The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 103

“Sigh….”

Raul closed his eyes, resting his forehead on his hand with a ring on it. It was nowhere to be found. No matter how much he searched through the list, the name he was looking for was not there.

And desperately browsing the internet, exhaustively digging through all the personal information he knew, but there was no trace.

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s the expected outcome.”

Bae Dohyun.

In his past life, Bae Dohyun reigned as the top player of Connect and the last solo player who fought against power until the end.

The incarnation of Raul was nowhere to be found in this world. There was not a single piece of information related to him left in Connect or on Earth.

What should he do if he ever comes face-to-face with his past self? Should he drag him into his plans or pretend not to know?

He pondered and mulled over countless thoughts. But it all became meaningless contemplation. Now, no one remembered the human Bae Dohyun.

Sniffle.

Tears rolled down from Raul’s eyes.

“What, what’s this. Isn’t this a good thing? Why should I be sad? The biggest variable is gone, so it’s a good thing!”

He tried to comfort himself, but the tears flowing incessantly showed no sign of stopping. No matter if he was an orphan. No matter if he had few close friends. No matter if his life was full of isolation and hardship.

It was his life. There was no trace left as if denying it, meaning there was no place for it to return to now.

“Damn it. Did it have to be this way? Did you think I suddenly wanted to go back to Earth?”

Raul cursed at someone unknown.

Honestly, Raul really wanted to meet Bae Dohyun. Even though he had not succeeded, he had a lot he wanted to do through Bae Dohyun’s presence in this world.

He wanted to find the birth parents he could never find in his past life this time. He wanted to show the world that by supporting Bae Dohyun, even a poor orphan could succeed.

He wanted to find love in reality, create a family, and see happiness.

“Was it all just useless attachment?”

Maybe it was a desire for redemption, a vicarious satisfaction to fix the past failures.

“Hoo….”

Raul, wiping away the tears and erasing the lingering regrets, let out a deep breath.

“Now, all that’s left for me is here.”

Maybe he thought there might be a way back to Earth, but it was meaningless. Now, everything precious to him was here.

This made his goal even clearer. If anyone aimed for his family and territory, he wouldn’t forgive them, even if they were his past friends.

He would turn the whole player base into enemies if needed to protect this place. Raul’s resolve sharpened as his thoughts turned agile once again.

“It’s actually a good thing that Bae Dohyun is not here from my perspective.”

In hindsight, during the time with Bae Dohyun, Raul was a very picky person. He was exclusive in character, abhorred authority figures and vested interests pathologically.

He found it hard to trust people, was self-centered, and seemed to have a lot of dissatisfaction with society.

“When looking at it this way, I seem completely unfit for society full of flaws.”

If he didn’t have talent and hadn’t come across the game Connect, he would have lived a life close to being a loser.

However, on the flip side, he couldn’t stand injustice, had a sense of righteousness, and once he made a decision, he had the determination and confidence to see it through to the end.

Even when faced with difficult situations, his courage to not back down and his spirit of challenge led him to the top of Connect. He also possessed the prudence to think at least three times before taking any action.

If he had been a helpless victim or a social misfit without any abilities, he wouldn’t have been able to reach the top even in a world within a game.

From that perspective of Bae Dohyun, if he were to meet the present Raul, and if Raul were to extend his hand, would he really hold that hand?

“Psh. He probably wouldn’t even pretend to accept it, while cursing me as an unlucky silver spoon brat.”

Bae Dohyun of the past and the current Raul were the same yet completely different people.

The environment had changed him, shifting his once abrasive personality to a gentler one after stepping into the shoes of Raul, born and raised as an heir of a prestigious family.

Being with people, which he used to find difficult, now felt oddly awkward to do alone. His baseless hatred and competitiveness towards the privileged and powerful had also subsided.

“Even if someone were to criticize, saying I’ve been reborn as a rich man reveling in money and power, it wouldn’t matter.”

But Raul didn’t care. He simply utilized the given resources to progress towards his goals.

The opinions of others, someone’s perspective, the tears of the weak, or the circumstances of enemies had no influence on Raul’s choices. He had realized through one failed life what truly mattered.

“If there’s no Bae Dohyun, things will be much easier.”

Exposing Bae Dohyun’s know-how of directly mastering skills to the world would require a considerable amount of time, given the overwhelming skill gap between him, who completed the skill imprint, and other rankers.

Hence, for the time being, it was safe to say there were no players to obstruct Raul’s path. The true worth of players shines when rankers begin to grasp skill imprints in earnest and start utilizing their unique traits.

“If the world has forgotten about Bae Dohyun, I’ll make sure to remind them.”

The void left by Bae Dohyun. Raul had set his mind to reclaim it.

* * *

Around two weeks after Connect had begun its service, one piece of news turned the community upside down.

[Unofficial First Connect Event Held! First Knight Order Academy Recruits Novices]

The free cities of the Ruben Kingdom, which had caught the eye with their radical support for players.

Now, as most new players are choosing the Ruben Kingdom, the First Knight Order, at the heart of its support policies, has established a player-exclusive academy and posted a recruitment notice for novices.

Recruitment is open to all players who have completed their first job advancement, regardless of their class or occupation, with a total of 600 recruits, 150 for each of the 4 branches.

The education program will run for 3 months, and the cost is entirely free. Upon completion of the academy, graduates will be granted the honor of guild membership and will be given priority in receiving quests and missions related to the First Knight Order.

Furthermore, they will be able to utilize various shops and facilities under the First Knight Order at a discounted price and will receive bonus points when recruiting guild members in the future.

Some top-performing novices will have the opportunity to take the official guild membership exam.

Once becoming official guild members, they will receive exclusive equipment and salary based on their rank, and depending on their occupation, they will be sponsored to advance to higher training levels.

The planned recruitment date is February 1st, and the deadline for applications is…

-This is insane! Everyone scream~!!

-I should pack my bags and head to the Ruben Kingdom right now.

-Oh, come on. It was officially confirmed a while ago that we can’t leave the free city zones.

-Just a week ago, I praised myself for taking the portal to Mira.

-Oh, come on. Isn’t this too much? If they keep favoring certain players like this, the balance will be ruined!

-Yes, bring on the next black sheep~

-The First Knight Order is amazing. Has anyone visited their branches? The facilities are amazing, the benefits are amazing, and the guild members are amazing.

-I couldn’t close my mouth. I’m definitely joining the guild no matter what.

-Sure, you won’t get picked. I’ll get in.

-Haha. The losers who can’t even get into the academy are boasting. There’s unofficial information that the incoming students have already been selected. Wake up from your dreams.

-You’re quite the conspiracy theorist. What do they know to have already selected incoming students? Don’t remind me of Korean college entrance exams! If the game keeps going like this, I’ll have a stroke and die.

-I have to apply for this no matter what. The benefits are great, but if I fail this time, I’ll consider it a lost opportunity. The current competition rate is about 5 to 1. It’s expected to be around 50 to 1 in the next quarter.

-For real. Connect, inc. said they’ll select 3,000 people every week moving forward. Will the user count exceed 40,000 in three months?

-Oh no. Why are they holding such a sweet event now? Shouldn’t they gather more players and then conduct it fairly?

-If you have a complaint, go directly to the First Knight Order and talk to them. This is not an event organized by the Connect management team.

– Hey, connect management team, are you watching? If you don’t open events in other countries besides the Ruben Kingdom, I’m going to storm into the headquarters for real!

– Sure, be prepared for the entrance cut.

– The Connect management team might not have any power at all, you know? According to the initial announcement, unless it’s a special case, they can’t intervene. They might be struggling to come up with a solution and holding emergency meetings right now.

– They say the lights at the Connect headquarters have been on all night.

Various Connect-related forums were heating up with discussions. Players who had already logged into Connect were exchanging information about the upcoming entrance exam. There didn’t seem to be anyone who wasn’t planning to apply.

And the majority of prospective players who hadn’t gained access to Connect yet turned their envy into dissatisfaction and successfully bombed the Connect’s website.

The Connect management team reiterated the fact that direct intervention in the activities of in-game NPCs was impossible, and tried to reassure prospective players by mentioning that various events were being prepared for the future.

However, the dissatisfaction of prospective players feeling a sense of relative deprivation showed no signs of subsiding.

Sigh.

Raul, looking through the forums, burst into laughter by himself.

It seemed to Raul that players’ dissatisfaction and mistrust towards the game management had remained unchanged, whether in the past or now.

In Raul’s opinion, game management was no different from politics. No matter how good the events were prepared or balance patches were made, satisfying all players was impossible.

When events for new players were held, veteran players would complain, and when difficult events were held, new players would whine.

Even when events were organized to benefit all players, those who benefited relatively less would express their dissatisfaction.

In the real world, even with dissatisfaction, people are often suppressed by the power and privilege of those in authority. But in the game world, where equality is believed to exist, even a small dissatisfaction is not tolerated, and players rise against the management.

Yet, Raul did not side with the management. In reality, only a tiny fraction of games are operated in a normal manner.

Given that the management team is selected by development companies aiming for maximum profit, operating in line with balance is practically impossible.

Raul briefly felt sorry for the Connect management team who were likely huddled together in a meeting room, trying to devise a plan. But soon, with a cold gaze, Raul stared at the Connect website.

‘Don’t forget. They are my enemies.’

To Raul, the Connect management team was simply another enemy.

(To be continued…)”