TRLGHB 02

Chapter 2

“I noticed, hyung, back when you played Eternal Sunshine, they strictly controlled cash transactions, right? But New Generation isn’t like that. You can do whatever you want. You can buy and sell equipment and even make money from it. Everyone says it’s like a whole new world has opened up.”

Dongwoo said this outside the capsule.

Extreme freedom.

That’s why New Generation could become a worldwide game.

“I heard some people even make it their profession.”

“So, it depends on how I play, huh?”

Dongwoo nodded.

“Hah.”

When did he get so grown up?

A younger brother six years younger was now able to think about him.

Jinwoo looked at the installed capsule with a strange feeling.

‘Has it already been a year?’

It had already been a year since New Generation launched.

It also meant a year since Eternal Sunshine’s service ended. He hadn’t played a game in a whole year.

Just lived crushed by the harsh realities of life.

For that year, he practically worked only. Work unrelated to game development.

‘There must be many who are already ahead. It might be hard to catch up.’

Jinwoo clenched his fist tightly.

But it didn’t matter.

Though he started late in Eternal Sunshine, in the end, there was no blacksmith who could craft better than him.

‘I just need to be able to make things.’

That alone was enough.

“Anyway, I’ll help you. These days, if you want to talk with the tutoring kids, New Generation is essential. They all play New Generation.”

“You played it too?”

“I tried it in the capsule room. I even did some tutoring remotely from there. Of course, I only know the basics.”

Dongwoo smiled slyly.

“This is the most important thing. When you start New Generation, there’s an immediate setting called synchronization rate.”

“Synchronization rate?”

“It’s the connection that links reality and New Generation.”

Eternal Sunshine was a virtual reality game but had clear limits.

There were many parts that were difficult to control realistically.

But New Generation was different.

“So your real movements are exactly reproduced in the game. How much you can blend into the game is shown as a number — that’s the synchronization rate.”

“So, the higher the synchronization rate, the better?”

“Exactly. It lets you control more like reality. It’s like a kind of talent. The higher your talent, the higher your synchronization rate, they say. So.”

Dongwoo explained that athletes, experts, or masters had very high synchronization rates.

“Hyung, yours will probably be high too!”

He was confident that his brother, who was legendary in Eternal Sunshine, would have a high score.

“Try logging in first, hyung.”

After installation completed, Dongwoo helped Jinwoo log in.

“Lie down first.”

He fiddled with the settings and quickly finished.

“Try connecting right away, hyung.”

Following Dongwoo’s words, Jinwoo logged in immediately.

It was awkward but the connection method wasn’t difficult.

“I don’t have much time, hyung. Tutoring time’s almost up. Their parents are pretty strict, if I’m late even a little, they cut my pay, so I can’t be late.”

Dongwoo carried a lot of stuff. It seemed true that he did full-time tutoring.

“I’ll just watch you log in properly and then leave.”

He planned to leave after seeing his brother start New Generation.

Capsule activated.
Scanning body.
Body scan complete.
Generating unique ID.
User [Yoo Jinwoo] data input.
Creating New Generation ID!
Appearance and body modifications possible.
Only moderate changes allowed.
[Measuring synchronization rate!]

If there was anything most important in New Generation, it was this synchronization rate.

Chrrr…

Synchronization measurement complete.
User [Yoo Jinwoo] synchronization rate: 80%.

“80% synchronization rate?”

Jinwoo was surprised at the notification before his eyes.

80% synchronization rate.

His first thought was, “Not 100% then.”

Though he gathered a lot of information on New Generation, he hadn’t collected this much detail.

Eternal Sunshine had no synchronization rate, so this was new to Jinwoo.

“Well, not bad.”

At that moment, another alert sounded.

Dding-!

Synchronization rate exceeded 50%.
Recalibrating body.
Synchronization rate 80%.
Synchronization rate confirmed.
ID reset according to synchronization rate.

“Reset it?”

Even after recalibrating once more and getting 80% again, Jinwoo was sure.

“Maybe this is the limit?”

Since the alert mentioned surpassing 50%, 80% seemed quite high.

“Not bad.”

That wasn’t the most important thing.

He wanted to start the game fast and try it out.

“The Eternal Sunshine rankers probably had about 80% too. Catching up to the pioneers might be tough.”

Jinwoo, who had also intensely played Eternal Sunshine, knew well.

If you got a good start early on, it was hard to close the gap afterward.

“But whatever. It’s not about being number one. That just follows anyway.”

Jinwoo smiled.

He enjoyed the process of creating the ID so much.

Starting the game and thinking about what to do.

What he could do was more important.

“It feels like going back to the old days. Reminds me of when I first played Eternal Sunshine.”

From what he researched about New Generation,

unlike semi-virtual reality games like Eternal Sunshine, this was a full virtual reality game with technology that enabled full immersion.

“Not sure until I start, but it’s a good beginning. Feels like I’m not even in a game.”

Full immersion.

That phrase made complete sense.

“If it feels this real, I can probably make equipment easily with my skills?”

His dexterity was good, but skills also gave strong boosts.

So even if it was difficult, with some practice he could craft well.

“Better this way. It’ll be more fun.”

In Eternal Sunshine, Jinwoo had given up skill boosts entirely.

Doing so made difficulty skyrocket, but he could craft more dramatic equipment.

‘Though speed slowed, the skill boosts never produced mediocre gear.’

Other top blacksmiths compensated for lack of quality with speed and quantity, but Jinwoo focused purely on quality.

‘That’s why I got first place.’

No one could challenge that position.

Unlike Eternal Sunshine, in New Generation dexterity mattered even more.

That was an advantage for Jinwoo.

“The pleasure of crafting will be much greater.”

As a full virtual reality game, it allowed body and appearance changes and many other customizations.

Of course, there were limits.

“I won’t change much.”

Rather than changing appearance or body, Jinwoo wanted to try other things quickly.

Please choose your nickname!

“A nickname, huh.”

This was important.

In Eternal Sunshine, Jinwoo’s nickname was Jin.

A rare single-character nickname, it had been offered for sale several times but he never sold it.

‘Since it’s a fresh start, no need to cling to Jin. Let’s go with a fresh mindset.’

“Jinwoo.”

He decided to use his real name.

Nickname set!
Jinwoo#65747, may you write a new era and history of your own.

Jinwoo didn’t customize anything else and started New Generation immediately after setting the nickname.

Shhaaak—!

Closing his eyes against the bright light and opening them again, Jinwoo found himself in a medieval village.

“Wow.”

He couldn’t help but marvel.

Having only played semi-virtual reality games until now, the realism of full virtual reality stunned him.

Smells, sensations, and above all, being able to freely move his entire body.

Definitely different.

Couldn’t say if his form was improved, but the sensation itself was certainly different.

And above all, the most important thing.

“My hands…”

He was amazed.

“Are these really my hands?”

Jinwoo moved his hands around.

In Eternal Sunshine, hand movements were limited, so he couldn’t show dexterity perfectly.

But here was different.

It really felt like his own hands.

‘I think I can make even better stuff now.’

With this level of sensation, he was confident he could craft better equipment than before.

Who would think this was inside a game?

“Ah.”

Jinwoo admired it.

Hyung, done? Did you connect?

He heard his younger brother’s voice.

Jinwoo pressed a button to connect to an external speaker.

“Yeah, connected. But this feels completely real. Not even comparable to Eternal Sunshine.”

Right? Isn’t it amazing? From now on, do whatever you want. By the way, what synchronization rate did you get?

Dongwoo was very curious about his brother’s synchronization rate.

His brother was a legend in Eternal Sunshine, unmatched even among players there, with a unique crafting style.

So he thought his brother’s synchronization rate must be quite high.

Currently, all New Generation rankers had synchronization rates above 40%.

Jinwoo would naturally exceed that.

Over 45%, right? I checked and the rankers who played Eternal Sunshine with you have 40%. Since you were way better than them, I thought you’d have at least 45%! Over 45% means, even if you’re a year late, you can catch up fast!

“80%.”