***

"We must dispose of that one at least, even if we leave the others. It's for the good of humanity."

Again.

Even Dome No.1 wasn't without its ability-manifesting subjects.

Anyone who seemed special was invariably taken away by the Emergency Response Unit. And they never returned. There was no need to ask what had happened to them.

Yet even now, hardly any civilians had grasped the true nature of this.

Complete information control.

The Emergency Response Unit aspired to be Big Brother incarnate. And—

"This is tyranny."

"Coming from the head of the Millennium Code, those words leave me at a loss."

Lin Chowi knew well enough that Meta Humans were threatening. However—

"There should be limits. Wouldn't it be more efficient to utilize them rather than suppress them? How long does the city government think they can hide their mistakes?"

"That's an outsider's perspective. Judging everything by the world you've seen."

"What more is there to understand here?"

As if there was nothing more to discuss, Jin Geon waved his hand to cut off the conversation and glared.

"Please, Chairman, stay ignorant like this. Forever."

*

Scientific advancement had influenced many fields. Among them, virtual reality gaming had undergone particularly dramatic changes.

The emergence of artificial intelligence had caused such massive upheaval that it rendered all existing frameworks obsolete.

Lifelike graphics?

Near-infinite interactions?

Those were merely secondary effects.

The core achievement was perfect balance.

They had solved what had been considered an impossible challenge in MMORPGs until now.

There were no flaws in the tens of billions of simulations that the AI had run independently. It was the result of cross-referencing and verifying multiple factors.

Anyone with skill could aim for the top.

Without any unreasonable internal or external factors.

The undisputed leader in these virtual reality games was Lost Saga.

It had been five years since its launch.

Yet its vast narrative showed no signs of running dry.

Not only did it create distinct ecologies for different monsters, but it also generated random quests and designated appropriate item lists as rewards.

With a major update having been implemented recently, it was the biggest highlight of the latter half of the year.

At this time, users had only one interest.

Which guild would be the first to clear the new raid boss, Taimut the Crimson Dragon?

Most strategies had already leaked since its release days ago. But no one had completed it yet.

The challenge began in the second phase when Taimut the Crimson Dragon transformed from dragon to human.

The monster, once too large to fit in view, would shrink to a size where you could make eye contact.

As it shifted from PVE to something closer to PVP, naturally all tactics maintained in the first phase had to be abandoned.

Moreover, there was a limit to how many people could get close. Too many would create confusion with tangled movement lines, while too few couldn't handle the counterattacks.

The key was finding the right balance between these two extremes.

Fortunately, the Primal Guild had their specialist.

"Shinshin!"

At the Guild Master's call, a man rushed out to face Taimut.

Though fear-flames flickered and dyed the surroundings in a haze, he paid no mind and swung his sword.

Right after, a storm-accompanied strike invaded the battlefield. Though the ground crumbled and dust clouds rose, Taimut maintained balance and escaped the attack range.

Its target was the rear line.

Against its desperate attempt to break the front line, the man, Shinshin, persistently followed and interfered.

A battle of blocking each other's paths. As they repeated their back-and-forth, buying time, guild members poured skills at Taimut.

When its health gauge dropped below a certain level, Taimut raised its head and roared.

The so-called Curse of Silence.

It was an area skill that nullified the game's auto-targeting system. The added effect of removing friend-foe distinction was just a bonus.

Therefore, skills had to be used based on subjective judgment. All while avoiding friendly forces holding Taimut's ankles up close.

If friendly fire occurred, the front line would collapse, and if buffs and heals reached Taimut, it would only help the enemy.

It was a gimmick where the outcome depended entirely on the guild members' mastery.

That's why even though the solution was known, no one had succeeded in clearing it yet. It wasn't something that could be solved just by knowing what to do.

Therefore, when the Curse of Silence began, guild members executed their pre-agreed tactics.

They switched to skills with more intuitive effects.

So those holding Taimut back could distinguish them clearly.

As Shinshin, who had analyzed every attack in sight, went on the offensive, Taimut blazed up. The technique following the Curse of Silence was the Karma of Blazing Fire.

A special skill that bestowed unavoidable flames upon the four people who had dealt the most damage to it.

Given the characteristics of the Curse of Silence, it was structured to inevitably concentrate on the close-range dealers.

Sure enough, in an instant, three turned to ashes.

Shinshin too was about to melt away, but the guild members waiting in the rear line noticed the anomaly and responded, albeit a beat late, allowing him to survive.

But unfortunately, the situation was at its worst.

The front line that had been keeping Taimut in check was completely wiped out. Naturally, its range of movement expanded.

Just as the scales were about to tip to one side, Shinshin rushed out and swung his sword.

Lost Saga was a game obsessed with balance. If a near-instant-death pattern appeared, it meant they were near the end. Even if not, knowing that similar techniques wouldn't appear twice, he could counterattack without hesitation.

The howling Taimut and the pressing Shinshin.

The overheated stage revolved around these two.

They had been attempting this for hours already. Concentration was at its limit, and their stockpile of potions was running dry.

This might be their last chance.

The difficulty that had gradually increased over the past five years had reached a level that, while comprehensible in theory, was physically impossible to keep up with. Being a ranker in Lost Saga wasn't something achievable through experience and skill alone.

It required corresponding talent as well.

Fortunately, Shinshin was a user who could grasp the decisive move even without anyone's guidance.

Analyzing Taimut's movements and targeting its blind spots was done in an instant.

Slash.

Though his health gauge hit 0 from pushing his stats to the limit, the same was true for Taimut.

The moment Shinshin vanished with the wind, the calamity fell to its knees.

It was the moment of the server's first Taimut subjugation.

*

After the raid ended, the guild house was abuzz with talk about it for a while. They had achieved a server-first clear achievement after so long. It was something any player would want to brag about endlessly.

What's more, it had spread to the community. Needless to say, the Primal Guild's standing would rise. They were undoubtedly among the top guilds across all servers.

However, Shinshin, who could be called the main hero—

"Why is your level like that?"

Was getting scolded.

[Lv. 210 BecomingGodOfTheNewWorld]

Reading the text that reflexively appeared above his head, Shinshin, or rather Ga-on, gave a bitter smile. Things had been crazy lately. He simply hadn't had time to focus on Lost Saga. He felt like praising himself for managing to log in and participate in the raid at all.

But since he couldn't explain the circumstances, Ga-on just shrugged in response.

He and the Guild Master were old friends.

Games were one of the few entertainments available to Ga-on, who had no social status. Such a connection was inevitable.

Though they'd never met offline, they were still close enough to understand each other without words.

"What about your level then?"

[Lv. 220 ParadiseMaker]

It hadn't even been a week since the level cap was expanded, yet he had already reached the target. It was a sight that would make the developers weep.

That's when the Guild Master, ParadiseMaker, proudly declared:

"Well, I play without sleeping."

"That's nothing to brag about."

"Of course it is! Play time is something you can't buy with money. Light, fresh, and delightful! Joy belongs only to oneself, right?"

Ga-on shook his head.

He knew ParadiseMaker's personality well enough. He was an extreme hedonist. His nickname said it all.

He'd heard the man owned several villas in the colony.

Being a wealthy idler, he wouldn't listen to any advice.

He was a hardcore user who had gotten into Lost Saga unable to control his excess time. No, he was an obsessed player.

"By the way, haven't you been logging in less often lately?"

"Anyone would look that way compared to you."

"No, I'm serious. You used to log in at least every other day. But today you almost missed the raid. What's going on? Have you forgotten our promise under the peach tree?"

"I just had some complicated matters to deal with, that's why I was late."

Life being complicated meant life was harsh.

At least from ParadiseMaker's perspective.

"Are you perhaps too busy with real life? Just say the word. I'll provide food, clothing, and shelter."

No matter how close they were, Ga-on had no intention of depending on a wealthy person of unknown identity.

"I appreciate the thought."

"You're not quitting, are you?"

Pushing away ParadiseMaker, who was unusually clingy today, Ga-on added:

"It's not that, I'm just moving, so my personal time is temporarily reduced. Even if it's complicated, it's just for a moment."

"Moving?"

"Yeah."

"Come to think of it, you said your main job was being a problem solver."

He had revealed that fact two months ago. Fortunately, it was right before he changed his identity, so there were no contradictions. Still, since the person called Baek Ga-on that he would live as from now on had no plausible background—

"Though I'm still just a rookie."

He had to add a small lie.

But ParadiseMaker, seemingly caught on the word 'problem solver,' let out a sigh before speaking.

"Since you mentioned it, I have something I'd like to request too."

*

As soon as consciousness returned, he felt a slight weight on his temples.

It was the virtual reality connector, 'Connector'.

It was a goggle-type terminal that softly covered the face. Though small in size, it contained cutting-edge technology. It was a dream device that could read brainwaves and project near-realistic scenes.

Of course, it wasn't Ga-on's.

He had just reserved it for use.

That was also why he couldn't have an in-depth conversation with ParadiseMaker. The next user's turn was already approaching.

In the end, hearing ParadiseMaker's situation would have to wait until they met on Mars.

That's when a message arrived on his device.