The term **‘Digital Earth’** described by the author seems to be the most fitting expression for the metaverse. People are already sharing significant parts of their lives in the online world without even realizing it. They post fragments of their daily experiences on social media, enjoy online games, meet friends through avatars that are extensions of themselves, exchange paid items, and live as their ‘digital selves’ within this digital realm.

We now live in an era where anyone who isn’t digitally illiterate uses smartphones or PCs, inevitably spending a certain amount of time each day in the digital world. Whether sending KakaoTalk messages, checking blogs, competing for scores in games friends invited us to, playing online Go, or becoming a wizard battling in an MMORPG, we each dwell in different forms of the digital world. Furthermore, if we purchase paid items to grow our avatars and engage in deep friendships with online friends, we are already living as another self within the metaverse.

Reading 『The Metaverse』 helped crystallize a long-held thought: “The unseen world is larger.” It reaffirmed that humans are uniquely capable of thinking and acting beyond the constraints of time and space. The author’s anecdote about trying to meet offline with online game guild members, only to find the guild leader was a high school student unavailable during the day, was particularly striking. This demonstrates how the anonymity-protected online world is a free space where anyone can act under a new ‘persona,’ regardless of age, occupation, or social status. Of course, users exploiting loopholes in lax legal regulations to engage in malicious comments, stalking, and verbal abuse sometimes become social issues. However, I believe this is actually a projection of the dark aspects of the real world onto the metaverse. The phenomenon of game items trading at high prices resembles the real-world luxury goods market, and recently, brands like Gucci are increasingly selling digital items within the metaverse. I recall when a U.S. baseball bat company collaborated to sell digital in-game items years ago, the manager was greatly surprised when it generated sales in the hundreds of millions.

The metaverse industry will experience explosive growth when blockchain technology is integrated. This is because it can technically resolve the chronic issues of replication and payment for digital assets. The moment methods for converting or transferring the value of digital items into the real world become commonplace, the boundaries between the two worlds will dissolve, creating immense business opportunities. If items previously traded illicitly become legal and convenient, workers commuting to the digital world might emerge in the future. Perhaps even delivery drivers won’t be an exception. Even in this new metaverse world, born from human imagination and technological prowess, I wish to joyfully continue my work as a delivery driver delivering happiness.