Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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< Prologue >
Veteran players in any game act the same way.
They gather in some spot and chat.
They've consumed all the content, and no newbies are joining, so what choice is there?
We were sitting on the rooftop of a building in the city.
If not for the Enhanced Ghouls and Large Monster corpses scattered around, the night view would've been killer.
In this game, users and corpses always go together. Can't be helped.
So, what is this game...?
It's Survival Life, a survival VR game.
Extreme apocalypse close to reality!
Hordes of zombies and monsters!
Only you can survive this hell!
...Catchphrases like that have long faded away.
The game's hellish difficulty completely blocked newbies from entering.
Needing dedicated VR gear to play made the barrier as high as Mount Everest.
A few months after launch, concurrent players dropped to dozens.
Now, a year later?
Don't even ask.
Bunny Duo (30s, male) looked ridiculous as he said that.
His whole body was painted pink, with a carrot decoration on his nose.
The bunny headband and white tail on his butt were straight-up repulsive.
Of course, Duck Down Quack and Survivor1 looked just as absurd.
At least I'm the best off.
Newbies won't run screaming from me, at least.
Though I'm in just my underwear like the rest.
That's when someone hit the world chat.
Man, a newbie after all this time.
Nice nick, nice greeting.
PC Bang tag, though. Must be one of those trendy VR cafes.
Veterans like us didn't care and swarmed in.
Time for me to step in.
These veterans would just tell them to brute-force it with physical prowess. Useless.
I'm the type who analyzes monster weaknesses and uses the environment.
As I started explaining, the three veterans squatted down and started mocking.
Damn. Lots of lurkers, so keep it short.
What a polite newbie. Been forever.
Tears welled up in the veterans' eyes.
I started explaining the tutorial.
Zombie placements early on, items to grab, terrain use, etc...
The newbie went silent after hearing it all, diving into the tutorial.
Will they make it?
We prayed they'd join our group safely.
Same here.
No more, no less. Just one more.
The veterans sighed as the newbie's chat popped up.
This proves the game's insane difficulty.
Users whining they can't even clear the tutorial? Makes sense, right?
Funny thing is, this is the toned-down version.
At launch, no one cleared it in three days.
I fire off a chat, begging them not to quit.
Ah...
That was it.
No more chats from the newbie.
We slumped in our seats, lamenting.
Yeah. We're the ones clinging to a dead game.
If updates were sloppy too, we'd have quit ages ago.
But the devs kept dropping content on schedule.
We burn through it instantly, though.
Why keep it running when it makes no money?
We gazed at the city nightscape, chatting about this and that.
If only there were more users, this game would be unmatched...
Bunny Duo (30s, male) suggested punching an Ogre barehanded, but no one bit.
Too much hassle.
After a year of every dumb stunt imaginable, burnout was inevitable.
One by one, they logged off citing real-life stuff.
I hit the end recording button.
Just turned it on before bed, no streaming.
A quick edit and it might work for Mityube...
Super niche game, views max at 10k though.
I shut off the monitor and hit the bed.
"Maybe it's time to quit..."
My stream, once at 20 viewers, now under 10.
Root cause: same old cast.
Me included, just four...
Occasional ex-veterans mocking "Still not dead?" and a few trolls.
Newbies would help, but they ragequit before tutorial.
"Played this one a good long time."
About a year and three months?
Dumped 5,000 hours into Survival Life.
Running a snack bar while streaming VR takes serious effort.
Scraped by on donations so far, but getting tough.
Maybe focus on business and quit.
Summer soon. New menu?
Kids love red bean bingsu lately...
Thoughts drifting, sleep hit.
Eyes closed, streets swarming with zombies.
Low-level punks baring teeth at me?
I mowed through them like wheat.
Alarm woke me to late morning.
"...What a total bullshit dream."
Yawned, washed up.
Time to prep shop.
A few more months passed.
Survival Life got minor patches.
Tutorial difficulty slashed, early game improved.
To us veterans, just closing the barn after losing the cow.
Even our few veterans logged in less.
Real life takes priority, apparently.
Major update came, but no one but me played.
Newbies popped in occasionally, only to flee the brutality.
More months passed.
I didn't play much, but saved all patch notes and footage.
For when veteran friends return.
They never did.
Am I alone on this server?
...
No chats. No newbies either.
Devs really given up?
Graphics and immersion top-notch. Ok to abandon like this?
Not my problem.
No response.
Days passed like that.
I soloed new content.
Not regular zombies or fantasy monsters—grotesque mutants.
Analyzing and prepping for them was fun.
Curiosity drew viewers to my stream.
Occasional VR cafe newbies, but they didn't last.
Days went by.
Prepping for a Brute when a notice dropped out of nowhere.
This feels ominous.
What are they gonna say?
Huh?
What the hell?
Service ending?
Survival Life done for good?
System spat out the schedule and vanished.
Haha...
1 year 3 months, over 5,000 hours... for this.
I eyed the distant howling Brute.
Wanted to take that one down.
Solo impossible, but with veterans and prep... thought so.
Now it's over.
One week to shutdown. No attachment left to play.
Stopped recording, took off gear.
"Stream or whatever..."
Suddenly hollow. Deleted all Mityube vids.
Never broke 10k views anyway. No regrets.
While at it, posted notice on streaming platform.
Under 10 viewers, but courtesy.
Sat on bed, chugged beer.
One thing: wanted to meet veteran friends.
No ages, no names, but nearly a year together.
Messed up, wiped out? We'd laugh it off, cover each other.
No more.
Week left, but no one's coming.
Not logged in a month already.
"Time to stop."
Focus on reality.
Tossed beer can in trash bag.
5,500 hours in Survival Life gone with it.
Done with Survival Life... or so I thought.
Until someone posted on my usual online community months later.
I'd just closed shop, eating late dinner at the PC.
"Status window my ass..."
Common webnovel cliche.
Normal guy gets powers, rises up.
No one actually experiences it.
Duh?
Reality ain't fiction. Say "status window" and poof?
OP attacked, poster fired back defensively.
Not hard.
Swallowed rice, said it short.
"Status Window."
Something popped into view, like clockwork.
...Insane.
A real Status Window appeared.
Complete with some impressive-looking terms.
< 프롤로그 > End