What Is This? Give It Back

What the hell?

After getting hit by a truck, I found myself staring at a landscape that had somehow unfolded before my eyes.

A strangely lavish floor. Colorful fairy-tale houses. A roller coaster and a Ferris wheel boasting magnificent presence. And all sorts of other attractions besides.

It was an amusement park that looked like something straight out of heaven.

……

A powerful sense of déjà vu washed over me. For all its dazzling colors and lights, not a single living soul was in sight — a bizarre, empty space. No children's laughter. No tender whispers between couples. Only the tinkling song of a carousel echoed mournfully through the air.

I knew exactly where this was.

"No way……"

I got to my feet and looked around. If this was the place I was thinking of, then I had done something halfway insane.

"Whoa — I passed out with my VR headset on?!"

I'd been this close to a clear, too.

But whose run was I carrying, again?

I couldn't remember. For the record, I'd already cleared it myself. Helping Chi-ai through it had been just the other day. I'd probably been coordinating with some online friends.

RollingMaQueen was studying for the police exam…

slugcream hyung was on a trip to Japan. Marang noona had already cleared it. Anseok hyungnim had gone radio silent.

Weird. I genuinely couldn't think of anyone who'd have asked me for a carry. And what day even was it today?

"Okay, standing around isn't going to help — I should move somewhere and——"

Squelch.

"……?"

I froze at the strange sensation. The ground felt oddly soft underfoot. Sure, entering the Magician Queen stage boosted your jump height, but had they really implemented tactile feedback like this? There was clearly no bed or sofa nearby.

I had no idea VR had advanced this far.

"……Wait. No."

What the hell — whose foot is this?

A black loafer with a red ribbon. As far as I knew, nobody in the protagonist's party wore shoes like these. Actually, more than the protagonist's party — this looked exactly like that one's.

……

I swallowed hard and looked further down. A black cape fastened at the front. Luxurious clothes embroidered with clovers and hearts. And something resting on top of my head — a hat, probably.

I straightened up and felt around my face. The thing that should have been there wasn't.

I'd been too disoriented to notice until now, but I was facing this entire situation without a VR headset on.

Don't even joke about that.

In the corner of my right field of vision, I spotted a full-length mirror. Half in dread, half already certain, I slowly turned my head. And then—

"……A status window?"

A profile floated up before my eyes.

"This is a dream, right?"

About a week, by my count.

"It's more livable than I expected……"

I was adapting surprisingly well. Food, clothing, and shelter were all taken care of right here inside.

At the amusement park's burger joint I could pick sandwiches, hamburgers, or some unidentifiable fried things. The drink stand had unlimited free refills of slushies and soda — just grab any cup size, hit the button, and it poured out ice-cold.

"I've been eating too much sweet stuff. Coffee. I need coffee."

There was even a café. Not some sad little stall with just americano and latte — a proper franchise, apparently.

They had drinks, of course, but also freshly baked bread and elaborate cakes — enough that you could handle all three meals in one place if you wanted. Day by day, I sank deeper into a sugar high.

"Buuuurp—!"

After stuffing myself, I'd head into one of the castle-shaped houses and sleep. Soft, fluffy bedding was always ready and waiting. The moment I laid my food-coma body down, consciousness got sucked straight into the dark.

About two weeks in.

"I-I'm so sorry!!!"

I bolted upright, kicking off the blankets, fists raised, scanning the room. I'd dreamed that the amusement park's toy monsters had ambushed me in the night. I'd witnessed so many brutal scenes on this stage that the PTSD had clearly set in.

Honestly, it'd felt off from the start… but I wasn't going to fix this overnight, was I?

Still, it was fine. Food, clothes, and a roof were all right here! I had all the time in the world to work through a little mental illness!

…About a month in.

The sun never set here, so my sense of time was shot. I'd slept maybe thirty times, so roughly thirty days had passed. Whatever.

"Hmm… can you even play board games alone?"

Daily life was starting to get old. It wasn't that I needed other people's attention, exactly — but the thought of having this entire vast space all to myself was getting a little dull. The park was the size of a small city, after all.

Before long I was killing time with Jenga and dice games. No need to walk all the way to the rides and fire them up, and more importantly, time flew by much faster this way.

"Hiyah! Make Party Bear!"

But even that had hit its limit. My brain was thoroughly ordinary — the same scenarios kept repeating, the same strategies every time. The only thing that changed was whether Blue (me) or White (Pecia) won, depending on the dice.

……

I stared at the status window and let out a hollow sigh. What kind of gate boss doesn't even have a single minion?

Was I doomed to never find a single opponent to play games with in this place?

About a month. And one day.

"……Hello."

"Yeah, hello."

"Who are you?"

I'd reached the point of holding conversations with myself. I went completely limp and plopped down on the floor like a beggar.

I had no choice but to admit it. Sure, I liked being alone — but that only applied when the outside world was still running properly. Without the premise that you could rejoin people whenever you wanted, even a solo type like me would slowly go insane.

So……

Amusement park. I quit.

How, you ask? Surprisingly, I could leave whenever I wanted. I'd just figured that with food, clothes, and shelter all provided, there was no real reason to go outside.

I'm going. This place gives me the creeps.

Fwoosh—!

I waved my hand once, and a small oval of something like outer space bloomed in front of me — a black void crowded with clusters of light.

"Urgh — why is the gate so tiny."

I barely made it out. Even with Mana Concealment activated… for a gate boss, my mana pool was ridiculously small. It could only hold a body-sized opening for a few seconds. And now my mana was completely drained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— I'd have to wait a long time before I could go back in.

"Haaah—!"

……

An evening city with the sun going down. Stepping outside, the air felt completely different. It was supposed to be a game landscape, but it barely differed from my previous reality. The same high-rise apartments lined the streets, cars queued on the roads, people laughed and chattered.

But that everyday scene hit me with a jolt of confusion — because the figures brushing past me weren't AI-generated NPCs. They were actual human beings.

"What's that? So cute."

"Must be cosplay. Wanna do it later too?"

"She's gotta be crazy."

Dialogue more real than anything I'd ever heard. Unlike in VR, people were reacting clearly to my bizarre outfit — as if they were genuine, living people.

This is actually wild.

I watched the couple walk away, then sat down on a park bench.

What do I do now?

I'd left because I was bored, but now that I was out, I had no idea what to actually do. The setting of Gate Apocalypse was modern day. Aside from mana power having developed in place of some electrical industries, the systemic side of things wasn't much different from before. You were born, given a name, given an identity. And every social activity required that identity — opening a bank account, getting a job, all of it.

…..First things first — maybe change out of this outfit so I look less suspicious?

"Hoit!"

Poof!

I had a set of teddy-bear-print pajamas in my inventory. Not exactly outdoor wear, but it'd draw less attention than this flashy magician look. I sent the clothes I was wearing back into the inventory.

Heh. Never gets old, no matter how many times I use it.

I found myself marveling at magic I'd cast myself. I knew it was one of Pecia's basic abilities, but the convenience was beyond anything I'd imagined. For a busy modern Korean, it was a quietly broken skill. Thanks to it, I could even change clothes outdoors like this.

"Come out, teddy-bear pajamas — hoit!"

Huh?

…Ah, damn it.

It hit me a second too late. I'd burned through all my mana opening the gate.

……

I blinked and looked down at myself. Naturally, I was still stripped bare — nothing but teddy-bear-print underwear hanging loosely on my frame. Panic started to set in.

This was the middle of a park. Even if it wasn't a main road, people out for a stroll passed through steadily.

"Ah, this is not a joke. Give them back, now."

I tried forcing the subspace open, but it was hopeless. All it did was burn through the pitiful trickle of mana that had been slowly recovering. The subspace flatly refused my knocking.

Didn't the game let you open and close the inventory without spending any mana?

What a weird ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠system, seriously.

"Oh my, why are you like that? Did something happen?"

……!

I spun around in shock. A tall woman had somehow approached without my noticing. There hadn't been anyone nearby — I hadn't even sensed a presence!

Instinctively I clenched my fists and curled up on the bench.

"W-who are you?!"

But the woman seemed just as startled. She kept a few steps of distance, watching me with a worried expression.

"I'm not a suspicious person. I was just worried about you."

To be fair — a girl found alone, half-naked, on a chilly autumn night. Walking past without stopping would have been the stranger thing. But I was an adult man. Getting concerned, kindly looks instead of suspicious ones while stripped bare was… disorienting, to say the least.

The woman glanced around, then without hesitation shrugged off her ivory coat and draped it over my shoulders.

"My car's just a little ways from here. Let's go talk there first."

The moment she took hold of my wrist, I felt it.

This woman… is a hunter!

And a fairly strong one, at that.