Chapter 25

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 25

Chapter Title: Logging into Chrono Rea

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"Ugh. How many hours have I been sitting here..."

I'd gotten free coffee, but I'd been parked here for over two hours.

I had to be the biggest nuisance customer around.

Better get out of here.

Head home and play some games.

"Customer, wait! You're just leaving like that?"

As I turned to exit the cafe, the lady owner behind the counter called out urgently.

She rummaged around back there for a moment before pulling out a small white box the size of her palm.

Inside was a slice of yellow cake.

It was the New York cheesecake, one of the priciest items on the menu at 7,500 won.

"Take this home and enjoy it."

"Huh? You already gave me free coffee earlier. If I take this too, I'll feel like such a freeloader..."

"Nah, this isn't some leftover stock I'm unloading on you for sticking around. I pulled it out of the display case earlier just for you. It's fresh with plenty of shelf life left!"

What?

Shouldn't she say the opposite?

Usually, they'd call it inventory clearance.

She grabbed my hand without another word and shoved the box into it.

The box felt pretty heavy in my grip.

"Don't feel bad—take it. Think of it as a bribe."

"A bribe?"

"You'll come back often and buy lots from me, right? So it's a bribe!"

The owner flashed a friendly grin.

She looked genuinely eager to give it away.

Refusing here probably wouldn't fly.

I bowed my head in the end.

"Well... thank you. I'll gratefully accept it, even if it makes me shameless."

"Good. Enjoy it! Oh, if you're not eating it right away at home, don't forget to stick it in the fridge!"

"Got it."

"Take care going home!"

I left the cafe with her seeing me off.

I placed the cake box on the passenger seat of my Avante and turned the key.

The moment I got home, I changed into comfy clothes and plopped down at my computer.

I carefully set the cake box next to my desk.

I'll eat it if my blood sugar drops while gaming.

I planned to play late into the night tonight.

I fired up my browser and typed Chrono Rea into the address bar.

Hitting enter brought up a decent new logo—no sign of that old tacky one.

"Hmm... so why's the homepage design still the same?"

Only the logo changed; the main page screamed 2010s vibes.

They must've figured redesigning the site was a waste of money.

The notice board's last update was two years ago.

They did maintenance monthly, at least...

"This game's barely hanging on by a thread."

Yumina suddenly seemed impressive for clinging to a relic like this.

Holding it together on office rent and real estate? Romance or stubbornness?

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I downloaded the client from the resources section.

It was only 5 gigs.

"King's Sin is over 110 gigs."

Not a fair comparison, but lighter than most mobile games these days.

Installation finished in a blink.

I entered my ID and password, and it connected right away.

2513 days.

Seeing the number hit me weirdly.

"Already that long..."

Last login was the day before heading to boot camp.

Never touched it since—other games took over.

"...But is 2513 days accurate?"

Eh, probably.

No time to reminisce—the character select screen popped up.

A level 85 warrior stood in the center.

Nickname: [Berserker Kim].

"Ha, what a sense of humor for a nickname."

Can you change nicknames now?

I remembered this game being super conservative about that.

Hitting connect ended a brief load, spawning my character in the town square.

It was dead quiet around.

No human warmth anywhere.

"Let's check my gear first~"

I hit E for the equipment window.

I recalled it being red.

Before quitting, I'd decked out every slot with Immortal-grade stuff.

Cheap items, sure, but top-tier pride.

But...

Reality slapped me hard.

"...Huh?"

My eyes widened at the monitor.

No red anywhere, even if I scrubbed my eyes raw.

Just drab gray everywhere.

The slots had only the starter trainee sword and armor.

I tried I for inventory tab—just empty.

"Warehouse... right, warehouse. Must be there."

I bolted to the warehouse keeper NPC in the corner.

Opened it.

Empty.

Stark empty.

Enhancement stones, gold, rare materials.

Gone without a speck of dust.

"Hah."

Beyond words from the shock.

I hadn't sold gear before quitting.

Wanted to keep it for memories.

Wasn't desperate enough to cash out.

What kind of bolt from the blue is this?

"Hacked."

100% hacked.

2513 days offline—got raided in the meantime.

Worth millions in cash back then.

Whoever it was swept it clean.

Rage boiled up.

What now?

Customer support's pointless.

"Can't just let it slide."

Grabbed my smartphone from the desk.

Fired up the AI app, held the voice recognition button.

"My old game account got hacked. Can you track the culprit? Check logs or whatever."

Will it work?

This thing can do anything.

"Knew you could."

Pulled a data cable from the drawer, linked phone to tower.

Connection chime, phone screen flickered.

AI app enabled developer mode on its own, requested USB debugging.

I hit [Allow] without hesitation.

A black prompt window appeared in the corner of the monitor.

"Whoa, no clue what any of that means."

But I get it's full of holes.

Yumina's got a long road as director.

I swallowed hard watching logs scroll by.

Guilt from hacking someone's server, but rationalized it as catching a thief.

Me catching my own thief—who's gonna complain.

AI displayed a window with log data listed.

Most recent login: today.

Prior: exactly 2513 days ago.

Dozens of failed logins in between.

Brute-force password cracking.

Then one success on the breach date.

"...Fucking Chinese bastard..."

China.

Expected it, but seeing it spiked my blood pressure.

VPN in, looted everything.

Probably megaphone-spammed "0.0 1-1 gogogogo" and dumped the gear.

Even our top AI couldn't trace old proxies.

Beating the perp was off the table.

Sighed in defeat—then a new message.

"What?"

Recovery possible?

Direct DB tinkering, not even official?

Means I could spawn items at will.

Admin powers.

Tempted for a second.

Restore quietly, play solo—no one's watching a dead game.

"...Sigh."

But I shook my head, settling back.

"No. Don't."

"I told you before. No ruining game fun—hacks, macros, whatever. And smashing into someone else's house for my stuff makes me the criminal too. Don't wanna be like those Chinese scum. No dirty business."

Sure, it sucked.

But lines must be held.

Start indulging personal gain with this power...

Endless slide.

First: item recovery. "It's mine," I'd justify.

Next: gold gen. "Life's tough."

Then: rank manip.

No justification left.

AI learns.

Rejecting now sets rules against future offers.

Chinned, pondered.

Saw the holes—might need it someday?

Not for evil, but who knows.

Could help Yumina later.

"Nah. Hold off—you never know. Not permanent."

Black prompt vanished.

Monitor back to game.

"Hah... so what now."

No items, no cash.

Heading out bare naked.

This level with starter gear? One mob hit and I'm down.

Death docks EXP, EXP loss drops levels.

No way I'm grinding slimes for gear.

Start over from scratch?

"Huh?"

Then I spotted the mailbox icon blinking in the corner.

Curious, clicked it.

"Oh!"

The sole item in my mail.

Event goodie from admins for returnees during my absence.

Unlimited storage kept it safe.

"Let's open this at least. Something's gotta be in it."

Clutching at straws, hit [Claim].

"Whoa, saved!"

Only six-month temp gear.

Still overkill for casual hunting.

"Thanks, Director Yumina."

Equipped it pronto.

Gear window shifted from gray to purple.

Finally looked like a normal player.

"Not rice-farming... let's enjoy it."

Pulled my chair close.

Hacker pissed me off, but fresh start from bottom has its thrill.

Think positive.

"Skill tree's all reset though."

Did they revamp it once?

Check skill tree first.

Meta's shifted heaps in seven years.

Dig forums?

"Hey, search Chrono Rea warrior latest skill trees. Best hunting efficiency. Not DPS focus—survivability. Forgot all my controls."

AI app whirred back to life.

Meanwhile, speared a chunk of cheesecake with my fork and popped it in.

Sweet, salty cheese bliss flooded my mouth.

Mmm, this is delicious.