Entering the Virtual Arena
Reaching the garage—the next stop on the tour of this otherworldly estate—I found myself captivated by rows of luxury cars from brands that looked familiar yet bore slightly altered names. "There's a Ferrari too?"
"It's not Ferrari here. It's Fereri."
"Ah, so famous brand names get twisted like that."
Oh Seeun gestured toward the private circuit in front of the garage. "There's even a personal track. Want to take one out for a spin?"
Honestly, the sight of so many dream cars made her offer tempting, but getting the full layout of the house I'd be living in came first. "Let's do that after we've finished the house tour."
"Sure."
After that, we toured a bathhouse styled like an ancient Greek temple, a full-floor bar, and a private movie theater before finally arriving at the PC room.
"What's that?"
The room contained familiar-looking computers, but also devices I'd never seen before. When I asked about them, Oh Seeun walked over to one with an "I knew you'd ask" expression and began explaining.
"This is called the Capsule V27 Gaming Edition—a dedicated virtual reality gaming device."
"You can just call it the Capsule. It's single-seater, so you just climb in alone."
"That's amazing. This world really has advanced massively in virtual reality systems, just like you said."
Oh Seeun nodded and added more detail. "Actually, perfect virtual reality technology hasn't been around that long. But its impact was enormous—Virtual Arena, or VA for short, the AOS game, hit one billion users right after launch."
"And I heard they're introducing a pro league this year..."
"So? Curious? Want to try a quick match?"
She tapped the Capsule lightly, and the power came on.
"Well... we've finished the internal tour anyway. Might as well give it a shot."
It was a little funny that after constantly struggling in a fantasy world, my first activity back in the modern world was gaming. But with no threats left and material comfort confirmed, and given that I'd loved games so much in my first life that I'd gone pro, it didn't feel all that strange either.
After receiving a quick rundown on the Capsule, I lay down inside the plush interior. The lid closed automatically. My arms and legs were secured, something was fitted over my head, and then it moved straight into the tutorial.
The tutorial explained that the Capsule recognized every movement through micro-muscular signals from the limbs and brainwaves. Once I finished it, the viewpoint instantly shifted to what looked like a console game's main menu screen.
Though the technology was supposedly still in its early stages, the list of installed games was overwhelming. Among them, Virtual Arena—the one Oh Seeun had mentioned—displayed a staggering real-time user count of seven hundred million.
"Guess there's a reason it was recommended."
VA used a biometric recognition system, meaning every login carried real accountability, but that also meant strict management against hacking and unauthorized programs.
"The system itself really is different."
Suppressing the excitement I hadn't felt in a long time, I entered the main menu. For some reason, a familiar fantasy background greeted me.
"...Of all things?"
The urge to back out flickered for a moment, but my curiosity about the overwhelmingly number-one game in this parallel world was too strong to resist.
As expected, VA began with a tedious in-game tutorial. The biggest potential headache—choosing a nickname—had already been solved because Oh Seeun had pre-registered the name "Saintess." That let me skip the usual time-wasting and move on.
The character customization that followed was simple: I almost used my real face and body, but on second thought, I slapped on a mask with basic expression recognition just in case and rushed through it.
Even amid the boring processes, the novelty of virtual reality, adapting to the game's systems, and the visual spectacle helped ease the tedium. Still, nothing could calm me down once I was in front of a game again after so long—my eyes were already half-glazed over with focus.
After skimming through various settings and notices, I had to face the fact that the in-game tutorial couldn't be skipped. I stopped spamming the skip button and started studying the systems instead.
The most interesting part was the "Energy" system. Unlike mana, which was consumed by skills, Energy was used for dynamic actions like dodging, jumping, and running. It prevented the game from turning into a pure "jump-to-avoid-skills" mess while still allowing high-mobility play if you managed your Energy well. That balance, combined with the freedom virtual reality offered, made the game's overall quality feel excellent.
The rest of the structure was similar to Master of League: kill enemies to grow stronger, contest objectives like dragons, and ultimately destroy the enemy's base protected by two turrets on each lane. Positions were also familiar—Top, Mid, ADC, and Support—with Mid feeling like a hybrid of Master of League's mid and jungle, sometimes roaming to help other lanes and sometimes clashing with the enemy mid in the central labyrinth.
"So mid is still the most important role here too."
Nodding at the universal truth of mid laners, I moved on. There were also escape-and-chase spells for short-range blinks, explanations for why leap had a five-minute cooldown, and detailed item and objective effects. But I figured it was better to experience them firsthand than read endlessly.
Because the game felt suspiciously similar to Master of League—the game I'd played until the day I died in my first life—I skipped the rest of the dry explanations and queued for a normal match.
The queue popped in less than a second. True to its status as the world's most popular game, VA matched me instantly and sent me straight to the pick screen, where a variety of intriguing classes caught my eye.
Your role is Mid Laner!
Please select a class!
VA didn't lock classes to specific positions. Instead, it grouped them only by their general role.
"Feels like early Master of League."
After a moment of deliberation, I picked Priest—something that had caught my eye—and read through the skills.
Role: Healer
Passive – Rebirth: After 4 seconds of channeling, revive one nearby ally at half health.
Skill 1 – Heal: Restore health and Energy to one ally within range, scaled to the Priest's missing health.
Skill 2 – Sacrifice: Reduce your own health to grant one ally within range increased attack and movement speed for 2 seconds.
Ultimate – Sanctuary: Create a 4-second Sanctuary around yourself. Enemies inside are slowed and take damage over time; allies gain a shield.
While I was absorbed in reading the skill descriptions, the team chat suddenly exploded.
Apparently I'd been idling too long on the Priest pick. Still, I could just change it now.
The game has started!
BLUE Team: MightyPaladin (Paladin), Saintess (Priest), DoomedLuffy (Pirate), Hajimara (Necromancer)
RED Team: ArtIsExplosion (Berserker), ForgiveMeSasukehye (Ninja), NotThat (Demon Hunter), AnywayNot (Commander)
By the time I looked up from the skills, the pick timer had already ended. I never got the chance to switch or even check my teammates' abilities. The game began immediately.
"Well, it's just a normal game anyway..."
I blocked the Pirate's incoming complaints and headed into the labyrinth.