Chapter 02
I was just as flustered as the other person. There were two reasons.
First, Mo Hae-in.
Mo Hae-in was one of the main characters in the Archive worldview, a series that connects the creator’s games.
Archive was a story that began when a disaster suddenly struck Earth one day.
At 00:00 KST on February 29th, a meteor shower rained down across the globe.
It was a meteor shower that had not been predicted by astronomical observations.
The sudden meteor shower was like a festival of light. Humanity marveled at the beautiful sight…
But it was a disaster that came from outer space.
The calamities that crashed onto Earth hatched in random orders and forms, forming spaces from different dimensions.
These spaces, akin to another world, had rules set within them that were similar to games.
The structure was like a game: collect items, complete quests, and clear the area.
If not cleared within a certain time, the calamity would explode, mutating the surrounding area into the same form as itself.
It spread an infectious virus that mutated both living and non-living things.
It was, quite literally, a disaster that modern science could not explain.
Humans considered these disasters from space a test from God and named them “Trials.”
Along with the hatching of the Trials, humans also began to blossom with special abilities.
Beings who could see a system window began to appear.
They were called “Apt Users” and could clear the Trials through the system window.
In the Archive world, a player blossoms as an Apt User and enters various Trials.
The setting was that each time you entered a Trial, you would play a different genre of game.
Mo Hae-in was a soldier belonging to the Trial Response Agency, an external agency under the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.
Captain Mo Hae-in, an elite of the TRA, would appear to help players within Trials, or appear at the ending to converse with the player.
I couldn’t help but be surprised that a character I had only ever seen in pixel art was now alive and moving right before my eyes.
And the second reason was the system window.
—
‘Mo Hae-in’ is a registerable character. Would you like to register?
—
Looking at the system window emitting a hazy light, I recalled what I had seen last, just before losing consciousness.
—
[You are the system of the planet ‘Earth’.]
—
A message visible only to the Apt Users of Archive.
The thing commonly referred to as the system, which guides quests in Trials and provides various notifications.
And I am that system…?
This was something I had never experienced even once while playing the numerous games in Archive.
Nothing made sense, but I had one plausible guess.
Perhaps I had entered the game itself…
Like the common subculture trope of being possessed by a game.
My headache, which had barely subsided, throbbed again from this overwhelming situation.
I decided to ignore the suspiciously glowing registration system window for now. I couldn’t just register something without knowing what it was.
As I ontinued to ignore it, the registration window quietly vanished on its own.
Just as I thought it was finally gone, it suddenly started displaying a new window.
‘Han Goyo (Roasted Chestnut)’ has entered <Happy Smile Factory>!
◆ <Happy Smile Factory> Main Quest: Clear the factory of murderous toys with the True Ending.
You have entered your first Trial as the system.
You must prove your capabilities as a system by achieving the True Ending.
Survive upon quest success!
The consequences of failure are unknown.
However, you feel that unpleasant things tend to happen to losers.
…What the hell is this nonsense.
Upon confirming the system window, I did my best to keep a straight face.
While trying not to show any strange reaction, I heard voices talking.
“Lieutenant Park, there was no entry request for Haspaek, right?”
“Absolutely not. I checked several times myself.”
“Then they must be a civilian.”
*Click-click.* Mo Hae-in moved her claw-like hand, looking at me.
Attached to her left arm was a plastic toy arm.
This toy arm, resembling a claw machine grabber, was an item obtainable in <Happy Smile Factory> and was the very thing that had just choked my neck.
The system window that had appeared before my eyes, and the toy arm – neither could have been achieved with special effects make-up.
While I was dizzy from the thought that I was truly inside a game, Mo Hae-in scrutinized me from head to toe.
“You’re quite peculiar?”
As she tilted her head, her bobbed hair swayed briefly.
I knew why she was eyeing me with suspicion.
It was because civilians getting caught up in regularly managed Trials was an extremely rare occurrence.
There were mercenaries who took on requests to clear Trials, and smugglers who snuck in coveting items obtainable within them, but cases like this, where someone just waltzed in alone, were almost non-existent.
Trials were called Trials for a reason.
Since lives were at stake, a minimum of two-person entry was the standard for backup.
Smugglers, whose equipment was inferior to that of the government or private enterprises, usually swarmed in with groups of ten or more to make up for it in numbers.
Of course, as someone who played the game, single-player entry was the norm for me.
Anyway, it was clear I wouldn’t be treated well if I just stood there. I feigned a frightened expression.
“Um, where exactly is this…?”
Given the genuine confusion of the situation, a decently convincing expression came naturally without much acting effort.
Mo Hae-in, who had seemed to be weighing me on a scale, raising and lowering her eyebrows, gave a response that would have knocked out a real clueless civilian.
“A toy factory where crazy murderous toys run around.”
At her bold answer, I gasped, and the man beside me chuckled softly.
“It’s true that murderers are around, but don’t worry. We’ll get you out safely.”
He flashed a military ID, saying, “We’re soldiers.”
“The Trial Response Agency…?”
“Its under the Ministry of National Defense. It’s new, so you probably wouldn’t know.”
Since civilians’ memories were erased once they left the Trial, they were saying whatever they wanted.
I nodded at the man’s words while examining both of their work uniform–
Employee: Sand
—
Employee: Sample
—
Mo Hae-in wore an orange work uniform with a nametag reading ‘Sand’, and the man wore a yellow one with ‘Sample’.
However, Mo Hae-in’s nametag was slightly different.
The smiley face attached to her nametag wasn’t smiling.
Its mouth formed a straight line rather than a curve – a shape that didn’t suit <Happy Smile Factory>.
The smiley on the nametag was a kind of life counter.
In <Happy Smile Factory>, or Haspaek for short, players are given three chances, and each time they make a critical mistake, the smiley’s expression changes.
From a happy smile to an expressionless one, and then to a sad smile with its mouth turned down.
The sad smile state was the last chance.
Making a mistake there meant immediate game over.
I couldn’t believe that a character like Mo Hae-in had lost a life so early on.
“Excuse me, what was that loud noise just now?”
I asked in a timid voice, trying to gauge the situation.
My honest inner thought was to ask what the hell they had done, but unfortunately, I didn’t get an answer.
“Civilians don’t need to know.”
Mo Hae-in coldly cut me off and pulled something out of her inventory, tossing it.
I caught it reflexively; it was the same toy arm that Mo Hae-in was wearing.
Cherry Picker: Can harness the power of Happy Smile! For a happy time together! ^^
“Wear it.”
At Mo Hae-in’s words, the man’s face contorted with annoyance. He seemed displeased with the situation of handing over a valuable item to a clueless civilian.
Not that it mattered to me.
“I’m fine.”
After all, I had no intention of accepting the item anyway.
“I don’t really know much about this stuff, so wouldn’t it be better for you experts to use it? And it’s a bit scary too.”
I gestured to the flashlight attached to my waist, implying it would be enough, and even showed a determined fist, saying I’d just follow along from behind.
The man seemed satisfied with my response, while Mo Hae-in narrowed her eyes as if observing a peculiar creature.
I refused the item because of the True Ending.
Haspaek had multiple endings, and the conditions for achieving the True Ending were particularly tricky.
‘First of all, you must not equip any of the toy limbs obtained within the game.’
As you progress through the game, NPCs will give you toy limb items one by one.
Players naturally equip them because they ‘appear’ as essential items in the game.
They are incredibly convenient items, but if you get greedy and replace all your limbs with toys, you’ll immediately trigger a Bad Ending.
It was the ending where you become a toy employee of Haspaek, working in the factory forever.
Mo Hae-in should have known this much.
However, seeing her equipped with the toy arm, it seemed she didn’t know about the True Ending.
For now, I planned to follow Mo Hae-in and the man while keeping the True Ending conditions in mind.
It wasn’t solely because of the system window’s strange threats.
‘If I can only see one ending, it has to be the True Ending.’
Because I am a firm Happy Ending advocate.
In games, the True Ending is usually also the Happy Ending.
Even when playing Archive games, after seeing all endings, I always finished with the True Ending.
I could only feel at ease when I saw the characters happy and ended the game.
‘I’m also curious about that man.’
I have a decent memory.
Since I love Archive, I usually remember even the minute details, but I had never seen this man with the alias ‘Sample’ before.
Not in the Trials, nor in the post-ending cookie videos.
It wasn’t particularly strange.
Dying in a Trial, being trapped forever, or surviving but being quarantined due to infection – either way, it was common.
The man called Sample was probably a character who disappeared from the Archive world before I even knew he existed.
Mo Hae-in stared at me intently and spoke.
“Lieutenant Park, you wear it.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The man eagerly accepted the toy arm and attached it to his right arm.
As he brought the item near his arm, his human arm vanished, replaced by the toy arm.
He clicked his claw hand proudly.
“If you want to live, just follow my lead.”
Mo Hae-in said nothing, just clicked her tongue and started walking ahead.
I walked side-by-side with the man, following her. As I did, I quietly shifted my eyes sideways.
A Smiley was embedded in the wall.
The Smiley, with its smiling face, was the main toy of <Happy Smile Factory>.
This colorful plastic toy doll had the same claw-like arm as the item provided to players.
Upon entering the factory, the first NPC you encounter is a Smiley, but unlike the mass-produced 15cm toys, the NPC Smiley was a meter tall.
About the size of a small child, you could say.
You do fight Smileys later, but for now, you just exchange a few lines of dialogue and receive the toy arm item.
I had no idea why they had attacked and even lost a life.
Given that Mo Hae-in didn’t seem particularly pleased, I guessed the man might have made some mistake.
The Smiley with its head stuck in the wall had its toy arms and legs dangling limply on the floor.
A crackling mechanical sound emanated from the Smiley
“S-Smiley-welcomes-you-everyone-to-Ha-Happy-Smile-Factory-together-happy-happy-…”
—
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
It was an NPC I had grown somewhat fond of while playing, so seeing it half-broken in person was unsettling.
It felt like the Smiley would appear in my dreams tonight.
Unlike me, the man and Mo Hae-in seemed unfazed. The man spoke to me with a friendly smile.
“Let’s introduce ourselves! I’m Park Seong-gyeon. Call me Lieutenant Park.”
“I’m Han Goyo.”
“That person is Captain Mo Hae-in…”
“Lieutenant Park. Out on a picnic?”
“I’m sorry.”
Park Seong-gyeon quickly apologized and shut his mouth, but he rolled his eyes in dissatisfaction.
Seeing that, I roughly got the feeling why he was a character I didn’t know.
He must have died from causing an accident in a Trial.
If he was unlucky, that accident could happen today
As Park Seong-gyeon walked with a stern face, I bent down as if to tie my shoelaces.
I scooped up a handful of candy piled up here and there.
It was candy wrapped in paper featuring a hexagonal nut design.
—
Nut Candy: *Creeeak creeeak*, repairing toys…
—
Nut candy, easily found throughout the map, is a recovery item in Haspaek.
They say it tastes like nuts when eaten, but unfortunately, I couldn’t try it myself.
It was only usable when you had toy arms or legs equipped.
I passed by theSmiley and discreetly dropped the candy onto its claw-shaped hand.
