Is There a Harder Difficulty?

It's been fifteen years since I awakened.

And one year since I killed the Demon King and crossed over to this world.

Over those sixteen years total, I spent fifteen of them in nothing but combat and slaughter. The remaining year? I called it a sabbatical and spent it sprawled out like a corpse.

So forgetting the simple fact that you can make money by streaming wasn't all that strange.

But as I watched various streams with Nyua, memories that had been sleeping in the back of my mind started to surface one by one.

The days before I awakened, when I stayed up every night glued to streams.

Those scenes came back so vividly I could almost touch them.

Back then, full-dive virtual reality games didn't exist yet, but the job of streamer was already a thing.

People who communicated with their viewers through a screen and ran their broadcasts in their own unique ways.

Some did it with pure chatter.

Others with games.

They laughed, chatted, and earned money with people in all sorts of different styles.

And now.

This world had taken that culture and evolved it into something far more advanced.

In this era where capsules were commonplace, most streamers broadcasted through full-dive capsules.

Some shared their daily lives with viewers from private rooms.

Others captivated audiences with flashy battles and adventures in virtual worlds that felt no different from reality.

People were growing even more obsessed with the increasingly realistic appearances of streamers inside virtual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reality.

The popularity was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far hotter than anything I'd known in my original world.

It was an age where truly famous streamers received treatment on par with celebrities.

You could honestly call it the era of the great streamer.

So many people had jumped into the field that it could be called a red ocean, but I was confident.

Confident that I would blow up.

Skill-based streams always drew people in.

When unbelievable physical ability, reflexes, judgment, and senses all came together, viewers couldn't leave. They became obsessed with the streamer showing them that kind of performance.

If it had been a regular computer game, I might not have been this sure. But...

This is a virtual reality game.

In a world where physical ability is skill.

I was an S-rank hunter. The world's strongest hunter, the last remaining final hunter. With all those titles under my belt, there was no way I'd lose out on physical ability in this world.

Even Kang Daehan, supposedly the best physical specimen in Korea, looked like a child in my eyes.

And people went wild for that kid-like performance.

So what would they do if it was me?

Even if they unified physical specs for fairness, I still had fifteen years of honed combat experience. Sense, judgment, physicality, the whole package.

I guarantee it. I'm the best.

Even if the VR game fails to meet my expectations and I quit streaming first, there's no chance I won't blow up with a skill-based stream. None whatsoever.

If I somehow don't blow up...

Then I should just go die. What else is there to do?

It would mean those fifteen years of rolling around in hell were completely worthless.

What would be the point of living?

It had been several days since I was surviving on cup ramen.

Several days since Nyua had yanked out my hair.

“It's finally here.”

“Nyua!”

The capsule occupying one corner of my room gleamed with a brilliant luster.

Sleek curves. The metallic feel against my fingertips.

I'd bought it to play games, but...

This thing was the very embodiment of a man's romance, right down to its exterior.

Nyua seemed excited too, sliding down the capsule like a playground slide and bouncing around energetically.

Doom-chit. Doom-chit.

I pressed the power button beside it. With a soft hiss, the capsule opened.

Whoa, fuck. This is insane.

My heart raced as I climbed inside. Nyua followed right after me.

“Nyua!!”

“You're coming in too?”

“Nyuaat!!”

“Alright. I don't know if it'll work, but let's give it a shot.”

Normally it shouldn't be possible.

But Nyua was a surprisingly versatile little guy.

He was the Spirit King who had survived until the very end, after all.

He's probably got some trick up his sleeve.

If I left him alone, he'd figure it out himself.

A manual was sitting on the chair inside the capsule.

The installer had told me to read it before starting, but...

“Don't need it.”

I tossed the manual straight out and closed the capsule door.

“If you're a man, you just go for it.”

Even though my body was female now.

Anyway.

I had a capsule I could use right this second, and I was supposed to waste time reading a manual?

That would be the real luxury.

The inside of the closed capsule fell into darkness.

Whirrr.

With the sound of machinery spinning up, my consciousness slowly began to sink.

A short while later.

I felt my awareness rising again and opened my eyes.

“Oh… Not bad.”

I looked around to find a pure white room greeting me.

My senses were still a bit dull, but that just meant the body scan wasn't finished yet.

It took a little time since it scanned everything—fingerprints, iris patterns, bone structure—and registered it all as personal data.

After some time passed, a woman who looked exactly like me appeared in the center of the room.

Wait, it's not that she looks like me… it is me?

Long, silky black hair that looked soft as velvet.

Eyes as red as camellia flowers.

Lips that looked moist even though I wasn't wearing anything on them.

It was the face of the woman I'd become—now completely familiar.

I reached out and touched it. The texture felt exactly like real skin.

This is amazing.

I'd wondered, but they really went this far with the realism.

There was a slight sense of disconnect, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠immersion was incredible.

If there hadn't been Gates in our world, would we have had something like this too?

A world where virtual reality games were all the rage and everyone enjoyed streaming.

I shook my head, snapping out of my idle thoughts.

It was nothing but an impossible hypothetical anyway.

Thinking about it any further was pointless.

Hmm. What should I do?

Normally I would've spent some time customizing, but right now my body was itching with anticipation.

I wanted to jump in and experience everything as fast as possible.

Even the time it would take to customize felt like a waste.

In the end, I pressed YES without hesitation. The room's scenery changed rapidly.

It became a space that felt a bit more lived-in.

This was probably the default private room they provided.

I was looking around at everything when—

“Nyua!!”

With a loud cry, Nyua appeared.

I knew this would happen.

Versatile is one thing, but this is ridiculous.

To think he'd even follow me into virtual reality.

Guess a Spirit King really is a Spirit King.

Watching Nyua fly around excitedly, I nodded.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

“Nyua, come here.”

“Nyua!”

Nyua reacted to my voice and quickly flew over, wrapping around my neck in the form of a choker.

I didn't know why, but ever since I'd become a woman, he always stuck to me like this.

He used to turn into a necklace or something before.

What a peculiar taste.

He was surprisingly stubborn. Even if I told him to change, he wouldn't.

I shook my head and moved my fingers to do the very first thing I'd planned.

Tap.

An interface appeared before my eyes.

It reminded me of the old status windows, stirring up strange nostalgia.

I swiped through the menus and quickly found what I was looking for.

There it is.

Training Simulation.

One of the basic programs provided for first-time capsule users.

It was the company's way of helping people get used to virtual reality as quickly as possible.

That's why most people started with this program when they first used a capsule.

The funny part was—

There's a leaderboard.

A ranking system in a training program.

Everyone thought it was ridiculous at first, but now it had become a fun feature instead.

The developers had said:

“Since you're doing it anyway, wouldn't it be more fun with a competitive element?”

That idea had become reality, and now the Training Simulation had established itself as its own independent entertainment content.

When I selected Training Simulation, a white room greeted me again.

The difference this time was the strange machines and devices placed all around, and a leaderboard mounted on the far wall.

I slowly rolled my shoulders as I scanned the rankings from first place down.

“Alright. Let's give it a go.”

Since I was doing it, there was no reason to half-ass it.

Every single name on that board was about to drop one spot starting today.

“Nyua!!”

Even Nyua, still stuck to my neck, let out a cheer.

***

A single post from one bewildered user was all it took.

In an instant, the Training Simulation forum exploded into flames.

Veteran users were shocked. The name Haerang shot straight to the center of the controversy.

Who the hell was Haerang?

Meanwhile, the person in question—Kim Yeonu—was simply rotating her shoulders.

“Hmm… that was way too easy.”

“I should look for a harder difficulty setting.”

“Nyuaat!!”

And right beside her, Nyua was spinning around in excitement.

Neither of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them had any idea how explosively the gallery was reacting right now.