Chapter 117
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Non-Player V
Shin Noah
By now, the void's appearance had become wretched.
The graphics of the river that had once flowed beautifully degraded from 'VR game' to 'AAA game,' to an ordinary '3D game,' then to '90s console game'—.
Finally, it dropped to 'dot game' level.
In this void, no sea or river flowed. There were only fixed dots of blue, sky blue, and white.
The mountain slopes were humble light green and dark green. Trees were dark brown and yellow-brown. Rocks were gray. Clouds were white.
The players had transformed into nothing more than flesh-colored dot clusters with slight decorations.
"…."
Every time Sim Ar-yeon connected at intervals of 1 year, 3 years, 9 years, 20 years, 50 years, her 'graphics' degraded.
From a character that seemed like a graphic designer had poured the most effort into in an AAA game, to a character that could appear in any 3D game, to a design from a low-quality 90s game.
By the last time we met, if one didn't know it was Sim Ar-yeon, she would appear as nothing more than a polygon cluster with 'green hair,' 'long hair,' and carrying a 'large wooden easel.'
SG Net had also met its end.
-Goryeo Jang: Today the Guild Master NPC bought me a cafe mocha.jpeg
-Goryeo Jang: Today the Guild Master NPC bought me a cafe mocha.png
-Goryeo Jang: Today the Guild Master NPC bought me a cafe mocha.jpg
-Goryeo Jang: Today the Guild Master NPC bought me a cafe mocha.jpeg
On the first page of the bulletin board, there was only one person's post.
Even that was a very old post.
Sim Ar-yeon hadn't connected in the last 100 years. I thought perhaps she too couldn't endure this 'trash game' any longer and had quit.
Considering that SG Net was still maintained even though Seo Gyu had become a player hundreds of years ago, I could surmise that the awakened ones who were 'logged out' hadn't actually died but had been 'dragged into' the domain of the Alienated God.
[Service Termination Notice.]
Finally.
[Hello, players. This is the 'Administrator of the Game of All Things.']
[We regret to inform you that this 'Reality Online' has been decided to terminate service.]
[We sincerely thank all players who have enjoyed and loved 'Reality Online' until now.]
['Reality Online' servers will shut down in 72 hours.]
3 days, then.
Until now, for over hundreds of years, it had been a strange entity that kept its true form completely hidden, but at the moment of world destruction, it would surely crawl out from its lair.
I waited. Gripping tightly my beloved sword, Doha, which had been with me for over 200 years in this cycle yet still hadn't lost its edge in the slightest.
And exactly 72 hours later,
[Hello, everyone. This is the Administrator of the Game of All Things.]
Above the mosaic sky made of dots, suddenly, a bright blue butterfly revealed its form.
That butterfly alone possessed a distinctly different 'resolution' compared to the surrounding landscape.
The moment the strange entity became visible, I unleashed a flash of my sword, but regrettably, it didn't reach the sky. That mosaic sky probably didn't constitute as actual space.
Unconcerned with my attack, messages continued to scroll before my eyes.
[We think we'll set off on a new journey.]
[It may take a very long time to reach our new destination, but we hope to meet you all again somewhere at the end of the circling Möbius strip.]
[Thank you.]
[We truly wish to meet you once again.]
At that moment.
" A- a- a- ah! "
From behind me, a mechanical voice was heard. An infinitely unfamiliar yet somehow familiar sound.
I, who had been looking up at the Alienated God-grade strange entity with cold hatred, couldn't help but startle and turn around.
There.
" G- Guild Mas- ter! "
Green dot hair.
A flesh-colored dot face. Eyes and mouth made of black dots.
A dot cluster with a much smaller physique than mine was standing there.
" I- I'm he- re! "
The dot, moving both arms exaggeratedly back and forth, step by step, walked toward me. Thud. Thud. When its shoes stepped on the ground, crude sound effects played.
The dot cluster hugged my waist tightly. That too was nothing more than a sound effect. I couldn't feel any sensation at all on my waist.
I hesitated before opening my mouth. It had been so long since I conversed with a person that my tongue moved sluggishly.
"…Ar-yeon?"
" Ye- s! "
The dot laughed. Probably broadly.
Whenever it spoke, a rolling text electronic sound continued. A mechanical voice with few variations barely mimicked a human voice.
"How did you… no. Why are you here……."
" Wh- y you say! Th- e ser- ver ter- mi- na- ti- on no- ti- ce ca- me u- p! So I hu- rr- i- ed a- nd lo- gg- ed i- n! It's th- e la- st, we- ll, a- t le- a- st I wa- nt- ed t- o spe- nd th- e la- st mo- me- nt wi- th Gu- il- d Ma- st- er! "
"……."
" So- rr- y I ca- me la- te, Gu- il- d Ma- st- er. He- he. "
I.
[Notice.]
[The server will automatically shut down in 30 seconds.]
I hugged 'Sim Ar-yeon' tightly.
It felt like hugging empty air. I felt nothing in my embrace. I stroked her hair that always stuck out untidily. Again, I felt nothing.
" Gu- il- d Ma- st- er? "
"It's nothing. There's nothing for you to apologize for. There's nothing at all you need to be sorry about, Ar-yeon. Rather, I, the Guild Master, am sorry. I…. For the next cycle. To somehow gather information. So, I didn't know you would end up like this."
" Gu- il- d Ma- st- er. "
Sim Ar-yeon reached out her hand.
[The server will automatically shut down in 20 seconds.]
" Do- n't b- e sa- d, Gu- il- d Ma- st- er. "
[The server will automatically shut down in 10 seconds.]
" I- , I re- a- ll- y li- ke th- e ca- fe mo- ch- a Gu- il- d Ma- st- er bu- ys fo- r m- e. "
[The server will automatically shut down in 3 seconds.]
[The server will automatically shut down in 2 seconds.]
[The server will automatically shut down in 1 second.]
" So- , ne- xt ti- me a- l- so "
When the countdown ended, the dot world instantly faded to 16-bit colors.
And without a moment's wait, it descended to 8-bit, 4-bit, a landscape composed solely of black and white.
Our world's nutrients, reality, essence were all being greedily swallowed by that butterfly above the void.
Sim Ar-yeon's lips moved, but only electronic sounds that could no longer be converted to human voice rang out—ah—ah—ah—.
In that moment, I felt the Alienated God was using all its power to 'enthrall' me. I also intuited that if I succumbed to it, even the chance to end my own life would disappear.
I ignited my last aura. While holding Sim Ar-yeon just a little more tightly.
" · ···· · ···· · "
I couldn't understand Sim Ar-yeon's voice at all now that it had fallen below 1-bit, but I thought, without doubt, that it was the sound of a smile.
Fade to black.
My reality met its 'server termination.'
9
There is an aftermath.
Quite a lot.
It would be nice if I could quickly reach the happy ending where this Funeral Director's great counterattack begins and I smash the Alienated God that dared touch our world—but regrettably, that's something to attempt much later.
The 'Administrator of the Game of All Things' or 'Logout Game' only began to produce a strategy guide after exceeding 555 cycles.
So in this episode, instead of jumping straight to cycle 555, I think I'll start with some smaller aftermath stories.
First, the first aftermath.
"W-what? Where is this?"
"Huh? Busan Station? I was just at the park……."
"Cult Leader? Cult Leader, where are you?"
Bustle, bustle.
Immediately after death by the Alienated God, I opened my eyes hearing familiar murmuring.
Busan Station waiting room.
Though I couldn't call it my hometown, it was a place that could be called a returner's hometown. People who had just been enthralled and trapped by the void were panicking.
'Ah.'
I felt temporary loss of strength.
Even for me, a master of mental management, regression immediately after meeting such a bad ending was never easy.
At times like this, I relied on my own regression routine. Get up quickly, walk to the vending machine, get some Ceylon tea, subdue the tutorial fairy and save Seo Gyu's life, then grab a silver bell from the souvenir shop—a series of routines. Habits. Suggestions. Rituals.
Isn't it interesting?
In a world of eternal circles where everything repeats forever, the way humans protect themselves is to draw circles slightly smaller than the world. Thus the world becomes a clock with hour and minute hands, becomes tree rings drawing the rhythm of time, and before long becomes a round dance.
I sat up my upper body. I pushed back my weight to wind the spring of life once more. And.
Thud-
"……?"
Something entered my life.
A very light laptop was placed on my thigh.
'A laptop?'
I had never seen this object before. Here, 'never' means that throughout all cycles, this was the first time I had witnessed a laptop sitting on my thigh.
My eyes widened.
I immediately turned on the laptop.
Beep, whirrr……
The boot time was slow.
My heart pounded. People around me were buzzing but I ignored them all.
What was important now was the fact that this unidentified object had suddenly intervened in my regression, in my eternal round dance.
Soon the desktop appeared. A desktop like pure white drawing paper. There were no miscellaneous icons whatsoever.
There was only a nameless notepad file placed alone in the upper right corner of the screen.
"…."
Click.
Following my heart's guidance, I clicked the file. Then a notepad appeared on the laptop screen.
[ Wh- at i- s th- is wo- rl- d? ]
A single line of text.
In that moment, I intuited. This, this laptop and notepad file was none other than a ghost artifact left for me by the Alienated God 'Administrator of the Game of All Things.'
Was it a reward for the winner who survived until the end in the game it hosted? Or was this Q&A riddle itself another game?
Either way, as the me of cycle 135, I couldn't judge.
The only thing that was certain was that another item had become bound to me in my endlessly repeating regression, following my cane-sword Doha.
"Hmm."
Tap. I typed my answer in the Alienated God's notepad.
[ F U C K Y O U ]
….
There was no response from the laptop.
What was the problem?
After thinking for a moment, I realized that while the other party had asked in Korean, I had answered in English.
Clearly my mistake. I hurriedly deleted the answer and typed on the keyboard again.
[Go fuck yourself, you bastard son of a bitch]
Tick-
The laptop screen went dark. It had turned off on its own.
After that, the laptop continued not working until the next cycle when it turned on again.
It seemed the opportunity to answer the question was only given twice per cycle.
10
The second aftermath.
As I already mentioned, although I obtained the laptop as a bound item, that didn't mean I succeeded in subjugating the Alienated God.
Therefore, a makeshift countermeasure was necessary.
I gathered Doha and the Saintess and earnestly instructed them.
"If a status window ever appears, by any means necessary, we must start groundwork from now on so that it absolutely cannot be opened."
"Hmm……."
"We must not discriminate in methods. Using the authority of the National Road Management Corps, through the whispers of the Constellations, we must constantly instill like brainwashing how harmful 'status windows' are."
"Well, I understand……."
"Saintess, if you discover an awakened one enthralled by the status window, please inform us without delay. The National Road Management Corps will step in to arrest and imprison that awakened one."
"Yes, Funeral Director."
"Imprison the arrested awakened ones as life-sentence prisoners. If needed, you may treat them as death-row inmates. If we spread the rumor that they've been enthralled by mental strange entities and spread it to their surroundings like a virus, resistance can be minimized."
The 72 death-row inmates mobilized for the Inunaki Tunnel subjugation. A significant number of them were awakened ones imprisoned for this 'status window viewing crime.'
My countermeasure didn't end there.
'The magic of the Logout Game ultimately stems greatly from satisfying the desire for advancement. Dealing visible numerical damage, gaining experience, raising levels.'
Simply suppressing awakened ones wouldn't be enough to prevent the proliferation of 'status windows.' Where there's desire, demand arises.
An alternative was needed to relieve people's desires even a little.
That was 'Cafe Ajit.'
-Goryeo Jang: (1000m) This hyung likes quiet cafes but doesn't dislike noisy ones either. But too few customers visit hyung's Depth so I ended up renting out the cafe……. Hyung is bored so you all come down too.
└Baekhwa Girls' High 9th Grade: (1200m) >_<);;
└Goryeo Jang: Idiotㅋㅋ There's almost no difference between 1000m and 1200m but you're happy about itㅋㅋㅋ
└Baekhwa Girls' High 9th Grade: (1200m) Fishy pretty >_<);;
└Goryeo Jang: Fishy? What fish?
└Baekhwa Girls' High 9th Grade: (1200m) ㅋ >_<);;
└Goryeo Jang: ???
Depth system.
I quantified and assigned each awakened one their own rating.
The difference between level 10 and level 11 was hard to know. But at Cafe Ajit, depth 100m and 200m, then 300m and 400m were designed so anyone could clearly see that 'the interior and service became more luxurious.'
This was my countermeasure.
Constructing a hideout in the undersea tunnel so mental-type strange entities couldn't easily invade.
Designing the depth system and cafe to satisfy awakened ones' desire for advancement.
Continuously pouring out the National Road Management Corps' decrees and the Constellations' warnings to instill perception about 'status windows.'
This ironclad defense succeeded, and from cycle 197 onward when all preemptive measures were completed, not once did we meet destruction by the 'Logout Game.'
Now, as a returner, my job was to wait until an accurate strategy was developed.
There was no particular problem. As proven in this episode, I was very accustomed to waiting.
Therefore.
"Ar-yeon."
"Yes, neh-heh? What's up……."
"I saw a slime while walking so I brought it. You take it."
"W-wah? I was in just the mood to beat up a slime, h-how did you know……?"
"And this is a donut I bought from that bakery in Haeundae you like. Here."
"Hwah? H-huh? Is today my birthday? G-Guild Master is being nice to me! A miracle that happens maybe once in 700 days……!"
Today's aftermath will end with watching our problem child, who happily eats donuts after beating a slime with a stick.
"Hehe…. Thank you, Guild Master!"