PRMG 08

Chapter 8

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the system window.

No matter how much I looked at it, the miracle of those ■ symbols suddenly changing into letters did not happen.

The other system window that appeared right after it was just as impossible to understand.

‘Han Goyo’ announces their name in Akasha!

Current Recognition: 0.02%

Recognition?

I had no idea whose recognition I had gained, or why my recognition had increased by such a meaningless amount of 0.01%.

While I was examining the system window from every angle, something suddenly happened.

The Smiley in front of me began melting into a rainbow-colored liquid.

There was no time to do anything.

In an instant, as it melted away, several beams of light flew out from the destroyed factory.

Like a meteor shower, the streams of light merged into the rainbow-colored liquid.

And then Smiley disappeared.

Leaving behind only a strange candy.

I slowly bent my knees and picked up the candy.

Happy Smile Candy: When eaten, it creates a feeling of happiness along with laughter.

The rainbow-colored candy was shaped like Smiley’s face.

As I stood there blankly holding the candy, another system window appeared.

You think you must consume this.

When I forcibly accepted the previous system window, there had been something I secretly hoped for.

I wondered if Smiley and the toys would become items and I would be able to take them outside.

But…

I never imagined things would progress this way.

I stared at the candy for a while before carefully placing it into my inventory.

Trial has ended.

The trial will be permanently closed after 80 seconds.

“Th-this… this is the true ending, right?”

I turned toward Mo Hae-in.

After reading the system window, she looked at me with trembling eyes.

“It’s the true ending, right…? My eyes aren’t wrong… right? Permanent closure…”

The true ending of a trial held a special meaning.

It meant the permanent closure of the trial and the return of survivors.

Trials cleared through the true ending would never regenerate again.

They would also release everyone trapped inside the trial.

Even those who had been trapped there for a long time would return, with their mutated bodies completely restored.

In the case of Happy Smile Factory, the employees who had been working inside the factory would be rescued.

The true ending was the only way to save survivors trapped inside trials.

However, the difficulty was close to impossible, so successful cases were extremely rare.

When I first started playing the games of Archive, an NPC had told me that there had only been nine successful cases worldwide.

“Yes. It’s the true ending.”

I smiled slightly at Mo Hae-in and congratulated her.

“You worked hard, Captain.”

“……”

Mo Hae-in stared at me blankly.

Then, at some point, her expression twisted, and she quickly turned her head away.

Her neck was red from emotional excitement.

Normally, Mo Hae-in was not someone who showed her emotions this openly.

I looked elsewhere until she calmed down a little.

Fortunately, Mo Hae-in soon returned to her usual self.

After regaining her composure, she quietly whispered.

“…Thank you.”

After leaving this place, I had no idea how she would explain me.

But at least, I probably wouldn’t be treated as a smuggler anymore.

Just then, another system window appeared.

You are the greatest contributor of .

You may take ‘1’ item with you.

When clearing the true ending or certain endings, those with high contribution points could take items from the trial.

In Happy Smile Factory, only the greatest contributor could obtain an item.

Without hesitation, I chose the Happy Smile Candy.

Mo Hae-in seemed curious about what I had chosen, but she didn’t ask.

Since she would have plenty of time to interrogate me later, she seemed to think there was no need to ask now.

After 80 seconds passed, along with the system window’s closing notification, the scenery in front of me began folding and changing into various fluorescent colors.

I was sent outside the trial.

The place where Happy Smile Factory had hatched was an abandoned factory site.

Police lines surrounded the wide area of the abandoned factory, and all kinds of people were scattered around unconscious.

The wind was cold.

I only had a white short-sleeved shirt and gray sweatpants, so I tried to rub my arms with my hands.

But I immediately swallowed a groan.

I had injuries all over my body, including my wounded thigh.

‘If this were a game, it would have been a no-hit clear.’

There was definitely a huge difference between clicking a keyboard and mouse and actually moving my own body.

Even though I exercised diligently every day without fail, I could strongly feel my physical limitations.

Clearing without taking damage with only the basic physical abilities given in the game was impossible.

‘If the Trial Response Agency takes me away, they’ll treat me, right…?’

Since things had already turned out this way, I planned to use the opportunity to understand my current situation better at the Trial Response Agency and temporarily rely on them for food, clothing, and shelter.

Looking around, I saw Mo Hae-in waking up in the distance.

Wearing the uniform of the Trial Response Agency, she stood out among the ordinary people.

I was about to limp toward her when—

“Don’t move.”

A cold sensation touched my neck.

Rolling my eyes to check, I saw a military fixed knife.

‘Ah. Park Seong-gyeon.’

I had forgotten about this guy.

Unable to hold it back, I let out a short laugh.

“You’re laughing? Fuck, Goyo. You think this is funny right now?”

“Then should I cry?”

“…What?”

When I answered casually, Park Seong-gyeon was momentarily confused.

I looked down at him.

He seemed to still think of me as the obedient and gentle college student from before.

“Park Seong-gyeon!”

At that moment, Mo Hae-in, who had completely regained consciousness, pointed her gun and warned him.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Back away.”

However, her gun was trembling slightly.

During the boss fight in Happy Smile Factory, Mo Hae-in had taken on most of the attacks.

She was probably in a condition where she should be taken to an ambulance immediately.

Unlike her, Park Seong-gyeon was perfectly fine.

While Mo Hae-in and I had been running around desperately, he had hidden and simply waited for the clear.

Naturally, he had no injuries.

“Captain Mo Hae-in!”

Knowing that fact well, Park Seong-gyeon openly sneered.

“Hand over the Black Moon Sword too.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the Trial Response Agency?”

“Yeah. I’m not afraid.”

“How much were you promised? If it’s money, I’ll give it to you…”

“Ha. Mo Hae-in, Mo Hae-in.”

“……”

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Give me the Black Moon Sword!”

The blade slowly cut across my neck.

A thin red line appeared.

And while Mo Hae-in and Park Seong-gyeon argued, I—

You know that ‘Park Seong-gyeon (Sample)’ will not keep the hostage alive.

You are angry at his arrogant behavior.

You think about how to educate a dog that dares to bite its owner without recognizing its master.

You have found a suitable method!

You want to test ‘Execution’.

I read the system windows that kept appearing.

I had no idea what this “execution” was, but the system seemed very eager for me to try it.

‘Judging by the name, it doesn’t sound like something good.’

But right now, I was in a situation where I would lose the Black Moon Sword and possibly bleed to death.

My thigh continued bleeding.

‘Execute Park Seong-gyeon.’

You will execute ‘Park Seong-gyeon (Sample)’. This decision cannot be reversed and will cause a permanent change in Akasha.

Do you want to execute ‘Park Seong-gyeon (Sample)’?

A choice appeared.

• Yes.
• I’ll execute him.
• Dooo it!

Even while my vision blurred, the ridiculous system window made me laugh.

“Park Seong-gyeon.”

Park Seong-gyeon, who had been confronting Mo Hae-in, flinched and looked at me.

I smiled weakly and spoke.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Let go.”

“This bastard… has he gone crazy?”

For some reason, Park Seong-gyeon’s voice trembled slightly.

As if he was afraid.

I selected ‘Dooo it!’

Executing ‘Park Seong-gyeon (Sample)’!

A fanfare sounded.

It was an incredibly cheerful sound, like confetti should be flying everywhere.

Then came the sound of fireworks.

No.

It wasn’t fireworks.

It was the sound of Park Seong-gyeon’s head exploding.

His destroyed head turned into golden light.

It sparkled beautifully, scattering like stars across the sky.

His body, now missing its head, also crumbled into golden particles.

Beyond the sparkling light, I could see Mo Hae-in.

She stood frozen while pointing her gun.

Until every fragment of light disappeared, she simply stared at me.

Still aiming her gun.

‘This is bad.’

I had expected Park Seong-gyeon might die.

But I never expected him to disappear this dramatically.

This wasn’t even inside the trial.

Something this strange had happened outside the trial.

‘This is way too suspicious.’

Cold sweat formed on my back because of the situation.

But the system window casually displayed a harmless-looking box.

Currently registered characters: 0

Would you like to register Mo Hae-in as a new character?

I ignored the floating system window and opened my mouth.

“Um, Captain…?”

The moment I carefully called out to her—

“What are you doing, Captain Mo Hae-in? Did you get your ass kicked badly in the trial?”

I turned around.

The air split open, and a man wearing the Trial Response Agency uniform casually stepped out.

He was tall, with a slim but muscular body.

His dyed red hair fluttered messily in the wind.

The man planted his military boots on the ground, tilted his body while standing crookedly, and smiled playfully.

“What were you doing that it took you this long to crawl out, Captain Mo?”

The smile disappeared from the man’s face.

He looked around the abandoned factory with a hardened expression.

Hundreds of unconscious people scattered throughout the area.

He immediately understood what this meant.

The man lowered his voice.

“Hae-in. Is this the true ending?”

I couldn’t confirm it because I was watching the man, but it seemed like Mo Hae-in nodded behind me.

The man stood there silently for a moment, unable to speak.

I knew who he was.

Captain Kwak Han-muk.

The leader of Field Team 3 of the Trial Response Agency.

Along with Mo Hae-in, he was one of the agency’s strongest members.

‘As expected, Captain Kwak is tall.’

I wasn’t exactly short either, but his eye level was far above mine.

While I observed Kwak Han-muk curiously, he noticed me as well.

The moment he saw my injuries, Kwak Han-muk seemed to realize that I was someone who had contributed to the clear.

His eyes sharpened.

At that moment, Mo Hae-in muttered quietly.

“I never thought there would be a day when I’d be happy to see you, Han-muk.”

I was about to turn around at her words, but stopped.

Thud.

Mo Hae-in wrapped her arms around my waist from behind.

Calling it an emotional back hug to celebrate escaping Happy Smile Factory felt a little excessive…

“Han-muk.”

Oh.

“Bind.”

At Mo Hae-in’s short command, a long string of prayer beads shot forward with a rattling sound.

Before I could blink, I was tightly wrapped in Kwak Han-muk’s beads.

The beads avoided Mo Hae-in perfectly and only bound me.

As if that wasn’t enough, new handcuffs were placed on my wrists.

I had become the perfect image of an extremely dangerous criminal.

I looked at Mo Hae-in in disbelief.

“Han Goyo, you are under emergency arrest on charges of being a national-level disaster threat.”

She quickly continued.

“You have the right to remain silent. You do not have the right to appoint a lawyer, and everything you say or do from this moment onward may be used against you in court.”

It was the Trial Response Agency’s version of the Miranda warning.

The woman who had just said the words I never expected to hear finished coldly.

“Knock him out.”

Light flashed from the prayer beads.

I lost consciousness.