Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented-Chapter 215

A man stood at the center of a pristine white cubic room.

His rolled-up sleeves revealed solid muscles, and a bead of sweat trickled down from his well-groomed black hair onto his forehead.

As he took a deep breath, tensing his muscles, a woman’s voice echoed throughout the room.

[Evasion rate: 98.5%. Passed. Would you like to proceed to the 10th stage test?]

"Start."

Beep—

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

At the sound of his voice, an alert tone rang out, and metallic spheres began shooting out at terrifying speeds from the previously blank white walls.

"Hoo."

The man held his breath, lowered his head, raised his arms to guard, and began weaving. The spheres streaked past him with deafening whooshes, barely missing his body.

...

Beep—

[10th stage test complete. Evasion rate: 95%. Passed.]

[You have cleared the final stage test.]

[Terminating program.]

Whirrr— ƒгeewёbnovel.com

The top of the capsule opened, and the man who had just been in the white room sat up. Though it was a different body from the one in the virtual space, a faint sheen of sweat remained on his forehead.

A beautiful red-haired woman in a lab coat approached him, smiling as she handed him a towel.

"Chris, huh?"

"Cook, you’re working hard again today. We all know virtual training has real-world effects, but still."

"Hmm. Even decades ago, there was research showing that simply imagining exercise stimulated muscles."

"Sure, but if you’re aiming for muscle growth, real-world exercise is obviously better. Virtual exercise mainly minimizes muscle loss and activates underused muscles through neural pathways."

"But if the goal is growth within the virtual environment itself, there’s no better workout than this."

Chris laughed heartily as she checked the results of the reaction test. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"An evasion rate of 95% in the final stage...! This is on par with professional athletes in virtual reality."

"It’s not enough."

"Cook, what exactly is ‘not enough’ for our Death of Deaths, Heo Jun-hyuk?"

Chris smirked as she playfully jabbed her elbow into Heo Jun-hyuk’s side. He closed his eyes, swaying slightly with her nudges.

"At this level, I can’t reach her."

"Still obsessed with beating our kid? I heard she gave you quite the beating recently. Is that true?"

"Next time, it might be different. I wouldn’t have become a boxer if I didn’t have a competitive streak."

"...Anyway, how’s your body holding up?"

"Same as always."

"You said it was something called punch-drunk syndrome, right?"

"It doesn’t interfere with daily life for now, so it’s fine."

Chris clicked her tongue and averted her gaze, knowing all too well why Jun-hyuk had been forced to quit boxing.

In the past, Jun-hyuk had been compelled to leave the sport due to punch-drunk syndrome, a condition caused by repeated head trauma. Afterward, he dedicated himself to studying virtual reality, eventually landing an internship at Klaus Capsule Corporation, the world’s largest capsule company. But his departure from the world of competition didn’t mean he had lost his fighting spirit.

Chris, analyzing the test data displayed on a holographic screen on the lab wall, spoke casually.

"There are plenty of competitive sports in virtual reality. ...Why Astria Online of all things?"

"Hmm. Out of all the metaverses I’ve experienced, it feels the most real."

"...Hmmph."

Chris let out a nasal scoff, her eyes still fixed on the hologram.

"You’ve won the tournament at the end of every arena season so far. What more is there to achieve?"

"Rain didn’t participate."

"Our kid isn’t joining this time either."

"We’ll see. That’s not certain."

Jun-hyuk’s smile turned enigmatic.

"If Rain decides to join, will you try to stop her?"

"Ugh."

Chris broke into a cold sweat.

***

"Ughhh," I groaned, lost in thought for the past few days.

I’m a PvE-only player. I don’t do PvP.

The arena? I only join to complete daily quests. This season, just participating is enough to fulfill the quest, so I’ve been forfeiting matches immediately to get it done.

Naturally, I’ve never joined the final tournaments held at the end of each arena season.

But this time, the ‘Great Martial Arts Tournament’ is being hosted by none other than the Emperor of the Betarion Empire. On top of that, the game company, which has never interfered with the continent’s history before, is stepping in to invite players from other servers. And to sweeten the deal, it’s tied to a World Quest.

When I first encountered this quest, my immediate thought was:

"So, after the Alfarion Empire, it’s the Betarion Empire’s turn, huh."

What could the Emperor’s purpose be?

Why is he specifically gathering the strongest players among the countless others?

The Emperor of the Alfarion Empire immediately recognized my true identity when he saw me. At his request, I neutralized a massive threat in the eastern region of the empire.

My name, after stopping that threat, must have spread across the Astria continent, even reaching the Betarion Empire. This means the Emperor of the Betarion Empire might also have pieced together my identity.

My former comrade, Leoner—the first Emperor of the Betarion Empire.

The current Emperor must be one of his descendants.

The World Quest in the Alfarion Empire was connected to the ‘Endless Ravines’ expansion.

It’s highly likely that this World Quest in the Betarion Empire is also linked to the next expansion.

And most importantly, the rewards are phenomenal.

Even setting aside the Emperor’s own prizes, the rewards from the game company include no less than three legendary-grade Echo Stone selection boxes.

A legendary-grade Echo Stone is a socket item that costs tens of thousands of gold to craft and serves as the ultimate endgame equipment. What’s more, the reward boxes in this event are reportedly tradable. It’s a rare chance to earn an enormous sum of money.

The memories of my recent trip—such an unbelievably joyful trip—nudged me forward.

If I could secure financial freedom, I could enjoy such dreamlike travels again. I could even make significant progress toward my dream of owning a home. My life on Earth would improve dramatically, and I could finally give Chris the extravagant gift she deserves after always being the one to receive.

It feels materialistic, but isn’t the pursuit of money what drives the majority of people in the end?

"Smack."

As I smacked my lips, a deafening roar brought my focus back to the present.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I turned toward the sound of the raging storm.

[3rd Named Boss]

[Level 48 Ice Witch Frederica]

[HP: 498,074 / 50,000,000 (1%)]

The place where I had been lost in thought was right in front of ‘Ice Palace’s’ third named boss, Frederica.

And also the place where a small girl was battling the Ice Witch alone.

"Hiyaaah!"

With an adorable battle cry, the brown-haired girl dashed through the storm, lips pressed tightly together. Lowering her stance, her body turned into a beam of light, slicing through the gale.

Flash!

Screeeeech—!!

With a horrid, metallic wail, the Ice Witch shattered into pieces, her icy fragments scattering like shards of glass.

Ding—

[Progress: Ice Palace 3/3 Complete]

I couldn’t help but smile broadly as I ran toward the girl who had brilliantly defeated the Ice Witch. She, too, hopped toward me, grinning ear to ear.

"Rain-unnie! I did it!"

"You did great, Nagi!"

Hand in hand, we smiled brightly at each other.

Since the launch of the ‘Endless Ravines’ expansion, Astria Online had opened up to underage players.

It was during that time I met a newbie—a small, adorable brown-haired swordswoman named Nagi.

Her skills had grown impressively in the time I hadn’t seen her.

"You’ve been managing well on your own while I was busy."

"Hehe."

Nagi stuck out her tongue playfully, looking irresistibly cute. I laughed and patted her head, her soft brown hair swaying under my hand. It was ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) fluffy, like a Pomeranian I’d once seen in a short video.

Of course, the dungeon’s difficulty had been nerfed since my early solo attempts. Once cleared, dungeons in their phantom states seemed to be under the game company’s control.

I hadn’t been able to watch over her due to the Azure Death King raid schedule, but Nagi had apparently devised her own routines to solo clear elite dungeons.

"Hit and run, and if it seems impossible, I retreat and try again. I made gradual progress."

"That’s the way to do it. Still, there must have been dangerous moments. You didn’t get hurt, did you?"

"...It’s fine."

Her eyes darted away from mine, suggesting she had indeed been hurt. Though not as much as me, Nagi’s synchronization rate, approaching 50%, was still quite high.

Suppressing my feelings of concern, I helped Nagi to her feet. I explained how to craft a weapon using the materials from Ice Palace and handed her some of my spare resources.

As she smiled brightly and began crafting her weapon, I found myself lost in thought.

The reason to endure pain, to explore and grow in the world of Astria.

I have one.

But does this little girl, Nagi, have one too?

"...Huh? Rain-unnie, do you know what this is?"

Suddenly, Nagi shared a letter from her quest log with me.

It was an invitation for the World Quest ‘Great Martial Arts Tournament’.

If this letter arrived after clearing Ice Palace, it seemed to only be sent to players who had cleared all the previous expansion’s elite dungeons. It made sense—you’d need to be strong enough to face the star-studded PvP players.

"Yeah. It’s a big tournament. You’ll end up fighting against other players."

"Wait... fighting other players?"

"You’ve been doing the daily arena quest I told you about, right? Keeping up with it?"

"Yes. You said to forfeit as soon as the match starts."

"Right. Top arena players get direct entry to the finals, and the rewards are incredible, apparently."

"...Rewards."

In Nagi’s large, round eyes, I saw a glimmer of excitement.

Sparkle.