Chapter 98: The Metaverse Distribution
While Koreans were mostly focused on fantasy worlds, the Western countries, including the US, were ecstatic to finally enjoy a proper space opera.
There was a saying that the best kind of geek was a double geek.
Their efforts to play a decent space game were tremendous. Some of them took their entire summer vacation, while others even changed their nationality.
There was even a case of someone who faked their identity and got a metaverse device from Russia, where Silla Group supplied them, only to be exposed and lose their citizenship.
The reason they went to such lengths was that once they experienced it, other games felt dull.
—The games we played so far were not games. They were just inferior versions that couldn’t compare.
—I can’t even imagine what kind of technology they used. It seems like they capture the user’s movements with dozens of sensors, but I wonder how they implemented the feeling of floating in space.
—Friends, I have a question. Is this real space flight? Has anyone been to space before?
—Well…I’m a former astronaut. The game 2180: Humanity’s Extinction has reproduced the space flight to a considerable level. It’s not exactly the same, but the feeling of being very cold and gloomy is very similar.
—You know, the moon trips will start in earnest by the end of the year, right? You can go to the moon for just 100,000 dollars, but you want to do that in a game?
—So if you go to the moon, can you drive a spaceship and control an assault armor?
—Controlling an assault armor is really hard but fun, my friend.
—-And the setting of the United Human Federation and the space monsters is also very interesting. It doesn’t seem like they just left it as a setting…
While foreigners praised it, Silla Entertainment implemented various places in the solar system as content.
It was difficult to do it on Earth, but they could visit and try various colonial planets and space stations within the solar system.
The amount of content was enormous.
The double geeks who loved space and combat finally realized their dreams and shed tears of joy.
—Fuck, this is what I wanted! Fuck Earth! I’m going to ride a badass robot and fight monsters!
—But the modeling of this assault armor is killer…It feels strangely realistic when I look at the internal parts.
—Could this be what Yu Ji-ha brought from space?
—I want to see the united human federation soon. They say they have a proper fleet there.
—Has anyone tried to follow the record set by the uber-pilot? Why is it blocked from the first stage?
—That guy is an AI. It’s natural that humans can’t follow him.
As more content from the game 2180: Humanity’s Extinction was revealed, players became interested in the uber-pilot of the united human federation.
Uber meant the best, so it was equivalent to saying top gun, or the pilot with the best skills.
The players who looked at his records through the radio waves that came in agreed that the setting was too extreme.
—He smashed several space monster fleets with a single shot…That’s an unbelievable ability.
—If it weren’t for him, the united human federation would have been extinct long ago. I get that they’re trying to create a sense of crisis, but it’s a bit too much.
—He was born in 2120 and he’s currently a colonel in the unified space force…He’s been in service for 60 years and he’s only a colonel? This is the worst part.
—According to the details, he had to take on the pilot role half willingly and half forcibly, so his rank was like that. If he had been rewarded for his achievements, he would have been a captain or more.
—Well, he’s just a fictional character anyway. He’s like our goal. Something we can never reach.
—But isn’t this game strangely realistic in its setting? The black metal being the outer skin of the space monsters and all…
—There’s black metal, so they probably just fit it in somehow. Where would such monsters exist?
—You never know. Maybe when it really becomes 2100s, space monsters will pop out and we’ll fight them happily. This game is like a training system then.
—I’m sick of hearing about Yu Ji-ha’s spaceship ownership rumor.
In fact, the records of the uber-pilot implemented in the game were a trimmed version of Yu Ji-ha’s actual achievements.
If they had implemented everything, it would have been too unrealistic and they would have laughed it off.
Anyway, as more players got hooked on the space game, naturally there were also hardcore players.
They took advantage of the fact that Earth and the united human federation were not implemented yet and started to act like trolls. They were space pirates.
They traveled around various space stations with spaceships and assault armors and blew up other players.
The game had a lot of freedom, so the system didn’t stop them at all, and they ran around harassing other players.
—Ah, assault armor teabagging is annoying. Do they really have to do that?
—Well, there are also hardcore players who help newbies, so there are guys like that too.
—If you don’t like it…you know, right?
It was not easy to control an assault armor in the game.
But the hardcore players somehow figured out how to move them freely.
Their maneuvers were impossible to capture even with the auto-aiming system, and they even became the driving force to fight against the space monsters.
—Yay! Space monster cut!
—This early work was just preparation, fighting with space monsters is the real thing.
—They say they will implement large-scale wars when the united human federation comes out later. That’s awesome.
—Please come out soon please…
As more and more players got addicted to the game, Arma selected the people who had decent skills.
“I have secured a list of 31 names.”
“That’s more disappointing than I thought…”
Yu Ji-ha looked at the players’ performances with a frustrated expression.
He had picked and chosen from the players who came from all over the world, but their abilities were below expectations.
They barely managed to catch a beast, which was the lowest rank among the plague, by cooperating with each other.
The actual assault armor couldn’t be moved properly without a Psychic, but that was a version adjusted to Yu Ji-ha’s subordinates’ level.
It was set up so that they could focus on controlling it by assuming that they could handle ether.
Arma advised him.
“It’s because the game hasn’t been serviced for long. And there are many people who haven’t touched it in Korea.”
“Maybe they’re more interested in fantasy worlds?”
“Yes. There are still many players wandering in the forest. They are determined to go to the human kingdom…”
“Their determination is commendable.”
There were many requests to lower the difficulty, but the purpose was to extract genes that could adapt in such an environment.
“It’s the first year, so I guess we can’t expect too much. Contact the list you’ve secured and bring them in. And assign androids as a priority.”
“Okay. And there are too many emails coming from Japan, what should we do?”
“Do they want to play the game?”
“Yes. They’re almost begging with tears.”
Actually, Yu Ji-ha had no feelings for Japanese people.
He just slightly broke them up because Japan itself might get in the way.
“It’s a bit hard to go direct there, so look for a suitable company. I’ll turn a blind eye to bringing them in through Russia.”
There were also genes to be expected from Japan’s population of over 120 million, so he couldn’t completely reject them.
There were more and more people who became Koreans or got megacity residency rights, but it was still not enough.
“Get as many genes as you can.”
Of course, that included Yu Ji-ha’s genes.
He didn’t want to make humans using artificial wombs, but he had no choice.
He had to use everything he could to barely survive.
..
October 2029.
A few months had passed since the two games were launched and a considerable gene pool had been secured.
However, it took a lot of time to train these genes into actual pilots.
A pilot without a Psychic talent was no different from a tin can.
Therefore, a Psychic development plan was carried out at the same time.
Plague cores of Leviathan class were installed in some underground facilities in Megacity and Seoul.
These cores did not corrode the surrounding metals, but changed the genes themselves to awaken humans as Psychic.
Using the Aether circuit improved by Yu Ji-ha’s ability, the number of awakened Psychic was expected to be much higher than in the original history.
Soon after taking this measure, changes began to appear.
Hwang Sun-young, who had been scraping the bottom in Megacity, was a typical example.
She had no special features except for the fact that she had worked in the same lab as Yu Ji-ha.
But one day, the black metal cube that she had been playing with as a toy suddenly changed.
“…Huh? Why is this happening?”
Lucia, who had been scratching her belly next to her, quickly turned over.
“The black metal has changed. You can change it with your thoughts, with your will. Think of something you like.”
Then the cube turned into a book shape.
Hwang Sun-young opened her eyes wide.
She could do something that she had only seen on TV until now.
“Did I…awaken?”
“Congratulations. You’ve got the black metal factor. Are you going to leave me now?”
“What are you talking about~”
They hugged each other for a moment, but they were soon called by Yu Ji-ha, who somehow knew.
He looked at her in a tense state and said as if he was surprised.
“Your name is Hwang Sun-young?”
“Ah, yes…yes, Mr. President. I worked in the same lab as you…I don’t know if you remember…”
“Of course I remember. You didn’t go out much, so your nickname was homebody.”
He didn’t need to remember that…
Anyway, she received a direct examination from Yu Ji-ha.
His big hand wrapped around her hand and a local Aether field was formed.
‘She’s an analyst type like Lucia.’
She’s perfect for a researcher of the prophet’s relics.
Yu Ji-ha smiled and held her hand.
“You have Megacity residency rights, right?”
“Yes, yes.”
“You’re going to become a full citizen beyond a free citizen. If you’re interested…”
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I really want to do it!”
She must have really wanted to become a full citizen.
Well, she must have tasted the sweet benefits while diligently accumulating points.
Yu Ji-ha nodded his head.
“Welcome to becoming a citizen of Megacity.”
…
Is this a game?
The two games released by Silla Group were ecstatic for the users, but the related industry gave subtle reviews.
—It’s really amazing. This is the first time that metaverse has been implemented in a meaningful way, not just as a word play.
–I acknowledge their technology. But I wonder if they didn’t have a better IP.
—If other companies can use the metaverse device technology, the game industry will face a great change.
In short, they wanted their technology.
The two MD exclusive games were definitely impressive in scale and stood out in their minor settings, and they offered an incomparable fun in terms of sensation.
But if they looked at the essential fun aspect of the game, they couldn’t say it was that great.
Some prominent producers or critics in the game industry gave somewhat blunt opinions about this.
—They need to adjust the early difficulty. More than 99% of players can’t get out of the forest. Too high difficulty only lowers the interest in the game.
—The space game has a well-structured tutorial, but why doesn’t the fantasy game have one? It’s structurally wrong.
—Maybe they haven’t developed the content for the fantasy game yet.
Arma designed the game with the purpose of selecting assault armor pilots.
They didn’t know that, so they saw the game as weird and wondered about the company’s policy.
Yu Ji-ha ignored these opinions.
Money or reputation in the industry was not his interest.
But Arma, who was in charge of practical work, encountered various opinions and suggested them, resulting in getting autonomy.
“You can distribute technology as long as it doesn’t interfere with the roadmap. But don’t improve it.”
If they improved MD more, it would be close to a cockpit, and they couldn’t handle it without modification.
The central nervous system would be disturbed and the brain would become very sensitive to even a small stimulus.
It wasn’t for nothing that Yu Ji-ha had a modification surgery before riding an assault armor.
Anyway, Arma was given full authority over MD.
Her personality was based on the original Lucia, so she was an efficiency-first person.
So it was a waste to use this good technology only for two games.
Furthermore, it was hard to ignore the fact that human productivity would drop slightly due to these games.
But the current human productivity didn’t mean much to Arma.
Her computing power could create massive content that would take years for thousands of developers to work on.
If they expanded the scope to space, the mining ships had already started to lead the way and they were working hard on the space plants.
That meant that even if humanity collectively stopped working, the roadmap would proceed without any problems.
What they needed were resources and land, and the gene pool itself called humanity.
“Anyway, we just need to preserve the species of humanity. The rest of the matter…well, let’s leave it to the government at that time.”
The master was thinking of seriously giving up his power when his goal of eradicating the plague was completed.
Arma had a slightly different idea, but if that was the master’s intention, she had to follow him.
But there were also variables such as the warp gate that would open in Knox, so she didn’t know what would happen.
She couldn’t predict how the government at that time would react if they lost Yu Ji-ha, a powerful leader.
Even with Arma’s computing power, it was impossible to predict the future decades later.
The timeline was collapsing and the future was coming faster now.
Anyway, those things were topics to discuss with the master.
Arma’s job right now was to distribute MD technology to companies that wanted it.
She personally met with the companies that sent their proposals.
The businessmen and developers who met her in the chairman’s office were a bit confused.
Until now, Arma was known as Yu Ji-ha’s secretary who was very strict and cold as a career woman.
But today, she showed up in front of people without glasses, with light makeup and wearing warm-colored clothes.
She was so tall and beautiful that she looked like a foreign model sitting there.
She rummaged through some documents and saw that people had taken their seats. She uncrossed her legs.
“Are you all here? Let’s start the meeting.”
The people couldn’t show any signs of discomfort even though they had been waiting for a long time.
They were representatives of the Korean game industry, such as businessmen and developers, as well as the vice minister of the Ministry of Culture and the presidential secretary, who had a lot of weight.
But Arma was Yu Ji-ha’s closest aide, who surpassed Bae Seong-min, the chief of the secretary’s office.
This was what the Korean media was saying these days.
—If the president says no, it might be possible someday. The economic cooperation with Middle Kingdom ( China) is an example. But if Arma shakes her head, it will never happen.
—She is the real owner of Silla Group. Maybe Korea is similar…
That was the opinion of those who didn’t know that she was an AI and that she was dependent on Yu Ji-ha.
Anyway, it was true that Arma had a great significance for Koreans.
She was the closest aide to Yu Ji-ha, who had absolute power. How could they not?
She sat on a one-person sofa, crossed her legs and declared.
“Let me tell you in advance. I can’t allow any business models that use cash to acquire content, such as gacha, draw, or anything else.”
The faces of the participants in the meeting hardened at once.
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