Chapter 58
Synchronization Rate.
Simply put, it was a device that adjusted users' sense of pain.
The higher users set this rate, the more immersed they became in the game.
The higher it went, just as the game company advertised, the more it felt like 'another reality.'
Beyond sight, smell, and hearing, even taste and touch became almost identical to reality.
Users would start to wonder if this might actually be another world.
However, it was also the setting that needed to be handled most carefully. After all, this crazy game company had implemented pain with vivid realism.
Horror stories about 90% synchronization were already circulating in the community.
Someone who died at max sync ended up in a mental hospital, another who tried 80% has had nightmares ever since, and so on.
PTSD was just the beginning - it could even lead to death from shock.
There were actually fatalities outside of Korea.
The news reported that some brave soul played at 90% sync, got eaten by a monster, and died from shock.
...Come to think of it, it's amazing how such a dangerous game was even released to the public.
Anyway, that's how risky the synchronization rate was.
Yet here was Yor, demanding she raise it.
He even claimed it was holding back her growth.
'Raise it...? It hurts enough already...'
Of course, Chae-rin responded negatively.
No matter what, she didn't want to feel more pain than this.
Understanding her hesitation, Yor tried persuading her in a gentle tone.
"Don't worry. Once you raise it, we'll end training here."
"Really? You're not going to suddenly start hitting me or anything?"
"Do I look like that kind of psycho? Just raise it. I'll protect you even if monsters come."
"......"
At those words, Chae-rin gave him a suspicious look but went ahead and raised her sync rate.
Honestly, she didn't want to continue sparring here anyway.
She was probably underestimating what an educational broadcast would be like... It was exhausting both mentally and physically.
After she raised the sync rate, he gave a simple command.
"Sit down."
Chae-rin sat on the ground as instructed.
Every sensation became crystal clear.
The slight throbbing in her body, grass blades brushing between her fingers, even the wind caressing her skin.
She'd only ever used 90% sync when trying delicious food...
Indeed, when focusing on sensations intentionally, it was nearly indistinguishable from reality.
"Now close your eyes and focus on your body. Try to find any foreign energy you can feel."
Chae-rin did as told.
Closing her eyes brought total darkness.
Her heightened senses became even more acute - her heartbeat, the armor constricting her body.
But she couldn't feel any 'foreign energy' like Yor mentioned.
She knew what he meant - he wanted her to find mana.
She knew what it was and how it worked.
Just using skills like 'Stealth' consumed mana. Even intense movement or combat drained it. When it ran low, there was a strange feeling of exhaustion.
So Chae-rin had been using mana one way or another.
But she'd only ever used it - never tried to consciously control it.
Of course not. Why bother with such troublesome things when the game system handled it?
It was questionable whether she could even perceive and control it at all.
"Can't feel it?"
"Um... no."
"Really? Hold on..."
Of course, Yor wasn't going to just watch.
As a teacher, it was natural to help break through his student's mental block.
Thunk.
"Eek!"
He placed his hands on both her shoulders.
She flinched noticeably at the sudden contact.
Unfortunately, being untrained himself, he couldn't guide her mana through pressure points or anything fancy.
But there was definitely another way. A bit rough, but effective.
Simply flooding her body with his own mana brute force style.
Even if she couldn't detect it normally, she'd have to notice when flooded with someone else's energy.
So Yor injected a large amount of mana into her body.
"Hnng?!"
Chae-rin reacted immediately. She let out a strange moan and started trembling.
Well, of course she'd have a rejection response to foreign energy entering her body.
Like an immune system reacting to pathogens.
Yor glanced at the chat window.
[oh fuck]
[wtf did I just hear]
[Chae-rin ffs what kind of boyish sound was that]
The chat window was slightly on fire.
But Chae-rin was in no state to check that now. The torrent of mana entering her was too intense. Heat rose through her body as if she was on fire.
Yor asked as she squirmed restlessly.
"How is it, can you feel it?"
"Hng, yes! I can feel it...!"
"What's it feel like?"
"Haa, haah! It's really hot and intense!"
[this is getting out of hand]
[are these mfs having sex rn?]
[ㄴ You have been banned by a moderator]
[Yor forcing the streamer to climax wow]
[ㄴ You have been banned by a moderator]
[but isn't this kinda hot? haha]
[hot wtf r u lesbian?]
Ahem, Yor cleared his throat.
The chat had a point - those moans were a bit much. Though Chae-rin seemed too preoccupied to care.
To help free her quickly, Yor continued his instruction.
"Good, now try to gather it all into one arm."
"Ugh, haah. How...!"
"Just think it. Just think about it."
Thankfully she followed his words obediently. Concentrating hard, she tried gathering the foreign energy in her body to one arm. And the mana actually started flowing there.
Of course, it wasn't purely her own power making it work. It was someone else's mana after all.
It was only possible because Yor was allowing and guiding its movement.
"Good, now imagine releasing it and throw your dagger."
Following Yor's words, Chae-rin threw her dagger.
Conveniently, there was a good target - a solid boulder.
Something she could never pierce with her current strength.
But this time was different. As she released the dagger, the burning heat in her body vanished.
And that heat acted like a propellant, dramatically increasing the dagger's speed.
Finally it collided with the rock at incredible speed.
Crack-!
A huge fissure appeared in the boulder.
Her casually thrown dagger had embedded itself dead center in the rock as if it were Excalibur.
"Huh?"
[?]
[???]
[wow what just flew by wow]
[something went flying wow]
Amid everyone's confused shock, Yor commented lightly:
"Well, that worked well enough."
*
Fortunately, Chae-rin successfully learned to sense mana and went home.
...Though as a side effect, her arm and body were pretty beat up.
But at least she'd gotten a feel for it.
"From now on, keep your sync rate high when training alone, not fighting. That's how you'll learn to use it properly."
With that final solution, Chae-rin headed back to the city.
That day, there was a brief commotion in the community.
While her stream was one thing, what Yor said was quite useful to users.
Thanks to this, analysis posts about his method started appearing.
+
[That thing Yor said might be worth trying?]
A lot of people have probably been feeling their growth slow down lately
Leveling's getting harder but monsters keep getting tougher
Some are hitting A-class soon, but weirdly some still lose to B-class NPCs
Maybe prodigies like Shin Han-byeol are fine, but us normies might need to try this
+
[90% sync? Why risk dying]
[ㄴ fr lol why risk your life for a game?]
[no you idiots he said only during training not combat]
+
[but can you really feel mana or whatever just by practicing?]
honestly dunno
idk
+
[Didn't Yoo Chae-rin write about it? Didn't you see?]
[ㄴ I clicked in briefly but the sounds were too lewd so I left]
[ㄴ Well she definitely felt something lol]
[but wasn't that just cheese? that NPC basically spoon-fed her everything]
[ㄴ still got a feel for it though right?]
It was a surprisingly constructive scene after a long time.
Especially considering the weird posts that usually filled the place.
It made sense though - as users leveled up, more were hitting walls. For those users, a solution like this was welcome.
Regardless of whether the method worked, it seemed worth trying at least.
The discussion about this method continued for a while.
...For exactly one week.
Not because its effectiveness was proven, or because people went broke. Such research normally takes time.
Rather, like before, another piece of news crushed this topic.
Yes, it was demon-related news again.
Not a demon manifestation this time. At least not as serious as that.
+
[Got an outer region quest but what is this?]
Looks like some kind of ritual site
+
Out of nowhere, a demon's altar had risen in a remote village.
It was the altar of Kimaris, ranked 66th.