Chapter 72: Record (1)

Chapter 72: Record (1)

"There aren’t any problems."

Sang-Hyeon finally picked himself up after an hour of assessments. He felt numb from being tied down like a prisoner during their tests.

"Thank goodness."

“Phew.”?Ju-Hyeok sighed in relief.

Manager Oh and the director did as well. They already made up after their earlier fight.

"Why is everyone here? There's pretty much no problems."

Sang-Hyeon tried to brush it off, but Ju-Hyeok scolded him, "Don't take it so lightly."

"Well, they said there aren’t any problems."

As Sang-Hyeon prepared to leave the infirmary...

"Uh... Sir?"

The doctor grabbed him by the shoulder.

"?"

"I want to talk to you privately for a moment."

Doctors commonly spoke to their patients in private. The others felt at ease knowing nothing was wrong and didn't think too much about it.

Only Kim Ju-Hyeok and Manager Oh still wore dark expressions because they predicted what the doctor would say.

"Sure."

Sang-Hyeon followed the doctor.

***

Sang-Hyeon and the doctor arrived at the consultation room.

"Please sit."

They briefly stared at each other in silence. The doctor broke the silence first as she tied up her hair.

"You probably have a good idea of what I'm about to say."

"Yes." Sang-Hyeon nodded.

He went through various tests and modern medicine would inevitably find out.

"You have problems with your right arm, correct?"

"That's right."

As expected, it was about his right arm.

"Do you know that the issue with your right arm isn't specifically the arm itself?"

"Yes," Sang-Hyeon lightly replied.

The doctor had a pitiful look on her face.

She carefully explained to him, "Sang-Hyeon, the issue with your right arm is caused by your brain. And the capsule is a machine that interferes with the brain. Hmm... Simply put, that's why you come out so exhausted after every full-dive session."

"As expected, that was the reason."

He always sweated profusely and felt exhausted every time he finished playing, which resulted in his short playing sessions.

Sang-Hyeon suspected it had to do with his handicap, but never wanted to admit it. He just wanted to believe that his right arm wouldn’t cause any other problems.

"The phenomenon you’re experiencing now is a type of neurological disorder similar to acquired cerebral palsy."

"I'm aware."

"You're lucky it only affects your right arm. There are many cases where half of the body becomes paralyzed instead."

"Yes..."

The doctor back then also said he was lucky.

'Lucky...'

Sang-Hyeon didn't think he was lucky at all. His right hand was the one thing that needed to work whether he lost his vision, hearing, or smell. Instead, it was the only thing permanently affected.

He didn't feel lucky. It seemed like the same handicap would stand in his way again. There must be a problem if the doctor called for him.

"Is there some kind of problem?"

The doctor shook her head, "Nothing yet. To be precise, we're not sure. However, there's always a chance something might occur." n0VELuSb.c0m

"How likely?"

"Your right arm moves fine in virtual reality, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever thought about why? It shouldn't move in there either if it's a problem with the brain."

"Isn't it because... there's no problem sending signals from the brain, but because there’s physical damage? That physical damage doesn’t exist in virtual reality..."

"No, there would be problems sending signals too if there’s damage to the brain and that would also affect the virtual world. The capsule can make another arm, but it can't replace the brain."

"..."

Sang-Hyeon became speechless. He felt confused at first because he learned that his brain had been damaged, but his right arm moved fine in virtual reality. He never gave it much thought after that since it moved fine.

What mattered was that he could use the bow again.

"Why is that?"

"The other parts of your brain are moving your arm for you."

"...?"

"If your brain was an office, it's as if a worker from a completely different department was working overtime in place of a sick co-worker."

"Ah..."

"It's only possible because you're in an environment that operates 100% by the mind. It's impossible in the real world because of the physical limitations."

He understood now. In reality, the part of his brain that controlled his right arm had been damaged. However, other parts of his brain made up for it in virtual reality.

"A worker would become even more tired if they worked overtime, right? They’ll eventually burn out. That's why you sweat so much and feel exhausted compared to other gamers."

"I see."

"It's not a big issue for now, but... we don't know what will happen in the long run or if you game for a long time."

Sang-Hyeon gulped.

'I promised to reach diamond.'

He had just planned to extend his playing time.

"Then what should I do? I want to extend my playtime."

"This might sound generic, but consistent exercise and healthy eating habits are a must. Other than that, we need to continuously assess and check the data."

Did that mean he had to keep visiting the hospital?

"Alright."

He worried about the hospital fees, but decided to inquire about them. As he prepared to leave with that in mind...

Chuk.

The doctor passed him something. It was her business card.

'Song Ha-Na.'

It had a casual name written on it despite the weighty title of a doctor.

"It's probably better to get checked up by me. I'm not bragging, but there’s only a handful of us in the country."

Ju-Hyeok also mentioned that only a handful of doctors specialized in brain analysis and capsule gameplay. It would probably be more expensive though.

Sang-Hyeon wondered if he could go to a general hospital instead.

"I'll do it for free."

"Sorry?"

He couldn't believe it since a doctor's time was priceless.

"I also want to... experiment..."

Song Ha-Na looked away. She seemed embarrassed because she was clinging onto him for other purposes.

"Experiment?"

"Yes..."

"Experiment with what?"

"What I just told you about different workers. It's a very rare phenomenon. To be exact, it's my first time seeing it. It's not possible in reality."

‘I see.’

He was a rare case. Sang-Hyeon didn’t know if he should be happy or not.

"Isn't it possible because it's virtual reality?"

"It's the first time in virtual reality too. My first time witnessing that it's possible."

"And you want to experiment to see if it's possible in reality?"

"Yes, don't be alarmed because of the word experiment. I'll treat you the same way as other patients. Initially, but we'll slowly add different experiments."

"Alright."

"Are you... agreeing?"

"Let me talk to my manager first, but there’s something I'm curious about."

Sang-Hyeon recalled what he felt at the end of the game earlier.

"Ask me anything."

"Earlier in the game, I felt my right hand going numb. Just like... in real life."

Song Ha-Na's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Why did that happen?"

"Hmmm... Well, if we think about it simply, the worker probably got burnt out and called it quits..."

As doctors often did, she continued to talk while scribbling down notes.

"But that seems too general. I'll discuss it further with the engineer and contact you about it."

"Alright."

Sang-Hyeon got up mid-way until he recalled something else.

"Ah, one more thing."

"?"

"No one told me yet, but did I beat JeonJaPa's record?"

"Ah... Apparently, it's a tie."

Sang-Hyeon frowned after hearing that.

***

Ju-Hyeok bolted up as Ha-Na and Sang-Hyeon walked out of the consultation room. It seemed like he had been waiting.

Ha-Na lightly greeted him and brushed past them. She headed towards the engineer.

"Hey, what did she say?" Ju-Hyeok asked Sang-Hyeon and grabbed him.

"..."

Sang-Hyeon remained silent.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is it bad?"

"Yeah."

"Really!?"

"Sigh... Fuck."

"?!"

Ju-Hyeok felt surprised to hear Sang-Hyeon swear. What could the doctor have possibly said?

"Huh, what's wrong!? Say something!"

"I heard I didn't beat the record."

"...?"

"Why do you look confused? I heard from the doctor that the score was tied."

"Is that why you're upset?"

"How's that possible? A tie? Down to the second?"

"W-Wait a second. So you're angry because of the score?"

"Aren't you angry!?" Sang-Hyeon shouted.

It was unusual to see him so upset about something. That's how badly he wanted to beat the record.

"I just needed to survive for another 0.000001 seconds! Of course, I'm angry! How is it exactly the same? Is this staged?"

"Are you crazy?! Your life was at stake! Who gives a shit about the score?! Just tell me what the doctor said!"

"My life? Don't overreact! Right now, the high score is more important..."

Just as they were about to grab each other by the neck...

"Uh... Almond?"

The youngest staff member called out to Almond with a panicked look.

"You, you have to come back now..."

"Sorry?"

Sang-Hyeon doubted his ears.

The stream? Were they still streaming?

He looked at Ju-Hyeok and asked, "Is the stream not over yet?"

"That's right."

He thought most viewers would have left by now since the medical check took over an hour and a half. To his surprise, they were still on the air.

Sang-Hyeok asked the staff, "Are there still viewers left?"

"Take a look."

The staff took out his phone.

[Current Viewers: 71k]

Over 70k viewers remained on standby.

Sang-Hyeon felt confused rather than happy.

"Wait... why?"

He couldn't help but ask. Why did so many people wait that long? He hadn't even surpassed the record and couldn't understand from his point of view.

"What do you mean why? They're waiting to see you. The first person who beat JeonJaPa's record." Ju-Hyeok told him as he tidied up his crumpled shirt.

"...?"

Sang-Hyeon's expression began to change. What did Ju-Hyeok mean that he beat the record?

"I thought it was the same, down to the milliseconds."

"Not that."

Chuk.

Ju-Hyeok pointed at the large neon sign in the studio.

The sign read:

[For the first time! Surpassing the VNS wall of 300!]

[Record Holder: Almond]

"..."

Sang-Hyeon became speechless for a moment and Ju-Hyeok sneered.

He must be surprised. Who wouldn't be if they found out they broke the world record?

However, Ju-Hyeok heard his next words and made the most puzzled expression.

"What is that?"

A moment of silence followed.

'Ah... right. He probably has no idea what that is.'

Most gamers knew, but Almond was hardly one yet. Only three weeks had passed since he started.

Ju-Hyeok had to remind himself who he was talking to, but what did that matter? This was Almond.

"Hurry up and go sit beside that pretty noona. She'll explain it to you."

"Noona? She looks younger than me."

"Shut the..."

Sang-Hyeon quickly ran away from Ju-Hyeok and headed to the studio.

The studio already had everything set up for Sang-Hyeon.

Yu Ha-Yeon riled up the viewers after she spotted him, "Everyone! Almond, Almond is coming in..."

She shouted as if someone incredible like a champion was appearing.