Pastor Pil-mo Jang whispered something to the lady and both of them left the main hall and walked towards the rooms at the back of the church.
I was almost done eating as well when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and saw that it was a call from an unknown number.
I give it a moment of thought before picking up. The voice from the other side was of a young man.
“This is the Z&F courier service. Am I talking to Mr Lee Sanghyun?”
“Yes, this is Lee Sanghyun.”
“Sir, I am at the given address but the house looks empty. Can you confirm that it is your house?”
“You are at the house on 82th street?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Then it’s the correct house. Please proceed with the installation, wherever you think is the best.”
“There is a bit of paperwork that needs to be done before the installation….”
“I will be there in 5 minutes.”
After ending the call, I hurriedly finished my food and headed home. I would love to stay in the church and listen to Mi-ryeong play the piano, but right now I was needed elsewhere.
***
It was terribly windy outside. I shielded my face with both of my arms as I walked through the alley to my apartment. I saw the delivery car across the street, and as I walked up the stairs I saw a man in a short-sleeved uniform with the logo of Z&F printed on it.
He had his phone out, possibly to call me. I walked over to him briskly and opened the door.
Soon after, he walked inside carrying a big cardboard box. He placed it near the centre of the main room and took a few deep breaths. It was quite heavy it seems.
I offered him a chair and he sat down. He then handed me a clipboard with a few document papers. As I read and signed them, he proceeded with the set-up. It didn’t take him long to assemble it.
In about 10 minutes , the virtual reality capsule was ready. I walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed two drinks. Handing one to the guy, I asked-
“Is it ready to use now?”
He took a big gulp before replying,
“Yes. You can get started right away.”
“Nice. People seem to be going crazy over these.”
“Indeed. I still have a bunch that I need to deliver today. It’s kind of funny how this became such a hit overnight. I would like to have one too but I can’t afford one right now.”
Saying so, he picked up the cardboard box and tucked the clipboard inside his uniform before leaving through the front door.
Now alone in my apartment, I examined the capsule closely. It was as big as a recliner chair. It functioned both as a traditional personal computer and Virtual reality simulator.
Although, the one I bought was a bit cheaper compared to the ultra-high-end type that Taejin would be using. While it had many State-of-the-art features that provided all the convenience that a user’s needs, mine was just the entry-level variant. It lacked most of the ‘comfort features’, but it more than made up for it in the virtual reality aspect.
All I had to do was to sit or lie down, attach the sensors and then wear a visor like the ones in Sci-fi movies.
Yeah. That’s all. Quite unbelievable.
‘-These things transcend human logic.’
Despite its futuristic appearance, the capsules were mediocre at best. Yes, you could play games and browse the net. But that’s about it. It had the same specs as any run of the mill PC.
The reason behind how it’s capable of simulating virtual reality is shrouded in mystery.
The public is fed the explanation that it uses ‘cloud processing’ and other techno-mumbling. But none of it is true.
No one knew for sure. They just didn’t want to admit it.
But none of that matters to me. I wasn’t going to play the game to unravel the secrets of virtual reality. I was going to play so that I could see the progress made by Taejin, and if the devil interacted with him inside the game.
Well, there was another reason. Something to do with why I was wearing this glove.
I don’t remember when it showed up exactly, but the place where I had cut my palm to perform the ritual as to summon the devil had healed. And in its place were interlocking black teeth.
The pattern was very distorted, to say the least. It was such that if I were to open and close my fist, it would appear as if the teeth were opening and closing.
Although it was just a tattoo marked on my palm, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it had the ability to talk yet chose not to, just to mess with my mind.
Was I going insane? Probably not. I had regressed in time, talking Tattoos aren’t that far-fetched if you think about it.
***
I sat down and tried to put two and two together. The tattoo hadn’t shown up randomly. There must be a cause.
As I pondered about it, it finally hit me.
‘-The ashes!’
Yes… Yes! It made sense now. I remember bringing the ashes of whatever Taejin burnt in that alley that day with me.
It was my curiosity that made me do that. If I recall correctly I fell asleep while checking the ashes for any leftover pieces. The tattoos appeared the next day when I washed my hands.
So it must have been related to the ashes. That would explain the three teeth…The three kings of the castle.
‘-Shit.’
‘-If this is the case, then I will be targeted by the devil.’
I started panicking as I grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
‘-What have I done? If only I had stuck to the plan and stayed out, none of this would have happened!’
As I was about to bring the knife down to my flesh, I remembered something. The cause behind the regression. While Taejin’s desires were a part of it, the devil too had its reasons to form a contract with Taejin.
It was this.
I looked at my palm, at the teeth. It almost looked like it was mocking me with a sly smirk.
These were something the devil wanted to be disposed of. So much so that it was willing to regress time itself. Surely, these must hold some kind of power over the devil.
If such was the case, then I could use them as leverage against the devil, if it were to come after me later on.
As for Taejin, he wasn’t aware of the fact that I followed him around that night. In his belief, he had gotten rid of the three kings of the castle. And since that was the case, he would be busy with the game from now on.
Even so, I still had the devil to take care of. I might be able to ward off Taejin by playing the right cards, but the devil was a completely different story.
I paced around the room, trying to think of a way out. I sat down on the floor, sandwiching my head with my hands.
Then I saw it.
Right in the centre of the room. The capsule. Of course, how did I miss it?
The regression itself was the answer.
If the devil was all-powerful then he wouldn’t have gone through all this hassle of picking Taejin to do it’s bidding.
I glossed over it before but now when I think about it, it might indeed be the case.
The devil had some kind of restrictions in place that made it so that it can’t manifest directly into the world.
That would explain why it regressed time, but made Taejin do it’s bidding.
It had power, but it’s not godlike.
‘-Good’
***
The Sun rose and the day passed, whether the world wanted it or not.
The daily life in Shandong was the same as before.
Today the owner of the local milk store had to go out of town for some urgent business.
He was the one who provided milk or soy milk to the missionaries, nearby nursing homes and elderly people living alone.
So him not being here deprived people of milk. Thus, some others and I volunteered to deliver milk in his stead.
‘-I never imagined that I would be doing this. Delivering milk, haha.’
Honestly, it did bring me some satisfaction. Knowing that I did a good deed.
I came back after doing deliveries in the evening. Now was the time for something else.
I took a deep breath.
‘-It’s just a game’
I finally sat on the chair-type connector.
Since this is a low-cost capsule, it didn’t have functions such as body temperature control. So I had to resort to using the stand fan in my room.
Now is the beginning…
Habitually my left arm reminded me of the pain. Then, after laying down comfortably, I switched on the device.
B-E-E-P
A subtle vibration resonated and something started to cover my closed eyes.
Soon two windows popped up. One with the regular computer logo and one with the logo of [New Century].
I pressed the second window using my hand. Then I felt a strange vibration from the attached sensor. And when it stopped, I was floating in an empty void.
A mechanical voice greeted me.
[Welcome to the world of the New Century. New visitor Lee Sanghyun.]
It’s said that the higher the price, the more beautiful the voice.
And in front of me was my own body, floating in the void. It had the same clothes that I was wearing when connecting. It slowly rotated before my eyes.
‘-Throw away everything you think is possible. This is the realm of the impossible.’
I didn’t know much about [New Century] before the regression. I heard the name for the first time when Taejin came to me to borrow some money to buy the capsule and later on whenever the ad for it came up on television.
But now I was well aware of what it was and how it worked.
This was character creation.
I did the virtual reality’s equivalent of right-clicking on my character and all the information regarding it popped up.
{Body in cm.}
{Pupil colour.}
{Hair length.}
{Deformation is possible (with or without scars).}
Gender conversion is impossible, and along with that, it was impossible to cover up any of my unique characteristics.
I looked at what options I had and thought for a while before finalizing on the following-
{Height : 168 cm}
{Eyes : Sharp Black.}
I left the rest as it were, in the end, my character had a cold-looking impression that was neither good nor bad.
I looked at the sky as the void started to render into what appeared to be empty grasslands.
‘-What if I meet Taejin while playing the game?’
‘-Maybe…I should change it a tiny bit.’
I made a scar on my face that I didn’t have, and I stretched my hair out. It wouldn’t be easy to recognize me, but one could if they were to try hard enough. Besides, even with [New Century]’s ability to make or erase scars. I couldn’t get rid of the tattoo on my palm.
‘-Worrying too much won’t get me anywhere. It’s about time that I enter the virtual world.’
[New Century] and the secret of the Devil.
I pressed the floating button that read ‘NEXT’.
‘-Let’s begin.’
Pastor Pil-mo Jang whispered something to the lady and both of them left the main hall and walked towards the rooms at the back of the church.
I was almost done eating as well when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and saw that it was a call from an unknown number.
I give it a moment of thought before picking up. The voice from the other side was of a young man.
“This is the Z&F courier service. Am I talking to Mr Lee Sanghyun?”
“Yes, this is Lee Sanghyun.”
“Sir, I am at the given address but the house looks empty. Can you confirm that it is your house?”
“You are at the house on 82th street?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Then it’s the correct house. Please proceed with the installation, wherever you think is the best.”
“There is a bit of paperwork that needs to be done before the installation….”
“I will be there in 5 minutes.”
After ending the call, I hurriedly finished my food and headed home. I would love to stay in the church and listen to Mi-ryeong play the piano, but right now I was needed elsewhere.
***
It was terribly windy outside. I shielded my face with both of my arms as I walked through the alley to my apartment. I saw the delivery car across the street, and as I walked up the stairs I saw a man in a short-sleeved uniform with the logo of Z&F printed on it.
He had his phone out, possibly to call me. I walked over to him briskly and opened the door.
Soon after, he walked inside carrying a big cardboard box. He placed it near the centre of the main room and took a few deep breaths. It was quite heavy it seems.
I offered him a chair and he sat down. He then handed me a clipboard with a few document papers. As I read and signed them, he proceeded with the set-up. It didn’t take him long to assemble it.
In about 10 minutes , the virtual reality capsule was ready. I walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed two drinks. Handing one to the guy, I asked-
“Is it ready to use now?”
He took a big gulp before replying,
“Yes. You can get started right away.”
“Nice. People seem to be going crazy over these.”
“Indeed. I still have a bunch that I need to deliver today. It’s kind of funny how this became such a hit overnight. I would like to have one too but I can’t afford one right now.”
Saying so, he picked up the cardboard box and tucked the clipboard inside his uniform before leaving through the front door.
Now alone in my apartment, I examined the capsule closely. It was as big as a recliner chair. It functioned both as a traditional personal computer and Virtual reality simulator.
Although, the one I bought was a bit cheaper compared to the ultra-high-end type that Taejin would be using. While it had many State-of-the-art features that provided all the convenience that a user’s needs, mine was just the entry-level variant. It lacked most of the ‘comfort features’, but it more than made up for it in the virtual reality aspect.
All I had to do was to sit or lie down, attach the sensors and then wear a visor like the ones in Sci-fi movies.
Yeah. That’s all. Quite unbelievable.
‘-These things transcend human logic.’
Despite its futuristic appearance, the capsules were mediocre at best. Yes, you could play games and browse the net. But that’s about it. It had the same specs as any run of the mill PC.
The reason behind how it’s capable of simulating virtual reality is shrouded in mystery.
The public is fed the explanation that it uses ‘cloud processing’ and other techno-mumbling. But none of it is true.
No one knew for sure. They just didn’t want to admit it.
But none of that matters to me. I wasn’t going to play the game to unravel the secrets of virtual reality. I was going to play so that I could see the progress made by Taejin, and if the devil interacted with him inside the game.
Well, there was another reason. Something to do with why I was wearing this glove.
I don’t remember when it showed up exactly, but the place where I had cut my palm to perform the ritual as to summon the devil had healed. And in its place were interlocking black teeth.
The pattern was very distorted, to say the least. It was such that if I were to open and close my fist, it would appear as if the teeth were opening and closing.
Although it was just a tattoo marked on my palm, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it had the ability to talk yet chose not to, just to mess with my mind.
Was I going insane? Probably not. I had regressed in time, talking Tattoos aren’t that far-fetched if you think about it.
***
I sat down and tried to put two and two together. The tattoo hadn’t shown up randomly. There must be a cause.
As I pondered about it, it finally hit me.
‘-The ashes!’
Yes… Yes! It made sense now. I remember bringing the ashes of whatever Taejin burnt in that alley that day with me.
It was my curiosity that made me do that. If I recall correctly I fell asleep while checking the ashes for any leftover pieces. The tattoos appeared the next day when I washed my hands.
So it must have been related to the ashes. That would explain the three teeth…The three kings of the castle.
‘-Shit.’
‘-If this is the case, then I will be targeted by the devil.’
I started panicking as I grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
‘-What have I done? If only I had stuck to the plan and stayed out, none of this would have happened!’
As I was about to bring the knife down to my flesh, I remembered something. The cause behind the regression. While Taejin’s desires were a part of it, the devil too had its reasons to form a contract with Taejin.
It was this.
I looked at my palm, at the teeth. It almost looked like it was mocking me with a sly smirk.
These were something the devil wanted to be disposed of. So much so that it was willing to regress time itself. Surely, these must hold some kind of power over the devil.
If such was the case, then I could use them as leverage against the devil, if it were to come after me later on.
As for Taejin, he wasn’t aware of the fact that I followed him around that night. In his belief, he had gotten rid of the three kings of the castle. And since that was the case, he would be busy with the game from now on.
Even so, I still had the devil to take care of. I might be able to ward off Taejin by playing the right cards, but the devil was a completely different story.
I paced around the room, trying to think of a way out. I sat down on the floor, sandwiching my head with my hands.
Then I saw it.
Right in the centre of the room. The capsule. Of course, how did I miss it?
The regression itself was the answer.
If the devil was all-powerful then he wouldn’t have gone through all this hassle of picking Taejin to do it’s bidding.
I glossed over it before but now when I think about it, it might indeed be the case.
The devil had some kind of restrictions in place that made it so that it can’t manifest directly into the world.
That would explain why it regressed time, but made Taejin do it’s bidding.
It had power, but it’s not godlike.
‘-Good’
***
The Sun rose and the day passed, whether the world wanted it or not.
The daily life in Shandong was the same as before.
Today the owner of the local milk store had to go out of town for some urgent business.
He was the one who provided milk or soy milk to the missionaries, nearby nursing homes and elderly people living alone.
So him not being here deprived people of milk. Thus, some others and I volunteered to deliver milk in his stead.
‘-I never imagined that I would be doing this. Delivering milk, haha.’
Honestly, it did bring me some satisfaction. Knowing that I did a good deed.
I came back after doing deliveries in the evening. Now was the time for something else.
I took a deep breath.
‘-It’s just a game’
I finally sat on the chair-type connector.
Since this is a low-cost capsule, it didn’t have functions such as body temperature control. So I had to resort to using the stand fan in my room.
Now is the beginning…
Habitually my left arm reminded me of the pain. Then, after laying down comfortably, I switched on the device.
B-E-E-P
A subtle vibration resonated and something started to cover my closed eyes.
Soon two windows popped up. One with the regular computer logo and one with the logo of [New Century].
I pressed the second window using my hand. Then I felt a strange vibration from the attached sensor. And when it stopped, I was floating in an empty void.
A mechanical voice greeted me.
[Welcome to the world of the New Century. New visitor Lee Sanghyun.]
It’s said that the higher the price, the more beautiful the voice.
And in front of me was my own body, floating in the void. It had the same clothes that I was wearing when connecting. It slowly rotated before my eyes.
‘-Throw away everything you think is possible. This is the realm of the impossible.’
I didn’t know much about [New Century] before the regression. I heard the name for the first time when Taejin came to me to borrow some money to buy the capsule and later on whenever the ad for it came up on television.
But now I was well aware of what it was and how it worked.
This was character creation.
I did the virtual reality’s equivalent of right-clicking on my character and all the information regarding it popped up.
{Body in cm.}
{Pupil colour.}
{Hair length.}
{Deformation is possible (with or without scars).}
Gender conversion is impossible, and along with that, it was impossible to cover up any of my unique characteristics.
I looked at what options I had and thought for a while before finalizing on the following-
{Height : 168 cm}
{Eyes : Sharp Black.}
I left the rest as it were, in the end, my character had a cold-looking impression that was neither good nor bad.
I looked at the sky as the void started to render into what appeared to be empty grasslands.
‘-What if I meet Taejin while playing the game?’
‘-Maybe…I should change it a tiny bit.’
I made a scar on my face that I didn’t have, and I stretched my hair out. It wouldn’t be easy to recognize me, but one could if they were to try hard enough. Besides, even with [New Century]’s ability to make or erase scars. I couldn’t get rid of the tattoo on my palm.
‘-Worrying too much won’t get me anywhere. It’s about time that I enter the virtual world.’
[New Century] and the secret of the Devil.
I pressed the floating button that read ‘NEXT’.
‘-Let’s begin.’
