Viral Video and Skill Surprises

The next day.

Jeonghun returned to the VR room at 1 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠p.m.

-Hey, you're here?

Cheonma greeted him the moment he logged in, as if he'd been sitting there all along, perfectly natural.

-You eat? Gotta fill the tank if you're gonna grind hard.

"Yeah. Had a solid gukbap with two bowls of rice."

-Nice. Gukbap's the king of cost-performance.

"Anyway, food's not the point right now. How'd you hold up yesterday, hyung?"

Jeonghun recalled what had happened right before logging off yesterday.

The first thing Carpe did after completing his job change yesterday was shopping.

-Grab a few costume items from the shop and throw 'em on. One Piece Squad might recognize you.

"Gotta change my hair color and snag a hat or something."

With just 2,000 won in cash, Carpe cheaply disguised himself. Then he sat by the village fountain and started editing his play footage.

-Yeah, there. Cut all the personal status screen parts, kill the audio... Nice. That should do it for upload.

With Cheonma's help, the edit took just 10 minutes. Right then, the surroundings tinted faintly red, accompanied by an alert chime.

Beep- Beep-

About five seconds later, the red tint and chime faded.

"What the—?"

-Timer. You've got 30 minutes left on your session.

"Oh, that thing?"

RaSe had a hard time limit: max 10 hours a day, resetting at 6 a.m.

And at 30 minutes remaining, it pinged like that.

"Whoa, time flies. Already nine and a half hours straight, no breaks."

Made sense—plenty had happened.

Tutorial, One Piece Squad, squirrel dungeon, mythic class change.

All massive time sinks.

"Hard to believe it all happened in one day... Hyung, why the face?"

-What am I gonna do?

"Outta nowhere, what?"

-What happens to me when you log off?

"...Huh?"

Carpe realized what he meant and mirrored Cheonma's expression.

They just stared blankly at each other.

"Yeah... no precedent for this."

-Other patron spirits have multiple players; they can hop around. But I'm stuck with just you.

"True."

What would happen? No clue.

"Maybe you go back to the 'patron spirit homeland' or something. Fantasy novels send spirits home when unsummoned."

-That's fiction. No patron spirit realm!

"Fair..."

No such unheard-of place existed.

If it did, that'd be a problem too. About to make enemies of patron spirits, only to get dragged to their turf?

Horrifying.

-Can't you just... not log off?

"You know that's impossible."

-I get it, but this is nuts. Worst case, I might just vanish when you log out.

Or float in some void.

"...Sorry, can't help."

-Right! You've got Unlock. Unlock the time limit! Or something!

"That work? Might as well Unlock your patron spirit status and yank you out IRL."

-Ooh, good idea.

"'Ooh' my ass."

Full meltdown mode.

Pretending to be rational and cool, but spouting nonsense.

"Sigh."

Carpe sighed. He tried Unlock on everything at Cheonma's begging, but nothing worked.

"No dice."

-Don't give up! Don't abandon me!

"Tried everything."

Meanwhile, the 30 minutes ticked down.

[10... 9... 8...]

"Brace yourself. Short time, but it was fun."

-Yeah. You too. No matter how many regressions, I won't forget you.

"Eh, regressions wipe my mythic class."

-You little shit.

Even his half-joke didn't lift Cheonma's gloom. Felt bad.

Couldn't help practically, but maybe cheer him up?

"Dunno if this works."

-Huh?

"Lemme cast a powerful ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spell."

-Blessing? When'd you learn that...?

"Cheonma, you bastard. Finally took him down?"

-What?

That was the last thing.

Pop!

Back in reality, Carpe opened his eyes and stretched his neck.

"Ow, stiff."

Ten hours flat on his back—body ached.

'Hope he's okay.'

Cast the ultimate resurrection spell he knew, but...

"Sigh."

Nothing to do about the time limit. He set up a channel on ChaeRa, uploaded the video, and headed home.

That was yesterday.

"Dodged the worst—no deletion or regression. What happened? Dragged off somewhere?"

-Yeah, got pulled to some space after you left.

"No way. Patron spirit realm?"

-Nah. My room.

"...Your room?"

Carpe gawked at the unexpected answer, but Cheonma just nodded calmly.

-Yeah. My room from before I got stuffed as a patron spirit. Exactly the same.

Couldn't leave, electronics dead, but definitely his room.

"Possible?"

-Happened, so yeah. Guess: space based on my memories. No clue how.

With regressions, not surprising. Cheonma added.

-Boring, but books work, bed's comfy. Livable.

"Phew, glad it's not weird."

Relief washed over him. More attached than he thought after 10 hours.

"Anyway... this."

-Yeah, noisy, right?

Carpe was near the central fountain where he'd logged off yesterday.

Astonishingly, crowds packed the area—way more than before.

Obvious reason.

"Buying coins! Coin buyers here!"

"Highest prices around. Best deals in the area!"

"Hey, some player ethics? I saw that newbie first."

"First come, first served. I called dibs."

Predators hunting newbies for coins.

"Mammonism scum wanted. Tips appreciated if spotted."

"Hey, you look familiar. Hold up—take off the costume."

"He's running!"

"Stop, asshole!"

Furious players yelling. Unprecedented mob at the fountain since RaSe launch.

-Your video's the culprit.

"Oh, forgot to check."

-What? You upload and don't check?

"Crashed on arriving home, then worried about you."

-You...

Cheonma sounded touched. Carpe ignored and checked the video.

Freaked out.

"What? Views?"

Rubbed eyes, checked again. Same number.

"400k???"

Wrong channel? No, brand new yesterday.

Not even big names hit that in 12 hours.

Mail/DM blocked, so comments on the single video: over 1,000.

80% begging for NPC location.

15% fake claims.

5% recruitment for Carpe.

-Overnight star. Go full streamer?

"Nah, no charisma for that."

-Builds with practice. Or silent plays like this.

"Think on it."

Uploaded for Drek's coins and to screw Mammonism. Didn't expect this explosion. Mind blown.

"Gotta move."

Avoid crowds for next tasks. Carpe hurried out of town.

"Whoa, cleared out."

-Info spreads fast.

No more mutant deer quest lines. Just parties hunting normally.

"No One Piece Squad."

-Hm. Vanish with Mammonism? Suspicious. Money ghost'd know... something else?

Deep in forest, no attacks like before. Just wildlife.

-Clear. Go time.

"Let's do it. Status!"

Carpe entered secluded woods to finalize pre-departure checks.

Needed mobs to test attacks.

-Speechless. Fresh job change stats like this?

Item/title bonuses alone: 159 total. Level 32 equivalent. Insane.

"Overdid it a bit."

Even outsiders'd think, "This ain't right."

Proof of yesterday's abnormal gains.

Five new titles post-tutorial.

"Only one in starter town with these titles, right?"

-Pointless. My record was 7 at starter phase.

"Gotta hide 'em even if streaming."

No joke—reveal this, envy riots.

Launch players barely hit 3.

After titles, next up.

"Phew. Skills time."

RaSe overflowed with fun, but skills topped it. Combat skills were the essence.

-Unlock's OP, but visually meh.

Sword beams from hand, exploding magic! Childhood dreams live.

"Skill window!"

Carpe summoned eagerly.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Eh?"

-Huh?

Unexpected sight.

Magic Engineering.

Elemental Mastery.

Elemental Arrow.

Striking.

Four new post-job change.

8-star Magic Engineering blinking invitingly. Touch me.

"What’s this mean?"

-Dunno. First time seeing it—job exclusive?

"Tap it."

"Inventory?"

Carpe opened it reflexively.

"Whoa."

Eight acorns blinking like the skill.