LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1
Once upon a time, in the grand era of streamers…
The full dive action VR MMORPG was the name of the game – literally!
Streaming to a user base across the globe, like “BAM!” with the click of a button!
Advanced technology had demolished the language barrier, and the market that had grown since the early 21st century finally hit its golden age.
Now, excelling in a game—more specifically ‘Infinity Black’—was akin to being a straight-A student.
When your cousin waved their Seoul National University student ID in front of the elders during holidays, suddenly, getting recognized for gaming tiers was just as celebrated.
Joining a famous Siege Guild could be the same as securing a spot at a top corporation!
Struggling with textbooks? No worries! If grades won’t go up, at least level up your tier!
And if that’s not doable, go on a hunt instead!
Every top-tier user had their eyes set on becoming a streamer or pro gamer.
Why? Because it filled pockets with heaps of cash while gathering popularity too!
Being good at the game and not stepping into either of those two paths? Impossible, really!
In this context, however, there existed a curious anomaly in the heavens of Infinity Black.
“Ah, a big thank you to ‘Farm More Sulbbang’ for the donation! I was just thinking of focusing on some farming for a while, considering the new season isn’t far off. I’m sure everyone else is busy right now, right?”
“Hey? Sulbbang? Didn’t we just see a white dot on the mini-map? Was that my imagination?”
“A white dot? I don’t think I saw anything… But anyway, we don’t have any enemy guilds around, so surely it’s fine? Why stir trouble now?”
Just as he was about to brush off his party member’s voice…
A nagging worry began to creep into Sulbbang’s mind.
Now that he thought of it, one could possibly exist.
The next season. A peculiar being that would stir trouble without a care for the reshuffled power dynamics.
The toxic sniper trolls that every top streamer has likely met at least once. From field PK to rank game sabotage, they were a nuisance; the assassin user known as ‘Gawol’.
And as predicted, fear morphed into reality.
Just mere seconds after spotting another player marked as ‘white dot’…
Their party’s archer was killed without a scream!
[Drunk Scout was killed by an unknown adventurer.]
With a long-range dealer down, who would be next?
An assassin appeared out of the shadows, glinting with blade flashes.
The mere sight of the assassin sent chills down Sulbbang’s spine.
White hair peeking out from the black hood. Their dull gleaming longsword.
Small stature and a low stance gave them an eerily cold upward gaze.
The assassin plunged their dagger into the party’s mage’s heart, slashed their neck, and kicked away the body.
While secretly impressed by the assassin’s neatness, Sulbbang felt heat rising to his head.
An unreasonable act had just been committed against him!
In Infinity Black, there was a penalty for death, and the last person to penalize Sulbbang was none other than Gawol right in front of him.
“Why… why me again! I just died not too long ago!”
No way. No matter how much he pleaded, the assassin showed no sign of stopping their sword.
If he was going to die anyway, he had to at least try to resist. Sulbbang charged forward with his shield held high.
What a pointless act.
Gawol easily jumped up and dodged the charge, planting a dagger in the gaps of his armor.
It was an attack that a knight’s resilience could withstand, but the brief moment of stiffness was the real issue.
A knife blade soon found its way to Sulbbang’s throat.
A distorted voice echoed mockingly.
“Just figured it was convenient. You seem to be earning quite a bit these days.”
“Isn’t that money you’re not making…?”
Thud. Sulbbang’s screen turned to darkness.
The last thing his eyes captured was a skyrocketing chat feed.
[Author: ㅇㅇ(423.62)]
[Title: The most baffling prick in this game.jpg]
That prick is Gawol.
They not long after Sulbbang commenced his stream, why is this happening?
It just doesn’t make sense.
Started with a sniping concept for streaming, but hasn’t been seen since, nor are they aiming for the pro scene.
Nothing special happened, so why go after streamers and pro gamers with this zeal?
Is it that they’re just a psycho with no objectives?
With those skills, they should be in the pro scene, damn it.
[Comments]
– That sniper’s skills are overrated!
└ So your master keeps losing to Gawol on the daily?
– Isn’t solo ranking and pro stuff different?
└ They reportedly rejected pro recruitment too.
└ Didn’t the team leader Kang Seong-jin share last time how they failed to recruit them?
– I could at least understand if they were clever, but they seem just dumb.
– If you see what they said when they rejected pro offers, they seem to have some issues, right?
└ Then why aren’t they streaming, what the hell?
└ Just because you’re good at games doesn’t mean you’re good at streaming, right?
└ I heard Gawol is a girl; if you’re a girl in that segment, you’re automatically popular lol.
└ I’d love to see Gawol’s assassin gameplay from a first-person viewpoint.
*
[Infinity Black has ended.]
[Thank you for using Gawol!]
Wooooosh.
The fan that had been spinning vigorously finally came to a halt with a thud sound.
My least favorite sound of all.
The moment when the game pauses and reality hits—like a debt collector slapping me with a contract for loan payments.
Time to pay the price for the sweet dreams I had after those long hours of gaming.
Transcending from the assassin ‘Gawol’ back to ‘Han Da-eun’, I was left as a pathetic debtor.
“Ramen. Why is there no ramen…? Ah, was the last of it from when I ate last time?”
I felt drained.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I started searching for my phone.
The blanket and pillow were a mess; I couldn’t see properly, and even when I checked under my pillow, it didn’t turn up.
It must’ve slipped somewhere between the bed and the wall.
Gotcha!
The ramen I ordered earlier wouldn’t arrive today, it seemed.
I could’ve sworn it was scheduled for Thursday, but now it’s mysteriously switched to Friday.
Is this what the country’s best logistics company looks like?
If I starve to death today, the reason will be this company’s delivery delay.
Might as well prepare for that. Dust builds up in my room, enough to leave a dying message without a drop of blood.
“Ugh… What else do I have? Anything but ramen?”
As if it could be anything else.
My entire living radius comprised this dark, small room; I’ve been living like this for quite some time.
That basically meant I was acutely aware of my food shortage.
Even the hope of finding something in the refrigerator was hollow; only cheap bottled water and soda greeted me.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Perhaps I should drink something now.
My stomach groaned—grrrr—like it was urging me to hurry.
“Alright, I’ll go. Going’s all I need to do. Just let me prepare mentally for a sec.”
Going out required a ton of courage on my part.
With one hand clutching the railing and the other gripping the crutch handle, the crutch led the way down the stairs first.
I couldn’t go down until the crutch secured me properly.
Once ready, I sent the broken leg down first, and my healthy leg followed after safely finding the next step.
It was a process where I couldn’t relax even for a moment.
My body lacked muscle, so just gripping the crutch was exhausting.
The sensor light that should shine through the darkness continuously turned off, making my path resemble an endless abyss until I waved my hands and crutches to turn it back on.
Yeah, I had a disability.
A disability that renders me unable to stand on both feet in this world.
Using my left foot like others was a forbidden act, as committing such a divine rule would invoke the agony of immense punishment.
To make matters worse, my studio apartment was on the third floor without an elevator.
It was unavoidable. Although apartments are abundant in the Korean peninsula, my only option was to reside in dilapidated-structures.
A single misstep could lead to a disastrous outcome.
I would screech Aaaah! Aaaaah!—my cries echoing through the stairwell.
Then, the whole neighborhood would witness the spectacle of a klutz screeching down the stairs.
So, I must tread carefully and slowly, even if I’m late.
The path to my convenience store was like oozing through a murky swamp, step by step.
But the true source of my disdain wasn’t my body itself.
“Welcome!”
As I entered the convenience store, the male clerk greeted me dryly.