Episode 2
[You exit the game].
The light that had filled my vision faded with the notification.
"......?"
Woojin couldn't help but panic when he opened his eyes.
"Isn't that the town of Moretti......?"
Surely he'd logged out?
The game was over?
Why.......
I'm seeing this boring landscape again?
The fountain behind him, the streets lined with pavement.
Nothing has changed.
No.......
Too much had changed.
Everything was broken.
The town was in ruins.
"How did...... happen?"
Kwaaaaang---!!!
Before he had a chance to take in the situation, a fierce explosion erupted.
The fountain behind him exploded, shattering into pieces.
"Ew, ew!!!"
Woojin threw himself down and rolled on the ground.
Warrrrrr......!!!
The remnants of the shattered fountain crashed down on him.
"Hmph...... hmph......."
Dust kicked up and he crouched down, covering his face with his arms, and slowly opened his eyes.
"I'm alive.
But he was far from relieved.
tweet...... tweet.......
Kwagaga River......!!!
The burning buildings around him crumbled to the ground.
Woojin instinctively ran, shielding his head with his hands.
[KEEEEEEEEEE--!!]
[KEEEEEEEE--!!]
At that moment, an eardrum-splitting roar sounded, and Woojin looked around in panic.
"The village......."
Red all over.
Thick smoke was rising into the sky, and the entire town was on fire.
[kie-e-e---!!!!!]
The roar again.
And when the owner of the roar appeared in front of him, Woojin could only stand there, dumbfounded.
"What the hell happened......."
It was then.
"Head down!"
A harsh shout came from behind him.
Woojin didn't even have time to turn around and quickly lowered his head.
Pfft!!!
There was a dull thud, and something thick and hot trickled down the back of the hand that wrapped around his head.
Tsk-.
Something landed on my shoulder.
"Huh!"
Woojin screamed as he opened his eyes.
Because what landed in front of him was the head of a strange bat-like creature.
"Gargoyles, you finally got in here. If Moretti is like this, ...... the central continent must be even more terrible."
Woojin looked up.
An elderly man in blood-stained armour stood before him, breathing raggedly.
"You must be an adventurer, I've never seen you before. You've come all the way to this place."
"What?"
"You look young, but you're lucky to have made it this far. Are you also on your way to find the Lion King's stronghold?"
The man said to Woojin.
"The Lion King?"
......Who is that?
"But be careful. This is the realm of the faceless monster. Once upon a time, the Dark Forest was a hunting ground for novices, but now......."
The man told him, glancing around.
"It's one of the most dangerous places in the world. If it weren't for those damned Murenga...... fools, Moretti wouldn't be the way it is."
"What's a faceless monster and what's a Murenga?
He didn't know.
Unable to make sense of the situation, Woojin simply stared at the man in bewilderment.
"Cherish your life, boy. If you're alive, I'll see you again someday......."
"Wait!"
"......?"
"What the hell is this place, and what happened to the village, and where did the...... tower go?"
This is a man who knows this world.
I couldn't just let it go.
The ruined village was one thing, the town was another, but the tower was the most alien thing.
It was the purpose of [Evil Tale].
A giant tower soaring into the sky that could be seen from anywhere on the continent.
I couldn't see it.
"A tower?"
He asked, but the man shook his head as if he didn't know what he was talking about.
"The Labyrinth Tower," the man said, "a tower with 100 stories...... of demons!"
If this was the world of Evil Tale that he knew, whether it was in the game or not, there must be a tower.
"A 100-storey tower......? You don't mean Vandarius's tower? How long has it been since it fell.......?"
"......? Collapsed?"
Woojin was left speechless by his answer.
"Ten years ago, the last of the Order attacked the 99th floor."
The old man was asking the obvious, but Woojin had no idea what he was talking about.
"Ten years ago?
Woojin couldn't help but be surprised by his words.
"We're only on the tenth floor now......?
"Isn't this the 87th year of the Akedoin calendar?"
"87 years? What are you talking about? It's been 50 years since then."
"Fifty years......?"
"Wait a minute."
There was something off about his words.
It wasn't just the date.
What about the 100th floor?
Why had the tower collapsed if we'd captured the 99th floor?
Shouldn't the last floor still be there?
As if to wake Woojin from his confusion, the black gargoyles in the sky began to roar as if they were about to descend at any moment.
"We'd better hurry, it's starting to get dark."
The man tugged on Woojin's arm.
"Come with me if you want to live."
"Ew, ew?!"
The old man tugged on Woojin's arm, and his body lifted so lightly.
'What strength.......'
But before Woojin had time to wonder, the old man was already running away from the village and into the forest.
"Now, wait a minute!"
The night of the ruins.
The sound of two footsteps faded into the distance.
* * *
"......What, a world where you're not from here, and you can be resurrected even if you die?"
Leaving the village and entering the forest, they stopped inside a small cave.
"What a...... enviable world you live in."
Unlike Woojin, who spoke seriously, the old man merely laughed at his words.
"Of course. I don't believe it.
Woojin thought to himself.
If he told him that it was actually a game and that there was a separate reality he was living in, he'd be called crazy.
'And this is why I'm dressed like this.......'
Woojin ran his hands over his body awkwardly.
Worn leather armour and a sword sheathed at his waist.
Dahlgrak.
And in the other pocket, he could see the potions in his inventory.
He was not the real Kim Woojin now.
A level 10 warrior from [Evil Tail].
It was [Khan].
'What the hell is going on...... I saw a notification that said I was logged out.'
Otherworldly, not real.
And now he was here as an in-game character.
'Besides, the town was definitely Moretti.
It was in ruins, but Woojin was sure of it.
It was definitely the starting village of the beginner region.
The demons around the town were nothing more than slime to play with.
But.......
"There were gargoyles flying around.
A high-level monster that could only be found in the Central Continent or elsewhere.
This place was similar to the game world he knew, but it was a completely different world.
'How long could such a monster be here?
As he thought this, his whole body began to tremble like a shiver, uncontrollably.
"Pick it up."
Just then, the old man handed Wu Jin something.
A fragrant, savoury smell.
Purr.......
Funnily enough, instead of trembling, Wu Jin felt hungry.
"A full stomach gives you the strength to fight, whether it's your enemy or yourself."
Woojin bowed grimly and took the bowl from the man's hand.
"I had this before the Central Continent fell. It's pretty hard to find now."
Inside the bowl was a thin, watery soup.
It tasted bland, as if water had been added to increase the volume.
But.......
Gulp. Gulp.
Woojin began to gulp down the soup greedily.
"Not bad, huh?"
The old man looked at him and gave a faint smile of understanding.
"Ha......."
When the bowl was empty, Woojin let out a breath.
The warmth that travelled down his esophagus spread pleasantly through every inch of his body.
This ridiculous, unremarkable soup felt like the best thing he'd ever eaten.
"A privilege only the survivors can experience."
The old man said as he poured his soup into Ujin's bowl.
"Your name is Raoul."
"Kim Woo...... No, it's Khan."
Woojin corrected the name, glancing at his outfit once more.
There had to be a reason he was here in his current form.
"Where the hell is......?"
"Oh, right. You said you were from another world, didn't you?"
Raoul asked playfully.
"Yes, it's true ......, there's a place just like this one. Of course, it's not really where I live, either...... but anyway, they're still targeting the tenth floor of the tower."
"The tenth floor?" said Klickle...... I don't know if it's real, but if it is, it's a very happy world indeed."
"What?"
Raoul looked at Woojin and gave him a self-deprecating smile.
"Yeah, I still think you're crazy, but I'll cut you some slack. This is the first conversation I've had in half a year."
He looked at Woojin.
Somehow...... felt like he'd asked a question he shouldn't have.
"The tower appeared out of nowhere, and many adventurers have tried to reach it. It offered unbelievable rewards and resources, and kingdoms flourished because of it."
"But...... why did it change like this?"
"They thought their prosperity would last forever."
"What happened on the 99th floor?"
Woojin asked, and Raoul shook his head.
"It wasn't the 99th floor that ruined the world. The world had already changed by the time we reached the 60th floor."
"......."
"The demons inside the tower started pouring out into the world."
Pfft.
He grinded his teeth.
"But we weren't going to stand idly by. We attacked the tower in desperation. Pinning our hopes on the words of a tombstone on the sixtieth floor, which was captured at the same moment the demons poured in."
"What did it say?"
Woojin asked him with a trembling voice.
"Any wish, any miracle, can be fulfilled if you attack the tower's 100th floor."
Gulp.
At his words, Woojin swallowed dryly.
'If that's really true.......
If he could reach the last 100 floors, would he be able to fulfil his wish to return to reality?
"But that's it, because it's impossible to reach the last 100 floors."
Raoul said in a low voice, as if he had read Woojin's thoughts.
"Why?"
"Because there's no way to get to the 100th floor."
Raoul pointed outside the cave.
"See there? That floating castle in the sky? That's the 100th floor of the tower."
"It's ......?"
I hadn't thought of that.
"The last floor of the tower is in the sky.......
Woojin looked up, at a loss for words.
Raoul dumped the rest of the soup into a bowl and sat down, wrapping his cloak around himself.
"We must give up now, for there is no way we can reach that tower in the sky. All the kingdoms of the Central Continent have been destroyed, ...... and the only hope we have now is to flee to the refuge that the Lion King has created."
He turned away as if to glue his eyes to the end of his sentence.
"I've served you a meal, so I'll glue your eyes first. Wake me when the hourglass is up, if you don't mind. It'll be about two hours."
Is he not vigilant, or is he overconfident?
What the hell, are you asleep already?
As soon as his eyes closed, he started snoring.
"Whoa."
After a few frantic moments, when he was left alone in the silence, Woojin took stock of his situation.
He was trapped in a game, and now he was in another world.
"You're mistaken, aren't you?"
He remembered what the manager had said to him in the square.
-[R&C Technology] Reaches 100 billion won in sales!!!
-Selected as one of the top 20 young CEOs in the world!
Kim Woo-jin's company grows beyond Asia to the world!
He was once on the front page of various media.
From the bottom to the top.
Just like the title of the article, he was a living myth.
He was a man who had risen to the top....
'I can't be sure of anything anymore.
Even his own existence in his memory was shaky.
He just loved the game.
People envied him for his success, but in reality, every day was fierce and suffocating.
For him, playing games for a while was the only respite from the fierce society.
But.......
He placed his hand on the sword sheathed at his waist.
A heaviness unlike gaming.
And a sharp edge.
It was a real sword.
In the real world, he had learnt many things: golf, squash, climbing, swimming, and among them was kendo.
He had competed in some pretty big tournaments, so he was a little bit confident in holding the sword.
[It was one of the reasons he chose to be a warrior in Evil Tale, but the moment he gripped the sword now strapped to his waist, he realised.
Will I be able to use it properly?
The heavy, clunky feel was nothing compared to a wooden sword.
"......Log in."
Woojin glanced at Raoul and muttered quietly.
There was no response.
He let out a low sigh.
He didn't even know how he'd gotten logged out in the first place.
"Hmmm, login!"
A little louder, but still silence.
"I can't believe I wanted to get out of the game so badly...... and now I want to get back in.
Woojin was frantic, but he kept himself together.
"The status window!"
He yelled again, just in case.
But again, nothing happened.
Just then, Raoul woke up from his sleep.
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just my bedtime prayer......."
Shhh.
But as if his words didn't matter, Raoul raised his index finger to his lips.
"Looks like you're not getting any rest tonight."
Snap.
With a grunt, Raoul grabbed his sword.
He looked at the cave entrance and spoke in a low voice to Woojin.
"A demon."
Woojin's eyes flickered as he
shrugged.
TRANSLATER NOTE
Just wanted to let you know this is my first novel to translate, so I hope you can be patient with me as I learn. Feel free to reach out on Discord (8_s47) if you'd like to help!