Chapter 115
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Non-Player III
Shin Noah
5
This world has been corrupted.
It didn't simply mean that the material space had been defiled. The mental world, even the brains of the Awakened, had been thoroughly stained with filth.
-Anonymous: (Recommended) ☆☆☆Level 5~Level 10☆☆☆ Experience farming honey hunting ground dungeon list. Newbies must read!!
-Anonymous: I woke up at dawn today, filled 10,000 experience points, brought items, finished settlement, and now chugging beer. MTJ?
-Goryejang: Today's cafe mocha.png
-Anonymous: Looking for Level 10 party!! No NPC portersㅠㅠ
-[Samcheon] Witch Trial Judge: Guys. While hunting monsters today, equipment called Black of Messiah (S) dropped. Is this good?
Look at this rotten spiritual world.
Not long after 'Online RPG' arrived, SG Net had already degenerated into this wretched state.
Perhaps fitting for Koreans who had called themselves the gaming nation since before the apocalypse, they adapted with frightening speed. The clichés commonly seen in subculture:
'What? The world... turned into a game?'
'This is definitely strange......'
'That cheater bastard. How does he know all the game mechanics we don't?'
All such clichés were completely skipped. Even elementary school children accepted the situation with the expression of a seasoned veteran, saying 'What? We became game players? It finally came to this.'
Soon after, SG Net was plastered with all sorts of strategy guides. There wasn't even any need for me to wear the mask of the 'Great Library Society' and diligently serialize strategies. Everyone voluntarily, on their own initiative, enthusiastically worked to conquer the aberrations.
This was definitely strange.
"Why the long face......? Heh. Compared to before when you'd tremble whenever aberrations appeared, isn't it actually better? Lately they say they're going to level up and go in and out of the Void on their own......"
"That's precisely the problem. They're exploring the Void with a gamer's mindset. They should grasp the world with their own intuition, with experience built up with all their might, but instead they're only looking at a world refracted through a lens prepared by those aberration bastards."
"Hmmm......"
"This 'Online Game' is itself a massive Void. The Awakened who call themselves Players are essentially degenerating into aberrations of the Void themselves!"
"Well, there is some merit to that...... but it just looks like you're angry because the fame and achievements you monopolized are being stolen by aberrations, or is that my misunderstanding......?"
There was no need to respect the opinion of the type who views everything in the world cynically: a Poison-type Pokémon.
I had been to Japan and China, and further to Mongolia and India. And I confirmed that every single place had been infected by 'Online RPG.'
'...This is not ordinary.'
It wasn't just people's perceptions that had changed.
Even the aberrations were slowly changing.
"Hehehe. Lately slimes are overflowing by the riverside, so i-it's become really easy to catch them......!"
For example, the slimes that Sim Ar-yeon would catch daily for stress relief and beat to near death with a club.
Originally, these slimes were not common aberrations. They appeared in sewers only very occasionally, and even then rarely came outside.
Unless one went down into the underground. Most Awakened would almost never encounter slimes in their daily lives.
The population of such slimes was rapidly increasing. Now, even on ordinary riverbanks, slimes could be seen bouncing around quite frequently.
Bweh-rom♪
Bweh-ro-ro-rom♪
Thanks to this, the sound effects of Sim Ar-yeon beating slimes echoed in our guild's front yard at all hours.
It was precisely because of this noise pollution that I seriously decided to move the guild hideout elsewhere.
Additionally, the development of 'Depth,' a very rigorous and academically proven objective standard rather than that baseless S-rank SSS-rank EX-rank system ranging from 100 meters to 1200 meters, was also part of this decision.
"P-power leveling...... As expected, when I beat slimes in the front yard, I can feel my Poison Bird skill power leveling like crazy! Th-this is that thing. You know, like finding out the stairs to the basement lead to a spirit medicine mine only I know about, or a hidden spot where o-only the protagonist can get all the benefits......!"
Sim Ar-yeon's healing ability was gradually reaching the level of 'being able to completely cure a patient even if they're brought in with their limbs torn off, as long as they have a head attached.'
On SG Net, more and more Awakened were calling Sim Ar-yeon 'Angel-nim.'
This was definitely strange.
Anyway, the aberrations rapidly increasing in this rotten world weren't just slimes.
Goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls. In short, monsters that appeared as regular customers in games were increasingly filling the Void.
There was only one way to explain this phenomenon.
'Online games are eroding not just the Awakened but even the aberrations......?'
A chill ran down my spine.
An aberration that doesn't distinguish between humans and aberrations, doesn't stay only in specific places, isn't constrained by spacetime, and just endlessly expands its sphere of influence.
Outer God.
Yes. As if waiting for Mugan to be subjugated, another unidentified Outer God was extending its claws.
Disguised with the mask of 'Game' that humans would find hard to reject.
-Anonymous: (Verification shot) Set a new damage record while hitting orcs this time lol
-Anonymous: The game is seriously so fun.
-Anonymous: Looking for Level 20 party!! Already secured 1 NPC porter!!
-Anonymous: Anyone want to trade troll eyes in front of Gimhae dungeon?
SG Net was becoming increasingly indistinguishable from a 'game board' in appearance.
Before long, the term monster was used as if it were natural over aberration, and ordinary people who hadn't awakened skills were called NPCs.
When you killed a monster, an 'item' dropped. Slime cores, goblin teeth, orc hearts, and so on. All these materials had specific effects, and what effects they had could be seen through the 'item window.'
Everything was a game.
...I shared my speculation with the members of the Return Alliance. Notoha and the Saintess's expressions finally grew serious.
"Notoha Management Chief. Please officially declare 'Online Game' as an aberration under the Management Chief's name. Even now, we need to awaken people's wariness."
"I understand. However, I don't know how effective it will be at this point. Everyone is showing game addiction symptoms......"
Game addiction.
That too was a symptom shown by Awakened infected by this Outer God. It was on a different level from the game addiction that media talked about before the apocalypse.
Now the Awakened considered the 'world in the form of a game' to be far more true and desirable. On SG Net, posts were still being uploaded every 3 seconds.
"Saintess. Please continue to act as the operator of 'Online Game' so that people don't suspect. Even if we can't subdue the aberration immediately, we can at least somewhat block the faith spreading toward that thing."
"...Yes. I understand."
With these countermeasures, we managed to hold out until the 134th iteration.
However, I was already inwardly prepared for the next iteration. After hijacking the 'Status Window,' bizarre phenomena like 'Experience Points,' 'Level,' and 'Damage' had appeared.
What aberration would be waiting after this?
Already on the Korean Peninsula, no, Awakened all over the world were strongly addicted to 'Online Game.' The stats and levels it measured were certain, and the Void that was once full of terror suddenly transformed into a hunting ground full of experience points.
Humanity was driving back the Void more certainly than ever before. They kept winning. By following the aberrations themselves.
Suddenly, the monologue spoken by the protagonist in [The Catcher in the Rye] came to mind.
...You really like games. Fine. If I got to join a team with all the best people, then yes, life is a game. I'll admit it. But what if I got stuck on the opposite team, where there's not a single decent bastard to be found? What kind of god-tier game is that supposed to be? It's nothing at all. It's not a game......
At least while the Awakened appeared to be winning, 'Online Game' was indeed a form of play.
But how long would that victory continue?
Despite the National Highway Management Chief's warning, the Awakened didn't stop the online game. They were endlessly immersed in the joy of leveling up.
And one day.
Just as signs always ring before a major earthquake, a message arrived to me.
[The 'Administrator of the Game of All Things' announces the occurrence of a new event.]
6
Recollection.
"Ah. Come to think of it, why did you suddenly imitate a strange Constellation a few days ago?"
"Pardon?"
"A week ago. You sent a message under the name Administrator of the Game of All Things. I was a bit surprised thinking the Saintess makes mistakes too. Did you send a message meant for another Awakened to me by mistake?"
"......?"
If you have a good memory, you'd recall it right away.
This was the anecdote I mentioned at the end when telling the story of my first meeting with the Saintess.
"I never sent such a message?"
"Huh?"
"I never created a Constellation called Administrator of the Game of All Things to begin with. Undertaker, didn't you see it wrong?"
"......"
The story that a 'mysterious Constellation' the Saintess never created had sent a message.
I just tell episodes that come to mind without being too bound by time, but if we list the flow in order of iterations:
117th iteration. Subjugated the Outer God 'Mugan.'
118th iteration. First witnessed 'Hero Syndrome.'
119th iteration. First witnessed 'Reincarnation Truck.'
126th iteration. Subjugated 'Salvation Narrative Syndrome.'
133rd iteration. First witnessed 'Status Window.'
134th iteration. First witnessed the Outer God (suspected) 'Online Game.'
And receiving a message from a mysterious Constellation... no, from an entity that was questionable whether it could even be called a Constellation, was also during the 134th iteration.
My intuition, sharpened over a long time as a regressor, trembled mercilessly like a seismometer's needle.
My intuition wasn't wrong. The 134th iteration was merely a foreshock.
The next iteration. That is, in the 135th iteration, the main earthquake occurred.
-Anonymous: These bastards really just play games all day lol Turn off the game and go outside sometimes lolol
The 135th iteration was basically similar to the 134th.
However, there was one difference: at some point, bizarre posts started appearing.
-Anonymous: For us the game is reality? For us the game is reality? For us the game is reality?
└Anonymous: fr lol
└Anonymous: I'm currently playing 'reality' for 50,783 hours straight dd
└Anonymous: You need to log off
-Anonymous: This guy posts nonsense even at dawn and is still posting nonsense now......
└Anonymous: What?
On the surface, it still looked like bickering on an ordinary community with no problems.
But originally, all Voids disguise themselves as something not greatly different from nature. As schools. As tunnels. As the sea.
Eventually.
-Anonymous: Fuck, been playing only games for too long, my whole body is sore. I'm clocking out first.
As if a thread snapped, the Void arrived.
-Anonymous: Guys sorry sorry I'm too sleepy to connect anymore; going out first
-Anonymous: I'm logging out and going to live real life too~
-Anonymous: Looking for Level 30 party!! Already secured 3 NPC porters!!
-Anonymous: Sigh, nothing to do in this game. Dropping this trash game sg
Members of SG Net one by one posted about logging out or quitting the game.
But as everyone knows, 'Online Game' was a game overlaid on reality.
How exactly could one 'log out' or quit this game?
[Undertaker.]
The answer was conveyed to me even if I didn't want to know.
[The Awakened aren't moving.]
"...Are you saying they're dead?"
[Yes. Mostly. But it's strange. Some Awakened stay completely motionless as if they've fallen into a comatose state, then after a while, they start acting normally again.]
"......"
[As if, they've logged into the game.]
It was similar to zombies.
Like monsters that are active at night but stop functioning as soon as sunlight appears, the Awakened showed no movement while experiencing 'logout.'
[When I look at the Awakened who've fallen into comatose states with my clairvoyance, I can't see anything. Darkness. Only pitch black color painted over everything.]
Awakened placed in logout state didn't take damage even if I attacked them. As if they didn't exist in this world, the blade passed through them.
Sim Ar-yeon, the child in our guild who enjoyed 'Online Game' the most, couldn't avoid this phenomenon either.
"―Ah, Guild Master!"
Sim Ar-yeon opened her eyes and came running to me chirpingly.
...Her muscle movements were so natural it was hard to believe she had been standing upright without moving an inch for the past 3 days.
"Were you perhaps waiting for me?"
"...Yes."
"Wow! Thank you! Hehe. As expected, even NPCs react differently when affinity goes up!"
"......"
"I tried to come back quickly but real life held me back...... But I solved it this time!"
Originally, among 'addicts,' the term NPC referred to ordinary people who hadn't awakened skills.
Now it was different.
As time passed, even ordinary people gained minor abilities. They logged into the game without hesitation and advanced to become Players.
Now, NPC referred to people like Notoha or me who didn't log into the game at all.
Therefore, paradoxically, addicts started calling people who could exist 'in the game' 24 hours a day NPCs.
Notoha's work of constructing national highways on the Korean Peninsula was considered a 'quest' in the true sense by them.
I too was treated as a 'Hidden NPC' who provided Players with various classes, skills, and growth methods.
Which side was the NPC?
From my perspective, those who had been consumed by aberrations and degenerated into part of the Void were nothing more than NPCs. But they perceived me as the NPC from the exact opposite position.
I thought.
If this were a case of the Butterfly's Dream, it would be an excruciatingly terrible nightmare of a butterfly.