Update

After hearing those words from the man, not all people in the meeting room were happy.

They didn't think that releasing the update so soon would do any good. They were very well aware of the contents of the next update, and how game changing it was.

They wanted the game to be on track for some time before releasing the update but the blue haired man was not gonna listen to them.

"This is not good, Mark! Updating the game so soon, it is not a good choice... You already know how drastically the game will change after the update is out." A man in his 40's spoke with clear hatred towards Mark.

"I have made my mind, Mr. Jack, there is no reason to not update the game. The faster the updates, the more the people are aware of the future that awaits..." Mark, the CEO didn't listen to Jack, the man in his 40's.

"Hmph... Do as you want, but I don't want any losses!" Jack said, his face showing his fear of grave loss.

"You won't be disappointed." Mark chuckled and sat on his chair.

"Now, does anyone have any issues with it?" He looked at everyone present in the room and after receiving no response, he spoke up, "Then I guess no one has any issue."

After that, the meeting was over and some went away with angry looks while some had no expression on their faces.

No one spoke up in the meeting as they knew that Mark wouldn't listen to them, no matter what they said so wasting their time and energy was no use.

They were all top-notch experts and tycoons from all over the world. They all had enough money for their future generations to live a luxury life.

It was unimaginable to see all these top notch tycoons and experts at the same place but now, it was happening.

They all entered their luxurious cars and their bodyguards followed behind them in black cars.

***

Jiho went to the living room, and found his parents sitting on the couch, watching news on the television.

He went to the couch and sat next to his father. 

"It's been hours since you went to your room, what have you been up to?" A strong yet gentle voice entered his ears.

He looked at his dad and replied, "I was-", he hesitated for a moment, afraid that they will be worried or scold him for playing games for hours.

His dad waited for him to continue. 

"I was... I was playing a game!" Jiho finally spoke the truth, he didn't want to hide anything from his parents.

"Ah! I see, that game must be very interesting. You barely get interested in such things, it's a good thing that you're enjoying your day." Jiho's dad didn't seem angry at all. He was happy that his son was finally enjoying something so much. 

Jiho heaved a sigh of relief and spoke, "I won't focus too much on it... I will continue my studies and look out for a better paying job." He knew his responsibilities and didn't want to waste all of his time on the game, he had come to the game in hopes of earning a little, but that didn't mean that he could rely on it for making a living, with his brother in coma and his knee hurt.

He wanted to lower the pressure on his parents's shoulders. They were working day and night to run the household, and pay his brother's hospital bills. 

Although he was earning from a part time job, it was not enough to make their financial condition better. He wanted to finish his studies and get a good job one day.

As time passed, It was already time for dinner, Jiho's mom had prepared the delicious food and put it all on the table.

They all sat on wooden chairs, eating their share of food until their stomachs were full.

"Good night mom and dad, I am going to my room." Jiho spoke, and walked towards his room.

"Good night son..." His dad smiled and sat on the couch.

"Good night sweetie." His mom followed after his dad and sat on the couch, shifting her gaze at the television.

Jiho entered his room and closed the door behind him, without making any noise. He looked at the VR headset on the bed.

He put it on his head and lay down on the bed. He was addicted to the game in a single day, he didn't want to admit it but he was.

"Ascend" he gently said the magical word and the next moment, he was standing in front of an alchemy shop.

He looked around and found a lot of players wandering around while NPCs were doing their works.

He quickly ran towards the forest, wanting to leave this place soon and move to the next city.

He arrived at the forest in just a few minutes. He climbed up on a tree and leaped on to another tree branch.

He was actually enjoying jumping so high. He could use his legs without any problem now, he was more than happy about it.

Upon arriving at the inner forest, he spotted a few monsters which were high level but not his match.

He wasn't here to hunt monsters, this time, he was here to look for any clues about moving on to the next city.

He had already hit the level cap for the starter village area, and he couldn't level up any further before advancing to the next area.

No one from this starter village had advanced to the next city so no one had any clue about how to advance to the next city.

The maps only showed the forest and the starter village, which was not of any help.

The only possible way to find any clues was to look for entrances in the forest.

He quickened his pace and swiftly leaped from one tree to another. The wild monsters were chasing him but he didn't care a bit, he was safe as long as he didn't fall to the ground.

He didn't feel any fear from height, this was shocking to him at first but he thought that it must be some buff from the assassin class.

In mid air, he received a notification. He first landed on a tree branch before reading the message.

[Update in: 00:59:47]

"What!?" He was surprised after seeing the notification. He was finally nearing the edge of the forest and didn't want to leave without finding the entrance to the next city. His progress will go in drain if he logged out.

He clenched his fish and thought, "I have to find the entrance quickly." He was in a hurry now, he kept leaping from one tree to another.

Time passed and now, only 20 minutes remained till the update. 

Jiho could still not find any hidden entrance. He decided to search for the remaining time as he would automatically get logged out once the update process starts.

He searched for another 15 minutes, and only 5 minuted remained for the update to start.

He thought that it was now impossible to find anything, he was surrounded by tall bushes and trees, making the area dark.

He was almost at the edge of the forest, yet he still couldn't find the entrance he was looking for.

He still didn't give up and decided to search for the remaining 5 minutes.

After 4 minutes, he found a strange looking tree with weird branches and a slight light emerging out of it.

He decided to check it out, unaware of the remaining time for the update to start.

[35 seconds]

Only 35 seconds were left and Jiho was standing in front of the tree. He opened the map and set a location point at his current spot.

This was a feature given by the game to all players, they could mark a location so they won't get lost the next time they want to visit a place.

[20 seconds] 

Only 20 seconds remained now, Jiho touched the tree and a bright glow suddenly attacked his eyes.

He was stunned for a while and just as he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a mysterious place.

[0 seconds left for update to start!]

[Force log out enabled!]

The time finally ended and Jiho lay on the ground, waiting to turn into pixels but then, he noticed something weird.

"H-Huh!??"