The Returns Of The Disaster - Class HERO

Rebirth

“Test subject number 24. The subject lasted for two minutes and forty-five
seconds after the administration of Valkyrie. Time of death: 4.22 AM.”
I should be the only one at home. Who’s talking?
Johnny Alexander opened his eyes, only to be blinded by light. The familiar hatch of
his VR-capsule was no longer there—instead, he was facing a white ceiling.
The walls that surrounded him were also white and reminiscent of cold,
hard metal. They felt like something straight out of science fiction. The
room resembled an intensive care unit, and Johnny lay atop a cold metal
table, bare-chested and wired to all sorts of machines. His back was
freezing.
Johnny noticed that there was a group of people in white coats
surrounding him, and they were looking at him as though they had just seen
a ghost.
I thought I just accepted a leveling request? Where am I?
Suddenly, Johnny felt as though a large amount of data was being
transmitted into his mind, causing his head to throb painfully. The last thing
he could remember was accepting a leveling assignment. He was in the
midst of creating a new character in ‘Galaxy’ when he seemingly started to
smell burnt eggs…
“Quickly, let Ms. Mila know! The test subject has come back to life!”
“Call the guards!”
As the researchers started a commotion, Johnny  realized that he could
understand them, even though they were speaking in a language he had
never heard before. ‘Test subject’, ‘back to life’, and ‘guards’—these terms
unnerved him. Soon, he could hear the sound of rushing footsteps coming
from outside.
Should I make a run for it or just lie still? Johnny  decided on the former
in a split second; he was not the kind of person to just lie around waiting.
He abruptly sprang up, ripping the wires off him, and made a clumsy
beeline for the door. The researchers did not attempt to stop him, instead,
they backed off hastily to avoid being knocked into.
Crash!
He pushed his way out into a white corridor, only to be greeted by a dozen
or so guards suited in black and armed with electric batons advancing upon
him from both sides.
Johnny gasped at the sight of the crest on their uniforms. It depicted half
a plant.
The Germinal Organization from Planet Aquamarine back in version one?
Weren’t they eliminated‽
Suddenly, a guard swung his electric baton at Johnny and Johnny
unconsciously raised a hand to block it. The ensuing current caused his
whole body to spasm in pain. It felt like his bones were about to split and
his entire body turned numb.
Is the pain calibration at 100%‽
Galaxy’s pain calibration was restricted to a maximum of 40% because any
higher setting could potentially cause nerve damage to players. The VR capsule was also supposed to monitor the player’s vitals to prevent this, but
it was currently malfunctioning.
It’s only been seven years and the capsule is having problems? Damn it!
The repairman I paid $300 to a few days ago told me that it would still be
good for another six months! I want a refund!
The guards yanked him up and took him to a small room where they locked
him up alone in pitch black darkness.
Johnny grimaced in pain as he massaged his wrist. His head continued to
throb as more information poured in.
It took Johnny a moment to reconcile the facts and make sense of what
had happened to him.
I’ve… transmigrated into Galaxy?
His eyes widened with amazement.
Galaxy was a fully immersive virtual reality game that ran servers
worldwide and boasted a peak concurrent player count of almost 60 million.
The game was set in a vast universe with a world map and landscapes that
were procedurally generated using the latest generation of quantum
computers. The scale of its world was massive, and it was said to be able to
run smoothly even with a billion concurrent players. There existed many
organizations and companies that specialized in farming gold and running
dungeons, and the best pieces of gear could even go for ridiculous prices of
up to a million US dollars.
Being an extremely popular game, good balance was of the utmost
important. While big spenders did have certain advantages, it was not so
unfair to the extent that it displeased the casual players. Maintaining
competitiveness and improving skills were key factors towards game
balance, and Galaxy did a good job in these areas, facilitating its strong
allure as an e-sport.
Although Johnny did indeed make a living out of playing the game, the
term ‘professional gamer’ didn’t fit him well. He was, instead, one of the
despised power levelers and preferred to work solo.