World of Masks

Chapter 7

Translator: Seven

Editor: Ana_Banana

Tapping his fingers, Jin-suk stared at the object on his table.

It was the connection tool for World of Masks that was given to him by the mysterious old man with a simple silver design.

After tapping his fingers on it for a moment, Jin-suk collapsed on his desk with a long sigh.

The thing in front of him was certainly a coveted object.

No matter how he thought about it, the item in front of him was the only way for him to solve his problem.

There was of course the option which might end with him playing tag with the police while they carried silver bracelets and pistols, but he quickly refused that one.

The question was whether he could trust the old man that this was actually the connection tool for the World of Masks.

Well firstly its appearance seemed to match the connection tools that were shown on the television.

But the problem was if the intentions of that old man who’d mysteriously disappeared could be trusted.

In fact, Jin-suk was seriously considering whether that old man was the devil or something close to it.

Of course, he quickly shook his head because that was ridiculous but even then he could not figure out how he could suddenly appear in front of him and know so much about him as well as his sudden disappearance at the end right in front of his eyes.

The possibility that he was a magician with nothing to do so he decided to play the prank of a lifetime on him could also not be eliminated.

So why did the old man give that to him?

For himself, who was having a hard time containing his murderous desires? (TL: him being Jin-suk)

Or what?

For what purpose?

Was this tool gonna pull his soul out?

Jin-suk, who was contemplating for a long time, sighed heavily and lifted the device up.

Anyway he had to make a choice.

Game or Murder.

He could only pick one.

“It’s all or nothing.”

As he muttered this, Jin-suk stepped into his capsule.

He made himself comfortable in the chair in the capsule before looking down at the access tool in his hands.

He couldn’t help but ask in a confused voice.

“How do you connect this?”

At first glance he couldn’t find any way to connect it to his capsule. Then an absurd thought came to his head as he looked at the access tool.

His bewilderment increased as he thought this.

“It isn’t possible that you play the game with the access tool without needing the capsule, is it?”

It was a ridiculous thought.

Running virtual reality games required tremendous computational power. And the device that was usually required to process such an enormous operation was the capsule.

The connection tool was usually just a tool used to connect the human brain waves to the capsule and then to the installed game.

But if what he thought was correct, that would mean that the game that was causing chaos around the world was run from this small device.

Jin-suk stared at it for a long time as if he couldn’t believe it. Then he decided to try it.

“Well, since the devil gave it to me, shouldn’t it be possible?”

It was funny to think that demons would use the same technology as humans in the first place.

Thinking up to here, Jin-suk sat on the comfortable chair again before putting the device on his head.

[Welcome to the World of Masks. Would you like to access the game? YES/NO]

A window appeared in front of him.

He wasn’t wearing any goggles and there weren’t any holograms so he Jin-suk was surprised by the window in front of him.

Instinctively, he lifted his hand to tap on the yes button.

Jin-suk blinked.

He rubbed his eyes, shook his head, kept his eyes close and after 5 seconds, he opened them again.

Nothing changed.

There was still a monitor floating in front of him.

“…well, it’s really like the devil.”

Jin-suk, who was barely convinced, couldn’t help but mutter those words as he looked around slowly.

He seemed to be in a small hut. Sunlight poured in through a window at the side, illuminating the dust that floated in the air.

On one side of the two pyung space, there was a pile of hay that seemed to be some sort of bed.

In the center was a wooden table and chair, each of them appearing to be roughly carved.

On the table was a white mask that had no eye catching characteristics.

‘Isn’t there any character modification?’

Jin-suk couldn’t help but think this as he examined himself.

Nothing had changed.

Well, except for his clothes.

Jin-suk’s clothes had become a white short sleeved t-shirt and black shorts. He looked like a typical beginner, he was even wearing a pair of straw slippers.

The only distinctive characteristic was a black bracelet on his left wrist.

After he’d finished inspecting his surroundings, he stepped toward the table.

A translucent window appeared in front of his eyes with a ‘ding’.

[Welcome to the World of Masks. If you are ready, touch the window to get a brief explanation of the game.]

It was a very polite way of speaking, considering that it was made by a devil.

Feeling a strange sense of admiration, Jin-suk touched the window in front of his eyes.

[Thank you for using this game. This is a game dedicated to your enjoyment and gives a sense of reality that is not much less than actual reality. However please keep in mind that you are responsible for yourself.]

It was no surprise. The attitude of the creators could be felt.

[This game has no concept of HP. Since the physical impact and damage is the same as that in reality, it is advised to defend vital spots as much as possible. Be careful. No matter how high your level is, you can still be shot through a vital spot. Your avatar is made to the same specifications as your real body and your appearance can’t be changed.

However this game is under the oppression of foolish clowns who cannot understand its greatness so it is recommended that you wear a mask to protect your identity from others.

There is a mask on the table.]

Jin-suk looked down at the table.

[The reason the game abandoned its original name and started to use the name World of Masks is because of the mask in front of the user. The mask covers your face and cannot be destroyed or taken off against the user’s will. However the mask in front of you is the one given to new players and as such has no defensive capabilities.

Damage will penetrate the mask as though it wasn’t there. If you don’t want your eyes, nose and lips to touch each other, or to have a new hole in your face then please avoid ignorant belief in the mask’s defense.]

‘That’s not as polite.’ Jin-suk thought as he stared at the window in front of him.

If they wanted to defend the identities of the players in the first place, why not let them modify their characters?

Although he grumbled in his head, the illegal game did not have anything like customer service or request board.

[Skills in this game use vitality, not MP. The vitality represents how many days you have left to live and is displayed in hours. As your level increases, the amount of vitality that can be consumed increases. If you have a bright life ahead of you then you won’t have to worry about not being able to use skills since there is no MP. But be careful. The avatar’s vitality decreases as vitality is used. What if the avatar’s vitality is linked to yours?]

‘Is this it?’

He frowned at that.

The warning in front of him did not seem like a joke since he was already wondering if the one who met with him and gave him the game was the devil.

Perhaps the devil was really pulling people’s vitalities out using the game.

[But don’t worry. The game also has ways for you to regain vitality. Look at your left wrist.]

Jin-suk compliantly raised his right hand.

The wide bracelet was the only thing that stood out about his newbie outfit.

[The bracelet can be used as a warehouse for magic items. Players would be more accustomed to the word ‘inventory’. To use it, you only need to think of using the warehouse in your mind.]

Jin-suk thought of using it at that time and another window popped up in his eyes.

In it, there were 10 copper coins, a short sword and an unidentified bead.

[The currency is 100 copper coins to 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins to 1 gold coin, 100 gold coins to 1 mithril coin. Prices vary in different countries and regions as you will learn for yourself. The short sword is a basic weapon and it is not recommended to be used for a long time. Finally the bead is called the Bead of Life. If the user touches the corpse of a monster they’ve hunted then the vitality of that monster will be sucked into the bead. Users can restore vitality with the vitality stored in the bead, or use it as experience or add it as skill points. Please note that in this game you get no experience for killing monsters.]

Jin-suk stretched his hand to the window and touched on the Bead of Life. When he touched it lightly, the bead appeared in his hand easily.

A translucent tag appeared above it that said ‘Lowest Grade Bead of Life’ for a moment before disappearing.

[Currently the Bead of Life is the ‘Lowest Grade Bead of Life’ and it’s total storage is rather small. Please note that regardless of how many monsters are killed, any vitality above gained after the Bead of Life is filled will simply evaporate.Other Beads of Life must be found by the user. For your information it is impossible to take vitality from humans and other humanoid creatures due to the blessings of Ueron.]

He couldn’t kill humans?

At that, Jin-suk clicked his tongue in disappointment.

[The NPCs in this world similarly have to use vitality to use skill and can also regain it, however they have no concept of levels and experience. You can sell Life Beads, but remember to think carefully. The Beads of Life are not so common. When taking an item from the inventory, simply touch it and to put an item in the inventory, simply press it to an empty slot. If you are finished with the inventory it will go away with a thought. You can also use the warehouse by touching the bracelet on your wrist and calling out the name of the item or touching the bracelet and thinking about putting an item inside.

Keep in mind, this item is not a bound item. This item can be stolen at any time after killing you.]

“What?!”

The shout came out subconsciously.

No other game allowed others to touch your inventory like this.

[The flow of time in the game is 1:3 compared to reality. Please enjoy it.]

‘Even the time!’

Normally games stuck with or inverted the regular day and night cycles while maintaining the same time as in reality, however a full day in this game was only a few hours in reality.

[If you want to view your current stats and status, use the character window and use the skill window to check on the status of skill or to add skill points. The way to use them is the same as the inventory.]

As he read the instructions in the window, Jin-suk called up his character window.

LV : 1           EXP : 0/42

Vitality : 744,600 :28 : 32 (744,600 :28 : 32 )

(Max consume hour / Per Skill – 1hour)

Str : 13           Dex : 14             Int : 12

It was a simple screen compared to other games. The stats were simply Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence. The only unusual thing was the vitality of the character that was written in hours.

While the other stats were fixed, the vitality was steadily decreasing.

It was great that he had so much vitality compared to MP but that was only if the fact that the avatar’s vitality was linked to the real body’s vitality wasn’t true.

His skill window was empty as it seemed they didn’t even give any skills to beginners.

[The avatar’s initial stats are based on the attributes of the user’s real body. The average adult’s strength, dexterity and intelligence are all set at 10. If you have a stat higher than 10 then you should be happy. If you have any less than 10 then blame yourself.

Lastly, the current village was built as a tutorial to help new players get used to the game. There is only the player in this town and no dangerous monsters. It is necessary to leave the beginner village if you truly want to enjoy the full fledged game.

Please note that once you leave the beginner village, you’ll never be able to return.

That is it for the basics.

Please enjoy the game.]

After that sentence, there were no longer any more translucent windows.

Jin-suk took a few moments to digest all the information before lifting the mask from the table.

A simple mask with no other characteristics besides its startlingly white color.

After staring at the mask for a few moments, Jin-suk put it in his bracelet.

‘It’s a village where I’m the only one so I don’t need it.’

The intended use of the item was to hide the user’s face from other players in the first place. It was not necessary to use it in the beginner’s village.

Jin-suk, who put away the mask, took out the short sword instead.

The translucent tag ‘Beginner’s Short Sword’ appeared for a moment before disappearing.

There seemed to be no status window such as how much damage it did and the like that could be found in other games.

However the short sword in his hand did not seem like an item he’d use for a long time no matter how he looked at it.

It was so old that it was hard to find a spot that didn’t have rust on it.

As a test, he poked the table with the knife and the faint crack proved that it was also incredibly dull.

‘It’s usually like this at the start.’

He thought this before completing his examination and exiting the hut.

Following the sound of a creaky door, Jin-suk was greeted to a face full of fresh air.

He unconsciously let out an exclamation.

The small cabin appeared to be on the outskirts of a small village.

Dozens of similarly small huts could be seen, enclosed by a wooden fence gave the appearance that this was a pioneer village.

Between the huts, people could be seen moving to and fro in the village.

Jin-suk also noticed that there were many villagers staring at him with unwelcome eyes as though they didn’t like strangers in their village.

A soft breeze blew through his hair.

This was very different from the other virtual reality games he’d played.

This place was literally a reality.

Jin-suk took a few more steps out of the hut.

‘Can I use this?’

Jin-suk looked at the shabby house that seemed that it would collapse at any moment.

With the level of reality in this place he was sure that there were things like fatigue, hunger and the need to sleep.

In reality, the hut was not someplace he’d want to stay but for now it would prove to be useful enough.

Jin-suk suddenly lifted the short sword as if he just had a thought.

In a way, he had forgotten one of the most important things.

Puk.

Jin-suk stabbed his hand lightly.

It was doubtful as to how useful the short sword could be as a weapon, but since it had a pointed tip, Jin-suk managed to get it into his hand with a bit of force.

A pricking sensation came from his palm.

As the rumors had said, it was similar to reality.

The grip on the shortsword, the firmness of the ground supporting his feet, the pain in his palm.

The blood flowing from the wound on his palm was red. Not the bright red that was used in other games, but the actual color of blood.

Jin-suk stared at the blood before licking out his tongue.

Lick.(TL: imagine a licking sound, what the author put scrambled my brain)

The taste of blood filled his mouth.

That demon seemed to be right.

This place might really be heaven for Jin-suk.