Chapter 3

Lim Cheolho was the core of the team of 33 scientists who built the virtual reality system and was the person who led the development of Satisfy by establishing the S.A Group.

He had many titles: the one with the knowledge of a god, the creator of the virtual reality system, the person who changed the world, the father of Satisfy, the wealthiest person in the nation, one of the most influential figures in the world, a person who received requests for naturalization dozens of times a year from all over the world, the pride of South Korea, and so on.

His countless titles meant that he received the spotlight every time he attended international events, and his influence transcended the American president, making him the world's envy.

Yet in fact, his life wasn't as flashy as discussed in the media. He was the head of Satisfy's development team as well as head of the S.A Group, so he slept less than four hours a day on average. Despite that, was he unhappy? No, it was something he wanted for himself. Lim Cheolho was proud and enthusiastic about Satisfy, which had captured the hearts of two billion people.

"Umm."

Lim Cheolho was woken up by the sound of his phone ringing. He checked the time and saw that it was 2:50 a.m. It had only been 20 minutes since he went to sleep. The accumulated fatigue from a month's worth of late nights crushed Lim Cheolho's ability to think.

His voice was rather sharp when he spoke into the phone, "What is going on? What?"

An urgent voice came through the phone.

Lim Cheolho immediately woke up. "I'm going immediately! Be prepared to give me the report as soon as I arrive!"

Then he got dressed and entered the elevator, heading to the underground floor of his house. In the underground parking lot, limited edition cars from expensive brands were parked in order by type. He climbed into a sports car with butterfly style doors and drove to the company at full speed.

Lim Cheolho ran into Satisfy's Operations Office and asked without recovering his breathing, "What happened?"

Yoon Nahee, the head of the operations team, bowed to Lim Cheolho and adjusted her orange horn-rimmed glasses. "It happened five minutes ago."

"How interesting!" The excited Lim Cheolho sat down and turned his gaze to the huge monitor on the wall.

The paused video started playing. The main character of the video was a level 73 warrior. The Asian youth found a cave at the northern end of an island. He got a hold of Pagma's rare book and used it.

The staff handed two documents to Lim Cheolho as he watched the video.

Lim Cheolho read it and rubbed his chin. "In reality, as well as in Satisfy, he is a normal person with no outstanding traits. After being exposed to Satisfy, he suffered from a lack of self-control, resulting in the lowest level of life. How did this person find the cave at the north end that was concealed by a complex algorithm? Does he have an exploration talent that he doesn't know about?"

According to the analysis from the development team's supercomputer 'Morpheus', the North End Cave was supposed to be found by users in one year and ten months. In other words, it meant that the appearance of the legendary book, Pagma's Rare Book, was originally supposed to be one year and ten months later.

One young man broke everyone's expectations and hastened the timing.The number of users who had done their 2nd class change was less than 100, and he was now the sole legendary class in the game.

Lim Cheolho was greatly interested in the user who gave him a great surprise.

However, Yoon Nahee didn't think of the young man as anything special. "It was merely a product of coincidence and obsession that he discovered the North End Cave."

"I see," Lim Cheolho said.

The young man named Shin Youngwoo, whose player name was Grid, had stayed in only one city for a year and accumulated more than 8,000 reputation in that city. His intelligence stat was also less than 50.

This completed the conditions needed to receive Earl Ashur's quest. He explored areas infested with monsters higher than level 200 for three months without giving up, even though he was lower than level 80 and tasted death several times.

The most impressive thing about him was his discovery of the North End Cave. He found the quest item and was blinded by greed. By choosing to log out, he met the requirements for the linked quest to possess the legendary book.

'There are many ways to meet the activation requirements, but the most extreme one is logging out,' Lim Cheolho thought.

Anyway, as Yoon Nahee said, this chain was the result of coincidence and a stubborn personality. However, the young man proved that when coincidences overlapped several times, it could create a positive cloud. It also reminded Lim Cheolho of how valuable patience and hard work were.

'Luck and persistence are also great abilities,' he remarked inwardly.

Yoon Nahee asked a question to Lim Cheolho, who was watching the young man on the monitor with sparkling eyes. "How does the negative level work?"

"That is also a cloud of luck."

"Huh?"

'A scientist is talking about luck?' Lim Cheolho laughed and explained, "As you know, users below level 10 get the beginner bonus, so their experience won't decrease even if they die. This means that they don't suffer from the level drop phenomenon. But in fact, a hidden system exists. Level reduction due to quest failure will be enforced regardless of the beginner benefits. However, there is no way for a beginner to receive a quest that will cause a level decrease, so it was likely to remain a hidden system forever."

He took a moment to enjoy the fragrance of the coffee that a staff member passed him and then continued explaining. "The team predicted that if this quest followed the normal course, the one who received 'Earl Ashur's Secret Request' quest would be at a minimum of level 350. If the user is over level 350, they will have a high chance of clearing the 'Earl Ashur's Anger' quest and become Pagma's Successor. In other words, they wouldn't be lacking in ability like that young man, and they wouldn't have failed the quest. Only this young man was able to find the hidden system through this quest."

Yoon Nahee summarized it succinctly in her mind. Grid made an extreme choice during the quest because he was afraid of losing his hard-earned item. At this point, the penalty of falling to level 1 after becoming a legendary class was applied. Due to the beginner bonus, users under level 10 wouldn't experience a drop in experience even if they died, but there were no exceptions to a failed quest's penalty. Grid was forced to lose two levels due to the quest failure even though he was level 1, and as a result, he was now stuck at level -1. This was why Lim Cheolho called it a cloud of luck...

"Then can a negative level gain experience in the normal way and earn stat points for every level gained?" She asked.

Lim Cheolho nodded. "Right. He is currently level -1 and will have to gain two levels to reach level 1, where he will then have 20 stat points."

"...This means his base stats will be 20 points higher than a character of the same level."

"That's right. That young man received a benefit that wouldn't have been possible if he were a player capable of clearing Earl Ashur's quest. He is a really lucky guy."

The expressions of the employees grew serious.

Yoon Nahee asked Lim Cheolho, "A legendary class has appeared two years sooner than expected. A legendary class is already very powerful... So if he has 20 more stat points than others at his level, won't the balance be broken?"

Lim Cheolho showed her the papers listing Shin Youngwoo's information. "This graph shows that his level was quite low in proportion to the amount of time he spent hunting. He was a foolish person who stayed in one city for a year without leaving to find adventures or a more pleasant environment. I don't think he has great talent for the game like the rankers. You don't have to worry."

"Is it really okay? In the eyes of other users, it might be enough to make him look special."

"What can we do even if it isn't okay? We have a policy of not directly interfering in the game, so think positively. Isn't it a good thing that an ordinary user, instead of a ranker, obtained it? Besides, Pagma's Successor is relatively weak in combat compared to the other legendary classes..." Lim Cheolho, who was watching the young man on the monitor, suddenly flinched and fell silent.

He shook his head at Yoon Nahee's puzzled expression. "No, it isn't a big deal. I will be going now. You have suffered a lot from the late nights of work. I will give you a bonus soon, so please suffer for a bit longer."

The atmosphere of the employees became excited at the word 'bonus'.

Lim Cheolho smiled and left the office.

'Why all of a sudden?' Only Yoon Nahee was silent among the raucous staff. She felt nervous as she thought about Lim Cheolho's surprised look.

Meanwhile, Lim Cheolho's expression changed subtly in the elevator as he muttered Shin Youngwoo's name.

***

Grid lost his place of residence because he was expelled from Patrian. Therefore, he resurrected at a temple near his place of death, which actually turned out to be a temple for the god of darkness, Yatan.

Dark energy hung around the dark room, while robed black magicians wandered around with gloomy expressions.

People were shouting and pounding their chests around an altar. It was too creepy to watch.

"Kiyaaaaak!" The sharp scream of a woman in pain came from underground.

"...Well, it is nothing compared to that notorious place," Grid muttered.

He had already finished his military service. If someone had been next to him, then they would've felt the generally oppressive atmosphere of a horror movie. Furthermore, Grid wasn't a female user, so he felt no fear at the Yatan Temple.

"S-S-Status window." His voice was shaking, but he tried not to let it affect him. He ignored his surroundings as much as possible and concentrated on the status window in front of him.

[Name: Grid

Level: -1 (0/20)

Class: Pagma's Successor

* The probability of adding additional options when making items will increase.

* The probability of item enhancement will increase.

* All equipment items can be worn unconditionally. However, the is a penalty depending on the rating of the item.

Title: One who Became a Legend

* Abnormal conditions don't work well on you.

* You won't die when health is at the minimum.

* Easily acknowledged.

Health: 14/14 Mana: 3/3

Strength: 1 Stamina: 1 Agility: 1 Intelligence: 1 Dexterity: 1

Composure: 1 Indomitable: 1 Dignity: 1 Insight: 1

Stat Points: 0

Weight: 3,035/20

* The weight limit exceeds 200%, so movement speed is reduced by 100%.

The body is heavy and cannot exert any power properly.

The probability of receiving the 'weakened' state has become really high.]

A flood of emotions filled Grid's head.

The negative level was something he couldn't understand, and the abilities that didn't allow him to win a fight even against a rabbit made him angry. However, the special functions given by the title and profession overwhelmed him.