Chapter 8: Ruined Game Company

“Huh! Let’s see who can get out alive. Ice Field, throw thin ice!”

I stepped inside the cursed forest that would give me the most EXP in the third closed beta.

And I randomly fired the ice-type magic at the cursed ants as their main fixture was here.

It was a hunting ground more geared toward fire-types than ice-types, which was my favorite.

But it was not a big deal because these cursed ants were so slow.

Besides, they were much slower because of the frostbite effect of the ice.

Soon I threw more AoE skills like hail pellets over the ants locked up in Ice Prison and the slow-moving ants.

At that moment, the cursed ants helplessly collapsed with a screech.

Then a message appeared that I had been looking forward to.

<You have leveled up.>

Obviously I was absorbed in hunting until a moment ago while staying alert all along.

I finally collapsed helplessly because it was the message that announced that I had reached Level 300.

“Whew!”

I let out a long sigh.

One day? No, two days?

For the past two days, I didn’t sleep at all because I was close to achieving the max level.

So, I became more and more devoted to hunting with total concentration.

If I had given it up from the beginning, I wouldn’t have felt any regret. But I would have felt a great regret if I only achieved Level 299 or 298 in the third closed beta.

“Okay!”

I stood up and tightened my knees because the cursed ants would soon respond forcefully.

So, I quickly left the cursed forest.

When I came out of the forest, the hunting ground was quiet.

Of course, I could understand there were no users in the hunting ground because the third closed beta would end in less than an hour.

But there were no users even in the city.

Obviously there were lots of users before the end of the first and second closed betas who tried to strengthen their items to test their luck or those who were trying to search for the most efficient skill trees.

“Confirm game users!”

<Currently there is only one confirmed user.>

“…”

Just one user. Since I knew who that user was in this system, I could not help but keep silent.

Then I opened my mouth quietly, “Phew, I’m afraid this game is going to fail even before it is introduced commercially.”

As soon as I said that, I was taken back to the wheat field.

At the same time, the message rang that the third closed beta had ended.

<The third closed beta of Forgotten Legend has ended. We would like to thank again all the users who participated in it.>

A message about the upcoming closed beta usually appeared at the end of the first and second closed beta, but there was none this time. In other words, the third one was the last.

Of course, if this was a normal game, the formal opening of the game would be next.

But I was very bothered by the message indicating that there was only one user in the game.

It would be unreasonable to market this kind of game with few users.

Soon the small island blocked by water according to my setup appeared.

“Close the VR adaptor!”

<Your VR access is now closed.>

I ended the access because the closed beta was over anyway.

Then I raised my body from the bed, drank a cup of water on the side table, then flung myself back onto the bed.

Can I use my memory and concentration that I cultivated while playing the game?

However, I felt too sleepy to think about it now.

For the past two weeks I slept only two or three hours every day, and two days before the end of the game I didn’t sleep at all.

Zzzzz…

I fell asleep like that, wishing earnestly that the Forgotten Legend game could open normally.

***

Several months later, there was the SAT test for the class of 20xx.

All the questions were easy.

Of course, there were some questions that required creative thinking to solve them, but I could manage to solve them with what I memorized in my mind.

I chose Russian as my second foreign language because it was the most difficult one with the least applicants.

I memorized not only the Russian dictionary but also the English, Arabic, and Chinese ones entirely. So, I could choose Chinese or Arabic for my second language, but I chose Russian because I wanted to stand out. After all, the other students dreaded and avoided language.

Of course, the main reason why I could do this was because I prepared for the SAT after the second closed beta was over, so I had lots of free time during the third closed beta period.

Therefore, I turned my attention to foreign languages.

I knew there was nothing as cool as commanding a foreign language fluently.

Anyway, I not only solved all the problems faster than any of the other students, but I also finished the foreign language test before going back home.

Back home I made provisional marks by myself.

No wonder I scored 100% on the SAT because I memorized all the exam questions in the textbooks and the famous workbooks prepared by the star lecturers of the prestigious private academies in Daechi-dong south of the Han River in Seoul.

But I wasn’t just happy, for the ‘Forgotten Legend’ homepage itself disappeared now.

“Hm. Should I have done something to prevent it in advance?”

The past me would not have dared to do so, but I was now in a very strong position.

Thanks to my excellent performance on the SAT, I was now influential enough to ask my father to buy that game company.

Billions of Korean won (millions of US dollars) was only a small amount of money to my father.

However, there was a saying that curiosity would kill the cat.

I could not recklessly lay hands on it for fear that what I had earned until now might disappear with my involvement.

Besides, my priority at the moment was the SAT exam just around the corner.

While I was hesitating, the game company in question went bankrupt even before I came to its rescue. It was right after the third closed beta ended.

Of course, it was fortunate that what I had memorized until then didn’t disappear.

“Whew, good. Let me look into it again later.”

It was a secret.

I was not sure if this phenomenon happened to me alone or someone else too.

Besides, I was not in a position to tell others about it.

If I asked about it, lots of people around would be willing to find the answer.

Then I joined the business administration department of the most prestigious Seoul National University at the top of its class.

Until then, I thought I was perfect at everything, namely my enormous knowledge and my mastery of several foreign languages.

But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was my misjudgment.

“Adam Smith is called the father of economics and the author of The Wealth of Nations, which has become the foundation of classical economics. He tried to switch the observation area of economics from the interests of the ruler to the interests among the classes.”

“…”

I stared at the professor on the platform blankly, forgetting the time.

I belatedly realized that it was already the end of the class.

“I’m going to lecture about land and capital in the next session. Please read the chapters on that topic before attending class.”

“Yes, sir.”

My classmates responded cheerfully to the professor’s request.

But I didn’t because I could not understand his lecture even though I was admitted to the department as the top student.

Thump!

At that moment, I dropped my head on the desk with a thud.

‘I was stupid. How stupid am I! The second foreign language doesn’t even matter!’

Given my family’s situation and my brother and sister’s social status, it was natural for me to choose business administration as my major.

In that case, I should have prepared for it, but I didn’t.