Chapter 20

The next day.

Jeonghoon found his way back to the VR room at 1 PM.

-Oh, you're here?

As soon as he logged in, Cheonma greeted him as if he had been there all along.

-Did you eat? You need to fill your stomach if you're going to play intensely.

"Yes. I had a hearty meal, two bowls of rice with soup."

-Excellent. After all, there's nothing that can match the cost-effectiveness of soup with rice.

"But, isn't the food the least of our concerns? How was it for you yesterday?"

Jeonghoon recalled the events right before he logged out the previous day.

* * *

After completing his class change yesterday, Carpé's first action was shopping.

-Just buy a few items from the costume shop and put them on. The One-Piece Gang might recognize you.

"I need to change my hair color and get a hat or something."

With 2,000 won, Carpé cheaply completed his disguise and then started editing his gameplay video while sitting at the town fountain.

-Yeah, right. Cut out all the parts where your status window appears and remove the sound. Hmm... good. Just do that and it should be fine.

With Cheonma's help, he finished editing the video in just 10 minutes. Suddenly, the environment around him turned slightly red, and an alert sounded.

Beep! Beep!

After about 5 seconds, the red environment and the alert disappeared.

"What, what is this?"

-The timer went off. You have 30 minutes left.

"Oh, is that it?"

Lase is a game with a set playtime. The maximum playtime per day is 10 hours, and the timer resets at 6 AM.

Additionally, when 30 minutes of playtime remain, the system gives an alert.

"Wow, time really flies. I've been playing for 9 hours and 30 minutes without a break."

Indeed, a lot had happened during that time.

From the tutorial to the One-Piece Gang, the Squirrel Dungeon, and the Myth Class change, it was a series of significant events that made time seem to fly.

"Still, I can't believe all this happened in just one day... Brother, why do you look like that?"

-Dude, what do I do now?

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

-What happens to me when you log out?

"......What?"

Carpé finally understood what Cheonma was saying and his expression mirrored Cheonma's.

The two could only look at each other with blank faces.

"Right. Since there's no precedent for this situation..."

-Other background spirits have many players to take care of, so they can just move from one to another, but I only have you.

"That's true."

What really happens? It's hard to even guess.

"Maybe, I'll send you to a place like the 'Homeland of Background Spirits.' In fantasy novels, when familiars are dismissed, they return to the Familiar World."

-That's a novel. There's no such thing as a Background Spirit World!

"True..."

It's hard to imagine such a world even existing.

If it did, it would be a problem. The idea of being dragged into a world full of background spirits is terrifying.

-Can't you stay?

"Impossible, you know that."

-But, I can't think of anything, no matter how positively I try. Really, in the worst case, I might cease to exist the moment you log out.

The only thing he could imagine was floating in some strange void.

"......I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

-Don't give up! Don't give up on me! Don't leave me behind!

"What can I do if it's impossible?"

Meanwhile, the remaining 30 minutes were almost up.

[10 seconds until forced logout. Please log out for a smooth disconnection.]

"Prepare yourself. It was a short time, but I'm glad we spent it together."

[10... 9... 8...]

-Yeah. You've worked hard. Even if I regress again, I won't forget you.

"That's a bit... If I regress, my Myth Class will be gone too."

-You're such a bad guy.

Despite his attempt at a joke, seeing Cheonma still gloomy made Carpé feel a bit sad.

Even if he couldn't provide practical help, he wanted to encourage him somehow.

"Maybe this will work."

-Huh?

"I'll cast a powerful spell on you."

-Blessing spell? What, when did you learn such a skill...

"Carpé, did you finally get rid of that Cheonma?"

-What?

That was the last thing he heard.

[You have used up your playtime. You will be forcibly logged out.]

Poof!

Carpé opened his eyes and moved his neck as he returned to reality.

"Ow. My neck is stiff."

After lying in the same position for 10 hours, his body felt heavy.

'I hope he's okay.'

He had cast the strongest resurrection spell he knew before leaving...

"Phew."

A sigh escaped him, but with the playtime over, there was nothing he could do. Having done all he could, Carpé opened a channel on Chaelae, uploaded the video, and returned home.

That was what happened yesterday.

* * *

"At least you didn't get erased or regress. How did it go? Were you really dragged somewhere?"

-Well, after you left, I was indeed dragged to some space.

"Wow. Seriously, the Background Spirit World?"

-No, not that. I was dragged to my room.

"......Your room?"

Carpé asked, bewildered by the unexpected answer, but Cheonma nodded calmly.

-Yeah, the room where I used to play the game before I became a background spirit. It was exactly the same, nothing changed.

Of course, he couldn't leave the room, and electronic devices like the TV and PC didn't work, but it was definitely Cheonma's room.

"Is that possible?"

-It happened, so what can I do? My guess is that it's a space implemented based on my memories. Of course, I don't know the principle behind it.

Given that regression is possible, this isn't that surprising. Cheonma added.

-It's boring, but I can read books, and the bed is comfortable, so it's bearable.

"Anyway, it's a relief that it's not some strange place."

He felt incredibly relieved. It seemed he had grown more attached than he thought during the past 10 hours.

"By the way, this..."

-Yeah, it's a bit noisy, isn't it?

Carpé was near the fountain in the center of the town where he had logged out yesterday.

Surprisingly, the area was swarming with people, unlike yesterday.

"I'll buy! I'll buy coins!"

"I'll buy coins at a high price. I'll give the best deal in this area!"

"Excuse me. Can you follow some basic ethics? I saw that newbie first."

"So what if you saw them first? I initiated the trade first."

There were people trying to buy coins from new players.

"Wanted: Mammonists. If you've seen any, please report them."

"Hey, you look familiar. Wait a moment. Take off your costume items."

"He's running away!"

"Hey, why isn't he stopping?!"

Angry players were gathered, shouting. It was unprecedented for so many people to gather at the fountain since Lase opened.

-Your video must be the cause.

"Oh, right. I didn't check it."

-What? You didn't check it after uploading it?

"Yesterday, I fell asleep as soon as I got home, and when I woke up, I was too worried about you to think about it."

-You...

Cheonma was touched by the unexpected comment. Of course, Carpé checked the video he had uploaded yesterday.

And he was shocked.

"What, what is this? Why are the views like this?"

Carpé rubbed his eyes and checked again, but the numbers were the same.

"400,000???"

He thought he might have opened the wrong channel, but that wasn't the case.

"Wait, I just created this channel yesterday?"

Even well-known channels don't get this many views in 12 hours, right?

Because he had blocked messages and comments, the single video already had over 1,000 comments.

-Sir, where can I meet this NPC? And the reward is coins, right?

-Can you share the NPC's location? If not publicly, please send an email to [email protected]...

└ I'd like to know too. [email protected]...

└ I'll join.

└ Please share with me too.

-What do you get from completing the quest? If you're sharing information, do it properly.

-KingGodGeneralMajestyChungmugongBaronSoySauceCrabEmpereMasterJjamppong5PalaceNoHitNoRunLegosJinshiHwang CheonmaTV. I wish you the best and please share the quest tips via email.

80% of the comments were asking for the NPC's location.

-It's fake.

└ Right. It's fake. There's no way something in the beginner's town hasn't been revealed in half a year.

└ True. Billions of players have passed through here.

15% of the comments suggested it was fake.

-You really fight well. Do you belong to any guild...?

-Do you need a video editor or uploader? JCManagement guarantees high quality...

And about 5% of the comments were trying to recruit Carpé himself.

-You've become a star overnight. How does it feel? Why not become a real streamer?

"No way. I'm not good with words, so I can't do that."

-You'll get better with practice. If not, you can just show your actions like in this video.

"I need to think about it more."

He had uploaded the video to make coin acquisition smoother and to teach the Mammonists a lesson, but he never expected it to go viral. He was just speechless.

"I need to move somewhere else."

To avoid people, Carpé hurriedly headed out of town.

"Wow, everyone's gone."

-Information spreads quickly.

The long line for the mutant deer quest was nowhere to be seen. Only a few players were forming parties to hunt the deer, a normal scene.

"The One-Piece Gang is also gone."

-Hmm. If they disappear at the same time as the Mammonists, it might raise suspicion. That money ghost must know that... Maybe something else happened?

Even deep in the forest, the One-Piece Gang didn't attack like last time. Only wild animals were visible here and there.

-Good. No one's around.

"Shall we start? Status window!"

Carpé entered a sparsely populated part of the forest to review everything he had obtained before leaving the beginner's town.

To test attack skills, he needed monsters.

Ding.

[Name: Carpé]

[Level: 10]

[HP: 905/905]

[MP: 250/250]

[Strength: 1(+31) Agility: 1(+37)

Stamina: 1(+29) Dexterity: 1(+33)

Magic: 1(+29)]

-Allocatable bonus stats: 45

[Titles (10)] (Details)

-First 0-star Background Spirit and 9 others

[Background Spirit]

0-star - Cheonma (Irregular)

[Skills (5)]

10-star - Unlock (解禁) Lv. 10

8-star – Magic Engineering (魔道工學) Lv. 1 (New!)

7-star - Elemental Mastery Lv. 1 (New!)

3-star - Elemental Arrow Lv. 1 (New!)

3-star – Striking Lv. 1 (New!)

-Allocatable bonus skill points: 19

-This doesn't make sense. How can this be the status window of someone who just changed classes?

The status bonuses from items and titles alone were 159, equivalent to a level 32 character.

"Hmm... I might have crossed a line."

Even a layman would think, "Isn't this a bit strange?" upon seeing the status window.

It was proof of how much he had gained abnormally yesterday.

First, he had gained 5 additional titles after the tutorial.

[Legendary Dungeon Complete Conquest]

-You have defeated a rare mutant monster in a Legendary Dungeon.

-10% increase in experience and drop rate in Legendary Dungeons.

[Instantly to the Lord's Side]

-You have one-shot a monster 10 levels higher than yourself.

-10% additional damage on the first attack.

[No Mercy!]

-You cleared the dungeon without allowing a single attack.

+2 Agility

[Unlike Others]

-You have discovered a hidden class.

+1 bonus skill point

[Myth]

-You have changed to a Myth-class.

+1 bonus stat point per level up. Increased probability of job-related skills appearing when opening a skill pack.

"Probably, I'm the only one with these titles in the beginner's town."

-What's the point of saying that? I had a maximum of 7 titles at the beginner's town stage.

"If I start streaming regularly, I'll have to be careful about showing titles."

It wasn't a joke; if this were revealed, people might feel jealous and start causing trouble.

After all, most players who started from the game's opening didn't even have 3 titles.

After confirming all the titles, they moved on to the next part.

"Phew. Finally, skills."

Lase is a game filled with things to see and enjoy, but if he had to pick one, it would be the skills.

Combat skills are the essence of Lase.

-True, Unlock is a cheat skill, but it lacks visual appeal.

The sword energy shooting from his hands, the exploding magic! These are things you might imagine as a child.

"Skill window!"

Carpé confidently opened the skill window.

"Huh?"

-Huh?

They were faced with an unexpected situation.

Magic Engineering.

Elemental Mastery.

Elemental Arrow.

Striking.

Carpé had gained 4 new skills upon completing his class change.

The 8-star skill 'Magic Engineering' was blinking, as if urging him to touch it.

"What does this mean?"

-I don't know. Since it's the first time I'm seeing this skill, it's probably a job-specific skill.

"I'll try touching it."

Ding.

[Your inventory contains items that can be linked with the skill 'Magic Engineering.']

"Inventory?"

After reading the alert, Carpé reflexively opened his inventory.

"Huh?"

There were 8 acorns, blinking just like Magic Engineering.

[Would you like to synthesize magic materials (attribute acorns) using Magic Engineering?]

The 10-star player who became stronger through a lottery.