Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Awakening in the Ominous Cave
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...Looking back on it now,
even then, a small part of me clung to the faint hope that it couldn't possibly be real.
No way it's actually happening.
A game turning into reality? That's absurd.
And even if, by some one-in-a-million chance, it did happen—why the hell would it be this buggy, spaghetti-code disaster of a game?
I harbored those grim suspicions in a corner of my heart.
"...."
That might be why.
When I opened my eyes in that unfamiliar place,
I desperately tried to ignore the two hefty masses brazenly asserting their presence beneath the loose black robe.
[덜렁-]
"...Shit."
But I couldn't ignore them forever.
As soon as I sat up and moved, the unnatural strain on my shoulders grew even more pronounced. And that was on top of the subtle emptiness in my lower body.
"...."
I quietly raised my hand to examine it.
Pale as porcelain, pristine, and slender fingers.
I hadn't wanted to face it, but now I had no choice but to admit the truth.
At this moment, my body had undeniably changed.
"...Maybe I should become a VTuber."
I spat out some nonsense to desperately escape reality, even if it didn't match my feelings.
A stacked vampire dark sorceress.
Just prove it with a half-body cam, and it'd be a guaranteed hit as VTuber roleplay.
...Yeah, right. Total bullshit, of course.
No matter how killer the body, a stream based on this flop game wouldn't hold viewers.
Besides, my current situation wasn't leisurely enough to daydream about VTubers or whatever.
"...Hoo."
I let out a deep sigh and surveyed my surroundings.
What I saw was a dim, murky cave.
The cave, dotted with faintly glowing blue lantern flowers, was a place all too familiar to me.
Pavarintos's first area: the Ominous Cave. Infested with goblin sub-species and all sorts of giant bugs—a prime grinding spot.
'Talk about a perfect spawn...'
The scenery before my eyes matched Pavarintos's game to a chilling degree. Maybe it felt even more real because it was fixed first-person view.
The pitch-black dirt walls.
The ominous roots of the Divine Tree sprouting between them. The blue Divine Tree Lantern flowers blooming along those roots.
All of it, straight out of the game.
[슥-]
'Feels... real enough.'
I ran my finger along the dirt wall, feeling its damp texture on my skin.
The gritty particles clinging to my fingertips.
No way this was a "dream" or "virtual reality"—the realism was too convincing.
'...That ad. It was legit.'
It hit me anew.
Those Pavarintos bastards.
How many years had they persisted?
Thirteen straight years of those damn ads.
No, before that.
If they'd known it'd come to this, they could've explained it properly—
'They did explain...'
Looking back, Pavarintos had claimed it from the start.
That someday this game would become reality, and we needed to prepare for the coming apocalypse. Even as they got flak for being braindead edgelords, they kept up the ads for thirteen years—they'd done their duty as humans.
We were the ones who didn't believe them and laughed it off.
...But honestly, we had a point too. No matter how persistent the ads, who would've bought that?
"Ugh."
I sighed, rubbing my forehead.
The voice slipping from my lips felt eerily thin and unfamiliar, even to me.
'My life's utterly fucked...'
I lamented inwardly, but quickly shifted my thinking.
Was it really that bad?
Trading a total NEET gamer loser dude for a busty vampire mage girl? Not a terrible deal.
...No, not terrible—straight-up jackpot, right?
Honestly, even the gender swap didn't seem like a big deal...
I decided to just roll with it.
Call it my second life arriving a bit early.
Anyway.
Not something to dwell on right now.
I shoved the stray thoughts aside and checked my gear first.
Mana Arrow Staff
✨ Magic Imprint:Tier 1 <Mana Arrow>📊 Remaining Stock:6 uses
Guardian Robe
✨ Magic Imprint:Tier 1 <Guardian>📊 Remaining Stock:3 uses
In Pavarintos, starter gear came in two flavors: weapon and armor.
For mages, you could pick magic-imprinted gear, which broadened your options.
On the flip side, without mana to recharge spells, they were useless—high risk, high reward.
'The setup's... whatever.'
Staff with versatile and offensive [Mana Arrow]. Robe for emergencies with <guardian>.
Textbook stable start. But one issue.
'Knew I should've skipped vampire...'
The 'Vampire' race.
In Pavarintos, Other Races were born with overwhelming power.
They had 'Racial Level'—Innate Essence—a innate mana pool, plus special abilities humans lacked.
Doesn't that make picking Other Race at start OP?
Not quite. It wasn't even that great.
Humans actually had the highest survival rate.
Simple reason: no special powers, no special penalties.
No great power, no great responsibility.
...Though realistically, it was because the game was trash—tiny content, pricey DLC for Other Races over 100k won. No one bought it.
Anyway.
In Pavarintos, Racial Level didn't always help.
Other Races needed 'basic mana metabolism' to survive, but low tiers couldn't sustain it.
Enter the Attunement penalty.
Vampires, for example, had Racial Level 4.
But everyone starts at Lv 1 for fairness.
Hence Attunement debuff: slashes stats drastically to compensate for unmet mana needs.
Varied penalties: massive resource drain, stamina/strength drops, sleep/mana deficits.
Most Other Races had operation and combat flaws.
Few could beat humans in Tier 1 even on specs, and handling was crippled.
Prime example: Mana Exhaustion.
Pavarintos had hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. Fail them, and you weakened—or died horribly.
Other Races added 'mana satisfaction.' Constant drain per turn; fail minimum, get Mana Exhaustion debuff. Delirium, blackout, even death.
Humans (Lv 0) had no mana req—dump all mana in fights, no debuff. Stable early game.
Naturally, my current state was plastered with debuffs.
This vampire mage build maximized early risks.
Strength limit meant even goblin whelps could overpower me in melee.
Burn all spells? Walking target. Required precise mana management and emotes (grand salute, kneel-beg).
Great for hypergrinding thousands of runs to get good chars, but shaky for steady growth.
"...Tch."
But what could I do?
Couldn't blame anyone now.
I'd instinctively built this char and ended up a vampire girl mage.
'Alright, let's make it work.'
No time for despair.
Pavarintos was brutal.
Hole up scared? Starve or thirst to death. Had to explore aggressively, farm skills/resources, find 'Portal' to escape.
'I can do this, right?'
I'd played this game.
A ton. For years.
Game ≠ reality, but Pavarintos was dirt-realistic—why it flopped.
...Right now, that obsessive detail might save me.
I already knew how to proceed. Key was bridging game memory to reality.
'...So how do I cast spells here?'
Needed a test.
Skills were priority.
In game: aim mouse, hotkey. Here: reality. No mouse/keyboard, no comfy chair puppeteering.
Had to move my body, fight with it.
[스륵-]
I experimentally aimed my staff at the wall.
Even one mana speck for recharge was precious, but skipping the test wasn't an option.
Aimed at wall, visualized the in my head.
'[Mana Arrow]'
A strange resonance hummed, electric thrill racing up my arm—from gut to staff in right hand. Mana trail peaked at the staff's crystal tip, glowing.
[시아악-]
A slim mana tendril shot out with faint light.
The 'Mana Arrow' hit the cave wall, devouring a chunk of dirt before fizzling. I checked the gouge and whistled inwardly.
'...Not bad.'
Not bad at all.
Far from it.
The mana surging through my arm.
So this was wielding game magic firsthand.
Intoxicating rush.
Gender swap? Who cares with power like this. Wanted to test more, revel in it—but held back.
Mana-hungry vampire mage already. Waste it testing? Instant disaster.
'...Memorize. <Telekinesis>.'
I'd grasped skill use.
Now, just 'play' Pavarintos memories in reality.
In the narrow cave room.
Sitting on the floor, Memorizing spells, I started planning ahead.
.
.
.
.
[저벅, 저벅-]
The dim cave.
The underground world lit only by faint blue lanterns brimmed with chill dread that prickled the spine just from walking.
Endless darkness cloaked the passages.
Anything could lunge from anywhere, anytime—pure unknown terror.
Flickering shadows gnawed at the mind; sporadic wind howls scraped the nerves.
Stepping forward into the unseen took guts; staying sane? Tough.
"Hah... yeah."
....If I hadn't played Pavarintos.
[흔들, 흔들.]
'...These are annoying.'
Maybe from holing up like a shut-in grinding Pavarintos nonstop. Head knew death lurked, but heart stayed chill.
...Strictly speaking, not that dangerous anyway.
Mobs in Ominous Cave had signature sounds.
Pavarintos obsessed over detail/realism—insane sound library...
[자바박-]
'Giant Ants...?'
'Three. Scout party. Heading away—no issue.'
[드드드드-]
'Huh? Slime Slug? Already out?'
'Can't take it yet...
'Chase if spotted—annoying. Wait and move.'
[토박, 토박-]
'...Goblin.'
'Solo. Wanderer? Worker? Footsteps heavy...'
To me, inured to the game's paranoia, these weren't terror—just familiar intel.
Vampires had killer hearing.
Top-tier audible range in-game; pinpointed sounds easily. Night vision gave clear sight in dark caves.
[덜컥.]
'Trap.'
'Everywhere, damn.'
I dodged hidden traps and mobs effortlessly, leisurely exploring.
First-time spot felt like home. Only real annoyance: jiggling chest with every step.
...After a while.
'Ah.'
'Found it.'
Finally,
I reached my target room.
A rickety wooden door, rusted lock.
High odds of an Item Chest inside.