Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: And You
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It had been a year since Steam launched its local Korean servers, and the monumental first server pause plunged users into utter chaos.
No, the chaos was even greater because it wasn't just happening on the Korean servers.
『(Chat) BangbaeBloodlord: NA server is toast too. Can't even use a VPN.
(Chat) zMasterstroke: Just how good is this game gonna be that the servers are crashing…;
(Chat) SweetBelfGuy39: My,,,god,,,the,,,prestige,,,of,,,Korean,,,gaming,,,
(Chat) WaitingForHellic2: Ah! Everyone get out of my way! Just let me play the game!!!』
With both the North American and Korean servers simultaneously frozen, enraged players began to set the innocent community forums ablaze.
That was the problem.
The community's servers weren't robust enough to handle the excessive traffic.
[302 Found]
Even the forums crashed.
“Ah, come on!”
*Thwack!*
Kang Seok-hoon, username ‘WaitingForHellic2’, slammed his fist on the keyboard.
His mother's startled voice immediately followed.
“Seok-hoon! What's going on so late at night!”
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
At 28, he was too old to admit he was throwing a tantrum because a game server went down.
Unable to vent his surging frustration, Seok-hoon just seethed.
Had he become more sensitive lately, or had the long wait simply transformed into this poignant desperation?
Seok-hoon suddenly felt his eyes welling up.
His face flushed with heat.
‘It’s not my fault!’
He had been waiting for this game with bated breath for nearly a year, ever since the last G-STAR.
In fact, wasn't he one of the very first people in Korea to play the original *Hellic*?
This was the sequel to a game he loved so much.
How could it repay him with such betrayal?
‘This was the only thing I was living for!’
Such is the life of a young professional just starting his career.
He didn't have many ways to relieve the stress from a job he had yet to fully adjust to.
His schedule was too awkward to meet up with friends, and he was too busy trying to get his own life in order to even think about dating.
All that was left were his hobbies, and for Seok-hoon, that hobby was *Hellic*.
For nearly a year, whenever he was reprimanded for a clumsy mistake at work, he endured it by telling himself, ‘I have to put up with this to earn money for the game.’
Now, the long weekend he had created by using up all his annual leave was about to be ruined by server issues. He couldn't help but be furious.
Seok-hoon felt his mind go blank.
‘No, it can't be!’
*Click, click!*
He frantically refreshed the purchase page.
This was the very cause of the server lag.
And then, something happened—unfortunate for some, but a blessing for others.
“It’s working!”
“Seok-hoon!”
“It’s nothing!”
The purchase page loaded.
Seok-hoon hastily pulled out the Master Card he had prepared for this very day and began the transaction.
The process was swift.
[Purchase Complete.]
A thrill shot down Seok-hoon's spine along with the notification.
His mouse immediately clicked the download button.
And then, play.
*Swoosh—*
Against the backdrop of a bleak beach, the text [Hellic 2: Hell of Alice] appeared, stirring a wave of emotion.
For a moment, Seok-hoon had to wonder if this wasn't just that damn James’s broadcast stream.
He rubbed his eyes and whipped the mouse around.
Only then did he swallow dryly and adjust his headset.
[New Game]
He clicked the button with a nervous heart.
*Swoosh—*
The first cinematic, the one James had skipped, finally played.
It was actually the same one from the demo version, but this was the first time Seok-hoon was watching it properly.
A wide grin spreading across his face, Seok-hoon made a promise to himself.
‘I won’t skip anything in the main game.’
Such was the effect of the trailer and the closed beta reviews.
They said the Warden, the protagonist from the original *Hellic* he had enjoyed so much, would appear.
And that ‘Alid Russo’ had praised this game’s story.
Seok-hoon had no intention of missing out on that emotional experience.
[Hello, I'm a butterfly.]
A turquoise butterfly, out of place on the gloomy beach, appeared, scattering a faint light.
It meets the girl and speaks of things yet unknown.
‘Another faction in hell, was it?’
Seok-hoon was one of those who found the story analysis by ‘S2PoppyS2’ to be quite credible.
After all, considering the practical issue of expanding the series' scope, it was a rather plausible theory.
The conscience of hell, protecting the children.
Approaching it from that angle, the butterfly's mystique felt strangely welcoming.
[Let's go. It's too dark here.]
The cinematic ended.
Now, for the actual gameplay.
Seok-hoon stood at a crossroads.
‘Which build should I go for?’
Having tried all four builds in the demo, he found himself genuinely conflicted.
The artillery build James had used was certainly tempting, but… Seok-hoon was the type to cherish the romantic notion that ‘a real man uses a sword!’
‘Right! Let’s unlock the blade build first!’
And so, his first playthrough of the open beta began with a sword.
The butterfly transformed into a small dagger and settled into Alice’s hand.
Knowing the tutorial’s layout, Seok-hoon progressed quickly.
The dagger became a machete.
It took him exactly five minutes to finish the basic farming and reach the cave entrance.
‘The next chapter starts from here.’
Seok-hoon entered the cave.
Another cinematic played.
[This is the Hell of Heretics.]
With the butterfly's words, the elements of hell descended upon Seok-hoon.
At that moment, Seok-hoon felt a small jolt of surprise.
‘Ah! So that’s what this place was?’
He had skipped all the story and lore segments, so he was only now learning about the Hell of Heretics.
He learned why this place was called hell despite its bright atmosphere, and how that grotesque divine effigy had been constructed.
From knowledge comes understanding.
And understanding presents a new perspective.
By comprehending the background, which he had previously seen as mere objects, Seok-hoon gained a new awareness and became even more deeply immersed.
‘Then is Alice really the baby Jesus?’
The theory resurfaced in his mind.
Curiosity was sparked, or rather, his interest deepened.
He tapped at his keyboard.
Chapter 1’s progression hadn't changed much from the mechanics he already knew, though it was longer.
There was one difference.
The extended length meant more resources dropped for upgrading his item build.
Seok-hoon, who had only been able to unlock up to the fourth stage before, finally got his hands on a new weapon.
‘Ah, the fifth one was a katana?’
The weapon after the fourth-tier gladius was a katana.
And he discovered something else.
‘From the fifth weapon, the sub-paths branch out again. And they have additional options.’
Seok-hoon chose the ‘Swiftness’ path.
The first effect of the Swiftness path was this:
‘The katana… has Iaijutsu.’
The effect of Iaijutsu was ‘+100% attack speed for the next 3 attacks.’
Seok-hoon immediately thought of how to apply it.
‘I can use this buff to increase the attack speed of higher-tier weapons.’
*Hellic 2* was primarily a game about combining weapons using four quickslots.
It was possible to place the katana in slot 1, use Iaijutsu, then immediately switch to a weapon in slot 2 to boost its attack speed.
Wondering if the system might have blocked this, Seok-hoon used the katana's Iaijutsu and then equipped the gladius.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
The relatively slow gladius instantly slashed through the air three times.
At that moment, Seok-hoon’s eyes turned bloodshot.
It was finally clear why James's so-called ‘artillery build’ was so powerful.
He must have combined high-tier slingshot skills to maximize his burst damage.
At the same time, a question arose.
‘Then what are the effects of the next weapons?’
There were still over ten locked items in the sword and blade path alone.
That’s how gamers are.
When they see locked items or grayed-out icons they can’t use yet, they’re a breed that can’t rest until they’ve activated them.
Curiosity and the desire to possess.
These feelings were more than enough to drive Seok-hoon forward.
*Claaang—!*
The god’s fist fell.
Not far away, the distorted divine effigy looked down at Seok-hoon.
[It’s a trial from the god! Let’s go!]
Following the butterfly’s guidance, Seok-hoon pressed onward.
* * *
*Hellic 2* was designed with an estimated playtime of 14 hours.
James had said so, and Studio Rewind had officially confirmed it on their SNS.
『A skilled player should be able to clear it in 10-14 hours. If you watch all the story scenes, 14 hours would be the average.』
By that metric, Seok-hoon was a skilled player.
“Seok-hoon! Lunch is ready!”
“Later!”
The sun was high in the sky.
By then, Seok-hoon was not in his right mind.
His mind was hazy from lack of sleep, his head nodding off from time to time.
Yet he didn't stop playing.
Having started around 1 AM, Seok-hoon cleared the fourth chapter's boss in about 13 hours.
He had crossed the paradise of heretics, evaded the grasp of prisoners steeped in hedonism, cut through the screams of the starving, and fought his way through yet another hell of gruesome mutual destruction.
*Thud!*
[Chapter 4 Cleared]
A goat-headed man, his entire body pierced by spears, collapsed.
It was a boss he had cleared on his 14th try.
It was difficult.
Just as James had said, it was a boss so hard he wondered if it might be the final one.
But Seok-hoon knew.
—This one is especially hard. Second only to the final boss.
There was more to come.
The very boss that Seok-hoon, and everyone else who had waited for *Hellic 2*, had been anticipating.
‘Finally, the Warden…!’
As he watched the story unfold, his speculation hardened into certainty.
This whole hell surrounding Alice would likely culminate in a clash between the Warden, who punishes sinners, and the butterfly’s faction, which seeks to protect the child.
The story was somewhat heart-wrenching.
If one considered Alice to be the baby Jesus, then none of this hell was her fault.
As the butterfly had said, Alice was cast into this place for the sole ‘sin of being born.’
A player sees the world through the eyes of their playable character.
They identify with the character's situation, leading to deep empathy and immersion.
Seok-hoon was completely on Alice's side.
He wanted a happy ending for Alice.
Thus, before the door leading to the final boss fight, he prepared himself once more.
‘I’ve unlocked the entire path.’
He had maxed out the ‘Sword—Swiftness’ build.
Among the items Seok-hoon chose… there were four additional effects.
The katana’s ‘Swiftness’ to increase attack speed.
The wakizashi’s ‘Perfect Evasion’ to dodge any single attack once.
The bastard sword’s ‘Flexibility’ for cooldown reduction.
And the pièce de résistance, the odachi’s active skill, ‘Flash Blade,’ which teleported him in front of an enemy to strike with 300% attack power.
His so-called ‘One-Hit Kill’ build—which involved buffing himself with the first three effects and then spamming ‘Flash Blade’ as quickly and as often as possible—was a perfectly optimized build he had created after experimenting with various effects.
‘Item buffs are done.’
All that was left was to go through.
When he clicked the door, a prompt appeared.
[Warning: You are about to enter a boss battle. Do you wish to proceed?]
[Yes / No]
A boss fight immediately after another, with no minor mobs in between.
It was a rather brutal, yet refreshingly straightforward, design.
From a system perspective, with all builds complete and only the story's conclusion remaining, there was no need to drag things out.
[Yes]
Seok-hoon’s Alice passed through the door, and a cinematic began.
*Swoosh—*
The sound of waves washed in.
The moonlight dyed the crimson-black sky a shade of blue.
Before Alice and the butterfly stood a golden door.
[Here, you just have to go through this door.]
“What’s over there?”
[A better place than this.]
The girl and the butterfly began to talk.
It sounded like a conversation between two people about to part ways.
But goodbyes are never easy.
Especially when it is said to be a final farewell.
“...I don’t want to.”
Having read all the story text, Seok-hoon knew this was the first refusal.
His heart ached a little.
[Please….]
The butterfly pleaded.
Seok-hoon empathized with the butterfly’s position.
‘You have to go!’
At least in Seok-hoon's mind, there was no reason for Alice to remain in hell.
An argument ensued, and he felt a pang of pity when the butterfly landed on Alice’s forehead, its wings trembling.
As a gamer, observing this whole situation from the outside, he knew something for a fact.
‘It’s a boss fight.’
Because she didn't leave right away, there would be a boss fight.
That single moment of hesitation would lead to the final trial.
Seok-hoon gripped his mouse tightly.
It was at that moment.
“Okay…”
Alice left through the door.
“…Huh?”
Seok-hoon’s eyes wavered.
But an unexpected twist, one that would erase all his confusion and bewilderment, was about to unfold.
In that instant, Seok-hoon felt as if someone had smacked him on the back of the head.
*Shiiine—*
“...What?”
A gasp of bewilderment escaped his lips.
The aura of light enveloping the butterfly grew larger and larger, until it was the size of a person.
And from within the fading light, the same one-piece dress as Alice’s appeared, the same blonde hair and the same eyes, yet they belonged to a sorrowful adult woman.
*Boom!* It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck the top of his head.
It wasn't just shock he was feeling.
The image pointed to a single, undeniable conclusion. The butterfly's true identity negated everything he thought he knew, overwriting it with a new reality.
Suddenly, the butterfly's past lines flashed through his mind.
[Hello, I'm a butterfly.]
A name that introduced itself as nothing more than a butterfly.
[Let's go. It's too dark here.]
The line it had spoken most often throughout the story.
[When you get out, you have to try a cheeseburger. It's the most delicious food in the world!]
And the advice, the words that spoke of the real world.
And finally.
[You will surely be happier than anyone else in the world.]
Now, at last, it was love.
Perhaps, and almost certainly.
‘Alice’s mother?’
The butterfly’s identity could be nothing else.
*Swoosh—*
The incoming waves tickled the woman's… the butterfly's bare feet.
And yet, the butterfly couldn't smile with joy. Her face was twisted in sorrow, only the corners of her lips pulling up.
“Oh…”
Seok-hoon let out a sigh.
He realized that this entire epic, which had defied all his grand expectations, was simply a tale of a mother’s love.
He realized that the war between hell's factions had never been important at all.
And,
*Creeak—*
He realized why the ending had been shrouded in such secrecy—it was because Alice’s mother, not Alice, would be the one to face the Warden.
*Creeeak—*
An ominous creaking sound drew closer to the butterfly.
*Step, step.*
The camera focused on bare, blue feet treading on the sand.
Black, tattered burial shrouds, a face stitched, severed, and nailed together.
And a hacksaw in its hand.
The Warden.
The Warden he had so eagerly awaited was approaching the fading golden door and the woman.
Seok-hoon screamed internally.
‘You bastard!’
You don’t belong here!
He had no time to be amazed by the Warden's design, recreated in 3D.
There was no thrill for the final boss fight.
The situation of this horrific being intruding upon such a deeply human truth was simply urgent, and infuriating.
Above all, it was ominous.
Because Seok-hoon knew.
‘How can she beat that thing!’
The Warden was one of the most powerful beings in the *Hellic* universe so far.
While there was another god in Chapter 1, it had only confronted Alice as a form of trial in the story and had never truly tried to harm her.
So what would happen now that the Warden had interfered in this farewell?
The butterfly's fate was as good as sealed.
‘No!’
The butterfly's expression hardened.
She walked toward the Warden, drawing a sword made of turquoise light.
It was the odachi, the core of Seok-hoon's build.
As the two drew closer, the sound of a music box, the waves, and the footsteps suddenly grew louder.
The sound design burrowed into his emotions.
The door grew fainter, and a three-minute timer started ticking at the top of the screen.
And just like that, the boss fight began.
‘Hey!’
*Screeeech—!*
Still reeling from the shocking twist, Seok-hoon couldn't control his character properly.
[Respawning at Save Point.]
The screen once again focused on Alice's mother.
* * *
To reiterate, from knowledge comes understanding.
And understanding presents a new perspective.
A player sees the world through the eyes of their playable character.
They identify with the character's situation, leading to deep empathy and immersion.
In other words, Seok-hoon was now immersed in the butterfly's perspective.
The fading door, the dwindling countdown, and the butterfly confronting the Warden.
All these elements indirectly conveyed a single message.
She had to buy time for Alice to escape from the Warden.
*Creeak—*
Seventh try.
With bloodshot eyes, as if possessed, Seok-hoon faced the Warden.
The woman replicated the weapon's traits in the exact same way as Alice, or perhaps with even more fluid and beautiful motions.
The Warden she faced was, as expected, horrifying.
Unlike when he played with 2D pixel graphics, every motion was now starkly visible.
What was most unsettling was the Warden’s movement.
Unlike its two-head-tall pixel form, its lanky limbs twisted and contorted in a grotesque, marionette-like fashion, making its next move impossible to predict.
But there was something even more malicious.
‘Ah! The off-beat timing, dammit!’
The rhythm of its movements was off-beat.
This meant that if you tried to dodge or block, the attack would land either a step too early or a step too late.
[Respawning at Save Point.]
The same result, again and again.
It couldn't be helped.
Just like the Cancer Giant from the previous game, the Warden was an enemy that was impossible to damage properly.
The only way to defeat it was to break the three patterns presented during the boss fight.
The number of remaining patterns was indicated by three round orbs below the Warden's health bar.
Each time a pattern was broken, one of the orbs would go dark.
But those patterns required counters.
And as mentioned, the Warden's off-beat attacks made countering extremely difficult.
Seok-hoon gritted his teeth and began another attempt.
It wasn't easy.
The first counter, followed by a short cinematic showing cracks appearing on the butterfly's body.
[Respawning at Save Point.]
The second, a 3-hit counter, followed by a cinematic where the butterfly’s right arm and half her face crumbled away.
[Respawning at Save Point.]
The third counter.
No, at this point, it was less a counter and more of a rhythm game, requiring him to block a seven-hit, off-beat combo.
[Respawning at Save Point.]
[Respawning at Save Point.]
[Respawning at Save Point.]
He had lost count of how many times he had seen that notification.
But that didn't mean it was the end.
Every challenge comes with a reward.
As long as one doesn't give up.
[GAME CLEAR]
He had finally survived for three minutes.
By breaking all three patterns.
Like a taut rubber band snapping, the tension left Seok-hoon's body all at once, and he went limp.
His hands, with nothing left to do, quietly fell away from the mouse and keyboard.
His gaze was fixed blankly on the screen.
*Crack—*
Cracks spread across the butterfly's entire body.
The golden door had already vanished.
*Swoosh—*
Once again, the seafoam tickled the woman's feet.
No, it began to eat away at them.
The woman's form began to crumble.
And yet, she smiled.
[Hehe…]
Like someone who had finally completed their life's work, she looked relieved and happier than ever.
The Warden stood motionless.
With its eyes sewn shut, one couldn't say it was watching.
*Swoosh—*
As she crumbled away into the waves, the butterfly's gaze turned to where the door had been.
Her smile was so bright that Seok-hoon felt a sense of emptiness and sorrow.
The crumbling animation was another indirect way of showing the butterfly's end.
It was at that moment.
[...Goodbye.]
With a farewell offered like a light wave of her hand, the woman who had lost her form was swallowed by the sea.
*Swoosh—*
On the empty beach, the Warden abruptly turned and left.
The end.
*Ting— Ting—*
The ending credits rolled, accompanied by a music box.
The final boss BGM, which had filled him with such a heavy feeling, now echoed with a profound loneliness.
*Ting—*
At the sound, Seok-hoon felt his eyes grow hot.
No tears fell.
But his eye sockets throbbed as if someone had put a lit match to them.
Beyond that, for some reason, he felt his breath catch in his throat.
His chest felt tight.
A question arose.
‘This is how it ends?’
Was the butterfly’s ending a sad one after all?
Were there no other possibilities?
What happened to Alice?
Could the two ever meet again?
With so much information left veiled, all sorts of thoughts flooded his mind.
Meanwhile, on the screen, just six names of the creators scrolled by.
Normally, he would have skipped it or quit the game.
The names of the people who made the game aren't usually that important to the player.
But he couldn't bring himself to skip it, because the music box melody was too sorrowful.
Or perhaps because he wanted to hold on to this lingering emotion just a little longer.
Because the ending was so sad.
Because he couldn't stop searching for other possibilities.
And so, to Seok-hoon, who watched the credits to the very end with a trembling gaze, a single sentence was presented.
[And You.]
It was the creator's tribute to the player, who, by playing the game to the end, had truly made the game complete.
In another sense, it was a phrase that signified the absolute end of the game.
It was saying, this is where it ends.
It was at that moment.
“*Hic*…!”
This proud son of Korea (and a former Marine), Kang Seok-hoon (age 28), couldn't help but cry out.
Because ‘And You’ felt like it was saying, ‘But despite it all, you saved Alice.’
As if it were saying, this is enough, or perhaps, thank you for your hard work.
“*Sob*…!”
For the first time since his girlfriend broke up with him during his first leave from basic training, he sobbed uncontrollably.
He stayed that way for quite a long time.
Elsewhere, the same thing was happening to a few other players.
The few who had broken through the server pause to buy the game saw the ending around the same time and logged into the community forums.
『(Chat) WaitingForHellic2: I cried…
(Chat) BangbaeBloodlord: This is a masterpiece, for real…』
The user reviews began.
They went beyond overwhelmingly positive, to absolutely positive.
It took just one day for *Hellic 2* to prove its closed beta reviews right and aim for something even greater.
Word of mouth began to spread.
Hidden Ending (1)