Mother and the Deserted Island (2)
I panicked so badly that an excuse slipped out before I could stop myself. "No, Mom, it's not like that. Haha, why is this happening? Hahaha."
What exactly wasn't it like? Saying that only made things weirder. Mom looked embarrassed as she tugged the hem of her negligee downward, her cheeks flushing red.
"No, it's my fault. I never meant to meet you dressed like this, Changjae."
The negligee was so short that it must have been bothering her. The thin fabric made her bra faintly visible, and lower down, her panties showed through as well. No matter how close we were as family, this wasn't something a stepmother should show her stepson.
──The moment that thought crossed my mind.
You have successfully stolen a glance at your partner's panties. You have earned 2 coins.
I immediately yanked the phone from my pocket and hurled it at the cave wall.
-Thud!
The phone smashed against the stone with a loud crash. Damn it! That was an expensive one...!
…But I had no choice. If I left it alone, who knew what other weird crap it would spit out next. My meager soldier's salary was about to take another hit, but it was a necessary sacrifice.
While I was still brooding over the pain of this forced conscription, another mysterious message rang out from the phone I thought I'd smashed to pieces.
This terminal is an indestructible object. It will also respawn at its original location if moved beyond a certain distance. Please be advised.
Right after that, the phone slowly faded away from where it lay. Just like polygons dissolving in a game.
"Uh…"
It was an utterly unreal sight. On a completely different level from waking up to find my mom in her pajamas. An object that had been perfectly fine had suddenly vanished. That kind of thing was physically impossible.
"How??"
──And then the vanished phone was back inside my pocket again.
This wasn't just confusing anymore. It was terrifying. The kind of fear that made goosebumps rise all over my body.
"Changjae?"
Mom tilted her head, completely unaware of what had just happened. I'd been trying to make sense of the situation, but in the end I gave up on understanding it.
"…There really are all kinds of strange things in the world, Mom."
Even so, I forced a calm smile in front of her. With a trembling hand, I pulled the phone out again. Despite slamming it full force into the stone wall, there wasn't a single scratch on it. The military security sticker was still there. It was definitely the same phone I'd been using until now.
But right now, it looked like something else entirely. Something created by alien technology that surpassed human comprehension.
As I stared blankly at the phone, another alert sound rang out.
Would you like to begin the tutorial? (Yes/No)
"…Tutorial?"
I wasn't stupid enough to ignore a suspicious message like this in a situation like this. Maybe watching the tutorial would give me some answers. I tapped the "Yes" option on the screen.
Tutorial commencing.
"Mom. Come over here and watch this with me."
"Ah, okay."
Just in case, I decided we should watch it together. Mom, looking tense and hunched, came to stand beside me. Now that I noticed, she was barefoot, without any shoes. The stone floor was jagged—would she be okay? She might hurt herself.
No. I'd think about that later. Right now, the important thing was watching this so-called tutorial.
The phone began playing a video that looked like the opening of a cheap mobile game.
The Island of Dreams and Fantasy! The world of freedom and pleasure! We sincerely welcome all participants to the beta test of the full-scale metaverse utopia, Metapia: Island of Miracles!
…What beta test? I never signed up for anything like that.
I wanted to protest, but I kept my mouth shut for now. This might give me important information. I couldn't afford to miss a single word.
Metapia: Island of Miracles is a full-scale metaverse deserted island survival game. From now on, you and the partner beside you must survive together on this mysterious deserted island until the day you escape.
I burned every single word from the phone into my memory. Metaverse utopia. Metaverse deserted island survival game. Those terms meant this wasn't reality—it was some kind of virtual space, like a VR game.
The unreal events, like the phone suddenly disappearing and reappearing in my pocket, would make sense if this was virtual reality. If it wasn't, there was no way to explain any of it.
But… could current VR technology really create an environment this vivid, indistinguishable from reality? It wasn't just sight and sound. I could clearly feel Mom's body heat beside me, her scent, even the sound of her breathing.
I'd tried the latest VR games, but nothing like this existed. This seemed like something that wouldn't be possible for several more generations. Just thinking about it felt overwhelming.
Items necessary for survival can be obtained through hunting or looting. You can also purchase them from the shop using coins earned by completing achievements or missions.
Hunting and looting. Achievements and missions. Coins and shop. The common thread was that these were all words you'd only encounter in games. So was this some kind of game world?
But the sense of reality was far too strong to accept that. This being VR sounded like nonsense.
Metapia: Island of Miracles pursues the highest possible degree of freedom. In the Metapia world, you are not bound by any legal restrictions from the real world. Violent crimes such as robbery, murder, and rape are all fully permitted. However, please keep in mind that just as there are no restrictions on you, there are none on others either.
In normal VR games, sexual misconduct would get you banned immediately and could even lead to real-world punishment. But here, it seemed not even those minimal rules applied.
Still, how was that possible? Human society only functions with the framework of law. Without laws, it would be no different from the animal kingdom. The strong would take everything, and the weak would lose everything.
Was that the concept behind this Metapia world?
Everyone currently participating in Metapia: Island of Miracles is a duplicated personality. Your 'main body' is still living normally in reality, so please rest assured.
The phone kept spitting out new information without giving me time to process it. The next screen showed me swapping shifts with the next soldier on duty.
…My 'main body' was still living normally? So right now, I was just a virtual personality inside a virtual reality? Was I basically a brain in a vat?
I was stunned by the absurd claim when the scene changed again. This time it wasn't me—it showed Mom getting up from bed and starting to change out of her pajamas.
"Ah!"
Mom quickly covered my eyes with both hands. Mom, if you're going to cover something, wouldn't it make more sense to cover the phone screen instead of my eyes? Actually… this was… hmm. This was bad.
I couldn't focus on the tutorial at all.
Everyone present in Metapia: Island of Miracles is a completely separate entity from your main body. But that would make things feel too relaxed, wouldn't it? So we've prepared a groundbreaking system! If you die in Metapia: Island of Miracles, your real main body will also die.
"──What?"
The screen showed me again, returning to the barracks after my shift. I was walking back normally when I suddenly clutched my chest and collapsed. It looked exactly like a heart attack.
Maybe because the person in the video was me, the footage felt terrifyingly real. I unconsciously checked to make sure my own heart was still beating properly. Every hair on my body stood on end.
"Ugh…!"
Mom must have felt the same, because she covered her mouth and swallowed hard. The screen then switched back to Mom, now fully dressed. Just like I'd collapsed, the Mom on screen suddenly clutched her forehead and fell. It looked like a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.
It wasn't some cheap deepfake. It was real footage of me and Mom collapsing. The video was so realistic that I had no choice but to believe it.
If you die in Metapia: Island of Miracles, your real-world selves will also die. But don't be discouraged. If you survive until the end, various rewards will be given to your real selves. Work together with your partner and survive!
Survive. That meant we could die.
What kind of environment was this Metapia: Island of Miracles that it would say something like that? The mention of unlimited robbery, murder, and rape probably meant there were other survivors on this island.
If people were suddenly dropped into a lawless zone like that, how would they act? Would they cooperate to survive? Or would it turn into a death game where they killed each other instead?
The video had said there would be no penalties for killing others and taking their things. I wasn't naive enough to believe human nature was inherently good. But right now, with nothing to lose, there shouldn't be any reason for people to fight each other──
That was as far as I got before I realized something.
I did have something to lose.
"Changjae… what are we going to do now…?"
Mom grabbed my arm, the one holding the phone. Her hand was trembling faintly. She was leaning on me to shake off her fear.
That's right. It wasn't that I had nothing. I had something that could be taken from me.
Kill the men, take the women. That was the natural law in a primitive society without rules. If, as the video said, there would be no consequences for anything that happened on this island, then it was entirely possible for other survivors to kill me and take Mom.
Looking at Mom, who seemed on the verge of tears, I clenched my teeth and forced a smile.
"Mom, this sounds fun, doesn't it? It's a survival game."
No matter what, I would protect Mom. That was the first rule I set for myself on this insane deserted island.