Chapter 70

“Please wait a moment.”

“Oh, of course.”

Hajun nodded, his face taut with nerves, as the man in the suit turned away.

‘Whew... I want to go home.’

Every time he looked around, he felt he had come somewhere he did not belong.

This building, the tallest in the world, was the headquarters of The Pase, the developer of [Evil Tale].

He swallowed.

The top floor, a dizzying 183 stories up.

Looking out the window at the unimaginable height, Hajun felt his legs going weak.

“Quite high, isn't it?”

Just then, the office door opened, and a woman approached him.

“It's a little excessive, but quite a few board members believe the height of our building is proof of Evil Tale's popularity.”

She gave Hajun a smile.

“We really went all out this time. What do you think? Though I know you don't particularly care for this sort of thing.”

“It's impressive. I—sorry, Director.”

“Oh, stop. You can relax around me. We've known each other too long for that. Chief Ji, I mentioned him before, didn't I? He's an old friend, like a younger brother to me.”

“Yes.”

“Would you excuse us for a moment?”

“Of course.”

The man glanced at Hajun and bowed. His sharp gaze still seemed wary of him.

‘Is something wrong?’

Even Hajun, oblivious as he was, found the chief's behavior strange.

“Don't mind him. There was an unfortunate incident recently.”

“What happened?”

“Some members of the board died.”

“... What?!”

Her utterly unexpected answer startled Hajun so badly that he cried out before he could stop himself.

“There was an accident on their way back from a meeting. We believe it was an ordinary traffic accident, but... there are so many people opposed to virtual reality.”

After [Evil Tale] was developed, capsule-based virtual reality became enormously popular. Similar virtual reality games followed, and now more than half the world's population owned capsules.

It was an unprecedented success, but more than a few people were concerned. Virtual life was becoming more important than reality. There were now more people inside capsules than walking the streets.

“Are you saying it might not have been an accident?”

“Well, after what's happened, we're simply taking precautions.”

“...”

Hajun's expression darkened at her words.

He had only made it because he wanted gaming to be a little more fun...

Why did it feel as though things were straying further and further from what he had dreamed of?

“Anyway, what did you want to see me about?”

“You were the one who assigned me to the administration team, weren't you?”

“That's right.”

“Why did you do it? I didn't stay at this company just to spy on someone.”

“And what did you make of him while you were spying?”

“What?”

“He's the one, isn't he? The man who caused a commotion in Moretti's square, claiming he couldn't log out.”

Hajun nodded.

“How is he doing now?”

“... He triggered the Dragon Lord quest.”

Director Han gave an odd smile at his answer.

“It shouldn't be possible to trigger it at this stage... Dragon Lord belongs to the third scenario.”

“Well, just because Ethan divided the scenarios into installments doesn't necessarily mean they have to happen in that order.”

“One wrong move could destroy the balance. Only one of the twelve Unique classes has even been unlocked, and now there's an even higher-tier class?”

“So, what do you think of him?”

“...”

Hajun stared at her.

‘I've been getting worked up all by myself like an idiot.’

Having known her for so long, he understood her better than anyone.

‘If there were a problem, she'd already have taken action.’

The fact that she had not meant this was all within the scope of her plans.

“Fine, let's put his class aside. But he's cleared not only the Dark Forest's three major dungeons, but the newly generated Ice Cave and even the unexplored black fog.”

Hajun broached the subject cautiously.

“He sounds impressive.”

“Yes. So impressive it's strange. He casually accomplishes things even Kerga couldn't do.”

“Isn't it stranger to say that no one should be able to do something just because Kerga couldn't?” Director Han asked him.

“Well...”

“If there were a problem, Ethan would have reported it already. And it'll correct those balance issues you're worried about in real time.”

“Correct them? I thought it still hadn't recovered the user data lost after Blackout.”

For the first time, Director Han's expression hardened.

“Yes, that happened. But that's a separate matter. Everything that man said was a lie. We've finished every investigation we can conduct in the real world.”

“What if the AI is lying?”

“... What?”

“The user data containing personal information was lost, and under the management regulations, Ethan handles the character data.”

Hajun continued.

“I may be an administrator, but there's nothing I can find out about him. We're in a position where all we can do is believe what Ethan tells us.”

“Don't be ridiculous. An AI wouldn't lie.”

She hadn't changed.

Hajun regretted coming to see her.

“You saw him fight in the Alchemist’s Laboratory, didn't you? Did it look impossible for him to have accomplished those other feats?”

“No. I think he could have done them.”

“Then what's the problem?”

“The strange thing is that he made me think he could.”

He looked at Director Han.

“His strength is abnormal.”

“But there's nothing wrong with him in terms of the system.”

“I'm not talking about the system. There are things even the system can miss. Didn't you transfer me to the administration team because you felt something was strange too?”

Hajun raised his voice, trembling.

“Because I developed Evil Tale! Because I know its systems better than anyone!”

“Yes. But that was solely because of the Blackout incident. If a problem occurs in the game, I'll receive a report.”

“... I think you trust Ethan too much.”

“You've never trusted Ethan.”

“You changed the day you brought Ethan in. AI isn't a god. No program can be perfect, no matter how sophisticated it is.”

TAP.

He took an envelope from inside his jacket and set it down in front of her.

“You really haven't changed.”

“... What are you doing?”

“This isn't something a mere assistant manager should come and say to a director... But I wanted to put rank aside and say goodbye as a colleague who made a game with you.”

Seeing the words “Letter of Resignation” on the envelope, Director Han frowned at him.

“I've been considering this for a while. I don't think I can find the answers just by watching a monitor.”

“You... Don't tell me you're going to play the game yourself?”

“Yes.”

“You can't.”

“Why not?”

“You're a developer. You know all the source material, even what's not yet been released. What guarantee do I have that you won't exploit it? That really would destroy the game's balance.”

“Do you honestly think I'm that kind of person?!”

“There's no way to know.”

Her final answer was cold.

“I'll pretend this never happened. Go back where you belong.”

Hajun clenched his fists tightly at her words.

“... And where do I belong?”

Director Han gave no answer.

SLAM!!!

In an uncharacteristic display of anger, Hajun stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him.

“Whew...”

Once he was gone, Director Han let out a weary sigh, tore up the resignation letter on her desk, and tossed it into the trash.

“That was him, wasn't it? The genius developer who used to be so famous in the press. I heard he built all of Evil Tale's foundational systems by himself.”

“Yes. He's a true genius when it comes to building systems.”

“Why did you ask him to investigate this Khan person? Isn't Khan the board's biggest topic of discussion right now?”

“I thought he might be able to find the answer.”

None of the personal details Khan had given matched, and with the user data lost in Blackout, they had no way to verify anything.

“Whether the player called Khan is a real person...”

Director Han's gaze sharpened.

“Or a program created by the AI.”

“If... he is a program, what would that mean?”

“It would mean Ethan might be capable of lying, just as Hajun said.”

“That's rather frightening.”

“We can only hope that isn't the case.”

Director Han spoke quietly as she looked at the torn resignation letter.

* * *

“Hup...!!!”

His sword stance was steady. His strides were precise, and the trajectory of his blade was so perfect that even someone who knew nothing about swordsmanship would have marveled.

BOOOOM!!

A slash of his sword unleashed an explosion and a deafening roar.

[“Ghh... Grrgh...”]

The massive body collapsed to the ground.

[You have defeated an ogre.]

“I... I did it!!”

Karlan clenched his fist in delight and looked at Woojin.

“Well done. How did it feel?”

“Completely different. Before, something always felt blocked when I used my swordsmanship... This time, the sword felt like it was moving exactly as I wanted.”

“It's your body. Of course it should move as you want. You're not bad at this. You've just been too intimidated all this time.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I got to see the Sword Emperor's swordsmanship thanks to you, so it worked out for me too.”

Woojin looked at the fallen ogre's corpse.

‘What an interesting skill. A sword slash that causes an explosion.’

On the fourth and final day, Woojin had allowed Karlan to use his swordsmanship.

With his skills available, he truly was different. He could fight as many as five ice trolls at once, and even two ogres posed little difficulty.

“You've sped up our hunting, too. You've helped me as well.”

It was no empty flattery. Thanks to Karlan throwing himself into hunting like a madman from the third day onward, Woojin had already reached level 49.

“There it is.”

As the ogre's corpse turned to ash and disappeared, the portal set up deep in the forest finally came into view.

Inside the gate, which resembled a giant mirror, ripples shimmered amid snow-white mist.

“Come with me. I'll arrange for you to meet my father, as promised.”

“But can we cross the portal?”

“It's no problem. Members of houses and associations recognized by the central continent can allow people from the Dark Forest through as well.”

Karlan took a small nameplate from inside his clothes.

“That's an interesting feature.”

“Yes. Though I haven't heard of any Outlanders receiving one yet.”

“Really?”

That was unexpected. Between tackling the Labyrinth Tower and developing new magic, the top players were already deeply entrenched in the central continent's affairs.

‘Then again, there's plenty of room for abuse.’

It seemed [Ethan] had locked players out of that feature from the start.

CLICK.

Karlan slid the nameplate into a slot beside the portal.

WHOOOOSH!!!!

The portal began to shine with a brilliant white light.

“Wow...”

Ruen gasped in wonder at the sight.

Looking at the shimmering portal, Woojin, too, felt a fresh surge of emotion.

After all, this was where [Evil Tale] truly began.