Chapter 1
Deus Ex Machina - Ragnarok.
Demrok for short.
Emerging with praise as the most perfect and detailed VR game in history, Demrok instantly captured gamers' attention.
And it wasn't just simple interest.
Despite being a VR game, its outstanding realism and artificial intelligence exceeded expectations, and it achieved the feat of ranking first in game rankings just three days after release.
[Ragnarok]
[Deus Ex Machina]
[Demrok Skill Recommendations]
[What is Gacha?]
The Green Window's real-time rankings were always filled with Demrok.
As such, this game made money.
To be exact, its potential to make money was immense.
At the very least, no game had ever received this much attention before.
Thus, Dark Gamers appeared.
Those who made a living through games. The so-called "rice-eating users."
'This will make money.'
Dohyun was one of them.
It wasn't like that from the beginning.
He just happened to pass by, saw a Demrok commercial on a giant screen, and tried it out of curiosity.
He simply discovered a gaming talent he didn't even know he had, which led him to aspire to become a Dark Gamer.
Nevertheless, he could proudly say he made money from the game.
[Kaiser - Rank 1]
[Milseol - Rank 2]
[Kkukudakkkukku – Rank 3]
[Geomje – Rank 4]
[Bolasaekmat – Rank 5]
[Simpanja - Rank 6]
…….
Because he managed to hit Rank 1 despite starting later than the other rankers.
Furthermore, he wasn't just high in the rankings.
Fraudulent physical skills, genius-level combat sense and adaptability, PvP that transcended counters and matchups—there was nothing he lacked.
People even called him an unprecedented genius in history.
Countless people asked him.
How he could do it. How they could become like him.
Dohyun's answer to such questions was always the same.
"Combat tips? Hmm... don't you just see it?"
"...Excuse me?"
"When the opponent attacks, if you dodge, an opening appears. If you hit them then, you can land a guaranteed hit without getting hit yourself."
"……."
An interview video uploaded under the title 'God's Deception.'
This video of Kaiser answering a user asking for combat tips was now an anecdote known to everyone who knew Demrok.
One would be justified in getting angry at such extreme deception, but since Kaiser looked genuinely confused as to why they didn't know this, no one could even get mad.
-If it's Kaiser, he could do that…….
-LOL Right, if you dodge and attack, you can hit them without getting hit. Who doesn't know that?
-If it were anyone else, I'd be cursing them out first, but since it's Kaiser saying it, I can't refute it.
-Kaiser, he is a god. Kaiser, he is a god. Kaiser, he is a god. Kaiser, he is a go…….
-God, he is Kaiser. God, he is Kaiser. God, he is Kaiser. God, he is Kaise…….
-Ugh, these Kaiser fanboys are spouting their BS again.
Instead, they only grew more fanatical over that side of Kaiser.
The reason people cheered for him, who reigned as the god of Demrok, wasn't simply because of his overwhelming genius.
Of course, that was his biggest trademark, but there was a decisive reason why many users viewed Kaiser favorably.
[New Skill Tree Created by Kaiser]
[Kaiser! Creates a New Meta Again!]
[Even dog shit has its use! Kaiser's unique utilization method that turns a skill no one looked at into a fraudulent skill…….]
[Kaiser Breeding Guide]
[Legendary Boss Kabauernel! Kaiser's Strategy is…….]
It was the numerous strategy guides he uploaded.
Although most of them were incomprehensible guides like 'Dodge and hit here,' or 'Just hit around this spot,' at least the skill trees were real.
And those skill trees were like a rain during a drought for the users.
-Kaiser's new skill tree is up.
-Oh, daebak. He made it with minor skills again. I was wondering where to use Bite, and he applies it here? Just god…….
-For real, if it weren't for Kaiser, this game would've died long ago.
-No, but seriously, what kind of world makes you pull skills based on probability to build a skill tree?
-It's fucking shit, but strangely, it's addictive.
-Yeah, that's a gambling addiction. Go see a doctor.
In this luck-based trashing game where even skills were decided by gacha, his skill trees were nothing short of revolutionary.
So much so that there was a saying: "Trust and use Kaiser's skill tree."
A talent bestowed by God.
The incarnation of VR games.
The creator of metas.
Genius.
Numerous modifiers were attached before his name.
Truly days that could be called a golden age without shame.
But all things must come to an end.
Demrok, burning endlessly without knowing its end, would surely see the day it collapsed, and Dohyun was also aware of that fact.
'No, this is too much.'
But he didn't know that day would come so soon.
The first problem erupted eight months after release.
A fatal issue occurred in Demrok.
-No, f*ck, why is everything a gacha system? Isn't it too much to make even items all gacha?
-True, and the probabilities are all shit too.
The fact that every system was built around gacha.
Everyone already knew that the moment it was released.
But it was so popular, and everything else was so outstanding, that everyone endured it.
The problem was the raids.
-Aren't games meant for raiding?
-The flower of RPGs is raids!
Like most VR games, raids themselves were not easy to do.
You had to have gear setups, raise your level, and have the mechanics to back it up.
Furthermore, raids required a certain amount of networking to even attempt.
It could truly be called the flower of RPGs.
-They didn't screw up raid rewards like this too, right.
-Have you ever dropped millions of won on gear only to get 5 consecutive bricks as raid rewards?
But this damn game pulled a trick on the raids too.
To get stronger, you had to do raids, but to do those raids, you needed pretty good gear.
And the reward from a raid you struggled to clear is a brick?
There was no greater sense of emptiness for a gamer.
-I really enjoyed playing it, but I didn't know high-level content would be like this too.
-Raids are at least better. I grinded my ass off to max out NPC affinity, so why is the reward gacha? Seriously…….
-This is why vipers are scary.
-Are there still suckers out there grinding their guts out just to get bricks?
Adding insult to injury, the content that followed was either subpar or mostly the type that backstabbed you like this.
Experiencing it firsthand strips away all affection and loyalty, leaving you completely cleaned out.
"Damn trash game!"
In the end, countless users left the game.
From those who played for money to the casual users.
Within a year of release, its ranking plummeted, and by the second year, it had become a stagnant water game where finding a newbie was harder than picking a star from the sky.
And by the third year, even the few remaining stagnant water vets became hard to find.
A game that no longer made money.
A game where saying you play Demrok would immediately get you called a sucker.
A game that always featured in the meme of washing your hands instead of shaking them.
A game diluted beyond stagnation!
'Why am I playing this trash game?'
Yet, even as he said that, Dohyun didn't quit.
It was something even he couldn't understand.
Whether he had developed a fondness for it over the three years, or if it was similar to reaching for a cigarette knowing it was harmful.
Despite definitely starting for the money, he remained longer than anyone else.
But now, even that was over.
[Hello. This is Deus Ex Machina - Ragnarok.]
[Service is scheduled to terminate in 30 minutes.]
"……."
As was always the outcome for ruined games, Demrok was also facing the end of its service.
As he stared at the blankly floating announcement, he heard a snickering voice.
"I've shouted dozens of times that I wanted this piece of shit trash game to die... but now that it's really dying, it feels weird."
Glancing to the side, he saw a muscular pig of an Apo with bumpy purple skin.
It was 'Bolasaekmat,' one of the hardcore stagnant water users.
An older guy who hadn't missed a single day since launch.
A passionate old guy whom the close stagnant water vets jokingly made a perfect attendance award for in front of a bonfire.
His gaming skills were garbage, but he was a gear-abuser who possessed absurd capital and grinding power.
'There were a lot of rumors that he was a building owner. He denied it to the end, but…….'
For such an old guy, his appearance crouching in front of the bonfire looked quite bitter.
At his muttering, a man with the appearance of a middle-aged swordsman resting his hand over the bonfire, 'Geomje,' nodded.
"I agree. Except for being a luck-based trashing game, it was fun, so I don't get why it's dying."
"Isn't that the problem? A tiger leaves its skin when it dies, but a dragon leaving behind bricks was a bit too much."
"……Did you really have to kill the mood like that?"
"What, it's not wrong. Can't even curse at a trash game that's about to disappear?"
The person wearing a masquerade mask and a gentleman's suit, bickering with Geomje, was 'Kkukudakkkukku'.
He was famous for being as reckless as his speech, but his physical skills were absurdly good, making him a guy who chewed through everyone.
"Are you never taking off that mask until the very end?"
"……Fuck off. You stop that cringey concept speech first. You're in your twenties in real life, yet you act so greasy."
"And you still have no dignity in your speech."
"What? Wanna go a round for old times' sake?"
"Tch. Only knowing how to brawl……."
Although Dohyun kept his 1st place, they were the ones who were already top-ranking rankers when Dohyun first started the game—the ones who didn't just stagnate, but rotted.
They were skilled individuals whose actual combat power didn't lag far behind.
Thanks to them, he received a lot of help…….
Dohyun, looking at them with bitter feelings, spat out.
"It is a bit regrettable."
"……."
A moment of silence fell over them.
They just sat around the bonfire, wearing profound expressions as if recalling something.
The first to speak was Bolasaekmat.
"Well, you have every right to find it regrettable. You researched this game more than anyone."
"Every time I saw you fight, it was truly fascinating. I could understand the principles theoretically, but I wondered if this actually made sense…… The saying 'God's Deception' didn't come from nowhere."
"Well, we also benefited a bit from that guy's skill trees. If it's not brains, it's physical skills, but how does he have both?"
As they opened their mouths one by one and chimed in, Kkukudakkkukku suddenly burst into laughter as if remembering something.
"Still, God is fair. His luck is the absolute worst among us. Keuk."
"True, only low-rank skills popped up for him…… In a way, didn't he research them just to survive?"
"Does it make sense for a guy without a single Legendary skill to be Rank 1? If his luck was even a little better, he wouldn't even be sitting at the same table as us."
"People should've seen him crying out, 'The world is screwing me over!' after failing ten upgrades in a row. It probably would've circulated in the community under a title like 'God's Screams'."
"Puhahaha! Honestly, that guy is the worst one."
"Ahem…… It was the worst luck I've ever seen."
Even Geomje, who had been listening in silence, nodded at the old man Bolasaekmat's hearty laughter.
Even at their banter, which made it hard to tell if they were praising or insulting him—very much like them—Dohyun maintained a calm face.
He had heard such things enough times.
As it was a gacha game, stories about Dohyun's astonishing lack of luck were constantly brought up.
He was angry about it at first, but at some point, hearing it made him chuckle. Now, however, for some reason, his heart felt heavy.
Maybe it was because it was his first game, but he had never clung to something so desperately before…….
Was it because he knew that such a game was coming to a complete end?
'I don't know either.'
About ten minutes passed with such meaningless conversation.
[Hello. This is Deus Ex Machina - Ragnarok.]
[Service will be terminated as scheduled. Thank you for being with us until the end.]
Seeing the newly floating message, the stagnant water vets stood up one by one.
"……Now it's really the end."
"You've worked hard. In a luck-based trash game where I doubt even the concurrent players hit double digits."
"If we see each other later, let's meet in a god-tier game next time."
Starting with Geomje, Bolasaekmat, and then Kkukudakkkukku terminated their connections one after another.
In an instant, he was alone.
Being left blankly in front of the bonfire made him feel even more melancholy for no reason.
Flash.
Dohyun's vision, which had been gazing at the night sky for a moment, was dyed in an even deeper darkness.
Instead of chirping sounds, listening to the hum of the VR machine, Dohyun stroked the switch on the VR gear strapped to his head.
Click.
[This game's service has been terminated.]
However, what unfolded was not the night sky, but a short message.
"……."
Only after seeing that message did Dohyun take off his helmet and let out a short sigh.