Closed Beta That Only I Played

Everybody was silent when Sokyoung said that quietly.

But Taesan Lee, the general manager of the Kusan Guild of Revival Legend, broke the silence, “Maybe it could be him.”

“Who? Do you have any idea who it is?” Chairman Chung immediately asked back.

“Yes. As you know, before the game was renamed Revival Legend, the first, second, and third closed betas were conducted under the name Forgotten Legend. And, according to their various achievements, including maximum level in the closed beta, the partic.i.p.ants received different traits.”

What Manager Lee said was not new. But n.o.body in the meeting urged him to skip it because they knew that he was not talking nonsense.

“The traits are the basis for gamers to get ahead of others. So including the United States and China, we had no choice but to look for those gamers with traits. However, the way to find them is the same. In other words, we have to do the legwork to find them because hacking is impossible. Not only we, but also China and America did the same thing. Yet it was impossible to obtain any information about the details of the game and the users who played the game.”

As if he was thirsty, Manager Lee picked up his tea and drank it.

“So the only way to find them was to track down the traces left on the Internet by those who played the game, just like the United States and China did here in this country. Sometimes they hit a jackpot because you don"t play games alone, but with friends or guild members.”

Obviously, he had a point. Chairman Chung experienced it in person because he received the relevant reports immediately when the company secured those players with traits. In particular, he got wind of when the company scouted several players with traits before.

Manager Lee continued, “And of course, I ask them for any information about other max level achievers because they know what"s going on better than anybody else. And then I got one piece of good information.”

“Information?”

“Yes, tips about the man who is crazy about hunting.”

“Good. Go on!”

“Sure. Yeah. The six guys we hired at the same time said that during the first closed beta, they didn"t have sufficient damage dealers to proceed with the boss monster raid, so they hired an additional dealer to their party, an ice-type wizard. The wizard in question was so crazy about hunting that he not only achieved the max level, but he also wore quite a few items. So, they succeeded in the boss monster raid without facing any big difficulties.”

“So?”

“So they invited him to join their guild, but he allegedly declined their offer. Of course, after that, they asked for his help a couple of times. Anyway, they got acquainted with the guy. I heard they asked him in pa.s.sing what game he played usually.”

“What did he reply?”

“They were told he was hunting monsters, always.”

Now everybody showed more interest in his remarks.

As if to satisfy their curiosity, he continued, “Fortunately, they met him during the second closed beta. He was still the same ice-type wizard as before. All six players we recruited said the same thing about him. Namely, he might be the one who achieved the maximum level faster than anybody else because they only achieved Level 100 on average, but this ice-type wizard had already achieved Level 200, the max level of the second closed beta.

They also said they noticed something very unusual. According to them, a few hours before the second closed beta was over, the ice-type wizard still focused on hunting with a smile while other players used the newly-earned items and consumed their golden rings.”

“…”

“…”

A brief silence fell in the small meeting room, then Chairman Chung broke the silence by saying, “What happened during the 3rd closed beta?”

“As you know, unlike the 1st and 2nd, the 3rd had a cutoff. So any player who failed to reach a certain level every day was denied access to the game. Moreover, since it proceeded without any notice, lots of players dropped out. So, any one of the six we hired has seen that ice-type wizard in the 3rd closed beta. We a.s.sume there was no max level achiever in the 3rd one, but if there was, the ice-type wizard in question seems to be the most likely. So, we really tried hard to find that man, so much so that we even went to see anyone who posted a line or two about the 3rd closed beta. But we could not find him. And that was a few years ago.”

“Hmm,” Chairman Chung murmured to himself.

Then Chief Secretary Suman Ham added, “I think what Manager Lee said is highly trustworthy. Don"t you see the overall picture? That ice-type wizard who achieved the maximum level in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd closed betas has started the game now. Moreover, when those who achieved maximum level were complacent, occasionally accessing the game for pleasure, he was still absorbed in hunting monsters. Of course, with continued hunting, he must have collected more golden rings and items than others. In other words, I think he might have already obtained lots of A grade traits, beyond B and C grades. That"s why he showed such a remarkable performance when he was only Level 131.”

Everyone present at the meeting nodded at the chief secretary"s observation.

Given his a.n.a.lysis, the puzzle about this ice-type wizard was correctly put together.

“By the way, the fact that he wore a mask and a robe means he also knows he is not ordinary.”

“I guess so. I"m sure he knows he is extraordinarily talented in gaming, and given that he doesn"t brag about it, he seems to be a very prudent person.”

“Furthermore, he didn"t take his conflict with the guy named Taichi seriously. Considering his att.i.tude, I think he has very broad knowledge and he is very reasonable in his judgement. If I narrow down the scope of possible figures, he must be older than we think, broadly experienced in life, or highly educated.”

After hearing Manager Lee and Chief Secretary Ham, Chairman Chung rose from the sofa, “Hmm, the thing is whether we, the Kusan Group, can attract him.”

“Don"t you think he will come to us if he is interested in Kusan even a little bit? I mean, the Philatan Castle.”

They exchanged further opinions, based on what Sokyoung briefed them.

Perhaps that guy might be the only user in the world who achieved the maximum level in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closed betas, with his traits over A grade.

The Safety Zone of the Desert Scorpion Forest the next day.

“Hmm.”

As soon as the quest was completed yesterday, I immediately moved into the Scorpion Forest for hunting, of course. Right before that, I was in a fierce battle without a break for an hour. But I was fine because my physical strength was too high for me to feel tired at all, so much so that even a good damage dealer could not outmuscle me.

And I was satisfied with the outcomes. Of course, the number of monsters I hunted here was far lower than I did at the ant caves where more than 100 ants gathered instantly when I moved around there for a few minutes. But I received more EXP per monster here.

So, I satisfactorily hunted all the way until 1:00 AM, then logged out for sleep from one corner of the Safety Zone in the Scorpion Forest that all users ebbed away from quickly.

As always, I woke up early in the morning, had a quick breakfast and then quickly accessed the game, imagining the empty scorpion forest and numerous monsters.

Contrary to my expectation, it was already noisy and crowded with lots of users.

Obviously there were no users when I logged out a little past 1 AM. In other words, when the regular quest was over, they went back to the unpopular and quiet hunting ground that I used to know. But now there were quite a few users. Of course, they might be permanently there for hunting or they might be there for a brief break.