VRMMO Reality Merge Regressor Brother - 3

A few minutes ago.

Min Woo-Jin logged in, and found himself floating, surrounded by gray nothingness in all directions.

[Select your path]

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[1. Ruler]

[2. Adventurer]

[3. Artisan]

[4. Peasant]

'… Damn, I really just logged in like that?' He was rather shocked. This was the biggest game of the decade! It was almost unbelievable that they could handle the first-day rush!

Finally, in the year of 2093, humanity had cracked the code of a successful VRMMO launch!

'Hmm… They chose blue for the UI? Feels like Legend of the Saint. They clearly ripped off Murim Online with the path selection…'

"I choose Adventurer."

Years of VR gaming taught Min Woo-Jin that he… didn't like managing NPCs! Even if these NPCs were lifelike, the damage was already done. He nearly felt allergic to the idea of "Ruling" over computer-generated personalities!

[Character Creation Methods]

[1. Judgment (Recommended for Beginners!)]

[Answer questions from the God of Fate, and automatically select a race and class. Includes hidden races and classes not available in other modes.]

[2. Character Templates]

[Choose your path from the carefully curated templates.]

[3. Custom Character]

[Opportunity to craft every aspect of your character!]

Out of instinct, he almost chose the third option. Truly, that was the most sensible option for a veteran player.

But today his mood was unusually good. Good enough that he decided he could "play investor" for a change. Truthfully, he really was a VR investor. And as a VR investor, he was keen to experience the perspective of newer VR customers!

"… I can always create a new character if I don't like the result. Alright. I choose Judgment."

As the gray nothingness faded, Min Woo-Jin narrowed his eyes.

Somehow, he felt unsettled!

Were the devs messing with the hormones?

At the same time, a voice echoed in his mind.

|What is life?|

Min Woo-Jin froze. He felt… insignificant… somehow! In fact, he almost thought that voice must belong to a God. Not just god, but a God with a capital G!

'Sh*t, I almost feel naked…'

A moment later, he regained his composure. Though full-dive VR was on its way to becoming mainstream, most devs couldn't fully tap into the tech's potential.

'OK, this is impressive. I really got goosebumps holy sh*t…'

His mind went over the question. After experiencing such unsettling emotions, the question itself was a bit disappointing. In Min Woo-Jin's opinion, they shouldn't have chosen such a cheesy and open question!

'Actually, shouldn't it ask "What is life's purpose" instead? Is that a translation error or something?'

Min Woo-Jin shook his head. It was hard to ignore inconsistencies with his rich VR experience!

In the end, he shrugged and gave the first answer that came to his mind.

"Life is a cycle."

|What is the purpose of the cycle?|

Voice came again, making Min Woo-Jin feel even more uncomfortable. If he didn't know this was a VR game, he would've soiled himself for sure. But, the sensation was so incredibly realistic, the VR enthusiast side of him simply could not be suppressed!

"Purpose is what you make of it. The cycle doesn't need or want one. It just is."

Silence reigned.

Meanwhile, Min Woo-Jin could barely contain his enthusiasm!

'I heard some illegal tech could induce certain feelings and emotions, but man… They're really doing it on a commercial game!'

The implications for full-dive VR were simply astounding!

|So be it!|

A blinding light swept away Min Woo-Jin's senses.

The first thing he noticed was the sound. The wind gently brushing against leaves, birds singing from far away - it all felt right somehow.

Then came the sense of smell. Something green and earthy was all around. The scent was so strong, he could almost taste it.

Suddenly, he became aware of the weight wrapped around his body.

Actually, calling it weight was inappropriate. But Min Woo-Jin realized he was wearing so little, what "clothing" he had felt unnatural.

Then, he realized his skin was… changing. Parts of it looked like it was made of some mossy mass, but they were quickly transforming into a pale pinkish hue.

Min Woo-Jin took a deep breath.

'Alright. Nothing feels dull. All senses work. Actually, they seem to work too well, almost?'

Gentle wind brushing against his skin, Min Woo-Jin could feel it in a way that he never felt before.

As he continued his evaluation, he froze. Because he realized, the little Woo-Jin was also present. And completely out in the open.

'… Hold up… This is kind of wrong…' He tried to remember whether the game had R21 mode. But he knew that it didn't, because no widely distributed VRMMO could get R21 classification. All of them would remove genitals from player models!

Could it be due to his R21 unlocked cabin? Min Woo-Jin wasn't sure, but that was the most logical explanation.

He also noticed that little Woo-Jin wasn't just there, but doubled in size too! Perhaps even more than doubled…

Min Woo-Jin immediately frowned. The first rule of VR Porn was not to mess with real body proportions. Doing so was just asking for trouble!

"… Wait. What's the point of wearing some leaves on my chest when my dick is all out in the open?"

The choice of starting clothes was questionable, to say the least…

Min Woo-Jin sighed and checked his character sheet.

[Name: Min Woo-Jin]

[Race: Nymph]

[Sex: Male]

[Age: 16]

[Class: Druid]

[Level: 1]

[XP: 0/2500]

'Wait, Nymph? Male? I'm a Male Nymph? Seriously?'

He couldn't help but frown! Did the devs not know that Nymphs were all female? But on second thought, most new stories weren't faithful to their origins. Male Nymphs wasn't that surprising in retrospect.

'… Druid, huh?'

Min Woo-Jin went over the Judgment questions and answers once again.

'No matter how I think about it, none of my answers scream Nymph or Druid. Could it be the result is random, and questions are just there to throw you off? Well, it wouldn't be the first time, but disappointing to see it from a quintuple-A game…'

He glanced at his surroundings. Forest was all that he could see in all directions. Even when he looked up, it was all trees; the sky was barely there.

'… Should I just reroll?' The thought appeared, though it wasn't serious. 'What about others?'

[Friends (Online)]

[Han Ji-Eun]

[Level 2 Angel Cleric]

[Min Chungho]

[Level 1 Human Spearman]

[Min Jaesang]

[Level 2 Angel Paladin]

[Min Yoon-Ah]

[Level 1 Godkin Sorcerer]

"Well…" Min Woo-Jin smirked. "Looks like brother got what he wanted. A human spearman among a bunch of freaks!"

As he thought, Min Yoon-Ah didn't pull any punches. If she didn't use judgment, then she would've chosen the Godkin without even thinking.

The choice of his parents… was a bit surprising. Min Woo-Jin didn't even know there would be angels in the game, but it was as if they already knew!

'Actually… No. They probably tried to surprise each other but still ended up choosing the same thing.'

Their classes looked deliberate, close to the ones they used in their ranker days. Min Woo-Jin recognized the setup from the old TheyTube videos of his parents.

"Alright, let's see what's the deal with Druid, then maybe reroll…"

He started walking around, trying to find some sort of tutorial function. If this was any other VRMMO, Min Woo-Jin would've been interrupted 10 times by now.

Walking in the overgrown, fantasy forest, didn't really evoke anything. At first.

In the year of 2093, the vast majority of greenery on planet Earth was planted and maintained by humans. Virgin, untamed forests were a thing of the past. Anyone who wanted that experience had to rely on full-dive VR. Thankfully, the tech was fairly reliable, and simulating a forest was quite easy.

As such, Min Woo-Jin didn't expect anything from the forest. Apart from being a pretty backdrop that is.

However, as he kept walking, he couldn't shake a strange feeling of familiarity.

Sprawling trees, glowing flowers and insects, warm soil, everything felt… right. Was he hiking in an alien forest, or just walking through his living room? It was that kind of perplexing sensation where Min Woo-Jin couldn't be sure if everything was in his imagination.

He stopped and looked down. The soil was really warm and felt amazing when he buried his toes. But it wasn't just warmness, or dampness. The soil felt good, in a way he never considered.

"What the f*ck? I'm going to lose my mind at this rate…"

The worst-case scenario came to Min Woo-Jin's mind. What if something was wrong with his cabin? Could it be that these strange feelings were not intended?

Or was this the expected result of state-of-the-art VR tech? Did the devs of Mysteries Online outdo themselves and created a new standard? This made some sense to Min Woo-Jin, especially as a VR investor.

'… No wonder they could afford that massive global marketing campaign. They've really achieved the impossible. A safe, and reliable way of invoking complex feelings and emotions…'

"The realization" made Min Woo-Jin eager to explore the forest! Just randomly walking around was an experience, but what were the limits? What were the expectations?

He crouched and observed everything that caught his attention. Picked up some of the soil, smelled it, even tasted it! Surprisingly, it had many complex indescribable flavors. It wasn't appetizing as food at all, yet he didn't feel any repulsion from the taste.

An insect landed on the patch he dug up. Flimsy but intricately patterned wings folded on its silver back. As he watched, the insect seemed… happy. It dug into the soil and disappeared.

The trees seemed unusually strong, so Min Woo-Jin approached the closest and touched its bark. Almost immediately, a welcoming chime reverberated in his head. The more he kept touching, the more he… understood!

'… Oh my god…' Min Woo-Jin took consecutive deep breaths and desperately tried to organize his thoughts. 'This tree… is happy… to see- no, feel the presence of… a… spirit? No, a kindred spirit? Ancestor spirit?'

Beautiful and complex chimes, slowly but surely, seemed to form a language that Min Woo-Jin never heard of, yet instinctively understood!

Perhaps it was due to being a Nymph, or being a Druid, or both. He couldn't be bothered by the game mechanics of it!

He simply listened to the song of the tree, to its wishes. Felt its ancient emotions.

"I am happy to meet you too." He spoke with a smile, somehow knowing that the tree would understand.

The spirit in this tree was truly ancient. The countless years of growth almost echoed as his fingers traveled through the bark.

Some distance away, flowers of an ivy bloomed. Mushrooms released their spores. Variety of insects buzzed around in unison like an orchestra.

Min Woo-Jin lost himself, witnessing and experiencing endless wonders.

The forest was alive. And Min Woo-Jin was aware of everything!

Min Chungho: You made a female character?!

A panel suddenly obscured his vision. Artificial, and offensively blue, Min Woo-Jin frowned at the disruption.

'… Wait, oh sh*t, this is the chat function…'

The fact that he had to remind himself that, suddenly felt off!

Min Chungho: Hey! Woo-Jin! In other games that would be fine. But you really shouldn't change your gender here!

He sighed upon reading the messages.

Min Woo-Jin: I'm not playing a female character. I chose the Judgment thingy and it made me a Male Nymph. Male. Not female. I can even see my masculinity every time I look down.

Min Chungho: …

Min Chungho: OK, friends list only shows the race and class. I didn't know there were male Nymphs in the game. There are so many races and variants, it shouldn't be surprising I guess.

Min Chungho: But why are you still level 1 btw? What have you been doing for the last 2 hours?

"… 2 hours?" Min Woo-Jin checked the in-game time. It was 11:12PM. True enough, almost 2 hours had passed!

"What have I been doing?... That's a good question…"

Min Woo-Jin: Sightseeing. This place is… pretty interesting. Or at least the tech they're using makes it so.

Min Chungho: The tech?

Min Woo-Jin: Yeah, oh wait. You chose a human spearman so maybe you didn't realize it yet. The game can make you "feel" stuff. It's kind of hard to explain. I just touched a tree, and could feel its emotions and understand its thoughts!

Min Woo-Jin: Dude, you should really try a Druid!

Min Woo-Jin: I've been playing full-dive VR games for years, but never seen anything like this!

Though Min Woo-Jin was enthusiastically typing, on the other side, Min Chungho was frowning.

'He could feel a tree's emotions?' He questioned what he read at first. But soon realized what was happening.

His little brother was connecting to the inherent abilities of a Nymph Druid. He was tapping into them not through the game system, but through instinct!

Min Chungho slashed the throat of the last kobold, then stood still, blankly staring at the messages his little brother sent.

He had not expected such a development! Not from his brother at least!

Min Chungho: You should also try your abilities. Don't get sidetracked! Mom and Dad are already at level 5.

Min Chungho: Yoon-Ah is at 4.

Min Chungho: I'm already level 9.

Min Woo-Jin: Sure. I think I'll take it slow though. Have fun with the grind!

The conversation was over, and dark lines had appeared on Min Chungho's forehead.

Instinctual connection to the new body during Mysteries Online was incredibly rare. Most of the people that achieved it became rankers after the merge. His sister Min Yoon-Ah was one of them.

However, his brother… had achieved this feat as a Nymph! During the first day. In a couple of hours!

No matter how he looked at it, this wasn't a good thing!

Nymphs were under the Fairy Queen. The psycho tyrant with a fetish for violence! Racist too, towards the Earthborn Fairies!

What if his brother were to get too excited about his current character, and never switched to a human?

Wouldn't that be disastrous?!

For that matter, Min Chungho was also deeply concerned by his parents' and sister's results.

His parents became angels. A race that Min Chungho didn't know much about. In fact, he didn't even know if they were a selectable race!

Unfortunately, none of the rankers before his regression were angels. Not to his knowledge, at least. Unlike Elves and other common fantastical races, Angels were reclusive.

And the worst of all, was his sister. It was just as Min Chungho expected.

'… She really was a Godkin after all…'

He was hoping desperately that this wouldn't be the case. But reality didn't care. Perhaps she also used Judgment selection before the regression!

'This was the reason why she was constantly under attack…' Min Chungho hesitantly nodded. 'If only I wasn't so useless back then… But everything's different now.'

But there was a dilemma in front of him.

Should he even try to get them to become humans?

After the merge, residents of Earth became known as Earthlings, or Earthborns. Humans became weaklings among the merged species. And yet, the potential they had was unrivaled. Min Chungho wanted to awaken the potential of his family through a unique breathing technique. But did that even matter anymore?

His sister had survived before the regression, but his parents and brother never had the chance. And now the latter was giving signs that he could have the potential to become a ranker.

Could they achieve the same result as humans?

Min Chungho thought the answer was yes. But he didn't know if his conclusion was the truth, or he just wanted it to be the truth.

* * *

At the same time, Min Woo-Jin was in a dilemma of his own.

If being a Nymph Druid was this fascinating, what about other classes, and other races?

What about his bread and butter, Sorcerer?

Curiosity had already started burning inside. But he decided to ask his sister's opinion before he made a new character.

Min Woo-Jin: Hey, how goes the Sorcerer?

Min Yoon-Ah: Oppa! Where's that Chungho?! He promised to power-level me, but he's leveling on his own! That's not fair!!!

Min Woo-Jin: I just talked to him, is he not responding?

Min Yoon-Ah: …

Min Yoon-Ah: I'm not going to send a message.

Min Yoon-Ah: He promised! He should be the one to message me!

Min Woo-Jin: I'm sure he's leveling like crazy so he can help you power level like crazy. Don't worry about it.

Min Yoon-Ah: Hmph! :DontCare:

Min Woo-Jin: Btw, how's Sorcerer?

Min Yoon-Ah: So-so I guess? Leveling takes too long…

'… So-so?'

He was taken aback. Was she downplaying because she was playing solo, or was she being truthful?

Min Woo-Jin: What about casting spells and mana? How do they feel?

Min Yoon-Ah: Hmm. Better than Legend of the Saint?

Min Woo-Jin: …

Min Woo-Jin: Do you not get any special feelings from casting spells? Like, does it feel as if magic is in your body? Or when you're casting the spell you understand what's going on or something?

Min Woo-Jin: It's hard to explain but playing Druid has been a weird experience. In a good way.

The reason Min Woo-Jin was persistent was to check for any discrepancies.

His cabin had an extra unlocked feature. Illegally unlocked feature! None of the other cabins in their house could be used to play R21 content!

Min Yoon-Ah: Why would I get special feelings from using skills?

Min Yoon-Ah: What do you mean Druid is weird? Is it fun to play? Should I switch to a Druid?

Min Woo-Jin: … I don't know if it's fun to play or not. I've been sightseeing since logging in.

Min Woo-Jin: I'll get back to you once I try some skills.

On the other side, Min Yoon-Ah re-read the conversation with concern.

Full-dive VR games were known to be safe. But there were plenty of people that would say otherwise!

'Could it be that there's something wrong with oppa's cabin?' Min Yoon-Ah worried.

She cast a fireball to check if something was wrong. But like many times before, all she needed to do was to chant "Fireball." No special feeling. Just regular VR spell casting.

In fact, she didn't know if the new cabin made any difference! Everything felt exactly as before!

'… Wait, isn't that kind of wrong? Oppa bought these cabins for 1.2 billion Won. Am I doing something wrong?'

Was that why her brother asked? To check if the cabin upgrade was worth it?

That seemed possible!

'Then, does that mean "feeling" the magic is also possible? Not just my arm getting warm from casting, but actually feeling magic?'

Feeling that it could be possible, Min Yoon-Ah immediately closed her eyes. Mainly for effect.

If she learned anything from manga or anime, one had to close their eyes at times like these!

She stood still and waited. And inwardly started chanting.

'Magic. Magic. Magic. Magic.'

And then she felt something! A slight tingling sensation traveled across her scalp!