Chapter 14: Naming - s is Hard
Donape wasn’t provoked by the accusation.
’It makes sense. I would have the same opinion if I hadn’t experienced it firsthand,’ he thought to himself.
After all, Butler Lee’s skepticism was rooted in reality.
In the history of Blue Star, there was no such thing as magic, inner strength, or ghosts.
Before the arrival of this Tyrannical System, anything supernatural was dismissed as mere misconception or cheap gimmicks used to exaggerate folklore.
"Well, there’s nothing I can do if you gentlemen don’t believe me," Donape said with a casual shrug. He then turned his attention to Ji-Hong. "A little tip for you. Focus entirely on your character stats for now, because I don’t think you are the type of person who actually understands martial arts when taught by others."
"Huh?! What do you mean?" Ji-Hong blurted out. He didn’t understand whether he was being insulted. "Does this game even have stats? Isn’t it all about learning martial arts?"
"Say ’Character Status’ out loud, and your attributes will appear. There are only three: STR, AGI, and Qi Perception."
"Oh! Oh! And then?!" Ji-Hong leaned in, hanging on every word.
"Increase those numbers as high as possible through any quest you can find. That’s your primary goal. Second, and just as important, is your synchronization rate."
"What’s that? Where do I see it?!"
"Tsk. The synchronization info can’t be turned on or off; it’s an absolute background feature. When you’re playing, you’ll occasionally see a flashing red number in the upper right corner of your vision. That’s your synchronization. It’s the exact metric that allows you to reflect what you gain in the game back into the real world. The higher it goes, the better."
Growing increasingly irritated, Butler Lee forcefully interrupted. "Don’t listen to his nonsense, Young Master. This is getting far too far-fetched."
Donape felt he had shared enough. Stepping into his VR Capsule, he offered one final, parting thought as a matter of self-defense.
"Well, believe it or not, I gain or lose nothing either way. If you want concrete proof, just wait a few days, and I’ll show it to you. Or better yet... you can observe the changes in your young master after he plays."
As his words trailed off into the air, the VR Capsule’s lid hissed shut, leaving Ji-Hong, Butler Lee, and the two bodyguards standing in a stunned silence.
Taking the advice to heart while it was still fresh, Ji-Hong eagerly climbed into VR Capsule 4 to start his new run. Meanwhile, Butler Lee and the remaining guards were left completely at a loss.
Resorting to violence or yelling to break down Donape’s facade felt unwise, because they couldn’t entirely deny the terrifying memory of yesterday’s Divine Lightning.
Yet, their rational minds absolutely refused to accept that a mere video game capsule could allow someone to manifest real internal energy.
Somehow, they were caught in a paralyzing contradiction of their own beliefs.
Meanwhile, Donape returned to the Murim realm and immediately swallowed the Qi Starter Pill.
Sitting cross-legged on the training ground dirt, he regulated his breathing. The action isolated him from his immediate surroundings while hyper-sharpening his internal senses. With his freshly upgraded Qi Perception, his martial arts cultivation was about to leap and bound.
As he immersed himself deep within the VR Capsule, the rest of the second day passed without any further drama.
The next morning, a chillingly familiar voice echoed in his mind.
[Mortal, you seem exceptionally lazy today. It is time to open my shop. If you lack the enthusiasm required to be a proper shopkeeper, the Great Me can provide a violent emotional synergy to keep you cheerful and energetic.]
"Ah, sorry, System. I’ll be opening up right now. There’s absolutely no need to energize me," Donape muttered, immediately rushing forward to flip the open sign on the front door.
He didn’t want arguing or complaining to the System. Whatever the accusation, bowing his head and admitting fault was the safest solution.
For now.
But before he could even sweep the floors, the notification he had been anxiously waiting for materialized in mid-air.
Ding!
[Main Quest: The First Solo-Leveling]
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Objective: Upgrade Origins VR Cafe to Level 2.
Unlock Requirement: 15 Unique Customers + 35 Gold Coins earned. (4/15 UCs | 9.12/35 GCs)
Failure Penalty: Divine Lightning punishment if the timeline is breached. (If the target is not reached within a week, a mandatory 10-minute electrocution will be imposed. A compounding interest rate of additional voltage will be applied for each subsequent day of delay.)
Reward:
1. Capacity Expansion: Increased to 15 VR Capsules.
2. Inventory Unlock: Origins Fountain Water and Spirit-Clearing Dew.
3. New Game: Counter-Injustice: Global Retaliation.
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[SYSTEM WARNING: 06:23:57:12 REMAINING BEFORE THE FIRST PUNISHMENT]
"I get the capacity expansion and the new game. But what the hell are Origins Fountain Water and Spirit-Clearing Dew?!" Donape muttered, thoroughly confused.
He wanted to protest, demanding to know why there was no detailed info regarding those two products in the quest rewards data on his mind.
But remembering the System’s historically reckless, unhinged behavior, he quickly thought better of it.
Predictably, the System’s response materialized a second later.
[Mortal drink and Fatigue-Recovery drink.]
’That’s it?!’ Donape screamed internally. ’This motherf*cker really has a screw loose in its core code! Is that supposed to be an explanation? How the hell am I supposed to pitch that to customers later?!’
Frustration bubbled up in his chest, but he choked it down. No matter how much he complained, the System never cared, and there was no one else around to vent to.
Chime.
Suddenly, the front door swung open.
As usual, the familiar faces had returned. Ji-Hong, Jae-Woong, Ga-Eun, and Irene filed into the cafe—along with the trio who stubbornly refused to play.
But the most fascinating part wasn’t the returning regulars; it was the fact that both Ji-Hong and Irene had brought someone new with them.
One fresh face each.
With the two newcomers included, his total count of unique players instantly climbed to six.
Seeing the numbers rise, Donape’s annoyance vanished into thin air. He completely stopped paying attention to the System, his lips curving into a warm, welcoming smile as he accepted their money.
The cash was flowing, meaning his real-world goal was well underway. He pushed the quest to the back of his mind and resolved to focus on his own grind to master the Heavenly Martial Arts.
The one-week deadline was still a long way off, and if this trend kept up, hitting 15 unique customers would be a walk in the park.
Or so that was how he thought it would be.
A few days later, evening fell over a luxurious mansion on the outskirts of the city. Deep within the estate, the heavy doors of the Baek family’s private training hall stood wide open.
"Young Master, are you certain you want to proceed with this?!" Butler Lee asked, his voice laced with acute concern.
Standing on the polished wooden floor mats, the two bodyguards, A-Ji and Ji-Ga, exchanged uneasy glances.
Just this afternoon, they had received a baffling command: they were to spar directly with Ji-Hong.
Butler Lee had strongly objected to the idea, but he was completely helpless against his young master’s sudden, unyielding stubbornness.
"Relax, Butler Lee. I just want to test my current fitness levels," Ji-Hong said, rolling his shoulders out.
"Young Master, you have been thoroughly brainwashed by that scamming shopkeeper," Butler Lee pleaded, stepping closer. "Simply sitting in a sophisticated virtual capsule will not magically teach you how to fight. Also, your body is not suited to do any heavy activity like this!"
Ji-Hong completely ignored the lecture, casually waving his hand to summon his two bodyguards forward.
"One of you, get up here. There’s no need to go full force—I know my own limits. A casual sparring session will suffice."
A-Ji and Ji-Ga glanced back at Butler Lee, silently begging the old butler to find a way to cancel the match.
"Young Master, how about we postpone this?!" Butler Lee offered desperately, scrambling for any excuse to stop it. "There are only the four of us here right now, and we don’t even have a medical team on standby. If something happens, it will be incredibly difficult to monitor your condition. Besides, choosing active-duty bodyguards like A-Ji and Ji-Ga as casual sparring partners is complete overkill!"
Once again, Ji-Hong ignored the warnings. "Never mind that," he said, shifting his stance. "Both of you, attack me at once. Be serious."
A-Ji and Ji-Ga remained rooted to their spots, refusing to engage.
Exasperated, Butler Lee stepped toward the mat to halt the madness, but stopped dead in his tracks as Ji-Hong suddenly charged forward.
As seasoned veterans, the bodyguards easily read his clumsy approach, dodging his amateurish swings with ease.
"Young Master, forgive our presumption, but this ends now," Ji-Ga said, shifting forward to grapple and restrain Ji-Hong safely.
Instead of pulling back, Ji-Hong’s eyes lit up. He lunged directly into the contact, redirecting Ji-Ga’s momentum to completely throw off the balance. Before Ji-Ga could recover, Ji-Hong snapped a crisp strike directly into his chin, sending him crashing to the floor.
Capitalizing on the residual force, Ji-Hong immediately pivoted and launched a vicious right-hand swing at A-Ji, who was stepping in to assist.
A-Ji realized it was a feint, but his body couldn’t keep pace with Ji-Hong’s explosive reaction speed. The strike connected flush with his jaw, dropping him instantly to his knees.
Butler Lee stood wide-eyed, gasping at the impossible outcome.