Let''s do it after we get home."


    "Oop, Seojoon, you made you father all happy again." His mother sighed.


    Seeing this opportunity, his sister placed her arms around his dad and asked in her best cutesy voice that made Seojoon and his mother cringe.


    "Papa~ can I get a new phone~"


    "Of course my dear Rachel!"


    "You father has once again fallen for your sister''s trap hasn''t he Seojoon-ah."


    "It seems so umma."

 22 The Empire’s Capital

    Seojoon glanced at his phone for a moment and sighed.


    [99+ people have started to follow you on Socichat. Like them back to become friends!]


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    [Congratulations, user Kim_Seojoon. You are number one on trending.]


    Damned Cross. Seojoon threw his phone onto the sofa before making his way to his gaming capsule in the corner. His father gave him a happy smile from the capsule that lay in the corner next to Seojoon.


    "Seojoon, just stay near the south entrance gate. I''ll come and find you. Make sure to stay hidden, or we might have trouble moving around."


    Seojoon nodded in reply, causing his father to once again have a goofy expression on his face. ".... I can''t believe it.... I''m actually playing with my son."


    Seojoon sighed before closing the lid to the capsule and shutting his eyes. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and got out of his bed.


    Yesterday night after Seojoon had practiced his skills on a few crazy dogs, he had arrived at the Capital and quickly found himself a relatively cheap inn to rest in.


    He walked out of his room and went down the stairs. The innkeeper, who was a middle aged man, saw Seojoon and waved goodbye as he opened the door left the inn.


    The empire''s capital was very different from Beginners Village in many ways. The roads were made out of smooth cobblestone that had been seamlessly placed together and there were no streets near the sidewalks. The amount of people that Seojoon could see was almost incomparably larger then the village. Even with streets being about four carriages wide, Seojoon could still barely walk in a straight line without bumping into someone.


    Although it wasn''t as crowded as places such as Hong Kong, Beijing, New York City, or England, it was still an amazing sight.


    As Seojoon made his way to the entrance gate, his eyes flickered towards the tall walls that circled the entirety of the capital.


    Very different from the flimsy wooden fence that he had seen in the village, the capital had large stone walls about two stories tall. Mountain like watchtowers stood guard along the circumference of the wall, armed with giant crossbows, casting a dauntless and impregnable aura to the entirety of the capital.


    Seojoon turned his head backwards and saw an even taller wall than the one in front. This wall was made out of metal and was about three stories high. They also had watchtowers around the circumference which were loaded with dangerous looking canons.


    "Oi, look forward to see where you are going."


    "Sorry sir, my bad."


    Seojoon apologized to the man he had accidentally bumped into and once again faced the front. He now could see the heavily guarded entrance gate and a big tree that stood proudly about fifty feet away from the gate. Under the shade of the tree was a person who weirdly reminded Seojoon about his dad.


    "Dad?" Seojoon called out as he tried to catch the person''s attention.


    "Oh, Seojoon! You arrived. Come over here!"


    Seojoon met up with his dad and flinched when his dad casually threw something at Seojoon with a sly grin. Seojoon caught it and realized that it was a mask.


    "Use it to cover your face," his dad said with a shrug when he saw Seojoon''s confused face. "Since you are well known now, it would be a pain to stop every five seconds to sign a picture or take a selfie."


    Seojoon wore the mask and gave his father a thumbs up. "Nice save, dad."


    "It''s nothing," said Seojoon''s dad with an unmistakable happy grin, "So what do you want to do? Kill some monsters? Do some quests? Fight some players?"


    Seojoon furrowed his brows as he debated over his choices and answered with "Why don''t you give me a tour about the capital? I just got here last night after all."


    His dad placed an arm around his neck laughed. "Let''s get going then shall we? But let''s go have a meal first, I''m starving. I know a good place."


    "Sure." Seojoon was feeling hungry as well and saw no reason to refuse.


    "Oh sweet, I just got a quest from you, Seojoon. Nice."


    "...."


    His father took them to the west side of the capital to a somewhat popular bakery with sweets and pastries. They had some light coffee and some cake and prepared to leave when Seojoon decided to buy some bread to eat later on. As Seojoon bought the bread, he was reminded of Amy the baker from the village and smiled.


    "I wonder how she is doing right now."


    "Who are you talking about?" Asked his dad curiously.


    "No one, let''s go shall we?"


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    Suddenly, a child ran in front of Seojoon and his dad forcing them to come to a stop. The child wore ragged dirty clothes and had matted hair. The child stretched out his hands as if he was begging for something.


    His father sighed before staring at the child with eyes filled with pity. "The game designers really did a good job in making this world as realistic as possible. I can''t help but forget that this is all a game."


    Seojoon stared at the child and didn''t know how to reply other then, "Why? Why are they like this?"


    His father sighed. "It''s because the empire doesn''t wish to help the poor. And we can''t blame them. There are just too many people who are suffering to help them all."


    "Can''t they provide free meals once a day?"


    His father shook his head. "Helping the poor wont bring any major benefits to the empire so they see no reason to provide aid. Besides, there are some nobles that strongly believe that normal civilians are inferior and deserve to be left at the mercy of the gods."


    Seojoon speechlessly faced the child once more as his father let out another sigh.


    "Real world problems dragging itself into the virtual world. To make matters worse," said his father with a bitter look, "helping these children don''t give any benefits so no one wishes to help them.... Every coin is precious to the players, so why would they want to help the poor children who don''t provide anything in return?"


    Seojoon slowly crouched down and patted the child on the head. The kid flinched as of expecting pain but then relaxed when he realized that Seojoon meant no harm. Sadness filled Seojoon''s chest and he felt something heavy tug in his heart.


    Seojoon''s dad sighed again before rummaging around his clothes, "I still believe that helping these kids is the right thing to do, once coin at a time. Let''s see, where was my coin pouch?"


    Seojoon watched as his dad took out ten cooper coins and place them into the child''s hands. Throughout the entire process, the child never broke eye contact from Seojoon''s eyes as the child let out a silent plea for help and assistance.


    However, when the child received the money he pocketed it immediately and turned around to stare at something. After a moment of hesitation, the child took a deep breath before biting his lip and held his hand out once again.


    "I-I''m Sorry, I really can''t afford to give you any more money," replied his dad with a sad look. The child started to panic and held out his hands even higher with eyes that revealed desperation.


    Seojoon followed the child''s gaze and saw two little girls, barely even four and two, hiding in a small dark alley holding hands as they worriedly watching Seojoon, his dad, and the little boy begging for money. From the way they were dressed, Seojoon came to the conclusion that the two little girls were with the boy who was begging right in front of him.


    Something in Seojoon snapped as Seojoon took out the warm loaves of bread that he had bought for his own consumption and gave it all to the child.


    The child widened his eyes in disbelief before staring up at Seojoon with a confused look.


    Seojoon only smiled in response and ruffled the little boy''s hair gently. "Go take this bread and feed your sisters. Don''t eat it to quickly or you will choke, okay?"


    The boy nodded, still in a daze, before dashing off to the two little girls while treating the bag of bread in his two arms as if it were treasure. Seojoon watched as the boy gave two pieces of bread to his sisters and start to eat.


    All three of them had a wide smile on their faces as the tore into the bread before disappearing into the dark alleyway.


    Seojoon felt a hand pat his back and turned around to see who it was.


    "Well done, son. Well done."


    His father wore a warm smile that revealed how proud he was as he continued to pat Seojoon on the back.


    "That was a nice thing for you to do."


    "It was the right thing to do...." said Seojoon as his gaze still lingered on the dark alleyway where the children had disappeared into.


    His father waited for a moment or two before smacking Seojoon on the back. "There is a church in the capital somewhere who are accepting donations to help homeless children.... do you want to go hunting?"


    Seojoon nodded after a small pause. "Yes."

 23 An Idea

    (A/N: soooooo..... the reason why I didn''t update for like four days, was because I wanted to construct a believable April fools prank..... but..... I forgot about my prank and didn''t write at all ????????????. To make this up, I proudly announce that from today, all my non-hiatus books will be getting a daily update. Shout out to Ice who convinced me to do this. Join my discord.)


    *****


    Seojoon stared into the deep dark underbrush as he sat perfectly still, waiting for something that only he knew. Quiet seemed to encompass the entirety of the forest, with only an occasional bird call breaking the silence.


    After a long period of waiting, Seojoon''s fingers let out a twitch. There was a flash of steel and a loud whimper as Seojoon erupted out of the bush he had been previously hiding in and cleaved his sword in an upward arc.


    A wolf head that had been cleanly severed went spinning through the air as several growls interrupted the calm forest as well as ear piercing howls.


    From behind a tree, a black figure lunged towards the exposed back of Seojoon, who immediately spun around and sliced into the shoulder of the figure.


    The wolf let out a whimper and tried to retreat, which Seojoon stopped by pushing the blade further it''s body.


    Seeing how the blade was stuck in their dead friend, two other wolves leaped at Seojoon.


    "Lightning Flash."


    Before they could reach him, Seojoon''s body flickered away from the wolf corpse and appeared directly behind the two wolves in mid air.


    "Forked Lightning."


    A spark danced across Seojoon''s blade as he thrusted his blade into the closest wolf causing it to howl in pain. A large bolt than lashed out of the writhing wolf and hit the second wolf that was nearby.


    Noticing the last wolf running away terrified, Seojoon steadied his blade and aimed the point towards the wolf.


    "Piercing Light."


    Seojoon moves forward in an impossible speed and thrusted his sword forward impaling the wolf to his sword and onto a tree.


    Seojoon took a deep breath as he felt the wolf''s struggles send vibrations through his sword before pulling his blade out and wiping it.


    The wolf finally went still.


    "Holy fuck son!" Said a loud voice filled with surprise. "That was incredible!"


    "If mom knew that you curse in front of me in this game, you would get into so much trouble," said Seojoon with a cheeky grin as his father dropped down from a tree.


    "Don''t mind that woman, let''s talk about your skills. I''ve never seen skills like those before! They can''t be the skills for a basic swordsman, right?" Said his father with an excited look after diminishing the threat of his mother.


    Seojoon frowned. "I really don''t know. I''m pretty sure they are unique but.... show skills, detailed."


    [Skills


    Lvl 4 (Basic)


    Passive


    Grants the ability to wield swords effectively


    Effects- 20% damage boost when attacking with swords.


    Lvl 1 (Basic)


    Passive


    Grants the ability to wield mana


    Effects- Mana imbedded attacks deal 10% more damage


    Lvl 2 (Basic)


    Consumes 10 Stamina


    Grants the ability to dismantle monster loot and beasts.


    Effects- 20% boost in obtaining rare drops


    Lvl 3 (Unique)


    10 Stamina and 10 Mana Consumed


    A single thrust that seems to be unstoppable as lightning.


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    Effects- 30% armor penetration


    10 sec cool down


    Lvl 2 (Unique)


    20 Mana Consumed


    An attack that lashes out to the nearest enemy when striking a foe.


    Effects- deals 100% damage to a maximum of two objects in a 2 meter radius.


    30 sec cool down


    Lvl 2 (Unique)


    20 Stamina and 20 Mana Consumed


    A single burst of speed that makes you seem like a lightning bolt.


    Effects- can shift to any spot within a 2 meter radius. Cannot go through blocks.


    1 min cool down]


    Seojoon nodded his head. "My skills are unique."


    His father let out a whistle. "Did you obtain a hidden class already? Lucky you."


    "I don''t have a hidden class though?"


    "Impossible! Unique skills don''t come freely! Check again."his dad asked in shock.


    "Show status,"


    [Kim Seojoon (Bookworm Teacher)


    Class: Swordsman


    Lvl: 10 (466/1000)


    Health: 300/300


    Stamina: 120/150 Mana: 160/210


    ]


    "Yep," said Seojoon with a shrug. "My class is still a normal Swordsman."


    Seojoon''s father let out a groan. "How the hell did you acquire so many unique skills when the game has only been released for a month or so?"


    Seojoon walked over to the dead wolf carcasses and took out a knife out and started to dismantle the wolf. "I only have three unique skills, nothing to get dramatic about."


    "I''m ranked third on the Level Leaderboards and yet I still have yet to get a single unique skill!" Said his father with a mixture of happiness, admiration and jealousy. "I can''t believe you are this good at games and yet waste your time studying for school."


    "Hey, apologize to all the students who are unable to play games due to studying."


    Seojoon''s father rolled his eyes. "Where did you even get the unique skills?"


    "I got them from my vice captain. I became her disciple of sorts."


    "Oh well, well done. I''ll look forward to seeing you on the leaderboards soon enough. What did you get from dismantling the wolves?"


    "Er-"


    [You have finished dismantling five wolves. You have obtained:


    2 wolf pelts


    4 wolf fangs]


    [Overall Exp gained from killing five wolves was 48]


    "-two pelts and 4 fangs."


    "Ahhh, that''s unlucky. If we add onto the 4 pelts we already had and the 11 fangs, we get about...."


    "33 coppers. 15 coppers for the fangs and 18 coppers from the pelts."


    "Yes. Three coppers can feed a child for a week sparingly so that''s eleven kids we can help." Said his dad in a calculative manner. "Wanna head back to the capital? I have a quest to finish and the time limit is coming fast."


    "Sure, I don''t mind."


    His dad gave Seojoon a pat on the back and ruffled his hair. "I''ll join you hunting sometime later. Once I hit level 20, I''ll be able to hunt in higher area places without a problem and bring in a higher profit."


    "Meh, just do what you want."


    "How can I do that when my son cares so much about the children who suffer on the streets? Why don''t you try giving players quests to help you.... out..."


    Seojoon and his father stared at each other in stupor before quickly dashing out of the forest and towards the capital.

 24 Quest Abuse

    "You!" A man in a soldier uniform stopped a girl in the middle of the street. "You come over here for a minute!"


    A girl with light blue hair stopped in place immediately and glanced at the man in front of her with a flustered expression. "W-w-what does the great Seojoon-sama wish to have from me?"


    Seojoon raised an eyebrow before murmuring to himself, "Sama? Ah, she must be Japanese...."


    "Excuse me?"


    "Never mind. I have a question for you. Are you willing to help homeless children at the church?"


    "I-I would love too!" Said the girl eagerly.


    However, Seojoon could tell that she hadn''t received a quest from her expression. This meant that he couldn''t give out quests at any given time. Since a direct question didn''t work, Seojoon went with plan B.


    "Ahhhh, the children are so poor and helpless. It pains me to see them starve out on the streets and beg for food everyday."


    "I-I agree!"


    Tch, still a failure. An indirect request didn''t work as well. Seojoon moved on to plan C. The indirect yet direct request.


    "If you go to the church, you will find out that it accepts donations. These donations go into feeding the homeless adults and children''s that beg on the streets. Please. Can you go over there and...."


    "Donate?" Finished the girl.


    "Yes, please donate."


    However, once again, Seojoon knew that he had failed once more. Instead of getting elated at receiving a quest, the girl only gazed at Seojoon with curiosity and a hunt of admiration. Frustrated, Seojoon sat down on the side of the road and let out a heavy sigh.


    At this point, Seojoon gave up on abusing the quest giving function he had as an NPC. Although he would be able to help a lot by exterminating the wolf population, he was still a little let down at the fact that he would not be able to get other players to help the children.


    "Are you okay?"


    The girl he was talking too had sat next to him at one point and was now giving Seojoon a concerned look.


    Seojoon gave her a wry grin. "I''m perfectly fine. I just feel a little defeated right now. Nothing to big."


    "May I ask why, Seojoon-sama?"


    "Well you see-" said Seojoon as he stared into the streets of the capital. Even as he sat there with the girl, he could spot a few children begging for food and get ignored. "I want to help these homeless kids and provide them with food. And it saddens me to think about how there are so many people walking around yet nobody even tries to help them."


    Seojoon let out a bitter laugh. "I guess no one would want to help dirty homeless children like them. What would they gain from it? Nothing."


    The girl hesitated for a moment before speaking. "May I ask why you are so desperate on helping these children?"


    Seojoon hesitated. Why indeed did he care so much about helping the children? Why did it affect him so much? This was only a game after all. Was it because he had been a teacher in his previous life? Was his teacher self uncomfortable with seeing children in pain? No. It wasn''t just because of that.


    ".... a while ago, I saw a little boy begging for food," Seojoon said while gazing up into the sky. "He just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking us from walking forward any further. We gave him a couple of coins to go feed himself and expected him to leave immediately when the boy continued to stay."


    "Was the amount of money that you gave him not enough?"


    Seojoon shook his head. "It was enough for one little boy, but the little boy didn''t want to take care of himself only. You see, far away hidden in a dark alleyway were two little girls, even younger than the little boy in front of me. The little boy didn''t want to take care of himself only but also his younger sisters."


    Seojoon looked down from the sky and stared into the girl''s eyes.


    "In what civilized society should a little child take on the role of an adult? What would happen if we continued to ignore the child''s plea for help?"


    What would happen was obvious. They would die.


    Seojoon closed his eyes for a moment before getting up from the floor and did a couple of light stretches before addressing the girl.


    ".... If you don''t want to waste your money on helping the children, you don''t have to. I won''t force you to. I understand what I''m doing is most likely futile and pointless. Sorry for wasting your time."


    The girl shook her head.


    "Oh no, I would love to help. I.... I feel a personal connection with the children who are suffering right now. Even if you didn''t ask, I would still help them. I understand how hard it is."


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    Seojoon gave a small chuckle. "Thank you for your kindness and for talking with me. I''ll take my leave now. It was a meaningful talk that we had going on between us."


    "...I am honored. Please have a good night Seojoon-sama."


    Seojoon nodded and made his way to the inn and logged off. He would continue in the morning after a good night sleep.

 25 First Main Story Ques

    *clang*


    Seojoon dropped his bowl onto the table as he watched the TV with a dumbfounded look.


    \"Seojoon-Ah.... you spilled all your food.\"


    \"I-I''m sorry mom.\"


    Seojoon hurriedly cleaned up the unintentional mess he had made all the while staring at the screen with wide eyes.


    \"-the first ever multiplayer main story quest has been revealed!\" Said the all time favorite reporter Poppy Smoria on the news. \"And this multiplayer quest was provided by no other being than our recently trending, Seojoon!\"


    The screen switched away from Poppy and cut into a scene from the game.


    The sky was decorated in a swirl of orange and red as a handsome man stared into the sky with a sad and self deprecating look. Even Seojoon, who knew that the handsome man was him, felt his heart twinge just by watching on as a bystander.


    \"Are you okay?\"


    The handsome man gave them a wry smile that made it seem as if the entire world cry. \"I''m perfectly fine. I just feel a little defeated right now. Nothing to big.\"


    It was clear that the man was not okay.


    \"May I ask why, Seojoon-sama?\" Said the girl with a soothing voice.


    \"Well you see-\" said the man as his eyes switched from the sky to the streets of the capital. It seemed as though the view of watching children beg brought onto him a great discomfort and pain. \"I want to help these homeless kids and provide them with food. And it saddens me to think about how there are so many people walking around yet nobody even tries to help them.\"


    The man let out a bitter laugh. \"I guess no one would want to help dirty homeless children like them. What would they gain from it? Nothing.\" The way the man spoke expressed a feeling of defeat and disappointment so perfectly that guilt was unconsciously summoned from within the depths of the human heart, warming even the coldest person.


    \"May I ask why you are so desperate on helping these children?\"


    \".... a while ago, I saw a little boy begging for food,\" the man said while gazing up into the sky once more. The orange glow painted his face, enhancing the sadness that was apparent in his handsome face. \"He just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking us from walking forward any further. We gave him a couple of coins to go feed himself and expected him to leave immediately when the boy continued to stay.\"


    \"Was the amount of money that you gave him not enough?\"


    The man shook his head. \"It was enough for one little boy, but the little boy didn''t want to take care of himself only. You see, far away hidden in a dark alleyway were two little girls, even younger than the little boy in front of me. The little boy didn''t want to take care of himself only but also his younger sisters.\"


    The man looked down from the sky and stared into the girl''s eyes.


    \"In what civilized society should a little child take on the role of an adult? What would happen if we continued to ignore the child''s plea for help?\"


    The man closed his eyes for a moment before getting up from the floor and did a couple of light stretches before addressing the girl.


    \".... If you don''t want to waste your money on helping the children, you don''t have to. I won''t force you to. I understand what I''m doing is most likely futile and pointless. Sorry for wasting your time.\"


    \"Oh no, I would love to help. I.... I feel a personal connection with the children who are suffering right now. Even if you didn''t ask, I would still help them. I understand how hard it is.\"


    The man let out a small chuckle. \"Thank you for your kindness and for talking with me. I''ll take my leave now. It was a meaningful talk that we had going on between us.\"


    \"...I am honored. Please have a good night Seojoon-sama.\"


    The man nodded and made his way in a slow and sorrowful manner. Just as the last bit of the man''s back disappeared from view, a screen popped in front of the view.


    [Cruelty of the World (Main Story Quest)


    Listening to the words of a man who has seen to much cruelty, you now have a choice. To act out on your emotions and heart or ignore it or continue on with you life. Help out the children without homes in your own way. You may share this quest with others.


    0/1 act of kindness towards the homeless children


    Reward: depends on the magnitude of the kind act]


    The screen switched back to Poppy who was busy wiping a tear from her face. \".... you saw what I saw folks. All of you gamers out there, let us succumb to our emotions and fight against the cruelties of the world. The word of the week is.... kindness. Good bye and have a great day.\"


    As the news report ended and changed into a black screen, Seojoon noticed a few words at the bottom of the screen.


    [This video was provided by one of the gamers who first receive the quest. Her name remains confidential at her request.]


    Seojoon''s face went abruptly red as he slowly sank into his seat while wishing he could disappear. He had accomplished his goal in finding a way to convince people to help the kids but....


    \"....that was hella cringe.\"

 26 God of Luck

    The old nun let out a chuckle at the sight in front of her. She saw a young man accepting coins from random passerby''s and giving perfect ninety degree bows.


    How much wealth he had accumulated was a mystery to the old nun but she did not frankly care all that much. For she had now become well aquatinted with the boy and knew that he would bring no harm.


    After the crowd of money providing people had all left, the boy carried a hefty bag toward the church with a satisfied look on his face. \"Good morning Mother Minerva. I''ve collected all the donations for today. Do you want me to go to the bank and store them like usual or should I take a few coins to buy some food?\"


    \"I would love it if you got some coins and went shopping, you can deposit the rest at the bank.\"


    \"Alrighty, I''ll be back quick enough.\"


    Mother Minerva let out a wry chuckle. \"I feel bad for wasting your time on aiding us with our troubles. Thank you so much Seojoon.\"


    Seojoon let out a bright laugh. \"No need to thank me Mother Minerva, I am just doing what I want, besides, I got permission from my higher ups. Although I''ll have to go after noon, I can help you during the mornings. After I''m gone, the children are more then adept enough to accepts donations in my place.\"


    \"You are a kind soul,\" said Mother Minerva with a sad smile. \"If only the nobles has your personality.... all of these children would have no need suffer.\"


    Seojoon followed her sigh and placed the bag of money on the floor. \"What can we say Mother Minerva, people always care about themselves before anything. That or their loved ones and close family members. Such a shame that we aren''t any of those.\"


    Mother Minerva sighed. \"I wonder why so many people are donating money to us all the sudden.... it''s as if our god is pitying us and providing us aid.\"


    \"Ahaha.... yes indeed. I feel like it is all due to the power of advertising.\"


    \"Did you say something, my dear?\"


    \"Nope, nothing at all.\"


    Seojoon picked up the bag of money and slung it over his shoulder. \"I''ll be off Mother Minerva, I''ll hurry up and buy some groceries and deposit the money and come back to help you with cooking breakfast.\"


    \"Oh no, dear, you don''t need to do so much-\"


    \"Helping the church is a personal joy of mine, don''t feel so bad about it. Bye~\"


    Mother Minerva watched the receding figure of Seojoon with thankful eyes before sighing. \"I wonder if it isn''t too presumptuous of me ask him for a favor... I''ve already received too much help... but I can''t ignore how the children are disappearing one after the other...\"


    Mother Minerva sighed.


    \"I guess I will have to rely on Seojoon one more time today...\"


    *****


    Seojoon quickly deposited the money and bought the food out from his own pocket, like usual. He never told Mother Minerva that he would always pay for the meals himself and that he would always add at least fifty percent of his earnings into the pile of coins they received every day as he knew that it would make her feel bad.


    Just as Seojoon carried the many bags of food back home, a girl suddenly appeared right in front of him stopping him in his tracks. \"Hello Seojoon sama~\"


    Seojoon gave the girl a distasteful look before reluctantly greeting the girl. \".... good morning Kaori.\"


    Kaori gave Seojoon a teasing smile. \"Are you still angry at the fact that I posted the video of you providing me a quest? Didn''t I already apologize for it? I even helped you with donations for a day! I even helped you spread it to every player in the empire!\"


    Seojoon sighed. \"You have a point there, I guess I''ll have to thank you for that at least.\"


    \"Anything you want Seojoon sama.\"


    \"Drop the sama. It''s hella cringe. I''m not some sort of deity or lord you know?\"


    Kaori let out a loud laugh. \"Do you not know what is going on in social media right now? People are already calling you the Luck god of Rising Worlds.\"


    Dumbfounded, Seojoon gave Kaori a blank stare. \"Why the hell would they call me that?\"


    \"Well firstly,\" said Kaori while putting up a finger. \"Your fan club has become so large that even major acting companies such as Hollywood are desperate to gain control of your face for revenue. Don''t you get calls from companies all the time?\"


    Seojoon averted his gaze as his phone had went into permanent quarantine in one of his drawers. He received so many calls a day that he didn''t even bother answering them at all.


    Kaori gave Seojoon a suspicious look before shrugging. \"Well, the second reason why you are treated as a god is because some players received a second main story quest after donating to the church. One player was given a hidden class while another gained a nobility title.\"


    Seojoon frowned. \"All from helping homeless children?\"


    Kaori shrugged. \"One of the players got approached by a secret organization called the Dark Light after being seen donating to the church. The organization gave him a quest and he completed it and slowly moved into the ranks of nobility. He is a baron currently I think.\"


    \"I see... what about the other guy, the one who received a hidden class called the Night Ranger. The player was helping a homeless girl when the father of the girl appeared and took her back. The father then gave the player a hidden class as thanks.\"


    \"....wow.\"


    Seojoon was starting to believe that he really was a god of luck in the world of Rising Worlds.

 27 Find the children

    \"Hello Mother Minerva, I''m back.\"


    \"Perfect timing,\" mother Minerva said with a smile. \"And I see that you brought a friend?\"


    Kaori waved her hand and smiled. \"Hello mother Minerva, I''m Kaori. I''ve helped Seojoon with the donations one time, DONT you remember?\"


    Mother Minerva shrugged. \"I''m sorry but I don''t. Anyways, Seojoon, I am terribly sorry to ask you for another favor after all that you''ve done for me and the children-\"


    \"Not at all,\" Seojoon said with a grin. \"I just wanted to help, no need to feel grateful.\"


    \"You are a modest one, but in all due seriousness, I need your help. And you helping me could get you killed. Are you sure you still want to help me?\"


    Seojoon was about to say yes when a quest screen popped in front of him.


    [Mother Minerva''s Concerns (Main Story Quest)


    Homeless children disappear all the time, it is the sad truth. But lately, mother Minerva has begun to notice that the frequency where familiar children never come back is increasing. Go out and find out if these disappearances are of a natural cause or the result of something more sinister. Failure may lead to death.


    Completion Requirements: find out who is responsible for the disappearances.


    Reward: 1000 Exp and mother Minerva''s gratitude.]


    \".... is it about the recent increasing frequency of disappearing children?\"


    Mother Minerva gave Seojoon a nod. \"Indeed, it is as you have guessed. It happens to often to be an accident or a natural cause. Please find out what is behind all of this and report back to me.\"


    Seojoon frowned. \"Don''t you want me to take care of the problem as well? I don''t mind.\"


    Mother Minerva furiously shook her head. \"You mustn''t. If things take a really wrong turn and the culprit behind this is who I think it is, then we have to be extremely careful. A single mistake and your head could be sent flying.\"


    Seojoon''s frown became even deeper. If the culprit had the power to execute them and create enough fear in mother Minerva to tell him to proceed with caution, then it could only be one group of people. The nobles.


    Seojoon nodded grimly and grabbed his sword. \"I will get it done to my very last breath.\"


    \"Don''t. All you need to do is come back alive.\"


    Kaori elbowed Seojoon in the side and pulled him close before whispering, \"hey, you just received a main story quest right?\"


    Seojoon hesitated for a moment before nodded his head slightly causing her to pout. \"Hey, that''s not fair. I want one too. Mother Minerva, May I assist Seojoon in the task of finding the disappearing children?\"


    Mother Minerva shrugged. \"Do whatever you want.\"


    \"YES! I GOT A MAIN STORY QUEST AS WELL!\"


    Mother Minerva gave Kaori a weird look before whispering to Seojoon, \"is that friend of yours okay? She seems a bit... disoriented in the mind.\"


    Seojoon sighed. \"Don''t worry mother Minerva, its a trait that most outsiders have. I assure you it''s perfectly normal.\"


    \"I see... well then good luck to you. May the goddess bless you with her fortune.\"


    \"May the goddess bless us all.\"


    Seojoon grabbed the ecstatic Kaori and dragged her out of the church.


    \"Seojoon, look at this, I get a thousand exp for completing this quest!\"


    \"Congrats.\"


    \"Do you know how many wolves I would have to kill for that? 100! A hundred wolves for a thousand exp!\"


    \"You could always go hunt goblins or kobolds.\"


    Kaori gave Seojoon a derisive look. \"Goblins? Who would wanna waste their lives killing goblins? All they do is act like a pain in the ass as they stick in a group. They don''t even provide that much exp as well, only giving about five per kill. As for kobolds... they are basically wolves but with weapons. I can''t hunt them unless I''m in a party.\"


    Kaori suddenly froze and stopped Seojoon from moving forward. \"Hey Seojoon, since we have the same quest, do you wanna party? It''ll make things easier and it''ll be more fun! Send party invite to Seojoon.\"


    [User Kaori has sent you a party request. Will you accept?]


    \"Decline.\"


    [You have declined User Kaori''s party request.]


    \"Hey, why did you decline? Just accept it already. Send party invite to Seojoon.\"


    [User Kaori has sent you a party request. Will you accept?]


    \"Stop sending new invites. Decline.\"


    [You have declined User Kaori''s party request.]


    \"But why? It''s the most logical thing to do? We both have the same quest so why not party together? You don''t have a solid reason to decline me you know! Send party invite to Seojoon.\"


    [User Kaori has sent you a party request. Will you accept?]


    \".... are you going to keep this up forever?\"


    \"Do not underestimate my stubbornness.\"


    \"....whatever. I don''t really care anyways. Accept.\"


    [You have accepted User Kaori''s party request.]


    [Party Members


    Kaori (Leader)


    Lvl: 17


    Health: 410/410


    Stamina: 205/205 Mana: 170/170


    Seojoon


    Lvl: 10


    Health: 300/300


    Stamina: 150/150 Mana: 210/210]


    \"Wow,\" said Kaori. \"You are only level 10? I thought you would be level 15 at least.\"


    \"Shut up you leveling freak. Unlike you, I came to enjoy the story of the the world instead of grinding experience like you do.\"


    \"Ewwww, you are one of those story gamers? Disgusting.\"


    \"Party leave.\"


    [Are you sure that you want to leave your party?]


    \"Wait, no. I''m sorry, don''t leave.\"

 28 Better? Or worse?

    \"Sooooo, what will we do know?\" Asked Kaori with an excited look. \"We have received our super important quest, now we need a place to start.\"


    Seojoon ignored her and continued to stare at his quest information in a focused manner.


    [Mother Minerva''s Concerns (Main Story Quest)


    Homeless children disappear all the time, it is the sad truth. But lately, mother Minerva has begun to notice that the frequency where familiar children never come back is increasing. Go out and find out if these disappearances are of a natural cause or the result of something more sinister. Failure may lead to death.


    Completion Requirements: find out who is responsible for the disappearances.


    Reward: 1000 Exp and mother Minerva''s gratitude.]


    \"Helloooooo? Caaaaan you heeeeaar meee?\"


    \"Shut the hell up Kaori.\"


    \"Stop ignoring me then, what are we going to do.\"


    Seojoon sighed before scanning the crowd around him. \"You said that you were an assassin type ranger right?\"


    \"Yessu!\"


    \"Then you most likely know stealth, right?\"


    \"Double yessu!\"


    Seojoon pointed at a little girl far to his left. \"Follow her around and observe. However, make sure she doesn''t get hurt, that is your number one priority.\"


    Kaori tilted her head sideways. \"But why specifically that girl? Is there something special about her that I should pay attention to?\"


    \"She looks somewhat decent.\"


    Kaori gave a frown. \"... pervert.\"


    \"Stop being a stereotypical Japanese manga character, it long since lost its impact and is plain boring now.\"


    \"Triple Yessu!\"


    \"....The reason for the children''s disappearances can be one of three things. The standard case of homeless children being kidnapped to become slaves-\"


    \"Yikes.\"


    \"- a slightly used scenario where the children were taken by some secret organization or person to conduct experiments on-\"


    \"That sounds gross.\"


    \"-and finally, a unique storyline where what we expect to happen never will.\"


    \"... wait, isn''t the last scenario the worst thing that could happen?\"


    Seojoon nodded. \"At least with the first two plots, we can use predetermined strategies to isolate and neutralize the threat. For the third one, we will have to base it on luck and rng guessing until we stumble upon a massive clue.\"


    \"So why follow the little girl?\"


    \"If it''s the first scenario, slave traders will most likely go for the above average girls and sell them for their looks.\"


    \"Then why don''t I stalk the prettiest girl or handsomest boy?\"


    Seojoon shook his head. \"Slave traders won''t go for the prettiest or handsomest child they can find, not if they are human at least.\"


    \"Why?\"


    \"You''ve been reading to many light novels. If a child is naturally very handsome or beautiful, then they garner a lot of attention from their surroundings. If these attention grabbing children suddenly disappear, then people are bound to quickly notice.\"


    \"Oh?\"


    \"The one thing that drives slave traders to acquire slaves is the ludicrous amount of money they gain from selling a slave. Now if people begin to notice children disappear and notify the guards, what do you think will happen?\"


    Kaori went blank. \"Uhhhhh.... it gets.... harder to kidnap children?\"


    \"Exactly, and if they can''t acquire a steady stream of children, they will lose out on money in the long term. Sure they can move to other cities and continue their work there, but this is the capital of the empire. The population of children without homes are the largest for many mile around. What do you think is worth more? A single very expensive high quality diamond, or a steady supply of diamonds of above average quality?\"


    \"Umm... the latter seems to be more like a stable lifestyle-\"


    \"Exactly,\" said Seojoon, grabbing Kaori by the shoulders causing her to yelp in surprise. \"So what I need you to do is follow that girl to the ends of hell and prevent her from getting harmed.\"


    \"A-and what will you be doing?\" Asked Kaori with a slight blush on her cheeks.


    \"I will be tailing after him.\" Said Seojoon pointing to a rather ugly looking boy.


    Kaori frowned. \"I thought that we''re we going to target above average children?\"


    Seojoon rolled his eyes. \"Above Average children mostly get targeted by the slave traders. I''ll be making sure whether or not scenario two is where this story is headed.\"


    \"Why an ugly child?\"


    \"If targeting above average children was to remain unnoticed, targeting ugly children is so that no one will miss them even if they are gone.\"


    \"What? What does that have to do with experimenting on children.\"


    Seojoon shook his head in disappointment. \"If the quest is for us to find who caused the disappearances of children, then it means that whatever the thing is, it is taking a majority of its children supply from here, in this city. Now if it were a slave organization, they would want to milk out the most profit they can before abandoning ship and heading to a new city, thus the secrecy. If it is a secret organization, they can''t just pick up everything and move away to a different location, at least, not very quickly. Thus, they will make sure to target children that won''t be missed when gone as no one will wish to search for the reason behind their disappearing.\"


    \"W.... what if the slave traders are working together with the secret organization?\"


    Seojoon sighed once more. \"Kaori, you are still thinking as if it is just a normal game too much.\"


    \"Huh? Why am I wrong again?\"


    Seojoon shook his head. \"A slave trading organization provides for multiple buyers and sells to the highest bidder. This will bring a huge amount of unwanted attention to the organization as well as create a rather unnecessary expense for the organization. And secondly, slave traders and secret organizations have different moralities. Although slave traders value slaves as goods, they still take care of them.... at least the professional ones do. Secret organizations have a crueler and more cold way of treating subjects. If slave traders get caught dealing with these evil organizations, they will lose their number one buyers.\"


    \"And who is that?\" Asked Kaori curiously.


    Seojoon narrowed his eyes and frowned. \"Nobles.\"

 30 The first clue

    Seojoon stalked the ugly looking boy for the entire day without progressing on the quest at all. The worst part was, while they still had no idea why the kids kept going missing, children still continued to disappear. However, instead of giving up, Seojoon continued to stalk ugly children for the next week until he finally came to the conclusion. \"It is option 3, damn this will be trickier than I thought.\"


    He now had to hope that he stumbled across a clue or hint that would give him an idea where to start looking. Currently, the only information he had to go off of was that children were disappearing. He did not know who went missing or how they looked like. It was honestly a pretty shitty situation.


    Even Kaori, an adventure gamer, was slowly getting frustrated. \"How are we supposed to complete this quest? We have to start off with nothing but the information that kids disappear, we get no clues, we can''t observe every child all day- this is stupid.\"


    Seojoon nodded wearily. \"This is a stupid quest. I''ve even went to all of the noble houses in the capital and tried to ask them for help or any information.\"


    \"If they were involved, then why would they tell you?\"


    \"I checked them for any signs of nervousness or any signal that suggested they were lying. Nothing at all, everyone seemed to be either concerned or arrogant. All I know is that either they weren''t involved or are very good at lying.\"


    \"How do you even know when people are lying,\" said Kaori with suspicion. \"Didn''t you say you were sixteen?\"


    Seojoon shrugged. \"I am a teacher, I mean tutor, it''s a basic requirement to tell when a student is lying or not.\"


    Kaori frowned. \"My teacher can''t tell that I''m lying though. I tell him that I have a stomach ache and skip out all the time.\"


    \"You teacher is incompetent then.\"


    Kaori let out a giggle before getting depressed again. \"So what is our next plan of action?\"


    \"I honestly have no idea,\" Said Seojoon with a sigh. \"We''ve tried stalking, we''ve tried door knocking, we''ve tried searching. I''m starting to think that-\"


    Seojoon suddenly paused. He walked towards a random man wearing leather armor and grabbed his shoulder before letting out a refreshing smile.


    \"Hello sir, can you spare a moment of your time to spend with us?\" Seojoon asked the smile on his face still bright and cheerful. \"There have been recent disappearances of homeless children and I wanted to ask if you had any information that you could provide.\"


    The man appeared to be shocked and immediately expressed his desire to help. \"Really? I never knew such a horrendous thing was happening. Well this may not help you but u saw a child walking around with a suspicious man in a black cloak earlier. I didn''t question it because the child seemed to be happy but now that I think about it, the scene seemed somewhat suspicious. It was near the giant tree near the entrance.\"


    Seojoon smiled. \"Thank you very much, your information will be a great help.\"


    \"No matter. I am glad that I could help.\"


    Seojoon watched the retreating back of the man with a very wide grin as Kaori got close. \"Why did you suddenly end our conversation?\"


    Seojoon smirked. \"That man just gave us a clue, a very important clue.\"


    \"What!\" Said Kaori immediately brightening up. \"What was it?\"


    \"He said that he saw a child with a suspicious man near the tree at the entrance.\"


    \"Then we should immediately go there then!\" Said Kaori with a new found sense of vigor. \"We finally have a place to narrow down our searches!\"


    Seojoon shook his head. \"We will go to the entrance but we won''t be searching, at least, we won''t be searching with all of our efforts.\"


    \"And why is that?\" Asked Kaori while tilting her head.


    \"Well you see,\" said Seojoon smugly. \"We can''t trust the man because he wasn''t telling me the truth.\"


    \"What do you mean?\" Said Kaori.


    \"You see, when I mentioned the children disappearing, his first reaction was that of shock, which is normal, but his second was that of compliance. But think about it, when you hear that children are disappearing, what is the reactions that you would usually expect?\"


    Kaori furrowed her brows deep in thought. \"Well, usually it would be anger or disgust or indifference... maybe even curiosity or disbelief and suspicion.\"


    \"Exactly,\" said Seojoon more smugly. \"And did the man express any of those emotions?\"


    \"Actually, now that I think about it, his emotion was that of compliance and eagerness to help.\"


    \"Which means, he never suspected that children were being taken in the first place. And when he acted shocked in the beginning, his pupils didn''t dilate. He was lying from the first question I asked him.\"


    Kaori, obviously very impressed asked, \"how did you know that he was suspicious though? You just randomly picked a random man out of a group of people. Did you get lucky?\"


    Seojoon shook his head. \"The only reason why I singled that man out was that he had a scratch on his neck. Three scratch marks on the side of his neck. About a centimeter apart.\"


    Kaori frowned. \"Couldn''t that be from an animal? Or a cat?\"


    Seojoon shook his head. \"The scratch wound seemed recent and wasn''t deep enough and was too big to be a cat. It couldn''t be a bigger animal as the scratch is too small and once again too shallow. However, it perfectly fits how a scratch from a little child would look.\"


    \"Isn''t that just over thinking it? And don''t little children have five fingers? Why would there only be three scratch marks then?\"


    \"The human hand has five fingers but it''s hard to scratch with your thumb due to how it''s placed, and as a child, their pinky finger is probably too weak to pierce through the skin.\"


    Seojoon smirked at the direction the man went in before heading over to the tree. \"We will \"search\" around the entrance before we go to the opposite side of the capital at night.\"


    \"Why?\"


    \"Since the man wanted us to search near the tree, it means that children will be kidnapped in the opposite area. He would want us to search the area furthest from where he is working after all.\"


    \"... wow, you are a genius. You are like a natural detective.\"


    \"Please,\" said Seojoon with a smirk. \"Anyone can do this if they read a hundred mystery novels and memorize every detail.\"


    \"... no one can do that if they are human.\"

 31 Unnamed

    Sorry about yesterday''s update. Apparently, I set


    My timer for the incorrect day :P


    *****


    \"Oi, boss,\" Said the man with three scratches on his neck, \"a couple of people are searching for the children. What should we do?\"


    The man who was referred to as boss let out a chuckle. \"Let them do what they want. I presume that you weren''t foolish enough to lead them straight to us, yes?\"


    Three Scratches let out a smug grin. \"Of course not, they didn''t even suspect that I had a play in the children kidnappings. I even made sure to point them in the complete opposite side of our hideout.\"


    \"Near the old tree?\"


    \"Yep! I even made sure that the two of them headed over in that direction before coming.\"


    \"Good. That should deter them from inspecting this area for quite some time. Speed up the operations by at least two hundred percent.\"


    Three Scratches let out a frown. \"Won''t that risk our operation getting discovered and shut down?\"


    Boss sighed. \"Since they are already looking for suspicious people, it means that they have already caught on... how did the two people who were asking look?\"


    Three Scratches furrowed his brows deep in thought. \"Well... one for them was a girl with blue hair I think. Although she looked pretty, the way she spoke sorta annoyed me. The other person was a boy, he seemed pretty smart and kind. He was handsome as well and was wearing armor that belongs to the city guards.\"


    \"That means that the empire is on to us. We will speed up operations to three hundred percent and we will leave tomorrow morning.\"


    Three scratches let out a sigh. \"Aren''t there a lot of kids left? Can''t we stay for an extra day?\"


    Boss let out a scowl. \"And risk getting caught? We''ll just come back at a later time. For now, we''ll move our operations to a different city.\"


    \"But what if they children die... we''ll lose-\"


    \"Shut it,\" snapped Boss with an annoyed tone. \"Do you think we can capture every homeless child in the world? My decision is final. We will head out tomorrow morning. And hide that scratch of yours. What if people see it and start to suspect?\"


    Three Scratches scoffed. \"And when they do, I''ll they''ll them that it was from a cat. You are being to paranoid. What kind of overanalyzing idiot would relate a scratch to a series of disappearances?\"


    \"... you have a solid point there,\" said boss with a sigh. \"Just be careful, alright? If we get caught, both of our heads will be sent flying.\"


    \"Got it boss. Will you be heading down to check on the children?\"


    \"Of course... make sure to stand guard here while I do. We need to be on maximum security for the next twelve hours.\"


    \"Got is boss.\"


    Suddenly the door opened with a loud bang and a girl with blue hair came in with an excited look. \"FBI OPEN UP! PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!\"


    \"Did you really have to barge in like that?\"


    \"I wanted my entrance to be dramatic you know.\"


    A man with black hair and a handsome face sighed and also entered the building. \"Hello, we are here to inspect the premises for any kidnapped children. Please comply and do not resist.\"

 32 Hiatus

    Honestly, I struggled with this decision. This was my first real attempt at a LitRPG and I really found it to be enjoying. But the more I tried to develop the plot, the more I fell into this deep dark hole of not knowing where to go and how to continue.


    It then came to me realizing that I just never had it in me to become a LitRPG writer.


    This genre is not my style. I would often debate on whether or not I wanted my story to be dark or light hearted, it was a comedy but I wanted a real reason for why Seojoon would wish to play games. In the end, what happened was a disoriented novel where the shitty author can''t determine what the fucking plot is going to be.


    It might be a good read to you readers, or it might not, but in my eyes, this novel is a failure. Instead of being motivated to write, all I do is feel bland and bored.


    So, I''m dropping this book, along with a few other books that I hadn''t placed on hiatus and will solely pour my entire efforts into a single original book, something that I dearly wished to complete but could never finish. Anyways, this book will go on a hiatus, I really don''t know if I want to continue this or not.


    Thank you for reading this book of mine. Remember, there are better writers out there who are more suited for litRPG''s than I am.