A Promise of Rest
“……”
Smiley was silent.
As if examining something entirely foreign, he simply stared at me with his black plastic eyes.
A moment later, Smiley's claw hand lowered me to the ground.
The moment my feet touched the floor, a heavy drum-and-bass track began to play. It was the background music signaling the start of HasPack's final boss battle.
A system window popped up.
◆ Ma?in Que?st??: Gift Smiley Eternal Rest
You have promised death to Smiley.
If you fail to keep your promise, you and your com?panions?will?die?de?ad?death?is?it?it is.
You believe you must absolutely win the battle against Smiley.
Perhaps because this wasn't a normal progression, the system window was glitched.
I let out a soft sigh.
To be honest, to face the final boss, I still had several stages to clear and the affection levels of multiple toys to raise.
I didn't even have a weapon.
In short, I was throwing myself headfirst into the dirt without any preparation.
But an error had already occurred. Even if I wanted to go in order, I couldn't.
And though it wasn't a HasPack item... I did have one decent thing on hand.
The polite Smiley was waiting for me to make the first move. I pulled the Bolt Candy from my inventory and unwrapped it.
The attack power and physical enhancement buff from the Bolt Candy lasted for 180 seconds. I had to clear all three of Smiley's phases within that time.
Allotting 35 seconds each for Phase 1 and Phase 2, 60 seconds for Phase 3, and 25 seconds for each transitional cutscene... It was a tight schedule.
As I popped the Bolt Candy into my mouth, a tingling sensation spread across my tongue.
“Ugh…”
It stung like static electricity, making me grimace involuntarily.
Still, experiencing the taste I had only ever read about in system windows was exhilarating.
I took a light leap.
The moment I realized my body was moving even better than expected, several viable strategies flashed through my mind.
Choosing one from the handful of ideas, I looked at Smiley.
Waiting for me to strike first, Smiley quietly tracked my movements with his eyes.
Sorry, Smiley, but you don't get a turn in Phase 1.
“Captain Mo Hae-in!”
I drew my handcuffed hands back with all my might.
“Eat the Bolt Candy!!”
I slammed the hinged handcuffs right over Smiley's left eye.
Crack!
The plastic eye split open.
It actually worked.
A special Sidae Agency item designed to restrain Adaptors.
Since its durability was far superior to most normal items, I figured it could double as a weapon, but it was still a gamble.
The thrill of a winning bet rushed through my brain.
Counting the seconds in my head, I ripped away the cracked plastic shards.
Rainbow-colored blood sprayed everywhere as Smiley thrashed his body.
Blown back by the recoil, I landed some distance away.
Suddenly realizing my movements felt much freer, I looked down and saw that the hinge connecting the handcuffs had snapped.
Having unintentionally freed my hands, I listened to the music.
Static noise began to bleed into the background music.
It was the transition to Phase 2.
Saved four seconds.
Smiley, with rainbow liquid streaming from one eye, slammed his claw hand into the ground.
An earthquake rumbled, splitting the floor open.
Tiny toys crawled up from the fissures.
Even unfinished toys that the workers must have been assembling broke free from the production line and rushed forward.
They looked like they were running over to play, but getting hit just twice by those toys meant instant death.
Block bullets flew from among the swarming toys. They were being fired by toy soldiers.
A bullet I failed to dodge grazed my thigh with a burning sting.
As I stumbled from the pain, a toy fish with its mouth wide open lunged at my face.
But its sharp teeth never got the chance to bite me.
“You crazy bastard!”
The Black Obsidian Halberd sliced the fish to pieces. The toy fish scattered into chunks, looking like freshly sliced sashimi.
Mo Hae-in shouted, the veins in her neck bulging.
“Is this guy out of his mind?!”
“My apologies, Captain.”
But we survived, right?
I kept that last thought to myself.
Fortunately, she didn't have the luxury of staying mad at me, so Mo Hae-in immediately looked away.
Using the shard of Smiley's eye I had ripped off earlier as a shield, I spoke quickly.
“We have to attack the left eye to end Phase 2.”
Mo Hae-in and I dashed forward. My body shook from the impact of toys and bullets pelting the shield.
Just then, Smiley's claw hand slammed down right where I was.
The ground erupted upward, launching both Mo Hae-in and me into the air.
In the game, this would have been a simple obstacle check, but here, we found ourselves stranded on the peak of a suddenly elevated column of earth.
Mo Hae-in snatched the eye shard I was using as a shield and threw it down to use as a board.
“Hold on!”
I grabbed Mo Hae-in around the waist.
The moment we touched the sloped earth, we slid down, using the shard as a sled.
The swarming toys couldn't keep up with our speed, colliding with one another and tumbling down in a chaotic heap.
As soon as we reached the bottom, we discarded the ruined shard and dashed toward Smiley once more.
The claw hand repeatedly slammed the ground, targeting us, but it wasn't too difficult to dodge.
The moment we were within range, Mo Hae-in leaped high into the air.
The Black Obsidian Halberd plunged into Smiley's left eye.
The blade dug deep into the socket, which was now devoid of its outer shell and pooling with rainbow fluid.
Despite him being a plastic toy, it felt like piercing soft flesh.
A mechanical voice, sounding like a child giggling and shouting, repeatedly blared from Smiley.
“Die!—Kill—me!—Die!—Kill—me!—Die!”
Mo Hae-in yanked her halberd back and landed on the ground, and the fifteen-meter-tall giant Smiley began to shrink with a loud, creaking sound.
Shrunk back to a height of one meter, Smiley stood blankly as if broken, rainbow fluid trickling from his eyes.
A thick, rainbow-colored fog filled the surroundings. A grating, screeching static began to distort the background music.
This was the start of Phase 3.
Lost about five seconds.
Failing to dodge the rising ground at the start had cost me some time.
But I still had some leeway.
I honed my senses, which were still heightened by the Bolt Candy. Since the fog heavily restricted visibility, this gimmick relied entirely on reaction speed.
Rumble! The ground vibrated, and everything shook. It was the sound of the toy factory collapsing.
Debris began to rain down.
The heavy objects emerging through the fog meant instant death if they hit you, and even if you dodged them, they became terrain obstacles.
In an instant, the floor was covered in massive stone fragments, machine parts, and broken toys.
Once the terrain alteration finished, Smiley began to move in earnest.
Accompanied by a joyful giggle, the sound of rattling plastic chains approached from behind.
Thud, thud, thud, thud. Heavy, deliberate footsteps.
But I couldn't move yet.
Mo Hae-in, sticking close to my side, asked in a low voice.
“Is there no trick to this?”
“We just have to run. But at the very end...”
I told Mo Hae-in what I planned to do at the very end. She furrowed her brow, but we didn't have time to discuss it further.
The factory speakers playing the background music crackled, and then a signal tone chimed.
“One, two, Happy Smile!”
Our bound feet were released. Mo Hae-in and I dashed forward like mad.
Smiley's final Phase 3 was a chase sequence.
Unlike Smiley, who pursued us by smashing through everything in his path, the player had to run while dodging the obstacles on the ground.
All while evading the claw hands that abruptly lunged from behind massive obstacles.
Even with my physical abilities enhanced by the Bolt Candy, I was quickly left gasping for breath.
An announcement cut through the screeching background music.
“Attention. Please. This is an announcement. Roasted—Chestnut. Roasted—Chestnut employee. Roasted—Chestnut employee of the Happy Smile Factory, please stop walking immediately. Immediately. Stooooop.”
It dragged out my nickname, "Roasted Chestnut," making it sound almost like a slow-cooked chestnut.
Though it kept calling my name, I absolutely refused to look back.
The rainbow fog slowly began to thin. This meant the virtual space Smiley had created was coming to an end.
However, the remaining seconds were ticking down dangerously fast. The chase was longer than I had anticipated.
Eight seconds.
My skin tingled with the sheer tension of the chase dragging on.
Five seconds.
Finally, the end of the fog came into view.
I squeezed out every last drop of my strength.
Three seconds.
Just before breaking free from the fog—
Throb! A sharp pain shot through my thigh.
I had failed to see a steel rebar protruding from between the stone blocks. Of all places, I had injured the exact same spot again.
The buff expired, and my enhanced physical abilities vanished.
As my body suddenly grew heavy, I lost my footing and tumbled to the ground.
My hand swept uselessly through the empty fog.
Just one more step and I would have been out.
Right then, a claw hand grabbed me by the collar.
It wasn't Smiley. Mo Hae-in had extended her toy arm to snatch me up.
The moment I was pulled out, the fog and obstacles covering the area vanished.
I was outside the factory.
I could see the collapsing toy factory. And Smiley, chasing us to the very end in his battered, ruined state.
Tossing me onto the ground, Mo Hae-in gripped her Black Obsidian Halberd and drew her arm back as far as she could.
Thrown like a javelin, the halberd pierced right through Smiley.
Smiley collapsed onto the dirt, letting out the cry of a child.
“Noooo!”
The ear-splitting background music faded away. The final boss battle of HasPack was over.
You have won the battle against Smiley!
“Huff, puff…”
Mo Hae-in, having unequipped her Black Obsidian Halberd, slumped to the ground, panting heavily.
I also caught my breath and stumbled to my feet.
Mo Hae-in's eyes wavered momentarily. It was a look of conflict, wondering if she should really let me do what I was about to do.
“Captain…”
At my call, which was laced with a painful groan, Mo Hae-in muttered grumpily.
“What on earth are you trying to do by healing the boss?”
But she didn't stop me.
I limped over to Smiley on my own.
I unwrapped a Nut Candy and placed it where his mouth seemed to be. The candy dissolved into light, absorbing into Smiley.
His broken body repaired, Smiley slowly stood up.
Smiley stood blankly, looking up at me.
“To keep my promise.”
The only one who could kill Smiley was someone of the same flesh and blood.
A twin separated in childhood, who had lost their memories.
That was the player's true identity.
Upon gaining immortality and power, Smiley had remembered the player, and had summoned the only being capable of killing him to the factory.
I truly wanted to give Smiley his rest.
Death was the only happy ending for Smiley.
His black plastic eyes stared at me for a long time. A quiet voice drifted out.
“Why—are—you—just—coming—now?”
The drawn-out, youthful voice was not mechanical.
Wait, this isn't his original line…
It felt like things were heavily glitched, but since it seemed to be heading toward the True Ending anyway, I quietly apologized.
“I'm sorry.”
After a moment's hesitation, I placed my hand on Smiley's head.
As I gently stroked the smooth plastic, Smiley spoke another strange line.
“I—don't—want—to—die.”
Then, he slowly reached out with his claw hand and grabbed the hem of my jumpsuit sleeve.
“I—want—to—go—with—you—Roasted—Chestnut—together—forever—.”
It sounded like a child begging. If it were up to me, I would have taken him right away, but he wasn't an item, and there was no way to do so.
Just then, a system window popped up.
Smiley and the toys wish to become ■■ ■■ ■■.
You are willing to accept their demand to become the ■ and ■ of ■■ ■.
The text was covered in strange black squares, making it impossible to read properly.
To make matters worse, the choices that followed were absurd.
• Yes!
• Absolutely.
• YEEES!
No, wait… Sigh.
But if I didn't accept, I wouldn't be able to see the ending, so I had no choice.
I chose “YEEES!” A cheerful chime rang out, and a system window popped up.
Announcing an ending I had never seen before in my life.