Chapter 30: This Brat Has No Heart
Jong-Kook and Zerke ultimately paid the full 220 BC each—covering both the initial activation fee and their maximum daily playtime.
Donape also stepped into a VR Capsule, knowing they would need his personal guidance inside the virtual realm.
The moment the game launched, the shooting range duo felt goosebumps erupt across their skin. The sheer, overwhelming realism of the virtual world stimulated every single one of their senses.
Before they could move, the world around Jong-Kook and Zerke dissolved into absolute darkness.
Before either man could process the silence, a violent explosion tore through the void. The raw light illuminated the dark, flinching both men—the heat, shockwave, and roar vibrating through their VR Capsules with terrifying authenticity.
Yet, the fireball didn’t expand. It froze mid-air, and as if time itself were rewinding, the blast collapsed back into the infinite dark.
A single beam of light cut through the gloom, revealing the imposing figure of a soldier standing tall.
He wore a midnight-blue tactical suit beneath a heavy, olive-drab ballistic vest. A matte-black gas mask completely concealed his face, its dark glass lenses reflecting nothing while a respirator hose coiled around his shoulder. To two men who spent their lives around weaponry and military gear, every inch of the soldier’s equipment screamed cold, uncompromising utility.
Zerke held his breath as the scene shifted—this world wasn’t just visual, it was a domain of absolute precision governed by unforgiving physical laws.
A smoke canister was tossed forward, dynamic gray mist surging like liquid to swallow an archway whole. The soldier hurled a fragmentation grenade directly into the cloud—and Jong-Kook’s eyes widened as the shockwave physically carved a hollow tunnel straight through the smoke, exposing a hidden enemy behind it.
’Dynamic volumetric smoke... and shockwave dispersion?!’ Zerke thought, his heart hammering against his ribs.
On-screen, the soldier counter-strafed to a dead standstill, letting the game’s sub-tick system register the exact microsecond of his intent. What his eyes saw, his bullet hit.
BANG!
A single muzzle flash cut the void, shattering his target instantly before the fog sealed shut once more.
As the cinematic faded to black, massive white text outlined in glowing golden light burned into their vision:
{Counter-Injustice: Global Retaliation}
Following the breathtaking cinematic trailer, both Jong-Kook and Zerke were deposited into the main menu lobby of Counter-Injustice, their minds still buzzing with amazement.
Suddenly, a translucent text window popped up right in front of their faces:
{Seniors, this is Alexander Donape. Go ahead and add me as a friend so I can invite you to a lobby and guide you through the basics.}
Donape was using a native feature of the VR Capsules. While every VR game had its own strict in-game chat restrictions that prevented unbefriended players from communicating, the physical VR Capsules had an overarching public channel that allowed local users in the shop to message one another freely.
Since Jae-Woong and Kennedy were the only other customers in the shop—and both were currently engrossed in The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts, progressing at a much slower pace than Ji-Hong’s group—Donape didn’t have to worry about anyone else eavesdropping on the channel.
A few moments later, once both seniors accepted his friend requests, Donape instructed them to complete the basic movement and shooting tutorial first so they could get a feel for the controls.
Truth be told, neither Jong-Kook nor Zerke had fully regained their composure. The absolute, hyper-realistic immersion had captured every single one of their physical senses, leaving them utterly stunned.
They sat in their Counter-Injustice lobbies without uttering a single word, silently trying to reconcile what they were experiencing with real-world logic.
After completing the basic tutorial, Jong-Kook and Zerke were automatically pulled into Donape’s party lobby.
A sleek holographic interface hovered before them, displaying their three avatars standing side-by-side on a tarmac firing range. Donape stood casually in the center, clad in standard light tactical gear, while Jong-Kook and Zerke were outfitted in default recruit uniforms.
"Alright, seniors," Donape’s voice echoed clearly through the team channel. "Since this is your first match, I’ve set us up in a 3v3 Tactical Elimination match against moderate-level opponents. It’ll give you a feel for team coordination, map layouts, and live-fire recoil under pressure."
Jong-Kook and Zerke took in Donape’s words while examining their own tactical gear.
"The visual quality is unbelievable," Zerke marvelled, endlessly amazed. "Normally, graphic quality in gaming is limited by a screen. But here, those limits don’t exist—it’s like looking directly at the real world."
Jong-Kook checked his sidearm, pulling back the slide to inspect the chamber. The tactile click of the spring and the faint scent of gun oil hitting his nose made his heart race. "Director... this is incredible."
Meanwhile, Donape tapped the floating holographic panel.
[MATCH FOUND: DUSTED ALLEYWAYS - 3v3]
[OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE ALL HOSTILES]
A three-second countdown flashed in crimson numbers before their eyes.
3... 2... 1...
SWOOSH!
In an instant, the sterile lobby vanished. The world materialized around them in a sudden rush of dry heat, wind, and ambient noise.
They were standing in a narrow, sun-baked desert alleyway bordered by crumbling yellow brick walls. Sunbeams cut through floating dust motes, and the distant hum of wind blowing through rusted wire echoed down the corridor. Below their boots, loose gravel crunched with absolute clarity.
Zerke reflexively dropped into a low tactical stance, pressing his back against the brick wall. He touched the surface—it felt rough, warm from the sun, and left fine stone dust on his leather gloves.
"Good grief..." Zerke muttered, his breath catching in his throat. "This isn’t just a simulation... it feels like we’ve been deployed directly into an active warzone."
"You’re right, Director," Jong-Kook agreed, swallowing hard.
Even with his military service years behind him, Jong-Kook found himself fighting off a surge of real battle tension. Logic told him it was virtual, yet every sensory input screamed that it was real.
For Zerke, who had dealt with firearms his entire life—managing the One Bullet range as a subsidiary under his family’s Britannia-based enterprise—the shock was even greater. This wasn’t like a game of commercial paintball; this felt like true combat.
That was the terrifying beauty of Origins VR Cafe’s technology. Its hyper-realism was groundbreaking on its own, but its true magic lay in how seamlessly those virtual experiences—and their physical results—translated directly back into reality.
Of course, almost no one in the world realized this secret yet, save for Ji-Hong and his entourage, who had been explicitly told about the VR’s synchronization feature.
To everyone else, including Zerke and Jong-Kook, this was simply the most immersive gaming experience on Earth—a hyper-realistic illusion, rather than a bridge to real-world power.
"Keep your heads on a swivel," Donape instructed, unholstering his weapon with practiced ease. "The opponents spawn at the far end of the market square. Seniors, stick close to me and cover the rear. Though death here won’t kill you in the real world, the feeling of dying—and the pain that comes with it—will follow you back to reality."
Jong-Kook and Zerke froze, stunned.
Donape’s words were brutally blunt: reassuring on one hand, yet chillingly ominous on the other.
The two older men exchanged a quick glance, a silent mutual realization passing between them: ’This brat really doesn’t have a merciful bone in his body.’
Regardless, the adrenaline was already pumping. Jong-Kook raised his rifle, aiming down the iron sights. The alignment was pixel-perfect, completely natural, and mirrored his real-life shooting stance down to the millimeter.
"Lead the way, kid," Jong-Kook said, a flash of competitive excitement cutting through his initial hesitation.
Beside him, Zerke racked the bolt of his rifle and gave a firm nod, signaling he was ready.
With a slight grin, Donape led the duo straight toward the frontline—into a firefight that was routine for him, but an absolute baptism by fire for the two shooting range veterans.
At dusk, deep within a grand mansion in the heart of S City, Baek Si-Jin sparred with his personal bodyguards.
As sweat poured down his bare torso, he felt the subtle shift in their movements—his men were easing off, pulling back the intensity of their strikes.
’As expected... this won’t do,’ Si-Jin thought with a silent sigh.
No matter how fiercely he commanded or threatened them, his subordinates would never dare to attack him with full, unbridled lethality. Their respect and fear bound their actions, creating an invisible ceiling over his training.
It reminded him of his brief time inside The Path of the Heavenly Martial Arts just a few hours ago.
Despite having to endure the cringe-inducing story of playing a young, starry-eyed orphan entering a martial arts sect, the sensation had been intoxicatingly fresh. For those few hours, he was completely unburdened. No one knew his status as a Supreme Elder, and no real-world status restricted his actions. He could fight with absolute, uninhibited freedom.
"Master, the core members of the branch family have all gathered in the main meeting room," the head butler said, bowing deeply. He extended a fresh, white towel with one hand while holding Si-Jin’s formal attire in the other.
Si-Jin took the towel, wiping the sweat from his face and neck while silently waving his sparring partners away.
After refreshing himself and dressing in his dark, tailored robes, Si-Jin stepped into the meeting hall with immaculate authority and dignity.
He took his seat at the head of the long mahogany table, setting an immediate, suffocating aura that silenced the room. He allowed the elders and key figures of the Baek Branch Family to take their seats, letting the heavy silence linger for a few long seconds.
Then, without a word of warm-up, he dropped a bombshell right off the bat:
"If internal energy truly exists in this world... what would you do?!"