Chapter 2

[Pre-Event for the Monster Invasion]

All the messages disappeared, and a brief silence settled in.

His vision gradually brightened as he relaxed and closed his eyes. He naturally opened them, and a simple message, "Connection Complete," flickered and vanished before his eyes.

Before him now lay the vivid world of virtual reality, so lifelike that if it weren't for the transparent system window filling the edges of his vision, he might have believed he had fallen into another world.

A space so realistic that it included all five senses. The distinction between night and day, and even the weather, was perfectly replicated, leaving little sense of alienation. He walked through the city of 'Midgard' with a familiar gait.

The streets, elegantly designed based on medieval settings, were filled with players like him. As he walked, the players' gazes occasionally fell on him.

His character resembled a middle-aged man with a well-built physique. Though he could have been ordinary, he had many distinctive features.

His massive, muscular build, stylish beard, and trendy sunglasses were striking. The combination of these unusual features was impressive, but what captured everyone's attention the most were his healthy, chocolate-colored skin and bright pink swimming trunks.

"Summer fashion is still as fiery as ever."

"He didn't talk much when I approached him out of curiosity. He doesn't even use voice chat."

"He's probably an uncle, but his ID sounds like a woman's."

"Is he really a woman with that appearance? He looks like a gay guy, just by looking at him."

Whispers among the male players could be heard. Though he couldn't hear everything clearly, he could tell they were talking about him from the atmosphere.

Of course, he had been misunderstood for specific tastes before, so he didn't pay much attention. What he needed to focus on now was the survival of the server.

"Hmm, the management has been really lax lately. It's been months since the last update, or rather, there have been almost no updates..."

'Nord World' was a fantasy MMORPG that borrowed from Norse mythology, with a generic fantasy setting and common interfaces, offering no fresh features. As a result, it only briefly ranked high during its initial commercialization and currently stood in the lower-middle ranks.

The overseas server, which launched at the same time, received a good response. However, during this period, many unique virtual reality games were flooding the domestic market, and due to its lack of competitiveness, 'Nord World' quickly fell behind and failed to maintain a high ranking.

Still, the game had its strengths. 'Nord World' offered high customization for playable characters and the ability to choose gender, which was a significant advantage and helped it gain popularity initially.

Unlike recent virtual reality worlds that tended to base characters on real genders, this feature was a major reason he chose this game.

Despite receiving harsh criticism for its story and detailed settings, the game had a clear community content and appropriate freedom, which led to a high level of loyalty among its regular players.

One of the biggest factors in maintaining this loyalty was the game's lenient attitude towards illegal programs like 'Proxy Login Tools.' Due to the nature of virtual reality games requiring personal identification, proxy logins were generally not allowed, but 'Nord World' did not restrict this behavior.

The game company 'Restier' strongly believed that top players were their VIPs and even encouraged their competition.

Taking advantage of the game company's hands-off approach to proxy logins, wealthy players who lacked time hired 'proxy farmers' to level up their accounts for a salary.

A proxy farmer was someone who played the game on behalf of the original owner for a monthly fee. Essentially, they were account managers.

Although 'Nord World' was no longer competitive in the industry, the allowance of proxy login tools was one of its shining strengths. It was even rumored that some unemployed people occasionally took part-time jobs as proxy farmers.

Of course, it was wiser to focus on developing one's own character rather than someone else's, and in the current situation, it would be better to work as a proxy farmer in more popular games. Therefore, not many top players hired proxy farmers in 'Nord World.' It was mostly the high-level players who were deeply involved in the level-up competition who occasionally did so. Honestly, even they were hesitant due to the server's declining atmosphere.

Moreover, 'Nord World' had a relatively clean environment with a higher average player age. It also had a high rating in online game communities, leading to a steady influx of new players each month.

Most importantly, it had a reasonable monthly subscription fee, and the cash items were limited to fashion and gameplay assistance, avoiding clutter.

Naturally, as a game, 'Nord World' also had its issues, such as the increasing use of specific cash items for gambling-like microtransactions over time.

Despite these issues, the game's strengths, such as high customization, a variety of avatars, and the ability to decorate houses, made it popular among female players.

As a result, the main source of revenue for 'Nord World' was the sale of avatars and other cash items, which also increased the value of in-game currency, leading to active cash transactions.

On the surface, it seemed like a decent game, but 'Nord World' had a significant systemic problem.

The difficulty of leveling up was extremely high, which was the most crucial aspect of the game's balance. Consequently, most new players either quit out of exhaustion or stagnated at certain levels.

Apart from the top-ranked players, the majority were below level 70. The current high-level players had relatively easily leveled up in the early stages due to open events and other promotions.

The ultimate content in 'Nord World's' story was to stop the god Odin, but the current leveling system made it unlikely for players to reach that point.

In fact, the maximum level, 100, had not been reached, and the highest-level player was only in the late 70s.

In the third year of its official commercialization, the high-level players were struggling just to defeat field raid bosses, let alone the final boss. Some players even predicted that 'Nord World' would end within two years, which was a sad forecast.

"Is this the limit of a perverted slave game? Hmm, anyway, is no one logging in today?"

As soon as he connected, he checked the guild list. It was peak evening time, but only one member was online. Checking the history log, most had not logged in for over a week.

"They all disappear after a while. I guess it's normal for sane people not to want to play such a game."

He was the leader of a small social guild called 'Dawnlight' and was currently leveling up a healer character named 'Saint.'

A couple of months ago, he reached level 70, which was considered high-level, and recently, he had been helping beginners. He chose this class because he was not very skilled at game mechanics. However, it turned out to be more challenging than he expected. His love for helping others also influenced his choice.

Perhaps due to his natural inclination, his current enjoyment in the game was helping beginners. It was incredibly satisfying to see a clueless beginner adapt and settle in with his help.

"Still, a few months ago, we had up to five people online at the same time, but now no one is logging in."

Dawnlight Guild. Total members: 34.

Recent one-week active players: 1.

To others, it might as well be a one-person guild. Sadly, most members were new players who quit after a week.

A few had settled into 'Nord World' with his help and moved on to better guilds. The sense of achievement from this kept him from giving up on recruiting new members.

"Should I switch to a social guild now...?"

This was his recent major concern.

When he was at a lower level, he enjoyed the camaraderie in a large social guild, but with over 500 members, factions and conflicts inevitably arose.

After a bitter experience with factional fighting, he avoided getting involved in interpersonal mudslinging and went solo for a while. However, as his level increased, many combat guilds eyed him for his healer role.

Healers, who managed party members' health, were essential for group hunts but were less popular due to the perception that they were not as exciting as combat roles.

Due to the extreme difficulty of leveling up in 'Nord World,' reaching level 70 was considered high-level, though nominally.

Therefore, high-level healers were relatively rare compared to other classes.

Initially, the game's operation team supported events that allowed hunting without healers, leading most players to choose warrior classes. After the events ended, the sudden increase in hunting difficulty led to a quick exodus of players.

This environment made it rare to see healers above level 70, and he had received several invitations to join combat guilds.

However, the regulations and mandatory participation in PVP (Player vs. Player) events in combat guilds did not align with his peaceful nature.

During the height of guild rivalries, he even created a social guild to protect himself. This was the current 'Dawnlight.'

For him, PVP, which focused on player battles, was an uncomfortable and burdensome content.

"Huh? What's this? Finally an update?"

A new post notification appeared in the announcement section on the left side of his screen. Given the recent issues with 'Nord World's' management, he clicked the announcement with interest.

It was a short, content-less announcement.

"A winter event? What's this about?"

Moreover, it was scheduled for August 10th, just three hours away.

As soon as he checked the clock, his phone icon wobbled. This was a system linked to the real world for convenience during gameplay.

He checked his phone screen, which showed a notification from an online community.

New posts started appearing on the official 'Nord World' strategy cafe, and the excitement was palpable. However, the long duration until winter was puzzling.

"Anyway, if it's a pre-event, they'll probably distribute various items. Maybe this will attract many new and returning players?"

As he scrolled through the comments, positive reactions to the event overflowed.

Of course, not everyone was positive. Some players were angry about the sudden announcement, and others who had quit but still followed the game were actively commenting.

A smile gradually formed on his lips as he observed their reactions.

"Maybe everyone will log in this time? I hope Pepe also returns."

Pepe was one of his few friends who had recently left 'Nord World.' Despite being a high-level player, they were both healers, and Pepe had helped him from the beginning. His eyes shone with nostalgia when he thought of Pepe.

He felt very sad when he received Pepe's message about quitting due to a busy real life.

"But it's a pre-event, and there's no detailed explanation... Is the detailed page coming out after midnight? What are they asking us to prepare, exactly?"

Everyone around him had the same reaction. Many were angry about the unhelpful announcement. If he had friends, he would have gone to talk to them.

Following his distant relationships in the real world, he had no close friends in this virtual world.

He couldn't understand the deep relationships people formed online, calling each other brother, sister, and so on. Offline relationships were already overwhelming, and online connections were beyond his comfort zone. However, sometimes he envied how light and easy they seemed. But it was all futile.

Yes, probably futile.

He chuckled and walked towards the gate, passing by the people. As usual, he planned to circle the low-level hunting grounds and help anyone in need.

Just as he was walking towards the gate leading to the hunting grounds, a high notification sound rang out, and a system window with deep colors appeared. He stopped and looked at the screen, and it seemed others nearby were in the same situation.

He frowned at the "Logout" text. Forced logout for not participating in the event? Was it just a display error?

Given the lack of recent updates and the poor management, it wasn't impossible.

"Seriously, what kind of event is this? They're asking for pre-registration without any explanation? They could at least give us a line of guidance. These bastards are just trying to get us to play."

"What is it? Should we do it? It seems like a good idea."

"If we want the rewards, we have to participate, right? But the event rewards are usually 100% guaranteed, aren't they?"

The gathered players exchanged opinions for a while. However, there was no reason to reject an event with guaranteed rewards. Most decided to click "Yes."

They started moving to an unknown location. The players who disappeared first left the remaining ones in confusion.

"Huh? I can't contact my friend. Did they move to the event zone?"

"Oh, it's really an event? When I tried to message them, it said they were in the event and couldn't respond. Let's go, let's go!"

"What? I have to sleep. An event at this time?"

"So, you're not participating in the event?"

"Ah, I will! I'll do it!"

The event zone was a place players sometimes moved to during large events, so their faces brightened. The players, who had been buzzing in the city, started clicking "Yes" one after another.

He, too, clicked "Yes" with a slightly hopeful expression as he watched the gradually emptying surroundings.

"Agree? Accept? Nord World? Is the map name Nord World?"

Just as he wondered what it meant, his vision turned white, and his consciousness began to fade. He felt a sense of alienation as he noticed his body disappearing from the feet up.

His consciousness abruptly cut off.