Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Right.
It had finally come.
At Pi Seongyeol’s question, Suho didn’t hesitate to respond.
“I saw the help request post that Mr. Seo Giwon put up.”
“Help request post?”
“Yes, Mr. Seo posted a request for help online using his ability, so I came to check just in case. Seeing him really detained, I initiated the rescue operation immediately.”
“…Did you really find him that way?”
“Most people didn’t believe it, but I chose to trust it. The help request was very detailed, and I figured no one else would go if I didn’t.”
Without a hint of change in his expression… no, if anything, Suho spoke with a face full of conviction.
Was that why?
Seeing Suho’s expression, Pi Seongyeol chuckled softly.
“You’re a real maverick, junior. But that’s why you’re good. They say the determined ones make things happen, but I didn’t expect you to take my word this far.”
“It seems I was lucky.”
“Luck only follows those who are prepared. That’s why I believe luck is a skill. Alright, since a promise is a promise, I’ll push through with your special recruitment.”
“Thank you, senior.”
Suho bowed deeply in genuine gratitude.
Pi Seongyeol laughed heartily, patting Suho on the shoulder, and soon instructed the staff to handle the culprits.
But in the process, no care was given to Seo Giwon, the victim.
For instance, no steps were taken to move him to a secure facility.
Suho nodded as he considered this.
‘Of course.’
Still, that indifference was actually a relief.
This way, Suho could take care of Seo Giwon himself.
Once everything wrapped up, Suho quietly led Seo Giwon out.
“Shall we go?”
“To where?”
“To my place.”
“Is… is that okay?”
“Of course. We’re a team now.”
Suho smiled warmly as he hailed a taxi.
***
“Wow…”
Arriving at Kaiser Cheongdam, Seo Giwon couldn’t close his mouth, mesmerized by the grandeur and splendor unique to Kaiser Cheongdam.
Understandably so.
Suho had a similar reaction the first time he came here.
Jo Jin-hwi was absent.
When contacted, he mentioned he’d left for a few days on an urgent business trip.
Of course, Suho had received permission regarding Seo Giwon.
– Just make yourself at home. We invited you to our house with this sort of thing in mind.
That reassurance made Suho feel immensely grateful.
Naturally, Suho offered Seo Giwon a shower and handed him some guest clothes Jo Jin-hwi had prepared.
As Seo Giwon dressed, he marveled.
“Of course, you’re on a whole different level, hyungnim… to live in such a nice place.”
“This isn’t my house.”
“Huh? Then…?”
“It belongs to Jo Jin-hwi, a reporter from PBS. He’s my exclusive reporter. This is his house.”
“So… we can really use it so freely?”
“Yes, it’s all with permission. By the way, the reporter doesn’t know about my precognitive ability, alright?”
“Ah, yes! Of course! Since you told me personally, I’ll make sure to keep my mouth shut unless given special permission.”
Perfect understanding.
Smiling, Suho took a drink from the fridge and offered it to him.
Then, receiving it with both hands, Seo Giwon asked.
“But, hyungnim.”
“Yes?”
“I understand that I’ve joined your team, but what exactly should I be doing now?”
At that, Suho took a sip of his drink and replied.
“You need to level up.”
“Huh?”
“You reached level 50, developed your trait, and then got kidnapped, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then you must have stopped progressing for six months. That won’t do. To face the Overlord… oh, the Overlord is the nickname of someone with the same ability as you. To face him, and to prevent the world’s impending doom, you need to level up to my standard.”
“Does that mean I’ll be joining you in clearing Gates?”
“No.”
“Then…?”
“You’ll have to level up in your own way.”
Hearing this, Seo Giwon tilted his head in confusion.
“How?”
“From now on, you’ll be making maximum use of Digitization. So first, why don’t we try connecting to the network together?”
“Together? Can we connect together?”
“Take a look at your Digitization trait description. Does it say you can only connect alone?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Your ability is to transmit the consciousness of a player into the network. So, in theory, you should also be able to transmit someone else’s consciousness. Go ahead and try it. You can use that computer over there.”
Suho gestured toward the shared laptop in the living room, and Seo Giwon, looking puzzled, began activating his ability.
Watching him, Suho nodded with confidence.
‘Of course, it’ll work. You’re the one who introduced the world to the uses of Digitization.’
Suho vividly remembered every word from the autobiography Seo Giwon uploaded before he died.
That autobiography recounted Seo Giwon’s life story and, as a special appendix, contained everything he knew about using Digitization.
All Suho was doing was passing that knowledge back to him.
Then it happened.
[ Digitization activated. ]
[ Player Seo Giwon wants to transfer your consciousness to the network world. ]
[ Do you consent to the transfer of consciousness? ]
The system’s prompt.
As the consent message appeared before Suho, Seo Giwon laughed in amazement.
“It… it really works?”
“Of course. Do you think I’d tell you to try something impossible? Alright, now that we’ve confirmed it works, let me fiddle with the computer for a moment.”
“Now?”
“Yeah, now.”
Suho rejected the system prompt and then pulled the laptop closer to himself, tinkering with various things.
After a moment, he spoke with satisfaction.
“All set. Send me in again.”
“Can I ask what you did?”
“I’ll explain once we’re inside. For now, just send me in.”
“Yes, understood.”
Then, Seo Giwon activated his ability again, and the prompt appeared once more.
Suho accepted it without hesitation.
[ Connecting to the network world. ]
Thunk—
With the notification, Suho’s body collapsed to the side.
***
His consciousness, extinguished as if by a power outage, suddenly flickered back on.
When he opened his eyes, Suho found himself standing alone on an unfamiliar plain.
‘This place….’
A blue meadow and a vast sky.
White clouds hung like paintings in the wide sky, and behind them, tall green hills stretched endlessly.
It looked unfamiliar, yet oddly familiar.
Naturally so.
This was the “desktop wallpaper” set on Jo Jin-hwi’s laptop in his living room.
Suho chuckled at the strange yet familiar scenery.
“To think I’d see this place in person.”
Suho recalled part of Seo Giwon’s autobiography.
– I always woke up on the default screen of the connected device, so I eventually set it to an ordinary living room photo. That way, I could sit on the couch even after connecting to the network world.
At first, Suho also considered setting it to a living room photo or conference room.
But he eventually changed it to the world’s most famous wallpaper he’d always wanted to see in person.
Just then, fragments of data around Suho distorted and spat out Seo Giwon.
Upon seeing Suho in the network world, Seo Giwon approached in amazement.
“Hyungnim!”
“Oh, you’re here?”
“It’s amazing. This is my first time seeing someone else here.”
“Same here; this is my first time actually stepping in, so it’s all quite fascinating.”
“It really is. But why does the background look like this? It was all black on the laptop just a moment ago.”
Curious about the background’s unusual look, Seo Giwon remarked, and Suho responded casually.
“I changed it. I wanted to see it at least once.”
“Huh? You know about the wallpaper rule, hyungnim?”
“Yes, I foresaw it. So I deliberately set it here. You know where this is, right?”
“Yes, it’s the Windows wallpaper. But… is this really a vineyard?”
With those words, Seo Giwon picked up a bunch of grapes from the ground.
It was true.
What he held was a bunch of grapes.
“Yes, it’s a vineyard. Apparently, this wallpaper was a photo taken at a vineyard.”
“Huh? I thought it was just a meadow.”
“Apparently not.”
“Wow… I never knew.”
At Seo Giwon’s amazement, Suho also picked up a bunch of grapes and plucked a single grape to taste it.
Ugh.
But it tasted nothing like he expected.
Seeing this, Seo Giwon laughed.
“Haha, unfortunately, all the food here has no flavor, hyungnim. There’s no smell either. It’s all just a visual representation.”
Suho knew.
He tried it deliberately.
Although he’d read about it in the autobiography, experiencing it firsthand was different from just reading about it.
Even so, he feigned ignorance and asked.
“Why?”
“This is the network world. So, the sense of touch, smell, or taste isn’t fully implemented.”
Just as Seo Giwon said.
Even the grape he held had an oddly artificial feel, different from what he knew.
‘That’s why the Overlord tried to conquer reality.’
It made sense.
If every sensation could be recreated in the network world, it would be a utopia of dreams.
Why would anyone need to take nuclear weapons hostage to threaten nations?
In the end, everything here was a partial illusion, which only made people cling more to reality.
Nodding, Suho commented.
“If all five senses were fully replicated, everyone would probably move here to live. In that sense, the strengths and weaknesses of the network world and virtual reality are quite distinct.”
“Exactly. By the way, what did you mean when you said I could level up here?”
“Oh, that?”
With that, Suho started walking as he questioned.
“What do you think is the principle of leveling up?”
“Well, gathering experience points to grow myself?”
“Exactly. The leveling system is about infinitely growing oneself through experience points. In that sense, the Player System recognizes actions themselves and grants experience points for them, no matter where you are.”
“No matter where?”
“Yes, as proof, I leveled up my Swordsmanship skill during the Hunter Exam.”
“During the Hunter Exam…? Wait, then does that mean training is possible even in virtual reality?”
“It is, but only for skill levels, not character levels.”
“Huh, why?”
“Virtual reality is fake. Dying there doesn’t mean you really die, right? But everything here is real. That’s why you could hack crypto wallets.”
At the end of his steps, Suho stopped in front of two doors, strangely positioned in the middle of the vineyard.
Seo Giwon immediately recognized them.
“Aren’t these New Folders?”
They indeed were.
The doors resembled New Folders, labeled “New Folder1” and “New Folder2.”
Suho said.
“You’ve got it. Everything on the reporter’s laptop desktop is in New Folder1 here. And this one…”
Pointing at the other folder, Suho continued.
“Inside here are some special things I’ve prepared just for you.”
“Special things?”
“Yes, time to level up, right?”
Suho flung the folder open, revealing a separate space that appeared as the folder’s interior.
Suho jumped inside naturally, as if diving into a sewer, and Seo Giwon followed.
Inside, there was an innocently designed, ordinary-looking door, with a label that made Seo Giwon mutter.
“Free File Cleaner?”
“That’s just a fake name.”
“Fake name?”
“Yes, the real contents aren’t anything like a free file cleaner or antivirus program. Inside here, it’s actually full of computer viruses.”
Computer viruses.
Hearing that, Seo Giwon’s eyes widened as far as they could go.
