D.I.O

[Connect] on it. 

“Do we just connect without any login page? Besides, this is…”

Without a second thought, Yongno clicked the [message] button on the messenger and entered random characters using the keyboard.
When he clicked the [send] button, a message appeared on the screen.

/No users online/

“Oh, so this allows me to send a message to the users online…”

Now he was able to roughly grasp the situation.
The program was serious about making an online game that didn’t require an internet connection but just used an earphone that had an interacting device to access a virtual reality.

“Oh, it's already past ten.”

Doing the installation and wondering about many things had taken too much of his time.
Yongno found that the opening time had already passed.
However, it was just three minutes past ten, so the server would be jammed with other users as long as it was accessible.

“Let's just turn it on and see what happens.
First of all, press the connect button…”

/In the beginning, I felt sorrow…/

“What is this?”

A man's voice, close to a whisper, resonated in soft music. Yongno lifted his head again to look at the screen.
On the monitor, the loading bar showed an increase in percentage as time went by.

/For I had nothing that I desired…/

The voice continued.
It sounded masculine, dignified, and thick, even pleasant to Yongno's ears despite him being of the same gender.
However, Yongno had no idea what he was talking about.

/Still, I wish and hope…/

“What the heck is this? Is this the login page?”

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Yongno was perplexed that nothing had actually changed yet, but the voice coming through the earphones continued nonchalantly nonetheless.
The soft music had also turned faster and deeper at some point. 

/Here I am trying to create a new world…/

“What do you want me to do…?” Yongno grumbled as the music reached its climax.

/You shall be free here and now./

As if someone had hit his brain off-switch, Yongno lost consciousness and fell asleep. 

***

“So, I just finished delivering it to the 413th house, right? Geez, it takes longer than I expected.”

It was true that the delivery was delayed.
Since the opening time of D.I.O.
was ten, the man tried to hand over all of the interacting devices by nine, but still, he had eighty-seven of them left undelivered.

“Why are they so curious…? All they have to do is just turn it on.”

Besides, there were other problems.
Some people resisted paying the 5,000 won for the delivery.
The delivery guy was not obsessed with money but just felt that it wasn't fair that some paid and some didn't.
He even encountered some woman trying to flirt with him because of his attractive appearance.

“I'm tired.
If I can, I just want to throw everything away.”

The moment he murmured, “But I must follow the order anyway…” a paper box suddenly appeared on his left palm.
He didn't pick it up or take it out from somewhere, but it just showed up all of a sudden like magic.
Despite the marvelous trick, the man lifted his other hand apathetically and knocked on the door.

Squeak.

The wall 'opened.' There wasn't a door hidden in the concrete wall, but with a cracking sound, he created a door made of wood, not stone.
If others saw it, they would be doubting whether their brains or visions were functioning properly.
What happened was that unbelievable, but the man remained apathetic as he entered and shut the door.

Click.

The wooden entrance became blurry as soon as it closed, then it was literally erased from the bottom upwards and gone without a trace. 

Yongno realized that he was standing in a strange room.
The weird situation struck him dumb. 

“When was I moved to this place? In my memories, the door was definitely locked.”

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He was about to quickly take out his phone and check the time, but he couldn’t find it anywhere.
Not only was his phone missing, his clothes had also been changed.
Everything he had on himself was gone; now he was only wearing clothes made of blue fabric.

“Ahaha! That funny face.” Someone giggled. 

“Eh?”

While Yongno became befuddled at the sudden voice, the spatial space before him was split open and a girl with silver hair appeared.
She was a tall and slender beauty.
Yongno was a person who didn’t find any actresses, models, or TV personalities interesting, but even in his eyes, the girl looked overwhelmingly pretty. 

No, instead of using the word 'pretty,' this girl in her late teens could be better described as beautiful or gorgeous.
If modeling agencies or entertainment companies could see her appearance, they would pay millions, no, even billions to sign with her. 

Just a few days ago, Yongno was astonished to see the captivating beauty, Alice, but he was now deeply wondering when this world began to have so many goddess-like ladies around him.

Alice asked, “Haha, even though you all know that you're accessing the program to enter virtual reality, every one of you becomes so dumbstruck. Is it so unbelievable?”

“You sound like you’re saying this place is a virtual world…”

“Correct.” The girl flaunted a refreshing smile.

Yongno touched his body, showing a look of strong distrust on his face.
His body was there; his feet were touching the ground.
Everything felt real as if he was experiencing reality itself. 

Yongno asked, tilting his head, “No way.
Did you kidnap me while I was asleep!?”

“Oh my! You aren't even some dignitaries or big shot.
Do you think you're worthy enough for me to go to the extent of kidnapping you?”

I think so… The words flashed through his head, but Yongno realized that she had no idea about his background.
Still…

“Ugh, the world is full of distrust.
Am I supposed to show you evidence?” groaned the girl.

“Evidence?”

“Yeah, maybe something like this…?”

The moment she dropped that remark, a spatial space opened.
The girl held two blades in her hands.
The blade of the right sword glinted splendidly with a blue tint, whereas the red one on the left looked impressive, as though it would be ablaze with flames at any time.
As if they were made as a pair, both looked exactly the same, except for their colors.
The exquisite design even left Yongno, who knew nothing about blades, in no doubt that these were fine swords.

1.
Around 5 USD ☜