Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Chapter 150
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It was the 593rd round.
After pulling O Dok-seo from the Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon, I formed an alliance with the Saintess and immediately launched the operation.
The enemy in today's episode was none other than the Outsider God.
There was no time to take it easy.
"I'm sorry. Normally, I would have put in quite a bit of effort to build a stronger rapport with you, Dok-seo. But this time, we have to hurry a little."
"Ah, yeah...."
O Dok-seo's response was lukewarm.
That was only natural. In the situation where 'someone already knows everything about her, who was essentially possessed by a regressor from a novel,' any normal person would feel a bit of fear.
A world ruined by anomalies.
The realization that she had read about this catastrophe just recently in a novel. The confidence that came from it.
But that confidence had been shattered by me the moment the Tutorial began. O Dok-seo had barely gained any advantage from [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].
How could she not feel anxious?
O Dok-seo exerted leadership toward those she treated as complete strangers.
On the other hand, with close acquaintances she trusted, she opened up about her weaknesses to an almost excessive degree.
A child living with an imbalance in her heart.
And I existed in O Dok-seo's warped scale with an extremely delicate weight.
Not quite a stranger, but not yet someone with whom intimacy had formed—a 'character from the story.'
This was the aftermath of dragging her almost forcibly from the Busan Station Dungeon instead of leisurely clearing the Tutorial to build rapport.
"So, um.... Mr. Undertaker?"
"Just call me Uncle is fine."
"No, even on a first meeting, Uncle feels a bit.... You're not even old enough to be called that yet... Anyway, why did you drag me here?"
My heart stung just a little.
It was something that always happened.
"Dok-seo, have you ever heard of the genre called speedrun?"
"Huh? Speedrun?"
Ordinary people play games to enjoy them.
But there are many in this world who love speed itself. The deeply ingrained Korean "ppalli ppalli" spirit, when limited to games, is something commonly found worldwide.
-A little faster.
-Clear it faster than anyone else!
Speedrun. Or RTA.
A playstyle where clearing the game as quickly as possible is the ultimate goal.
Some even use bugs in the game to shave off time.
In my case, crashing the 'Hated Medicine' and 'Savior' anomalies into each other would be a form of bug exploitation.
Countless gamers repeat innumerable failures for the sake of a single speedrun record, the achievement of being 'the fastest player in the world.'
I was the same.
"Ah-"
O Dok-seo looked up as if recalling a memory.
"Come to think of it, I think I've seen speedrun videos on YouTube. Like that American who cleared the village hall achievement in StarCraft in just 2 hours...."
"Yeah."
I pulled out my laptop.
"There is an Outsider God-level anomaly in this world called the 'Logout Game.'"
And I explained.
As concisely as possible. Yet enough for O Dok-seo to fully understand what the 'Logout Game' was, using words and sentences tailored specifically to her.
This was also an explanation method perfected after several verifications.
O Dok-seo exclaimed midway with "What?" "No way-" "How could there be such an anomaly," but even so, she grasped the situation comparatively clearly in less than 10 minutes.
O Dok-seo looked down at the laptop on the table.
"So this laptop is...?"
"It's an item left to me by the Outsider God. A perk given to the player who struggled right up to the moment the server was about to shut down. At the same time, it's the only clue to defeating the Logout Game."
Click.
I opened the only program installed on the laptop: Notepad.
From the 135th round, when [Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment] first destroyed the world, to the current 593rd round, the sentence written in the Notepad had never changed.
[ What is this world? ]
A simple sentence.
But a difficult question.
O Dok-seo furrowed her brows.
"What is this world...? What is this?"
"It's a battle for control over our world."
"Huh?"
"Listen carefully. That Outsider God has defined this world as a 'game.' From the start, Outsider God-level anomalies each try to define the world in their own way."
I spoke calmly.
"To define the world, you need power commensurate with that. [Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment] has showcased numerous devices like status windows, level-ups, and logout systems to prove that this world is a game."
"Ah....?"
"Through these devices, people finally accept and acknowledge that 'this world is a game.' I call this 'being bewitched by the anomaly.'"
The Magical Girl Council called the same phenomenon kamikakushi.
"In other words, anomalies can never deny the very devices they themselves create. The moment they give that up, the magic that bewitches people disappears."
"Oh.... Somehow, I think I get it....?"
"[Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment] has defined itself as the game operator. Thus, it can only take actions permitted to an operator."
For example, why was Sim A-ryeon the only one who could somewhat resist the 'Logout Game'?
While superhumanly strong-willed people like No Do-ha and the Saintess were helplessly logged out, why was Sim A-ryeon among us an exception?
The reason was simple.
-Rea, reality? Right now? I'm happy in this moment, so I don't need the internet? Are you stupid? Guild Leader, are you really stupid?
-This, inside this smartphone screen, is reality! It's the truth!
Sim A-ryeon did not treat the 'Logout Game' as just a simple game.
Just as she fully projected her ego into SG Net's activities, Sim A-ryeon immersed herself sincerely in the 'Logout Game' that dyed the world in emptiness.
For Sim A-ryeon, disconnecting from SG Net was impossible. Even in the utopia of Busan created by Dang Seo-rin, Sim A-ryeon never stopped community activities until the end.
Likewise, if Sim A-ryeon had started a game, quitting it would also be impossible.
To her, such an act was no different from death in reality.
――Therefore, [Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment] could not eliminate Sim A-ryeon either.
It was impossible to forcibly delete the account of a user who over-immersed in its game without justification or reason.
Like all anomalies, Outsider Gods always had a flaw.
"I am the one who denied this world being a game until the very end."
"You, Mr. Undertaker?"
"...Yeah. An improper analogy, but from [Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment]'s perspective, it's like an evil reviewer who calls the game you made boring shit and spams one-star ratings."
An enemy that the Outsider God desperately wanted to eliminate.
So the anomaly reacted like, 'Then why don't you make the game yourself.'
The meaning written in the Notepad file on the laptop was exactly that.
"[If this world is not a game, then what is this world?] To put it precisely, the Outsider God is asking me this."
"Ooooh...."
O Dok-seo's eyes sparkled.
I wanted to activate [Mind Reading] to read O Dok-seo's thoughts, but I held back. I had promised long ago never to do it again.
"The match between the Outsider God and me is simple. If I type [This world is a game], it's my defeat. It's like raising the white flag and surrendering myself."
"What are the victory conditions?"
"To give an answer that the Outsider God can accept—no, has no choice but to accept."
And.
Up until now, I had continuously failed to write this 'correct answer' on the laptop.
[This world is a material entity.]
[This world repeats eternally.]
[This world has no anomalies.]
And so on.
I tried various answers, but the Outsider God did not acknowledge them as correct. No changes were detected.
Simply forcing my wishes with power held no meaning.
Just as I resisted the 'Logout Game,' the Outsider God could resist a 'Regressor.'
Neither of us was strong enough to impose ourselves on the other, but we were strong enough not to be unilaterally imposed upon.
A draw. A tie. A stalemate.
"But Dok-seo, your appearance has given me hope."
"Huh?"
O Dok-seo jumped in surprise.
"M-Me?"
"Yeah. I'm a regressor, and you're close to a book-possessor. Both are a kind of 'exceptional position' in creative works. In other words, close to the protagonist. Even if not the protagonist, almost always treated as a major supporting role with significant weight."
"...."
"So, this kind of ploy becomes possible."
Tap tap.
I typed on the laptop keyboard.
A black wave of letters spread from my fingertips, staining the white Notepad file.
[This world is a 'speedrun' game live stream.]
O Dok-seo muttered blankly.
"'Speedrun' game live stream...?"
"You said you've seen something similar on YouTube, so it should be easy to understand."
I pointed at O Dok-seo.
"Dok-seo, you are the 'protagonist' character in this game."
Then I pointed at myself.
"I am the 'player' controlling the protagonist character you via computer."
"...."
"Character and player. They are sometimes seen as one, but strictly speaking, they are always separate. However, both are treated as 'exceptional existences' in the game world—that much is the same."
"I'm the protagonist. And... Mr. Undertaker is the player controlling me."
"Yeah."
I nodded.
"The Outsider God defined this world as a 'game world existing only with characters.' That's why people logged out easily. They were bewitched into thinking it was just logging out from characters anyway, not the death of the player themselves."
"...."
"We must directly deny the Outsider God's strategy. Both the character Dok-seo and the player me must exist simultaneously. In other words, this world is not one existing only with 'logged-in' characters――"
"...A world where players who can 'log out' at any time—real humans—also exist. Coexistence of characters and players. You're trying to define the world that way, Mr. Undertaker."
I smiled faintly.
"You're quick on the uptake. Correct."
I showed her the diagram I had prepared in advance.
"Whether viewed on a computer monitor or smartphone screen, 'game live streams' generally look like this in video form."
The diagram, in summary, looked like this.
――――――――――
[Game screen] [Streamer's face]
[Game screen] [Streamer's face]
[Game screen] [Streamer's face]
――――――――――
A format commonly seen on YouTube.
"The streamer's face and upper body appear in the bottom right or left corner, while the rest of the screen shows the game progressing."
"Yeah."
"Naturally, the streamer corresponds to the player. The figures in the game screen are merely characters. But the important fact here is that 'in the format of a game stream, characters and players coexist.'"
"...."
"If you define this world as a game like the Outsider God, there's no way to avoid logout. But if you succeed in defining it not as a 'game' but as a 'game stream'.... You can neutralize the Outsider God."
I folded the diagram.
"It's a format you're familiar with too, since you mainly read novels. 'Constellation stories' take this form."
"...Right. [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] was a constellation story too."
"How about it, Dok-seo? Won't you join me in subjugating [Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment]?"
I extended my hand.
Before O Dok-seo could reflexively grab it, I said what I needed to say first.
"It won't be an easy fight."
"...."
"As the player, you'll have to follow my instructions exactly, Dok-seo. The things I instruct will have high difficulty. Scary things, disgusting things—they'll pile up. Fighting against the Outsider God is really, really tough."
O Dok-seo fell silent.
"But this is the best scenario you.... Ugh. Uncle came up with?"
"...For now, yes."
"Then, I'll trust you."
O Dok-seo took my hand.
"Let's clear it together. This crap game."
"...."
I slowly nodded.
At that moment.
[The world's fastest speedrun. Let's begin.]
O Dok-seo flinched, blinking rapidly and looking around with "Huh? Wha?" But there was no one around us.
An utterly emotionless voice.
It was, of course, the Saintess's telepathy.
[The game I'm targeting this time is the so-called 'Logout Game.' A game produced by a game developer with the weird name Operator of Ten Thousand Phenomena Entertainment.]
But I had deliberately not arranged for O Dok-seo to meet the Saintess.
In the current 593rd round, the [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] that O Dok-seo had read hadn't progressed to the point of meeting the Saintess yet.
So, to O Dok-seo, the voice in her ears would truly sound like 'a constellation commentating the game.'
"Wha-what is this, Uncle...?"
I smiled.
"I told you."
[It's a game with many problems in various ways, but there's no way I can't achieve the fastest clear.]
"We're live-streaming the game right now."
[Among them, the character O Dok-seo, who has the trait of 'book-possessor,' has excellent potential despite lacking stats right now. She's perfect for achieving a speedrun.]
"Dok-seo, I've prepared a tremendous amount for this round."
The Saintess's voice flowed quietly.
[Logout Game Speedrun.]
[Here we go.]