Seogiwon, clearly stunned, asked,

“A computer virus? You’re saying I’m supposed to level up using a computer virus?”

“Yeah.”

Suho said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

It was exactly as he said.

Suho was planning to level Seogiwon up using a computer virus that he had prepared himself.

Suho continued explaining.

“I told you earlier, right? This is different from virtual reality. This place affects the real world. If you die or get hurt here, it’ll have consequences in the real world. You’ve experienced that, haven’t you?”

Seogiwon quickly nodded, saying,

“So, the computer virus could kill me?”

“Exactly. The virus was created with the goal of either destroying or hacking the target. So, you’ll have to fight these guys with your life on the line.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, who else is going to fight them? Don’t worry, I’ll be drawing aggro with you.”

Suho opened his inventory and handed Seogiwon a spear, one that he had purchased earlier.

“Can you handle a spear?”

“I can use it a little.”

“I thought so. For beginners, a spear is easier to handle than a sword. By the way, what class are you?”

“A mage.”

Suho asked even though he already knew the answer.

It made the conversation feel more natural.

Suho nodded and said,

“Then you can use the spear as a defensive tool. I’ll tank up front, and you can shoot magic from the back and get the feel of things again. It’s been a while since you’ve hunted, right?”

Suho had no intention of making Seogiwon rush things or push himself too hard.

For him, the most important thing wasn’t just rapid leveling but helping Seogiwon recover the skills he had forgotten after being locked away for half a year.

Was it because of this?

Seogiwon, clearly moved by Suho’s words, replied,

“Okay, I understand. And thank you, Hyung.”

“No need to thank me. Alright, let’s open the door.”

Suho nodded and opened the door marked "Free File Cleaner."

Surprisingly, the door opened smoothly, and it didn’t seem like it contained any virus at all.

Seogiwon quietly remarked,

“Well, as expected of a virus… the name is quite fitting.”

“Free cleaners are perfect for hiding viruses.”

As they entered, they found themselves in a space resembling a restaurant counter, with an attendant standing behind the counter.

When the two entered, the attendant spoke,

“Welcome, are you here to use the free file cleaner?”

The attendant was a woman, dressed neatly and looking very trustworthy.

However, instead of answering, Suho chuckled and said to Seogiwon,

“Doesn’t it look convincing?”

“Yeah, I almost answered.”

Neither of them responded.

Why? It was simple.

As soon as they answered that question, the door they had opened would automatically open, releasing the viruses hidden inside the file into Jo Jin-hwi’s laptop.

For example, the attendant there was like an auto-responder programmed into a file-clicking program that asks the user questions.

- Would you like to run the file cleaner?

That’s why they didn’t answer.

They didn’t have to worry about the attendant’s gaze either, because she wasn’t really a living person. She was just a shell of a program.

Seogiwon nodded and said,

“This is my first time seeing a file with a hidden virus. I didn’t expect the inside to be like this.”

“What about the digital wallets? You’ve only been hacking cryptocurrency wallets so far, right?”

“There are firewalls and encryption programs installed there, but structurally, it’s similar to this place. If you enter normally, the program will accept you, and you just input the password... so instead of going through the front door, I attacked the building’s outer wall to steal the cryptocurrency. The outer wall was thick, so it was a bit difficult.”

That’s why Seogiwon hadn’t been caught by the cryptocurrency exchange.

When the sudden external attack happened, the exchange kept running antivirus programs, but it wasn’t a hack or virus infiltration. From the program’s point of view, Seogiwon was an irregular presence, appearing in an unexpected way and destroying the exchange’s program.

Suho asked,

“So, what did you use to break in?”

“I used the magic skills I had learned before. At first, I tried using a pickaxe and hammer, but using magic skills turned out to be the most efficient way.”

“Interesting.”

“I thought it was interesting too, at first.”

Suho nodded as he looked around.

Then he spotted an entrance that clearly looked suspicious.

There was no door.

It was just an open space that resembled a door.

Suho walked toward it.

The attendant didn’t stop them.

She wasn’t a real attendant, but an auto-programmed shell.

As he approached and peeked inside,

“Wow.”

Suho could see it.

Beyond the dark entrance was a vast space.

And inside, he saw zombies—no, computer viruses that resembled zombies—wandering around aimlessly with vacant eyes.

Their heads had labels like this written above them:

- Kkdokmshp Lv.??

Viruses whose names and levels were unknown.

Their names were like that because they were viruses.

But their levels were somewhat predictable.

According to Seogiwon’s autobiography, they had levels similar to the first person they encountered.

Seogiwon, who had just entered, was horrified when he saw the endless swarm of them.

“Aren’t there too many?”

“Viruses are like that. They were originally created to destroy other people’s computers, so they should be as numerous as insects.”

“Do we have to defeat all of them?”

“No, this is more like a field than a dungeon in a game. We can leave this place, but they can’t. Remember how we didn’t answer the attendant’s question?”

“Ah…”

“So, if you feel like you’re going to die, you can run toward the exit. If you fail to escape, you’ll die. So stay sharp.”

Suho activated his skill.

[ Blood Weapon is activated. ]

A blood sword materialized in his hand.

Suho, holding the blood sword, said,

“I’ll draw their attention, so you just stay near the exit and shoot your magic. If it feels like you’re going to die, just run for the exit.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll manage to escape. By the way, these viruses won’t respawn once they’re killed. So once we take them all down, the game’s over. And since they’re viruses, there’s nothing to gather from them, just kill them.”

“Ah…”

“Let’s start. Focus.”

“Okay!”

The hunt began.

Swoosh!

Suho’s sword swung toward the virus zombies.

***

How much time had passed?

“Haah… haah…”

Seogiwon, lying on the ground, gasped for air as if he were about to faint.

He didn’t know how long it had been.

But one thing was certain: it had taken a long time, and they had killed all the zombies.

Still lying down, Seogiwon gasped and said,

“Hyung… I feel like I’m going to die…”

“You did well. But people don’t die that easily.”

“Ha, haha… yeah, you’re right.”

“How many levels did you gain?”

“Um, just a minute… five levels.”

“Hm, not bad.”

Seogiwon’s level was now 55.

Suho’s level had increased by the same amount.

Unlike Seogiwon, who had little mana and hadn’t engaged in much physical combat, Suho had been fighting nonstop.

Suho checked his status.

[ Suho Ahn ]

- Level: 59

- Class: Healer

- Trait: NewBlood

- Strength (R): 21

- Health (R): 21

- Mana (R): 21

- Sensitivity (R): 21

- Bonus Stats: 13

He was one level away from 60, which felt a bit frustrating.

Suho had invested the bonus stats from his recent level-up, along with the ones from before, into his strength.

‘Eventually, I’ll balance everything out, so there’s no need to split it up now.’

So this time, he focused on increasing his strength first, planning to raise his mana next.

Health and Sensitivity had already reached the red grade, so raising them later wouldn’t make much of a difference.

After finishing his stat allocation, Suho looked over at Seogiwon, who was still catching his breath.

‘He’s a lot more capable than I expected.’

Seogiwon’s main class was a mage.

And since he had reached level 50 to unlock his trait, he had a basic sense of combat.

Suho thought that it wouldn’t be bad to raise Seogiwon as a strong dealer, not just as a Digitization user.

‘If I turn him into a nuking mage, he’d be a great match with the banshees.’

Suho pulled Seogiwon to his feet and said,

“Let’s head out, you can rest comfortably at the house.”

“Okay, understood.”

The two of them walked out of the virus file with light steps.

***

By the time they got out, it was already night.

Seogiwon, exhausted, stumbled to a bed and collapsed, falling asleep, while Suho took out a can of beer and gulped it down.

‘Refreshing.’

After drinking for a while, Suho sat back down on the living room sofa and opened his laptop.

Then, he used the file scanner he had prepared earlier

 to check the "Free File Cleaner" and was surprised to find that no viruses were detected inside.

‘I knew it, but seeing it in person is kind of funny.’

It wasn’t an antivirus program, but rather a physical method to remove the computer virus.

Suho wasn’t an expert in computers, but he knew that the method he and Seogiwon had used was unprecedented—no programmer would even dare imagine such a method.

‘Thanks to Seogiwon, now I have a way to level up without entering a Gate.’

In the virtual reality program, they would grind skill proficiency, and in the computer virus dungeon, they would gain pure experience and real combat experience.

It was an approach only Suho could come up with.

As he thought about using the banshees later, Suho opened the internet.

But the world… no, the internet was once again buzzing.

The fact that Suho had cleared the Abyss of Despair was now public.

- Holy crap, Suho cleared the Abyss of Despair?

- Wow, that’s insane…

- Shouldn’t the government give him a plaque of gratitude?

- The official announcement hasn’t been made yet, but word is he cleared it really fast?

└ How fast?

└ They say it took less than an hour?

└ Crazy, do you think the Sealed Gate is like a joke?

└ Stop complaining, the rumor is true.

- Rumor or not, Suho is a god. He’s just amazing. The King of Kings.

- The light.

- In the beginning, there was Suho, and there was light.

└ Sword Master.

└ Spear Master.

- Nexus must be happy, haha. It’s been a while since a rising star came out of Nexus. 

└ But if you die, it’s all for nothing, right?

└ That’s true.

└ Sword Master doesn’t die. Don’t say that kind of nonsense ㅡㅡ

The whirlwind of positive public opinion.

Seeing this, Suho couldn’t help but smile.

‘Yeah, hunters don’t need anything else as long as they handle Gate raids well. They’ll get all the recognition.’

And with that, Suho decided to execute his next plan.

After checking the online buzz, Suho picked up the phone.

- Hello, Hunter. How may I assist you?

The person who answered was Bae Donghyuk, the leader of Nexus Guild.

Suho spoke.

“I’ve got something to discuss.”

- What is it?

“I think my start date for the Great Union will be coming up sooner than expected.”

- …What?

At Bae Donghyuk’s question, Suho explained the big deal he had discussed with Pi Seongyeol.

Bae Donghyuk, hearing this unexpected news, swallowed a nervous gulp.

As expected.

For him, Suho was now a big catch who had just joined Nexus.

But with only a few months on his contract, it was going to be tough to make a profit, and now the time was being halved, which left him in a panic.

That’s why Suho was giving him a heads-up.

It was better to clear things up first and resolve any issues quickly.

Suho said,

“So, as an apology, I’d like to make a proposal.”

- …What proposal?

“There’s an S-rank Gate that Nexus owns, right?”

- Yes, we do have one… Why?

“That Gate. I’ll clear it for you. Of course, all the loot that comes out will go to you.”

At Suho’s words, Bae Donghyuk’s eyes widened like the full moon.