The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse

Chapter 2

My whole body ached.

Well, it was only natural.

Considering I had just experienced an electric shock that felt no less intense than Astrape’s lightning.

Not only were the muscles throughout my body sore, but even my brain felt like it had been burned.

The ceaseless pain was enough to make me want to give up on life, but I didn’t.

[ Your level has increased. ]

Level up, collect items, achieve accomplishments.

And then, with the defeat of the roaring Golden Dragon of Greed as the end.

“Heok!”

My mind returned.

It was a dream.

No, I did conquer First, that’s true.

But I had regained consciousness only after dreaming of conquering First once more.

As I opened my eyes.

“Hey, you!”

Someone next to me, looking startled, shoved their face close to mine.

It was a familiar face.

And for good reason.

“…Kang Joo-hyuk?”

“You remember me?! Whoaaaaaa! Nurse! No, Doctor! This guy, he’s awake! He’s regained consciousness!”

Kang Joo-hyuk.

He was one of the few… no, the only friend I had.

Looking around, wondering what the situation was, I realized I was in a hospital.

Well, it was only natural since I had suffered an electric shock.

I tried to sit up to check the time.

“Huh…?”

My body wouldn’t move.

No, it would move, but…

My muscles hadn’t fully regained their strength, as if the aftereffects of the electrocution still lingered.

Wondering if it hadn’t been long since the incident, I looked down and saw thin, bony limbs.

“Huh?”

Even though I had lived the life of a shut-in gamer, my body wasn’t this emaciated.

I considered gaming a kind of physical endurance and had exercised intermittently.

But what was going on?

Even if I had suffered an electric shock, could my muscles have withered away this much?

As I was panicking, the news on the television across from me caught my eye.

The true virtual reality game.
It’s already been two years since Second opened.
The true virtual reality game presented by The Number Entertainment, Second, still firmly holds its position as the world’s best virtual reality game…

The number imprinted on the top right of the news screen.

That number was clearly.

“I’ve been out for three years?”

It was three years after the date I remembered.

In other words, I had been unconscious and lying in a hospital bed for a staggering three years.

While I was in shock.

“Hey hey hey! You’re really back with it, right? The doctor will be here soon! Look at this! How many fingers do you see? Hey, hey!”

Kang Joo-hyuk returned.

He waved two fingers in front of me, acting all flustered, but I was still out of it.

And for good reason.

“First…”

“Yeah, you’re probably confused, huh? I understand. Wow, how did you wake up just as I arrived? If I had known, I would have come more often. No, more importantly…”

“First has a sequel?!”

Dates and all that didn’t matter.

The ‘Second’ that the announcer was enthusiastically explaining on the news right now was the sequel to First, developed by The Number Entertainment.

I had heard the whole story.

As expected, I had been lying in a hospital bed for three years after the electric shock.

Fortunately, the capsule manufacturer admitted their mistake and provided ample compensation, which covered my hospital bills.

Well, it was closer to hush money for the capsule accident than actual compensation.

“Hey, hey. Are you really going to be okay? The hospital wants to observe your condition a bit longer.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re really going to kick the bucket if you keep this up! What if you suddenly collapse?”

“The hospital said there aren’t any major problems, they just want to keep an eye on things. Going out for a jog would be better than staying in the hospital.”

I had completed the discharge procedures.

Fortunately, there were no major issues with my body, and I was able to leave the hospital after a bit of rehabilitation training.

My body was still weak, but thanks to the rehabilitation, my energy had returned quite a bit.

Even so, I would have to keep moving consistently to build up this thin frame.

After leaving the hospital.

Thankfully, some of the compensation money remained even after the discharge procedures, so I was able to find a cheap studio apartment.

“Wow, what is this room? Can you even live here?”

“It’s similar to where I used to live.”

“Yeah, I was shocked when I visited you last time. How you lived in that place with only a capsule and a bed, seriously.”

I entered my new room.

It was just an ordinary studio apartment, but compared to my previous place, it felt quite spacious.

Unlike my old place, it even had full amenities.

And on top of that.

“Wow, what’s that! Did you buy it?”

“They said they sent it as a thank-you, separate from the compensation.”

“That capsule company? Since it’s come to this, shouldn’t you squeeze more out of them? Honestly, they put a person in a vegetative state for three years, is that all they’re going to do?”

“They went out of business. Sold to Second.”

“Huh? Then what’s that capsule?”

“Second provided it.”

In the center of the room sat a capsule.

Not the outdated capsule I used to use, but a mass-produced capsule recently made for Second.

As I stood in front of the capsule, Kang Joo-hyuk asked, reading my thoughts.

“Are you going to do it?”

“I have to.”

“Aren’t you scared? You were out for three years after playing First.”

“Well, thanks to that, Second was released without me having to wait, right?”

“Wow, you’re really something. Amazing, amazing.”

The second virtual reality game, Second.

There was no reason not to do it.

Just until three years ago.

No, honestly, as far as my memory went, until recently, the sequel to First, which was practically my whole life, was Second, wasn’t it?

Since First had already shut down its servers, that was the only place for me to return.

“Alright, since it’s come to this, give it your all! I’ll help you.”

“You play too?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t play Second these days? There are so many people who enjoy hobbies in Second, even if they don’t enjoy combat.”

“Hobbies?”

“Fishing, cooking. There are even people who study in Second because they say it helps them focus better.”

“Come on, doing all that in a virtual reality game?”

“It’s on a completely different level than the First you played, you know? You should just think of it as a different game.”

Hearing that, it seemed he played Second as well.

Well, these days, everyone from young to old played Second.

It would be stranger if someone didn’t play it.

“It’s a relief that it’s so popular.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If it’s popular, then exchanging in-game currency for real money will be easier, right?”

“Wow, you’re really planning on making money with Second?”

“I have to.”

While undergoing rehabilitation, I had finished researching Second.

Korea’s best.

No, the world’s best virtual reality game, ‘Second.’

Its popularity was so immense that there were many people who made money playing the game.

What they used to call ‘dark gamers.’

After confirming this, I made up my mind.

I decided to start playing Second.

“Well, come to think of it, that’s not a bad idea either. There are tons of people who are doing well and living comfortably by making money with Second these days.”

“Really?”

“Of course, it’s no joke. And you were Rank 1 in First, right? Then you’ll be able to adapt quickly.”

Since it was the sequel to First, I really wanted to play it, and if Second was the sequel to First…

‘It’s doable.’

I was Rank 1 in First.

If it was the sequel to such a game, I could definitely get on track and live as a dark gamer.

Even though two years had already passed since the game’s release, I was confident that I could quickly catch up to that two-year gap.

“Call me if things get tough. Even though I look like this, I’m pretty well-known in Second.”

“Yeah, right.”

“What are you saying? I’m seriously not kidding!”

“Yeah, right, you probably just became a fighter again. Always saying, ‘Bare-knuckle fighting is the truth!’ while running around in your underwear.”

“No, I am a fighter. Unfortunately, if you go around in Second looking like a seasoned player in old-school gear, the guards will arrest you.”

For a moment, memories with him flashed through my mind.

Before I became addicted to First.

We had similar tastes and played various games together.

Well, based on those memories, I didn’t have high expectations for his skills in Second either.

“My mom packed this for you to celebrate your discharge.”

“Braised short ribs?”

“My mom’s braised short ribs are no joke, you know.”

“…I’ll enjoy it. Please make sure to tell her I said thank you.”

“If you’re thankful, come visit her later. She was worried about you.”

“Okay.”

After chatting for a while, Kang Joo-hyuk went home.

Even though I had seen him off almost dismissively, I was grateful to him.

Kang Joo-hyuk was, no matter what anyone said, my only friend.

“Should I log in?”

I turned on the capsule and lay down inside.

The plush cushioning was on a completely different level compared to the outdated capsule I had used three years ago.

Well, even though it was three years ago, it felt like only a few weeks ago to me.

[ The Second World. ] [ Welcome to ‘Second.’ ]

“It’s really similar?”

A familiar voice echoed.

It was the same sound I heard when creating my character in First.

The only difference was that it said ‘The Second World’ instead of ‘The First World.’

[ Creating your character. ]

Next was the character creation process.

Since there were many similarities to First, I familiarly selected the options and proceeded step by step.

There wasn’t much to change, and I set it up to feel just like how I used to play in First.

Second had many more advanced features, but I didn’t feel the need to bother with them.

[ Please enter your name in Second. ]

“A name, huh.”

My name in Second.

What name should I choose?

Since First didn’t allow duplicate nicknames, pretty much every decent nickname would already be taken.

That’s why people who logged in recently said that getting a good nickname was like trying to catch a star in the sky.

As I pondered a nickname, my real name and my nickname in First, ‘Mir,’ came to mind.

Even though it probably wouldn’t work, I said the name, just in case.

“Mir.”

Then.

[ Would you like to set your name in Second as ‘Mir’? ]

“…It works?”

[ Account linking from First successful. ] [ You can use the forbidden nickname ‘Mir’. ]

Account linking?

Was there even such a thing?

I didn’t know what the function was, but I was happy.

If I could use the name I was most familiar with.

“Alright.”

[ Your name in Second has been decided as ‘Mir’. ]

With this, character creation was complete.

Now all that was left was to log into the game.

I was eager to experience the gameplay of Second, the ‘true virtual reality game.’

Suddenly, the system paused for a moment, and an additional message appeared.

[ Account linking confirmed. ] [ Account linking successful. ] [ Benefits will be provided to ‘Mir,’ the returnee from the first world. ]

“Benefits?”

Benefits?

What was this about?

I had looked up quite a bit of information about Second before running it, but I had never heard that linking a First account would provide benefits.

But, whatever.

The system continued its work.

[ Analyzing ‘Mir’s’ information to provide benefits. ] [ Checking achievements ] [ Achievement ‘Nightmare of the Dragon’ confirmed ] [ Achievement ‘Master of All Things’ confirmed ] [ Achievement ‘Akashic Records’ confirmed ] …….

First, achievements.

Familiar-looking achievement names flashed before my eyes.

Since I had achieved all the achievements in First, numerous achievements popped up.

Looking at them, it felt like the memories of my time in First were flooding back.

Following that.

[ Checking items ] [ Mythic item ‘Heart of the Golden Dragon’ confirmed ] [ Mythic item ‘Zeus’s Lightning, Astrape’ confirmed ] [ Mythic item ‘Poseidon’s Trident, Triaina’ confirmed ] …….

The items I possessed also flashed by.

Since I had similarly collected all the items in First, the number of system messages appearing was also enormous.

Quite a bit of time passed like that.

Because I had accumulated literally everything in First, the process of verifying it took longer than I expected.

A little while later.

Finally, the analysis of my character was complete.

[ Character analysis complete. ] [ The character’s transcendent achievements are acknowledged. ] [ As a returnee benefit, skill proficiency acquisition speed is greatly increased. ] [ As a returnee benefit, the skill slot limit is removed. ]

The ‘returnee benefits’ started to come in.

It was a bewildering situation, but good things were good, right?

Feeling recognized for my efforts in First, I happily read the messages appearing before my eyes calmly.

Then.

My eyes widened at the last message I read.

[ As a reward for the achievement ‘Akashic Records,’ you can bring one item you possessed in First. ]

“An item?”

A system message saying I could bring an item from First.

As soon as I saw that message, countless items flashed through my mind.

[ Heart of the Golden Dragon ]

The heart of the Golden Dragon, the most powerful dragon species and final boss monster in First.

As a mythic elixir of the highest quality among dragon hearts, eating this would allow me to become strong in an instant.

[ Zeus’s Lightning, Astrape ]

First’s ultimate finishing weapon, Astrape.

No matter how many items have been added to Second, Astrape would definitely still be the strongest finishing weapon.

I could level up and use it directly, or just resell it for an enormous amount of money.

‘I’m torn.’

Which item should I choose?

Should I choose a powerful elixir or weapon for the future?

Or should I choose a readily sellable item to cover my immediate living expenses?

As I carefully considered the items from First, wondering which one to bring.

[ Which item would you like to select? ]

Not long after.

“The Contract of Black Flames.”

I made my decision.

At the same time, the game started, and my vision began to be enveloped in a brilliant light.