Chapter 1

Prologue

He was an ordinary man you could find anywhere.

Born into an era where ordinary effort could no longer secure an ordinary life—an age where the exchange rate between work and reward had completely collapsed—he spent thirty years navigating a toxic society that constantly divided people into camps, hurled blanket insults, and was easily swayed by manipulation. He survived by reading the room and keeping his head down.

As a result, he had grown into one of those young old-timers who looked back on the not-so-distant past and said,

"Things were better back then."
"Back in my day..."

In other words, he had become the perfect model of a respectable young Korean man in the 21st century.

Still, he had grown up without causing his parents too much grief. He was a treasured son, a dependable friend, and a loving boyfriend.

At the same time, like many men his age, he was a casual gamer.

The reason he called himself casual was simple: these days, he could really feel his gaming stamina wasn't what it used to be.

In fact, work alone gave him more than enough stress, and he no longer wanted games to pile on even more. He had even uninstalled the online co-op PvP game he used to love.

Instead, he turned his attention to PC and console games he could enjoy comfortably by himself.

Only recently had he started working through acclaimed titles with rich worlds and compelling storytelling.

The last game he'd played followed the struggles of a rookie police officer reporting for duty in a city devastated by a viral outbreak. It had blended horror and action so well that he thoroughly enjoyed it.

He had considered playing the sequel, but marathoning games from the same genre wasn't really his style, so he decided against it.

That was how he ended up discovering a new game:

Project Neo.

It was a title a younger acquaintance had enthusiastically recommended.

"Come on, hyung, it's seriously amazing! Have you ever known me to make stuff up?"

"I don't know anything about cyberpunk."

"Ah, you don't need to. Nobody starts out knowing everything."

The pestering became impossible to ignore.

Before he knew it, he found himself installing the game.

Estimated installation time: 51 minutes and 13 seconds.

With plenty of time to kill, he started looking up information.

Project Neo.

An open-world RPG set in a cyberpunk universe.

Digging a little deeper, he discovered that it wasn't just cyberpunk—it also mixed in arcanepunk and biopunk, creating a complete hodgepodge of a setting.

To someone unfamiliar with the genre, it looked like a dystopian world where robots, magic, and zombies had all been crammed together.

Even so, the gameplay was apparently excellent. It was certainly niche, but it still had a respectable player base.

A quick glance through the community forums confirmed as much. Recommendation posts and guides filled the front page.

He clicked on one of them.

※ Tips for Newbies Starting Project Neo (Last Updated: 2024.03.28)

Even back when he had far more free time as a student, he preferred following proven builds that others had already tested.

It was a single-player game, after all. If there was an easier, more convenient way to play, why not take it?

He slowly scrolled through the guide, carefully reading the alternating screenshots and explanations.

After a while, he let out a sigh.

The game looked far more complicated than he'd expected.

Just then, the installation finished and the screen went black as the game launched.

He called the younger guy.

"Hyung? What's up? Ah, you're confused? That's understandable."

The cheerful voice continued.

"Set the difficulty to Easy. The game's actually pretty hard, so if you underestimate it, you're going to have a miserable time. And you hate that kind of thing more than anyone. Anyway, you can change the difficulty later, so just start on Easy. If it feels too easy afterward, you can always raise it."

It stung his pride, but he did as he was told.

He had already begun to notice that his reflexes weren't what they used to be.

"Your life path... huh? You're picking Nomad?"

At least that choice he'd already made.

Games like this were all about clawing your way up from the bottom. Corporate elites and noble families never appealed to him.

"Then I'll put together an early-game Nomad build for you. I've logged over a thousand hours playing Nomad alone. Pick the Irregular trait, and for your starting perk, see Rapid Recovery? Take that one. This combination is seriously the best for Nomads. The reason is..."

The explanation showed every sign of becoming a lengthy lecture, so after thanking him, he hung up.

He could always ask for the details later or look up a guide.

Character creation began.

He had never been good at customization, so he simply made the character reasonably good-looking.

The ability to adjust penis size was certainly... innovative.

Well, more was better than less.

If nothing else, the character could at least be happy in that department, so he pushed the slider all the way to the maximum allowed.

Finally, he entered a name.

Character creation complete.

Before pressing Start Game, he placed a cup of instant noodles and a can of cola on his desk to satisfy the hunger creeping in.

Instant noodles eaten little by little while taking breaks during a game were a delicacy unlike any other.

But he never got the chance to eat the late-night meal he'd prepared.

The moment he pressed Start Game, filled with anticipation—

he opened his eyes in a dark back alley.

His face was buried against the cold, damp pavement.