Chapter 7

Chapter 7 . Secret of the Expert (2)

Every time An Jaehyun swiped his card, the old-style watch on his wrist vibrated .

‘The money I bet my life on is gone after just two swipes…’

To An Jaehyun, the vibration felt like the watch writhing in pain .

‘Whatever . I’ll show the world what it means to earn and spend money like a king . ’

While An Jaehyun was forming a new resolution in his mind, the employee finished reading over the contract and began explaining the final procedure .

“We’ll deliver the V-Gear to your home at your convenient time . What would you like to do for the detailed settings? Would you like to do it here, or at home?”

Detailed setting .

It was the process of adjusting the V-Gear’s numerous options to match the user .

It was a rather important process, as important as tuning for instruments . The difference between having it done and not having it done was huge . Rankers, whose lives depended on the 1 or 2% difference, were especially careful about the settings . As a result, top ranking player often did their settings on their own . Of course, it was the case for An Jaehyun as well .

“I’ll do it here . ”

Even so, there was no need to do the entire setting by himself . After roughly setting it up here, An Jaehyun planned on personalizing it as he used it .

The employee nodded his head .

“I’ll call the programmer, please wait . ”

★★★

A programmer, who was furiously typing on his laptop, released his hand . Connected to the laptop was an emerald-colored V-Gear .

“Shit, what’s wrong here?”

“What now?”

“There’s no error in the system no matter how many times I check . There’s nothing we can fix . ”

“So what?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? It’s a tester problem, so we’ll have to call the tester . ”

The other programmer couldn’t help but smirk at his colleague’s response .

“Yeah, as if the VVIP will come here . If we call her here, she’ll probably respond with ‘Who the fuck do you think I am?’ That’s if we can even reach her through the phone in the first place . ”

“Well, that’s why I said shit . ”

These two programmers weren’t the run-of-the-mill programmers that looked for defects in the system . They were members of Peach Corp’s Japan Branch, and also part of the research and development team under Peach Corp’s Asia Branch . They were top-level VR programmers who participated in the development of the Level 6 model, and their salaries were easily in the several hundred millions .

The fact that they had come to Korea in a single day and became repair technicians could only mean that this VVIP held an incredibly important position, enough to easily turn top-level VR programmers into mere repair technicians .

It went without saying that the two programmers were incredibly frustrated at the whole situation .

They graduated from prestigious schools, found work in their field’s biggest business, and received the best treatment from others . It was probably their first time being treated as they were today .

But what choice did they have? As long as they were getting paid, they had to listen to the higher up’s orders .

“Let’s start from the beginning . What was her complaint?”

“After the Climbing Test, she said her body felt sluggish and that her reaction time was a tempo off . ”

“The reaction time being off just means the VR physical ability has a slow reception time . As for her body feeling sluggish… I can only think it’s her being unable to adapt . ”

At that moment, An Jaehyun came up to them along with the programmer to do his settings . It was as An Jaehyun intended . To take a closer look at the 6S model, An Jaehyun led his programmer next to them .

As a result, An Jaehyun was able to overhear their conversation .

“This is the 6S model, right?”

An Jaehyun immediately asked . The two programmers only just noticed that An Jaehyun had walked up to them, and they couldn’t hide their surprised faces .

“Yes?”

“How did you know?”

They had no choice but to be surprised . The 6S model was still in testing, and most people didn’t know the Level 6 model even existed . It would be a different story for specialists of the field, but it was clear that An Jaehyun wasn’t one .

“It is, right?”

“Yes, it is . ”

“Then it should be a test model . What is a test model doing here? Is there a problem?”

“It’s because the tester said her body felt sluggish…”

At that instant, the other programmer glared at the programmer who had just answered An Jaehyun’s question .

‘Hey! What are you telling him that for?!’ was what his eyes were saying . Noticing the man’s gaze, the programmer in question shut his mouth, realizing his mistake . On the other hand, An Jaehyun was completely unconcerned at the two programmers exchanging glances, as he placed his thought on what the man had just said .

“If the body feels sluggish, it’s probably because of the Sensory System . ”

Extended Sensory System .

It was a new system introduced in the Level 6 model .

It expanded the sensory limits a human could feel in the virtual world, and Warlord players often called it the sixth sense . It was a good system, but it was also a double-edged sword . One’s sensory limits being expanded meant the user had to intake more information . If one received more information than they could handle, the process could only feel sluggish .

The point was to adapt to it . If one couldn’t adapt, it meant that the person had no talent in using the Extended Sensory System, at which point it was better to not use it at all .

“I assume the testing method is Climbing . Lower the Extended Sensory System by 50% and check the Climbing test result . Then, adjust the Extended Sensory System by raising it 5% each time . That should do it . ”

The Climbing Test was the most frequently used testing method when performing a VR device setting .

The Climbing Test was rock climbing in the virtual world . It allowed for the checking of how well and to what extent the user was utilizing his or her VR physical abilities, and how good one’s sense of balance was .

Meanwhile, the two programmers stared in amazement at An Jaehyun’s explanation .

“How do you know this?”

An Jaehyun didn’t seem to be a professional, but his response was full of confidence . He even knew about the Extended Sensory System . This was a state-of-the-art technology only a few specialists in the field knew about . It wasn’t something a clueless nobody could know .

“Is there a problem with me knowing?”

“No, but…”

“Do you perhaps have experience as a tester?”

Instead of giving an answer, An Jaehyun just shrugged his shoulders . It was a vague reply, but it was the best he could do at the moment . He did have experience, but not as of now .

Then .

“Could you please help us?”

One of the programmers asked An Jaehyun .

“Hey! What are you saying?”

The other immediately opposed it . In reality, there was nothing wrong with what he asked . They were working with a device in testing anyways . Collecting data from multiple testers would be the logical thing to do . In fact, it was unusual and illogical for someone to use a testing device as a personal device .

“Come on! We can test it ourselves all day, but it won’t help at all . Why not just get a little help?”

“You’re right, but…”

The two looked over at An Jaehyun, seemingly asking for help . To this, An Jaehyun answered without hesitation .

“Sorry, I can’t . ”

‘If this is that bitch’s, no reason for me to help . ’

It wasn’t like he was going to be paid for it . Plus, if it really belonged to Choi Sulyeon like he thought, he would rather die before helping his sworn enemy .

The two programmers made sullen faces, but An Jaehyun ignored them both . An Jaehyun had no reason to pity them . Since they were handling the 6S model, it was clear they were from the main branch, they were elites that An Jaehyun didn’t even have the qualifications to pity .

An Jaehyun stared back to his programmer .

“Let’s go do our setting . ”

The third programmer standing behind with a blank expression finally snapped out .

“An, yes . ”

★★★

A lady with a model-like stature and a glamourous figure took off an emerald-colored V-Gear, exposing her long, straight hair . She looked at the programmer who helped her take off the V-Gear and nodded her head .

“I lowered the Extended Sensory System and incrementally increased it like you said, and it feels much better . It should be enough . ”

Along with these words, she signaled with her eyes toward a female bodyguard next to her .

The female bodyguard began to dismantle the installed V-Gear 6S Level with extreme proficiency . It seemed like she wanted to take it with her straight away . The two programmers let out sigh of relief watching this take course .

‘Geez, she really treats us like slaves . ’

‘Money sure talks…’

Choi Sulyeon grabbed her jacket from nearby and took out her wallet, then took out two blank checks .

“Good work . ”

The two were surprised by both her words and the checks .

‘No way . ’

They had expected about a million won, but there was an extra zero on the check they received .

Money talks? Hell yeah!

The two immediately thought of this idiom . On the other hand, Choi Sulyeon was completely ignoring the two programmers as she handed them the checks . Her business with them had ended the moment she gave them the checks, and she had no reason to keep a close relationship with either of them .

At that moment, as if she had just remembered something, she asked them a question .

At the end of the test, I noticed my time ranked second . What was the first?”

“Yes?”

The two tightly held onto the checks in their hands as they tilted their heads in question .

‘Second? What does she mean?’

‘She ranked second? As if . That time was on the level of a world-record . ’

Here at the Peach Store, all V-Gears shared the same program installed to a single server, because it was impossible to install the program on individual machines due to licensing and storage space . It was the same for the Climbing Test . The rankings were of the users that tried the Climbing Test that day .

And Choi Sulyeon had just scored a record of 2 minutes and 51 seconds on the A-level test .

Most people can’t even finish the A-level test . No matter how long one takes, anyone who could complete it would be considered good at adapting to the VR world . Furthermore, only a handful of people could finish this test under 3 minutes . Those that could were geniuses, the so called monsters .

Choi Sulyeon’s record of 2 minutes and 51 seconds was incredible without doubt . She was content at surpassing her past record of 2 minutes and 58 seconds, a whole 7 second difference . She felt it was worth the effort in obtaining a 6S model .

But her record was only in second place .

She couldn’t understand how . How could her monstrous record be second place?

The two programmers could only tilt their heads .

Choi Sulyeon frowned, watching the two .

“Can I see the Climbing Test rankings?”

At her order, one programmer immediately ran to his laptop . When he saw the record on the screen, his face stiffened .

“2 minutes 33 seconds…”

An absurd record was sitting on the first place . It was a time impossible for a human being to achieve .

The two immediately replied .

“Looks like it was a bot result . ”

“We had a bot running to test the product . Looks like we accidentally recorded one of its times . ”

It was an impossible record for a human . Then the answer was simple .

Choi Sulyeon only gave them a tired look before she turned her head away .

★★★

After returning home, An Jaehyun stretched as if stared at the V-Gear installed in his small one-room apartment .

Anyone could easily tell from his face that he was in a bad mood .

“Damn it . ”

‘Was it because it’s a Level 1 model? I can’t believe my Climbing time fell to the 30s . It was well in the 20s when I was at my peak . Ugh, it must be because I haven’t played in a while . ’

The Climbing Test result put An Jaehyun in a sour mood, and kept bothering him .

He realized he was not in his best condition .

‘Necromancer or whatever, I need to first restore myself to my peak condition . ’

With a frown on his face, An Jaehyun finished stretching and grabbed a handful of glucose candy he just purchased . He threw them in his mouth, and he put on the V-Gear glove with a loud chewing noise . Jelly like substance billowed inside the glove, completely immersing his hands down to each fingerprint . An Jaehyun immediately swallowed down the tiny pieces of glucose candy in his mouth .

Then he laid on the mattress and put on his V-Gear .

[User An Jaehyun, iris scan complete . Thank you for using the V-Gear . ]

As soon as the iris scan finished, An Jaehyun clamped the mouthpiece inside the V-Gear helmet .

Biting down strongly, An Jaehyun prepared his mind .

‘Alright, let’s see who gets the last laugh!’