Reincarnation into another world.
A standard cliché in the fantasy games and novels trending these days.
Dragged away while asleep.
Dragged away while gaming.
Dragged away while posting a 5,500-character complaint as an author.
Dragged away after being run over by a reincarnation truck.
A cliché that anyone with an interest in fantasy novels—that is, genre fiction—has seen at least once.
In truth, such clichés were nothing more than authorial convenience that allowed a new narrative to begin without a complicated process, completely devoid of any plausibility.
To boot, a setting so worn out from being used repeatedly in countless works.
But….
To think that I would become the protagonist of that unrealistic novel.
"Welcome to the world of Echo, Commander!"
And at that….
[ECHO FESTIVAL]
...at a game festival where countless gamers gathered with both hands full of merchandise.
* * *
An August afternoon where sweltering heat shimmered off the asphalt.
But for the crowds filling the massive exhibition hall, the heat was no obstacle whatsoever.
If there was one commonality, it was that they all held various merchandise in their hands, while on their phones, they had the screen displaying a girl holding a ticket.
And I, too, was part of that massive procession.
"4 PM timeslot. We will now begin admission."
"Ooh!"
"Let's go, quickly!"
"Emma, jjaing!"
Cheers burst out at the guide's voice.
At the same time, the crowd in front began to surge and get sucked toward the event entrance, and I, too, surrendered myself to the flow.
As I did, I checked the items in my hands.
'I got everything I needed from the pop-up store.'
The heavy weight of the shopping bags was extremely satisfying.
The official Echo artbook.
The 3rd anniversary limited edition package.
Three acrylic stands for each character, and even a mug cup set of Echo's D-class squad, "Infinity."
On top of that, if I bought the 1/7 scale figure of "The Wanderer of Ashes," Isol, which was only available for pre-order on-site, it would mean I had perfectly achieved my goal for visiting this festival.
More than half my salary had evaporated in an instant, but it didn't matter.
A Commander who loved and cherished Echo was not one to save money.
'I'm going for it—! Sol-Sol!'
Money could always be saved again.
But a limited edition figure that you failed to buy at the right time could never be purchased again.
"Your ticket has been confirmed."
The moment I passed through the heavy gate following the staff's guidance, the noise and heat of the outside world vanished like a lie.
The world had changed.
Buildings I had seen in the game and familiar BGM filled the space.
And here and there, Echoes with familiar appearances.
The world of "Humanity's Echo—Echo" had become reality and unfolded before me.
"Holy shit…."
An exclamation burst out on its own.
'Those guys should have seen this with me.'
They all love Echo, but they didn't want to go to Seoul on a hot day?
What a bunch of funny guys.
But savoring the moment could come later.
The first thing I had to do was reserve Isol's figure.
As if they had the same thought as me, a line wanting to reserve limited edition goods and figures had already stretched out to a despair-inducing length.
"Thank you, Commander."
Only after waiting quite a while and receiving the reservation confirmation slip could I finally look around my surroundings.
"They really made it well. Aram went all out."
"It's the 3rd anniversary, after all. Yoon Minseok said they were going to make the 3rd anniversary event really grand."
As the Echo fans exclaimed, this 3rd anniversary festival was elaborately decorated as if one had truly entered the world of Echo.
[Team Geist]
[Black River]
[Infinity]
Under the flags of the familiar Echo teams, cosplayers dressed as Echoes waved toward the fans.
E.C.H.O. (Existential Contingency Humanoid Operative)
Existential contingency humanoid operatives—Echo.
The worldbuilding of Echo was an extremely common dystopian setting taking place on an Earth destroyed by undead like zombies, mechanical monstrosities, and other species.
A desperate struggle between soldiers and Echoes waging war to somehow reclaim Earth in a situation where 99% of humanity had already perished.
I strolled through the exhibition hall, recalling the stories I already knew.
Along the way, I also impulse-bought the compass that was part of the "Nameless Commander's Keepsake" setting.
It was a compass used by playable characters in the game, but because opening the lid connected you to the cash shop, it was a love-hate item among users called the "Money Compass."
Had I been enjoying the event for close to an hour like that?
As I was slowly heading toward the exit, I saw my favorite character, Isol, standing in a corner almost devoid of people.
'Wait, what is this?'
Unlike the other popular Echo booths that were swarming with people, somehow this one was quiet.
This was definitely a lucky opportunity with good timing.
I quickly strode over and asked in a trembling voice.
"C-can I take a picture?"
"Of course, Commander. I'll take it for you myself."
As I carefully set down the luggage I was holding at her permission, I suddenly felt her gaze touch the "Money Compass" I had bought.
"Oh! You purchased that person's keepsake? The brave commander who sacrificed himself to save humanity in the face of the great catastrophe."
I knew it well.
From the game's prologue all the way to Chapter 50 that I had enjoyed.
I couldn't even count how many Commanders had died.
According to the setting, hadn't roughly 87% of Commanders been ground up and discarded?
At that rate, it wouldn't be strange if they had been wiped out long ago.
But because it was an all-out war for the fate of humanity, the aircraft carrier called the Ark somehow produced Commanders and sent them down to the surface together with Echoes.
So what was the survival rate in surface operations?
According to the setting, it was 11%.
And that was the survival rate for Commanders who went on operations, not even the Echoes who were the combatants.
Well, it was a fucking hopeless story, but the Echoes were pretty.
The dangers and hardships of the Commander were none of my business.
After taking the picture together, she returned my phone and asked. As she handed it over, she said,
"You'll treasure it, won't you?"
"Huh? Of course."
A picture taken with my favorite character?
I was planning to save it to the cloud immediately, print it out, and display it in an album on my computer desk.
Satisfied with my answer, the Isol cosplayer smiled slightly and said,
"And you will fight for Earth and for us Echoes as well, won't you, Commander?"
"Of course."
"Truly?"
"Of course. I'm playing hard."
My Echo Commander level was max level, 500.
My main Echoes were all fully enhanced and max leveled—I was a fairly hardcore veteran Commander.
"Really?"
And right at that moment.
The head of the woman cosplaying as Isol, the Wanderer of Ashes, burst into flames.
"…?"
Hair blazing fiercely.
It was an appearance you could call Isol's identity, but that was just a visual effect in the game.
'It's actually burning?'
Thinking something was strange, I stared blankly, when the "Money Compass" in my hand began spinning like a top, as if gone mad.
Then the Isol character looked at me and said:
"Welcome to the world of Echo, Commander! I've been waiting so very long!!!"
It was strange.
Her eyes were not sane.
"Urg!"
I tried to move away immediately, but a terrible dizziness crashed into my head.
The festival's clamor disappeared, and my vision began to churn as if covered in dark red paint.
"Welcome to the world of Echo, Commander! I've been waiting so very long!!!"
"Welcome to the world of Echo, Commander! I've been waiting so very long!!!"
"Welcome to the world of Echo, Commander! I've been waiting so very long!!!"
Isol's voice echoed in my ears to the point that my head hurt.
A terrible sensation washed over me, as if my body were being disassembled at the atomic level and reassembled. It felt like Isol's voice was continuously striking my brain.
And when the splitting echo finally ceased.
Instead of the pleasant air-conditioned smell of the festival grounds, the fishy stench of blood and something burning began to pierce my nose.
"C-Commander's Z-Virus infection confirmed. E-entering t-treatment p-protocol… now."
And what entered my eyes was:
"……???"
A girl with a deathly pale face crawling toward me, her medical chainsaw roaring.
It was pure insanity, straight out of a horror movie.
"???"
The medical chainsaw was a problem, but…
The fact that the girl holding it was missing one arm.
"W-wait… s-s-s-s-stop!"
And from her half-gone lower body, sparks were crackling and flying.
An Echo. A mass-produced one, at that.
"I-It's alright. C-Commander. The operation has failed, but the rescue team is coming. If we just remove the Z-Virus, C-Commander, you can survive."
Z-Virus?
Isn't that the zombie virus from the Echo universe?
The one with a 95.5% fatality rate if bitten? 100% for men?
Then, suddenly feeling pain in my forearm, I turned my head.
…Fuck?
A clear, dark red bite mark was on my forearm, as if someone had bitten me.
The skin was already blackened and necrotic, as if decomposition had already started.
"I-I'm sorry. Commander. There is currently no system capacity to execute an anesthesia protocol immediately. It will be painful, but…."
Ziiiiiiing!
With a terrible noise, the electric saw blade was threatening to touch my arm.
"I-I-I-I'm going insane! Wait! Wait!"
"If we don't amputate your arm, it's only a matter of time before the infection spreads to your brain. So…."
Not a woman, but a mechanical monster said in a voice clearly exhausted, sobbing.
"You must survive, Commander."
Emi, fuck….