I'm a roleplayer.

Someone who establishes character settings according to their in-game character's class and plays while strictly following them.

Chatting? Of course I would type messages in character. Even with the market now conquered by virtual reality games, which didn't require written messages in favor of verbal communication, it made no difference to me.

A roleplayer who succumbed to shame wasn't a real roleplayer.

“Talk more and see if you can handle my wrath."

So I was playing a new game, as over-immersive as usual, faithfully acting according to my character setting—a Demon Knight with a Demon sealed in his right arm—when…

“Log out."

「This command cannot be carried out.」

“…? Log out."

「This command cannot be carried out.」

“…???”

I realized something.

I was doomed. No, I was royally fucked.

* * *

No matter whether one was a casual or a hardcore gamer, everyone had at least one game they couldn't forget. A game so memorable that it might never leave your head, or something that made you feel deep regret.

For me, that was Legend of Heroes.

Simply put, it was a domestic, PC-exclusive MMORPG that came out when I was still a teenager. It was incredibly popular in its early days, but it was also considered an ill-fated game due to quickly declining after many key developers quit.

The main reasons for its decline were the paid loot boxes introduced during its second-anniversary patch, balance-breaking new classes, an increasingly incoherent storyline due to the addition of weird settings, and a failure in management… Although that wasn't important.

It also didn't matter that the game that was supposed to last for twenty years regretfully ended after just five when I was in my 20s.

There was only one thing to say about Legend of Heroes: the regret felt by the core developers who left the company upon seeing the game’s early demise.

“Dude, my heart is pounding so hard. What should I do?"

“Ah, good job."

“I can't believe there are only 30 minutes left until the launch."

How deep their regret must have been. Those developers, who established themselves in the industry by releasing all kinds of new hit games under the name of their freshly made company, Deep Sea Pearl, declared they would remake Legend of Heroes.

No one expected them to do it, yet they went ahead and bought the rights to the game and announced a remake.

“I'm not dreaming, am I?"

“Yeah, you're actually dreaming. It's about time you wake up."

“Really…?"

“…I'm kidding. Are you for real?"

“No, but this is just too… too unreal."

Furthermore, they didn't just redo it. As if they had honed their skills razor-sharp just for this, they remade it from the ground up.

They released it as a single-player game, not an MMO, and they changed the genre from an action side-scroller to an open-world ARPG, as well.

They even updated the platform it would run on to keep up with the times. That meant it could be played using a virtual reality capsule instead of a PC. The game was also upgraded to VR to match.

At that point, it wasn't too farfetched to say that this was just the delusion of a regretful gamer.

“It would be more believable to say this is a dream…"

That’s why I was talking about it all being a dream and unreal 30 minutes before the launch.

Legend of Heroes was the first game I couldn't forget and why I fell in love with games. It even had a minor impact on my career choice.

And now it was coming back into my life? But it didn't just come back; it returned as this gorgeous, godly game.

It was honestly fortunate I didn't pass out from being so hyped. I was overjoyed beyond measure.

“You were also completely obsessed with that game 15 years ago…"

“It's because you haven't played it before… If you had, you'd know how I feel…"

Sigh. I hadn't been this nervous since the announcement of my CSAT results. I didn't even feel this way when it was decided my work would get exported overseas.

I felt like my heart was about to explode. As I watched the time tick by, it seemed to get squeezed tighter and tighter.

“What if the game doesn't live up to your expectations?"

“Don't you even dare say something as stupid as that. I'm dying over here."

Of course, I knew that if I held such high expectations, I was more likely to be disappointed when actually playing it. There was no way I wouldn't know that with how many games I’d played and beaten.

But… But…!

“If it's even half as good as the trailer, I'll be happy…!"

“Sigh."

“Uwaarg! It's only been 2 minutes! Just when will these next 28 minutes pass?!"

“No clue, dude."

My whining only caused my friend's face to crumple up. This man, who didn't even try pretending to sympathize with me, was a monster who had never even touched a single game.

“Are you really my friend…?"

“If I'm not your friend, then what am I? By the way, are you going to… What's it called? That thing you're so good at, are you going to do it?"

“What?”

“You know, that thing. Role-something?"

“I've already set everything up."

“Crazy, you already planned it out?"

I mean, the settings before were just me playing around. Proper character settings weren't made in just a day.

Of course, some people could churn out these concepts in no time, but I wasn't like that. Character research was really important to me, maybe because I majored in film and theater.

“So what's the setting?"

“Ah. First, this is what the character will look like."

It was a good thing I drew it up before creating any other settings.

I picked up an iPad lying on the sofa. A picture slowly appeared on the seven-year-old device's screen.

“Wow. What the hell is that…?"

The picture on the screen showed the following:

Starting from his head, he had silver hair on the left and black hair on the right.

His skin was so pale that one might mistake him for a corpse, its color almost grayish-white.

His left eye was gray, and his right was a mix of gray and red. However, they lacked highlights or anything else, making them seem dead, a feature only further emphasized by the dark circles beneath them.

“This is crazy. Seriously.”

I’m an advocate of the theory that when building a setting, one should start with the character’s appearance.

As such, I reveled in my friend’s reaction. Some people might call it ridiculous for a 30-year-old like me to do something like this at my age, but it wasn’t like roleplaying would hurt anyone.

“What’s wrong with his hair?”

“According to the setting I made up, it has been stained by the power of a Demon.”

“Are you crazy? What power of a Demon?”

“Ah… The class’s name is ‘Demon Knight’.”

I pulled up the official page, as it would be much easier to understand if he saw the setting.

「Demon Knight After the Demon that slaughtered his family possessed his arm, this squire abandoned his path to become an official knight and started wandering.

He despises the Demon residing in his right arm but, through it, possesses superhuman strength. His goal is to kill all Demons.

His techniques are as fast as they are powerful. His temper, however, is quite sensitive and sharp.」

“Oh…”

“I actually wanted to start as a Priest, but… the first time I played this game, I chose to be a Demon Knight.”

I preferred the Priest class, but because this game was so nostalgic, I opted to use the same class as I did back then. I was going to play it multiple times, anyway.

“Besides, playing as cold and cool characters is the best.”

“Damn, that’s hilarious.”

After hearing my explanation, my friend, giggling, zoomed out of the picture to see his whole face again. The entire image of the character was once more visible on the iPad.

“Can you even make your character look like that?”

“I should.”

Considering the other popular games these days, this kind of customization was just the basics of the basics. Besides, many called the original Legend of Heroes a god-tier game because of its insane freedom of customization, so there was no way the development team wouldn't expand on that aspect if they hadn’t gone crazy.

* * *

* * *

“I also chose to give him one of the outfits that came with the game's deluxe edition.”

“Did you spend even more money on this?”

I mean, if you could get the OST, an art book, and behind-the-scenes content just by spending a few thousand won, wouldn’t you call it a blessing that they even provided outfits for every class?

They even allowed you to put them on your character as soon as you started the game, and there were so many to choose from.

I smiled proudly as I looked at the character reflected on the screen.

An eyepatch covered his right eye, and his right arm sported a gauntlet. He wore a long, black, split hem coat with a red cross embroidered over the back. His legs were covered in matte black leather pants and knee-high boots… and while one couldn’t see it well, he wore bandages inside his top.

While I was the one who’d drawn this picture, I had to say that this was the perfect setup. It couldn’t get any more stylish than this.

“Is it an online game?”

“Well, playing with others online is possible, but it’s not like how you do it in MMORPGs.”

If one connected to the internet and used the matchmaking option, they could play with up to four people. Even then, play together was only possible during boss fights or in PVP.

That just further proved that the development team almost completely abandoned the online concept.

“So, others can’t even see it, right? And yet you still bought that stuff?”

“Dude. Roleplaying has nothing to do with other people being able to see it.”

Just what was roleplaying? Did one do it to show others? Well, I was doing it so I could say stuff I never in my right mind would, all thanks to anonymity.

I raised my thumb and smiled, to which my friend began rolling on the floor, laughing while clutching his stomach. I had no idea why he always acted like that, despite it not being the first or even second time I’d done something like this.

Was that the difference between an ordinary person and a roleplayer?

“Damn, you’re really crazy.”

“What’s wrong with it? I’m doing it with ‘my money’, you know?”

“That’s true, but still…”

My friend switched back to the Demon Knight’s official page and carefully reviewed the last line.

“Isn’t there already an official setting for his personality? Then what’s the point in creating new character settings and roleplaying?”

After hearing what he said, I couldn’t respond for a moment. Was there any point in making a character setting when an official one already existed? Hah, I didn’t want to go into that much detail.

My lips twitched like I was an enthusiast whom an ordinary person had just asked about their obsession.

I should calm down. If I got too excited, a newbie like him would just get scared and run away. So I had to be as gentle as possible… Gentle…

But what was ‘gentle’? How could I act like that?

“You have now entered the second stage. Just ask me anything. I’ll tell you all about the second stage.”

“Ah, no need, I’m sorry.”

“The setting given by the official site is that he has a sharp and sensitive temper, and his purpose is to kill all Demons, right? But there are different types of sharpness, right? There’s even this setting where the Demon that killed his family dwells in his arm, right? Think about it. Does that mean he originally had a nasty temper, or did he become like that because of the Demon’s influence?! That’s where these different interpretations come into play!!”

“Aah, please forgive me.”

“What if his personality became so rough due to constant anxiety over never knowing when that Demon would run rampant again? What if the reason for his rude behavior toward those around him was to push them away so they wouldn’t be harmed by that Demon sealed within him? Then, at his core, isn’t he actually really kind?!”

“I was wrong, so please.”

“That interpretation is what my character setting's based on! A character who acts hard and prickly on the outside but is really soft on the inside, traumatized and really lonely because he just pushes away everyone around him! I want to tell a story about this character that highlights the scars he’s been afflicted with!”

“Have mercy.”

“What do you mean, ‘Have mercy’? I haven’t even started yet. There’s still so much to talk about. The reason why he’s wrapped in bandages like that and his two-toned hair!”

“Oh god.”

“Oh, I also prepared some lines for him. Do you want to see them?!”

“Ah, no, that’s fine.”

Why did he pull back when he was the one who asked? He couldn’t just back out. He should listen to me more.

He still had to listen to the settings I meticulously crafted after deliberately looking through old videos and laboriously disassembling the class trailer videos frame by frame!

I grabbed the shoulder of this friend of mine who was about to run away and sat him in front of me as I started explaining even more things to him.

He only wore a gauntlet on his right arm because he hated that arm so much that he didn’t even want to see it, and he was actually covering his changed eye with that eyepatch, not the unchanged one, to show his determination. These were details that would probably never be brought up in the game.

“You crazy otaku bastard…”

After talking to him for 20 minutes about this and that, my dear friend ended up covering his ears and shaking his head as if he were out of his mind.

“Hey, but I’m not even a full-blown otaku.”

“In the eyes of the general public, if you end up spending hundreds of thousands of won on some game, then you are most definitely an otaku.”

“Is that so?”

I couldn’t deny it.

“Sigh, you disgusting bastard. Alright, I have to head out.”

“Already?”

“Aren’t there only five minutes until your beloved game launches, you crazy otaku?”

“Ah.”

He was right. There were only five minutes left because we’d talked for more than twenty.

“Anyway, when will you be available again?”

“I prepared to be in Full Dive for about three days.”

“I still haven't forgotten that one time you said you’d Full Dive for, like, four days but ended up doing it for ten.”

Full Dive was a function that allowed one to continuously play a game for more than 24 hours without eating or sleeping.

It wasn’t easy to use due to the exclusive, incredibly expensive solutions and nutritional supplements needed, plus the disadvantage that one’s real-life relationships might suffer. However, it boasted the best performance if one wanted to really focus on a game.

Also, after being locked in the capsule for an extended period, one would feel very exhausted after exiting the game, needing to stretch and exercise for a day or two.

Last time, I decided to Full Dive for four days, rest a day, and dove for another four days before resting another day afterward, for a total of ten days.

“Anyway. If I don’t contact you first, call me.”

“Okay.”

“And stop playing games so much. You’ll end up hurting your body.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

My family and friends scolded me a lot back then, so I wouldn’t let it happen again. How would I hurt my body…? I was using that expensive, exclusive solution just to prevent me from getting harmed, but I didn’t bother answering him.

I was grateful he was worrying about me, after all. He even came over because he knew we wouldn’t be able to see each other for a few days. That’s what you call friendship.

Katchak.

I turned my back to the closed door.

This time, I absolutely had to log out of this game after three days, no matter how fun it might be. That was the promise I had made myself.

「Time remaining until game start: 00:00:03」

「Time remaining until game start: 00:00:02」

「Time remaining until game start: 00:00:01」

「Time remaining until game start: 00:00:01」

「DLC items are being installed…」

Ding!

「Game start.」

However, had I known I would end up breaking that promise through no fault of my own, I wouldn’t have turned that game on to begin with.

「Your journey to kill all Demons is about to begin.」

No, even putting everything else aside, I shouldn’t have roleplayed as that character.

[‘It’ destroyed my life in but a single moment.]

The opening video started before my eyes. No, it was sent directly into my mind.

“Irina!”

[Everything began with my younger sister, who ran out thinking our father had returned.

The white dress I had bought for her birthday turned crimson. At the center of that crimson flower was a black blade that didn’t reflect a single ray of light.]

“No!”

[Next was my brother, a Knight captain. Seeing the blade sticking out of Irina’s body, my older brother leaped out, falling victim to the same before he could swing his own weapon even once.

His loud voice immediately cut off, and the sight of his body slumped lifelessly against a wall spread out before me.]

“Arthur!”

[Our mother’s voice calling out my brother’s name echoed in my ears.]

“You bastard!”

[My older sister, a strong Knight just below my brother, ran out, wielding a mace that had been leaning against a wall. Tears seemed to be forming in the corners of her eyes as she passed by me, still completely frozen.

But even she was swallowed up by blood, fresh blood, the red liquid that proved life itself.]

“Come on, run away!”

[My mother shouted out to me. Was she holding Father’s sword in her hand? Or was it just a kitchen knife?]

“I’m a knight, too!”

“No, you have to run!”

“What is happening?!”

[My father. It seems he came back as well.]

“Quickly, run away—!”

“You take cover too!”

[My memories after that are rather blurry. When I gripped my sword, the world turned red, then white, then black before it was lit up again by the faint rays of moonlight.]

> “What a good vessel.”

[The black blade was stuck in my right arm, squirming beneath my skin, just squirming and writhing…]

> “You’ll… suffice.”

[Aah, I was praying.

For a strong individual with a soul that could overcome all evil, someone who would not falter before evil, someone who could thwart these evil forces.

I beg you…

.

.

.

…Can you hear my voice?]

“Urgh!”

Upon hearing that last line, my vision filled with light and my lungs filled with air.

“Get off!”

Next, the loud clamor of a busy marketplace and an annoyed voice right before me entered my ears.

「Tatara: Trading Post」

Right then, a dull bell rang out, waking me from my stupor.

That was when the curtain to the prelude of Legend of Heroes was raised.

“Ah…”

I unconsciously clenched and unclenched my hand repeatedly. That was how overwhelming the opening had been.

Were all games like that these days…? Was it even possible to fabricate this sensation of recalling memories I didn’t even have, far beyond just showing me a movie or something? It was so vivid that I felt like even the character’s emotions from then imprinted into me.

I simply rubbed the back of my neck. I was trying not to let out any vulgar words, but I felt really, really bad.

“Hey, you.”

Perhaps because I was a little too immersed in the afterglow of these memories and my admiration for this highly improved technology, I was surprised to hear someone’s voice.

Finally, I fully returned to my senses. The opening scene should have ended, and that System Window I saw just then likely showed my current location, meaning the game had started.

“Aren’t you going to get off?”

After playing so many games, that rough speech seemed almost cute, especially since it’s something heard and seen everywhere.

Instead of feeling displeased, I quickly looked around to grasp the situation.

I saw people unloading the wagon I was still sitting in and one person standing before me who seemed to want me gone.

At that moment, an extreme nostalgia arose in me, because this was exactly like the original Demon Knight tutorial, only changed from 2D to 3D.

How did even the tutorial feel so nostalgic? Could I even immerse myself in my character like this? I was already getting so emotional, you know?

I forced myself to change pace. While I shouldn't immerse myself too much in the game, I should also never just randomly start crying.

Of course, I couldn’t let my tears be seen! Although I knew the character’s face wouldn’t reflect my expressions, I still felt the need to control them.

Tak.

So, I just got off the wagon without saying anything. I wasn’t really doing it to act out the sensitive and sharp temper described on the official site or for the setting I had based on it.

It was more of an unconscious action, as there wasn’t any Window telling me how I should answer the guy, and it didn’t seem like a scene where I had to show any type of reaction.

“What a bastard.”

However, the wagon owner watching me clicked his tongue and cussed me out, making me momentarily wonder if he was actually a real person.

The beta testers had harped on about how the NPC interactions were incredible. It looked like those weren’t empty words.

“You have to pay me more…”

“Then my profit will…”

“You hear about the rebels…”

“Those Demons…”

Immediately after disembarking, I realized something even more important just by looking around the trading post.

“…Deep Sea Pearl, did you actually find alien technology or something?”

The devs did everything right.

“They really went ham on the graphics, didn’t they?”

Those dirt roads marked with wheel treads, the texture of the buildings’ outer walls, the various light sources and shadow effects… What’s more, the tickling I felt when the wind brushed my skin, the dust floating in the air, and all these foreign smells stinging my nose.

But that wasn’t all. If one paid close attention to the NPCs filling this place, then one would see that none were duplicates. Neither their faces nor their clothes were the same.

I’d thought this game would be awesome when watching the trailer, but I didn’t know the real thing would exceed my expectations like this. It was like an actual virtual ‘reality’!

“There are so many objects moving around, but there isn’t any lag or drop in frame rate…? What the hell?”

I had wondered why the file was so huge when I downloaded it, but it turned out to be relatively very small. How the hell did they manage to optimize the graphics to such a degree? Were they actually aliens or something?

“Crazy, this is actually crazy…”

Deep Sea Pearl were real bastards. Were they trying to kill people by drowning them in a wave of emotions? That was clearly their intention. It was legal, too.

“Sigh.”

I clenched my fists as I felt my emotions crash over me like a tide wave. That was the best I could do. I felt like I wouldn’t have any regrets even if I were to die now.

“Don’t just stand in the way!”

Fortunately, someone rescued me from my drowning state. It was a passing NPC.

I used their words as a signal to gradually overcome these feelings.

The words that left my mouth and the actions I took could no longer be rescinded, but my pride as a roleplayer couldn’t tolerate any further character breaks. Now was the time to relax and thoroughly enjoy this game.

And to do so, I had to hypnotize myself first. It was one of my habits that helped me get into character.

From this moment on, I was a Demon Knight with the Demon who killed my whole family sealed in my arm.

I was always on the edge, never knowing when the Demon would devour me. Because of that, I forcefully pushed everyone away, not caring what kind of anger they would harbor against me. I was the type of person who hid his vulnerable and soft inner core with a rough and hard outer shell reflected in my sharp and sensitive nature!

The character setting based on the trailer videos, leaked information, and the official settings covered me like a mask.

That marked the start of my roleplay.

* * *

* * *

Shiing.

I killed my expression, not because the game character’s expression would actually change, but to better immerse myself. I then returned the sword to the sheath on my back.

I wondered if it was because the sword was too long, but for some reason, it almost felt like my body was moving on its own to sheathe it.

Well then, what was I supposed to do now? One would usually just look for someone with a question mark floating above their head, but strangely enough, I couldn’t see anyone like that.

While attempting to look at my Minimap, I discovered the game lacked that function, and upon opening the Quest Window, I found it completely empty.

In that case, would the NPC who’d progress the plot find me on their own or something?

“Aah, Adventurer!"

Someone appeared before me. It was a little kid who barely reached my stomach.

“Erm… Mister Adventurer, are you… Mister ‘Demon Knight’?”

The name leaving the child’s mouth was both my class’s name and the nickname I gave this character.

I did this purposely to demonstrate that I had abandoned my name after that incident. There was no better fitting way to address me right now.

Incidentally, I waited a moment for a System Window to pop up. Usually, they would give you dialog options, prompts, or keywords necessary to progress the story, even if they allowed free dialogue.

“A-am I wrong?”

But nothing like that appeared.

Despite feeling a bit surprised, I decided to simply answer the kid’s question for now. No matter how I looked at it, this was the start of a Quest I shouldn’t miss.

“…No, you’re right.”

When I answered them coldly, taking the character settings into consideration, the child’s body trembled slightly. I felt like I could see what they were thinking just by looking into their eyes.

The kid seemed so realistic that I almost kneeled down to comfort them and tell them not to be scared.

“Th-then please follow me. I’ll show you to the Adventurers’ Guild.”

Wow, what a well-made character. Holding such admiration in my heart, I followed the young NPC rushing forward.

Trudge, trudge.

I could hear the sound of my heels hitting the dry dirt road.

Actually, where would they have put the Adventurers’ Guild? With this in mind, I sneakily tried to check my own appearance, wanting to see if the game properly reflected the changes I made.

The outfit I received as a perk from the deluxe edition and put on the character during character customization, the True Zweihänder of Destruction from the pre-order bonus, and the bags strapped to my leg, thighs, and waist for inventory space.

I wondered whether I was actually wearing the eyepatch given my seemingly unaffected sight, but when I went to touch it, I could feel it was definitely there. The hair visible at the edges of my vision was also two-colored, which appeared to reflect the appearance settings I had made precisely.

It really was perfect.

“This is it!”

「Tatara: Adventurers’ Guild」

How long did it take me to check myself out? We actually reached the Adventurers’ Guild right when I finished.

Considering what I had seen while passing by, it didn’t seem like they made the city smaller but rather that the trading post and Adventurers’ Guild were somehow connected.

“Shouldn’t this be just right for us?”

“Did you hear the news? Panine’s older brother went to escort that corps and ultimately disappeared along with them.”

“There seem to be a lot of missing people these days…”

The inside of the Adventurers’ Guild was extremely loud and noisy. In particular, there were many people gathered before a massive bulletin board. From the murmurs, it seemed to be the mission board.

“Miss Clerk! I brought the adventurer!”

“Ah, so you’ve arrived?”

Anyway, the child took me to one of the open windows. The person who had just been answering others seemed delighted to see me.

“Thank you. You should get to work now. And… nice to meet you. I’m Izren, a clerk of the Tatara Adventurers’ Guild.”

The clerk gave me a light bow after sending away the child and the other person she had been talking to.

It seemed she hadn’t used this skill of delegating work to the remaining personnel servicing another window just once or twice before.

“Sir Demon Knight, correct?”

“Yes.”

“While it’s easy to recognize you given your very distinctive characteristics, could you show me your adventurer’s card just in case? There are so many people impersonating adventurers these days that this verification process is a necessary procedure.”

As she was speaking, a System Window blocked a part of my view.

「Inventory │ You can activate your inventory by putting your hand in your bag.

Visualize what you want to take out and simply grab it.」

It was a tutorial that taught one the basics of the game.

I followed its instructions and placed my hand in the bag. The inventory UI then popped up and took up another part of my view.

It was a Tetris-like inventory system, with each item occupying a certain number of spaces within. As I could see the total weight of the objects inside, it seemed they restricted it by both volume and weight.

Swish.

It would have been nice if it were a slot-type system, but the game was still incredibly well-made. I found an adventurer’s card among the items in my inventory and took it out.

“Your identity has been confirmed.”

The clerk I handed my adventurer’s card to turned around, checked it, and quickly returned it to me.

“Welcome to Tatara, Adventurer.”

It was the kind of hospitality that made me really feel like I was playing Legend of Heroes.

“I know you’ve come a long way, but may I assign you a request right away? The client said it’s very urgent.”

Hmm. I thought she would tell me about the board over there and how to use it, but that seemed to be something for later. Well, the system didn’t seem to have changed much from the original, so I kind of had an inkling.

“Guide me there.”

And I was sure that this was also part of the tutorial. I immediately agreed. The clerk stood up at once and led me to the place.

It wasn’t that far from the guild.

I followed the clerk into a building with a sign that read “Mabel Company.” Several merchants were walking around, as expected from a merchant company.

It was as noisy there as in the Adventurers’ Guild, but the graphics were simply too amazing for me to care about that. I followed the clerk, barely keeping myself from looking around too much.

“Chairman, the adventurer you requested is here.”

“Come in!”

The room I was about to enter seemed magnificent, judging just by the entrance. Considering she had called him Chairman, he had to be this company’s owner.

“A cyclops?”

But why was the guy picking a fight right as he saw me?

“It seems your manners are quite lacking.”

I sighed as I checked over the NPCs in the room. I wasn’t looking for any particular reaction. It was just a mild line I prepared that fit my character settings.

After all, no game, no matter how well-crafted, could respond to every word the player might say. The potential options were simply too numerous and would just increase its capacity unnecessarily.

As such, I obviously didn’t expect this NPC to respond to my words, so I was quite surprised by what happened next.

The face of the guy who cussed me out immediately distorted, as if reacting to my lines.

“Hmph! He’s more of a wretched bastard than I’ve heard.”

“Please calm down, Chairman.”

“Y-you take it easy too, Adventurer.”

He even responded to my line instead of just changing his expression. The same went for the other NPCs my words didn’t target. They were acting like real people.

I felt like I was about to go slightly crazy. Deep Sea Pearl, did you guys really implement alien technology in this game?

“Are you that Demon Knight?”

“Who else do you think I would be?”

Just to check, I avoided giving positive answers such as ‘Yeah,’ ‘You’re right,’ or ‘Yes.’

It was similar to not inputting the needed keyword in a game. I wondered how the NPCs would react if the player just said whatever they wanted.

“Yeah, I doubt anyone else has such a sinister face. There’s no way that clerk would have made a mistake.”

To my surprise, the conversation continued. I couldn't believe it. He actually understood the connotations of my line!

“Chairman…”

“Sir, please…”

Damn, what the hell?!

I stared at the people in the room, wearing a bitter expression in an attempt to suppress my excitement. That old man with the rude mouth—probably the boss of this place—another middle-aged man trying to calm him down, and the clerk who came with me.

It was just a small number of NPCs, but that didn’t matter. Just having these three link their responses in such an appropriate and realistic manner made this game godly.

“Adventurer, please try to speak a bit more politely…”

Why should I? I absolutely didn’t want to. If my lines gave me these kinds of reactions and I didn’t act according to my character setting, why the hell was I even playing this game? That wouldn’t make me a roleplayer.

“You’re talking to the wrong person here. Why should I?”

“Adventurer…”

“Th-that insolent little…!”

Wow, this was so crazy. Did they type all these lines? No, they probably didn’t. Did an AI generate these lines on its own? But why would they give these NPCs such an advanced AI?

In old-game terms, it was like giving voice lines to Villager 1. This was just too good.

“Hmph, if he isn't as good as they say… I'll have to beat up the guy who recommended him…"

“Sir, they can hear you."

“Then let them hear! I'm only telling the truth!"

Sigh… If I knew things would turn out like this, I would have bought Pearl's stocks. Their stocks were already among the top ones, but looking at the quality of this game, it wouldn't be strange if they rose even further. What a pity.

“Ehem! Let's set that aside and start talking about the request! Isn't that why you called Sir Adventurer to this city?!"

The clerk hurriedly tried to clear out the tense atmosphere in the room. I wanted to try acting more like my character setting dictated, but I was surprised enough by all this, so I just let it go.

I looked at the elderly NPC.

“First of all, do you know the content of the request?”

Miss Izren asked, but it was quite a meaningless question. I just found out I had come to this city for a request, so there was no way I would know.

“I don’t.”

“What? How could…”

I coldly denied it. I could hear the old man swallowing the insults about to leave his mouth. If the middle-aged man hadn’t covered his mouth, he would have probably finished whatever sentence he was about to say.

“Pardon? Didn’t the Guild inform you? Did you volunteer without knowing what this was about?”

Izren seemed surprised, but I couldn’t really answer her questions.

Who in their right mind would have done something like that? I had just logged into the game, but those Pearl guys already gave me so much to do.

Oh, I wasn’t complaining, of course, esteemed Pearl Gods. I was already grateful enough that they were letting me play this game. I was loyal, absolutely loyal.

“So? Are you saying that some worms could endanger me?”

Anyway, a good roleplayer would use any opportunity to give their character personality.

I continued my mud battle with that old man by acting like an arrogant brat.

“Th-that’s…”

Then that old NPC muttered something to himself. He may have been half cussing at me and half at whomever recommended me.

From what I’d heard earlier, it seemed they hired me on someone’s recommendation.

At that point, I seriously wanted to meet the programmer personally. I really wanted to ask him if he was some kind of god.

They couldn’t just make NPCs this human-like without being a god. The Pearl Gods were the only true gods!

“First… The other day, we learned there was some problem with the sewer system. I sent out several workers to deal with it, but none returned. So I sent another person, and they located a Demon’s den in the sewers.”

After being flustered for a while, the other NPC opened his mouth and explained the situation to me.

At a glance, this seemed like the part of the tutorial that taught you about the combat system and item acquisition. As it was following the original’s progression, I felt insanely nostalgic.

It had been like that before as well. It really was a great game. Until the 2nd-anniversary patch, that is.

“So you want me to clean up the sewers?”

“That’s right. And… we want you to find the missing workers, if possible. Of course, we don’t think the first batch of workers is still alive, but we want you to collect their bodies or belongings at the very least to give back to their families.”

Workers, huh? Was that a Subquest?

I covertly opened the Quest Window, checking in case something had popped up. However, I unfortunately couldn’t see anything new. I guessed that it might appear after I accepted the Quest.

“I’ve sent in some Demon hunters before, but they all came out worse for wear. I also contacted the Temple, but they only said sending someone out would take some time. That’s why I requested a skilled adventurer be sent here… Hmph, can you even handle this? With that corrupted body of yours.”

“S-sir!”

“Don’t compare me to those weaklings.”

“Arrogant brat…”

Oh… While it was true I wanted to appear like that, it sure felt strange being judged by these NPCs.

Despite being really surprised, I felt kind of bad. Even if this situation was pretty fun, I wanted to apologize because of these realistic responses.

“Sir…”

“Are you some kind of bootlicker?”

But in the end, NPCs were just NPCs, no matter how well-made they were.

Having summarized these overly realistic NPCs in just a few words, the awkwardness of roleplaying before them practically flew away, replaced with a more comfortable feeling.

Other players usually caused me to break character by saying things like, “What the hell are you doing?” or “Wow, are you some kind of roleplayer?” However, I realized that wouldn’t happen here.

This way, I could have even more fun roleplaying without any hindrances.

“Ehem, will you accept our request, Adventurer?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me start drafting a proper contract.”

The clerk, Izren, took out a piece of paper and wrote something on it.

“The quest’s objective is to remove all the Demons infesting the sewers. They also hope you can recover the belongings or bodies of the workers who entered before you. Ah, how many were there?”

“There were 13 of them.”

“Okay. As for the deadline…”

“The deadline is in one month. As for when to start… We’ll give him two days to rest, seeing as he’s had a long journey.”

“Okay.”

As the Q&A session between the clerk and the other male NPC continued, the contents of the request were quickly summarized and organized on the paper. The whole process was pretty unique for something that could have just been put into a Quest Window.

“The reward is 400,000 Gals. Taking off the 5% broker fee, that’ll make 380,000 Gals. Well then, Adventurer. Will you proceed with the request?”

Why were they giving me so much money? What was with that broker fee?

With my arms folded, I tapped a finger while looking at Clerk Izren’s drawn-up document. It felt kind of dirty how they took 5%, but if that was the setting of this game, it couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t just turn down the Quest because of that.

I took a pen and wrote my signature on the document.

“Alright, the contract has been signed. Please report the completion of your mission through our Guild. Just come to the Guild and look for me.”

The clerk laughed before getting the old man’s signature as well. After that, a Window appeared in the corner of my vision.

「❖ Clean the Dirty Sewers

∎ Demons Eliminated: 0 / ??

∎ Subquest - Keepsakes Found: 0 / 13」

As I thought, the Quest got registered in the Quest Window only after establishing the contract.

“…We have reserved an inn room for you under the name of the merchant company.”

As the old man reviewed the documents the clerk had taken from me, he spoke up once more. That was quite the pleasant piece of news.

“We’ve only paid the fee for two days, so if you want to stay there any longer, you’ll have to pay for it with your own money!”

By the way, why was that old man like this?

“I have no intention of dragging this out any longer.”

As I responded reflexively, I raised my eyebrows slightly.

For two days? Two days… Now that I thought of it, didn’t they say I should start after two days?

I had noticed it when the contract was written up, but this was the first time I’d seen a tutorial with a time limit. I didn’t want to drag it out for two whole days, though, so it didn’t really matter.

It seemed they’d put in a lot of weird details.

“Where’s the location of the sewers?”

While I was curious about what would happen if I finished the Quest faster, my real reason behind this was different. The remake had set the time difference between the game and reality to about 3:1. It had been revealed that eight hours in reality would equate to one day in the game.

In other words, for two days to pass in the game, sixteen hours had to pass in real life. I'd prefer to just get the tutorial over with. I couldn’t wait to enjoy the meat of this game, after all.

“Are you going to rush in there right away?”

“Are you telling me to waste even more time on these sewer worms?”

I looked at them with contempt. Unlike other games, I didn’t feel like I was acting alone, so these kinds of lines just naturally left my mouth.

The other male NPC, whose head had been facing another direction for some time, looked forward once more.

“…I’ll show you around.”

Nice. Then we should go now.

* * *

* * *

The inn I briefly stopped by had the same functions as in the original, Saving and Recovery being the main ones.

「The Inn │ If you sleep in the inn, your game will be saved and some of your HP will be recovered.

The rate of HP recovery greatly increases within the inn.」

There were other functions as well, but they weren’t as useful. One could store things there, but there was a chance they might get stolen, and there were extra fees if you wanted to bathe or eat there.

They were functions I didn’t have to think about yet, as I had no items to store or money.

“Is that it?”

And so, I went straight to the sewers. The sewer and connecting river gave off a weird stench, a sour odor mixed with the scent of copper.

However, I had a setting to act out, and well, I wasn’t that sensitive to smell.

A cool character never holds his nose, no matter how smelly it is.

So I remained calm without holding it. The merchant, who tightly blocked his nose while standing next to me, looked at me as though I were a monster.

“Will you be okay?”

Wow, was that NPC worried about me?

I raised my eyes to look at him, showing my sincere appreciation.

I glared at him as if to say, ‘If you say that one more time, you’ll be the one who won’t be okay…’. But of course, that expression wouldn’t translate to my character’s face, and the NPC wouldn’t understand what I was going for, so I had to answ—

“My apologies… Just take this.”

—I didn’t have to say anything?

My heart was on the verge of exploding.

Although I could scarcely believe it, I was now convinced that players could freely convey their expressions, and NPCs could even recognize them and react accordingly.

This game was actually crazy, crazy, I tell you. How did they create something like this?

Phew. I’m so glad I had made it a habit to act with even my face. I was sure I hadn’t shown any weird expressions up until now.

I tried to settle my trembling heart and reached out to the merchant, frowning. I quickly snatched the thing he was holding out for me from his hands. It was a folded piece of paper.

“It’s the map of these sewers. However, some roads may have been deformed or blocked because of the Demons… So it might not be entirely accurate anymore.”

I unfolded the paper. At the start of the winding roads were various places marked with red ink.

Some signified blocked roads, others places with Demons’ nests, and some were roads leading to certain places, and so on.

“This is information we received from the Demon hunters who first explored this place.”

It seemed I would receive information about the location and topography of dungeons like this rather than through a Minimap. Those blocked roads could become quite troublesome.

Well, I didn’t care much since I had a pretty good sense of direction.

Anyway, there was nothing wrong with this.

I refolded the paper and put it in my coat’s inner pocket. The game was so realistic that I didn’t even think about what I was doing, but surprisingly, it let me do it.

Could I keep things on me even if I didn’t put them in my inventory? That was seriously amazing.

“Pen.”

Ah, could I actually mark stuff on there myself, like on regular paper? If this were any other game, I wouldn’t have even tried, but the Legend of Heroes remake was simply different from normal. I had a gut feeling it would be possible.

And I had a vague hunch this NPC would give me a pen if I asked him for one.

“Here you go.”

Woah, crazy. For real?

I watched the NPC, an entity that wouldn’t give you anything beyond a Quest item or reward, meekly hold out a pen. I seriously felt like I was about to cry.

I didn’t know how often I’d already said it, but Deep Sea Pearl were actual gods.

“Please take it.”

Taking the pen, I also placed it in the coat pocket before glancing at the merchant.

“As long as you pay me what you owe, I won’t fail.”

Leaving him with that remark, I turned around and slid down toward the entrance of the sewers—to the connected river, to be exact. With no intention of placing my feet in the disgusting sewage, I took the road leading up to it.

Clank.

I opened the already unlocked steel chute, revealing the way into the actual sewer system.

Honestly, the pipes were so huge that I wondered if it was really necessary.

「Tatara: Underground Sewers」

I mean, I know they did it because it was a game, but weren’t they way smaller in the original?

I entertained such idle thoughts as I heard a cheerful bell chime in my ear. I rummaged through my bag and pulled something out.

「Lantern │ A light source that can illuminate dark spaces and guide the way. If you fasten it to your waist, you can use both hands.」

I’d seen that item earlier when looking through my inventory.

As the Description Window explained, the dark sewer system was instantly lit up by the lantern hanging from my waist. As with most light sources, I could feel some warmth emanating from it. It wasn’t unpleasant, more like a hot pack.

However, because it was hanging from my waist, the light was blocked by my coat in some places.

“Should I move it up?”

I eventually decided to place the lantern over my coat. Depending on which direction I was facing, some areas were still less visible. Well, it was better than before.

Screech.

Squeak.

I quickly checked the map after entering and began seeing some rats.

They were half the size of my forearm, but even considering they were dirty, there was something odd about them.

For instance, parts of their skin had rotted off, exposing raw flesh or even bones. Some had their intestines hanging out. Even though their eyes were incredibly small, I could see they were very red.

Snap!

They were all Demonized.

I lightly swung my sword. As desired, the Zweihänder bisected the rat before even piercing it properly.

If I had to name one problem, it would be this damn realism. After going through the rat, the sword scratched the floor and slightly dinged a wall.

Kang!

That clear sound made me slightly uneasy. The sword wasn’t going to break, right?

I checked the Zweihänder, kicking aside the two pieces of rat carcass with my feet. The sword’s blade glowed red under the light of the lantern. It felt like one might get cut just by looking at it.

「True Zweihänder of Destruction │ A greatsword that can break and destroy anything in existence with its long, straight blade. It strikes fear into anyone who opposes you.」

As I reviewed the weapon’s information alongside its general description, detailed stats were displayed before me, such as Attack Power, Durability, and Energy.

Attack Power aside, the starting value of both Energy and Durability should have been 100. And sure enough, the Durability had fallen to 99.

That’s how it was. In these types of games, even hitting a wall would decrease the weapon’s Durability and Energy.

“This space is too narrow…”

If I continued using this two-handed sword in such a narrow space, its durability would probably decrease by a lot.

Swallowing my regrets, I sheathed my Zweihänder once more and rummaged through my bag. Aside from the True Zweihänder of Destruction, I had also received another starting weapon.

「Longsword The most widely used sword. The balance between the blade, handle, and pommel is average and allows its user to respond to most situations.」

I fastened the Longsword’s scabbard to my waist and tried swinging the sword. Since the combat correction was working rather well, the sword felt pretty good in my hand.

Cut!

It could cut through the rats really well, too. Like any mob enemy at the beginning of the game, they could be one shot with a starting weapon. What a good start.

Squeak!

I was a bit upset that they didn’t drop money or items… Well, maybe it was like that because they were just tutorial mobs.

The later enemies would probably drop some. I was also getting paid quite a lot for this Quest.

Kuwaaaaik.

As I went in further, I could hear the roars of real Demons echoing in the sewers.

I could also see some sneakily poking their heads out, perhaps preparing a surprise attack.

「Goblin │ Wandering Demons that are always in search of food in groups. These small and weak Demons have very low intelligence, but it won’t do you any good letting your guard down around them.」

As soon as I saw the Goblins crawling along the sewer walls and ceiling, a System Window popped up.

Even when playing the game on PC, I always thought these things were a bit creepy. In VR, they seemed even more disgusting.

“Dirty Demon bastards…”

Anyway, even while dealing with simple mobs, it was only proper to faithfully stay in character.

I immediately immersed myself and grimaced at them. Then, firmly gripping my sword, I leaped forward.

When one of the many, many Goblins came into view, red target marks appeared on its body.

Arms, legs, body, head. Among the given targets, I aimed for the body.

「Body Parts and Strikes │ All enemies have body parts, and the damage they receive from each is different. Some enemies might receive less damage in certain areas, so there may be a need to avoid targeting certain parts.

If a body part accumulates more damage than it can take, you can cause a 《Part Destruction》.

Find the most effective part to hit and attack it.」

A brief description of the combat system appeared in my mind. I couldn’t really read it because time didn’t stop or anything. My experience accumulated from playing many games hadn’t disappeared, though, so I got the gist with just a quick glance.

Kakaaang!

When I hit the target, my blade cut right through the Goblin’s torso. I’d thought so when slicing through the rats, but they’d set my level higher than I expected in the remake.

At the same time, I also felt like the difficulty level was really low. Even though I was still in the tutorial, I was causing 《Part Destruction》 with just a single hit.

It was probably because I was just facing trash mobs, but I felt a little uncomfortable for some reason. While I didn’t really enjoy the difficulty level being too high, it just wasn’t that fun to play if it was too low.

“Die, you lowly scum.”

Either way, even though I was a little disappointed inside, I openly expressed my contempt with my face and words. That was just the basics of the basics as a proper roleplayer.

Chwank!

With my second strike, I pierced through the head of a Goblin that jumped down at me from the ceiling. I knocked away its torso with my foot to free my sword so I could take down the last one.

After stepping back to dodge the thing pouncing from the wall, I stabbed its body after it landed on the floor. After severing its spine, I stepped on its body and stabbed once more.

I gave it one more hit just in case I hadn’t fully depleted its HP, no matter how realistic it was. After trembling for a bit, the Goblin eventually fell limply to the floor.

「LEVEL UP!」

Alright, I survived.

Considering that I’d stopped playing games for a while to focus on my job, I felt like my skills were still pretty decent.

I shook off the blood from my sword and placed my foot on the last enemy. The level-up notification covered my eyes for a while before disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

“Skill Window.”

In both the original and remake of Legend of Heroes, your stats would automatically increase upon leveling up, so I didn’t have to worry about stat point allocations. The only thing one had to keep in mind was skills.

“Attack, Defense, Survival…”

Maybe it was because this remake was based on an online game, but there sure were a lot of skills.

While I didn’t know what the max level was, I suspected I wouldn’t be able to get them all.

「[Melee Combat] │ Basic skills of a warrior. You have a certain chance of responding to enemy attacks better than usual.

Effect: Combat Correction」

After thinking about it some more, I decided to prioritize Defense skills. All the Attack skills were active ones and for now, I could kill all the mobs in a single blow.

Furthermore, flashy moves and the like weren’t the thing to focus on in this game. One’s basic movements were far more important. At least, that was what the company announced.

Thus, getting Defense skills that could be used from the early to the late stages of the game was much better.

I modestly distributed my skill points with such thoughts in mind and continued along the way I needed to take. After encountering the Goblins, I arrived at a crossroads.

I took out the map with a clatter. With my left hand holding my sword, I naturally used my ironclad right hand to pull it out, awkwardly fumbling with the paper.

Going left would bring me to a blocked road, and going right would lead me down a normal road, huh?

I quickly made my decision as to which road to take.

I had to go left no matter what! After all, I didn’t know what kind of item would be left there, even if it would slow my progress!

I had to get all the items in this dungeon, even if I ended up dead because of it!