[What’s the difficulty level of this?]
Is there some difficulty when starting? Should I choose hard?
– It’s fine if it’s just the basic difficulty, but don’t bother with the impossible mode that unlocks after hard.
ㄴWhy not?
ㄴAs the name suggests, it’s simply impossible, and even Koreans haven’t cleared it yet.
ㄴIs it that hard?
ㄴJust think of it as all the bosses you’ve encountered so far happening consecutively under the worst circumstances.
ㄴThere’s no time to recover or grow, yep.
[What is this Dreaming World?]
They’re giving out some kind of cult-like flyers; is this a hidden thing?
– No way.
– If you go in, the game ends immediately, so be careful. No save file is created either.
ㄴWhat is this?
ㄴOriginally, it’s about catching one random Academy student as a sign that an incident at the Academy is about to occur, but sometimes it gets offered to players.
ㄴBut that’s just useless.
ㄴYou get a buff at the start, but you also have a bomb implanted in your body, so you die no matter what.
ㄴYou’re basically being told to commit suicide, right?
ㄴYep.
ㄴBy the way, are you doing the impossible difficulty? If not, the chances are pretty low.
ㄴㄴㄴ Normal mode.
[A review from someone who contacted after seeing the cult flyer]
There was a giant foundation where blood was flowing around, and the atmosphere was super intense.
I thought this was bad, so I almost didn’t do it, but I decided to proceed anyway.
After that, they put something on my head, and from then on, the character’s mental strength just dropped immensely, losing control.
After that, I went into the Academy alone, caused an incident, and ended up committing suicide.
What the heck is this?
-[You’ve opened your eyes, Kon.]
– Come to the brainwashing community.
ㄴGet lost.
– I told you avoiding that is better.
ㄴAt the point I got caught, I was already targeted, so it’s better to just sell a new game.
ㄴWhat’s the principle behind getting caught?
ㄴIt seems random, but if I were to explain using my brain’s info, it seems to approach people whose mental strength looks ‘low.’
ㄴWhat does ‘low-looking’ mean? It’s not about lower stats, right?
ㄴYep, I once saw someone in the game just acting like a fool, and they would approach about once out of ten times, but the mental strength stat was relatively high, which was weird.
ㄴAre they analyzing actions too? Then this must be a god game.
[Is there anyone who has cleared this cult? Help, please.]
What the hell, it’s normal difficulty, but the cult keeps invading the school.
About ten students are already brainwashed, and it’s taking forever to resolve.
Is there any easy way to break them?
– I don’t know.
ㄴThen die.
ㄴWhy are you like this? I’m hurt.
– You just have to endure. By the way, hard difficulty is tougher than that.
– Why are you whining already when it’s just the beginning? Just play it.
ㄴDo you think I’m playing to labor? I didn’t know normal difficulty would be this tough.
ㄴFool.
ㄴNo hands?
***
“Ah.”
As I opened my eyes and looked outside, the sky had already turned black.
“I fell asleep again.”
And beside me was a flyer.
[Don’t you think your life is meaningless?]
“····.”
Slowly shaking off the alcohol’s influence, I think for a moment.
I’ve seen this flyer before, right?
Definitely in the game…
“Those who walk in the footsteps of the end.”
Yeah, I think it had a name like that.
And the fact that this flyer has come to me means I have become a target.
Of course, since this is reality, it’s unlikely that a flyer was distributed only to me, but you never know.
At least, I believe that only one person can receive an invitation to join this cult at a time in the game.
If this were the game, the method to deal with it would be simple.
Delete this round and restart the game from the beginning.
This is because these end-times cultists were obsessively persistent, and once they select a target, they surely make them theirs.
It’s natural that they would disturb me until this cult is completely destroyed and annihilated.
“Hmm…”
If I had shown slightly better behavior, maybe I wouldn’t have been caught.
No, I’m also living my life earnestly, so why are they targeting me?
I have the same desire to become wealthy and eat the foods I want and live comfortably one day.
“These bad guys.”
Moreover, soon it’s the day for the health examination conducted weekly at the Academy, and I can’t receive that if the Academy gets blown up.
And I think.
I can’t escape.
Should I tell Philia Professor?
However, these guys aren’t easy to catch, and unfortunately, the professor’s power is a bit lacking.
Philia Professor has top-tier skills among the other professors, but she doesn’t have a good matchup against these guys.
Her mental strength stat is not high compared to her strong physical body, so if something goes wrong, I could lose a valuable asset early on.
It’s uncertain whether she would even listen to me…
[XXX-XXXX-XXXX]
I watch the phone number written below attentively.
“····Huh.”
And suddenly a good idea pops into my head.
It’s essentially a gamble, but a gamble with a high chance of winning.
I roll the dice.
Vroom vroom.
The call takes a moment to connect, and just a few seconds later, I hear a voice on the other end.
– Did you see the flyer and call us?
“Yes, I felt like it would be helpful for me.”
– That’s wonderful to hear. We’re also glad to be of help to you.
Listening to his voice, which sounded happy, I also speak.
“Then where should I go? I don’t have an address.”
– Oh, just tell us where to go, and we’ll come to meet you.
It’s a call and act that feels like it shouldn’t be taken lightly, and in the previous world, receiving such calls typically led to becoming embroiled in crimes; how would it be here?
I’ll probably lose consciousness the moment I meet these people.
And after that, there’s a possibility that I won’t be me anymore.
Still, I chose not to preemptively share my actions with someone due to the reliability and risk involved.
It would be too risky to inform Noah in advance.
Trusting Philia Professor isn’t a good option either.
In a way, this could be an endless crisis, but on the contrary, it could also be one of the methods to easily break the game.
‘No traps are set on paths that aren’t the answers.’
Sometimes walking into danger is the right answer.
I made up my mind to finish this chapter alone.
“Yes, I’ll let you know where we can meet.”
And I simply smiled while saying this.
***
“Did the recruitment succeed?”
“It seems the end is helping us; to recruit a central student so easily.”
“From the first time they appeared on the broadcast, that guy showed signs of it. Hehe.”
The location where they aimed to meet is where a black van comes to a stop.
Screech.
After waiting a little longer, a girl approaches from a distance.
“Hello… Are you the person I’m supposed to meet?”
Holding something in one hand, the girl places it on the ground.
With a slight sense of unease, I ask.
“What’s that?”
“Ahaha…! It’s just alcohol! I just love alcohol so much?”
“Oh dear, you’re still young; it’s a shame. We’ll help you.”
“How can I be so grateful!! Thank you so much!!”
The girl, clearly intoxicated, has a face that’s flushed even under the streetlight.
Her face was somewhat pretty, but that kind of appearance clearly shows how low life can fall.
As expected, nothing was outside the expectation.
“Then this way.”
“Yes!! Hehe!”
As soon as we bring the hiccuping girl into the car, we immediately inject a powerful sedative into her arm.
Thud!
“Huh…?”
And quickly, we drive away with the girl who has fallen asleep.
“That was surprisingly easy.”
“She was already intoxicated, so that’s probably why.”
“It’s a good thing for us. But her face is a bit too good to just discard; at least the body…”
“Hey, don’t randomly touch the body of someone who will work for the end.”
“Ah… Yes, got it.”
And the car heads down the highway, filled with silence toward the outskirts of a city devoid of buildings.
Creeeak…
The van comes to a stop in front of a crumbling church, leading the girl inside.
“What brings you here?”
“We sing in order to follow the footsteps of the great one.”
“Please come in.”
“Thank you.”
Clank.
Entering through the massive door, they are greeted by the bishop.
They let down the girl they brought.
“Oh, is this the pilgrim who will lead our grand endeavor?”
“Indeed.”
“Ah… What a noble body this is; it’s truly beautiful.”
“Then let’s send her to that person.”
“Ah, yes, we should.”
A mask made of goat horns is placed over the sleeping girl’s face, and her body is placed into a coffin they had prepared in advance.
Thud.
“I look forward to your next appearance.”
Those with a pure soul cannot join us.
Only the lowest, the miserable, the sorrowful, and the suffering can know the end to follow in the footsteps of that being.
In that sense, this girl is fully qualified to be with us.
With a swish…
A black mist envelops the coffin.
And as the mist dissipates, the girl, now alone, slowly looks at the other people in this place.
“Greetings.”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready to accompany us?”
“I am ready.”
The clear response heard from inside the goat mask signified their success, and they couldn’t hide their immense joy.
“Now, please carry out your task.”
“I understand.”
And it seemed the girl was also pleased with this, as she bore a faint smile.
[Physical stats increase!]
They were just hearing sounds that they couldn’t hear.
