The Second Advancement

Ding!

"Congrats, Arang."

The monster went down, light broke over my body, and I leveled up.

"Thanks. Come on, let's go get my second job!"

Second advancement required level 30, and this level-up had just put me there. I had been a Knight, the basic one-handed sword job, and now the Knight's second advancement was open to me.

There are three second jobs for the one-handed sword. In short: the Berserker, who burns health to fire off powerful skills; the Magic Swordsman, who mixes buffs with attack magic; and the Sword Master, who simply drives forward with a single blade.

Each one has a clear strength. A Berserker puts out enormous DPS, but needs a healer's constant care. A Magic Swordsman raises the whole raid's damage with party buffs rather than their own. A Sword Master gains no special power the way those two do, but receives a system of proficiency with the base weapon—raise that mastery, and your skills and the weapon's stats are corrected upward.

All three are appealing. You can change jobs whenever you like, but mastery and gear differ by job, so the first one you pick usually becomes your main. Which was exactly why I was stuck.

"PinkBerry, you said you've done raids, right?"

"Yeah. I was still active through the last one."

"So you've seen all three of these jobs in a raid?"

"Yeah, all of them. Berserkers especially. I've run into a lot of those."

"Really? Then how do they look from a healer's side?"

"Hmm... Berserkers are a pain, since ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you have to look after them separately. Magic Swordsmen can toss out a heal in a pinch, so they were comfortable while we were still progressing. Sword Masters you can basically ignore, which made them easy."

If all I cared about was damage, Berserker. If I cared about the whole raid, Magic Swordsman. And if I just wanted something solid, Sword Master?

"I kind of think Sword Master would suit you, Arang."

"Why?"

"One of the Sword Master skills, as far as I know, is a passive that buffs you every time you parry. So on the easier boss patterns, people sometimes try to parry right alongside the tank."

"Ooh...!"

"I think you'd actually make good use of that. From what I've heard, it demands more raw physical skill than the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠jobs."

The moment I heard that, I advanced straight into Sword Master.

The first skills I received were Chain Slash and Sword Mastery. The names were so straightforward they were almost boring, and I liked them anyway.

Sword Mastery was a passive, and Chain Slash seemed to mix active and passive together. I would have to use it before I really knew.

"Hey, Arang."

"Hm? What?"

"It's just... I don't have much connection time left..."

"Connection time? What do you mean, not much left?"

"Have you never stayed in for a long stretch? How long have you been playing?"

"This is only my second day."

"Ah, so you don't know yet. You can only use a Connector for sixteen hours a day."

"What!? R-really...? Wait, hold on..."

For a second I thought that meant I could only enjoy Legacy of Raid for sixteen hours a day. Then something felt off.

I was sure I had already played more than sixteen hours on the first day. Right. Of course.

My Connector isn't like everyone else's. It's the unit they call a hospice Connector, and by default it runs a full twenty-four hours. Even when I slept that first day, I slept inside the virtual world through it.

In these two days I have come out of the Connector exactly twice—once after I woke, so they could examine me, and once to see my parents. Aside from that, I have never left. Over two days, the time I have spent inside has to be past forty hours.

"Mm-hmm... Not bad at all."

"What's not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bad?"

"Nothing. So what time should we meet tomorrow?"

"It's ten at night now. How about nine in the morning?"

"Got it. See you tomorrow. Sleep well, PinkBerry."

"You too, Arang."

PinkBerry opened the menu and logged out on the spot.

With PinkBerry gone, I set off to clear the little side quests. The hospice Connector I use is a medical device. Nutrients flow into my body on their own, and it clears the waste as well. In theory, so long as power and supplies keep coming, I could stay connected for all three hundred and sixty-five days of the year without a problem.

I have no intention of doing that. However much I love games, and however hard I play, I know how to tell reality from the game world. Even so, while I am enjoying Legacy of Raid, reality's share of my life is going to get very small. There isn't much I can do out there to begin with.

Ding.

An alert came through the Connector. I opened the menu and found a message from PinkBerry: today had been fun, and would it be all right to use the footage of the two of us taking down the field boss, the Corrupted Adjudicator?

I said yes, obviously. My face and my name are already out there as far as they can spread. The director of Legacy of Raid personally posted a notice about me, so I don't expect any real trouble. If you won't believe the game's executive director, you're simply out of your mind.

Before I came into Arang's body, I used to make raid guides, so I know exactly how big a deal it is that two people cleared the second field boss, the Corrupted Adjudicator. Since I am already famous, the sensible play is to be seen as a wholesome user with a real gift for the game. I had already gotten too lazy to go around announcing it myself, and here was PinkBerry offering to do it. Of course I snapped that up.

I don't need the money anyway. What I have too much of is money. Money.

I went in smiling, and the moment the cash shop opened, the hundred million won sitting there pulled the corners of my mouth up on their own. They don't sell anything that touches your specs, but I am the sort of person who considers costume avatars to be stats. People say the thing Legacy of Raid players spend the most real money on is costume avatars. If you don't like the look of the gear in your equipment window, you can overlay a costume on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, so plenty of people do. After that come mounts, furniture, and special dyes.

You can buy and sell gold through back channels, but unfortunately the hundred million isn't in my hands. It sits inside Legacy of Raid, so that route is closed. A little disappointing—but just having a hundred million right now has me in a good mood, so I don't really mind. Once I hit the level cap, I am confident I can earn plenty of gold.

Only after I had finished every side quest in the village did I log out of Legacy of Raid, come out, and fall asleep.

The moment I woke, I was faced with a choice: log straight into the game, or decide what to do with the pure-white waiting space that was otherwise all I had.

It is a personal space. From what I could tell, you download things off a site and decorate with them. Since I sleep here too, I ought to have a bed at the very least, so I bought the largest one they offered and set it in the center. Then I added a television I could watch without opening the menu, and dressed the place until it actually felt like a room.

I had been decorating for a while when an alert said someone had entered the hospital room. I turned on the television I had just bought and worked it by hand, and the inside of the room appeared across an enormous screen. The ones who had come in were none other than Anna and my mother.

"Arang, did you sleep well?"

Mother came in and laid a hand on my stomach. Ordinarily you would take someone's hand, but I have neither hands nor legs, so touching my stomach has become the usual greeting. Once, a hand there wouldn't have stirred much of anything. Now it made me a little shy.

"Yes, Mother."

"Oh... Mother?"

"Do you not like that...?"

"N-no, it isn't that... You just suddenly seem so grown-up. It feels strange."

"Ah... then... um... M-Mom...?"

"Yes! Mom. Mom just wanted to see that you're doing all right, so I'll be going. I have business overseas, and I came to see you before I left."

"Travel safe. I'll call often."

"All right. If anything bothers you, you tell Anna. And if something happens, you tell Mom. Understood?"

"Yes. M-Mom."

The moment she finished, Mother kissed the stomach she had been stroking, said her goodbyes to Anna, and left. Anna wished me good morning, kissed my stomach as well, and went off to work.

Maybe my stomach is a little sensitive. The stroking, the kisses, that slight pressure—something about it felt strange. A fine shiver ran through me, and a little heat came with it. I could have sworn every illness was gone and that my body was in the best condition it had ever known. Had I been wrong...?

Or had that transcendent sense I feel in a fight gathered itself into my stomach? There was a certain logic to it. Inside Legacy of Raid I have arms and legs, so sensation spreads wide. Out here I have neither, and with all of it piled into what remains, even a small stimulus gets through.

One more inconvenience, out in the real world.