The Reality of the Game

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‘It seems it hasn’t been fixed yet. That makes sense. Only a few hours must have passed in real-world time. With the weekend included, it could take even longer.’

‘Though, before that, it might forcibly shut down due to a safety protocol.’

“Right, Bebe was human, after all. She wasn’t even a special species, and since she was forcibly grown, while she was called high-tier, there were many issues with her practical use.”

‘That’s right. It would have ended someday. How foolish of me. Even if I erased all the accumulated play data and saved Bebe, she would still die once the predetermined time arrived.’

‘That’s just how the system was designed.’

‘Even if I brought her back countless times because I wanted to see her, it would only result in her dying again and again. That would be far more terrible than Bebe’s death itself. I didn’t want to go that far.’

“Are you feeling better now?”

Jack sat before me, looking utterly bewildered. He held a spoon and a bowl of porridge. It felt strange, seeing the sprout fluttering above his head amidst all this—both comical and absurd.

“I just got excessively immersed in something pointless.”

‘Yes, it’s just a game. Just data. It was created. There’s no need to go this far. The thoughts might linger, but it was nothing from the start, wasn’t it?’

‘Yet, I found myself laughing at my own absurdity, wondering how many videos, screenshots, and memorials I had saved.’

“Do you know you shouldn’t eat while carrying food like that?”

“I brought it for you to eat! Seriously, what is wrong with this human?”

“There’s no point in eating something weird that doesn’t even have buff options. If I’m going to eat, I might as well eat something delicious.”

Just a few words from me, and Jack was already clamoring loudly again. Perhaps this was why every party needed a fool. As I chuckled at him, Jack’s expression grew peculiar.

“Why?”

“Nothing… It’s nothing.”

“Let’s eat and go. We’ve wasted too much time.”

I rose from my spot. From my inventory, I carelessly picked out a black outfit and put it on.

“Why are you suddenly putting on clothes?”

“Why? Am I not supposed to?”

“Well, no… but you said being naked was your default?”

“I’ll only wear it today.”

Among common fabric clothes, black ones were rare. While black armor was quite common, black clothes were not typically worn in daily life. It wasn’t anything extraordinary; according to the game’s lore, black dye was simply precious.

Fabrics, in particular, faded. One needed to use high-quality materials, and given that black was already rare, adding expensive special processing meant people naturally avoided it. Armor, once dyed or coated, retained its color well.

It was a splendid uniform of black fabric, adorned with silver ornaments and embroidery. I had received this regalia during an event that granted knighthood after relentlessly completing subjugation quests for the Imperial Army—though I had stopped playing immediately after claiming the quest reward.

“You had perfectly normal clothes, too.”

“How do I look? Does it suit me?”

“Well, it might not be completely awful…?”

“Still cute, I see.”

Judging by his reaction, he clearly didn’t know what this was. It wasn’t a typical NPC response. Usually, merely taking it out would elicit gasps of admiration and deferential behavior.

Players might disregard a knight, but in the world’s lore, even becoming a knight elevated one to the status of a celestial being. Furthermore, the color black signified a direct bestowal from the Emperor himself. Clothes not gifted by the Emperor were typically blue.

Obtaining a noble title in this game was surprisingly difficult. Unless one started as a noble, significant achievements were required for entry. I, for one, had accidentally received it while grinding for good karma.

“What on earth is wrong with your eyes?”

“Cute is cute, isn’t it?”

“Take back all the worry you showed me until now.”

“I wouldn’t know how to do that, would I—?”

‘These guys must have been broken somewhere by the glitch. The fact that they couldn’t even recognize this uniform meant there was a truly significant problem. What would happen if they were fixed normally?’

‘Would they disappear, or would something change?’

“What’s the point in worrying? I should just enjoy myself now.”

“Hey, when a person talks, shouldn’t there be a basic context to the conversation?”

“If it’s only three days, I should have just gone and cleared some dungeons.”

‘I had only reaffirmed that they, too, would eventually disappear. Well, I already knew that, didn’t I? Still, it was fine. Until then, I would simply enjoy myself. No need to think too deeply.’

I deliberately turned away from the obvious.

The past is the past.

“Kid, that’s not how you do it.”

“Seriously, just endless nagging—!!”

“Hey, why are you so bad? Do it like this!”

“What’s with that weird way of talking, too!”

Humans were inherently designed to be passionate about trivial things. In that regard, I was also a splendidly designed human. Wasn’t it human nature to burn everything for a single moment that brought emotion?

I wore the uniform for only a single day. Faust was incredibly surprised. Can you believe that refined fellow actually spit out his food mid-chew? Was merely putting on a uniform really that shocking?

“Kid, you should use parrying there, not rolling. If you roll, the next pattern is a horizontal slash followed by a retreat, which messes up your combo sequence.”

“Please, just swear at me instead! Stop using that strange way of talking!”

After three days of disoriented weeping, I grieved for just one more day. Having lived almost as if I’d forgotten during that time, what could I do now? It was far too late. Everything that came must eventually go.

“Oh, look, he’s running away again? Don’t evade, parry it!”

While I was camping by the roadside, five Blind Ghouls happened to be lurking nearby. I quickly rounded them up. It worked out perfectly, as many demon nests were quite dark. Opportunities to practice night combat were rare.

I was mainly having them practice their attack sequences and parrying. Ghouls were sturdy, their attack power relatively weak aside from status ailments or curses, and most importantly, they were slow, making them ideal for practice.

Unfortunately, monsters had stat caps that prevented them from rising above a certain level; beyond that limit, only their health improved. Without such restrictions, goblins would become as powerful as demon bosses, making them uncontrollable.

Perhaps because Faust was high-tier, he quickly caught on after just one explanation. He memorized things quickly and handled them without needing nagging. Jack, however, made the same mistakes in the same places, no matter how many times I repeated myself.

‘If I hadn’t prepared his item build in advance, he would have been beaten to death long ago.’

Chewing on jerky, I watched from the sidelines before picking up a fallen branch and standing. I then shoved Jack, who was frantically blocking attacks, aside and stepped into his place.

“This is how you do it. See, when an overhead strike comes in like this, deflect it to the left, and when their guard is open, strike their shoulder. Their body will be turned, so they can’t bite even if you get close. Don’t be scared; just dive in.”

“If they retreat here, stick close and counter-stab their solar plexus. If they try to evade by falling to the left like this, pull your sword as if slicing and take off their head!”

With a thwack!, the severed head fell and rolled across the ground. Perhaps because of its size, the sound was like a watermelon bursting. Jack, who had been standing dumbfounded, stumbled back with a squawk.

“Is that as easy as it sounds?!”

“Of course you should be able to. If it were me, I’d rip them apart with my bare hands without needing such a troublesome sequence. This is a combo tailored for you. The problem is that you’re a coward, so your flow keeps breaking instead of continuing.”

Jack was noisy. He talked a lot and was quick-tempered, yet his insides were shriveled to a molecular level, causing him to bolt at the slightest hint of threat.

One needed to exploit the enemy’s openings to efficiently conserve stamina and even engage in one-against-many battles. Yet, this guy would panic at the immediate danger before his eyes and flee, rather than seizing the rare opportunity presented to him.

“You can do it with a mere branch, so why are you saying you can’t do it with a legendary sword? Do you even realize how incredible the options attached to that thing are? With that, even a common farmer NPC could take down an entire squad of kobolds.”

“Is fighting really that easy?! I’m about to get hit by a sword!”

“You fool. If you stab first, you won’t get hit. Don’t just run; parry and dive in. Your commander does it perfectly fine.”

“If I were on the same level as the commander, I’d be the commander!”

“Your physical abilities are better. You’re only at that level because you’re a coward. If you weren’t scared, you’d probably endure even better, wouldn’t you? Oh, Faust’s sword is wavering. Maintain your stance. Even if ghoul damage isn’t much, a wrong hit can lead to nasty debuffs.”

Faust must have been listening, pretending not to. His sword tip wavered when I said Jack’s stats were better. But it was true. Jack, being such a boisterous and flamboyant fellow, surprisingly had a better physique. For one, his HP was double Faust’s. Of course, if sacred power or mana usage were factored in, Faust would undoubtedly win overwhelmingly.

“You’ve already wiped out all the ghouls. There’s only one left for Faust to practice on.”

“Doesn’t it just matter if we catch them, no matter how?”

“If I just wanted you to simply catch them, why do you think I’d make you do this kind of practice?”

I was about to say more but stopped. No, this wasn’t just for him. I shouted towards Faust.

“Faust! That’s enough, wrap it up! I have something to say!”

At my words, Faust, who had been practicing parrying with a ghoul, cleanly severed its neck. It was a skilled move. If only he gained a bit more strength, it would be perfect. I’d have to feed him a lot of meat to build up his muscles for a while.

I gestured for Faust to sit near the campfire, and I sat facing him.

“First off. While I am hunting demons, I have no interest in world peace. I just want to raise you guys well and have some fun.”

“That’s truly an awfully messy goal. Shouldn’t our opinions be reflected a bit?”

“It’s not that important, is it? You’ll have no choice but to fight demons anyway. From now on, that’s a clear fact. Because all the paths I used to directly seek out demons have been blocked.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“It means the demons will now crawl directly out of their nests.”

‘No matter how much I treated these guys like humans, they were merely NPCs. Their AI level had become terrifyingly advanced, but ultimately, they weren’t human.’

‘Moreover, they had predetermined attributes from birth. They had to be raised according to a specific development style. They could only grow as traditional paladins, without even variations.’

‘No matter how much I lectured them, they wouldn’t understand.’

‘Even if I explained why they had to do something, or how best to raise them, or what they should do, it was no use.’

‘It meant they could only input and output according to their designated values. No matter what items I gave them or how many, they couldn’t use them properly. That’s how they were created.’

‘It’s not like I’ve only played one or two games, you know?’