The Possession

Possession. People inevitably grow tired when confined to one place for too long. It makes sense—who wouldn’t get sick of the same damn routine every single day? That’s why soldiers obsess over their leave. And it’s not just soldiers. Office workers are the same.

“I need a drink.”

My voice echoed through the empty office. Normally I’d never say something like that out loud. But right now, there was no one here. Everyone else had already gone home.

Haah, being the youngest in the company is absolute dogshit.

I’d finally gotten the job I wanted—at a game company, no less. And not just any position; I’d come in as a developer. I thought I’d be happy. Of course, reality was far crueler.

“Seunghwan, can you get me some coffee?”

“Seunghwan, is that still not done yet?”

“Seunghwan, if you keep working like that you’re going to fall behind your peers.”

After finally landing the job, the reality was listening to the higher-ups nag me every single day. Well, compared to the military, this was practically paradise. The army was worse in every possible way. Still, it didn’t stop the irritation from building up.

Honestly, the overtime is what really pisses me off.

The nagging I could just let go in one ear and out the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if it wasn’t my fault. But overtime ate up my personal time. And it wasn’t just one day—this had been consecutive full overtime for several days now.

“Huu, what’s the point of thinking about this crap. I should just finish the work and get out of here.”

I shifted my gaze back to the monitor in front of me. The next moment, the game we’d been grinding our teeth over at the company filled the screen. Albaon Online.

“You can really tell they threw money at this.”

The graphics were on a completely different level from anything that had come before. NPCs that talked and moved like real people. It looked like a game that would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be almost impossible to fail.

If only I’d been the one to make this…

Unfortunately, while I was an employee here, I hadn’t actually worked on it. It was already nearly finished when I joined, and no one hands major responsibilities to a new hire.

The most I could hope for was to be an extra, I guess.

Anyway, there was only one thing I did. I played the game before its official release and checked for bugs. That was literally it.

At this rate I’m going to know every single route inside and out.

With that thought, I resumed the game I hadn’t finished yesterday. I hunched forward like a turtle, staring so hard at the screen it felt like I might burn a hole through it.

A little while later.

“Haa, this is brutally hard.”

I had finally finished today’s tasks. It felt like I’d just escaped from prison. Was this really why I got this job? A sudden wave of reality hit me hard. I let out a shallow sigh and looked at the screen again.

I haven’t cleared every route yet.

Still, I’d made pretty good progress. More importantly, I needed to think about the bugs that had appeared today.

Why the hell does this one character cause bugs every single time he shows up?

I moved my character over to the extra who kept triggering the glitches. An NPC with black hair and black eyes. On the surface he looked quite handsome, but in reality ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was nothing more than an extra. He barely appeared in the story at all.

Yet every time this guy showed up, strange bugs kept occurring. At this point, it wasn’t unreasonable to suspect the character was cursed.

“Sssip. Just what the hell is causing this?”

Should I check it out once? Curiosity suddenly got the better of me.

I scrolled down through the character settings in Albaon Online. Sure enough, near the very bottom—just as expected for an extra—was the bugged character.

His name is Baran?

As expected of an extra, he wasn’t a noble but a commoner. He didn’t even have any talents or traits, unlike the main characters.

Looking at him like this, he really seems completely worthless.

Albaon Online was based on a novel. He was probably a character who didn’t even appear in the original story.

If he was supposed to appear, the author would have mentioned him.

But there wasn’t even a single reference. So Baran was definitely an extra.

“Doesn’t look like he’s part of the demon race either.”

The main enemies in Albaon Online were the demon race. The game had a standard fantasy world with magic and swords. Naturally, the demon race served as humanity’s greatest foe, and their god—the Demon God—was the final boss.

The reason I’d suspected Baran might be a demon was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simple. The characters that caused bugs were usually connected to the Demon God. So I’d wondered if Baran might be one too, but contrary to my expectations, he was just an ordinary human.

His status window doesn’t show anything special, and his level isn’t high either.

He wasn’t given any major role either. Hmm. Should I mess with him a bit? He’s just an extra anyway. No one would really care.

And if I don’t like it, I can just delete him again.

I looked Baran over carefully. I couldn’t change his appearance since that was the designer’s job.

Hmm. Since I’m giving him something, maybe I should give him one 5-star trait?

Even the protagonist only had one 5-star trait at the beginning. And that trait only activated in critical situations. What would happen if I gave something like that to an extra?

Curiosity fully ignited, I examined each trait in detail.

“This one looks the best.”

At first glance, the description seemed ordinary. But the ability to perceive anything? To someone who had actually played the game, this was an absolutely broken ability.

In a game full of so many variables, being able to perceive everything meant instantly understanding weaknesses and opponents’ abilities.

Of course there was the drawback of having to close your eyes, but honestly, that didn’t matter. The moment you used it, you could see everything behind you too.

Well, it does make you look like a blind person.

It’s not like I was the game character myself, so who cared? Besides, a penalty like that for this level of ability was actually a steal. It’s not like I’d have to live with my eyes closed forever.

“Sssip. Anyway, let’s add more.”

I became completely absorbed in the extra named Baran as if he were a character I’d been raising myself. The result was exactly what I wanted.

Yeah. This should be enough.

I smiled as I reviewed the settings I’d added.

Calmness was practically a must-have trait in a game with so many variables. I had to include it.

Mana Application was essential too. While mana quantity could be increased through effort or elixirs, application was purely a matter of talent.

And Archer Master—among the main characters, there wasn’t a single archer. I didn’t know why, but in my opinion, if used well, there was no weapon better than a bow in this world. Especially since this was a world with mana and magic. The possibilities were endless.

The combination of Calmness and Mind’s Eye looks pretty good too.

Then for personality…

Let’s just make him speak formally.

Once I finished setting his personality, the extra was finally complete. Looking at the result on screen, a sudden wave of reality hit me.

“Haa, what the hell am I even doing?”

Instead of going home when I should have, I’d gotten completely absorbed in one single extra. I could have gone home, cracked open a can of beer, and gone to sleep. That would have been much better for me.

“Tsk. I should just revert him and leave already.”

I moved the mouse to click the cancel button.

—Vrrrr.

Suddenly my phone started vibrating.

Huh? What is it?

There was no one who would contact me. If anyone, it would have been my parents, but both of them had passed away three years ago. So there shouldn’t be anyone calling me.

“Hmm?”

Wondering what it could be, I took out my phone and checked. An unknown number had sent me a message.

The author? How does this person have my number?

Wondering if it was some kind of prank, I frowned. I was about to block the number when another message appeared.

What? Possessor? What the hell is this nonsense?

As I wondered what was going on—

“Huh?”

Suddenly my head began to spin. At the same time, my vision tilted sideways. Just as my body was about to collapse, my vision went completely dark.

“Even thinking about it now, it was such a shitty thing. Fuck.”

That was how I ended up possessing the extra character named Baran.