The Game
Han Mir's face twisted as he took in his surroundings. He stood in what looked like a plaza inside an amusement park — a village rendered entirely in the style of an animated cartoon. At first glance it was a beautiful little town overflowing with dreams and hope, but scattered throughout were things that did not belong: sculptures of human eyeballs, statues of bodies torn limb from limb, bellies split open with organs spilling to the ground.
"Ugh... w-where is this?"
"Wh-what the hell? Where are we!?"
He was not alone. There was a slender girl with a perm that curled like lamb's wool; a pot-bellied middle-aged man with a rat-like face, wearing nothing but a white tank top and underwear; a sharp-eyed boy in glasses; and a tall young man handsome enough to put a celebrity to shame.
And last of all—
"Oppa, where are we?"
A little girl who looked about five years old gazed up at Han Mir with wide, innocent eyes.
Han Mir squeezed his eyes shut.
He had felt himself being sucked into some strange dimension, and before he could even think to resist, it was over. Is this another kind of Anomalous Event?
The pot-bellied man lurched to his feet, brow furrowed.
"What is this place!? I was at home!"
"I-I was in the hospital."
The girl with the perm said it with a slight tremble running through her.
"M-my phone! My phone's gone! Who was it!? Who stole my phone!?"
The boy in glasses immediately started accusing everyone of theft.
"All right, everyone, let's stay calm. It looks like we've all been brought somewhere unfamiliar, so why don't we try to figure out what's going on first?"
The handsome young man stepped in, doing his best to get a handle on the chaos.
"Oppa, oppa, I downloaded a game on my tablet and then I ended up here."
Han Mir raked a hand through his hair and forced a smile.
"Yeah, not interested."
"Aww, Oppa's so mean."
The child paid his prickly attitude no mind whatsoever. She just clamped onto his pant leg even tighter.
Thanks to the handsome young man's mediation, they sat in a circle in the plaza and introduced themselves.
The girl with the perm was Kim Min-jeong. She had been in the hospital. The middle-aged man with the protruding, rat-like front teeth was Do Gwang-sik, and he had been at home. The handsome college student, Lee Ji-han, said he had finished his assignments and dropped by a PC bang for the first time in a while. Next came Kang Hyeon-su, a middle schooler who had been secretly playing a mobile game at school when he got pulled in, and Han A-reum, who had installed a game on her tablet. With that, the introductions were complete.
"Han Mir. I went to a PC bang and ended up here."
"Tsk tsk. A young kid skipping school to sit in a PC bang. Unbelievable."
"And I suppose you studied so hard you ended up in a tank top and underwear."
"What!? You little punk, talking back to an adult like that!?"
Han Mir seriously considered putting a knuckle in the fat guy's skull.
"Haha, come on, sir, no need for that. I went to a PC bang too. Besides, high schoolers are under a lot of stress — sometimes you need to blow off a little steam."
Lee Ji-han brushed aside Do Gwang-sik's snide remarks and put an end to the spat. He cleared his throat.
"In the end, we all have one thing in common. We each installed a game we'd never seen before and launched it."
"So what? You're saying that's why we got dragged here?"
"That would be my guess. Nothing else explains it. The last thing any of us remember before our memories cut out is entering the game."
"Oh, for crying out loud. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Isn't it obvious? We've been kidnapped!"
"K-kidnapped!?"
Eeeek!
Kim Min-jeong and Han A-reum both jumped at Do Gwang-sik's words.
"That's right! What else could it be? We need to call the police right now! Time is of the essence — before whoever grabbed us comes back!"
"But... we don't even have our phones..."
Kim Min-jeong said it in a shrinking voice. She was right. When they had checked their belongings a moment ago, none of them had anything on them besides the clothes they were wearing.
"Hey, old man, cut the boomer stench and calm down."
"Wh-what did you just say!?"
Kang Hyeon-su suddenly went off. He pushed his glasses up with his middle finger and pressed on.
"To someone whose brain's been marinated in web novels and games like mine, this situation is dead simple. The old fart and Ji-han are both right."
"Hyeon-su, even so, we're older than you. You shouldn't talk to us like—"
"Meaning! We've been kidnapped into a game!"
"..."
An awkward silence settled over them.
"Oppa, that guy's super weird!"
Han A-reum said it while poking Han Mir's thigh with her tiny hands.
"Weird!? I-I'm the most normal one here! I've got the fastest brain in this situation! Just wait a little and something's definitely going to show up! And when you come crying to me to save you later, I won't lift a finger, so remember that! You're all gonna be beating the ground in regret!"
"Did you just hear yourself? Kidnapped into a game? That's what we're supposed to believe!?"
"H-he's right. That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think...?"
Kang Hyeon-su shot to his feet under the barrage of criticism, his face flushed red enough to burst.
"Urgh! A clueless bitch and a washed-up old fart, and you have the nerve!!"
"What did you just—!!!"
"Th-that's way too far! And you're even younger than I am!"
It was complete pandemonium. Han Mir sat there with a vacant expression, having already settled on a whatever-happens-happens attitude.
BOOM!!!
The chaos was swallowed whole by the sudden crack of fireworks. Enormous fireworks burst into existence overhead, painting the sky with gorgeous, roaring blooms of light that formed pictures.
A person run through with a blade, murdered where they stood.
A body being carved in half by a chainsaw.
Cannibals feasting on someone who was still alive.
And more — image after image so grotesque you could barely look at them, blooming and vanishing with the fireworks.
Then, all at once, a picture of a magic circle appeared in the sky, human heads arranged along its rim.
From inside the circle, a woman emerged, poured into a skintight, riotously colorful suit. She was a beauty, though an unsettling one — lips painted a vivid crimson like a clown's, skin deathly pale, eyeshadow in a riot of colors, and a heart drawn on her cheek.
Her hair — half red, half blue — whipped around her as she summoned a microphone into her empty hand and cried out.
"Hello!! My pleasure-crazed contestants!"
"Wh-what!? Who the hell are you!?"
At Do Gwang-sik's question, she flashed a wide, gums-baring grin.
"What a wonderful question, Teddy Bear!"
"Wh-what? Teddy Bear? Uwah!?"
Everyone stared at Do Gwang-sik in shock. The ratty tank top and underwear he had been wearing had vanished, replaced by a full teddy bear costume wrapped around his body.
"Wh-what is this!? Why won't it come off!!"
Do Gwang-sik clawed at the teddy bear costume, but it would not budge — as if it had fused with his skin.
"My name is~ drumroll, please!!!"
The clown woman supplied her own sound effect, and drums materialized in midair, playing themselves, whipping the atmosphere into a frenzy.
BOOM!! Fireworks exploded as if a raucous party had just erupted, and cheers poured in from somewhere that could not be placed.
Lee Ji-han clenched his fists against the rising dread and stepped forward.
"Where is this place? Why have you locked us in here?"
"Oh my~ Our dashing knight is so impatient!"
"Knight?"
Clank. Just as she had said, Lee Ji-han was suddenly encased in thick plate armor, transformed into a knight.
Bunny stuck her tongue out slightly and began pointing at them one by one.
"The prickly hedgehog boy, the enchanting shrine maiden, and the adorable baby lizard!"
Just as she had said, Kang Hyeon-su found himself in a hedgehog costume bristling with sharp spines down the back, and Kim Min-jeong was dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit so revealing that the lines of her legs were on full display.
"Argh! Wh-what is this!"
"Kyaa! Why am I the only one in something like this!"
"Hehe! I'm a dragon!"
Meanwhile, Han A-reum was thrilled with her lizard costume, even making fire-breathing gestures at Han Mir.
"This can't be happening. Everything that woman says is coming true..."
Kim Min-jeong muttered it to herself, trying to cover her exposed body.
She was right. This space was under Bunny's complete control. For an ordinary human, a single flick of her finger could make their head explode. Here, she could do anything she wanted.
Swap their heads while leaving their bodies as they were, for instance.
In this place, she occupied the position of a god.
Han Mir closed his eyes, looking exhausted, as a similar experience from his past flickered through his mind.
"And last of all, you're the mischievous clown! Matching outfits with me, kyahaha!"
Bunny looked at Han Mir and tilted her head. He was still wearing his school uniform, riddled with holes.
"Bullshit."
The boy stood up with a face that said he had heard enough and stretched out his hand.
"Answer my call, Nepos."
⟨ Holy Sword ⟩
He meant to summon the Holy Sword and smash this entire space to pieces.
"..."
But no matter how much time passed, the Holy Sword did not appear.
"Huh. That's weird. I definitely felt it, though?"
Swallowing the embarrassment climbing all the way to the top of his skull, he called out again — louder, clearer than before.
"Answer my call, Nepos!"
⟨ Holy Sword ⟩
"What is that, eighth-grader syndrome? Tsk."
Do Gwang-sik, watching the whole display, clicked his tongue.