Chapter 318

– I didn't know our son was so talented in art.

It was about a decade ago. When Sung Suho was a kindergartener. His father, Sung Jinwoo, chuckled as he looked at Suho's drawings. He could confidently say that there was no other five-year-old in the world who could draw ants this well. A sketchbook was filled with black crayon scribbles. And among them, a drawing of Beru that he worked especially hard on.

'Should I send him to art school later?' Sung Jinwoo, already thinking about his son's future career path, was admiring the sketchbook when he quickly stopped smiling at the sharp gaze he felt from the side.

– Ahem. – Cha Hae-In couldn't help but chuckle as she saw her husband changing his attitude so quickly. But she soon hardened her expression and spoke in a serious tone,

– This isn't something to laugh about. Look at the latest drawing.

– The latest drawing?

On the last page of the sketchbook was Suho's completed work, titled 'Our House'.

– Suho said there's his huge dad in that black land, does that remind you of anything… Why are you laughing?

– Ah. No reason, I just remembered something funny.

Sung Jinwoo, unable to hold back his laughter as he recalled the 'Sacred Statue of the Monarch' erected in the middle of the world of eternal rest, wiped the tears from his eyes and closed the sketchbook. 

'Actually, wouldn't it be okay to just laugh it off?' That thought appeared in Jinwoo's brain. But, he couldn't help but change his mind after hearing what Cha Hae-In said next. She had just returned from a parent-teacher conference with the principal of the kindergarten that Suho attended…

* * *

– We've taken care of many children, but we haven't seen any drawings that express friends and family this way.

– …

– Do you know why Suho draws these kinds of pictures?

– …

She knew. Of course, she knew. The drawings that Suho made would definitely seem… problematic in the eyes of ordinary people.

A sketchbook that was more than 70% filled with black.

A small house.

A small, ordinary house drawn on the ground,

And the entire page beneath that house filled with black…

Drawings of a five-year-old that seemed emotionally troubled were piled up on the desk. But this… Was actually a perfectly normal illustration. Nevertheless she couldn't honestly tell her about the Shadow Army. Suho would only be seen as even stranger in this peaceful world if she did. The best his mother could do was to shake her head at the principal's gaze, who was cautiously observing her with a serious expression.

– …I see. – The principal just sighed at that reaction.

When she first saw these drawings, she wondered if Suho was being abused at home. But she couldn't find any signs of that from the always cheerful boy. And besides, wasn't the woman before her 'Cha Hae-In'? Suho's mother was a global star loved and praised by the entire nation. Furthermore his father was a police officer. There couldn't be a more perfect family in terms of wealth, honor, and morality. So after having several conversations with Suho's mother, the principal convinced herself and came to a reasonable conclusion.

– Perhaps… Suho has an extraordinary talent in art.

'Yes, that must be it.' It wasn't common, but it did happen sometimes, for young children to paint the world as they saw it. 

* * *

Thanks to that conclusion, the whole situation ended as a minor event, but Suho's parents had learned something...

– It seems our Suho has a talent for art.

Actually, what was talent anyway? The fact that a five-year-old drew enough pictures to fill his sketchbook was already a 'dedication uncommon among other children'. And… as if to prove that, he actually grew up and got accepted into the prestigious Hankuk University's art department…

* * *

Since he got accepted, Suho's skills developed in a positive direction. However even the kindergarten principal, who first discovered his talent, wouldn't ever have imagined… What kind of painting Suho would draw when he grew up. She wouldn't ever consider the possibility that the picture he would paint would grow so large, it would turn the entire universe upside down, causing a 'revolution' of some sort.

"We have enough materials."

At this moment, a truly grand drawing was being sketched in Suho's mind. Paint, brushes, canvas. He had gathered enough materials, so now it was up to him to decide what kind of picture to paint, how to paint it, and for what purpose.

"I heard from Harmakan that the virtual reality games are actually magical devices utilizing instance dungeons."

"Yes. I have never dreamed that my brother would intervene in the development stage…"

Of course, it was only in the mindspace implementation platform, And the rest of the technical parts were indeed created by Yoo Jinho himself with the help of his employees. But the most crucial step, When they were struggling to implement realistic 'virtual reality' they, unknowingly, received Sung Jinwoo's assistance in solving that problem. He realized that fact much later. In a way, this truth could be a bit disappointing to Yoo Jinho. His masterpiece, which he thought he created with his own effort, was actually only possible thanks to someone's intervention…

But as Harmakan personally used magic and thoroughly analyzed Yoo Jinho's virtual reality capsule, He came to a conclusion.

[Well, not bad. You would have eventually succeeded in implementing virtual reality even without our king's help.] Of course, it would have taken decades longer. 

But Harmakan wasn't from a race that would comfort or empathize anyone. First of all, Yoo Jinho himself didn't feel upset when he found out about Sung Jinwoo's intervention. Rather, he shed tears of joy, saying 'As expected of my brother!' So Harmakan only said this because he was genuinely impressed by human technology. In the eyes of the Demonic Spirits, humans were an extremely weak race. But despite that, he couldn't help but acknowledge that the ever-evolving technology of mankind was the best in all dimensions. A race that endlessly evolved because they were born weak, that was humanity. How else could the great and glorious king of darkness, the Shadow Monarch, be born from among them? That's why Harmakan became certain once again after analyzing the capsule that Yoo Jinho developed…

[Highly advanced science is not much different from magic.]

That someday, humans would be able to understand dimensional coordinates with pure scientific power and freely cross dimensional gaps. That's why he was sure…

[You already had all the necessary ingredients. The grace that the Shadow Monarch bestowed upon you only shortened the completion time a little.]

Of course, it would have taken decades longer without that, but with Yoo Jinho's persistence and effort, he would have eventually achieved it. Knowing all that, Sung Jinwoo simply offered a little help. The results of that analysis were shared in their entirety with Suho through Harmakan. So now he began to paint, using all the materials gathered before him, solely to 'help his father'.

'Out-of-body experience'

'Lucid dream'

As Harmakan analyzed, the foundation of the virtual reality game was a magical device that temporarily extracted the soul from a living body and allowed it to indirectly experience an instance dungeon. And it was much safer than the Eternal Sleep Disease or an out-of-body experience, with the soul's coordinates firmly fixed within the game capsule so that it could return to its body at any time.

"We'll create an 'avatar' to temporarily hold the soul using these cells. And we'll put people in that avatar and make it have a 'dream' where it goes to another dimension that actually exists, not an instance dungeon. It will be called a virtual reality game. But in reality, they'll be able to become Hunters online, not offline, and raid real dungeons."

"…That's certainly possible. No, if it's like this…" When Yoo Jinho, who was lost in thought after hearing Suho's explanation, opened his eyes again, He was no longer the doting uncle, but the head of Ahjin Soft. A burning passion blazed in his eyes as he looked at the lump of pink cells Suho held out.

"With this method, even non-Awakened people can participate."

"That's right." Suho also nodded confidently. The picture he painted was the result of reviewing all the research data left by the Apostle of Evolution, combined with Harmakan's knowledge as a Demonic Spirit and the memories Beru devoured.

And Yoo Jinho's mind, having received all that information, was burning with passion. Not just metaphorically, his brain was literally overheating and spinning. Like when he first developed a virtual reality game with his employees in his younger days. As the picture Suho painted was handed over to him, it became even more concrete and detailed. Because Yoo Jinho was undoubtedly the best game developer in this era.

Yoo Jinho, having finished his calculations, smirked. "…This is exciting. You're saying that everyone can become Hunters and fight, not on Earth, but in another dimension? And against the gods of outer universe?"

"W-wait a minute…"

"What are you two talking about?"

'Ah.' Yoo Jinho, focused on his conversation with Suho, belatedly realized that there were many eyes watching them. His gaze subtly swept around. 

All the high-ranking Hunters' eyes gathered in the virtual reality lab were focused on them. But except for a few who were directly connected to Suho, like Seo Jiwoo, they all had dumbfounded expressions and couldn't follow their conversation. It was only natural. It was a conversation that only he and Suho understood. But there was no reason to keep it a secret now. Rather, from now on, he would need the active cooperation of all these Hunters. 

The big picture that Suho was painting required a lot of work. Harmakan and Beru would handle the creation of the avatars. And finding the way to the outer gods' realm beyond the dimensional gap was a task Suho had to solve. Then what was his job…? 

In the end, it wasn't much different from what he had been doing: 'Games', and gathering countless players to 'enjoy' those games. Yoo Jinho, who had already become the best game developer in the world, was now aiming for the best in the universe.

But he didn't feel any fear or worry. Rather, he was excited as if he had returned to his youth when he followed Sung Jinwoo into dungeons. Just like back then… He had finally found the only way to directly help his brother who was fighting alone in space.

'Brother, you raised a good son.' Yoo Jinho smiled at Suho's face, which resembled Sung Jinwoo from those days, and turned his head to answer the questions of all the Hunters who were focused on him. 

Although it seemed like they wanted to ask him about everything, he decided to omit the detailed explanations. What was the point of explaining the game development process to the players? The important thing was the core.

"The game server will be expanded soon."

"…Server expansion?"

"…?"

Perhaps because his answer was a bit unfriendly, Yoo Jinho gave a warm smile at the puzzled reactions of all the Hunters under the S-rank guildmasters and announced,

"In short, our new game will be about the player going out into space and fighting against the outer gods' invasion." And at that moment. The official name for that game crystalized in Yoo Jinho's mind.

[Solo Leveling: Ragnarok]

An expansion pack for all mankind on Earth, including not only Hunters but also non-Awakened.

"From this moment on, we, Ahjin Soft, will prepare a large-scale project to turn all of humanity into Hunters."