Closed Beta That Only I Played

I finished connecting the adaptor to the computer with a self-mocking smile.

Then the adaptor began downloading. At that moment, the bar showed that it was updating, not installing a new program.

I could conclude clearly that the two games were of the same family because if they were not the same, there was no reason for Forgotten Legend to be updated as Revival Legend. And the update time was seven hours as always.

“Whew! I have to do part-time work tomorrow…”

Of course, I didn’t have to if I wanted thanks to my sister.

My sister, who used to tease me for my stupidity and harassed me one year ago told me with tears in her eyes that I went crazy because I studied too hard as a dumbhead. She complained that my father was responsible for it because he pressured me too much.

My sister even threatened to leave home and go to the mountain temple after shaving her head if he let me uncared for.

She was smart, but at the same time she was stubborn. 𝙛𝚛𝙚ewe𝗯𝓃𝗼ѵ𝚎Ɩ.𝒄ｏ𝐦

To be honest, she was more masculine than my elder brother.

Although she said she was generous enough to play with me when we were children, I felt harassed from my point of view. Anyway, she kept her promise that she made.

So, my father relinquished some of his anger.

He even told me to come back home first, saying I didn’t have to go back to school.

But I refused because I thought I would be confined to the house for the rest of my life if I went back home like this.

Anyway, I took back the credit card that I had forfeited when I was expelled.

Besides, my sister who cried for me gave me a hefty allowance every month.

So, I didn’t have to do part-time work, but I kept on doing it.

I had no job if I didn’t do part-time work.

But now I had something to do, and that immediately took over.

“What if I tell the cafe owner I’m going to quit tomorrow…”

According to the cafe owner, he had no applicants for as many as three months until I applied because of the low hourly pay. If I tell him I will quit immediately, it will cause a big headache for him.

In fact, when I started working, I told the owner that I would work at least six months and that if I had to quit, I would tell him about it at least one month in advance.

I was agonizing about it when the phone rang.

It was a call from the cafe owner.

“Hi, boss.”

“Um…Juyoung.”

The cafe owner had a cheerful character, but he was hesitant to say something to me, which suggested that he was going to bring up something bad.

As expected, the news he had was not good.

“I have decided to close the cafe. As you know, business is so slow…”

“When?”

“Immediately. So, you don’t have to come to the cafe starting tomorrow…”

“I’m fine!” I replied quickly.

Although he might have felt sorry for announcing the closure of the cafe, I was thankful for his decision anyway.

“Really? Thanks for understanding my situation. I’m going to deposit your pay as of today into your account tomorrow morning. Thanks for your work.”

“Sure.”

After hanging up the phone, I looked down because I felt the timing and the situation was perfect for me. It was as if they wanted me to focus on playing games.

So, with this occasion, I made the decision to be a game addict.

I stood up right away, went to the restroom to brush my teeth, and flung myself onto the small bed that was more comfortable than the one I used back at home which was more than twice the size.

It would take about seven hours for the VR adaptor to finish updating, so I needed sound sleep to start the game with a fresh mind.

Early next morning, I had a quick cereal mixed with milk, then lay on the bed and put on the 2nd generation VR adaptor with completed updates, vowing that I would bring the 3rd generation VR adapter after visiting home during the weekend.

Just like I vowed at the start of the first, second, and third closed beta games to focus on studying during the remainder of my vacation after putting everything into games for the two weeks until the closing of the beta testing, I made another vow.

“Okay, let me be a game addict this time so I will never look back at games for the rest of my life! There are so many things I can do even after I’m done with games.”

I was clear about one thing: I had a wealth of knowledge.

While dealing with a variety of people in the army and after I was discharged, I knew it.

I was also aware of it during my short campus life before I joined the army.

For example, I scored 100% on the SAT exam, which was the sum of my 12 years of studying during my elementary, middle, and high school years. Besides, the famous private high school that I attended made me forcibly read books in various fields and submit book reports under the pretext of developing our ability to think. I also mastered not only my native language Korean, but also English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, and Spanish, the most used language after Chinese.

This was an impossible task even for a genius student, but I made it.

That was why I never experienced any difficulties in communicating with foreigners.

Of course, it was no problem for anybody to get a job in Korea if they completed the courses up to high school. But I went far ahead of them.

And the real problem was whether I could graduate from Seoul National University, the top university in the country.

Unlike high school, the classes at the college required deep and specialized knowledge in one major field.

So, I tried to catch up desperately because even though my learning level was that of a high school student, I had an enormous amount of knowledge stored in my head. 𝐟re𝐞w𝐞𝒃𝓃𝒐𝐯𝚎𝒍.c૦𝚖

In some respect, I already exceeded the high school level.

And I thought that my storage of knowledge would help me get access to a new area of study.

But I was mistaken.

‘It didn’t help me at all. Besides, I already experienced a very strange phenomenon three times, so I didn’t like the meaningless studying that bound me to my desk long enough to get me a rash on my butt.’

But it didn’t work out as I wished.

So, I made the decision to be a game addict and put everything in the game just like I did in the first, second, and third closed betas until I was sick and tired of gaming.

After that, I decided to do whatever I could, like getting a job as a translator or an interpreter because I had a good command of foreign languages.

“Good. Let me take the plunge into the world of games like I did before!”

Vowing once again, I lay down on the bed comfortably and hooked up the 2nd generation VR adaptor.

***

“Activate!”

<Your VR adaptor is now running.>

Soon, I saw the small island blocked by water everywhere.

“...”

It was the same background that I had seen when I started Forgotten Legend in the first closed beta in high school, although its name had changed.

It felt a bit awkward because I hadn’t accessed it for a long time.

So, I opened my mouth quietly, “Change the background.”

<Background has changed.>

Soon, ten backgrounds embedded in the 2nd generation VR adaptor came into my view.

And I chose one of them without any hesitation.

It was a vast and endless grassland.

“Hm. Has my taste changed?”

Obviously I liked the island in the past because I felt a sense of stability from the isolated island.

But this time, I liked the endless grassland.