Chapter 111
Chapter 111
“Is this Moon-dae? Is it him?”
Park Moon-dae’s fansite master muttered to herself unconsciously as she tapped the screen. Since the character’s appearance was similar to the one in the comeback trailer, she couldn't help but be suspicious.
As the dialogue progressed, the character’s name, which had been displayed as ‘??’, was finally revealed.
And it wasn't ‘Park Moon-dae.’
[??: …Fine.]
[B11: Call me… B11. That’s enough.]
Then, a cutscene for adding a companion played, and the boy in the black hood spinning a glowing drone was added to the roster of playable characters.
Ah, so did Moon-dae copy this character instead?
She had seen a few advertisements with that kind of concept before, so she tried to brush it off, but her over-invested brain began spinning rapidly, analyzing the situation.
Wait a minute. Moon-dae’s jersey number in High Five was 11. If you think of the ‘B’ as coming from his surname, ‘Park’…!?
The university student gulped at the deduction that seemed to fit perfectly.
W-well, anyway, let’s keep playing…!
Surprised by the unexpected lore, the student continued her playthrough.
Besides, the game was actually quite fun.
The game was entirely first-person, starting with the protagonist falling into a sinkhole while out for a walk and being transported to a parallel world—a half-ruined Seoul.
[It is strange. You clearly left the house early in the morning, but the sky visible through the sinkhole is red and dark.]
[You think you hear someone crying and groaning from above, but you aren't certain.]
[You are extremely flustered, but you also worry that the sinkhole might collapse further if you stay still. What will you do?]
The atmosphere was somewhat bleak, but the fun of exploring a well-constructed world for the first time, combined with the abundance of choices, made it engaging and entertaining.
While it was primarily text-based, it didn't feel tedious because eye-catching graphics and illustrations were inserted during battles and key choices. It also required a mix of decent luck and strategy, keeping the tension high.
Hmm, I keep wanting to play. I’m curious about what happens next.
However, the story hadn't yet given much weight to this Moon-dae-lookalike companion or the other characters resembling TeSTAR members who kept joining the party.
Because of that, she found herself wondering if individual character stories would be released one by one in the future.
Ah, I wonder if there will be hints about TeSTAR’s lore too?
Some people might complain about being forced to play a game, but from the perspective of someone who had already decided to keep playing, it was quite thrilling.
The game progressed, and the character the student was controlling reached a subway station that was half-collapsed and overgrown with strange red masses.
[The station is pitch black, with only the emergency lights flickering. A strange, fishy smell seems to be wafting up. The subway doesn't appear to be running, yet announcements stating that a train is approaching continue to play.]
[B11: …Should I scout ahead?]
“Go together! We have to go together!”
The university student was completely immersed, enjoying the game with excitement.
It was then.
[A sudden vibration begins to shake the surroundings!]
[The massive red mass embedded underground flashes ominously, and with a horrific noise, strange things begin to sprout from the mass……]
A forced battle commenced.
And every single companion was killed by the horrific things that emerged from the red mass.
The last one remaining was B11, who resembled Park Moon-dae.
[B11: ……You, live.]
A cutscene played where B11 shoved the protagonist away with all his might.
Along with a vibration from the smartphone, the screen turned black.
…Then, the narration appeared again.
[…And when you regained consciousness, you realized you were alone.]
[All that remained were the belongings your companions left behind and the heavy weight of your own life.]
[Now you must navigate this ruined Seoul, , alone.]
Only then did the game’s opening screen appear. On the dark screen, the <127 SECTION> logo rose up against the backdrop of a biohazard symbol.
“……??”
The university student stared blankly at her smartphone for a moment, unable to process what had just happened.
After the short opening ended, a brief tip appeared on the loading screen.
[※ Companions who die in battle do not return. Ever.]
“……?!”
Only then did the student recoil in horror.
“What is—wh-what is this?!”
Something was definitely wrong.
What kind of game kills off all the companions as soon as it starts?!
She barely managed to pull herself together during the <CHAPTER 2> cutscene that started after the loading finished.
[You finally admit that you cannot do everything alone.]
[You need companions. Whether they are strategic allies or temporary partners.]
Right, there’s no way it ends like this!
The student recalled the complaints she’d heard from her gamer friends.
I heard there are plenty of developers who link every bit of game progress to spending money to gacha for characters!
If that were the case, she was willing to cry and spend her money even while cursing them, saying, ‘Are you treating me like an ATM? Isn't the intent to bleed me dry too malicious?’
Just Moon-dae, I’ll just pull Moon-dae and then…
However, after the cutscene ended, the character gacha pop-up that finally appeared had a warning attached.
[※ Characters you have already had as companions will not appear again.]
“Hey!!”
She couldn't understand why these crazy people wouldn't let her spend money even when she had it.
She hurriedly opened the internet.
Maybe he died because I picked the wrong choice…!
If that were the case, she could just follow a walkthrough and do it right this time! She logged onto social media with a sliver of hope.
And there, she saw fans rolling in a pit of fire.
“…….”
The university student felt faint.
And she wasn't the only one whose mind was reeling.
On TeSTAR’s trailer video, Korean comments were already starting to pile up at a terrifying speed.
Occasionally, people were seen trying to stop others from posting game spoilers or getting into arguments, but most were swept away by the deluge of comments.
Fortunately, the fans regained their composure after a while and began to worry about call-out posts like ‘The nuisance TeSTAR fans are causing for a new game.’
So, the comments mostly consisted of people just crying or screaming.
Meanwhile, foreigners who didn't know the situation were left confused, leaving comments like ‘What happened?’ and ‘Someone tell me why.’
The funny and sad thing was that, in the midst of all this, the game was actually fun, so people kept playing even while hurling insults.
Furthermore, elements to lure them in popped up one after another.
It was the costume shop that was added around the middle of Chapter 2.
[Gift your companions a new look!]
Clicking this pop-up would bring up costumes currently available for special purchase.
And the costumes being sold now, during the game’s launch season… were the costumes of the companions who had been brutally lost in Chapter 1.
Even though the fixed companions who died couldn't be pulled from the character gacha, they had made it possible to overlay their appearance onto others.
Moreover, descriptions like this were attached:
[Purple Drone Boy Costume]
[: The costume of someone who brings back faint memories. They once protected you.]
Thanks to this, people began popping up everywhere who pulled characters with similar stats and personality scripts just to overlay the costumes and play.
For the record, this phenomenon occurred among hardcore gamers as well.
However, they were a bit calmer. It was because they had already been victimized in the developer's previous work.
And just as they predicted, Ruin Factory did not open a gacha for the initial companion characters despite the flood of inquiries.
It was the developer’s stubbornness not to artificially provide companions who would break the flow of the story, as it was a time when users needed to be more immersed in the game’s world.
At the same time, it was also because the revenue was already performing insanely well even without it.
Things like this happened frequently.
A few TeSTAR fans and gaming enthusiasts who were completely immersed in the game drove the sales upward.
And in this process, most Section 127 players began to feel a sense of familiarity with TeSTAR.
Because small hints about the initial companions could be found occasionally in the later chapters of the game, this interest persisted for quite a long time.
Then, a piece of TeSTAR content that no one had expected was suddenly announced.
[TeSTAR ‘BETTER ME’ Official Music Video]
The music video for "BETTER ME," a sub-track from TeSTAR’s current promotions, had been released.
And the beginning of this music video… was the final scene of the game collaboration trailer.