Episode 1 – The reason Yeon-soo began playing this game was nothing special. After all, she had retired and thought it was just an extension before starting her next job search. Just a little something to try in the meantime.
She liked the idea of experiencing a full-dive VR for the first time. The new game from SM Company, which had reportedly revolutionized the game industry, was a "Cult Leader Simulator" that connected brainwaves to the game and even integrated touch and taste.
Frankly, Yeon-soo didn’t know how difficult it was, or any such details. She merely thought it was impressive because others kept talking about overtechnology and such.
The game’s content was simple. You became the leader of a cult and expanded your sect. Being a cultist is morally problematic, but after all, a game is just a game.
Just like people don’t kill in real life because they kill in a game.
And something else sparked some interest as well.
Storytelling is crucial for any product. This game nailed the storytelling. Although it may have been marketed differently abroad, in Korea, they used a method that could be described as leaving a scratch on the pride of Korean gamers.
This game had 130 endings in total. However, only 129 had been discovered so far. But since the game company had stated there were 130, it meant there was undoubtedly one more, which no one had found yet.
Even those who had dissected the client files could make little sense of it and couldn’t decode it. There was a black box part inside that no one could figure out.
Taking this opportunity, the game company even announced a reward. A prize of about one million dollars, urging gamers to discover the new ending, hinting that the 130th ending was a happy ending different from all previous ones.
Well, initially, Yeon-soo started playing the game for that reason, but she had been at it for six months. Because the prize was enticing… and because the game was just plain fun.
In the city of Metropol, there were five cults. The game was about becoming one of the people living in this city. You could become a cult leader or a police officer chasing the leader. When the cults expanded their influence and reached the day of revelation, the game would automatically conclude.
However, every ending was a bad ending. Whomever you chose, it was the same. When the day of revelation came, the world would be destroyed by the evil god the cult leaders worshipped.
Sometimes the world would catch fire, or be silenced by a massive tidal wave, or be enveloped in endless night, or all living beings would transform into non-human creatures.
Making a wrong choice at any point would split the choices, and even a single mistake would lead to an already seen ending. As a result, players held a lot of resentment toward the game. People called the game developer a psychopath who loved extreme difficulty.
If drawn with a diagram, the 129 different multi-endings would branch out like the antlers of a deer from the first line. There were even rumors that all the endings were bad.
Yeon-soo used her exceptional observation and deduction skills to finally reach the 129th ending, obtaining the qualification to see the last, 130th ending that nobody in the world had reached.
And today was the final play.
As soon as she put on the device, the surroundings were bizarre. Bloodstained earth, and colorful, unknown masses floating in the sky.
Yeon-soo recalled the characters she had played so far. Police officers, mafiosos, vagrants, tycoons, cult leaders, and so on. She had tried them all.
But no one would have seen a sky like this on the day of revelation. This was because every other cult leader was dead, except her.
Yeon-soo had become ‘Charles,’ one of the cult leaders. Because his nameless cult had a slight chance of being somewhat moderate.
Through many trials and tribulations, she gathered all other cult leaders in one place and caused a massive explosion, killing them all.
Satisfying several insignificant conditions that seemed trivial while playing through the game 129 times and arriving at the day of destiny after killing all the cult leaders, things had changed like this.
The sky started to split. Endless darkness descended from the infinite galaxy twinkling with starlight.
"Is this another bad ending? This time it looks like an entire alien world is descending."
The city had already disappeared without a trace. Maybe only Metropol was like this now, but it would gradually spread, transforming the entire world.
At that moment, Charles saw something falling from the sky. It looked like a meteor. Something fiery was falling from the sky.
What dropped in front of Charles on the altar of destiny was an item he had never seen before. Checking the status window, it read "Slate of Revelation."
"S-Slate of Revelation?"
It was an item she had never seen before, not even once after witnessing countless endings. Since it might be a kind of grimoire or dangerous object, Charles thought of divining it first before touching it.
It was at that moment.
"Kaaaah!"
"What the? Still alive?"
One of the cult leaders of the Dark Star Order was writhing and getting up. Despite suffering a fatal injury and having half his body blown away, he was still moving.
"The… Slate of Revelation! If I can get my hands on that, I can go to a new world! Not this closed-off world, but a new, open world!"
"There you go again, talking nonsense by yourself."
Charles clicked his tongue while playing. As the Dark Star Order’s leader extended his hand, his arm stretched like a tentacle, reaching for the Slate of Revelation.
Charles extended his hand and used a spell-formed whip to sever his arm. Then, she grabbed it before anyone else could.
[Piece of the Slate of Revelation]
[Transcendence of existence. The possibility of a new world. Piece of the revelation. Fulfillment of destiny.]
"Huh? This is the first time I’ve seen such unkind explanations."
It wasn’t a complete slate, just a piece. It was understandable since it was palm-sized. However, the inscriptions were all strange.
"Oh, no!"
"Yes, it will!"
She swung the whip and dealt with the remaining cult leader. At that moment, Charles felt something massive descending from the sky. Not one, but four.
She felt the overwhelming presence spreading and sensed the world screaming. Four monsters, each capable of destroying the world alone, were descending.
"Four evil gods are trying to descend from the other world. If none of them prevails, this kind of ending happens. Ha, it’s tight."
Knowing that the world and the otherworld collapse when the day of destiny arrives, Charles was curious because it was the first time seeing such an ending.
Meanwhile, the Slate of Revelation began to sparkle. The will to flee was conveyed to Charles. But Charles knew there was nowhere to escape.
"Hmm, it keeps telling me to escape, but unless I delete the saved game file and start over, I can’t. This is just the 129th ending."
She muttered to herself. And those were Charles’s last words. The Slate of Revelation in her hand emitted light. In an instant, total darkness descended, and a massive flash occurred in the center.
"Wow, the effects are amazing."
The end of the 129th ending was like a spectacle of light as if the universe was being reborn. Charles was curious, watching it until the approaching blinding light forced her to close her eyes.
- ….. …..
In Charles’s bedroom at home. This was Charles’s starting point in the main story. At first, nothing happens. If she waited a bit, Flona, Charles’s maid and first disciple, would come in.
"Shall I log out for now?"
She felt tired after seeing the 129th ending. She thought she should go out, post the saved replay video in the community to brag, eat some food, get some sleep, and then play.
For some reason, she didn’t know why, but after seeing the 129th ending, the character was being automatically selected. She wondered if there was some reason behind it too.
"Log out."
She should be able to return to reality.
"Huh?"
But Charles couldn’t get out. To be precise, the interface window had completely disappeared. There was no log-out button, no explanation.
"What the?"
Yeon-soo felt something was wrong. Then, various thoughts flashed through her mind. News from some fringe researchers claiming full-dive VR games put a strain on the brain. Or the web novels she often read where people were forcibly trapped inside a game.
Maybe this game was never a game from the start. Maybe it was actual reality… She considered many possibilities, but the conclusion she came to was this:
"I’m screwed."
Her heart pounded, and breathing became rapid. She felt like she was really going to lose her mind. Games were only fun as long as they were just games. The moment they became real, Yeon-soo fell into extreme panic.
However, at some point, the emotion started to calm down as if reaching a critical point. It was so eerily calm that Yeon-soo wondered if she was suffering from a condition that prevented her from controlling her emotions. Then she soon realized the reason.
"Charles has the trait of Calmness, right?"
Her body was starting to influence her mind. As the once fiery thoughts cooled down, Yeon-soo could think rationally.
What was happening right now wasn’t an illusion. Since what had happened was already real, there was no use denying it. She had to adapt. She recalled a saying from a respected mentor.
"Everything has pros and cons. Those who find and overcome the cons and exploit the pros can turn crises into opportunities."
So what were Yeon-soo’s pros? The cons were too obvious to need more explanation.
"Pros. Pros, huh. Well, Charles is different from me in reality; he’s handsome and smart. His brain performance felt entirely different. He also had a lot of money, owning a mansion. And, what else… Ah, the more I think about it, there are only cons.”
Yeon-soo grabbed her head. She had played Charles the last time to enjoy the hardcore difficulty. But now something like this had happened.
Metropol had five cults. Among them, Charles’s cult was the weakest. Because they didn’t worship any god.
The other four cults each had their evil god, gaining powerful abilities from them, but Charles had none of that. It was hardcore by default. Still, at least the early stage was comfortable.
Knock, knock.
As Yeon-soo agonized over various things, she naturally felt her body respond.
"Uh, come in."
"Cult leader! You’re awake."
Turning her head, she saw a very pretty woman. Her emerald-green hair, as vivid as if it were dyed, gleamed and contrasted well with her red eyes.
"I was worried because you didn’t wake up. Without you, I…"
She was Flona, the first disciple of Charles’s nameless cult. It was following Charles’s early storyline as expected. Rather than being flustered or scared here, Yeon-soo chose to confront reality.
Naturally acting as Charles, she spoke.
"Don’t worry, Flona. I’m fine now."
"Ah, thank goodness."
Flona had all her fingers wrapped in bandages. Yeon-soo felt a momentary chill. She knew why Flona’s fingers were bandaged.
"Your fingers…"
"I had to feed you my blood. I’m sure it’s my love that has woken you."
This woman was deeply psychotic. She looked normal on the outside but seemed to lack something essential. That was Flona’s true nature. What did Charles do here? Even before thinking, her body responded first.
"Come here."
Flona approached Yeon-soo like a puppy. Yeon-soo took her hands and kissed her bandaged fingers. Flona’s face turned bright red, and she seemed flustered.
"Don’t do that anymore, understand? You mustn’t get hurt."
"Yes, yes—I will definitely do that for Charles-sama."
With Flona making ambiguous, positive responses, she then left the room. As soon as she did, Yeon-soo’s expression turned grave, and she grabbed her head.
"Ha, I’m totally screwed.”
