Chapter 108
A green wind began to whirl in a small circle in front of the monitor.
Fwoosh.
Fwoosh.
Gradually accelerating, the wind stretched out vertically, forming a whirlwind.
And then.
Whoosh.
The wind unraveled like thread in an instant, and something about the size of a doll appeared in the air before the monitor, within the eye of the storm.
Slowly descending to the desk, the shape of the thing resembled the Hero.
No, it was the Hero who had come out into the outside world—exactly the same as on the whiteboard.
-doppelganger?
-Wow, he came out!
-Looks like a toy
The Hero and the Hero lock eyes.
The outside Hero spoke first.
In a lively voice.
[Hello! I’m the game’s fairy!]
[Ah, hello!]
Game fairy?
“Then that must be the one who turned on the computer.”
There's no way it isn't.
-Anyone can see ㅋㅋ
-Is she a villain?
-She’s lively, cute
-How can a fairy be a villain ㅋㅋ
[How are things over there lately?]
[Here lately… ugh. I, I don't really know. I can't remember anything from before.]
[Of course you can’t! You’ve just come to life!]
[R-Really? I just came to life?]
[Yeah! You’re a game character! You know that, right?]
[Yes.]
The pixel character nodded its head up and down.
The rhythm of the pixel movements was satisfying.
[When a game is completed, the world inside gains life!]
[Is that so?]
[Yes! So, normally, you shouldn’t be alive right now!]
[What?]
[Because your world isn’t finished yet!]
[Ah…]
[Then why am I...?]
[Well, you see, your mom and dad got divorced!]
When it comes to a game character's mom and dad, who else could it be but the developers?
-Wow! Runaway ninja!
-So they gave up on development ㅋㅋㅋ
-Game development is this tough, folks ㅜㅜ
[Divorced?]
[Yeah! They ran away while making your world!]
[Th-then, can’t the fairy persuade them to come back and finish it?]
[Yeah! I’m not good at persuading!]
Unnecessarily cheerful.
[Then what should we do...]
[I don’t know!]
Unlike the beaming fairy, the in-game character seemed restless, moving one space to the left, two spaces to the right, continuously back and forth.
[What if the fairy could finish it for us...]
[Development is hard!]
[Or call someone else who’s good at it.]
[That won’t do either.]
[Why not?]
[Because the game has to be made directly by them.]
This time, the character jumped upward.
The bouncing motion conveyed a sense of urgency.
That was only natural.
After crouching down and pondering for a moment, the Hero seemed to have an idea, and a exclamation mark appeared above its head.
[Then...! How about summoning them here? Wouldn’t they change their minds if they saw the world they were creating?]
[Hmm… You really think so?]
[Yes! If they come into the world they were making, they’ll definitely change their minds!]
Well, that would probably be the case.
-So this was a game-possession story ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The son is committing an unfilial act right now
-This is why you shouldn’t mess around when making games.
[Alright! I'll send you to your world!]
The cutscene ended with the fairy giving a meaningful smile.
* * *
Seo-jun opened his closed eyes.
His vision was blurry.
After blinking a few times, his sight gradually cleared.
“I can’t move my body.”
Every part of him was individually bound, so he couldn’t even move his neck a little.
His legs, waist, arms—all were fastened tightly against a backboard.
‘That’s probably right.’
Seo-jun told the viewers what he was feeling.
-Oh
-Did we enter the game?
-So the streamer is the developer who ran away
-In the game!
The place he was tied up in was a container molded to fit his body.
He could only guess.
“For some reason, this feels like a toy packaging box.”
Fixed inside some container.
That was Seo-jun’s current position.
“Hmm.”
-So it’s not 2D ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The pixels were cute, damn
Whatever it was, he’d have to wait to get out.
Even if he exerted force, the bindings wouldn’t break.
“Where did Tae-woo go?”
He didn’t know.
Then.
“What’s this! Hey! Come over here.”
“Why?”
“Looks like there’s a defective one among the newly born toys.”
“Really? Let me see.”
Outside the transparent window on the front of the container he was in, two heads of toy soldiers appeared.
They began to look down at Seo-jun carefully.
“This guy is a toy I’ve never seen before! Hey, is he even a toy?”
“This is… definitely defective!”
“Defective? Our factory has never had a defect since the Queen took over the kingdom!”
“Really?”
“What do we do? If the Queen hears that a defective one came out, we’ll surely die!”
“Then there’s no choice!”
“What?”
“We have to throw it away, now!”
“Right! Let’s throw it away right now!”
Seo-jun tried saying anything.
The toys didn’t seem to hear.
No interaction. So he’d just wait comfortably.
The toy soldiers’ heads soon disappeared, and he felt a sense of floating.
That’s because they had lifted the entire box containing Seo-jun.
“Feels like riding a palanquin.”
Seo-jun relaxed his body.
-Mister, looks like you’re being disposed of?
-Is the world a toy world? ㅋㅋㅋ cute
-Where’s Tae-woo?
The overall background visible outside the window was dark and dreary.
Since they said it was a factory, the place he was originally placed was probably a warehouse.
What kind of storage?
He couldn’t get a grasp on it.
“Hoo. Now let’s put him in the disposal yard!”
“Too bad. To be born defective, of all things.”
Hmm.
It seemed they were trying to put him in somewhere, box and all.
With groaning sounds, Seo-jun felt the sensation just before a ride’s drop and fell.
* * *
A disposal yard piled high with mountains of trash.
A hole above opened, letting in a faint light.
And from that hole, a certain box fell.
‘That’s probably me.’
Thud.
Upon hitting the ground, the impact caused the contents of the box to fly out.
After a while, the hole on the opposite side also opened.
Likewise, a box fell.
This time, the contents didn’t spill out.
[Ugh…]
A groaning sound came from inside the box.
He still seemed out of it.
And a moment later, a dark figure trudged around, looking about, and approached the center.
[Hurts like hell. Shit. Where am I? A garbage dump? Why am I here? I was clearly planning a new game yesterday.]
'And I hadn’t been drinking,' the character muttered quietly to himself, and then Tae-woo’s voice came through.
“Right. Whether you drank or not is the most important thing. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
That’s so like Tae-woo.
“Looks like our voices are connected.”
“Ah, seems so? Seo-jun, hi.”
A voice full of joy.
Regardless, the cutscene was progressing.
The figure looking around seemed to gradually feel fear.
With good reason.
It was dark and hard to see, and the surroundings were nothing but giant piles of trash.
[What the hell is this… Where is this? I’m sure I had a dream where toys were looking down at me…]
[Ugh…]
[Oh? Is someone there?]
[Ugh…]
The character froze.
As if the fear of the unknown had seized his mind.
A typical reaction.
Fortunately, the groaning person seemed to come to, and after a bit of whimpering, shouted in a loud voice.
[Hey! Is anyone there? Help me! I can’t move my body!]
He let out a relieved sigh and headed towards the direction of the sound.
There was a box.
[Hello.]
[Ah! Is someone there? Thank goodness. I can’t move my body right now. Could you help me?]
[I’ll help you right away.]
[Thank you. But do you know why I’m like this right now?]
[I don’t really know either. I suddenly woke up and everything’s been strange.]
The person outside scanned the box, found a lid on top that could be opened, and opened it.
[Huh? But that voice… What, could it be you?]
You.
The person tied inside the box addressed him in the second person.
And as if it were obvious, the person outside realized who it was and stopped his hands in surprise.
[It is you, right? Ha. What have you done to me? You meddled in every little thing, and now that I left, you even pull this petty crap? Where is this! Untie me right now! This is a crime!]
[No…]
[Why. After I left, couldn’t you find another slave to draw for you? So you’re doing this dirty thing?]
[No, that’s not it…]
[Didn’t you say you could make it well on your own. With your brilliant planning, somehow manage…]
[Hey! Listen! I don’t know either!]
[…]
[First, let’s get you out. We need to figure out what’s going on.]
[Fine…]
The character outside opened the lid and pulled out the board inside.
He pulled out the board, almost larger than his own body, and took out the character inside.
The bindings on the character inside seemed to come loose naturally, and he stood up, rubbing his wrists.
And then.
The game stopped.
“I think it’s asking us to choose here?”
Seo-jun said.
“Who will take which character?”
“Yeah.”
-Looks like Art vs Programmer
-So the programmer is the leader? Seeing how planning was mentioned
-But who should we choose and what can we do?
Since the game had just been released, viewers had no information.
So Tae-woo said.
“We actually heard something beforehand?”
About the roles.
“The art side assists with the gimmicks, and the programmer side mainly performs the gimmicks.”
After Tae-woo finished, Seo-jun added.
“Of course, no matter what you choose, the weight and difficulty don’t differ. Since it’s a game you have to play together.”
-That’s basic for a co-op game ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-We all know that
-There are lots of true gamers here!
“Why are you reading like a textbook? Who are you saying this for?”
“You.”
“Telling me to assist?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t want to.”
Yes.
They still hadn’t decided.
Perhaps Park Hyuk-soo, watching the broadcast, was anxious right now.
“Fine. I’ll cut you some slack.”
-Is Tae-woo that bastard trying to troll?
-No way ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Maybe assisting is better in this kind of game?
Seo-jun and Tae-woo finished character selection.
And from that moment, their view flipped and they could move their bodies.
At the same time, strangely, a light turned on and it became bright.
And in a large mirror with a broken corner that was beside them, their appearances were revealed.
Simultaneously, the characters’ words came like a narration.
[What is this.]
[Why are we?]
Seo-jun also examined his body with slight surprise.
“Oh.”
“We look like toys.”
“Yeah.”
In the mirror laid sideways, their avatars looked like toys.
Toys that subtly reflected their actual appearances.
-It’s a miniature version ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The avatars are super cute
-But why does the streamer still look handsome even as a doll? This is a bit annoying?
-And amidst that, Tae-woo ㅋㅋㅋ... somehow got uglier than in reality?
Seo-jun couldn’t hold back.
“Hey. They say you’re ugly even as a toy?”
And the viewers seemed equally unable to hold back.
[‘IgeoWanjeon’ has donated 30,000 won!]
[It’s a sculpture vs smithereens situation]