Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Science-Like Magic VS Magic-Like Science (4)
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📰 Breaking News [Beyond Elysion. One week after the shocking death game declaration. Attack by a rival company, or rampage by an internal employee?] [Kaedics representative: "Service resumption is currently undecided." Will the blockbuster game that led the era vanish into the dustbin of history like this?] [Nebula should stop hiding in Kaedics' shadow and provide proper mental damage compensation to the victims. A sharp rebuke from the Youth Healthy Gaming Committee!] 💬 Forum Comments — Anon Fuck, so when the hell is Elysion resuming? I need to mine those Paradise Stones ASAP!! — Anon They didn't let us play for a week, so they'll give us that much extra time when it resumes, right? If not, I'll streak naked in front of their HQ. — Anon You crazies. A game that almost killed people, and you still wanna play it? — Anon Death game my ass. No matter how fucked the game server or GM gets, it can't do shit to a player's body. — Anon Exactly. The access device itself blocks that kinda shit, so commands like 'harm yourself, lancer!' just get ignored. — Anon But logout was actually blocked, wasn't it? Doesn't that mean they could hack devices and do dangerous stuff? — Anon Elysion has millions concurrent users—hacking them all at once? If you had that kinda power, why run a game? Just conquer the world. — Anon I'm an AI major, and no current AI can pull that off. That's just fiction exaggeration where one AI wreaks havoc worldwide. — Anon What's this Youth Healthy Gaming Committee? Never heard of 'em. — Anon New group with zero influence. Just biting to boost their own standing. — Anon Anyway, the death game bullshit was in the official notice, right? And logout was blocked for a bit. Doesn't that mean it's already fucked? — Anon Five minutes blocked ain't shit. Devs handled it sharp and shut it down quick. — Anon The incident happening at all is the problem, minutes or not. Who's to say it won't blow up bigger next time? — Anon By that logic, you could get hit by a car walking down the street. They handled it well, so I'm fine with resuming. — Anon Terror (5 mins). If I were that Lunara GM bitch, I'd delete my account and bounce from sheer embarrassment. — Anon lololol Tried acting like a game overlord all badass, got shut down instantly and memed with udon on her head. Total trash. — Anon Was there a GM named Erin too? Never saw her while playing. — Anon Only heard her voice, but she sounded like she'd have that evil noble lady vibe visually. "...This is something. Should I laugh or cry?"
Bae Byung-jin.
Before meeting the Ryu siblings, he had been Kaedics' Director of Technology. Now the Chief Technology Officer, the man let out a hollow chuckle.
It had been a week since the incident. Kaedics had made various preparations to weather the aftermath.
They'd 'requested' that politicians hold back on excessive attacks and imposed some information control regarding Ryu In-seo's death.
This served to prevent baseless conspiracy theories from spreading while they still hadn't grasped the full situation themselves, but it was also to shield the grieving family from being chewed up by the tabloids like dog treats.
With the security team Kaedics had personally assigned failing to protect him, they could hardly escape blame. Letting the remaining family get torn apart afterward would be an embarrassment beyond measure.
However, they hadn't directly manipulated user opinions. Misusing such tactics in an incident this hot would only invite a bigger backlash.
They were prepared to take some flak and simply endure the rest with their weight class.
Yet, contrary to those preparations, public opinion toward Beyond Elysion wasn't all that bad.
No, it went beyond not bad—there was more sentiment that was favorable, or at least demanding they hurry up and resume service.
It had even quieted those calling to shut down the game immediately and cut ties with Nebula Inc.
Undeniably good news for Bae Byung-jin personally and for Kaedics as a company.
But Bae Byung-jin couldn't just rejoice in the situation.
"No matter how you slice it, isn't there way too little sense of crisis here?"
Of course, it wasn't incomprehensible.
To those unaware of the mysteries surrounding Ryu In-seo's death or that Kaedics still hadn't regained control from Nebula, the Elysion incident was just one of countless everyday glitches.
In a way, it was blowback from Ryu Ye-rin's response being too swift.
Even within Kaedics, voices were starting to emerge saying it might be best to resume the game quickly.
It was then, as Bae Byung-jin pondered countermeasures while gazing at the sky—
A massive screen appeared abruptly overhead.
"What?"
Bae Byung-jin rubbed his eyes, but no matter how much he waved his arms or blinked, the display stubbornly remained plastered against the blue sky.
That made it all the more bizarre.
If he were logged into the game, sure—but suddenly seeing this in his office while lost in thought?
Bae Byung-jin called his secretary and asked.
"You see that thing in the sky too?"
"...Pardon? Ah, yes. I see it."
His secretary, usually sharp as a tack, reacted sluggishly this time.
Meaning he was shocked too.
Looking down at the street through the transparent glass walls, he saw pedestrians buzzing and gradually turning their gazes skyward.
And once enough eyes were drawn—
🌌 GLOBAL BROADCAST 🌌 "Hello, everyone. My name is Lunara! I'm your guide here with some great news!" A voice echoed "inside his head."
In Korean, English, French, Japanese, Chinese—every language Bae Byung-jin knew, all at once.
Seeing his wide-eyed secretary react similarly, Bae Byung-jin realized he wasn't alone, and turned back to the screen.
There stood a woman.
Beautiful features. Blue hair. Golden eyes.
Less a real person, more a character—like an avatar from a VR game, realistic yet ethereal.
Beaming cheerfully, she continued with evident delight.
🌌 LUNARA'S MESSAGE 🌌 "Some of you might be wondering already. Huh? 'Wasn't Lunara that dark blob thing?'" "Truth is, that's just an avatar I use when I can't show my real face. But my sponsor hit me with a reality check that a drab look like that wouldn't win fans. Boo-hoo. Anyway, I'll be using this form from now on, so take good care of me!" "The 'great news' I have for you today is about a certain game. Beyond Elysion—my favorite. We had a super fun event lined up, but an unexpected incident cut it short before it even started." "So this time, we're relaunching with something hotter, more thrilling, and packed fuller! Woo! Applause!" As might be expected, no one applauded the self-proclaimed Lunara's words.
They just pointed or held up phones to record the sky.
🌌 EVENT REBOOT 🌌 "First off, let's talk rewards. Last time was the classic 'survival and escape—your adventure is the real treasure' route, but apparently that's stale these days, so I added some fun goodies. Here—see these two subjects?" The screen shifted abruptly, showing two beds with a man and woman lying on them.
The man was wrinkled all over, breathing through a tube, barely clinging to life. The woman had severe burns marring her skin, one leg entirely gone.
Lunara smirked, pulling out a blue vial and a red one. She fed the blue to the woman, the red to the man.
The reaction was dramatic.
The dying old man's wrinkles faded, his frame reshaped into a tall young man's. The woman's ravaged skin healed clean, her missing leg regrew, restoring her youthful bloom.
Stunned, they examined themselves, then wept in gratitude.
🌌 REWARDS REVEALED 🌌 "Red is 'Panacea,' blue is 'Rejuvenation Potion.' That's just a demo, but we'll poll participating players on what they want, and add new rewards accordingly. Oh, but no ressing the dead—that's beyond even us, so heads up." "Some of you might suspect this is faked. To ease those doubts, we'll randomly select 50 viewers per broadcast location for sample Panaceas and Rejuvenation Potions. They're lite versions, so weaker than the real deal. With simultaneous broadcasts worldwide, that's about 10,000 distributed. If you still call it a scam after that... uh, yeah, just live like that forever. I don't wanna talk to you either. Anyway, gift time! Here we go!" Right after Lunara playfully snapped her fingers—
The air before Bae Byung-jin shimmered like heat haze, and a red vial materialized.
"Heh."
Witnessing this blatant defiance of scientific common sense, Bae Byung-jin unwittingly let out a gasp.
🌌 HOW TO WIN 🌌 "To earn rewards: Join our game and clear it safely! Top 100 performers get a Panacea, Rejuvenation Potion, or equivalent. Even if your performance is middling but you survive to clear, we promise something decent." "The game runs on a modified Beyond Elysion stage. Don't worry—servers fully reset! Everyone starts at level 1, so newbies won't be hopelessly behind vets. Info gaps exist, but we'll 'adjust' appropriately." "Finally, how to join: Super simple." Lunara flashed a wicked grin, raising one hand.
🌌 JOIN NOW 🌌 "Raise either hand like this and declare 'I will participate in the game.' Normally we'd prefer game pod logins for convenience, but corporate regs and society bullshit get annoying, so we made it will-based! Effort on our part." "Oh, your real body vanishes while playing, so no worries about managing it. External factors outing a player would kill our vibe too." "Recruitment ends in 24 hours. Hope many brave souls join!" Pop.
Like switching off a TV, the sky screen vanished.
A midday daydream come and gone.
But the red vial remaining insistently in reality reminded Bae Byung-jin this was no dream.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Someone blinded by rewards shouted their participation.
Someone dismissing it all as a joke shouted playfully.
The terminally ill, facing death or endless pain, shouted in desperation.
Various organizations, verifying the potions' effects, secretly selected agents to shout.
"We've made contact with Nebula. As I instructed last time, we've been analyzing their mystery power. Failed on real-world observation limits, but now they've fused it fully with Beyond Elysion, so analysis is progressing smoothly." "So, the conclusion?"
"Even modified, the base is still our system. Survive in the game long enough, and we might steal their tech. Maybe even control of Beyond Elysion itself." "Then we do it. Damn bastards. If they have that tech, why hijack ours instead of building their own from scratch?"
Fuming that their own game was being abused, a certain pair of siblings resolved to join.
In a time when the game mattered more than global lives lost, these folks weren't exactly sane either.