Chapter 1: chapter 1
"Finally…."
The day which he thought would never arrive, had finally come.
As he walked casually down the street, enjoying the view, his face erupted into a refreshing smile.
"I feel completely different than yesterday, being discharged truly does change everything."
It was a street which he had often travelled through when enjoying his military day passes, but taking it now after being discharged gave off a whole new vibe. He walked casually with a silly grin on his face, enjoying the newfound freedom.
"And to think I thought I'd feel strange…."
He had heard from some of his seniors that after being discharged he'd feel out of place. He'd even spent the last couple weeks worrying about it, but now that it actually occurred, he didn't feel that way at all.
"It's truly a delight."
It wasn't that he didn't at all feel out of place, but rather that the joy felt eclipsed it all.
"Does it have something to do with that?"
Seuuk!
Myeonghu stopped advancing and stared at an advertisement screen in the distance. It was promoting the latest game to be released.
"Goddess…."
A knight clad in a pristine white body armor stood solemnly before a 5 meter tall statue of a goddess, his face filled with sadness.
"Please forgive me…."
He whispered helplessly as he lifted his Greatsword with both hands and brought it down onto the statue.
Suuak!
The Greatsword cut right past it like a hot knife through butter. Soon after the crack began to appear on the statue as it begin to emit a blinding light.
Kwuoong!
Exploding from within, the light rushed out to fill the screen.
"Wow…."
Myeonghu stayed there, staring with his mouth wide open in amazement. It looked like something from out of a movie, but it was just a simple game advertisement. Impressed with the incredible graphics, Myeonghu finally averted his gaze as he muttered to himself
"The more times I see this…."
This hadn't been his first time seeing the advertisement. Despite having seen it countless times, his passion still grew with each viewing. He couldn't believe that such an incredible game was actually being released.
It was a true Virtual Reality game, comprising of rich storylines and NPC AI which were comparable, if not superior to humans. It was to such a point that just by those advertisements alone, one could name it the best game ever made.
"I just can't wait… 4 more days."
He was looking forward to the launch so much that he had no idea how he'd spend the next four days.
"It might be named 'Legend' but it won't remain one for long right?"
Myeonghu hastened his steps, his mind still occupied by the game's release in four days.
* * * *
Contrary to his worries, the days flew by rather quickly.
" It's finally launch day…."
Myeonghu smiled expectantly. He'd never imagined that time would fly by like that, as he walked excitedly to his game capsule.
He had just bought it after being discharged and it was the latest model. He stared at it lovingly as he gently caressed it.
Beep! Beep!
The alarm he had set to remind him of the launch time had just rung.
"It's finally time!"
He opened his capsule and entered, connecting himself to the game 'Legend'
[Performing Iris Scan]
[Scan Complete]
[Please enter your ID]
[Please enter your Password]
After the Iris scan confirmation he proceeded to enter his ID and password.
Swuuak!
Upon doing so the surrounding darkness began to change.
"Oh…."
Myeonghu cried out in admiration of his surroundings.
"How could this even be called a game…."
The graphics were so lifelike that one wouldn't be able to distinguish the difference. Just like it was shown in the advertisement, the game truly delivered.
His raised his hand to his face and examined it carefully. It was as if he were staring at his own hand in real life.
"Even the veins…."
He got goosebumps at the thought of the amount of attention to detail required to perfectly reproduce something like his veins.
-No character has been found. Would you like to create a new character?
While Myeonghu was still admiring the game in his own little bubble, a voice rang out.
"Yes!"
Startled back to his sense by the voice of ayoung woman, he replied.
-Please enter your character's name.
After which a window appeared before him.
"What should I go with?"
Myeonghu briefly considered his options.
"Should I choose a popular ID name?"
Unlike many other games, 'Legend' allowed for two players to have the same name. That meant that those popular names wouldn't be unique as anyone could choose them.
"Nah, that isn't the way to go."
He shook his head.
"There'll be way too many people with the same name."
He was certain that it would be the case, and he would much rather have a name which was unique to him.
He took some time to think about what kind of character name he would like.
"Let's just go with my name."
In the end Myeonghu simply decided on using his own name
-There are currently '0' players using the character name 'Myeonghu'
-Would you like to create the character 'Myeonghu'?
The woman's voice replied soon after.
"Yes"
-Character 'Myeonghu' has been created.
Swuaak!
Immediately after a clone of himself appeared before him.
"Oooh!"
It was like looking in a mirror, but in 3D, causing Myeonghu to cry out in admiration.
-Would you like to modify your appearance?
"Ah, so it came out so that I can customize my appearance."
He had been wondering why they'd present him with a clone of himself, but since he had no desire to change any of his looks, he simply replied.
"No need."
-Appearance selection is complete, we will now proceed to Nation selection.
Swuaak!
The clone disappeared and was replaced by a giant screen. On the left side of the screen was a map of 'Legend's' huge continent, while the right side had a list of all the countries.
"Hm…."
Myeonghu began to scroll through the list of countries on the right. He had spent the last four days after being discharged learning about the game, so he already knew where he wanted to start.
"Here!"
Having found the country he had previously decided on, he quickly selected it. A small section on the left side map then began to blink in green.
"Wait, what?"
Myeonghu tilted his head, a bit confused.
"It was supposed to be the biggest?"
The nation he had selected was indeed the one blinking in a green light, however the problem was that according to his research, it was supposed to be the largest of all the other countries.
-Helioka has been selected.
-Helioka, the largest and strongest empire on the continent. It is regarded as number 1 across the land.
The woman's voice explained.
"… that's the same as what I'd learned, but…?"
He was thinking that his information had been wrong, but the fact that he was right was even more confusing. Helioka was indeed the largest nation, but in proportion to the entire continent it was simply minuscule.
"Although there are many countries, there aren't that many."
Even if we imagined that they are decently sized nations, adding them all up together would barely account for 10% of the continent's size.
"Could the rest be wasteland?"
The sudden thought struck him and he was left speechless. He had learned from the game's homepage that each country had the opportunity to expand its borders through the land reclamation of these wastelands.
"Still… to think they were so big."
Although it was somewhat unbelievable, it was the only plausible explanation he could think of. He let out a small chuckle as kept staring at the small territory of Helioka in comparison to the continent.
"The endgame probably includes reclaiming all these lands."
Rather than the usual wars, land reclamation seemed to be quite important.
-Would you like to start in the Helioka empire?
"Um…"
He was beginning to have some doubts concerning his previous analysis.
"Well, at the very least it is still the largest and strongest."
He stopped worrying. Although it was much smaller in proportion to the continent than he originally envisioned, the fact that it was the biggest and strongest country didn't change.
"Yes."
-Continuing to the village selection screen.
The left side of the screen zoomed in on the Helioka empire, while the right side was replaced by a list of villages and cities.
"Hm…"
Having previously decided on Helioka, Myeonghu had naturally also chosen his starting village.
"There it is."
He found it after scrolling down a short while and selected it.
-Village 'Maverlian' has been selected.
-The Maverlian village has been a longtime loyal vassal to the empire. It has also produced many talented mages as it is the hometown of Rivil, the Mage of Destruction.
-Would you like to begin at the village 'Maverlian'
"One sec…"
Although he was pretty certain about his choice, he began to look down the list of villages and cities.
"Might as well take the chance to explore other options."
It wasn't as if the information he had gained in the past four days was complete by any means. He had chosen Maverlian as he felt it should give him a solid start in the first couple months, but there was no harm in taking a look at others.
"Let's search a bit."
He cancelled the village selection and went through the list.
-Village Akram has been selected.
-Akram, a village near the Empire's capital 'Nexus'. It has developed to such a degree that it wouldn't be entirely wrong to refer to it as a city. Its commerce is particularly noteworthy, along with the fact that it is the hometown of one of the great Seven Heroes, the Shadow Assassin Evelyn. For this very reason the Assassin Guild, 'Dark Thorns' is headquartered there.
-Would you like to begin in the village Akram?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone