Due to that fateful party, I ended up enjoying party play with RabbitGangDude.
Since it felt a bit weird to call him by his full name every time, I settled on just calling him “Rabbit.”
Honestly, I still don’t know what he’s actually doing.
But one thing’s for sure: this guy definitely had way more time on his hands than me to compete at my level.
It’s really mind-blowing.
How does he log in every single day?
Whenever I log into the game, he’s always there, brightening the place up.
Honestly, I thought I was pretty much a “time Bill Gates” too, but this guy was a whole different level.
Maybe “more level” was the right way to put it.
Unlike me, who was playing this game out of “nostalgia” for my hometown, he seemed to be in it “with genuine feeling.”
And since we met again today for another party…
I won’t get too long-winded about it.
As soon as I logged in, Rabbit found me right away.
After a brief greeting, he sent me a party invitation, and our hunting began.
There was absolutely no small talk throughout the whole process.
Once, out of boredom, I might throw him a word or two, but him initiating a conversation was super rare.
After that, it became the norm for us to hunt endlessly with no dialogue, just as the game intended for our “party.”
After repeating that enough times, we actually became so accustomed to hunting that talking became awkward.
I couldn’t help but wonder why he continues to hunt with me.
Is he really not leveling up his character, “Archer,” but just treating my character, “Warrior,” like a pet?
That thought crossed my mind often.
Honestly, it was really peculiar.
The only things I knew about this guy were that he was a crazy person named “RabbitGangDude” and that he preferred short chats because typing was a hassle.
I finished off the monster I was hunting.
《 LEVEL UP 》
My character became engulfed in a white effect.
It was still awful graphics, no matter how many times I saw it.
Finally, I hit max level!
The long journey had reached its conclusion.
I honestly didn’t think I would reach max level as a warrior in this game.
A truly garbage job, right? Warrior (war loser).
Even though the results were achieved through party hunting (boost), the sense of accomplishment I felt was by no means lesser.
When my character stopped moving with the level up, RabbitGangDude paused too while helping me hunt.
In fact, Rabbit was already max level.
He was just wasting time on the side, helping me with my hunting.
Thanks…!
RabbitGangDude!
I typed in chat.
[ I’m aRealWizard (Warrior): So what now? ]
And then…
The end of content had arrived.
There was nothing left for us to do.
If you reach max level in a classic RPG, you should be enjoying max level content, right? What is there not to do?
Shockingly, this game…
Has no max level content.
Raids? None.
Max level hunting grounds? Nope, not that either.
At this point, you’d think it’s the players reaching max level that are the problem.
But I realized this during the fun I’ve been having while leveling up.
I was also a victim of the game.
If I’d caught on earlier, I could have just quit and searched for another game.
But I realized it at a ridiculously ambiguous level.
In the end, I leveled up to max out by sheer inertia.
[ RabbitGangDude (Archer): ? ]
[ I’m aRealWizard (Warrior): Is there really nothing else to do? ]
And then…
[ RabbitGangDude (Archer): Hunting continuously is fun! ]
RabbitGangDude was even crazier than I thought.
It was honestly chilling.
Was he truly a demon spawned from the Cyberpunk game universe?
Even though he could no longer gain experience points from hunting,
he still finds hunting fun.
I couldn’t comprehend it.
I could feel my SAN points (sanity level) slowly draining.
[ I’m aRealWizard (Warrior): How about this: since we have this connection, let’s try other games together? ]
[ RabbitGangDude (Archer): ? ]
Why the sudden question mark?
I honestly thought switching it up would be far more productive than hunting in an RPG where you can’t level up anymore.
RabbitGangDude’s character suddenly stopped moving again.
…Hmm.
Was my suggestion too oblivious?
I began to wonder if his earlier statement was a roundabout way of telling me to buzz off.
[ RabbitGangDude (Archer): Then how about we meet? ]
[ I’m aRealWizard (Warrior): ? ]
This time, I sent the question mark back in response.
4. Classic Game Maniacs (2)
I was only considering a hologram call, but it seemed the connection he had with me was extraordinary.
Hearing him suddenly suggest we meet was a shock.
Is this how people are these days?
I was going to refuse saying it’s hard if we’re not even in the same city, but…
I just realized that my classic game was only serviced in Neon City.
Why didn’t I know this?
So, if distance isn’t an issue, seeing each other shouldn’t be that bad, I thought.
Even if this person is a bit strange, he was also a benefactor who wasted his precious time hunting alongside my warrior character.
[ I recommend that we shouldn’t meet. ]
Of course, Eve disagreed.
She cautioned that meeting an unknown person online could lead to serious trouble and that the odds were high of running into someone who’s not quite normal, given he enjoys such strange games.
The latter part hit pretty hard for me too.
…That’s a bit rough.
Honestly, I was thinking about it a lot before I went out.
What if I headed out thinking I’d meet a normal person, only to find three orc brothers welcoming me?
If I were to be lured out like that, they might try to rob me or take my organs and implants.
Even just imagining it was terrifying.
It wasn’t the orcs I was afraid of, but rather the thought of being betrayed by someone I trusted in the game.
“So, I’m prepared for anything.”
[ I doubt it’s worth the risk; I’m questioning it. ]
It was a tough argument to counter.
“Don’t worry; I trust my game buddy.”
[……. ]
I wouldn’t have come out before I fell into this game world.
But now it’s different.
I wasn’t lacking confidence in combat either.
If my comparison was with major characters like Catherine, that’d be a different story, but…
There’s no way such a person would be in a place like this.
So, I didn’t worry too much.
[ I’m worried your game is quite strange too. ]
“That was a trash game from the start.”
How can there be an RPG with no max level content?
Even now, it doesn’t make sense.
[ I confess I tried to hack the game without the human ‘Lee Siwoon’ knowing. ]
“Oh, you tried to create an account?”
[ That’s right. ]
“And?”
Eve pulled up a complicated blueprint of lines extending from my interface.
[ The game’s server data is physically isolated, and I explain. ]
“Huh?”
[ This isn’t typical. Unless it’s a special case or physical access, it would be impossible to alter server data, and I suggest returning home based on that. ]
So that’s why.
No wonder things seemed quiet.
Under normal circumstances, I would have already hacked into the game, created a new account, and started following my character.
“So, you couldn’t hack it then.”
[ It’s not entirely impossible, but based on the reasons you’ve made, I recommend heading home. ]
“But it’s already too late.”
I had already arrived at the meeting point.
I took a sip of the drink I had pre-ordered.
The fizzy sensation tickled my throat and flowed coolly down my body.
I wondered when I would arrive.
I checked the time through the watch hovering in my view.
There was still a bit of time left.
A small restaurant located on the outskirts of the middle-class area.
This was the meeting place.
The dining areas were divided by partitions, which made it seem conducive for quiet conversations.
It was the other person who chose the meeting location.
I pulled up the hologram interface and double-checked the message I received.
From: ‘White Rabbit’
– It’s a place called Ryu’s Restaurant.
– I’ll share the time and location coordinates.
– See you later.
The friend who had only spoken briefly in the game had indeed found out that typing on a keyboard was too much effort.
Using my neural computer chip, the message he sent was very polite and detailed.
But calling himself “White Rabbit”?
He was really going all out on the concept.
Come to think of it, I remembered there was a character in the game who also liked rabbits.
Maybe that’s why he was always carrying a rabbit plush around or something.
I recalled him being a hostile character.
His combat patterns were pretty difficult, after all.
Of course, I had never actually seen him in this world.
Remembering that he appeared as an adversarial character, he was no ordinary mercenary.
His backstory was that he primarily took on illegal contracts.
It’s been so long, I barely remember now.
Honestly, it was better for my mental health to never run into characters like that.
What good would come from intentionally bumping into enemy characters?
Ding.
At that moment, a new message arrived.
RabbitGangDude, White Rabbit.
– I’m here now.
– Where are you?
I replied that I’d be waving my hand above the partition.
Surely, he’d find his way over.
Waving my hand over the partition, I wondered who would come in.
If a bunch of orcs walked in, I’d flip the table and run away immediately.
But the person who sat in front of me was totally unexpected.
A short woman.
She was tightly clutching a white rabbit plush.
I unknowingly asked,
“Who are you?”
“…Um, my ID is RabbitGangDude, and my name is Julia.”
Her name is Julia.
Sounds pretty familiar.
That sense of familiarity sent an alarm ringing in my head.
What did I just say earlier?
The rabbit plush—hmm.
Ten years have passed, and forgotten information from the game was suddenly alive.
Just then, Eve displayed Julia’s photo and texts on my interface.
[ Information. She is 99% identical to a wanted person in the NCPD database, I inform. ]
“?”
[ Name is Julia. Profession is registered as an illegal mercenary and terrorist. ]
“Oh.”
It was indeed the rabbit from the game.
“…Um, could I get spaghetti, please?”
Why is a wanted criminal here?
My head began to spin.
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