Chapter 1

"Hey, hey, wasn't last night wild? The power suddenly went out, and then the server went down... I thought I'd passed out. Aren't we getting any compensation?"

"Compensation for what? Maybe if it had crashed because they couldn't manage their servers, but this was a natural disaster. They said the power went out all over the world at the same time."

"Yeah. Besides, it was only down for a second or two at most. God, you greedy bastard..."

"Heh heh."

[Starter Village: Moretti]

Countless players had gathered in the square of Moretti, one of the beginner areas. They were discussing yesterday's massive power outage, the [Blackout].

An unprecedented worldwide power outage. Even a mere second or two could deal a devastating blow to major industries, including media outlets and banks.

But to ordinary people enjoying a game, it was nothing more than a fleeting bit of gossip. A minor incident they could just laugh off, perhaps?

"Anyway, I heard the Phoenix Corps is going to tackle the tenth floor."

"Seriously? Wow... Didn't they just clear the ninth? That's insane."

"Man, when are we ever going to get to the Labyrinth Tower?"

"When? We have to get out of the beginner area first. The Labyrinth Tower's on the central continent."

"Sigh... We can see it right there, but it's so far away."

They murmured as they gazed at the distant tower, so tall it seemed to pierce the sky. Visible from anywhere on the continent, it was the goal of every player: the [Labyrinth Tower].

[Evil Tale], a virtual reality game created by the world's first autonomous artificial intelligence, [Ethan]. Rumors had abounded from the development stage.

An unheard-of startup developer called [Andra] was making a game with autonomous AI, a technology that wasn't even commercially available? And unlike existing commercial games played with headsets, it would use a capsule device capable of digitizing all five senses?

At first, people were intrigued by the idea, which sounded like something out of a comic book. But when three years passed after the announcement without any significant news, they dismissed it as the pipe dream they had suspected it was.

Then, in the fifth year, [Evil Tale] arrived—and it was enough to astound the entire world.

From the breeze brushing past and the scent of the air to the sunlight, the scenery of the buildings, and vivid battles that stimulated all five senses, everything was new and astonishing.

A challenge to the impossible. People who experienced [Evil Tale] even went so far as to say that no human could have made it.

Three hundred million concurrent players. One and a half billion registered users.

The game consumed people. Mere popularity could not describe it; this was a frenzy.

And so, as on any other day, people were enjoying [Evil Tale]. All except one.

"H-help me!! I'm begging you!"

"Please call this number!!"

"N-no! Please call the police! Please...!"

MURMUR, MURMUR

Word began spreading that a madman was running around Moretti's square.

-Is that crazy guy still running around Moretti?

-Nope. After three days, he started standing by the fountain with some kind of sign around his neck.

-Yeah, I saw him too. He was standing there crying about not being able to log out. Says he got trapped in the game when the power went out.

-Attention-seeking bastard lmaoooo. At least make it believable. Why wouldn't logout work? It works just fine.

Posts discussing every little detail about him began appearing in the in-game community. Then came the tenth day.

"That guy... That's him, right?"

"Can he really not log out?"

"No way. The developers would've done something by now. The GMs have already come by several times, haven't they?"

People whispered as they watched the man still standing in the square.

-There's a full twenty-four-hour video on NerTube. Looks like he really can't log out.

-Nah, he's an NPC.

-Holy shit... So the developers planted him there?

-Maybe a hidden quest? lol

After twenty days, the community's response, which had consisted of nothing but ridicule, began to change.

"... Is he dead?"

"Oh, come on. No way."

"Some NerTubers and streamers went to the address written there, but apparently there was nothing."

"Of course there wasn't. I'm telling you, it's all bullshit."

"The police got so many reports it even made the news. They were asking people to stop calling."

"What are they supposed to look up with a resident registration number that doesn't even exist...?"

MURMUR, MURMUR

People whispered. Once thirty days had passed, their interest gradually began turning back into disbelief. And that disbelief returned as a blade crueler than before.

PAT... PATTER...

Rain began to fall.

"..."

The man stood before the fountain at the center of the square, his head hanging.

"... I can't log out."

His parched lips moved.

"... Please help me."

His stamina was already depleted, making even standing difficult. His hunger had long since reached its maximum, too, leaving his vision blurred as though veiled in fog.

How many days had it been? He had forgotten even to count them and kept repeating the same words.

"Th-that lunatic... Doesn't he ever get tired of this?"

"The community says the resident registration number on that sign is fake too, right?"

"People must've filed a ton of reports. The police posted a notice yesterday saying the number doesn't even exist."

"Tsk, tsk... It really does take all kinds."

But all he received was indifference. People looked at him coldly.

"I can't reach my family..."

"... I'm begging you."

He sank to his knees and lowered his head as though bowing to the ground.

"Please... find them..."

PATTER-PATTER-PATTER...

The falling rain intensified into what seemed to be a sudden shower.

"Hh... h-huhuh..."

His tears burst forth like a breached dam and would not stop, pouring out all the anguish he had endured.

The square was full of people. All of them were happily playing the game. Of course they were. What worries or concerns could they have when they could return to reality whenever they chose?

But... what about him?

'What on earth... happened?'

He couldn't make sense of it himself.

Sitting slumped on the ground, Woojin clenched his fists tightly.

"Trapped inside a game..."

Something he had only ever imagined had happened to him. But... it was nothing like his imagination.

If he had been trapped in the game alone, perhaps he could have given up and accepted it. Instead, everyday conversations kept reaching his ears.

What was for dinner tonight. Complaints about a boss at work. Talk about an evening date... Perfectly ordinary, unremarkable things.

The people gathered in the square casually discussed their real lives outside the game. Of course they did. All they had to do was press the logout button, and they could return to reality whenever they wanted.

But he...

'I can't go back.'

How could he explain it? It felt as though he alone was trapped behind a wall of glass.

"Log out..."

Clinging to a thread of hope, he tried calling out the logout command again, but...

"... Damn it."

Nothing changed. This place was unmistakably real. And yet... absurdly, he could not return to reality.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but it says we can't verify your customer information. It seems your resident registration number is incorrect..."

GM Dane, an administrator for Evil Tale, answered the man before him with a hint of irritation.

-Hey, who's in charge of Moretti?

-Well...

-You said this would be sorted out by the time I got back from vacation! Is this how you do your jobs? Why is this guy still making a scene in the square?!

-S-sorry, sir.

Dane sighed as he looked at the private chat window available only to in-game administrators. It was the forty-fifth day that Kim Woojin, the subject of all sorts of rumors, had been standing in the square.

"Th-that can't be right. Please try again. My name is Kim Woojin. I'm thirty-five..."

He was still desperate.

"I understand you've already requested identity checks dozens of times."

And the more desperate he became, the more fed up the administrators seemed.

"I've come today to inform you that the administration team can no longer accept requests to verify your identity."

GM Dane—Go Juncheol, the head of Administration Team Two—spoke coldly to Kim Woojin.

"... What?"

"Sir, our administration team has not lied to you about anything. This is for administrators only, but I'm making an exception and showing it to you."

TAP, TAP.

Looking annoyed, he hammered at a holographic keyboard, then turned the window toward Woojin.

-Unable to verify identity.

-This resident registration number does not exist.

"Sir. You said you were having trouble logging out, didn't you? We can't help you unless you provide accurate information."

"I gave you the right information! Why wouldn't I know my own resident registration number?!"

Woojin shouted urgently.

"Our account system is called [World Info]. It integrates all our registered users, not just in South Korea but around the world."

"... And?"

"If the information you provided doesn't exist, that means you're either giving us false information..."

Dane raised his voice at Woojin in a low, forceful tone.

"Or you aren't a person who exists in this world. It can't be the latter, so that means you're repeatedly giving us false information and causing a disturbance..."

Woojin flinched. At that moment, pain weighed on his shoulders as though something were crushing them.

"If you continue damaging [Evil Tale]'s reputation with these baseless rumors, we'll have no choice but to take appropriate action."

"... Damaging your reputation? Are you fucking serious?"

"Pardon?"

"Fine! Do it!! Please, just do something! Force me out, suspend my account...! Just do whatever it takes to get me out of this goddamn game!!"

'... Wh-what the hell?'

Dane, who had been issuing the warning, was instead taken aback as Woojin clutched his arm and shouted.

-Hey, can you check his data code?

-Um... sir. The thing is...

-Why are you hesitating? Is there a problem?

-We can't find his in-game data either, not just his real-world information.

-What the hell does that mean? Are you kidding? Even if he's lying about his real-world information, you should be able to find data for a character standing right here in the game!

-As you know, sir, we manage personal information, but [Ethan] handles the in-game data.

Team Leader Go scowled at his subordinate's report.

-So? Even if the AI manages it, we can still look it up.

-It seems an error occurred in the user data on the day of the [Blackout].

-... What error? The power was only out for a second or two at most.

-Yes, sir. But apparently the problem was that it was too brief. Normally, backup power kicks in immediately during an outage...

His subordinate continued cautiously.

-Because the outage was so brief, it seems the main and backup power supplies operated simultaneously, causing a momentary overload.

-You've got to be kidding me. The outage being too short caused the problem? How does that make sense?!

-The development team says that's the only plausible explanation... Otherwise, [Ethan] would have had to shut itself down to cause an error, but the power went out worldwide, so that can't be it, can it?

-So? What about recovery?

-They say it's repairing itself, but it appears the deleted data is being recorded anew, starting with current records.

GRIND!

-Recorded anew? This is driving me insane.

Though he couldn't see them, his subordinates' shoulders must have jolted at his words.

-This hasn't gotten out yet, has it?

-O-of course not, sir.

-Everyone stay sharp. The press is still watching us like hawks, going on about artificial intelligence and whatever else. If this gets out, we're finished. Understood?

-Don't worry, sir. There may be errors, but we haven't received any other reports of problems with gameplay itself like his.

-Besides, game issues aside, he's giving us a resident registration number that doesn't exist in the real world.

-That's right. He gave us personal information for people he said were his family, but none of those numbers existed either.

-R&C Technology? He says that's his company, but I've never even heard of the place.

-... All right. Steer things in that direction for now. And lead him to understand that actions like forcing a logout or suspending his account are impossible because [Ethan] won't authorize them.

-Understood.

"W-wait...!! Just a moment!!"

Seeing Dane's grave expression, Woojin anxiously grabbed his sleeve and cried out.

"If mine doesn't work, please check this one. Choi Jinsuk. Born in 1959. Her resident registration number is..."

Dane looked at him and clicked his tongue too quietly to be heard.

"Choi Jinsuk, Kim Incheol, and Kim Jinnam. We've already checked all three identities several times. None of their numbers exist."

"Just one more time...! Something's wrong!!"

"I'm sorry, but those people don't exist. Aren't you mistaken? You're putting us in a difficult position by insisting on numbers that don't exist."

... Mistaken?

Dane tugged his sleeve away, and Woojin's arm dropped limply. It felt as though the reason he had barely managed to hold on to had snapped as well.

"Ha, haha..."

This f***ed-up situation, being trapped in a goddamn game... Fine. Let's accept that. What? His resident registration number was wrong? No, fine, he'd concede even that his own existence... had vanished!!! But even then...

"Why are you saying my family, who are alive and well..."

Didn't exist?

"Ha, haha... Hey, this is some kind of hidden-camera prank, right?"

There was that movie. The Truman Show? Was everyone deceiving him like that?!

His mind felt as though it had gone completely blank. Even so...

"There have to be limits!!! Why drag my family into this?! Fuck!!! Who is it...?! Who the hell is fucking with me like this?!"

Woojin seized Dane by the collar, his grip tight.

"Mistaken? Cut the bullshit! Get me out of this fucking game right now!!"

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

Dane roughly shoved the rampaging man away.

CRASH!!!

Woojin went flying backward and slammed into the ground. A mere level 10 warrior could never withstand the strength of an administrator whose level registered as an undisplayable ??. Had they not been inside a city, he might have died on the spot.

"Ah..."

Feeling the eyes of the crowd on him, Dane hurried over to Woojin with an awkward expression.

"I'm sorry. My level is set to the maximum to deal with various emergencies, so..."

"Hhk... h-hhk..."

Clasping the hand Dane offered, Woojin spoke through sobs, his face a mess.

"... Please."

His lips trembled as he continued.

"Just let me... log out..."

His head slumped forward. As though even his last hope had vanished, he hung his head, tears flowing endlessly.

BZZT... BZZZT...

It happened then. Strangely, his blurred vision began to clear.

"...?!"

Something appeared before him.

[______]

'... A cursor?'

The blinking cursor began rapidly writing something, as though someone were typing in midair.

[Emergency restoration program activated.]

[Checking issue...]

'Wh-what is this...?'

[Checking logout availability...]

BZZ... BZZT...

BZZZZZZT...

[Connection port search complete]

[Search result: Port P-09-183]

[1 port found.]

[This is the only port currently available for connection.]

[Connecting...]

Before Woojin could say anything, commands began appearing rapidly before him.

[C_onnec_tion a_vaila_bility con__fir_med.]

Then, suddenly, the display crackled like a broken television screen and changed into sentences.

"Wh-what is this...?"

Silence.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed. Astonishingly, the entire bustling village had vanished. The people who had filled the square, the sky, the blowing breeze—all were gone. He alone remained in a black void.

[Would you like to log out?]

[Yes / No]

"Log out?"

Woojin stared at the system window, his gaze trembling.

"I-is this real?"

But there was no time to hesitate. Wasn't this the notification he had waited for so desperately? He had to do it.

CLICK.

Woojin slowly raised his hand and pressed the [YES] button.

[Logging out.]

WHOOOOSH!!!

Brilliant white light began filling his vision.

'Please!'

He clenched his fists as though grasping his last lifeline.

When he opened his eyes, please... let him be back in reality.

[Logout complete.]

"... What the hell is this?"

But when he opened his eyes, he could only stare blankly around, speechless with bewilderment.

Log out. A command that literally meant leaving the game. But nowhere did it explain which reality lay outside.

Ha... haha...

"Fuck."

He was in another world.