---Logan's POV---

  Skipping through a rge se of meaningless banter, I found what I was looking for—mentions of icles of Aeltia in the chat logs.

  As expected, ProGamer_Daddy was vishly praising icles of Aeltia in the group chat, though the others weren't buying it.

  ---

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: Hahaha, let me tell you, spending 10 bucks on a gaming headset is the best decision I've made in my entire life!

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: icles of Aeltia is absolutely the greatest game of the year—no, the tury! A definitive masterpiece! The graphics aren't just good—they're real. Like, 'pinch yourself to check if you're dreaming' real!

  [MemeKnight]: ? Did someone hack your at?

  [GameLord420]: ?? Did your family go bankrupt?

  [Actually_Hitler]: ??? No offense, bro, but even if you're broke, being a paid shill is not a good career path.

  [LootGoblin]: Agreed. Judging by the official site's budget "Sumerian-style" design, they probably 't even afford to pay wages.

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: Nonsense! I haven't been hacked, gone bankrupt, or sold myself as a shill! You're insulting my dignity!

  [GameLord420]: Source: Trust me bro

  [LootGoblin]: Pics or it didn't happen

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: You 't take sshots in-game...

  [Actually_Hitler]: RED FLAG RED FLAG

  [MemeKnight]: Daddy believes you (?????)

  [GameLord420]: Mommy believes you too (????)

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: ...Enough! 't you just let me finish speaking?

  I watched as ProGamer_Daddy, probably fed up with the stant interruptions, exercised his admin privileges.

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: Do you think I'd say this without absolute fidehis isn't just another VR game! When you swing a sword, you FEEL the weight!

  [MemeKnight]: My troller vibrates too, very revolutionary (?_?)

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: No, you don't uand. The feedback is perfect! While other VR games are still stu visual styles, icles of Aeltia has already he realism in sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch!

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: This is all from my personal in-game experienpletely real, no exaggerations!

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: Plus, the game has extreme freedom, NPCs respond seamlessly, and the immersion is off the charts—ten thousand times better than their official cims!

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: Especially the bat system—it's exactly like real life, except your oppos are creatures that do iy.

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: The hits feel brutally visceral, the satisfa of winning is unparalleled—it's insanely fun!

  [GameLord420]: Bro's gone full cult member...

  I noticed he didn't mention anything about magic, perhaps to maintain suspense—or maybe he couldn't expin his choice of Holy Light spells. After all, he couldn't just say, "I tripped retly and cramped my leg, so I picked a healing skill in case of emergencies."

  I shook my head. "Too naive."

  Since icles of Aeltia didn't support sshots or recs, relying solely o was a hard sell. Moreover, his speech was overly emotional and cked vivid imagery. Instead of ving others to try the game, he seemed more like he was venting his love for it.

  No wonder nobody believed him.

  This was why I po leverage my game reviewer persona to create a professional reendation video.

  And as expected, most people in the chat didn't believe him.

  [MemeKnight]: Damn, power-tripping admin!

  [GameLord420]: Wow~~ So icles of Aeltia is that amazing? Does that mean it's better thaherworld Revolution?

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: herworld Revolution, which is still renting ad space, isn't even worthy of polishing icles of Aeltia's shoes!

  [Actually_Hitler]: Last time I checked, icles of Aeltia iggybag oherworld Revolution's popurity

  [LootGoblin]: I think the buzz died down this m—they probably ran out of moo pay the shills

  [Actually_Hitler]: A game that 't even afford a trailer, and you're telli's achieved 100% realism?

  [MemeKnight]: Yeah, that's like asking a newborn baby who 't crawl to skip walking and start flying!

  [GameLord420]: But even adults 't fly

  [MemeKnight]: So it's impossible for icles of Aeltia to pull it off, my dear baby (?ω?)

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: You're dismissing icles of Aeltia because it's too ambitious. That's just denying their hard work! Why won't any of you just trust me on this?

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: They've already paved 99% of the way for domestic VR games. If we 't even believe in them, what hope is there for the gaming industry?

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: The current VR market is like the mobile phone market 70-80 years ago, overrun with knockoffs

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: The arrival of icles of Aeltia is as groundbreaking as Jobs unveiling the first iPhone!

  The group seemed to fall silent after that.

  [MemeKnight]: I think I just heard gss shattering.

  [GameLord420]: Son, you've really ged.

  [LootGoblin]: You've bee so pure

  [Actually_Hitler]: Did the game pany kidnap you? If you need me to call the cops, press 1.

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: AAAAHHH, just believe me already!!!!

  From those four excmation points, I could feel his despair.

  The arguments grew increasingly heated after that. The others dismissed him as delusional, responding half-heartedly. But their mog tone only made him more frustrated. Judging by the speed of his increasingly frantic messages, he was genuinely upset.

  I shook my head. "This is nothing. Once I release my review video, the ive ents will be ten times worse. It's all because icles of Aeltia doesn't have a trailer."

  Two promotional images just weren't enough.

  Fans who had truly discovered the treasure that was icles of Aeltia had no way to share it. If people khe game's true quality, who'd care about its half-baked website?

  Instead of this situation, where the official site was ironically "debunking" the game's actual quality.

  To save ProGamer_Daddy from being the group's pung bag, I finally spoke up.

  [NeverShowOff]: He's telling the truth

  [MemeKnight]: !!

  [GameLord420]: !!!

  [LootGoblin]: Even the group lurker's chiming in? The silent owner speaks! It's like seeing a uni!

  [Actually_Hitler]: He sends less than one message a day. A newbie might really think this is a game chat, not a fan group

  [GameLord420]: Wait, doesn't NeverShowOff also have a icles of Aeltia beta slot? Are you saying 'ProGamer_Daddy' is legit?

  [NeverShowOff]: Yes. I pyed with him for 14 hours straight, and I firm everything he said about the game is absolutely true

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: Finally! NeverShowOff!

  [GameLord420]: So icles of Aeltia really has full five-sense simution and ultra-realistibat?

  [LootGoblin]: Freedom level? How high are we talking?

  [ProGamer_Daddy]: So high you take off your pants without sorship

  [LootGoblin]: !!!! Holy crap, that high?!

  [Actually_Hitler]: AG! A critical insistency has beeed! NeverShowOff cims 14 hours of gamepy, but the current time is only 3 PM. The mathematics do not add up!

  I couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement as I typed my response in the chat.

  [NeverShowOff]: Exactly! I suspect the pany behind icles of Aeltia has already mastered mind acceleration teology. It's just still in the experimental phase, so they haven't started publig it yet!

  The reas came flooding in immediately.

  [MemeKnight]: No way! If the servers go live at 8 AM, doesn't that mean we'll effectively have double the time? What kind of god-tier teology is this?!

  [GameLord420]: You're not joking, right? This is leagues beyond those ridiculous stories about people flying!

  [LootGoblin]: Wait, so one hour IRL = two hours in-game?

  [NeverShowOff]: Think bigger

  [MemeKnight]: Don't tell me... 3 hours? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

  [Actually_Hitler]: Ahem, stop throwing around stuff that does. That said, if this tech does actually e out, the influence of this game will go way beyond the gaming world!

  [Actually_Hitler]: Think of it, rades—the power to extend human lifespans! Now that would be a truly superior achievement!

  I smirked as I watched their responses.

  [NeverShowOff]: Anyone in this group should know my personality by now. I wouldn't spread rumors unless I was fident about them

  Following up quickly, I added.

  [NeverShowOff]: If you trust me, make sure to sign up for the beta test recruitment. The sooner we get in, the more bes we'll reap!

  I still had some influehat much was clear. Even with all their skepticism, most of them thought 10 dolrs was worth the gamble.

  [Actually_Hitler]: The guy who hardly posts is suddenly voug for this? Perhaps this deserves our utmost attention after all...

  I watched as they all started pledging to sign up. LootGoblin articurly enthusiastic, immediately shouting about signing up the moment I mentiohat icles of Aeltia would run unsored.

  And I hadn't even dropped my big annou yet.

  After sharing this exg news with my close group, I took a deep breath. The chat window remained open on my s, but my mind was already on my ask.

  It was time to grind out the video!

  Even before drafting my script, I could already foresee the storm that would follow its release. This time, it wouldn't just be my fans I was dealing with—things weren't going to go as smoothly as they did earlier.

  ---Third POV---

  Hundreds of kilometers north of Logan's location, a young man, seemingly in his te twenties or early thirties, y on a bed.

  He was wearing a gami.

  It looked unfortable, but he appeared to be sleeping soundly.

  Finally, the man stirred.

  He propped himself up with one hand, ing forward with great difficulty to sit upright.

  The right sleeve of his shirt was pletely empty.

  Removing the gami, his somber eyes came into view.

  His otherwise chiseled face seemed older by a decade due to those gloomy eyes and the deep nasobial lines on his forehead.

  He carefully turned his body and pced the gami on the nightstand.

  Even this simple motion seemed excruciatingly difficult, taking him a long time to plete.

  The act of twisting his body triggered a rea.

  Pain spread rapidly from his spio his entire body, causing Wero frown deeply.

  "Heh... just one day of gaming, and I 't even hahe pain anymore."

  He was smiling, but it was a smile full of bitterness.

  For 14 hours, he hadn't experiehe stant neurological pain from spinal cord damage caused by his paraplegia.

  "Having a healthy body is such a blessing..."

  His gaze grew distant. In the game, he could run, jump, fight... be himself again. It had given him a sense of rebirth, a ce to experienother way of living.

  He tried putting the gami ba but discovered he couldn't re-enter.

  As the in-game menu indicated, he had to wait until his character's unscious state ended before he could log in again.

  It was all because amer_Daddy's ridiculous suggestion.

  He'd insisted that repeatedly ing magic for rapid training was faster thaating and practig moderately. And as a result, all three of them passed out from exhaustion and were forcibly logged out.

  He found it funny.

  Why had he agreed to su obviously fwed pn?

  He was really regressing, even losing his on sense.

  Ctter!

  The sound of a tray hitting the ground startled him.

  At the door stood his mother, tears welling in her eyes.

  "Werner?" she gasped.

  He looked up and immediately struggled to get out of bed.

  "Mom! What's wrong?"

  "It's nothing, I'm fine!"

  His mother hurried inside, helping him bato the bed.

  "I'm just... so happy. Your smile... I haven't seen it in so long."

  She wiped the tears from her eyes as she spoke. Even as she reassured him, her mind repyed the se she'd witnessed upoering: her son's unscious smile.

  How long had it been?

  How long since she'd st seen him smile?

  Three years ago, he had returned home severely injured: Both legs amputated below the knees, his right arm fully amputated, and paralyzed from the waist down.

  Sihat day, he hadn't smiled once.

  Wheurned, it wasn't just his broken body that he brought with him. There was also a box of certificates of honor and a hefty sum of money and pensation from the state—enough for him to live fortably without w for the rest of his life.

  The most eye-catg item in that box was a gold-pted bronze medal shaped like an interseg five-poiar.

  The most eye-catg item in that box was the Cross of Honor in gold.

  Due to fidentiality, Werner's mother didn't know the details of his service.

  But these accodes were proof enough.

  She knew her son had silently saved tless families and that he would forever be the pride of their family.

  Yet, he couldn't move on.

  Their family had a proud military tradition dating back to his grandfather, a retired lieutenant general, with uncles and parents all in high-ranking military roles.

  Werner had grown up steeped in military ideals and had naturally bee a KSK soldier himself. The special forces weren't just a career choice, they were their family's legacy.

  But now, broken and uo tribute, he couldn't bear the thought of being useless. He couldn't stand watg his parents care for him when he should've been the oaking care of them.

  To him, he was nothing more than... a burden.

  A parasite.

  A cripple.

  His mother had tried everything—neighbors had e to sel him, and she'd used every method she could think of.

  But it only worsened his dee.

  Once, she even found a fruit knife hidden under his pillow.

  After that, all sharp objects were locked away, out of his reach. She had no idea how he'd obtaihe knife, but it had terrified her.

  She didn't dare invite ao sel him again, for fear it might push him further into despair.

  All she could do was watch helplessly as he sank deeper.

  But now!

  She had just seen her son smile!

  It was a good omen.

  Looking at the gami on the nightstand, she adjusted the pillow behind his bad casually asked, "Did you make new friends in the game?"

  Werner's lips curled into a small smile.

  "Sort of. I found a really great game. I realized all the training weren't wasted—I still use them in the game."

  "Oh, how is it there?"

  "It's like... like being whole again."

  He went on to describe, i detail, his fight with a giant red worm in the game.

  His mother listened, nodding along, her eyes gradually growi.

  She knew. He wasn't just reting the game. He was describing what it felt like to have a healthy body again.

  Werner looked up.

  "When this game officially unches, I think I make money from it and lighten your burden. There's real potential here. People make careers gaming now."

  "Weraking care of you isn't a burden. Don't you remember the pensation yht back?"

  "Stop lying. The pensation is enough to cover my basieeds, sure, but it definitely couldn't buy me a high-tech wheelchair like this."

  Werner gestured toward a sleek, futuristic wheelchair that rolled toward him at the motion of his hand.

  Its silver frame gleamed, adorned with advanced features and modules that exuded a sense of cutting-edge teology.