Chapter 2

# 2

The King of Violence, Returns (2)

Three months passed, both long and short.

It felt like three years due to the anticipation for The Road's opening, but the time was also breathlessly short as he had to complete all the necessary preparations before the opening.

During those three months, Youngmin prepared thoroughly. First, he transferred everything he knew, remembered, and experienced onto his computer, making sure to back it up multiple times in case of emergencies. Of course, he didn't forget to secure it with strict security measures.

Even though he only wrote down the major points, excluding the most basic ones, the content was almost as long as a book.

Next, he sold all his game accounts. He prepared the funds in advance to buy a capsule as soon as The Road opened.

In the past, he had only sold some of his items after The Road was released, just in case. But now he knew that once he started playing The Road, he wouldn't even think about other games.

In fact, he could count on one hand the number of times he had played other games after playing The Road.

He had only played a few rounds to pass the time while waiting for maintenance, so he listed all his items and accounts on an item trading site without any hesitation.

"Thirty million won, this should be enough."

He was already known as a named player in several virtual reality combat games, so he received a generous price.

The money he obtained was a staggering thirty million won. It wasn't enough, but it would be sufficient for the time being.

A top-tier capsule would cost about fifteen million won, and the remaining fifteen million would be enough for a few months of capsule maintenance fees, living expenses, and the cost of purchasing supplies. After that, he could earn money through The Road, so there was no need to worry.

He was tempted to invest the money for a short time, but Youngmin controlled his thoughts. He knew almost nothing outside of games.

He had some rough ideas about which stocks would skyrocket in a few years, but the time until then was too long, and most importantly, The Road would bring in more money from now on, so he decided against it.

"Since my living expenses will soon be cut off, I should keep this much..."

If his parents found out that he had ruined his first semester due to various preparations and even took a leave of absence for the second semester to play games, they would definitely cut off his allowance and living expenses.

This had happened in the past.

In the past, he had ruined his first semester due to wandering after being dumped by his girlfriend and then ruined his second semester by getting addicted to The Road.

Of course, he no longer thought about his ex-girlfriend for even a minute. He had long since moved on, even before he returned to the past.

"Rumors... can't be helped. I won't be finishing my degree anyway."

He had been in a CC (Classroom Crush) with his ex-girlfriend. Since he hadn't been active in class or attended many lectures after returning, rumors would have spread that it was because of his ex-girlfriend, not the game.

But he didn't care. He planned to continue taking leaves of absence or just register for school until he established himself in The Road.

After all, people go to college to get jobs, and soon The Road would become a career. At that time, he planned to drop out and focus entirely on the game.

To do that, he needed to avoid repeating the same mistakes from the past.

"It's open!"

The capsule pre-sale for The Road happened almost without notice.

There was no news, and even game-focused webzines were unaware until the portal sites were flooded with ads, making it a major issue.

It was absurd, but the effect was significant. The entire internet was covered with information about the virtual reality capsules.

Despite many claims of fraud due to the unknown developer, Youngmin paid for the top-tier option without hesitation. He knew that people were hesitant now, but soon there would be a shortage.

He wanted to buy a few more and resell them, but the game company, Falcon, strictly enforced a one-capsule-per-person policy, so he gave up.

After all, the capsule was optional. While better capsules provided better sensitivity and longer playtime, existing virtual reality game access devices were sufficient. The rapid spread of The Road was due to this.

"In five days, I'll be looking forward to it."

The delivery and installation would take four days, and The Road would open in five days. Specifically, at midnight in five days.

Connecting during the early morning hours would reduce the likelihood of server overload and provide time to address any potential bugs.

More accurately, it would reduce the number of users and complaints since people need to sleep.

'But that won't happen.'

Due to the high account fees, The Road didn't have as many users initially because of the suspicion of a scam.

However, since it was released in a nearly complete state, it quickly gained popularity, and despite the surge in users, there were no issues.

Knowing this, Youngmin felt relieved after making the payment. Now, he just had to wait.

"There are still about two months until the leave of absence period, and I just need to adjust my condition."

Five more days. He had waited three months, so he could surely wait five more days. Youngmin calmed his mind and changed into his training clothes.

His body had improved significantly over the past three months due to consistent exercise.

While there wasn't a dramatic change in three months, he had maintained a decent physical condition since he had recently returned from the military.

Moreover, to prepare for the long hours of gaming and to gain any advantage in the game, he even learned martial arts.

With money to spare, he could maintain peak condition through diet management and dojo registration.

"Huff! Huff!"

There were several champion-level gyms and dojos nearby.

However, Youngmin chose a regular neighborhood martial arts dojo.

It was a small place that taught various martial arts like judo and hapkido, but he was satisfied since he only needed to use the equipment and facilities.

Instead, he focused on building muscles and enhancing his senses to adapt his fighting style. This was to maintain a similar sensation in reality.

Some might say he was going overboard for a game, but those who tried it would understand. The Road was worth it.

He trained so intensely that the dojo master asked if he was preparing for a fighting competition, as he was pushing his muscles to the limit.

However, even that wasn't complete preparation for his unique class and fighting style, which was difficult to achieve with a regular human body.

"Good job today. Thanks to you, everyone is working hard. Keep it up."

"Ah, yes."

Youngmin smiled faintly as the dojo master patted his shoulder and left.

'Soon, everyone will have to work hard.'

With the opening of The Road, a period of significant revival for all types of martial arts and fighting dojos would come.

This was because players often died to lower-level monsters due to poor control despite having high levels.

Youngmin had initially tried famous dojos, paying a lot of money to learn properly.

However, it took too long to learn proper martial arts, and many others had the same idea.

Moreover, much of what he learned wasn't practical in the game. The weapons and usage methods were different.

Still, in the early stages of the game, those who had trained in martial arts or fighting had an advantage. They adapted faster due to their familiarity with physical combat and striking living targets.

'But that was only in the early stages.'

As characters gained superhuman strength, the gap narrowed. Those who only knew physical combat were outperformed by those who were skilled in the game, had excellent senses, or had good strategies.

Game sense and combat sense weren't necessarily superior just because someone was good at fighting in real life.

Even those who had learned killing techniques did well initially, but they only grew faster. Ultimately, the winners were the gamers.

Knowing this, Youngmin planned to use exercise only as a supplement. He knew better than anyone that spending time on exercise was less beneficial than spending more time in the game.

This intense, painful training would only last a few more days.

'For now, this is enough.'

Youngmin reaffirmed his resolve and reviewed everything he had prepared, memorizing it to avoid any mistakes.

Thus, the opening day of The Road approached.

* * *

"Huff, I'm nervous."

Bubbles rose each time Youngmin spoke. The capsule he was in was filled with a special liquid.

It was a breathable liquid, similar to the one in the popular robot anime Evangelion.

It also contained significant nutrients, preventing health deterioration during long play sessions. This was a crucial feature for Youngmin, who would frequently neglect eating and drinking.

While others might panic and struggle with the liquid, Youngmin skillfully operated the capsule to connect to The Road.

"5, 4, 3, 2... 1. Connect!"

Suddenly, he felt a dizzying sensation, and his consciousness snapped back.

But what he saw was not reality. He had entered the world of The Road.

The first thing he saw was an empty black space.

This was the character selection screen, which everyone encountered upon connecting. Since he didn't have a character yet, it was a customization space. When he touched the full-body mirror in front of him, his current appearance appeared.

'Just as I remember.'

The default race was Human, but he could choose from Human, Dwarf, Half-Elf, and Gnome for the Alliance, or from Orc, Troll, Undead, and Goblin for the Horde.

Each race had its own characteristics, affecting early growth, but none were so dominant as to break the balance.

Sometimes, a particular race would be considered overpowered, but the trend would quickly change when someone from another race excelled.

If anything, it was guilds or powerful individuals who dominated.

While it had the characteristics of an MMORPG, it was possible to become a "superhuman" and dominate many others based on growth methods.

"Race selection, Human."

He could change his appearance by up to 30%, but Youngmin only modified his hair color and style, keeping most of it the same. He chose the most familiar body, preferring it over minor advantages like longer limbs. After all, there were limits to extending limbs, and even if the specs were good, they wouldn't be useful if they didn't fit him. The default was also not bad.

"Rokan. My name is Rokan."

After setting his name, Youngmin was pulled into Rokan's body.

And soon, his perspective changed to Rokan's.

* * *

What he saw was space. And a tree so massive it defied measurement.

But Rokan knew.

It wasn't a tree, but a "world."

Calmly observing, Rokan's body transformed into particles of light and orbited the massive structure.

Then, a flash of light appeared, and a message appeared.

Rokan raised his hand and confidently touched the Y button.

Experienced gamers might skip the tutorial, thinking "The tutorial rewards are nothing special!" but that was a trap. While it might seem insignificant later, the rewards were invaluable in the early stages.

In fact, the gap that would snowball later began right here.