The next morning…
“Ughh… I’m so tired…”
Siegfried woke up on the throne, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
“I should really stop sleeping in the capsule…”
Sleeping in the VR capsule wasn't that good for the gamer’s health. The World Health Organization—also known as WHO—discouraged sleeping in VR capsules, as sleeping in VR capsules had adverse effects on the gamer’s brainwaves, which would result in low-quality sleep that wouldn't really relieve one's fatigue.
“How can you sleep in such an adorable way? You can be really cute when asleep,” Siegfried muttered with a smirk at the sight of the curled-up Hamchi sleeping near his feet.
A maid approached him and offered water, “I hope your sleep was pleasant, Your Majesty.”
“Thanks,” Siegfried replied, taking the water and drinking it in one gulp to quench his character’s thirst.
“When would you prefer to have your meal? Should I have them prepare it now?”
“No, I am still a bit tired. I will go back to my world and rest, so please inform them that the meeting will take place in the evening.”“Certainly, Your Majesty.”
“Then, see you.”
“Please have a pleasant rest.”
Siegfried logged out from the game.
“Aaah…!”
As soon as the VR capsule was opened, Tae-Sung immediately stretched. The Ogre was made with the best technology possible, which meant that it was one of the most comfortable VR capsules out there, but it was still a VR capsule in the end.
Growl…!
Tae-Sung’s stomach growled, informing him that it was time to eat, so he headed straight down to the restaurant reserved for the residents of the building.
“Excuse me, Mr. Han Tae-Sung? May I please have your autograph? My children are huge fans of you.”
“Hello…? Can I have a picture with you? I’m a fan…”
The other residents approached him, asking for his autograph or to take pictures with him even before he could have a single bite of the fried rice that he had ordered.
Most of the residents were elites in their respective fields, so it was rare for them to disturb others, but Tae-Sung had grown so popular in recent days that it wasn't strange for them to approach him.
“Hello, Mr. Han Tae-Sung. Would you mind if I take a picture with you?”
In fact, even a famous actress approached him, asking to take a photo with him.
It seemed that Tae-Sung’s fame had reached a level where even celebrities were starting to take interest in him.
“Ah, that is…”
He was thinking of rejecting their requests, as he had nothing to eat the entire day and his stomach was already sticking to his back. As a matter of fact, he was so hungry that his hands were trembling while holding his spoon.
However, Tae-Sung did not refuse their requests.
‘These are the people putting food on my table. I should be good to them. So what if they want my autograph or they want to take a picture with me? It’s a hassle for me for sure, but this will be something memorable for them. How can a gaming addict like me dare to refuse their kindness?’
Tae-Sung chugged down a glass of orange juice to replenish his blood sugar levels and proceeded to accommodate his fans.
Thirty minutes later, He finally managed to take the first bite of his fried rice, but it had already gone cold.
***
“Mr. Tae-Sung! Just one more!”
“Argh…! I-I can’t anymore!”
“I will help you! Give me one more!”
“A-Aarghhh!”
Tae-Sung headed to the gym after finishing his meal, and he started working out with high-intensity weight exercises under the guidance of a professional trainer.
To be honest, he felt like dying from the workout, but he had been trying his best not to skip weight training over the past year.
The age of virtual reality had drastically changed the lifestyle of everyone, and it was already rearing its ugly head. One of the adverse effects of playing VR games for an extended period of time was muscle weakness.
Staying cooped up in a VR capsules for hours and hours every day was bound to lead to the weakening of one's muscles. Thus, Tae-Sung didn't neglect strength training no matter how tired he was; he even went as far as maintaining a balanced diet to stay in shape.
The effects of his hard work were showing, as he could now lift a combined weight of four hundred fifty kilograms on bench press, deadlift, and squat. It went without saying that his body looked impressive, and he could confidently take his shirt off at the beach.
Well, not like there was a reason for a gaming addict like Han Tae-Sung to ever go anywhere near a swimming pool in real life.
“I should probably do a bit of cardio so that I don't lose muscles,” Tae-Sung muttered as he hopped onto the treadmill and switched on the animation How Many Kilograms Can You Lift? before starting to run.
Then, he went home, took a shower, and napped for around three hours to relieve all of his accumulated fatigue.
Upon waking up, he went out to meet with the managers of Dongnae F&B and White Liquor to hear their ideas about the commercial ad. Then, he returned home and finally called it a day.
‘I’ll just rest for an hour and log into the game,’ Tae-Sung thought. He was relaxing with a cup of coffee in hand.
「Cheon Woo-Jin: Wanna go clubbing? The Hell Party guys will be coming.」
Tae-Sung suddenly received a text message from Cheon Woo-Jin. The Hell Party was a famous DJ duo from Australia, and Cheon Woo-Jin was a fan of them.
However, the Hell Party was the last thing on Tae-Sung’s mind right now because…
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Oppa -ㅁ-」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Are you sleeping? (˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Good morning, oppa!」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Are you busy…?」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Oppa! Have you had lunch? ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Hmm…」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Knock knock! (૭ ｡•̀ ᵕ •́｡ )૭」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Oppa… Are you very busy…? ㅠ.ㅠ」
(omitted)
「Yong Seol-Hwa: … 」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: Did you block me by any chance…? (இ﹏இ`｡)」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: You’re uploading all the time on social media…」
「Yong Seol-Hwa: … 」
He had just discovered dozens of messages from Yong Seol-Hwa upon opening his messenger app after a long while. He rarely used the messenger app and mostly called people, so he had completely forgotten it.
Moreover, he didn't have that many people he was keeping in touch with, so it wasn't strange that he wasn't using his messenger app.
“Heok…?” Tae-Sung gasped after remembering that he was about to reply to Yong Seol-Hwa when he was interrupted by a call, which made him completely forget about her.
Thus, he hurriedly replied.
「Han Tae-Sung: No!」
「Han Tae-Sung: I didn’t block you!」
「Han Tae-Sung: I’m sorry ㅠ.ㅠ」
「Han Tae-Sung: I was really busy these past few days I didn’t get the chance to check my messenger app ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ」
「Han Tae-Sung: I’m really sorry ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ」
Tae-Sung replied to her and waited patiently for the number "1" next to Yong Seol-Hwa’s name to disappear. The disappearance of that number meant that Yong Seol-Hwa had already read his message.
But…
‘She’s… probably mad, right?’ Tae-Sung thought. He had been waiting for quite a while now, but the number "1" was still there.
‘Did she block me?’ Tae-Sung considered the possibility that she had already deleted him from her friend list and blocked him. Of course, there was the possibility that she was currently in the game and could not reply, but Tae-Sung wouldn't find it strange that she was mad at him, as he had basically ignored her twenty plus messages.
‘What if she really blocked me…? Maybe I should give her a call… Yeah, I should probably do that,’ he decided to call her rather than keep waiting.
—The customer you have dialed is currently not available. Please leave a message after the beep.
Unfortunately, Yong Seol-Hwa did not answer.
Tae-Sung was not sure whether she was in-game or she had blocked his mobile number.
“Hmm…”
He contemplated for quite a while before deciding to send her even more messages.
「Han Tae-Sung: I’m really sorry, Seol-Hwa ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ」
「Han Tae-Sung: It wasn’t on purpose! I was just really busy…」
「Han Tae-Sung: I don’t have a lot of friends or people I keep in touch with…」
「Han Tae-Sung: That’s why I don’t check my messages…」
「Han Tae-Sung: And I was quite busy with some commercial deals these past few days…」
「Han Tae-Sung: I’m really sorry if you were offended.」
「Han Tae-Sung: I’m not sure if you blocked me, but…」
「Han Tae-Sung: I hope we can at least talk on the phone ㅠ.ㅠ」
「Han Tae-Sung: I was really wrong this time and it’s completely my fault.」
「Han Tae-Sung: I’m really sorry ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ」
Tae-Sung left a string of messages to Yong Seol-Hwa. Then, he thought, ‘If she had really blocked me, then I should probably apologize to her in person. I’m sure we'll run into each other once again…’
Yong Seol-Hwa was one of the top amateur players as well as the daughter of the living legend, Yong Tae-Pung. There was a very high chance that they would run into each other in some event or something.
‘Yeah, let’s just log into the game for now,’ Tae-Sung thought as he climbed into his VR capsule and booted the BNW client.
***
“His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa, is entering!”
The chamberlain announced Siegfried’s arrival…
“We greet His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa!”
“We greet His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa!”
“We greet His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa!”
The majority of the administrators and generals of the Proatine Kingdom traveled all the way to the Cabochon Territory. They greeted Siegfried in a unified voice as soon as the latter entered the hall.
“Shall we begin the reports?” Siegfried said to signal the start of the meeting.
Surprisingly, he didn't fall asleep and listened intently to the reports of the battles that occurred throughout the Espadrille Territory. Then, he personally gave instructions for each matter, proving that he could be a responsible king when the situation called for it.
“Lastly, I hereby command the Espadrille Province to be under intense scrutiny around the clock from here onward. I want all of you to report to me immediately if anything bizarre happens in the province. Make sure to report it no matter how small it is,” Siegfried said right before the meeting was adjourned.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” the subjects replied in unison.
Siegfried pleaded to his subjects to keep a close eye on the Espadrille Province, as the soul fragment could be anywhere in the province.
The Soul Fragment of Apocalius could destroy the world and force BNW into a restart.
Thus, it was only natural for Siegfried to want to command his subjects to be on the lookout for even the smallest bizarre occurrence in the province.
‘I should keep an eye out, too,’ Siegfried thought of combing through the entire Espadrille Province as well.
[Alert: Congratulations! You have conquered the Espadrille Province!]
[Alert: The effect of the title Ruler of Proatine shall take effect throughout the Espadrille Province from now on!]
[Alert: You will soon level up due to the effect of Ruler of Proatine!]
[Alert: Time remaining before level up - 68 hours and 35 seconds!]
Siegfried was scheduled to gain a level in sixty-eight hours and thirty-five seconds thanks to his title, "Ruler of Proatine."
But that was not the end of it…
[Alert: The effects of the passive skill Great King’s Blessed Land shall take effect throughout the Espadrille Province!]
Even the effects of his passive skill, Great King’s Blessed Land, were activated. The passive skillGreat King's Blessed Land increased the chances of finding talents, finding resources, abundant harvests, etc.
The lands of the Proatine Kingdom had been prospected for precious minerals long ago, so it was time for them to redirect their efforts to the Espadrille Province.
Siegfried decided to search for the soul fragment while helping the kingdom prospect for natural resources and hidden talents at the same time.
“Alright, let’s call it a day. Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
As soon as the meeting was over, Siegfried left the hall with Hamchi.
“Let’s go, Hamchi.”
“Kyuu! Let’s go!”
Just as they were about to step out of the hall, Siegfried heard a strange sound beneath him, prompting him to look down.
“S-Something’s off…?” Siegfried muttered, sensing something ominous from the red carpet on the ground.
The floor was heavily damaged in the battle yesterday, and it was yet to be repaired, so the floor was currently covered with a red carpet.
Bang!
The spot that Siegfried had stepped on collapsed beneath his weight, and they promptly fell downward.
“Aaaaack!”
“Kyuuuuuu!”
Siegfried and Hamchi screamed at the top of their lungs as they plummeted earthward.
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