Chapter 2 - Change (1)
Change (1)
Translator : Elizabeth
[You have logged out.]
After handing eighteen deaths to that arrogant Fire Mage, I finally logged out of the virtual reality AOS, Legend Frontier.
As the logout process finished and I cast aside the VR headgear, the familiar, yellowish ceiling of my shabby studio apartment greeted me. A musty smell wafted through the air; it felt as though the "cooldown" for cleaning my room had finally reset.
“…….”
Lying on the bed, I pushed my upper body up. Perhaps it was because I had played for over six hours without a single break, but my entire body felt stiff and heavy. I began to knead and massage myself here and there—my personal routine for loosening tight muscles.
First the neck, then the shoulders, then the forearms.
“……!!”
As my hands moved down from my upper body, they eventually came to a halt at my lower half.
My two legs, grotesquely shriveled and withered from years of disuse. I felt a surge of doubt as to whether I should even bother massaging these body parts that had lost all function and sensation.
“…Forget it.”
After a moment of hesitation, I shook my head and covered my legs with the blanket. They were a part of me, yes, but they were also a source of resentment. I didn't want to stare at something I couldn't even use for any longer than I had to.
“Sigh……”
I let out a deep breath.
I couldn't even remember the last time I had walked on my own two feet, or the last time I had run excitedly under a blue sky. My spine had been injured in a traffic accident when I was around seven years old, so it had already been nearly twenty years since the sensation in my legs had vanished.
Someone once said that the best way to inflict true despair on a person is to give them something and then take it away.
Born as a normal child, I was turned into a cripple by a drunk driver. That devil, reeking of alcohol, snatched my legs away, ensuring I would never step on the earth with my own feet again.
“…….”
I looked up and stared at a happy family photo sitting on the shelf. In the picture, a mindless young boy and a middle-aged couple, presumably his parents, were smiling broadly against a backdrop of a flower field.
They were my parents, whom I could no longer see.
“Alcohol is the enemy……”
What kind of cruel joke was fate playing? Three years ago, my parents, who had gone out for a drive, were crushed and killed by a drunk truck driver.
At the hands of drunk drivers, I lost my legs, and eventually, I lost my parents—my only family.
I hated the god in the heavens who gave me nothing but hardship. I loathed those who lost their reason to drink and yet insisted on crawling out onto the roads in their cars.
I hated the me of that day, sobbing alone in a wheelchair at the funeral home; I hated that scene, that moment that had become a permanent trauma.
The battlefield is before your eyes. The legend begins in your hands. — Virtual Reality AOS, ‘Legend Frontier’.
“…….”
It was also on that day that I first encountered Legend Frontier.
To me, sitting alone at the funeral home, a distant relative had handed me a VR headgear and a Legend Frontier chip as a "gift of consolation." Claiming to be an employee of the game company, he said it was the newest hot release and that anything was possible inside the game.
He told me that within that virtual world, it would be possible to walk and run on my own two feet.
“…….”
To escape this hellish reality through a different stimulus.
To step on the ground again with my own legs and sprint at full speed.
If those things were possible, there was reason enough to start the game. After my parents' funeral ended and everything was settled, I lay down on my bed and put on the VR headgear to escape this exhausted reality and experience the illusion of walking again.
“Beyond the frontier, legends are forged.” 《Legend Frontier》
After a stylish opening phrase—“Legends are born beyond the boundary”—the game started.
[Please create your character.]
—Huh?
Unlike other AOS games, Legend Frontier (LDF) forced me to customize my own character. I had read about it in the manual before starting. LDF wasn't a system where you chose a fixed champion for every game; instead, like an RPG, you customized and played your own unique character. In place of picking a champion before the match, there was a procedure to select one of several classes and builds.
As a virtual reality game, it was an element that set it apart from other titles, so I didn't think it was particularly bad.
[Would you like to scan your actual body?]
—What?
The game system offered to model my in-game body after my real-life one if I found customization tedious. I recoiled in horror and smashed the 'X' button. To play this game with that same pathetic body—the mere thought was horrifying.
……My goal in this game was only one thing. It wasn't to reach Rank 1 or to become a master; it was simply to run as fast as I could. And to achieve maximum speed, a young girl’s small frame and nimble physique seemed better suited than a heavy, thick-set body of a muscular man.
Changing my gender gave me some pause, but as long as I could run fast, it didn't matter. After putting my heart and soul into the customization, a silver-haired, green-eyed girl was born—someone who looked capable of reaching a speed faster than anyone else. She was beautiful, and I was quite satisfied with the result.
[Please distribute your status points.]
Next was the task of distributing the 120 status points granted upon character creation.
If one intended to play a Swordsman class, they would usually invest in ‘Strength’; a Mage would invest in ‘MP’; a Shieldbearer would invest in ‘Defense’ or ‘HP.’ Generally, the standard was to distribute points evenly. Since one might not know which class they were suited for, or might need to play different roles depending on the situation, balance was key.
—Agility….
But I had no interest in such things. My goal was solely to run fast on my own two feet. For that one reason, I dumped every single point into Agility.
[Please enter your nickname.]
Finally, a screen appeared asking for a nickname. I didn't even care about that, so I just entered my real name, ‘Sion,’ in English.
“As a team of four, break through three frontlines and destroy the enemy fortress.”
Once the nickname was entered, a single line summarizing the rules of Legend Frontier appeared, and the game finally began in earnest.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a black dimension of unknown origin. I assumed it was the lobby or waiting screen.
—Shop, Character Management, Profile…….
Hologram screens listing various menus spread out before me. The vivid feeling of actually being inside a virtual reality made me smile before I knew it.
I couldn't wait another second to run on my own legs. I skipped the tutorial and the menu screens and immediately clicked the ‘Start Game’ button.
[Match Found!]
Perhaps because it was a popular game with a large player base, a match was found in less than a second.
As soon as the matching was complete, the surrounding scenery changed instantly. I found myself sitting in a luxurious meeting room that looked like something out of a medieval fortress. Three other men and women, presumably my teammates, were also seated there. They had a variety of customizations: a beastman with rabbit ears, a dwarf, and an elf.
[Two minutes of meeting time granted. Please decide your frontlines.]
A message appeared, instructing us to consult with our teammates to decide who would stand on which line and which frontline to head toward. As soon as the text appeared, the other three teammates began to speak one by one, as if they were used to this.
—I’m a Swordsman. I’ll go to the Plain.
The rabbit-eared beastman claimed ‘The Plain’ at the top of the map. According to the manual, the Plain was a place where 1v1 battles between melee classes occurred constantly due to the lack of objects or obstacles.
—Archer going to the Beach.
—Shieldbearer going to the Beach.
Next, the elf and the dwarf spoke in turn. Unlike the Plain, ‘The Beach’ at the very bottom had many objects, making it easy to hide. Thus, ranged dealers and the supporters who assisted them usually headed there. Since ranged dealers often dominated the late-game, the Beach was essentially the key to victory or defeat.
…The rabbit-eared beastman in the Plain, and the elf and dwarf at the Beach.
That left only the ‘Jungle,’ where one had to move across the entire map, slaying monsters and gathering gold to buy items or buff scrolls.
—U-Uh… S-Swordsman, I’ll go to the J-Jungle…?
Since the other roles were taken and I had no real choice anyway, I spoke up hesitatingly, stating my class was Swordsman and my destination was the Jungle.
[Meeting concluded. Moving to the battlefield.]
The blue hologram screen appeared again. Our bodies turned into hologram particles and flew off, teleporting us to the front of the fortress's main gate—the starting point of the vast plains, thickets, and sea.
[Welcome to the Frontier of Boundaries!][Slay the enemy and destroy their fortress!]
Along with the grand sound of a horn announcing the start of the match, a spirited female voice echoed out.
—Let’s go!
—Jungler, please come support as soon as it's low tide!
—Archers are weak early on, so you definitely have to come!
Each throwing out a word, they dashed toward their respective frontlines. Standing there blankly for a moment because I didn't quite understand what they meant, I eventually began to take my first steps toward the Jungle.
—Ah…….
My legs moved.
A sensation I had forgotten for so long, a feeling I hadn't felt in ages, came back to life and stimulated my brain.
—Aah…….
The slow steps of my legs gradually picked up speed, and soon, I was sprinting with all my might.
—Woooooaaaaaah!!
The silver-haired girl’s voice, filled with joy, echoed throughout the Jungle. I ran through trees, rocks, and dirt, cutting through the wind for the first time in over a decade.
My role as a Jungler and the victory or defeat of the game had long since left my mind. Like a track athlete, I simply roamed every corner of the stage.
Perhaps it was because I had dumped all my stats into Agility and customized myself as a slender girl, but I felt like I was moving faster than anyone else. A full sprint for the first time in twenty years, and the cool breeze tickling my cheeks—my lips refused to stop curling upward in overwhelming joy and emotion.
—Huh?
—Hmm?
How long had I been running around, abandoning my duty to slay monsters? I accidentally ran into the enemy Jungler, who was hard at work killing monsters. No, "accidentally" wasn't the right word. I had been running so mindlessly that I had ended up in the enemy's Jungle. Encountering him was inevitable.
—U-Uwaaaaaah!!
As soon as he saw me, the enemy Jungler, startled, immediately swung his axe.
—Huh? Huh?
But I was just as flustered, and unable to do anything, my head was taken right then and there. My vision went dark, and a hologram screen popped up.
[Fatal Blow!][You have died.][15 seconds until respawn.]
…I had handed a proud "First Blood" to the opponent.
—Hey, the jungling isn't even done yet, why are you counter-jungling alone?!
—Swordsman, calm down. Jungler, please just come to the Beach for now. It’s a bit tough here……
—…….
The teammates' voice chats hammered into my head like telepathy. I felt sorry for them, but their complaints and requests didn't register at all. To begin with, I didn't even know what their terms meant.
—Hehe…
Yet, even though I died and the game was getting difficult, my smile showed no sign of fading. I just wanted to run on the ground again as soon as possible.
—Yahoo!
Having respawned, I let out a shout fit for a mountain peak and began to roam the ‘Frontier of Boundaries’ once again.
—Hey, what the hell is wrong with the Jungler? Are they insane?
—Um, Jungler… why are you running a marathon…?
—Agh, Jungler! Come support us already!!
My teammates were infuriated because I had abandoned my role, but I didn't care. Despite the slight dissonance unique to virtual reality, I was running on my own two legs for the first time in over ten years; there was no way those voices would reach my ears.
—Urgh!
Even if I died to the enemy Jungler again,
—You crazy bitch!
Even if I ran into an ally huffing with rage,
—Hey, hey! Cut off the Jungler first!
Even if I was caught in a "Teamfight"—a large-scale battle—and died first,
This is so great….
I just smiled and ran across the battlefield again.
—Jungle gap, gg.
[Defeat! Your fortress has been destroyed!]
And so, my first game ended in defeat within twenty minutes as our fortress was shattered. Considering the average game time of Legend Frontier is forty minutes to an hour, it was an overwhelming defeat.
Even though I received a disastrous scorecard of 0 kills, 22 deaths, and 0 assists, and even though all my teammates looked at me with resentment, I didn't really care. Just stepping on the ground with my own two legs was a successful round for me.
—This is a "God-game."
To allow me to have such a vivid experience—Legend Frontier was nothing short of a masterpiece. Grinning from ear to ear, I immediately prepared for the next game.
—Huh?
However, a red hologram screen appeared, as if to warn me, and stood firmly between me and the ‘Start Game’ screen.
[A report has been filed against you!][Reason: Intentional Gameplay Sabotage][A 300-minute waiting period has been assigned as a penalty.]※ The next penalty will result in a 720-minute waiting period.
—300 minutes…?
What I earned for dying twenty-two times while running a marathon was a report from a teammate and a five-hour wait before the next game. In other words, I had to wait five hours before I could run on my legs again.
—Ah……
I had already tasted the ultimate dopamine. Asking me to wait another five hours was like hell. Suddenly, a sense of guilt washed over me—perhaps I really hadn't participated in the game enough.
—Sigh….
I let out a sigh.
I had to actually play the game, didn't I? If I got reported and penalized again, it would be a twelve-hour wait. Waiting half a day in this paraplegic body again was a horrifying thought.
—This is a problem….
But the status of this character ‘SION’ was already in a ‘ruined account’ state. Agility was at the maximum of 120, but Attack and Defense were both at 1, and HP and MP were at the minimum of 3,000—a bizarre set of stats that made combat virtually impossible.
Anyone else would have deleted the account and started over or made a smurf account, but……
—…No.
I shook my head firmly.
Even if I created the character again, I knew I would dump everything into Agility once more. Running faster than anyone else, with my own two legs, was my long-cherished desire.
—I think it’ll work if I research skills and items a bit…
And so, I began "researching" to somehow save this account that was all-in on Agility.
Legend Frontier’s system didn't have fixed skills; instead, you bought dozens of skills available for your class from the shop and chose only four to bring into each match.
Having set my direction as a Swordsman, I filled three of my four skills—more than half—with stat-buffing types. The items I could buy with gold during gameplay were all set to those that reinforced Attack power.
Though my Defense and HP were pathetic enough to put me in a critical state if even a single skill grazed me, my Attack power and Speed were at levels that defied comparison.
……By maximizing that insane Agility and Attack power, I would approach the enemy like the wind, deliver a critical blow, and retreat.
It was the birth of a bizarre character entirely focused on a "Hit and Run" tactic.
In reality, it was a build closer to a "troll" or "meme" setup, and since no one had ever tried it according to various communities, even I was half-doubtful at first.
But my doubt was short-lived.
The fact that no one had ever done it meant the opponents had no idea how to deal with it.
—What the fuck is this?!
—Blink? Where did she go?!
—She killed the ADC 25 times! Is she some kind of freak?
—Reporting for hacks, gg.
Hundreds of bewildered players, and thousands of characters pierced by the tip of my rapier. Like the wind, I roamed every corner of the battlefield and gradually raised my tier. It wasn't just through brute-forcing a high number of games.
My win rate was by no means low, and the frequency with which I earned the game's MVP title increased over time.
……How much time had I invested in this abnormal Agility 120 character?
Before I knew it, I had risen to Rank 7 in the worldwide tiers, and I was being called by the nickname ‘Gale’ by other players and communities. My skill and item setup was also making a name for itself as the ‘Speed Swordswoman’ build, though it wasn't widely used because even pro-gamers couldn't handle that level of speed.
It didn't matter what others called me or how they evaluated me.
I was just happy to be able to move on my own two feet.
As long as I could run while cutting through the wind, that was enough.
“Connecting.”
And so, I log into Legend Frontier again today.
To run with my own two legs.
To roam the Frontier of Boundaries and pierce my enemies.
To escape from this gutter-like reality.
All while cursing this unsightly and useless body of mine.
“Huh…?”
And then, the moment a drastic change came to my body—
The moment my body, having proceeded with the logout, had turned into the silver-haired girl from Legend Frontier—
The moment I opened my eyes in reality in the form of my playable character—
It was a certain dawn, where only the moonlight had settled.