Record of Ultimate Joy Immortal Cultivation
Record of Ultimate Joy Immortal Cultivation
「Release of the latest full-dive virtual reality device, Cera Unit 2.」
「Improved existing features guarantee a more perfect life as a resident of another world.」
「Limited sale of the Jirak Cultivation Chronicles Special Edition Package. Price: 1,987,700 KRW.」
"Buy."
I had been waiting for this exact moment.
With a single click of my finger, my bank account took a severe beating.
"I can finally enjoy it."
The virtual reality device, shaped like a massage chair, would be delivered to my house by a professional courier.
I was so thrilled thinking about that moment.
Jirak Cultivation Chronicles (Chronicles of Supreme Joy Cultivation) was the very first full-dive virtual reality game and an ultra-popular game that gathered tens of millions of users in just two years after its release.
Even though science had advanced to the point where self-driving cars were the norm and humans could travel to Mars, full-dive virtual reality games remained nothing more than an illusion even more unbelievable than superpowers.
However, after the company 'Seraphim' appeared like a comet and released Jirak Cultivation Chronicles along with the virtual reality device Cera, the landscape of the gaming industry changed completely.
"Aside from the device being a bit expensive, the game's quality was just that damn good."
Breaking away from the rigid 3D of the past, it pursued graphics indistinguishable from reality and pushed the advantages of gaming to the extreme.
That was why Jirak Cultivation Chronicles was able to establish a global presence, even while belonging to the minor genre of Xianxia rather than the popular genre of fantasy.
"Fufu, it was a long period of humiliation and persecution."
One year to gain independence from my parents, and another year to save money to play games to my heart's content.
"For the next year, I'm only going to play games."
If I had said this back home, Omma would have folded my spine in half, but I even became independent just for this.
Even if Omma comes looking for me, she won't be able to stop me.
"From now on, it's my world!"
The next day, the technicians finished installing Cera Unit 2.
Unable to contain my pounding heart, I sat down without even eating and booted up Cera Unit 2.
[Hello, I am responsible for guiding you through Cera Unit 2——]
"Skip."
[Full-dive virtual reality devices are——]
"Skip."
Passing right by the terms of service that nobody ever reads, I selected Jirak Cultivation Chronicles, the sole game serviced by Cera.
A grand melody echoed in my head as a vast world began to illuminate.
Panoramic views passed by—cultivators flying on flying swords, wicked monsters rising from the cracked earth, and beings with waist-length beards like immortals gazing down upon the earth from the sky.
After the intro that had stolen the hearts of so many people passed, the title appeared.
"Connect."
[Please create your character.]
Along with a calm female voice, an avatar that would represent me from now on floated up.
First off, the default seemed to be my real-life appearance.
"Random customization."
Too lazy to bother, I rolled the dice.
Designs that no one would ever pick unless roleplaying—a bald bearded guy, a despicable blonde bastard, a potbellied monk, and so on—flashed past before a decent appearance popped up.
A young man with black hair tied back and black eyes was looking at me.
His face was somewhat similar to mine, but the hair and vibe were different enough that he felt like a stranger.
"I'll go with this."
[Please set your nickname. You cannot use specific restricted words or words that depart from conventional names.]
The game company set restrictions to prevent ruining the sense of immersion, and one of those was the nickname.
NPCs in the game call players by their nicknames; imagine an NPC saying in a human voice, 'Cackling My Mighty Dick! You are my best friend!' or 'Kiki's Sweet Lower Nectar! I love you!'—how awkward would that be?
For the record, I didn't make up those example nicknames.
I saw them on a certain online community gathered only by perverted bastards.
Anyway, I decided to just use my real name for the nickname.
It was such a peculiar name that nobody ever realized it was my real one.
[Mu Jayeon-nim (No Nature), confirmed. Creating the realm.]
[Mortal Realm Realm Number - K 1,823,546]
[Spiritual Qi Concentration - Lowest]
[Resource Quantity - Lowest]
[Fated Encounter - Highest]
[Realm Scale - Highest].
[Realm Strength - Highest]
[Realm Alignment - Righteous Weak / Demon Strong]
[Would you like to proceed with this realm? Once chosen, a realm cannot be regenerated until the character is deleted.]
"This is tricky."
Jirak Cultivation Chronicles is a game with considerable randomness.
While there are no paid gachas, you cannot create the world you will play in as you wish.
The same goes for character traits.
Talent, unique physique, lineage, starting point, status—everything is completely random.
Just as we don't have the choice to select our birth traits in reality, Jirak Cultivation Chronicles enforced the same thing.
This might be part of the game's charm, but it's undeniable that it's user-unfriendly.
Many players requested improvements regarding this, but the developer replied that it was a choice made for maximum immersion and freedom.
"Of course, you can at least reroll the starting world."
But this world is too rare to just abandon.
"They said 'Lowest' or 'Highest' hardly ever shows up."
Like maybe once every hundred tries?
Even then, the other elements had to balance it out.
Cases where everything is plastered with 'Highest' or 'Lowest' just don't happen.
This was a guaranteed fact declared by the developer.
[Spiritual Qi Concentration - Lowest], [Resource Quantity - Lowest].
An extremely harsh environment for a cultivator to train in.
[Fated Encounter - Highest].
There are many hidden elements scattered throughout the world.
[Realm Strength - Highest].
The overall power level of cultivators is high.
[Realm Scale - Highest].
The size of the world is immense.
[Realm Alignment - Righteous Weak / Demon Strong].
Righteous Path cultivators are weak, while Demonic Path cultivators dominate.
Putting it all together, this world is...
"A total clusterfuck."
Because of the lack of resources, Demonic Path methods have become mainstream.
What should have originally declined in overall level is forcibly maintained by the vast size of the world and hidden fated encounters.
For a mortal to survive here is virtually impossible.
It's either live like livestock or die quickly.
"Even better. Let me take a screenshot first."
I feel great having something to show off on the community forum.
Even though whether my talent is Five-Element Spiritual Root, Heavenly Spiritual Root, a unique lineage, or just a plain mortal is completely unknown, so I'll probably die within 5 seconds once I step outside—who cares?
"I'll go with this."
[Confirmed. May your cultivation reach the heavens.]
"Alright~ let's go!"
Where I opened my eyes was an abandoned house in the countryside.
I inspect the clothes provided as default.
I can feel a rough texture and discomfort unlike modern clothing.
I brush off my sleeves with my hand. Dust flies everywhere, tickling the tip of my nose.
"Cough! Cough!"
Reflexively, I cough without realizing it.
My body reacted just like in real life.
"Awesome."
Could this actually not be a virtual reality game?
If, like in some novels, they brought a real world over to use it...
"No way."
There's no way that person in real life would permit such an inhumane act.
Anyway, brushing useless thoughts aside, I took a step outside.
"It's the end of the world. Total post-apocalypse."
A pitch-black sky, dark ink-like clouds, a red moon sitting smack-dab in the center instead of the sun, and lifeless wild grass and trees welcomed me.
"First off, I don't seem to have a family, nor do I live in a village."
I was dropped smack-dab in the middle of a mountain valley.
Looking around, there was nothing but forest everywhere.
— Uruk! Kuruk!
— Kyyyyyyaaaah!
Weird, monstrous sounds echoed from all around whenever it felt like it, mixed with auditory hallucinations that sounded like ghost wails.
It's terrifying. And exciting. Wiping my palms soaked with cold sweat against my thighs, I was about to head toward that pitch-black forest.
— Kwaang!
That is, until the house I had just stepped out of suddenly exploded.
"What the hell?"
No, my house, which I might've used as a base in a pinch!
While I screamed silently, a human figure soared into the air from the debris of the house.
The one who burst through the dust cloud was a man drenched in blood from head to toe.
He wiped the blood streaming down his face and roared fiercely.
"Jeokryeon! Do you think you can get away with this unscathed?! Do you know whose disciple I am to dare commit such an atrocity?!"
My ears reflexively covered themselves at his voice booming in all directions. I don't know how many trains this guy swallowed whole, but I knew one thing for sure.
He's a cultivator. Looking at his ugly face, he's definitely on the Demonic Path side. Though I wonder if Righteous Path cultivators even exist in this world in the first place.
"Because I treated you nicely, do I look like a joke to you?! If you don't come and apologize right now, I will inflict all sorts of indignities beyond your imagination——"
The voice of the man yelling at the top of his lungs abruptly cut off.
After all, a person with two throats can't speak.
Clutching his neck as he fell from midair, the man squirmed weakly.
A normal human should have died instantly, but cultivators had tough lifespans.
The man fumbled inside his sleeves and pulled out various items.
Bottles, talismans, insects, and such popped out to cover his wounds, but every time they did, fresh wounds opened up, driving the man closer to death.
'She's playing with him.'
As if sniping from far away, the man's enemy was nowhere to be seen.
In the end, without even pulling off a decent defense, the man's entire body turned into a sponge.
"Is he dead?"
I wanted to sneak over and check, but since the person who killed the man hadn't appeared, I just stayed still.
And then, with a blink of an eye, an extremely beautiful black-haired woman appeared at the man's head.
As she flicked the sleeve of her black robe, the man's abdomen burst open.
Beneath a fountain of blood, she preserved her pristine demeanor while collecting a brilliant bead held in her hand.
The woman looked at me with eyes the color of that red moon in the sky.
Seeing her smirk, she already knew I was there.
What are you looking at, crazy bitch.
"What are you looking at, crazy bitch."