Border Neutral Zone (1)

It wasn’t just one or two things that felt fishy.

First of all, no matter how crucial a project under development it was, the security was being maintained with ridiculous thoroughness. Game development might be top-secret, but when developers jump ship, rumors about the new game always leak. There should have been at least a few carefully planted articles in the game webzines for promotion. And simply revealing the level of realism in the game we were playing could have sent Changing’s stock price through the roof. Yet they did none of it.

They kept everything locked down in absolute secrecy, and none of it made sense.

What bothered me even more was the complete absence of any mention of the other testers. In the past I might have shrugged it off as the company preventing us from comparing wages and treatment, but after meeting the FBI my thoughts had taken a darker turn.

It no longer felt like ordinary corporate paranoia. It felt like they were hiding the testers’ deaths.

Still, no matter how uneasy it made me, I had to log back in. I begged my mother not to disturb me while I was playing, set up a camera so I could watch the house from outside, and connected.

Special Agent James Lee stood by the window, checking the family’s schedule. His plan was to slip in while the house was empty, examine the capsule, install a signal modulator, siphon the data, and analyze the game. If he could prove the excessive stimulation was killing people, they could shut it down or force a fix.

“Sir, you need to take this satellite call.”

“Who is it?”

“The Director.”

There was only one person in the Bureau who carried that title.

James answered. Before he could finish his report about acquiring a capsule unit that week, the Director cut him off.

“What? Why the sudden order?”

“…It’s a directive. That’s all you need to know.”

“Don’t tell me the government is backing Changing?”

“They made a deal with the Department of Defense. In exchange for providing information, the DoD is taking over. Pull out immediately.”

“But if the sudden deaths are linked to a specific game—”

“Those deaths will be reclassified as occurring during a government research project. Do not interfere. This is now under Defense Department jurisdiction.”

James barely resisted the urge to hurl the satellite phone across the room. He ended the call with a tight jaw.

“We’re pulling out?” his subordinate asked.

“Yes. Pack up the equipment.”

“What about Park Jinwoo?”

“I’ll speak with him myself. From now on the Department of Defense will handle…”

James trailed off as the wrongness of the situation finally hit him. Not the State Department—the Department of Defense. He already knew the DoD had been involved in Changing’s human-enhancement chip experiments. But this was a game. Why would the military be interested?

It felt like something far bigger was being hidden.

“Pack everything and hand the sealed materials to me. I’ll handle the final cleanup.”

James Lee had the uneasy feeling he would need to start his investigation from the very beginning.

We took turns catching short naps. Once everyone’s stamina had recovered, we set off again.

“Hmm. Let’s start by making a map.”

I hadn’t told them we had entered a new dungeon, but the straight tunnel had begun splitting into multiple paths, so everyone understood the need for one.

“I’ll take point. Pyutel, you draw the map. Meni, guard the rear.”

We chose routes that avoided red dots on the map as much as possible, but the monster density was so high we couldn’t avoid combat entirely.

“Huh? These aren’t Spirit Clouds.”

This time, semi-transparent, fluttering blanket-like creatures drifted toward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠us in a group.

“Those are Phantom Ghosts,” Sezanne explained. “Physical attacks won’t work, but magic does.”

At her words I waited for Yanne to prepare her spell.

“Fire Bolt!”

The spell struck a Phantom Ghost with a satisfying explosion. Flames erupted across its body. It was weak enough to die in a single hit.

Rather than wasting mana on single-target healing buffs or spells, I summoned flames ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠directly from my left hand.

A roaring jet of fire engulfed the group like a flamethrower. In seconds they were reduced to nothing but ash.

“Normally Phantom Ghosts have physical immunity, so people enchant weapons with elemental magic,” Sezanne said. “It saves mana.”

“I see. Since I can’t use Enchant, Sezanne, please apply it to the others’ weapons.”

Sezanne looked at me like I had grown a second head. She couldn’t believe that someone who casually tossed around mid-tier magic didn’t know the most basic enchantment spell. Still, another wave of Phantom Ghosts was approaching, so she hurriedly imbued the warriors’ spears with flame attributes.

After clearing the ghosts we pressed forward and encountered four skeletons.

“Ah, skeletons this time. This might be an undead dungeon,” Sezanne murmured.

The party’s expressions hardened. Ghosts were one thing, but the thought of fighting zombies or ghouls—creatures that had once been human—sat heavily on everyone.

As expected, zombies soon began rising from the floor. Their rotting flesh and crushed, eyeless faces were deeply unsettling. I had no choice but to keep pouring out streams of fire to burn them away.

“This is why you need a priest in the party. Huh? What’s that?”

There were no red enemy markers on the map, yet light was spilling from one side of the passage. It was as bright as dozens of luminous stones attached to spear tips. When we drew closer we realized the light was coming from the ground.

“They’re Glowcap Mushrooms!” Sezanne exclaimed, stepping forward in fascination. She plucked one; it gave off a gentle silver-white radiance.

“They’re brighter than luminous stones, so nobles use them for lighting. I’ve never seen so many growing together like this.”

After stumbling through a dark dungeon, stepping into a space lit like fluorescent lights felt surreal.

“They’re also edible. Though your body will glow for a while afterward.”

“Your body glows?”

“Yes. Some parties eat them on purpose so people can act as living lanterns.”

“Fascinating. Since the map shows no enemies, let’s rest here for a bit.”

We sat among the glowing mushrooms. I dug up several with their soil intact to use as future lighting.

“Have you tried them before, Sezanne? Are you sure they’re not poisonous?”

“I’ve seen parties eat them, so they should be safe. They’re quite rare, though, so I’ve never had one myself.”

Never one to pass up a new ingredient, I broke off a tiny piece, rubbed it on the back of my hand, and waited. No irritation, no redness, no swelling. I tasted a fingernail-sized piece. It was a little bitter but not unpleasant. After five minutes with no ill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠effects, I pulled out my portable table from inventory.

I selected the plumpest specimens, washed them thoroughly—scrubbing hard because I still felt uneasy—and diced them. I scored the pieces so the butter would soak in nicely during cooking.

The mushrooms sizzled in melted butter. I added finely chopped garlic, onion, and green onion, then seasoned with salt and pepper. A savory aroma that stimulated the appetite filled the air.

“Master, won’t the smell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attract monsters?” Yanne asked.

“They’re all undead. I doubt they can smell anything.”

“That’s true. Shall I help?”

“Sure. Mince some and we’ll mix them with egg.”

Yanne chopped mushrooms beside me. We mixed them with onion and egg, then pan-fried the mixture into savory patties. When we plated the sautéed mushrooms and egg patties, the sight was downright bizarre. The smell made your mouth water, but the food itself emitted a soft glow—like something radioactive.

“Meni. Smells good. Can eat?”

“Yeah. Serve yourself.”

The simple-minded but food-obsessed Meni immediately stabbed a portion with her fork. The happy crunching sounds and delighted smiles convinced everyone else to pick up their utensils.

“There’s ketchup too. Try it with that.”

I took a bite of the glowing sauté. The mushrooms had a unique chewy texture and the butter gave them a rich nuttiness. After a few chews the garlic came through. It was surprisingly good. The bitterness I’d tasted raw had completely disappeared.

“Delicious. This ketchup thing is really good,” Meni declared. She had mixed her mushrooms thoroughly with ketchup. Then something strange happened—bright light began flowing through her veins like magic.

“That’s amazing.”

Meni herself was fascinated. She twisted and turned, watching the light move through her body. The rest of us kept eating until we too began to glow. I checked my status window just in case, but there were no changes to my stats. It was purely a visual effect.

“Sezanne, how long does this light last?”

“From what I remember, about two hours. But they only ate one raw mushroom each back then. I don’t know how long it will last after we ate so many.”

“Then let’s travel while we’re glowing. There are so many mushrooms here we should harvest some too.”

Everyone thought it was fun and knew the mushrooms would sell well, so we gathered them until the passage grew noticeably darker. The glow had an unexpected benefit: in the pitch-black dungeon, our collective light made it easy to spot monsters early. Attacks and defense became much simpler.

“There’s the exit.”

After wandering the dungeon for nearly three hours we finally found the way out. When we emerged, night had fallen.

“Where are we? There’s no story about a cave teleporting you to the other side of the continent, right?”

“The constellations are almost identical to those around Iparak. We’ve only traveled as far as our walking distance suggests. We haven’t been sent to another region,” Pyutel said after studying the stars. He examined the forest and tilted his head. “There are no signs of logging. Was there a forest this dense near Iparak?”

His words sparked a memory.

“This is probably the border between the Shuzel Kingdom and the Redecup Kingdom. The dungeon we just exited must be located in the border forest zone.”

“Huk. Master, then what about those human-hunting Rangers?” Yanne asked nervously.

“If this is the border Luke told us about, we might become targets. For now let’s head back to Iparak. We’re still glowing brightly enough to walk even in the dark, right?”

“But Master, won’t the light make us stand out? You said this is where the Rangers attack indiscriminately.”

“True, but would they really attack something glowing like this? Besides, the light is already starting to fade. It should go out soon. Shall we go back through the dungeon instead?”

No one wanted to return to the dark tunnels after spending two days inside. In the end we decided to head south through the forest.

“Hey. Hey, wake up.”

“Ugh, why? We said we wouldn’t wake each other.”

“Look over there. Something’s coming this way.”

“What is it? The sun isn’t even up yet.”

The soldier who was shaken awake rubbed his eyes and looked where his comrade was pointing. His eyes widened.

“What the hell is that? Why is light coming out of their bodies?”

“That’s why I woke you. You’ve never seen anything like it either, right?”

“No. People who glow? Are those even human?”

The two border guards stared at the distant glowing party moving through the trees, wondering what on earth they were.

“D-don’t tell me… are they demons?”