Haroon

It was an adult day, and no one celebrated, but the feeling of a civilian returning home was the best.

5 million won was a lot of money that he had never seen before. So far, his welfare subsidies and public work money were a little more than KRW 500,000 a month.

A month's spending was a little over ₩ 400,000 combined with the rent of a small room in a shabby building and groceries and various taxes and utilities.

So, I had about 100,000 won of spare money, but if I bought one of the right things like clothes or small electronics, it disappeared quickly. So he saved and lived, but now his deposit was only ₩ 520,000.

In the middle of the day, the more coarse the wind pierces, returning to where he lives. It felt good to have big money, but there was no one around to share it with.

In the past two years, the neighbors who live in the building have not relied on or cared about anyone because they have been struggling to survive urgently or lose their own reasons for survival and just spend their days.

He left the house and wandered the streets and was assigned a small room in this old building with the help of Union Welfare. He liked that no one cared about him for a while.

But as time went on, I missed the human heart, and I missed the people. I even thought about giving up my pride and going back to a foster home.

"Well, it's a habit now."

Since he didn't have much numbers, he had no intention of reaching out to others, so he gave up on other people's attention or love to some extent. It's the only way to live.

It's a bad habitat, but it might be better to be eaten by Hark if you get depressed. After living like that, I became helpless and without dreams or hope.

The building was dark even during the day. How long has it been since the exterior wall was painted? It's an old building that looks like the alleyways are everywhere, but it's a good thing we have a place to avoid the dust.

Those who commit crimes or sell their homes on the street should be thankful that there are these old houses in the vast realities where Hark eats them and disappears without a sound.

In this shabby old building, there were ten houses on the 18th floor where the civilians lived. Of course, it's all small studios, but the houses where families live are also six houses. It was an unwelcome neighborhood that always produces noisy noises.

I would rather not have children in this alternate identity society than live as the lowest. However, those who live as a family in this small space will be happier than those who are lonely.

Now I suddenly feel one of the feelings I thought I'd forgotten.

It's lonely.

Is Jin Jin going to stay home? No, it can't be this time. '

Jinsu, who lived next door, was the few neighbor to talk to him in this building. In a similar case, he occasionally had dinner at a street restaurant with Jin who became Borderer.

Aged 26 years, Jin is now going to the Union farm to do his closing time.

What are you going to do with yourself now? '

Since he settled here after being classified as a straggler due to his inability and escape, what the civilian has done to make a living has been to clean up the dirt and sand that fills the streets every day, starting from the parts of the body makeup.

It was unlikely that I would work in a construction worker, a building cleaning, or a restaurant because I was weak in health.

When I became an adult, I had nothing to live for. Now, public employment, which was not physically a great burden, is also cut off. He was fired yesterday. because he's mature today.

Tuk-tuk!

I took the turban cloth off and hit my coat, and the sandy dust dripped down the porch. For a while, people who had often cleaned but now learned to give up a little bit took off their dusty shoes and headed to the bathroom.

Sand or dust contained radioactivity from thousands of nuclear weapons that had exploded a hundred years ago, so they had to be washed out when they entered the room.

So I took off my pants, t-shirts and underwear, which I had paid collectively by season, and turned them into a washing machine and headed to the bathroom. The ribs, as well as the skeleton-like molten bones of the whole body, were reflected in the mirror.

"How should I live now?"

If you were born in District F from the beginning, you might have learned the minimum things you need to survive in school or through your neighbors. The schools here still offer vocational education.

If he had not strayed from the meeting about his existence and identity at that time, he would have had the opportunity to receive education for the future, even if it had turned out to be incompetent.

I desperately needed someone to advise me about the future, but there was no one there to help me. At this time, it was even more unsettling to not have a number, but I had to let go of the sadness with a sigh.

Jung Ming killed time by looking through the dirty windows of a small window at the dust breeze that gently flooded the barrier like any other day. Whether it was the gift or the dark future of adulthood, even computer games, his only hobby, did not get his attention today.

Gift boxes were delivered much later than lunch.

Jungmin fell into a trance, gazing at the box reflected in the dim sunlight for a long time. The appearance only reminded me of a coffin used by Noblemans living in Area S.

I wondered who gave this to me. But as always, thought or imagination did not answer the question.

"Hmm, not my coffin. No grudges, but of course not the precious identity to bury in the ground, there is no way he would send a coffin on purpose...."

Even though he knew that it was ridiculous, he started touching the box with his hands. The material of the box, roughly one meter wide, 50 centimeters wide, and three meters long, was unknown. It was a metal he had never seen or heard of. It was definitely not metal like iron or aluminum.

I was young in the eyes of a civilian who had been looking carefully at the box for a long time. If you didn't look carefully at the side of the metal box, there was a small button that was not well visible.

Whew!

Press the button to open the lid of the box with the noise. It was a myriad of sacks filled with the eyes of a civilian stuck into an open box like that. There were countless sacks of various sizes.

"What is it? Let's get it out!"

Jung Ming started pulling out sacks one by one. I could count to a hundred, but I forgot to count after that. What aroused his curiosity was not the number, but the unusual material and the letters written on it. I was not very good at recognizing it unless it was made of fabric, but the letter aroused his curiosity.

"Wheat flour, rice flour, ribs, raw sulfur, liquorice, seaweed, red sea ginseng, abalone, seaweed, ginseng, persimmon, sewage, cone, seal, stone……. What the hell is all this?"

The name was endless and I knew things, but many of them were new to me. Among the things that know the name, there are many things that can now be seen in the history books or in their existence. Nowadays, mass-produced crops on Union's hundreds of stories of artificial farms are not as diverse as they were before the manpower.

Grains were large and heavy, but the rest were small and small.

Among them were the names of a variety of fruits and are now included in rare herbs, marine creatures and seaweeds, as well as minerals that have no way to find them at all because of the barrier.

"I don't understand. Who gave me this......"

It was clear that someone didn't send them to make fun of themselves. A lot of things he hadn't heard of meant that the value of this box was extraordinary. When I realized that, I was very curious.

Even if you don't know, many of them may be hard to find in your barrier and in the world outside, where there are all kinds of risks. It was because of the name written on one of the little sacks he was holding. Among them was the name known as the legend.

Wild Ginseng!

As I grew up, I learned that before the moon became two, even in the distant past, it was a rare plant that could match its value.

Especially, elixirs such as ginseng and wild ginseng can be used as a pronoun for elixirs that effectively enhance a character's abilities in far-reaching virtual reality games.

I couldn't see the inside of the box until I had pulled out all the large and small pockets that were close to 2,000.

"Platinum!"

I couldn't believe it. I touched it myself.

If you look at the periodic glow in blue, it must be platinum.

The new material, platinum, made by the technology of Humans, is an incredibly valuable material that not only protects, but also maintains, and restores sustainability, and is not well known for its use.

Platinum was not a material that could be obtained with money. The terms are so difficult to make and the ingredients are hard to get. In addition, it can only be produced through a number of processes. Because there are too many variables, the success rate is low. No unitemperature mass production was a universal material.

The inside surface, which glows blue with such a rare material and then repeats the grating, tells us how expensive this box is, in contrast to the dullness of its appearance.

They wouldn't have made the whole interior out of platinum, so they coated it or plated it, but the value was unimaginable.

"Never, never, never, never, never! '

Suddenly, there was an intense curiosity in the eyes of the people. This was not something that belonged to civilians or was only 0.001% likely to be given as a gift to people who had no merit in this society.

But no matter how much I looked, there was no letter from anyone. I looked through many sacks, but I couldn't find even a message like that.

In a room filled with metal boxes and sacks that could not be predicted for use, Jung Ming's face became red with curiosity.

"Wait, this is a hole designed to connect something?"

You're hit!

On the outside of the box, there was definitely an electrical cord.

He bounces up from the place of Huddak and remembers a strange shaped code that was in the sacks earlier. I was going to think it was weird because it didn't fit in this box.

"Are you linking the code here?"

I plugged the cord into the hole on the side of the box and suddenly heard a vibration. I haven't plugged it into an outlet yet.

Do you have your own development system? Then it's a great thing. '

Jiaying.

The whole box began to vibrate slightly with a low electrical tone. I could see that something was running, but I still didn't know what the box was for. No change could be found externally or internally.

Knock, knock!

Knock, knock! Knock!

The civilian who was fascinated by all kinds of thoughts while looking at the box woke up stunned by the sound of the sudden knock. Suddenly, the interior turned dark. Darkness has already begun.

"Huh? Is it night already?"

The plated platinum inside the crate reflects the light, leaving little to no idea how much time has passed.

I wanted someone to rush to open the door, and I looked out, and there was already a pearl in the neighborhood in front of my house. On the way to work on the farm, or dusty clothes and a blackened face, there was heavy fatigue.

"Brother!"

"Hey! You're in there."

"I don't think I heard it because I had something to think about."

"I thought I'd come by to celebrate you becoming an adult. Congratulations on becoming an adult today. Of course it won't be."

Today, Jinsu, who had the typical appearance of young people in the barrier, was as young as a civilian. As such, it was common for young people forming the lower levels of the barrier to lose their dreams in reality and dream new dreams with surrogate satisfaction through virtual reality games.

"Brother, let's have dinner together."

He said that, saying he was sorry.

"No. I'm sorry, but I have work to do. Oh, don't you play the virtual reality game? Tonight, a new game, Beyond BEYOND, from Neckwall, is being launched with a spirit……."

"Beyond?"

"Yes, it embodies the ultimate reality of refusing to compare with the virtual reality games that have ever come out."

I've heard of Neckwall. It is the world's tenth largest virtual-reality gaming company with three fingers in the world. Of course, it was a company with enough funding and power to surpass that of Union.

The name Beyond is also unknown. It was the name of a new game that has been talking for a long time through the internet or people's mouths.

Eight years ago, in the basement of the Mojave Desert, thousands of supercomers were discovered during the apocalypse. Although there were not many human interactions with Union, this led to a collective study of scientists residing in almost every Union on the planet.

Neckwall won the right to use that vast number of supercomputers and co-invested with each union to create a new virtual reality game called Beyond.

"Of course I want to, but the money..."

"Phew! Yes, the money's the problem. It's going to be expensive. It costs 300,000 won for just one month, and the capsule costs 300,000 won for supplies...."

His eyes sparkled brightly as he spoke of the game. I could still feel how much the game contributed to my current life.

"I'm sorry, but I have to find the information in advance. All that's known is that it's almost the same as reality, but we still need to find out a little bit about it. But I'll see you this weekend."

Horses like this won't be able to meet him on weekends. His dream, like most young people, is to earn money through games or become a ranker, so he will have no choice but to go to work for his life.

Though I was disappointed, the public smiled brightly. I could understand him. If you find a good job because you are feeling better, you will live like a sincere person.

"Yes, I understand."

Still unable to hide the sorry expression, Jin shakes her hand once and enters her home.

His back still looks particularly crooked. I felt overwhelmed because I thought that I would soon feel the weight of life as my future self.

because you're too young to live your life embracing this helpless reality that society doesn't value unless it's a game. That's why it would take years to buy that expensive virtual reality game machine.

"Beyondra...!"

The intense desire to do it right away provoked him. The Human Age was not built on its own technology. A deformed civilization that has developed only in its field based on the legacy of humanity, electronics and computer technology.

Fortunately, since the development of technology to connect all computers wirelessly around the world before World War III, it has been an uneasy civilization with the help of artificial intelligence computers stored in the safest place to avoid battles.

Virtual reality games, known as medical treatment and military purposes at the end of the 21st Century, shortly before World War III began, have already had over a hundred years of experience in service through periods of temporary space-time - historically referred to as dark times - through the end of the 21st Century.

Unlike reality, anyone has the same condition. Virtual reality games were a kind of escape for humans who had to live almost their whole lives in barriers where freedom of movement and opportunities for self-improvement were limited.

Over time, many people who had not adapted to Union's stagnant society became increasingly solidified have relieved of their stress through virtual reality games.

For this reason, unions have encouraged virtual reality games and are now enjoying almost everyone's enthusiasm because of how much of their profits have been given back to them and companies that are generating high profits through taxes.

Contemporary people who had to live a lifetime in a narrow barrier because of the contaminated environment were unable to enjoy the freedom that humanity previously enjoyed because of the closed system of state governance and the threat outside the barrier.

Instead, it was common to solve many human cravings such as struggle, power, fame, and fulfillment in virtual reality games.

Moreover, if you become a ranker in a virtual reality game, even an ordinary citizen will be treated with enormous changes in their residence area. The most popular broadcasts on Union were gaming channels.

Through those channels, the rankers in the game made enormous money as they were a substitute for the celebrities of the apocalypse. They were able to move to area A or S at once.

In addition, one of the net functions of the virtual reality game was to discover the individual's secret ability to miss out on a consistent and equilibrated framework of education for Union.

That's why people are encouraging and enthusiastic about games at Union.

"Damn it!"

When I think about virtual reality games, I still have a face that is chapped. It was his fourth foster parent.

Jung Ming's foster family had changed five times, and the fourth of them was in middle school.

The foster parents were researchers from a global company that was producing virtual reality gaming machines. With some genius ideas and skills, he preached well enough to become the chief researcher at a young age.

He was so confident in his ideas and skills that he successively failed several research assignments that cost a lot of money that he was ultimately forced to apply for a recommendation.

He had been unable to work elsewhere due to several fatal research failures, so he was in charge of the support of civilians as a way of life when he was at risk of being kicked out of his residential area because he had no more money.

Jung Ming lived like that for about three years, but he only saw him. He was always so busy with his research and experiments that he rarely came out of underground laboratories.

It may not be true later, but the couple, especially the bilateral couples, have largely embezzled national subsidies such as food allowances in front of civilians, in addition to subsidies for their own personal research.

Living in that house was a living hell because it was so bad for couples that wool didn't feed its citizens properly, but also relieved the stress with violence and violence.

Fortunately, welfare and employees noticed this and sent the civilian to another dependent family, but the memory lasted for a long time.

For a citizen of such a sensitive age, he created mistrust and bad feelings about his dependent family, along with confusion about his identity about his birth, and eventually ran away from his last dependent family.

But when I think about virtual reality games and capsules, there is one thing that is unnatural.

When one person went in and lay down, the inside size of the appropriate gift box was like a full-body capsule.

"No way…."

But the idea seemed to be in a lot of trouble. No matter how detailed the room was, there was no connection to the wires.

There are no headgear parts connected to the head, nor can there be a device that can lie down properly. What is a game capsule?

The interior of the capsule consists mostly of beds designed ergonomically to be as comfortable as possible and grounding parts electrically connected to the brain.

Well, I heard that the best ones were suited to increase the fairy tale rate, but they were the best ones worth tens of millions of won.

But once I thought that, it was just a capsule the size and shape of it. It's just that the room is empty as the wind.

"Hehe, should I go in and lie down?"

I didn't know how to use it anyway, so I thought it might not be a bad idea to try it.

Jung Ming went into the room of the box and lay there.

Weeing.

At that moment, the lid began to close automatically with a faint sound that was driving something. I was so frightened, but I felt pretty good about the warmth coming from the bottom of the platinum that touched my back.

Something relaxing and warm stabilized his emotional state.

Jiaying.

The lid of the crate was completely covered and the interior was darkened like black.

Qiq. jing.

Unknown faint noises are heard in succession.

'At least it's not just a box.'

Curiosity is now stronger than fear. Since when did the civilian not fear death itself so much? Of course, I didn't want to die a horrible death because of Hark.

Even if he died right away, he didn't regret anything in particular. His future is copying the way neighbors see it every day anyway.

Pavat!

'Oh, it's gorgeous.'

Suddenly, my eyes that were full of darkness brightened. And what suddenly appeared to him was a swarm of light. Particles of light were gathering to make an image.

Is this a hologram? '

When I reached out my hand and touched it, it must be the hologram, which is a stereoscopic video program.

'Who told me...?'

I woke up and looked ahead. I thought it was strange to send a gift without any messages.

As I focused my eyes on the hologram, a familiar face appeared in front of him, even though I had never seen it before.

It was a man in his 50s who looked very impressive with dull grey hair and a skeleton-like face, and deep eyes and intense eyesight.

A man smiling awkwardly at him has not disappeared for a while. There was something to say, but he just stood there and made a strange look at the civilian.

Compassion, compassion, or sorry.

The complex gaze of various emotions caused the heart of the civilian to beat. The strange footage of the man who was accustomed to rejection disappeared and remained in his place was a powerless voice.

- You're an adult! I feel like an excuse, but I've been so sorry. You were the one I felt most sorry for in my entire life. I hated myself for using you as a funding source to raise you with love and attention as much as my parents. But my twisted passion for my research that I had dreamed of since I was a child was hot enough to mask my conscience at the time.

"Stepdad?"

Jung was able to remember who he was. He was the fourth stepfather. with the name Chungil.

I can't believe the only thing I still hate is the Hologram.

- After continuing your research with the money you received from Union as Wilmi, you were stripped of all your possessions and divorced because of your marriageability. Moreover, I was banished from Barring because it was found that the old laboratory had illegally removed the platinum, but I couldn't give up my research. Fortunately, there were all the research materials left, which allowed us to continue our research in the basement of a building with barrier tugs.

While we were living together, he was always trapped in the basement. I thought it was great that he continued his research even after being divorced and thrown out of the barrier, apart from hatred.

- With the help of a few outsiders who had faces there, I was able to eventually create the best game capsules I had studied. But I knew that death was near to completion because I had given up on humanity.

His voice was powerless. I think I left this recording on my deathbed. I hated him so much, but my nose became black.

- There were two people in my life who were sorry. One is my ex-wife. I repaid her apology for not leaving her much but a home. But you, the other one, have nothing to give me on the way. If I could live any longer, this capsule manufacturing technique could make me a lot of money and repay my apologies, but unfortunately,

He closed his eyes as he listened to his grumpy voice. It was not a very affectionate nature, but seeing one person's end made me sad.

- All I can give you is this capsule I've dedicated my entire life to. I leave you this capsule.

"Tsk! You still have a conscience."

I thought it was nothing to cry about, but my tears were flowing a little bit because I was strangely moved.

Now that Jung-min has become an adult, both of her lives and her lonely ending have come to a different feeling than before.

- The name of this capsule, the masterpiece of my life, is Belle. Unlike other capsules, with artificial intelligence computers, the bell is designed to float in a magnetic space instead of connecting only the brainwaves, and connect the whole body with electromagnetic waves to move just like in virtual reality. In other words, the ability to move the body in virtual reality allows it to be used to some extent in reality.

I opened my eyes. I couldn't believe there was such a capsule.

In fact, if you access a virtual reality game using an EEG, it has nothing to do with the physical body of reality after you disconnect any movement in the virtual reality.

That's natural.

However, if you move not only brainwaves, but also the whole body's nerves, as well as muscles, what you did in virtual reality can be applied to reality.

It was truly a revolution in capsules.

- I've been trying hard to find you through your old connections to leave you this bell, and they say you're completely incapacitated and on the verge of banishment. Moreover, it breaks my heart to hear that your physical condition has worsened because it was not properly fed to you when you were growing up.

I didn't know who recognized me, but I felt the devotion he had poured out.

- I want what you lost back, Bello. But I was once the best capsule researcher on Earth, not just Kowon. Bell is a much bigger capsule than I thought. Automatic power generation systems have prepared for power outages and have enabled automatic air circulation to create an optimal environment. Moreover, if the gamer eats while playing, he has a system that can automatically supply the nutrients needed in that state. When I was sleeping, I turned my brainwaves into beta waves in the shortest time so I could sleep.

Jung could not keep his mouth shut. I couldn't make a sound because I was so surprised.

According to him, gamers never leave the capsule unless it's something special. It is truly a 24-hour full play.

- There's a game called Beyond that Neckwall is launching this time. Unlike other games, it is the best virtual reality game with two of the highest specifications of AI computers on the main and thousands of supercomputers on the sub. If you have achieved the best of reality, you will be able to make yourself strong, which we have failed. The herbs and artificial intelligence bells I have saved will help you.

Tears poured out. How much I've hated him. But he left something so precious to himself on the way to the end. A treasure that can't be won by money.

- I'm telling you because I'm worried about you, but the existence of this capsule must not be known until you are given a powerful power. Terrible things will happen when this technology becomes known. For those of you who don't know the world well, you will certainly be assassinated by rats and birds, rather than benefiting from any large companies or unions such as Neckwall. Remember, the treasure of the powerless is not a treasure, but a weapon that harms you. So I deliberately made the outside without any fuss.

Both sides, who they hated so much, were worried for him until the end.

Jung Ming was melting his hatred for him with one of the people who made his life like this through tears pouring out.

- And do me a favor. I want you to take the outsiders who took care of me and helped me into the barrier once you have the power. I want to repay them, too, but I don't have the strength. Take care of them while you come visit my grave someday. Bell will give you the location. I wish I had seen you and died, but I don't have the strength to move anymore. I'm so sorry. And it's been a long time, but I'd like to say, I love you, son!

The voice, which was getting weaker, eventually got a little stronger at the last word, and it disappeared like a burning flame.

Jung Ming's emotions crossed. Even though he had not lived long, he experienced a sad emotional change that melted away by the deep hatred of the roots for many years.

I shed tears and couldn't tell what I was feeling. The dazed state that comes from the chaos of extreme emotions continues for a while.

Of course, the foster families that had previously lived were not good. I don't know what the details are, but something's wrong, so the foster home must have been replaced. It was a time of sensitivity, so I might have felt bigger.

Jung-min had only regained his feelings after a long time.

I couldn't tidy it up, but I did know something. One of the biggest causes of disbelief in the person who has been harassing him for a long time has disappeared.

I really didn't know if the foster parents had thought of themselves that way. In fact, he had never seen his face a few times, and he had never talked about it more. I had no idea that he would live with that feeling in his heart.

Jung-min broke his knuckles like a habit and opened the lid of a box, or capsule.

"You've been harassing me for so long, and I can't forgive you enough. If this capsule is rubbish, I'll hate it. If I can get Beyond out of this weakness, like you said, then I'll forgive you."

As I wiped my tears, the public muttered so.