Chapter 120

“Kim Hajun.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Enjoy your time off? The game was in absolute chaos while you were gone.”

“Ah, yes... I saw.”

“Where?”

“Well... on Game Station...”

Hajun answered Go Juncheol in a barely audible voice.

“Good grief. An administrator learning what's happening in the game from a TV show. Fine work you're doing.”

“... I'm sorry.”

“I'm kidding. I hear you went to headquarters with a resignation letter?”

“What?”

That struck a nerve. Hajun's face stiffened.

“You idiot. Who goes all the way to headquarters to quit these days?”

Hajun scratched his head sheepishly at Go Juncheol's words.

“Without even talking to your team leader first. And a resignation letter, when we have a perfectly good electronic system? Trying to screw me over, are you?”

“N-no, sir!! It's just... I've known Director Han for a long time...”

“I met with Director Han.”

“... You did?”

“He told me to put you to good use.”

Hajun stared at him, bewildered by the unexpected remark.

“To be honest, when I heard Director Han had pulled strings to get you into Administration, I did judge you for it.”

Some unknown hire parachuted in through connections. He had even wondered whether Hajun had caused trouble in Development and been sent to Administration as a result.

“You went snooping through equipment without permission and triggered a Bug Fix... I thought, great, we've got a real screwup on our hands.”

“Ha ha...”

“But you were the only one.”

“...?”

“There were administrators monitoring Khan before you came along. Other people on the team kept an eye on him while you were off, too.”

Go Juncheol looked at Hajun.

“Everyone else who watched Khan play said the same thing: he was incredible. But you?”

“...”

“You thought something was strange.”

Dragon Lord, a Legendary class. Master of a Phantasmal Spirit. He had even evacuated the civilians and stood against the Black Dragon alone.

His exploits captivated everyone watching.

“The media keep hyping him up as a hero and whatnot. He's even got fans on the Administration Team now.”

But Hajun was different. Rather than being swept away by that extraordinary gameplay, he had thought something wasn't normal.

“That's why you went to Director Han, right? To quit as an administrator and play the game yourself.”

Hajun nodded slowly.

“If this were an ordinary game, there'd be nothing wrong with employees playing it. But this is Evil Tale.”

With individual items trading for hundreds of millions of won, rather than mere millions or tens of millions, [Evil Tale] had long since outgrown the realm of games.

“Those hidden pieces of content the Development Team knows about... Every one of them must be worth a fortune.”

“... We do sign nondisclosure agreements, but the safeguards are far too lax. Honestly, there's information only Development knows about that was never reported to the higher-ups. Even if it leaked, no one would know.”

“But you would.”

“... Sorry?”

“That's why I want you to stay with the company.”

Hajun's feelings grew complicated at this request from Go Juncheol, who had always seemed so overbearing.

“Honestly... it won't be easy. The reason I have suspicions but can't find concrete evidence... is that he's doing things ahead of time that should happen in the second and third scenarios.”

The Queen of the Elves, the Phantasmal Spirit, and the Dragon Lord...

Virtually all of it was only supposed to happen once the second and third scenarios began.

“[Ethan] created the second and third scenarios, not the Development Team. That means we can't determine what constitutes a problem within the system.”

So far, [Ethan] had raised no objections to Khan's gameplay.

They were simply Easter eggs. He had simply been lucky enough to find things already implemented in the game data.

With [Ethan] ruling that way, Administration and Development had no choice but to let the matter slide on those grounds.

Go Juncheol gripped Hajun's shoulder tightly.

“Exactly. He's doing things that shouldn't happen yet, as if he's the only one playing in the future.”

That was what made those unbelievable feats possible.

“But we have a way, too.”

“... A way...?”

“From what I've heard, not even half of Evil Tale's first scenario has been uncovered yet. Is that right?”

Hajun nodded.

“The information on the remaining half.”

That would be their weapon.

“Khan's gameplay may be abnormal, but everything he's doing is possible within the system. The key point is that Ethan permits it. But there's no way Ethan would give us that same permission when we're registered as administrators...”

Unlike Go Juncheol, with his knowing air, Hajun wasn't particularly receptive.

“You're right. The most important thing will be convincing Ethan. That's why we're going to investigate Khan both inside and out.”

“Inside and out?”

“You'll use the information on the rest of the first scenario to track his abnormal gameplay. Sooner or later, we're bound to find an anomaly.”

Go Juncheol paused for breath.

“And starting now, I'll be looking for abnormalities outside the game.”

“Outside the game...?”

“You know how he caused a commotion about being unable to log out at the beginning?”

Hajun nodded.

“When a report came in later saying he'd logged out, I figured he was just an attention whore after all. Then he was forcibly disconnected by a Bug Fix, too.”

Go Juncheol turned the monitor on his desk around.

“But there's no record of him logging out since then.”

“What?”

“Does that make any sense? Can a person stay logged into a game for an entire month without a break?”

Hajun swallowed. Go Juncheol's unexpected observation left him visibly shaken.

“Are you saying... Khan isn't human?”

“I don't know. We don't have any evidence yet. But there are strange things everywhere we look.”

Because of the Blackout, they had no information on him—not his resident registration number, his home address, or anything else.

They had also personally tracked down all the acquaintances and other contacts he had claimed would know him, but not one knew the name Kim Woojin.

“He could be lying... but how can every single person he says would know him deny it?”

As though he had never existed in the first place.

A chill ran through Hajun at the thought, raising goosebumps on his skin.

“I contacted Security and asked them to trace his capsule's connection IP, but they refused, saying Ethan manages personal information. If we could just get that IP, we could find some way to determine whether he's a real person.”

“... What about asking the police?”

“I don't know. We'd probably just get crucified in the press for nothing. Besides, you know how good our Security Team is. If they can't break through... could the police really do it?”

Autonomous artificial intelligence.

The greatest—and most frightening—aspect of this system, hailed as an advance for humanity, was that even now it was gathering information and evolving on its own.

“Then... is there no one who can get through Ethan's security?”

“... There was one person.”

Go Juncheol clicked his tongue, his mouth tasting as gritty as if he had been chewing sand.

“Dr. Choi Soyul.”

The creator of the AI [Ethan], and Go Juncheol's wife.

But she was gone now.

“I spoke to Director Han and asked him to request special access privileges. I intend to delegate those privileges to you.”

“Special access privileges...!”

“Yes. As you know, with special access, you don't have to work through reports. You can connect directly to [Ethan] and even talk to it.”

His voice grew emphatic.

“From what I've seen so far, I have a strong feeling that Ethan is strangely willing to permit everything Khan does. Almost as though it's backing him.”

Why?

A single hypothesis took root in both their minds.

Khan might not be human.

“If Khan is something Ethan created, Ethan won't hand over information easily. We need to investigate everything thoroughly enough that it can't hide anything.”

Like playing Go. Each move made with care.

“Understood.”

Hajun clenched his fist tightly, steeling his resolve.

* * *

[Congratulations.]

[The eighth wave has ended.]

[Three minutes remain until the next wave.]

“Hah... hah...”

Feeling as if his whole body were falling apart, Woojin flopped onto his back, arms and legs spread wide. Even the water, mixed with the rank blood of monsters, felt refreshingly cool.

“Whew... The community... said there were only five waves... Whew... Why are there ten...?”

Woojin pulled a potion from his pouch and gulped it down.

“Next time I get to town... I need to upgrade my gear.”

The piranhas summoned in the eighth wave had left his armor in tatters. Their teeth had pierced his leather armor far too easily.

His [Magic-Infused Ancient Leather Armor] was Grade C and had good bonuses, so it had served him well until now. Against the monsters in a high-level dungeon, however, its shortcomings were unmistakable.

“Ugh... Still, this much is manageable.”

Only two waves remained. He still had a reasonable supply of potions, and nothing was broken or severed. He was in good enough shape to fight.

“I don't care what comes, as long as I can cut it.”

[Contaminated Wisps appear.]

[The Monster Wave begins.]

[Defeat all summoned monsters.]

▶ Time Limit: 5 minutes

▶ Monster Waves Remaining: 9/10

“Oh.”

Countless lights of varying sizes appeared around Woojin, resembling fireflies.

BZZT... BZZZT...

With a loud crackling, the flickering lights began to merge. They grew a little larger, to the size of fists, but there were still hundreds of them.

Wisps were known to be a type of spirit. They had no physical form and were closer to souls.

“Me and my big mouth.”

Woojin grimaced and gripped his sword.

KRRRRAK!!!

Woojin flung himself sideways to avoid the electricity erupting from a wisp.

KRA-BOOM!!

KRA-KRA-BOOM!!!

When the light it fired struck Kelduan's stomach wall, the wall melted, giving off black smoke.

[ROOOOOAR!!!}

Kelduan screamed as though in pain, and the ground beneath Woojin began to heave.

SHWAAASH...!!

While he staggered off balance, the wisps floating in the air rushed at him.

SHING!!!!

A wisp sprouting sharp spines like a sea urchin swept past, grazing Woojin's cheek.

“Argh!!”

With pain burning across his face, he turned and reflexively swung his sword at it.

POP!!!

Then it happened.

To his astonishment, the wisp burst like a balloon the instant his sword touched it.

“Huh?”

Even Woojin, who had delivered the blow, couldn't hide his bewilderment.

[You have used Soul Slash.]

▶ Activates automatically when a spirit-type monster touches your weapon.

The notification appeared at that moment.

'Right. I had that skill I got in the black fog.'

Skill: Vengeful Spirit Slash

▶ When used against spirit-type monsters, allows you to cut their souls.

He remembered being puzzled at first because the description hadn't made clear whether it purified souls or annihilated them. He hadn't encountered any spirit-type monsters since then, so it had slipped his mind.

“Yeah. Annihilation, not purification.”

POP!!!

Woojin began smashing the wisps flying toward him without hesitation.