TRPM 324

chapter 324

“Ah, he’s dead.”

“He actually died? What a waste.”

“No, you guys died way before me!”

“Six of one, half a dozen of the other.”

I was checking my smartphone, worried, when it seemed the game had ended. And it ended with our team being completely wiped out.

‘Did Ryu Amin survive the longest?’

Of the four of us, the weakest, Ryu Amin, survived the longest… Of course, being strong in real life doesn’t necessarily translate to strength in a game. But it probably has some influence.

‘Awakened individuals who are strong in real life usually have excellent reflexes and peripheral vision.’

I’d heard that recently, FPS games have separate servers for Awakened players and normal players. If an Awakened player plays an FPS while perceiving the screen at frame-level precision, it’s basically like cheating against normal players.

Anyway…

‘Was it luck? Or was it good strategy and judgment?’

Why did Ryu Amin, whose physical ability is lower than others, survive the longest? Personally, I lean toward luck. Ryu Amin’s note-taking grades weren’t that great. And in school, we do have classes on strategy and command.

‘Strictly speaking, the strategy classes at school aren’t exactly meant for FPS games…’

Then again, the problem might be that I didn’t pay close attention to how Ryu Amin was actually playing, being too absorbed in my phone. Thinking that, I prepared for the next game. I decided I’d be disappointed if I died first again.

‘It’s a game I didn’t play much after my regression, but I used to play it a lot before…’

Just as I was recalling those memories and preparing to play seriously…

“What? These are Class 0 kids?”

“What? Oh, really? And there’s Gunwoo too?”

I turned my head at the slightly familiar voice.

“Oh, long time no see?”

“It’s the first time seeing you since the end-of-term ceremony.”

“…This guy’s tone hasn’t changed at all…”

I looked at the faces of the kids who had come near us. They were all familiar. Well, they went to the same school, after all.

‘Some I played soccer with in middle school, others I first met in high school…’

We weren’t super close, but we were friendly enough.

“You guys came to play games together too?”

“If not, why else would you come to a PC café?”

Hmm… Sure, coming to a PC café doesn’t mean you have to play a game, but during vacation, the main reason high schoolers come in groups is usually to play games.

“Oh, perfect timing. We were going to play just among ourselves, but let’s play together.”

“Together? What game?”

“What else? The newly released game.”

A new game? Could there really be a new game for eight players? While I wondered that, the kids sat nearby and turned on the computers. And…

“Oh, it’s installed. Vigilante. This is new, right? Let’s play multiplayer.”

I closed the previous game I was playing and looked for the game titled Vigilante.

‘Vigilante… so it’s a game about fighting criminals?’

I launched the game without much thought, and then…

“Cough… cough?!”

Seeing the image on the screen made me cough involuntarily. Why?

“Hey, isn’t that Artist?”

“Yeah, probably.”

A very familiar figure, wearing a mask and floating multiple swords, occupied the main screen.

“Hey, Gunwoo, are you sure this is okay?”

“……”

I paused to think.

‘The Cheolhyeol Guild usually manages things like this.’

The Cheolhyeol Guild manages my image meticulously so it’s not damaged. But the fact that a character openly modeled after me appeared in this game…

‘…means the Cheolhyeol Guild approved it…?’

And Yeon Mirae wouldn’t have failed to tell me about it. In fact, she probably asked for my permission first.

‘…Did she?’

Maybe she asked and I just don’t remember. I probably assumed the guild would handle image management anyway.

“Phew…”

I sighed. If this game wasn’t officially approved by the guild, they’d probably act soon enough.

‘By the way, I’m the protagonist in this game?’

It’s not unusual for specific Awakened individuals to appear in games or movies, so I had expected it someday. Still, seeing myself in a game felt strange.

“So? What kind of game is it?”

“It’s an RPG, I think. We don’t know the story either. We didn’t even watch the PV before playing today.”

Ah… So it’s a typical game where you defeat enemies and grow stronger. And judging by the title Vigilante, it’s probably about the protagonist’s vigilante activities. Thinking that, I created my character. Appearance was left as default, and weapon…

“Should I use a gun?”

“Gunwoo, don’t use a gun.”

“You died immediately last time, didn’t you?”

“Is it because you can’t shoot?”

I was about to pick a gun, but the others stopped me. …These guys?

“Gunwoo, since you resurrected Woo Ji-min, everyone knows you’re bad at shooting. Maybe that’s why you’re obsessed with guns…”

“…That’s not it. I just hadn’t shot before, now I’m fine.”

“Still seems like an excuse to me.”

So, no. I created the character without a gun. Choosing a gun now would make me look like I was overcompensating.

‘Hmm…’

After creating my character, the story so far had the protagonist, inspired by Artist (me), starting to fight criminals due to some incident, eventually joining a vigilante group called Vigilante.

‘Pretty standard so far.’

Nothing unusual compared to other games. When the protagonist joined Vigilante, multiplayer unlocked, so the tutorial ended.

“Hey, Gunwoo, accept the friend request.”

“Okay.”

After finishing the tutorial, my character joined the waiting kids. I noticed their weapons—all swords, except mine.

“What? Why do you all have swords? Don’t we need a balanced setup?”

Usually in these games, sword users are front-line fighters.

“Not now, maybe.”

“?”

“But when characters level up, won’t they learn skills to fight Artist with swords?”

I couldn’t argue with that. My image was on the main screen, so it wasn’t strange for the protagonist to meet me and learn techniques. Learning my signature Gear Swordsmanship wouldn’t be surprising. If anything, not meeting me would disappoint players.

“…So you picked a sword just to see that skill?”

“Yeah.”

“…Even though you don’t know when you’ll learn it?”

“Yeah.”

Fair enough. But I worried whether having everyone but me as front-line fighters would hinder gameplay.

‘Well, the game probably doesn’t make it impossible to progress with everyone front-line.’

Still, it would be hard. I waited for the others to finish the tutorial. And…

“Ah… you all chose swords too…”

“Looks like everyone thinks the same. Except Gunwoo with a staff, everyone’s swords.”

Seeing the latecomers’ characters all wielding swords, I sighed inwardly. …Will this be okay?

It didn’t take long for my worries to be proven valid.

“Move!”

“You move! Don’t block me!”

“You’re blocking my skill!”

“……”

Seven out of eight party members wielded swords, all charging at enemies at once… it was chaotic.

Since it’s a game, there was no friendly fire damage, but collisions from attacks disrupted each other’s movement.

‘In reality… most of these guys would probably fall from friendly attacks rather than enemies.’

‘They say incompetent allies are scarier than competent enemies…’

The only saving grace was that it was still early, and enemies weren’t strong, so we could still progress. My constant healing also helped.

[Clear!]

“Phew… got it.”

“Crazy hard… but once we level up and get gear, it’ll be fine, right?”

“……”

“Future looks bleak.”

Some optimistically said it would get better, but others faced reality: with seven sword users, it might be okay now, but later it’d be tough.

“Enough, let’s see the story.”

Someone suggested focusing on the story since the current gameplay had no solution. Thanks to that, we refocused on the game.

[Ching!]

Pressing the story button, a scene played where my character seemed evenly matched against a criminal. But… why did my staff-wielding character act like it was using a sword? Whatever. Watching the scene, my character made a mistake and faced a life-threatening situation.

[Ugh?!]

[Die!]

I was speechless.

‘…Why did you step on that abandoned can…’

Suddenly, someone intervened between my character and the criminal, blocking the attack.

‘…Wait.’

It was a man wearing a mask and holding a sword. Me—Artist.

‘I expected a scene where my character meets Artist, but…’

On-screen Artist used flashy techniques to defeat the criminal efficiently, unlike my character who preferred quick, simple moves. After defeating the criminal, Artist spoke to my character.

[You okay, rookie?]

‘Damn…’

Seeing Artist act like that, something stirred in my hands. First, I need to find out which company made this game.