Newbie Life of a Former Ranker

prologue

f*cked.

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Matt Damon, who was trapped on Mars, thought about it, but Do-jin couldn’t even afford it.

A hole the size of a person’s head was pierced in the stomach, but what was the thought?

If this wasn’t f*cked up, probably no one in the world would be f*cked.

“Ugh… … !”

When I moved my body a little, a heavy pain ran through my body.

Because it is virtual reality, the pain is not the same as in reality, but it does not mean that it does not hurt.

Rather, it was an unpleasant sensation that seemed to be digging into a wound under anesthesia.

Still, you can’t wait for death.

Dojin gritted his teeth and checked to see if there were other players who survived the murderous ray bombardment.

But all he could see was the burnt and melted rocks and the black sky through the far-off gap he had fallen into.

‘Damn it, did this event really fail like this?’

It was even more surprising that Do-jin was alive, considering that the rays covered the ground like a carpet bombing, and the ground cracked and collapsed in the aftermath, swallowing people.

It was greed to want another lucky guy like that, and even if a few more people were alive, it wasn’t a situation that could be solved.

By the way, the only one who survived until the end was himself, who was nicknamed the glass cannon at the lowest rank among rankers.

Dojin was dumbfounded, so he shook his shoulders and laughed.

“hahahaha, ha- ugh… … !”

I feel a throbbing pain at the cost of moving again.

Dojin decided to stay still and leaned back and closed his eyes.

Then, instead of the pain, the bleak future began to come to mind.

“… … .”

Death penalties such as leveling down, item drops, and access restrictions are not a big deal.

Even the best world event rewards would be gone, but I was able to endure even that.

The real problem was the penalty for failing a world event.

Even if you fail the World Boss Raid, it is a game called LOST that has a huge impact on the entire world.

Representatively, the region that was engulfed by miasma when the resurrected poisonous dragon Gallente failed to subdue remains a land of death to this day.

But what the hell would happen if an event to stop an enemy of this scale ended in failure.

Just by imagining it, it was difficult for Dojin to shake off the depression.

‘Moebius you bastards. At least the clear angle shouldn’t be visible.’

For Dojin, LOST was not just a virtual reality game.

It was a refuge where I could forget the hell of reality and my miserable body, unable to even walk on my own legs due to the aftereffects of a car accident.

Without this refuge, Do-jin would have already killed himself under the weight of the misfortune that hit him.

Of course, living madly at the game, I lost a lot, and my life was devastated… Even so, no, that’s why Dojin had no choice but to obsess over LOST.

But now, a situation has come when it is impossible to predict how the world will be destroyed.

Do-jin was terrified of it.

And at the same time, he was so pitiful that he could barely stand being afraid of such a thing.

“You bastard… … .”

There is no limit to the hatred towards oneself.

A terrible sense of shame strangles my throat.

It was obviously an unbearable misfortune, but it wasn’t that there wasn’t an opportunity to suture it at all.

It was Do-jin himself, not anyone else, who irrevocably put his life into abyss.

Do-jin, who was tired of running away, of himself and of his pitiful appearance, thought.

want to die

‘no… … .’

want to live once again

It was then.

“This time too… Is this the limit?”

Likewise, hearing the voice of someone dying.

Naturally, Dojin’s head turned.

I saw a white figure reflected through the cracks in the collapsed rocks.

Princess Seonghae, the main character of this World Event, showed an overwhelming image of slaughtering numerous monsters alone on a battlefield where even the LOST rankers were helpless.

But now even she seemed to be in a position no different from Siu.

The brilliant platinum hair was stained with dust and blood, and the beautiful white armor was shattered beyond recognition.

And serious injuries visible all over the body.

Seeing that she would look like a corpse if she closed her eyes right now, Do-jin inadvertently called her name.

“Princess Seonghae… … .”

Responding to Dojin’s voice, Princess Seonghae raised her head.

Seonghaean, which seems to have moved the Milky Way, contains Dojin.

“This time too… Is it you?”

It was a difficult word for Do-jin to understand.

again this time? Come to think of it, I think I said something similar just before.

No matter what he looks like in reality, Dojin is a ranker who shines at 998th in LOST.

It also came up by taking pictures of competitors who started the game three years earlier than he did.

Such Do-jin’s intuition was telling.

It is certain that the word ‘this time again’ spit out by Princess Seonghae is a keyword with a very important meaning.

‘I don’t think there’s a hidden quest in this situation… … ?’

No, because this is the situation, it is a hidden quest.

It’s already proven orthodoxy that damn Mobius guys are perverts who enjoy harassing users on a dirty difficulty level.

However, even taking that into account, the difficulty of this world event was too high.

However, the difficulty is set so that it is impossible to break it in the first place.

Assuming that the way to overcome it is the hidden quest that occurs in the conversation with Princess Seonghae… … ?

front and back fit

The more his head rotated, the more Dojin’s heartbeat became rougher.

Just now, the appearance of feeling skeptical about life and behaving like a severely depressed patient was nowhere to be found.

know. How helpless and pitiful to see him so excited about a single hidden quest.

But I couldn’t help it.

Because Do-jin was already addicted to this world as he was addicted to it.

“It was always you who matched my countless deaths.”

repeated death. A new keyword emerged.

‘It must be a regressor concept.’

Dojin rolled his head as quickly as possible and drew a conclusion.

The desire to be more cautious was like a chimney, but the growing dullness suggested that the time left was not long.

I had to quickly get the hidden quest before I was forced to log out.

Dojin hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Are you repeating death?”

Princess Seonghae nodded.

“To prevent destruction, you had to be strong. The second me was stronger than the first, and the third was stronger than him. Now is… stronger than ever But the funny thing is, now I’m weaker than ever. To the point where I want to give up everything.”

Do-jin’s expression, which was concentrating so as not to miss even the slightest hint, became blurred for the first time.

This is a conversation to trigger a hidden quest.

I knew very well that it was foolish to empathize with useless feelings.

However, Do-jin couldn’t dismiss Princess Seonghae’s words that she wanted to give up everything because she was exhausted.

It was because he remembered his past, when he was horribly crushed in the face of unbearable misfortune and became a disabled person.

Is that why? There was a lot of sincerity in Dojin’s difficult words.

“… You cannot give up.”

Princess Seonghae looked straight at it and asked.

“Why?”

Do-jin tried to answer, but… … .

“that… … .”

I couldn’t help but blurt out my words.

His tongue did not move as if it were stiff.

It was because he wondered if he, who had lived only on the run, had the right to tell her not to give up as she faced destruction, repeating countless lives.

However, Dojin’s silence seemed to reflect a different meaning to Princess Seonghae.

“Do you sympathize with me? A most unfortunate bitch, do you think so?”

“I-“

Do-jin hurriedly tried to say something, but was silenced by Princess Seonghae’s continued words.

“Thank you.”

“… … ?”

Seeing Do-jin staring at her in dismay, Princess Seonghae laughed silently.

“Envy and affection, envy and resentment, awe and fear, expectation and anxiety… I lived surrounded by countless emotions and gazes. Life as the empire’s strongest spear and shield was like that. But come to think of it, no one sympathized with me. No one in my eyes… You didn’t look at me like that.”

Dojin couldn’t say anything.

The intense fatigue in Princess Seonghae’s eyes and the remorse worn out over the years made it that way.

Princess Seonghae asked Siwoo, who was so immobilized and overwhelmed.

“You have regrets and regrets, do you have a past you want to change?”

“Yes.”

This time I had no choice but to answer.

Do-jin’s answer was almost instinctive, as he had always wished for it, and even had such a delusion just before.

It was to the point where he only realized that he had answered after a while.

The answer that came back so quickly was ridiculous, but Princess Seonghae laughed while shaking her shoulders.

Then, he pulls something out of the void.

It was a strange ornament made of silver and gold.

she said, looking down at the decorations.

“but… How many people have lived a life without regrets? There must be something you would like to change as well. This is a reward for being a friend to talk to so that repeated deaths are not lonely. and… It is also a reward for sympathizing with an ugly person who abandons his duty.”

I could tell just by the atmosphere.

That the hidden quest will begin soon.

So close.

I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what or why.

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Maybe it was a side effect of enjoying human thoughts and emotions after a long time, but my head was too complicated.

To make matters worse, even unbearable drowsiness poured out.

‘sh*t… Are you logging out… … ?’

Princess Seonghae’s voice resounded in the blurred consciousness.

“I will return your time that has already passed. So live. A life without regrets and stains.”

It was a solemn and stiff tone like a royal family, but it was a warm voice.

* * *

Something was strange.

When you open your eyes, the mottled cover of the capsule (virtual reality access device) should be the first thing you see.

And it is normal when the scenery of the dull alcove is reflected beyond it.

However, I couldn’t see what I was supposed to see, and I saw a ceiling with a bunch of colorful stickers.

The problem was that that childish sticker was very familiar to Dojin.

“dream… … ?”

Do-jin, who was muttering hazily, was surprised by the voice that came out of his mouth.

It should have a thick, cracked voice, but this was a very clear, clean, young voice.

Strangely, it wasn’t just that.

Do-jin’s ailing body complained of chronic pain and fatigue as he suffered from the aftereffects of a traffic accident and a long-lasting debilitating life.

But now I felt drowsy and pleasant, as if I had just woken up after a good night’s sleep.

A not small sense of incongruity builds up one by one.

And that sense of incongruity eventually awakened the hazy mind in an instant.

“Huh!”

Dojin’s eyes flashed open.

Then an unfamiliar but familiar landscape came into view.

It is certainly. It was a one-room apartment I used to live in.

Dojin wondered if it was a dream, so he hit his cheek with his fist and at the same time got up and hurriedly headed to the bathroom.

Then I stopped and looked at the floor.

far. It had been a long time since I had seen such a distant floor since I couldn’t stand.

“I am walking.”

Dojin muttered in despair and took a trembling step.

Udangtang.

When I moved unconsciously, my steps were fine, but when I was conscious, I stumbled into a mess.

But no pain was felt.

Do-jin went into the bathroom, relying on whatever he caught around him.

And when I looked in the mirror, I stiffened.

“… … .”

There was Do-jin in the mirror.

Do-jin is young and full of energy before being handicapped in an accident.

Dojin blankly looked at himself in the mirror.

I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t think of anything.

So I just kept watching.

To confirm that this is reality, not unreality. Continue.