Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Hidden Ending
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Seven hours into their attempts, after all fifteen methods had failed and five more suggestions had been offered, the hidden ending was nowhere in sight.
Around that time, James’s expression began to sour.
“Does this hidden ending even exist?”
He couldn’t help but feel a flicker of doubt.
He had tried so many methods.
Thinking that a perfect deconstruction of the patterns might be the key, he had broken them down frame by frame.
Conversely, he had also attempted to fail the patterns completely, and he had finished testing specific weapon combinations as well as single weapons.
He had even tried the ‘do nothing’ gimmick used in some games, but every single attempt had been wrong.
The fatigue from the long hours was affecting the viewers as well.
『Luka: What the hell is it that they hid it so well?』
James covered his weary eyelids with his hand and pressed down firmly, thinking.
‘Cheon Yeon-ho, you son of a bitch.’
An image of Yeon-ho’s face, which he had only seen in photos, flashed through his mind.
He was trying to grasp the creator’s intent.
That slick face, the tendencies he showed in conversation, his attitude.
James tried to combine these and other clues to find an answer, but to him, Yeon-ho was an utterly incomprehensible person.
It had been that way since he first proposed the stream via email.
‘...An incomprehensible person?’
Perhaps the clue lay there.
He forced his throbbing head to form the next thought.
Nothing came to mind.
It was then.
『Hellic2joy: Maybe we’re overthinking it?』
The guy who had been stubbornly typing in Korean offered an opinion.
『NoTclean: Sigh.
BloodLoad: If it were that easy, someone would’ve found it by now.
Dadbom: What are they saying?』
A stream of criticism in Korean and questions in English scrolled by.
In that moment, James froze.
And then he said,
“...Easily?”
It felt like lightning had struck the top of his head.
James’s head shot up.
“Wait, wait a minute...”
His hand stroked his sparsely bearded chin.
His shining eyes recalled a moment from the past.
The mouse zipped around, rummaging through the item window.
James replayed it in his mind.
The exact moment he had first decided to take down the Cancer Giant.
If there was a hint, it had to be there.
‘Did I have a reason for fighting that thing?’
No, he didn’t.
If he had to name one, it would be the bounty, or maybe to prove he was better than everyone else.
He hadn’t been particularly interested, even after it was revealed there was a hidden piece.
He had simply found meaning in the act of proving himself.
Next, he remembered the event description on the official social media page.
It had definitely been written there.
‘Difficulty: Extreme. The Cancer Giant...’
...was a slightly toned-down version.
“...Ah.”
No way.
He felt like he could see the answer.
‘Hellic2joy’ was right.
‘I was overthinking it.’
He had been twisting things too much.
When the answer was actually so simple.
『Luka: Is he asleep?』
The chat message appeared.
[Entering the Hell of Grudges.]
James moved Alice into the boss room.
As a level 1 character with no setup whatsoever.
The viewers erupted in confusion.
『Kissme: What is he doing?
DoDorian: Is he crazy?
Zessicz: ?
Khanzing: ?
NoTclean: ?』
Amidst the chaos, only one person understood James’s intention.
『micetester: Ah...?』
It was ‘micetester,’ a veteran of the hardcore community who had introduced Hellic 1 to North America.
James let out a hollow laugh.
‘Really...’
If this was truly it, then Yeon-ho was a trash-tier human being.
And at the same time, a brilliant director who had executed a masterful design.
*Creak—*
After Alice left, the Jailer appeared.
The only thing in Butterfly’s hand was a level 1 slingshot.
He hadn’t allocated any points.
“There’s something I need to test.”
As soon as the boss fight began, James nonchalantly hit the Jailer with the slingshot.
The damage registered.
A single 1, just like with the Cancer Giant.
[02:57]
The timer started counting down.
James searched his memory.
‘The time it takes to defeat the Cancer Giant is three hours.’
That was the official clear time, established through numerous cases.
The only damage that registered was 1, and a single hit meant death.
In other words, hunting the Cancer Giant required maintaining a tempo of 3,333 hits per hour on its 10,000 HP bar without ever getting hit.
James simplified it.
Just as Yeon-ho had said he’d toned it down.
‘Three minutes, a simple calculation of 100 HP, which means 33 hits per minute.’
If this was really set up with the same gimmick in mind, wouldn’t that be the answer?
The level 1 slingshot in his hand, intended to exclude all external factors, struck the Jailer.
Exactly one minute, 33 hits, and then the first counter pattern appeared.
*Ping—!*
Cleared. He dealt more damage until the second counter, then executed the pattern.
*Ping—!*
Cleared again. Finally, he dealt damage until the third counter.
‘99 hits.’
Only one hit remained.
The Jailer prepared its final pattern, the 7-hit combo.
[00:00]
Once he finished this gimmick, the pattern would be over.
The clear condition had been the gimmick that appeared every minute, after all.
‘And.’
There was also only one hit left to reach the goal.
Enough for one counterattack.
For a moment, the world beyond the monitor seemed to slow down.
James knew this feeling.
It always happened when he entered a state of deep focus.
A sensation where the world on the screen was broken down and distinguished frame by frame.
‘This has to be the answer.’
A gut feeling that was close to certainty. At the same time, the Jailer’s attack slowly began its wind-up.
In that instant, James reviewed the few things he knew about the man called Cheon Yeon-ho.
‘A game fanatic.’
Yeon-ho was a man obsessed with immersion in games.
He was also a man who faithfully included fan service as part of that immersion.
‘A detail freak.’
Yeon-ho was a man who wasn't satisfied unless every minor element was detailed to perfection.
For that reason, he was a man who had requested feedback every other day since the closed beta.
How would a man like that have constructed a hidden route?
Something came to mind.
It would have to satisfy both the narrative and the system simultaneously.
By creating an even deeper immersion than the normal ending.
‘Desperation.’
Butterfly had to cling on desperately.
Narratively speaking, Butterfly would have latched onto the Jailer so tenaciously that she would have forgotten her very purpose for fighting—to protect the door.
She would have challenged the impossible, knowing it was impossible.
Because she was that desperate, because she couldn't give up.
Because she would have regretted it so deeply, and she would have wanted to atone.
There would have been no reason in her actions.
From a system perspective, that would translate into a meaningless challenge, an attack on an enemy that could not be felled.
It was a gift.
A gift Yeon-ho had prepared for people like himself and ‘micetester,’ who were obsessed with meaningless challenges.
He was sure Yeon-ho had mentioned something about this once.
—The reason the Cancer Giant has a reward? It's simple.
‘Every challenge in a game...’
...must have a reward.
*Ping—!*
The counter began.
James’s Butterfly immediately rushed toward the Jailer.
It was something he shouldn’t have done.
The final counter, which alternated between on-beat and off-beat rhythms, was a gimmick that could only be cleared by maintaining distance and controlling the tempo.
『Luka: Ah...!』
A gasp escaped the viewers.
‘Now!’
James pressed the crouch key and shot the slingshot precisely at the Jailer’s forehead.
*Thwang—!*
The counter was broken.
Before the pattern had even begun.
『Hellic2joy: ????
BloodLoad: What was that?』
Someone who didn't understand typed a series of question marks.
But what truly astonished them happened immediately after.
*Thud—!*
The Jailer stopped.
No, the game stopped.
It wasn't a bug.
A cinematic began to play.
『Luka: There it is!!!
Zessica: What? What just happened!』
The video, which began amidst cheers, was different from before.
*Swoosh—*
A wave rolled in.
Closer, close enough to swallow the ankles of Butterfly and the Jailer.
The Jailer shivered, then took about seven steps back.
And then *thump*, it plunged its hand into the sand where the wave had receded.
*Rumble!*
When the Jailer pulled its hand out, something came up with it.
It was an object that was quite, very familiar to James.
A massive club covered in all sorts of grotesque growths, resembling human flesh.
『NoTclean: ...The Cancer Bat?』
The Cancer Bat.
The very same weapon that existed as an easter egg in Hellic 1.
『Dadbom: Fuck...』
A curse appeared in the frozen chat window.
James smiled, feeling a thrill run down his spine.
‘Found it.’
The hidden route.
It was a route that could only be accessed by successfully executing the most irrational play.
* * *
Once you knew the formula, entering was easy.
Easy enough for an average player with decent skills.
However, the process of reaching that point was designed to be so convoluted that no one but a core fan of the previous game would know it.
‘It’s started.’
On the screen, James let out a cry of shock as the hidden phase began.
[Ah! That’s the real Cancer Bat!]
He said, just 30 seconds into his confrontation with the Jailer.
I answered James, who was likely in California, in my head.
‘You thought it’d be a fake?’
It was the real Cancer Bat, with the random settings from Hellic 1 carried over exactly.
In other words, the Jailer would randomly use one of its designated stances every 30 seconds.
This route was for perverts like him.
You had to give the Jailer a highly random weapon to make the veterans cry, didn't you?
‘I’ve already informed him of the clear condition.’
The Jailer’s health bar had disappeared, replaced by the number 1,000.
It was simple.
Hit it a thousand times.
Of course, he would have to struggle quite a bit to adapt to the random patterns.
‘I can’t let him see it that easily.’
Why would I show him the hidden ending I worked so hard on right away?
I suddenly remembered the time I was creating this gimmick.
‘...It’s a ‘what if’ story, after all.’
The hidden route is a ‘what if’ story.
A story that never happened in the actual hell.
Yet, it’s a story someone might desperately wish for.
‘What if...’
What if there was a different ending for Butterfly and the girl? What path could Butterfly take to reach it?
The idea started from there.
‘She has to be more desperate. She has to struggle to atone for her sins.’
Only then could she convey her desperation to someone.
Having already inserted the virtual element of the Jailer into the final boss fight, I chose to use the Jailer, now displaying its full capabilities, as an element of the test.
Butterfly will fight the Jailer to the very end.
Even with death at her doorstep.
[200 hits!]
*Crack!*
The moment she reached the milestone, one of Butterfly’s arms shattered.
[Attack speed decreased by 10%.]
[Cheon Yeon-ho, you bastard!]
But even with her crumbling body, she fights on.
So focused that she doesn't even realize the door is already gone.
No matter how dangerous the situation, she cannot back down.
Because that is a mother’s love.
[400 hits!]
[Movement speed decreased by 30%.]
Half of her thigh and calf crumbled away.
[600 hits!]
[Attacks have a 10% chance to miss.]
Half of her head disappeared.
[800 hits!]
[Weapon lost. Switching to hand-to-hand combat.]
Both of her shoulders crumbled away.
And so, she races toward the end.
[999!]
*Thwack!*
The moment she threw a kick,
[1000!]
*Crumble—!*
Half of Butterfly’s body vanished.
She collapses, and the screen transitions to a cinematic.
*Swoosh—*
[We did it!!!]
『Luka: He did it! He really did it!
Hellic2joy: Is the hidden ending here?!?
Dadbom: Worth staying up for. I would’ve regretted it if I hadn’t seen this live...』
I suddenly felt a rather embarrassing sentiment.
Because the scene that would follow was purely my imagination.
It felt like showing my childish fantasies to others.
Of course, regardless of my feelings, the video began.
[Ah...]
A gasp escapes Butterfly.
She is looking at the spot where the door had disappeared.
Butterfly smiles brightly as she shatters into pieces.
Up to this point, it was the same.
But there was one difference.
[...It’s not the waves?]
What envelops the crumbling Butterfly is not the waves, but a cluster of light.
Like the wind, it wraps around Butterfly’s fragments, gathering them.
Speculations appeared in the chat.
『Zessica: Is she going to heaven?
Luka: That’s it! She’s meeting Alice in heaven!
Dadbom: Oh, are they adding heaven to the Hellic universe?』
Sorry, but you’re wrong.
There is no heaven in Hellic.
‘I’d have to have seen it first.’
I know that time can be rewound.
I know that hell is real, and that humans who have sinned fall there.
Of course, how could I not, having experienced and witnessed it all with my own eyes?
But I know nothing of heaven.
Therefore, I cannot officially incorporate it into the world’s lore.
However, there was one thing the viewers got right: this was a happy ending.
I put into the ending what I, as both a gamer and someone who had witnessed their story, had come to wish for.
This was the direction of happiness I presented through the realm of imagination.
[...A god?]
The scene changes, and Butterfly’s fragments are delivered to the god in the Hell of Heretics.
He stares intently at the fragments.
Then, silence.
Finally, the god blows a puff of air, ‘Hoo,’ sending the fragments flying.
And so, Butterfly arrives.
To a heaven just for the two of them, where Alice, who has departed for the happiest of places, and the atoned Butterfly will be.
『DoDorian: A kitchen this time?』
It was the warm kitchen of a home, steam rising from a bubbling pot on the stove.
[Oh...]
James’s eyes widened.
He murmured in a daze.
[...Alice.]
The back of a young girl heading toward the kitchen is shown.
Then, it shows the back of a woman with the same hair.
And so, mother and daughter hold hands.
A low laugh is heard as the screen fades out.
The hidden ending, a dreamlike conclusion that might just exist somewhere.
It was named.
[Hidden ending: If or...]
If, or.
Giving the possibility that perhaps, the two of them were happy afterward.
[Game Clear]
Only then do the ending credits roll.
* * *
The moment the credits started rolling, James felt a sting at the tip of his nose.
“Damn it...”
He needlessly wrinkled his nose.
He felt his face flush, making him feel awkward.
Did he dislike it?
No way.
“...Agh.”
He was utterly satisfied.
A foolish grin spread across his face.
The chat window echoed his feelings.
『Hellic2joy: This is it!!! T_T
Zessica: This has to be the true ending, right? Ah T_T
Dadbom: So glad I didn’t sleep. I would’ve regretted missing this live...』
He couldn’t even remember how many hours he had pushed on just to see this one scene.
He felt a surge of vitality fill his once-weary body.
Because his efforts had been rewarded accordingly.
The fulfillment of a desire.
In other words, a reward.
From a game design perspective, Yeon-ho had executed that principle perfectly.
James couldn’t help but say the words out loud.
“Yeah, this is it...”
A bittersweet ending? Sure, that’s fine; it has its own flavor.
Historically, tragedies have always dug deep into people’s hearts.
But still.
Even if the content is cliché and childish, isn’t this kind of thing better?
A story’s end should, by all rights, be a happy one.
“Happy endings are the best, after all.”
Completely drained of energy, James leaned back in his chair.
He stared at the monitor in that languid state.
Tickling his ears was that familiar music box melody.
What had once sounded sad now washed over him with a sense of wistful longing, soaking his heart.
It was after the credits had finished.
[And...]
Something else happened.
*Swoosh—*
“Huh?”
The screen, which should have ended with the words ‘And you,’ once again showed the beach.
The Jailer was standing there, motionless.
“...Huh?!”
James jerked his head forward.
The chat window was also colored with bewilderment.
『Khanzing: ???
Kissme: ???
Luka: ???』
The video continued, indifferent to their confusion.
The Jailer’s head turned toward the sea.
*Splash, splash*, the waves grew rougher.
And something walked out from beneath the sea.
*Swoosh—*
A silhouette so dark that nothing could be discerned about it other than that it was human.
The screen focused on the Jailer turning its head toward the anomaly and the anomaly’s hand, before finally zooming in on the anomaly’s hand.
Immediately after.
*Shing—!*
A blade suddenly extended from the anomaly’s hand.
It was a grotesque blade, covered in bulging veins.
*Thud!*
With that, the screen faded to black.
Reflected on the black screen was James’s own dumbfounded face.
The silence was broken only after a message appeared on the black screen: ‘You have cleared the hidden route. The Cancer Bat is now unlocked.’
James stammered.
“...What was that?”
In the frozen chat window, only one person responded.
『Hellic3wait: ...A teaser for the next game?』
A guess as fast as their nickname change.
The next day, the roughly 20-second post-credits scene spread across online communities.
Jo A-yun and the College Entrance Exam (1)