Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Mercenary Company Management

[Recruitment Office]

I saw words.

Words floating in midair.

What was that? I blinked a couple of times.

The letters that had been shining brightly gradually faded, leaving only an afterimage behind. I stood there blankly for a moment, unable to understand what was happening.

“Welcome, Adventurer.”

I turned toward the voice beside me.

The speaker was a middle-aged man with a scraggly beard.

“Thank you for visiting our Recruitment Office. I am……”

A familiar face.

And a familiar voice.

His rambling words flowed past my ears.

I could understand the language. It was Korean.

But I couldn't focus. All I could think about was why that man was standing in front of me.

Because he was someone who shouldn't have been facing me.

That man's name was definitely—

My name is Hog Out.

“My name is Hog Out.”

Broker Hog Out.

The NPC in charge of the tutorial.

I stared blankly at him as he laughed heartily, then shifted my gaze.

“……”

I saw children.

From children widening their eyes as if trying to appeal to me, to children hiding behind others, it was a familiar sight.

'Yeah. It's familiar.'

I had seen this scene before.

More precisely, I had been 'playing' it until just a few minutes ago.

In the virtual reality game [Mercenary Company Management].

Which was why I couldn't understand it.

I had definitely logged out.

“Our Recruitment Office selects children with sufficient talent from all over the continent and……”

There was a game called [Mercenary Company Management].

It started as a smartphone game and, after becoming a hit, was later released as a virtual reality game as well.

It was so famous that even I, who had no interest in it, had come across it several times through various media.

More importantly—

'If you don't play this, you're missing out on half your life!'

I had a friend named Seong Min-gyu who was obsessively immersed in the game.

Thanks to him, I knew a fair amount about it despite never actually playing it myself.

Whenever he had the chance, he would chatter endlessly about the game.

And then he would always add one more thing.

'So you should play it too.'

After refusing countless times, I finally gave in and started the game today.

A little while ago, I had logged out during the tutorial because something came up.

So there was no way I should be in the game right now.

“Ha……”

“Oh dear. I've been talking too much. To think I'd keep rambling in front of someone who's clearly tired……”

Leaving the bowing broker behind, I organized my thoughts.

'This doesn't seem to be a dream.'

I was aware that I was still inside the game.

I didn't know why, but it seemed logging out was blocked.

'I need to file a complaint about this.'

Thinking that, I tried logging out again.

“Log out.”

Particles of light gathered together.

The moment the logout effect—something NPCs couldn't see—began to shine,

Bang—!

A small explosion erupted in midair.

“……What?”

“Adventurer? Is something bothering you……?”

……My logout attempt had been ignored again.

Forcing down my confusion, I tried once more.

“Log out.”

“My name isn't Logout, it's Hog Out. No, more importantly……”

Bang—!

The light exploded once again.

“No, what is this……?”

“Adventurer?”

My mind turned completely blank.

I couldn't log out. Was I trapped in the game?

'No.'

That couldn't be right.

I took a deep breath and pulled myself together.

First, customer support.

[This function is currently unavailable……]

It wasn't working.

What about the interface?

'Skill Window. Quest Window. Status Window. Inventory!'

Nothing appeared.

My blood ran cold, and my head spun.

“Adventurer. Are you alright? You don't look well.”

My consciousness, which had been sinking into a swamp of panic, returned to reality thanks to the broker's voice.

And the conclusion I reached was an absurd reality.

'Am I really trapped?'

Inside a virtual reality game?

I had never even heard of such a thing. But there was no other explanation.

“Adventurer?”

I blankly met the broker's gaze.

He had been looking at me as if I were a strange person, but quickly corrected his expression.

His dynamic change in expression left me somewhat bewildered, but I managed to speak.

“……I'm sorry. I'm a little tired.”

“I understand. It was inconsiderate of me to keep talking when you've come such a long way. In that case, shall we proceed quickly?”

“Proceed?”

I turned my gaze and, as expected, saw the children again.

The children were still standing exactly as they had been before.

'Ah. The tutorial.'

Whatever the situation was, the game was still progressing.

I alternated my gaze between the broker and the children before reaching another conclusion.

'First, I need to move somewhere else.'

I needed time to think calmly.

And to do that, I first needed to finish the tutorial.

“With my explanation, you'll be able to make an excellent choice when selecting a child……”

Ignoring the broker's explanation, I carefully examined the children.

The tutorial began with a "selection." It was the process of choosing a "mercenary" who would accompany me in the early stages.

This was never something to gloss over. Depending on which card you picked at the beginning, the game's future difficulty and direction changed dramatically.

'Let's see.'

I examined the children.

More precisely, I examined the names floating above their heads.

[James]

[Luca]

[Seria]

[Elon]

……

……

There were ten children in total.

The children who appeared at the Recruitment Office differed from player to player.

Around a hundred children were divided into groups of ten and appeared randomly.

Among them were unquestionably high-tier recruits, while others were low-tier and completely useless.

This was also the only place where players commonly engaged in the so-called "reroll marathon."

After all, it was only natural to want to start the game with a high-tier recruit.

'Though I'm no different.'

The problem was that I didn't actually know much.

Thanks to Min-gyu, I only knew that a child named [James] was considered upper-middle tier.

So for someone like me, who couldn't reset the game, James should have been the only option

Then again, wasn't there a saying that even if you're dragged into a tiger's den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you?

'What's that?'

Above the children's heads.

In the same place where their names floated, something began to appear.

Something that might just save me from this tiger's den.

'I don't know what it is, but……'

I looked back and forth between "that thing" and the children before slowly opening my mouth.

“I'll make my selection.”

“Huh? Without even listening to the explanation?”

“The explanation won't be necessary. I already have someone in mind.”

“But—”

I glanced at the broker's head before raising a hand to stop him.

The broker shut his mouth with an uneasy expression.

Regardless, I turned my attention to the children.

Among them, I pointed at the child who kept avoiding eye contact and shrinking into hiding.

“I'll choose that child.”

“M-Me? Me?”

The child who had been called jumped in surprise and stared with wide eyes.

Even the broker looked startled as he asked,

“You mean Theo?”

“Yes.”

He was a boy with a smaller frame than the others and even looked somewhat gloomy.

He didn't seem like the kind of child who would be useful for anything.

Apparently, he hadn't expected to be chosen either.

As the startled child trembled, the broker answered in his place.

“Theo speaks poorly and has a weak body. I can assure you he's the most useless child here.”

“Usefulness is for me to decide.”

“Besides, he claims to see things that shouldn't be seen……”

Leaving the broker behind, I looked at the child called Theo.

Among the children who looked envious and the children who were relieved not to have been chosen, there stood Theo.

“I've already decided. I'll choose Theo.”

As I said that, I extended my hand.

Theo stared at the hand I was offering him.

Judging by how pale he had become, he looked as though he were being asked to do something terrible.

The broker seemed to notice his reaction and approached again.

“Please, think it over a little more carefully—”

“I've chosen this child.”

“At least consider a child like Jaden— Adventurer!”

Ignoring the broker, I stepped toward the child.

Perhaps because I had cut him off several times already, he finally seemed to be reaching his limit.

I could hear him huffing in frustration.

“Excuse me! I'm the broker here!”

“But the payment was already made, wasn't it?”

“Y-You…!”

According to the setting, someone had already paid the children's recruitment fees.

Or something along those lines.

It was supposedly a request from someone who had once received a great favor.

I understood that, because it was the request of a benefactor, he desperately wanted to provide the best children possible.

But that wasn't my concern.

“Well then.”

After finally shutting the broker up, I extended my hand toward Theo.

“Let's go.”

“Hmph. I got carried away. How about you leave it to me—”

“Theo. Come here.”

“Excuse me. Why do you keep cutting people off before they finish speaking? Hey!”

I immediately grabbed the boy's hand.

Only then did Theo seem to grasp reality—or perhaps resign himself to it—as he nodded.

Still holding the boy's hand, I turned my gaze.

The broker was huffing with a bright red face.

“It was a good deal.”

“You—!”

Leaving the broker behind as he pointed and shouted, I quickened my pace.

*

Once we left the Recruitment Office, the village came into view.

I quietly stared at the orange sky as the sun began to set, then turned my gaze.

Theo, who had been sneaking glances at me, jerked his head down in surprise.

Through our clasped hands, I could clearly feel him trembling.

“Theo.”

“Y-Yes. Yes?”

“I look forward to working with you.”

“I-I-I look forward to working with you too!”

No further conversation followed.

As we walked through the silent streets, I focused on my situation first.

'What do I do?'

For now, it seemed like I should wait for rescue.

The problem was that I had no idea when that rescue would come.

It would probably take a long time before anyone even realized I was trapped in virtual reality, and what happened after that was another issue entirely.

'I'm not even sure rescue is possible.'

Unnecessary worries flooded in like a tide.

Enough to make my head throb.

'Think positively.'

I let out a sigh and brushed away the distracting thoughts.

It wasn't something worrying could solve.

Whatever happened, I would have to play the game until I was rescued.

'Actually, that's the bigger problem.'

And that brought up another issue.

I didn't know the game [Mercenary Company Management].

I knew some things thanks to Min-gyu, but I had never actually played it.

What I knew amounted to

'The world's setting, maybe.'

The foundation of [Mercenary Company Management] was demon hunting.

Players climbed a tower infested with demons, defeating the demons on each floor until reaching the tower's ultimate goal.

That was the setting of the smartphone version.

The virtual reality version added the [Field] system.

'What was it called again? Dynamism? Freedom?'

I vaguely recalled a voice from a game broadcast.

'Players can participate in combat in the virtual reality version too?'

'That's right. It's one of the new updates added alongside the [Field] system. In the smartphone version, players acted as something like team owners. In the virtual reality version, they become captains and fight alongside their mercenaries directly.'

'That certainly sounds dynamic.'

'It's already receiving tremendous praise from users.'

That was how they had added dynamism.

'More than that, I thought the visuals were incredible.'

'There's even a story that the developers personally traveled all over the world to capture beautiful scenery.'

They had also perfected the visual presentation through stunning graphics.

'And what else is there?'

'Freedom.'

'Freedom meaning…?'

'Exactly what it sounds like. In the smartphone version, players had to progress through the game with a limited roster of mercenaries. However, with the addition of the Recruitment system, players can now freely scout mercenaries. To put it extremely, you can recruit a random woman passing by on the street or even a high-ranking knight of the Empire into your Mercenary Company.'

'Oh. That must create endless possibilities depending on who you recruit.'

'Exactly.'

The [Recruitment] system provided freedom.

According to the overall reviews, it supposedly felt like being reincarnated into another world.

Some people even claimed the realism was so intense they nearly fainted, but that only meant the game's quality was exceptionally high.

In any case, because of that incredible freedom, countless strategy guides had sprung up overnight.

This mercenary was good.

That mercenary should never be used.

And so on.

'But what good does that do me?'

Which mercenaries were good?

How was I supposed to obtain good mercenaries?

How should I progress through the story?

What was the strategy for hunting demons, and how was I supposed to find the tower?

I knew none of it.

Of course, there were some things I knew.

For example, the NPCs known as [Named].

But that wasn't helpful.

They were heroes I couldn't meet right now, let alone hope to recruit.

'But can I even play this game?'

What would happen if I died in the game?

The anxiety returned once more.

It turned out vast oceans didn't exist only at sea.

'Still.'

It seemed I had some way to survive.

I stared at Theo.

More precisely, I stared at the text floating above his head.

If that text hadn't been there earlier, I would have chosen James without hesitation.

[Name: Theo]

[Rating 4.5 (★★★★☆)]

[Reviews +999]

For some reason, I could see reviews.

[Title: For the love of God, pick Theo]

[Content: There's no way there are still idiots picking generic recruits in the tutorial, right? Theo is the real deal. He's good in the Field and great for demon hunting too. He's especially specialized in large-scale battles. If you can somehow get through his glass-cannon phase early on, you'll keep using him forever. So seriously, pick Theo!]

[♥ +999]

Rather than reviews, they looked more like information-sharing posts.

It was information Min-gyu had never told me.

Though maybe I had simply ignored it.

In any case, it seemed I couldn't view all the reviews.

Once I opened one, the others turned gray and became inaccessible.

“Let's go, Theo.”

“Y-Yes! Master!”

“Call me Iseo.”

“Yes, Master Iseo!”

“Drop the 'Master.'”

“Y-Yes! Iseo!”

“……”

For reference, this was the review I had seen for the broker earlier.

[Name: Hog Out]

[Rating 1 (★)]

[Reviews +999]

[Title: Time is money]

[Content: Your time is valuable, so here's a tip. Don't let the broker introduce the mercenaries. Greetings are fine, but the moment he starts introducing them, there's no turning back. You won't be allowed to make your selection until you've listened to the explanations for every single child in the Recruitment Office. As a bonus, he'll keep pushing certain mercenaries on you, and if you choose one of the children he introduced, he'll demand an additional fee. A one-minute tutorial turns into a fifteen-minute disaster that costs you money too. So let's all skip it and speedrun the game. Fighting!]

[♥ +999]

I had no idea why I could see these reviews.

But it didn't seem more important than being trapped in the game.

So I simply accepted it as a lucky break and shook off my thoughts.

'Yeah. Let's do this.'

Fuck.