Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Death Game Start
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Naturally, few people took Lunara's "broadcast" seriously.
💬 Comments — Anonymous Wow, Kaedics. Trying to flip public opinion? Pulling out every damn show in the book. — Anonymous The event planner's brain must be pickled in webnovels. Even if you're bluffing, keep it moderate. — Anonymous But that noise marketing is sweet, huh? The whole world's losing it over this. All sorts of rumors were flying around—composites, fakes, holographic projections, you name it.
But.
📰 Breaking News [Red pill—this thing's real? Just took a sip like it was a drink, and my wrist and shoulder arthritis pain that's been killing me? Gone. Completely.] — Reply Yeah, next fake. — Reply I tried it too—suddenly I can draw sword qi. Feels like a huge win. — Reply No, seriously, fuck, it's real. — Reply But what if the stuff inside is weird? Why eat it? I'd steer clear just on vibes. 📰 Breaking News [Guys, the blue pill is real. Video dropped. (Video of a streamer's face rapidly youthening)] — Reply Wow, synthesis tech these days is wild. — Reply That streamer doesn't look like that. Scamming with fakes? Disappointing. — Reply Saw some old dude hawking blue pills on the street with a megaphone. 📰 Breaking News [Kids, everyone thinks this is fake, but it's not. I was home alone, and suddenly a pill bottle popped up right in front of me. Out of thin air. Don't brush it off—take it seriously. It's really dangerous.] — Reply Real? Then you owe me a burger. — Reply Watch yourself. Messing with pills alone at home is risky. — Reply Hey, same here—pill popped out of empty air. This is real. No joke. 📰 Breaking News [Those with pills right now—do not reveal you have them. Internet's full of "fake pill" posts, but IRL, people are hunting down owners to buy them. Absolutely, never go public.] — Reply No activity history on this account, first post ever. Blank account. Ignore. — Reply The guy above is also a blank account? — Reply This what they call bringing disaster on yourself? 📰 Breaking News [Hey, the streamer I was watching just vanished mid-recording. What do? (Video link)] —Yes, tons of rumors flying about Beyond Elysion, so I'll fact-check for you. Watch closely now. See my right hand raised? Entering the game like this. See? Nothing hap—(screen shows person suddenly vanishing)—
Fake, right? Just staging? Please tell me it's staging. To boost views or respond to superchats, streamers who jokingly shouted "participation declarations" vanished mid-broadcast.
Kids in classrooms playing dare games, yelling "chicken?" at each other—the one who shouted the first "participation declaration" actually vanished, leaving everyone stunned.
Prison guards, officers mid-roll call—they panicked as inmates and soldiers suddenly went "missing."
Once the government grasped the severity, they issued special broadcasts, disaster alerts, SNS warnings: do not shout participation declarations. People finally realized this wasn't a prank or stunt and stopped the mad challenge. But in less than 30 minutes, the number of missing had already surpassed tens of thousands.
And amid this madness, Ryu Ye-rin...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "I have to join the game."
The reaction after I stated my intent to my parents was nothing short of dramatic.
"No, absolutely not! What kind of nonsense is that?!"
The piercing scream made my ear throb.
Our Lady Kang rarely raised her voice like this. Especially not to me.
Even when I treated college half like a nameplate and chose gaming as my career, when I started the company with my brother, when I suggested moving to escape threats from reporters and thugs—Lady Kang always trusted and supported me.
But even she seemed to have hit her limit this time.
My stepfather, beside her, continued gravely.
"Ye-rin. Things are chaos outside. People vanishing everywhere, rumors the game's eating folks. You put heart into your creation, so the hate stings, but we need to stay calm."
"Dad. I'm not acting out of excitement or lost reason."
Of course, I was pissed at whatever Lunara—or Lunashit—doing weird crap with our work.
But I'm not the type to act on raw impulse like "pissed, so smash."
"Joining the game is dangerous? Sure, possible. But not joining is even more dangerous for me."
"What do you mean? More dangerous?"
"Everyone's confused now, but once this settles, the blame will head straight for Kaedics and Nebula."
Logically, absurd.
Thief steals sword from museum, kills with it—thief's fault, not curator or donor.
But when has the world ever run on pure logic and reason?
"The real culprits are Lunara and her backers. But if we don't catch them, people will pin it on the game we made and everyone involved."
"Kaedics is a big corp. They'll protect us—or we flee overseas..."
"Legal revenge? No. Assassins breaching guards? Rare. But limits exist. No guarantee they'll shield us forever."
To break this, flip the board.
Not whine innocence—dive in, solve, prove our contribution.
Haters will hate anyway... No choice. Better struggle than wait for doom.
If brother's plan works, we'll gain power to shrug off backlash. Worth hoping.
"What if it backfires? If something happens to you, how am I supposed to live?! Ye-rin, Mom's begging. Please, let's just stay quiet? Okay?"
"It's fine, Mom. Have I ever failed at something I said I'd do? So relax—"
The persuasion that followed... was long and grueling.
Stepdad yielded to logic, quick. Mom? Emotional wall—pure ordeal.
10 hours on one topic—even my sturdy body couldn't dodge fatigue.
Still, I got frontal permission.
「...Told you to fake it moderately or sneak in. Would've been way easier.」
As brother said, claim Kaedics sent me overseas temp, hide—or log in first, report after.
More efficient, sure.
But I shook my head at him.
"Brother doesn't get hearts at all. This isn't efficiency—it's about sincerity and courtesy."
「Sincerity and courtesy?」
"No intent to fail, but people are unpredictable. What if I half-ass it, sneak in, and die? How'd you two feel?"
Some might say: Telling them leads to lifelong "should've stopped her" regret.
Better solve secretly, no worry.
I disagreed completely.
"Doing for someone while hiding from them? Feels like disrespecting them. Hate it."
「……」
Brother in the smartphone went quiet.
Situation's mess, him hiding survival—probably stung, thinking post-resolve reveal better.
Taste issue, not forcing mine.
"Anyway, prep done?"
「Done with CTO Bae Byung-jin. Send play data, they'll analyze hard. Parents safe with them.」
"You? Can't join as player like that."
「Planted code in Lv10 auto-reward Random Companion Box. You pull it, slots my data into companion.」
"So pet gacha spits you out?"
「Companion, not pet. Includes humanoid NPCs, so pet's inaccurate—」
"Yeah, yeah. Got it. No nitpicking. Game calls 'em pets, why freak?"
「……」
After, preps till the wire.
Stuffed VR Beyond and mobile version info in my head.
Culprits modded it, but base is ours. Can't fully trust game knowledge, but reference gold.
1 hour to player recruitment end.
Final parent goodbyes. I lay in the game capsule quietly.
Body vanishes on declaration—pointless maybe, but vital ritual for me.
Only way to proudly claim entering our game.
"I participate in the game."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A brief floating sensation, then dizziness.
I came to in a familiar white space.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Welcome to the world of Beyond Elysion. The emotionless yet familiar voice greeted me politely.
Felt like calling out "Nebula," but better stay low-key till Lv10 and brother rejoin.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Beginning character creation. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Please decide on a name. "Erin."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Erin" is available. Register this name? "Yes."
One big debate with brother during planning: this ID.
He said since they know "Erin" from screwing us over, change it. I argued inevitable exposure during play, better keep for negotiating with other players.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Name registration complete. Commencing appearance settings. Avoid excessive body changes to prevent dissonance. I set appearance to my pre-reset character: body true-to-life, tweaked hair/eye color, overall face to lazier, sharper vibe.
Real me screams top student or bright rookie. This? More languid, venomous.
Then, the highlight: class selection.
Brother bloated classes uselessly—advanced, hidden, chaos. I smashed his ambitions with iron fists.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 『Warrior』. Versatile with all weapons, specialized in physical combat. 『Mage』. Wields diverse attack spells, boasts immense firepower. 『Priest』. Supports allies with heals and buffs. 『Holy Knight』. Blends Warrior physicals and Priest support. Tanky, but slow and low DPS. 『Dark Knight』. Warrior physicals plus Mage spells. Huge firepower, weak defense. 『Bard』. Mage attacks plus Priest support. Learns any magic, but lower efficiency. I smiled contentedly at the neat six distinct classes...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 『Martial Artist』. Outsider from a dragon-qi continent. Consumes qi for devastating combat prowess. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 『Hunter』. Outsider from a death-qi continent. Wields special firearm, excels at range. "I balanced it perfectly, and you're shoving in DLC!?"