There was a game called
It was a single-player-only virtual reality action RPG released four years ago, with no multiplayer elements.
The setting was a modern world where gates connecting to another world had appeared. It was a game about monsters pouring out from those gates, and the Hunters who fought against them.
[The world is now in a Heroes Road craze!]
[Just how long will this popularity last?]
A wide variety of charming playable characters, excellent gameplay, and countless hidden elements.
Heroes Road, widely praised for its brilliant game design, enjoyed massive popularity for a time.
But—
[Raijin: Was this made to actually be cleared?]
[Hanabi: The game's fun, but the difficulty is absolute bulls**t, I can't take it anymore.]
[alswo079: Has anyone cleared any route with any character? Please share your strategy;]
The difficulty was just too high.
Globally, the number of players who had completed the game was barely 0.1%, if that.
And even that percentage was only for the easier playable characters—no one had cleared the routes for the harder ones.
[A game that can't be cleared even with a walkthrough!]
[Is there anyone who looks like Jin Seo-yeon in real life? I fell for her at first sight. I love you.]
[Is this even a game?]
[Please, at least let us skip the tutorial!]
Too hard! It was just too hard!
Casual players dropped off, exhausted. Even the seasoned hardcore veterans began falling away one by one, like getting caught in a sieve.
"I cleared it all...."
And then there was me.
I succeeded in fully clearing the game that everyone else had given up on. A message appeared slowly on the screen of the VR device I was wearing, a moving message that filled me with emotion.
[Congratulations! You are the first to clear every playable character.]
First!
If you're someone who plays games on the hardest difficulty, that word alone is enough to make your heart race.
It was a game released four years ago, and there were only five playable characters total.
And yet I was the first to clear them all.
"Bragging... yeah, I've got to brag about this."
I yanked off my VR headset and immediately logged onto my PC to access a chatroom.
A chatroom called Heroes Road Beginners Only. But despite the name, there was a condition to enter.
—Only those who had cleared Heroes Road in any route could join.
Since the clear rate was less than 0.1%, there weren't many people who could even enter.
Still, there were always a few dozen regulars in the room, but when I logged in today…
"...No one's here?"
The chatroom was completely empty.
Current users: 1/201. Obviously, that one was me. There was no one else. Come to think of it, it had already been months since the last time anyone chatted in this room.
"Did it die off in the meantime?"
Or maybe they made a new chatroom and didn't invite me? That'd hurt way too much.
Right then, ding, a sound rang out.
—'XxSupreme LordxX' has entered the room.
A message announcing someone had entered the chatroom.
—XxSupreme LordxX: Oh? There's still someone left? I thought everyone was already gone.
—Veteran: Hey, where is everyone? They all off playing a new game or something?
—XxSupreme LordxX: Huh, this is unexpected.
That weird nickname... this guy was the original creator of this chatroom. I was happy to see him and typed a flurry of messages, but he just went on saying whatever he wanted.
—XxSupreme LordxX: Still, a promise is a promise. No way, but... have you cleared the entire game?
—Veteran: You mean, cleared everything?
I was about to say I had, but then I stopped myself.
"If I tell him, the news will spread right away, won't it?"
I cleared Yoo Baekjun's route!
I wanted to announce it when there were more people in the chatroom, if possible.
Bragging is always more satisfying when there's a big audience.
"Once you go full hardcore, you can't help becoming a bit of a show-off..."
So I typed:
—Veteran: All of them, except Yoo Baekjun's route.
—XxSupreme LordxX: Yeah? Checki—no, never mind. Everyone else failed too, anyway. Like anyone could really clear that.
—Veteran: What are you talking about?
—XxSupreme LordxX: Wanna make a bet with me?
A bet?
—XxSupreme LordxX: Yeah, a bet. Try clearing the game with a route I suggest. Not that it'll happen, but if you succeed, I'll grant you one wish.
—Veteran: A wish? What kind of wish?
—XxSupreme LordxX: Literally anything. Want to be rich? I'll make it happen. Want to be handsome? I can do that too.
Was he offering to give me plastic surgery or something?
It was a bizarre offer. And at the same time, way too suspicious.
—Veteran: And what if I fail?
—XxSupreme LordxX: Hmm, we'll think about that if you do. So, what do you say? Want to try?
I hesitated for a moment.
Should I accept such an obviously shady offer? Maybe I should just refuse?
Well, that wouldn't be too bad either.
"...It's not like I lose anything by failing."
Whether he would really grant the wish or not, there wasn't any real downside to trying.
After thinking it over for a while...
—Veteran: Aight. I'll give it a shot.
I accepted.
—XxSupreme LordxX: Good. You're the last one. Out of everyone I've tried, you're the best.
In that moment, my monitor's screen went weird.
Suddenly, the image began distorting. No, not just the screen—my entire vision.
—XxSupreme LordxX: This is no longer a game. From now on, it will become your reality. Whatever it may be.
In the middle of a horrible wave of dizziness...
—XxSupreme LordxX: This is the choice you made.
...I lost consciousness.
***
I had a dream.
A snowstorm was raging.
A dark night, a snowfield filled with pale white trees. A man was running frantically through it.
"Huff, huff!"
The clothes he wore were far too light for such cold—plain white cotton garments.
No, strictly speaking, they weren't really white.
They were soaked in blood, stained a deep red.
"Why, why are you trying to kill me...!"
The man murmured to himself as he desperately ran.
Between the flapping garments, his pale flesh was revealed, covered in wounds.
"Just a little farther. Just a little more. That way!"
The man kept glancing back, as if someone was chasing him. He didn't stop—he ran with all his might.
Thwack!
"Aaaagh!"
At that moment, the sound of something piercing the air rang out. An arrow struck the leg of the man who had been fleeing madly. He lost balance and collapsed.
"Ah, ugh!"
"There! He's over there! After him!"
Voices shouted from behind. The man clawed at the ground, trying to crawl forward. But it was a futile effort.
"There you are, young master."
"Guhk!"
Through the raging snowstorm, a man emerged. He had a sturdy build and a fierce-looking face.
"Shin Woo-Hyun..."
"Yes, I'm your instructor, Shin Woo-Hyun."
"Did you find him? This way! Everyone, gather!"
More figures emerged behind the man. All of them were martial artists wielding swords. In an instant, they surrounded the man.
"If you'd just died right away, it would've ended painlessly."
"Shin Woo-Hyun, why are you...! Aaaagh!"
"So this is all you managed after running like mad."
Thud!
Shin Woo-Hyun kicked the man in the stomach. His wound split open, and blood gushed out.
"For someone who is the heir of the Sword Saint Family, you've got pitiful movement, Yoo Baekjun."
"H-Heir... Who sent you? Don't tell me—!"
"That's right."
Shin Woo-Hyun sneered coldly.
"Your brother wants you dead. Quietly, if possible. Faking your death by monsters, bringing you all the way out here—such a hassle, really."
He raised his sword.
Blood ran down the blade and dripped onto the snow-covered field. It was Yoo Baekjun's blood.
"S-Spare me."
"I'll finish it in one stroke, for old time's sake. Don't worry. I'll send your attendants after you as well, including Choi Seungmin..."
Yoo Baekjun trembled. Shin Woo-Hyun was still smiling as he raised his sword high.
"You won't be lonely!"
At that moment, I—
"Huh?"
—awoke from the dream, as Yoo Baekjun.
***
Yoo Baekjun stared blankly at the blade.
The sword coming down at him had frozen in midair. As if time had stopped.
'What... is this.'
He couldn't grasp the current situation.
—XxSupreme LordxX had proposed a bet, and he had accepted. Then, suddenly, his vision had blurred and…
'A snowfield?'
He found himself in a snowfield.
A snowy plain filled with pale white trees and covered in thick snow.
'Wait, this... is familiar?'
Somehow, it all felt familiar.
The scenery, and the situation. Yoo Baekjun looked at the still-suspended sword, and at its wielder.
A man with a fierce, brutish face. That face—he had seen it somewhere before.
'Ah, right. Shin Woo-Hyun, from Heroes Road.'
The early-game villain in Yoo Baekjun's route.
A former instructor who chases Yoo Baekjun relentlessly at the beginning, trying to kill him.
If that man was right in front of him, did that mean he had connected into Heroes Road?
"Urgh!"
The moment he realized that, a wave of excruciating pain swept through his body. His stomach churned, his vision spun.
'Why?'
The pain was not normal.
If he had connected to Heroes Road, there was no reason to be feeling pain like this. Virtual reality games were legally bound to prevent pain sensations.
—This is no longer a game. It will become your reality. Whatever it may be.
"No way."
He suddenly recalled what Supreme Lord had said.
Without warning, for no reason. And the moment Yoo Baekjun remembered that—
"Die!"
Time resumed. The blade, suspended in the air, began to move.
Right toward Yoo Baekjun's head.
"Gah!"
Thwack!
He twisted his body at the last second. Perhaps not expecting him to dodge, the blade grazed his cheek and slammed into the ground.
"It would've been less painful if you'd just died quietly, but you insist on resisting pointlessly."
Shin Woo-Hyun clicked his tongue. Yoo Baekjun scowled. A deep gash ran across his cheek, and blood dripped down.
'It hurts.'
He touched his cheek with his fingers. He could feel the hot blood running.
Yoo Baekjun—or rather, I, now Yoo Baekjun in this reality—began thinking faster than ever before.
'Connected to a game? No, this is...'
Shin Woo-Hyun swung his sword again.
Where was the blade heading? Yoo Baekjun instinctively read its trajectory.
'Reality!'
Whuuung!
As Yoo Baekjun rolled to the side, the sword slashed just over him.
"You dodged that?"
Shin Woo-Hyun's voice was filled with disbelief. Yoo Baekjun let out a ragged breath. The vividness, the sensations—so unlike VR. And the pain.
All of it told him this wasn't just connecting to a game.
"Hah! I wanted to make it painless!"
Shin Woo-Hyun roared. Red energy flared along his blade, a sharp killing intent pricking Yoo Baekjun's skin.
He was about to use a skill.
'Should I dodge?'
If he didn't, he'd die. But—
"This time for sure!"
—he didn't dodge.
Thanks to countless hours of playtime, he knew what came next. He knew there was no reason to dodge.
Fwoooosh!
"Guh! The blizzard...!"
Suddenly, a powerful gust and a fierce snowstorm swept in. His vision turned white, and even the strong man couldn't keep his balance. Shin Woo-Hyun was no exception.
"Damn it!"
The sword missed its mark.
Yoo Baekjun immediately got up and, dragging his aching body, began to run. Shin Woo-Hyun noticed, of course. He tried to give chase, but the blizzard made it impossible.
"Where is he! Where did he go!"
"Lord Shin Woo-Hyun! Look behind you!"
"Monsters are closing in!"
To make things worse, monsters began to appear from behind. Shin Woo-Hyun scowled and turned around. Monsters, drawn by the blizzard, had appeared on the snowfield.
"Tch! Use the artifact given by that person! We'll need it to track him. Take care of those things first!"
Together with his subordinates, Shin Woo-Hyun quickly began handling the monsters.
But by the time the battle was over—
"He won't have gotten far..."
Yoo Baekjun had already vanished into the blizzard.