TYRH 07

Chapter 07

“…”

Smiley remained silent.

As if examining something unfamiliar, it simply stared at me with its black plastic eyes.

A moment later—

Smiley’s claw gently lowered me to the ground.

The instant my feet touched the floor, an intense drum-and-bass track began blasting through the factory—the music that signalled the beginning of the final boss battle in Happy Smile Factory.

A system window appeared.

◆ Main Qu?st??: Grant Smiley Eternal Rest

You promised Smiley death.

If you fail to keep that promise, you and your compa?ions wi?l di?—de?th—d?e—dea?h.

You believe you must defeat Smiley in battle.

Perhaps because this wasn’t the intended progression, even the system window was glitching.

I let out a quiet breath.

Honestly, it was far too early to be fighting the final boss.

There were still several stages left to clear and plenty of toy affinity to build.

I didn’t even have a proper weapon yet.

In other words, I was about to charge into the final battle with practically nothing.

But things had already gone off the rails.

Even if I wanted to follow the intended order, I couldn’t anymore.

Still…

While it wasn’t an item from Happy Smile Factory—

I had managed to obtain something fairly useful.

Kind Smiley patiently waited for me to make the first move.

I pulled a Bolt Candy from my inventory and tore open the wrapper.

Its attack boost and physical enhancement buff lasted 180 seconds.

I had to clear all three phases of Smiley’s fight before the effect expired.

Thirty-five seconds for Phase One.

Thirty-five for Phase Two.

Sixty for Phase Three.

And roughly twenty-five seconds for each transition cutscene.

It was an uncomfortably tight schedule.

I popped the candy into my mouth.

A sharp, electric sensation spread across my tongue.

“…Ugh.”

It stung like static electricity, making me instinctively grimace.

But experiencing the flavour I’d only ever read about in system descriptions…

That alone filled me with excitement.

I gave a light jump.

The moment I realised my body could move far beyond what I’d expected, countless strategies flashed through my mind.

I picked one and looked at Smiley.

Still waiting for my first attack, it quietly tracked my every movement.

Sorry.

But you don’t get a turn in Phase One.

“Captain Mo Hae-in!”

With my handcuffed hands, I swung my arms back with all my strength.

“Eat a Bolt Candy!!”

I smashed the hinged handcuffs straight into Smiley’s left eye.

CRACK!

The plastic eye shattered.

So it actually worked.

The handcuffs were specially manufactured by the Era Administration Bureau to restrain Compatible Ones.

Their durability far surpassed that of most ordinary items.

I’d gambled that they could serve as a weapon.

And I’d won.

The thrill of the successful bet sent adrenaline surging through my brain.

Counting the seconds in my head, I grabbed the cracked plastic and ripped it apart.

Rainbow-coloured blood burst forth as Smiley’s entire body convulsed.

The recoil launched me backwards, sending me flying before I landed safely in the distance.

Something suddenly felt different.

Looking down, I realised the hinge connecting the handcuffs had snapped.

Completely by accident—

I’d regained the use of both hands.

I listened carefully to the music.

Static noise had begun mixing into the background track.

Phase Two.

Saved four seconds.

Rainbow fluid streamed endlessly from Smiley’s ruined eye as it slammed one massive claw into the ground.

The earth shook violently.

Cracks spread across the floor.

Tiny toys crawled up through them.

Half-finished toys that the factory workers had been assembling also escaped the production line and rushed toward us.

They looked as though they merely wanted to play.

But taking just two hits from any of them meant instant death.

As toys poured in from every direction, block-shaped bullets flew through the air.

Toy soldiers were opening fire.

One bullet grazed my thigh before I could dodge.

A burning pain shot through my leg.

The instant I staggered—

A fish toy lunged straight at my face with its jaws wide open.

Its sharp teeth never reached me.

“You crazy bastard!”

The Black Moon Blade sliced the fish clean in half.

The scattered pieces looked like freshly sliced sashimi.

Captain Mo Hae-in glared at me with veins bulging in her neck.

“Are you completely insane?!”

“Sorry, Captain.”

At least I’m alive.

I wisely kept that part to myself.

Fortunately, she didn’t have time to continue yelling.

She immediately turned back toward the fight.

Using the piece of Smiley’s shattered eye as a shield, I shouted,

“We have to attack the left eye to finish Phase Two!”

The two of us sprinted forward.

Bullets and toys slammed into my makeshift shield hard enough to shake my entire body.

Then—

Smiley’s claw smashed down exactly where I was standing.

The ground erupted upward, launching both Mo Hae-in and me into the air.

In the game, this would simply have been an obstacle.

Here…

The earth itself rose beneath us like a pillar.

Mo Hae-in snatched the eye fragment from my hands and dropped it onto the slope.

“Hold on!”

I grabbed her around the waist.

The moment we landed atop the raised earth, we used the fragment like a sled and slid straight down.

The charging toys couldn’t keep up with our speed.

They crashed into one another and tumbled into chaos.

The instant we reached the bottom, we threw away the shattered shield and charged Smiley once again.

Its claws repeatedly hammered the ground in an attempt to crush us.

Dodging them wasn’t particularly difficult.

The moment we entered striking distance—

Mo Hae-in leapt high into the air.

The Black Moon Blade pierced Smiley’s left eye.

With its outer shell already destroyed, the spearhead plunged deep into the rainbow-coloured flesh beneath.

Even though Smiley was made of plastic…

It felt like stabbing soft flesh.

A child’s delighted laughter echoed from within Smiley’s body, repeating endlessly through distorted speakers.

“Die!—Kill—Me!—Die!—Kill—Me!—Die!”

Mo Hae-in ripped the blade free and landed gracefully.

The fifteen-metre-tall Smiley creaked loudly as its body rapidly shrank.

Returning to barely a metre in height, it simply stood there motionless, rainbow fluid dripping endlessly from its eye like a broken toy.

Thick rainbow mist filled the surroundings.

The background music became almost unbearable as tearing static overwhelmed the melody.

Phase Three.

Lost about five seconds.

We’d wasted time when we failed to avoid the rising earth earlier.

Still…

There was enough time left.

I sharpened my senses, heightened by the Bolt Candy.

With visibility restricted by the fog, reaction speed was everything.

Rumble…

The ground shook violently.

The toy factory was collapsing.

Debris began raining from above.

Massive chunks emerged through the mist.

Being hit meant instant death.

Even if you dodged, they’d become permanent obstacles.

Within moments, the ground was littered with enormous stone blocks, machine parts, and broken toys.

Once the terrain transformation ended—

Smiley finally began moving.

Accompanied by cheerful laughter came the rattling sound of plastic chains dragging behind it.

Thump.

Heavy footsteps drew closer.

But we couldn’t move yet.

Standing shoulder to shoulder beside me, Mo Hae-in asked quietly,

“Nothing special this time?”

“You just have to run honestly… but at the end…”

I quickly explained what I intended to do at the very end.

She frowned.

There wasn’t any time to discuss it further.

The factory speakers, which had been playing the music, crackled with static.

Then an announcement chimed.

“One… Two… Happy Smile!”

The invisible restraint disappeared.

Mo Hae-in and I immediately sprinted forward with everything we had.

Smiley’s final phase…

Was a chase sequence.

Unlike Smiley, which smashed through every obstacle in its path, the player had to weave around the debris covering the ground—

All while avoiding the enormous claws that burst unexpectedly from behind obstacles.

Even with the Bolt Candy enhancing my body, my breathing became ragged.

The distorted background music was interrupted by another factory announcement.

“Attention… please. Happy Smile Factory night-shift… night-shift employees… are instructed to stop immediately. Stop… riiiiight… noooow…”

It stretched the word night so strangely that it sounded almost like it was saying roasted chestnuts.

The announcement kept calling out to me.

I never looked back.

The rainbow mist gradually began to thin.

Smiley’s artificial space was coming to an end.

But the remaining time was dangerously close.

The chase had lasted longer than expected.

Eight seconds.

The possibility that it might drag on even longer made every nerve in my body tingle.

Five seconds.

At last—

I could see the edge of the mist.

I squeezed out every last ounce of strength.

Three seconds.

Just before we escaped the fog…

A sharp stab of pain shot through my thigh.

I hadn’t noticed the exposed steel rebar jutting out between the broken stone. Of all places, I had injured the same wound again.

The buff’s duration expired, and the enhanced physical abilities vanished.

As my body suddenly grew heavy, I lost my footing and tumbled to the ground.

My hand swept helplessly through the fog.

‘Just one more step and I’d be outside.’

At that moment, a clawed hand grabbed me by the collar.

It wasn’t Smiley.

Mo Hae-in had extended her toy arm and reeled me in.

The instant she pulled me free, the fog and all the obstacles surrounding us disappeared.

I was outside the factory.

Before me stood the collapsing toy factory.

And Smiley, his body horribly mangled, was still pursuing us to the very end.

After tossing me onto the ground, Mo Hae-in gripped the Black Moon Spear, drew her arm all the way back, and hurled it like a javelin.

The spear pierced straight through Smiley.

Smiley collapsed face-first onto the dirt, letting out the cry of a child.

“I don’t want to—!”

The deafening background music came to an abrupt stop.

The final boss battle of Happy Smile Factory was over.

You have defeated Smiley!

“…Haa… haa…”

After retrieving the Black Moon Spear, Mo Hae-in sank to the ground, breathing heavily.

I steadied my own breathing before staggering back to my feet.

Her eyes wavered for a brief moment.

She looked conflicted—whether she should allow me to do what I was about to do.

“Captain…”

My voice came out mixed with a pained groan.

Mo Hae-in muttered in obvious dissatisfaction.

“What exactly are you trying to accomplish by healing the boss?”

Even so, she didn’t stop me.

Limping on my own, I approached Smiley.

I unwrapped a Nut Candy and placed it where his mouth should have been.

The candy melted into light and seeped into his body.

His shattered frame restored itself, and Smiley slowly stood up.

He remained motionless, silently looking down at me.

“Because I wanted to keep my promise.”

The only being capable of killing Smiley was someone who shared the same blood and flesh.

Twins separated in childhood after losing their memories.

That was the true identity of the player.

After gaining immortality and tremendous power, Smiley had recovered his memories of the player and summoned the only person capable of ending his life to the factory.

From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to grant Smiley peace.

Death was the true happy ending meant for him.

For a long while, those black plastic eyes remained fixed on me.

Then, a quiet voice drifted out.

“Why… did… you… only… come… now?”

The slow, childlike voice wasn’t mechanical.

‘…That wasn’t supposed to be his line.’

Things felt as though they had gone terribly off-script, but it still seemed to be leading toward the True Ending.

So I quietly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

After hesitating for a moment, I gently placed my hand on top of Smiley’s head.

As I softly stroked the smooth plastic surface, Smiley spoke another line that wasn’t supposed to happen.