Chapter 2

From the moment Hyun heard Seoyoon was pregnant, he was nervous and uneasy.

He now had the biggest worry in the world.

“What if the baby takes after me?”

His looks were just passable if he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror within five seconds after washing his face.

— Gender confirmed. It’s a girl.

“Of all things, a daughter?”

The anxiety intensified after learning the baby was a girl.

If she took after Seoyoon, she’d grow up to be a stunning beauty, but if she resembled him…

“Raising a child is like a lottery… What about her bone structure?”

— Normal.

“Her head’s not too big, right?”

— Slightly smaller than average.

“Smaller? That’s not a problem, is it?”

— Within the normal range.

“Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness.”

He relentlessly questioned the AI, Versa, for confirmation.

On the surface, he pretended to wait calmly for the birth.

“As long as she’s born with all ten fingers and toes and healthy, that’s all that matters.”

Of course, it’d be even better if she were beautiful, smart, and kind.

“If possible, I hope she doesn’t inherit my intelligence.”

Not just appearance—intelligence was also inherited genetically.

A father’s heart wants to pass down only the best to his child.

— But Master, you do have strengths too, don’t you?

“What strengths?”

— Your perseverance, your tenacity with physical labor, your sense of challenge.

“…”

Hyun knew he had lived like a madman in his teens and twenties.

And not in a noble or elegant way.

Extreme perseverance and a die-hard work ethic.

No matter how difficult things were, he never thought anything was impossible.

“A daughter like me… might not be such a great thing.”

He didn’t want his daughter to live the way he had.

He could already imagine the scenes.

A little girl making sculptures in kindergarten and selling them to her classmates at inflated prices.

Hovering near the teacher during lunch just to score a free meal.

“She won’t starve no matter where she goes…”

He sincerely hoped she wouldn’t take after him—and he was relieved when he saw the baby’s face for the first time.

Even as a newborn, she was cute, with a pretty face and bright, intelligent eyes.

‘Thank goodness. She doesn’t really look like me.’

With that relief, he named her.

Only one name came to mind the moment he saw her.

“She’s so pretty, let’s call her Dae-ye.”

It was the same naming sense that had led him to name Bingryong and Wasami.

And so, his beloved daughter grew up happily under his affection. At her first birthday party, during the traditional “grab” event, she picked a $100 bill.

“Well, dollars really are the best.”

Hyun could never forget the moment he inherited everything from Dr. Yoo Byung-joon.

Faced with astronomical wealth, his reaction was—

“Uhehehehehe.”

He laughed until his mouth practically split open.

Literally. His mouth cracked and bled from smiling too wide.

Thanks to Dr. Yoo’s bodily modifications, the wound healed quickly.

— All of Dr. Yoo’s assets now belong to you, Master.

“How many chickens could this buy?”

Even if he only ate chicken and threw away the meat, keeping just the bones, he’d never starve.

He could afford to buy every chicken franchise in the world.

Through AI Versa, he also learned more about Dr. Yoo.

About his genius intellect and his determination in creating Royal Road.

“Smart people are always so narrow-minded.”

To build an entire virtual world because of the grievances of his youth…

He even learned about the time he met Dr. Yoo in person.

“I gave him 200 won for hot cocoa?”

— Yes, but cocoa cost 300 won.

Apparently, Hyun had once given a sad-looking Dr. Yoo 200 won, which wasn’t enough for cocoa. Dr. Yoo held a grudge over the missing 100 won for years.

“People with money are stingier. I’ve just been way too nice.”

To hold a grudge over a missing 100 won, despite having billions—how petty could one be?

Like rescuing someone from drowning, only to have them demand your suitcase.

When his daughter was born and he began raising her, Hyun started to see the world differently.

He had survived poverty, but he didn’t want that for his child.

“Let’s enter the food and household goods industry.”

— Understood.

He expanded his business to provide safe, quality goods for families.

Seeing his baby smile, Hyun made another resolution.

“Let’s start an education business, too.”

— Education?

“I want to create a good environment for my child.”

Just raising his own daughter well wasn’t enough.

Friends and surroundings were crucial.

He invested heavily in the education sector to ensure his daughter would have good friends.

He carried his daughter on his back, cooked, cleaned, did the dishes—raising her with all his heart.

And he never felt tired.

— Master’s bioengineered heart is now functioning stably at 1,500 beats per minute.

“1,500!?”

— That’s far beyond the maximum heart rate of most athletes.

His heart pumped blood at incredible speed, supplying energy throughout his body.

Its capacity was so great that even 10 beats per minute was enough during rest.

His blood vessels were wide, strong, and nano-coated.

“It was hard climbing hills back when I delivered milk and newspapers.”

Back then, hauling loads uphill on a bike nearly killed him.

Now, even light pedaling let him overtake motorcycles.

“I wonder how fast I can run.”

— On flat ground, over 80 km/h for 5 hours continuously.

Strength, stamina, reflexes, concentration—

Everything had far surpassed human limits.

“Daddy.”

When his diaper-wearing daughter finally called him “Daddy” for the first time, he felt like he owned the whole world.

Hyun loved reading fairy tales to his daughter.

“They ate cloud bread and flew into the sky… wait a second.”

While reading to his four-year-old, he paused.

Something about it just didn’t sit right.

“Eating bread doesn’t make you fly.”

“Huh?”

“Flight requires lift.”

He began scientifically disproving the story mid-reading.

“There were Nolbu and Heungbu… Nolbu was greedy and stingy… Hmm, this story is fundamentally flawed. Heungbu lacked financial sense.”

If you lived like Heungbu, always giving to others, you wouldn’t even be able to take care of your own family.

Nolbu might have been greedy, but Heungbu was deeply problematic.

“A swallow bringing a magic seed? That’s just a classic get-rich-quick fantasy. People like that end up wasting their lives chasing lotteries and crypto.”

The same thing happened when reading the tale of Fool Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang.

“The king promised his crying daughter to Fool Ondal.”

“Yeah?”

“That was gaslighting by the king. And the part where Ondal becomes a great general? Totally unrealistic. People don’t change that easily.”

Hyun thoroughly instilled his values into his daughter.

Though Royal Road remained popular for a long time, eventually it started to fade.

— Too many players over level 1200. No way to catch up if you start now.

— Just endless wars… is this even fun?

— My dad and uncle only talk about Royal Road when they drink. Total old man game.

— Boomer central…

It was natural for even the greatest games to fade with time.

So Hyun launched a new VR game for the younger generation.

Unicorn Corp announces new VR game: Seven Stars
Improved scale and technology across the board
High freedom, diverse cities—the continent of dreams begins anew

Global media heavily promoted the new game.

With better progression, new tech, varied monsters and quests, it surpassed Royal Road in many ways.

— This is it.

— We’ve been waiting for this!

— LET’S GOOOO!!

The game gained some popularity among young people, but not at Royal Road’s level.

VR games no longer felt novel.

— Seven Stars popularity is declining. Veteran users still log in, but new user growth is shrinking.

“I see.”

Hyun felt disappointed as he listened to the report.

He had created a new world for people to enjoy, but nothing lasts forever.

“People will just find new ways to play.”

Now, Hyun lived in a house, sending his daughter to kindergarten—just a regular dad.

“Dad, none of my friends have big dogs like ours.”

“Bosin has lived a long time, hasn’t he?”

Bosin, who used to nearly die every summer, was still alive.

Thanks to cutting-edge biotech, his organs were regenerated and joints replaced.

The egg-laying, high-nutrition, super-flavorful fried chickens had grown into a big family.

Boneless, soy-glazed, golden-olive, cheese-powdered, scallion, salt-grilled—all chirping happily in the yard.

“Dad, we’re having a sports day at school.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll wipe the floor with them.”

With his daughter on his shoulders, Hyun ran the 100m dash in just over 10 seconds.

His physical dominance swept the awards.

He would never give up first place—not when it was for his daughter.

‘At this speed, no one should suspect anything.’

Even holding back, he easily came in first.

He treasured the 3.75g gold prize from the kindergarten, storing it in his underground gold vault.

Time passed as they lived their quiet, ordinary life.

His daughter entered elementary school, graduated, then went through middle and high school—and turned twenty.

Abyss Games announces new VR title: Roanoke

Few players or media paid attention.

— What’s Roanoke?

— Who knows. Just another game using Unicorn’s tech.

— No promo about budget or anything. Never heard of the dev team. Hard pass.

— If you want VR, stick with Royal Road. At least it’s not a waste of time.

— I like trying even bad games, though.

— Try it out and let us know.

— Will do.

Korea, a country passionate about games, had curious users who tried Roanoke.

— Roanoke is a god-tier game!

— Seriously?

— The freedom is insane.

— The kingdom is in ruins, the whole continent’s on the verge of collapse lol.

— Demons roam the fields. If you zone out in town, the lord might capture and sell you as a slave.

— I got conscripted and died just for having all my limbs intact.

— Living in a dying world is kinda fun.

— You can even be a criminal if the country’s lawless.

Word of mouth spread—Roanoke became a massive hit.

— Feels like Royal Road tech, but…

— The appeal is that it’s not a stable world.

Over the last 20 years, the world had become peaceful and prosperous.

Thanks to Hyun’s values, almost no one went hungry, and crime was harshly punished.

But people who had grown complacent were now craving doom and darkness.

User numbers hit 10 million, then 100 million, then 200 million.

It began to rival Royal Road’s golden era.

About a year later…

Major incident involving Roanoke players
Users remain in vegetative state after logging in
Millions unable to wake up

Through Versa, Hyun immediately grasped the situation.

— It appears users are being forcibly kept connected inside Roanoke.

Players could not log out or return to the real world.

“The damage must be enormous.”

— Current estimates show over 60 million users worldwide unable to wake up.

“That many?”

— To draw in as many users as possible, the game held a massive in-game event.

“They really planned this.”

Hyun expected international investigations and believed Unicorn Corp would gladly offer tech support.

But Versa wasn’t finished.

— Among the victims unable to wake up… is your daughter, Master.