The Broken Pattern

'Since Smiley is a toy, maybe this will help heal him?'

It was a form of insurance.

I was in the middle of fulfilling the conditions for the True Ending, so I couldn't afford to get on the toys' bad side.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, sorry. Just tying my shoelaces."

I jogged to catch up with Park Seong-gyeon, casting a quick glance over my shoulder.

"..."

The candy sitting on Smiley's hand remained untouched.

The mechanical whirring that had been buzzing until a moment ago had simply stopped.

It didn't seem to have much of an effect.

We passed through a long corridor adorned with murals introducing the various toys of HasPack, eventually coming face-to-face with a massive plastic door.

Dozens of small, multicolored levers protruded from the walls and ceiling on both sides of the door.

"Second Lieutenant Park, the right side," Mo Hae-in commanded.

As she extended her toy claw, the plastic chain extended with a sharp rattle, grabbing a lever on the ceiling.

She swiftly pulled down the colored levers on the left wall and ceiling.

Park Seong-gyeon took charge of the right wall and ceiling, pulling down his set of levers.

Normally, one would have to look at the color patterns painted on the floor to manipulate the levers, but seeing how they had memorized the pattern entirely, they were clearly accustomed to clearing HasPack.

Click. As the final lever snapped into place, a cheerful melody began to play, and the plastic door slid open.

Mo Hae-in and Park Seong-gyeon stepped inside without hesitation.

This was where players would begin their first shift as factory workers.

The task was to sort the toys coming down the conveyor belt. As it was the first shift, the difficulty was supposed to be easy.

But unlike the two leading the way, I quietly slowed my pace.

Because...

"C-Captain."

"...The pattern is broken."

One by one, from the entrance to the deep interior, the lights flickered on with heavy, mechanical clunks, gradually revealing the darkened room.

An upbeat yet inexplicably eerie melody filled the space.

The toys, which should have been spinning peacefully on the conveyor belt, were all down on the floor.

They stared at Mo Hae-in and Park Seong-gyeon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with glassy, reflective eyes.

'This is why you shouldn't have beaten up Smiley...'

Swallowing a sigh, I stealthily edged my way toward the safe zone.

As a government organization, the Trial Response Agency enforced strict rules within Trials.

Among them, the most emphasized rule was "No unnecessary contact with NPCs."

This was to minimize contact and reduce the risk of virus infection.

Trials originating from outer space carried a peculiar virus.

If infected, a person's body would mutate, and they would develop extreme aggression toward humans.

As a soldier of the Sidae Agency, Mo Hae-in followed the rules to the letter.

This was likely her first time launching a preemptive strike on an NPC. While she might have anticipated some narrative shift, she probably hadn't expected the story to derail this drastically.

The route Mo Hae-in was currently on was the highest difficulty: the Collapse Ending route.

By attacking Smiley, the very first NPC to appear, every single toy in the factory had become completely hostile toward the players.

The players would be subjected to relentless toy attacks at every stage, culminating in an escape from a burning factory to trigger the ending.

The text that appeared at the end of the Collapse Ending was particularly chilling.

It was an ending still vivid in my memory.

'But the Collapse Ending route is also connected to the True Ending route.'

If I played my cards right, I could trigger HasPack's True Ending while maintaining my facade as an ignorant civilian.

As I recalled the Collapse Ending, a child's voice broadcasted over the speakers, accompanied by music.

"It's the adult who bullied Smiley. An a-dult. A boring adult."

Hundreds of toys stared at Mo Hae-in and Park Seong-gyeon, swaying their bodies to the music as if warming up.

Left, right, left, left, right...

"We want to make the adult fun."

"But they're already an adult. Adult. A-d-u-l-t. No. I hate it. Boring."

"Aha!"

The sound of clashing cymbals and children's cheers echoed through the room.

"We found the answer. Let's make the adult small!"

"Small. Small. Small. Like a child. L-l-l-like a child. Small. Small."

"Pieces. Pieces. Pieces. Pieces. Pieces."

Mo Hae-in barked an order.

"The civilian!"

Park Seong-gyeon, who had been tilting his head left and right in sync with the toys, snapped out of his daze.

Spitting out a curse, Park Seong-gyeon shot his toy claw forward, grabbing me by the waist and hoisting me onto the conveyor belt.

"If you don't want to die, stay put right here!"

It was his way of saying he wouldn't save me no matter what happened.

"Yes, sir!"

I answered Park Seong-gyeon energetically while swallowing a sigh inside.

The conveyor belt registered the player as a toy. It was a safe zone used to evade attacks in HasPack.

However, there was one thing neither Park Seong-gyeon nor Mo Hae-in knew.

On the Collapse route, the conveyor belt was useless.

"Turning the grown-up into a kid, staaart!"

The broadcast ended with the sound of children's laughter. The swaying toys suddenly leaped forward like popping corn, swarming toward us.

Mo Hae-in extended her toy arm toward the ceiling.

Clinging to a pipe running across the ceiling, she slashed her human hand through the empty air.

A halberd made of black obsidian materialized.

It was Mo Hae-in's signature item, the Black Obsidian Halberd.

The Trial Response Agency recommended clearing a Trial using only items obtained within that specific Trial.

Using items acquired from other Trials carried a high probability of introducing unpredictable variables.

But given the current emergency, she had no choice but to draw the Black Obsidian Halberd.

'Whoa...!'

Even in the midst of this life-or-death situation, I couldn't help but marvel internally.

To think I was seeing Mo Hae-in wield the Black Obsidian Halberd with my own eyes. And from right in front of me, no less.

I watched her fight, utterly spellbound.

Park Seong-gyeon batted away the toys with his toy claw while using his human hand to shine a flashlight on them.

The toys caught in the flashlight's beam froze in place.

Mo Hae-in didn't miss the opening, slicing through the toys with her Black Obsidian Halberd.

Severed by the long blade, the toys let out high-pitched shrieks resembling children's screams, spilling vibrant, rainbow-colored blood.

As much as I wanted to keep watching, I unfortunately didn't have the time.

I forced my eyes away from Mo Hae-in. Then, dodging the lunging toys, I ran along the conveyor belt.

Even without any items, evading the attacks wasn't difficult. It was because I knew the attack patterns.

The way the toys swayed their bodies when the music first played was a hint to their attack patterns.

Having seen every single ending in HasPack, I had memorized all the patterns like the seasoned veteran I was.

Sprinting along the conveyor belt, I quickly scanned the toys rampaging in all directions.

New toys were being pumped out of the production pipes, making the scene an absolute clusterfuck.

Still, finding what I wanted wasn't hard.

A 15cm mass-produced Smiley doll, Black Edition.

Amidst the gaudy primary and neon-colored toys, the pitch-black doll barely stood out.

But it was an essential item that had to be obtained for the True Ending.

I reached my arm out into the swarm of toys.

"Ugh...!"

A stinging sensation sliced across my arm. A pony doll wearing an apron had slashed my forearm with a plastic kitchen knife.

Even so, I succeeded in snatching the black Smiley.

I ran along the conveyor belt again and arrived in front of the package boxes stacked like background props behind the production machinery.

Among the various toy package boxes, there was one exceptionally large box.

It was the toy package box that was originally supposed to contain the NPC Smiley.

Now, because Mo Hae-in had attacked Smiley earlier, it was empty.

Since it was a box designed to hold a one-meter-tall doll, it was large enough to fit an adult man.

I squeezed myself into the package box.

It was a rather pathetic sight...

It looked fine in dot graphics, but doing it in reality was slightly embarrassing.

Regardless, once settled inside the package box, I observed Mo Hae-in and Park Seong-gyeon through the transparent vinyl.

The two of them were already wrapping up the remaining toys.

If I delayed any longer, achieving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the True Ending would become difficult. I quickly inspected the Smiley doll.

Even though every second counted, I froze in place.

'It's smiling?'

The Sad Smiley doll was smiling.

True to its name, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sad Smiley was supposed to have a crying expression.

But there was no way I had grabbed the wrong doll.

In this colorful toy factory, Sad Smiley was the only achromatic toy.

As I examined the doll, I noticed my blood on it.

Blood had splattered when my forearm was cut, but because the doll was black, I hadn't noticed it immediately.

I belatedly wiped the blood away, but Sad Smiley's face remained smiling.

It was a suspicious situation, but I had no time to deliberate.

I pressed Sad Smiley's belly. A recorded, melancholy child's voice flowed out.

"Please make Sad Smiley happy."

In the original game, two choices would pop up.

- Ignore it.

- Ask how to do it.

But since there were no system choices here, I spoke directly with my mouth.

"What do I have to do to make you happy?"

If I did this, Sad Smiley would give me a clue to uncover the secrets of the toy factory...

"Please become Sad Smiley's owner."

...Wait, it said that?

"Let's be together forever. Being together is fun. Being fun makes us happy. Forever. F-f-forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Foreveeeer..."

Slash!

The Sad ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Smiley in my hands was sliced in half. Black blood splattered across my face.

"I believe I told you to stay put, civilian."

Mo Hae-in glared down at me, her Black Obsidian Halberd, stained with rainbow splatters, pointing toward the ground.

I stepped out of the box, holding the remaining half of the Sad Smiley doll.

Since the plastic vinyl of the package box I was hiding in had also been sliced in half, getting out was easy.

Everything around us was stained in rainbow hues.

"I told you not to move on your own!" Park Seong-gyeon roared, his face contorted in anger.

Having been momentarily dazed by Sad Smiley's bizarre behavior, my reaction was a bit delayed.

"I'm sorry. I was on the conveyor belt just like you said, but the toys attacked me, so I had to dodge..."

"You were attacked even though you were on the belt?"

Mo Hae-in and Park Seong-gyeon's expressions instantly turned grave.

Taking advantage of the moment they spent whispering to each other, I searched for the other half of Sad Smiley that had flown away.

I aligned it with the half I was holding, placed it down, and set a Nut Candy on top of it.

I stared blankly down at Sad Smiley's smiling face.

Man, an unexpected development like this...

It was so thrilling my heart was pounding...!