Chapter 1

Chapter. 1

[This is breaking news. We have received word that the second subjugation attempt against the Break Boss Frost Dragon, also known as the ‘Ice Dragon,’ which had settled in Pyongyang, has failed.]

The sound of the television from next door drifted through the paper-thin wall.

It was nothing but bad news.

[The Association has decided to immediately assemble a third subjugation force centered around the Hunter Han Seol-ah, known as the ‘Guardian,’ but experts estimate the chances of success at under 3%, making the fall of the Republic of Korea all but certain….]

…No, let me correct that.

It went beyond a negative atmosphere. It was nothing but despair.

—The Republic of Korea was about to fall.

“I always knew a day like this would come.”

I just had not expected it to be today.

Click. Click.

[You have slain the Frost Dragon.]

[You have obtained a Broken Scale.]

“…Its pattern is so obvious.”

[You have slain the Frost Dragon.]

A boss Han Seol-ah could not defeat.

The Ice Dragon.

And I was massacring it in a game right now.

Strangely enough, the “demonic beasts” of reality and the “monsters” in the game were identical.

Their patterns, stats, skills, even their weaknesses.

That was because the game I was playing, Lost Honor, was obsessed with recreating reality.

A monster that could not be killed in real life.

In a game, it went down easily.

‘…If only this were reality.’

I could one-shot something like the Frost Dragon.

Looking back…

It had been a full ten years since I first thought, ‘The Republic of Korea is doomed.’

Ever since the “Towers” appeared all over the world.

The world has changed in many ways.

Those who received the blessing of the Towers gained supernatural powers called “Awakening.”

Each time a Tower was climbed, priceless resources poured out in quantities that defied every known law of physics.

…But even then, I thought the Republic of Korea was finished.

The Towers were a blessing to some.

But for others, they were a horrifying disaster.

‘…And we were the latter.’

If a nation failed to break through to a new highest floor within the allotted time, the Tower would trigger a ridiculous catastrophe called a “Break,” opening an enormous Gate and unleashing powerful boss-class demonic beasts.

A Break was a devastating disaster.

Several countries had been wiped off the map because they failed to stop one.

In other words—

If a country had the means to climb its Tower, it was a blessing.

If it did not, it was a disaster.

Put simply, it was the logic of power.

But there was one especially unfair part.

The starting floors of the Towers were bizarre.

The United States started on the 2nd floor.

Japan started on the 23rd.

China started on the 48th, and so on….

Fourteen Towers had appeared in major cities around the world, and every single one had a different starting floor.

The United States, which had been assigned a relatively low floor, rejoiced.

China, on the other hand, struggled to clear even a single floor and had to endure the damage from repeated breaks.

Of course, a Tower had appeared in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, as well.

Its starting floor was…

A staggering 94th floor.

The difficulty was utterly insane.

That was why everyone, myself included, thought the Republic of Korea was doomed.

Every ambitious attempt to conquer the Tower ended in failure, grinding the nation’s best Hunters into dust.

In the end, the Republic of Korea declared the Tower “impossible to conquer” and survived only by desperately holding off the Breaks that came every month….

For ten whole years.

“At this point, we held out long enough.”

…And now that desperate struggle was finally nearing its end.

The Republic of Korea’s only hope.

Its last remaining S-rank Hunter.

The Guardian.

Han Seol-ah.

She had awakened at the young age of seventeen and spent the last ten years saving the Republic of Korea from the brink of destruction.

But now, a boss had appeared that even she could “never” defeat.

“…If Han Seol-ah was beaten, then it is over.”

So what was left now?

Nothing but waiting for the end.

“Accept death….”

The villa, usually full of noise, was as quiet as a grave.

The only sound left was the television next door, which Cheol-su’s family had left running when they went out.

Han Seol-ah’s public apology press conference regarding the third subjugation attempt had just begun.

“It is nice when it is quiet.”

All combat-type Hunters had been conscripted into the second and third subjugation forces.

And all the ordinary “citizens” who had not awakened combat-related abilities had evacuated to shelters.

That left only me in this villa.

Why?

Because I never awakened.

…Which meant I was not even treated like a human being.

The world now only considers humans with mana to be human.

If you did not possess mana?

Then you were not human!

Incredibly, that was common sense in this world.

And if someone like me, who had no mana at all, was caught wandering outside?

People would say they could not sense any mana from me and treat me like a mimicking demonic beast, a Doppelganger, then try to kill me.

I knew from experience.

So I just—

“Played games.”

A game in name, a livelihood in practice.

I was playing Lost Honor.

From the day I became incapable of Awakening ten years ago until now, this game had kept me alive when even stepping outside was difficult.

‘After all, I bought food by selling items.’

Items in Lost Honor could be converted into cash.

The insane developer who made this game would buy the gear you listed on the auction house and pay you in a currency called “Points,” which could then be cashed out.

A game where playing hard earned you money.

How was anyone supposed to resist that?

“I know I could not.”

If the sign-up condition had not been “must be incapable of Awakening,”

it would have become a worldwide hit game.

What a tragedy.

Anyway, this was not some mindless attempt at escapism.

“…I should sell some gear and buy a few cold-weather supplies.”

From what I had heard, the Frost Dragon’s encroachment basically turned the surrounding area into something far colder than the Arctic—an “ultra-ultra-Arctic.”

In times like these, would I not be able to hold out a little longer if I had magitech winter gear packed with mana stones?

There was no such thing as having too many Points.

‘They say people are still living in ruined India, right?’

Maybe that would be my future too.

Ding-!

[Emergency Quest Received!]

[Category: Epic]

[Would you like to check it?]

“Oh?”

[Emergency Epic Quest]

[Save the Republic of Korea from the brink of destruction]

“…?”

What was this?

Lost Honor was a game set in a medieval fantasy world.

There was no place in it called the Republic of Korea.

And yet now, when the Republic of Korea really was on the verge of collapse, a quest like this appeared.

“What is this supposed to imply?”

Could it be…

Was it actually talking about reality?

‘No way.’

Reality was not a game.

In a case like this, the logical interpretation was that a place called the Republic of Korea was going to be added to Lost Honor.

“A new region… Are they finally updating the game with new content?”

[Quest Objective]

[Awaken S-rank Hunter ‘Han Seol-ah’ to EX-rank]

What was that supposed to mean now?

“Han Seol-ah?”

The one currently holding the press conference on TV? Guardian Han Seol-ah?

“…What?”

It specifically said, S-rank Hunter Han Seol-ah.

There was no getting around that.

‘Han Seol-ah is being added to the game?’

“…This could be fun.”

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The Guardian of the Republic of Korea.

The Frost Queen.

The strongest INFP, and countless other nicknames…

The Hunter most beloved by the people of the Republic of Korea.

And I was going to be able to meet Han Seol-ah in the game?

[Reward]

[Awakening]

“Oh.”

Awakening!

“Well, would you look at that? My character gets to experience the Awakening I never could.”

This was fun.

…And a little enviable.

Because Awakening was something that would most likely never come to me.

[Would you like to accept?]

[Yes] [No]

As though urging me to hurry and accept, the [Yes] button glittered in gold.

—So, are you really not going to enjoy this insanely good content?

That was what it seemed to be asking.

The addition of the new region, the Republic of Korea.

A wonderful time with Han Seol-ah, my favorite Hunter.

And on top of that, my character’s Awakening.

All that dopamine was laid out right in front of me.

“This sounds fun.”

Sweet.

Just imagining it was sweet enough to make my head spin.

I moved the mouse at once and clicked.

[No]

That was right.

I clicked “No.”

An ordinary person would obviously press “Yes” here.

“But I am not an ordinary person.”

When everyone said “yes,” I was the kind of person who pressed “no.”

The reason I rejected it was simple.

Because it was trying to steer my thoughts.

There was no way I was going to lose to some manipulative little mind game that all but screamed, ‘Like hell you can resist pressing this.’

If you mindlessly went along with that kind of prompting, one day you would end up in a situation where you suffered a loss you could never undo.

And when that happened, even if you coughed up blood and screamed, ‘I should not have done it’…

the result of your choice could never be taken back.

I knew from experience.

“Now then. Let us see what it does next.”

Of course, I had not simply slammed NO and sprawled out with no plan.

‘I know the pattern by now.’

If I refused like this and acted sulky—

[The reward has changed.]

Then it would start negotiating.

[Reward]

[Awakening]

[Possession Ticket] (new!)

“…Possession Ticket?”

Just from the name alone, I had no idea what kind of item it was.

Even when I poked at it with the mouse, no extra information popped up.

“Hmm.”

[Would you like to accept?]

[Yes] [No]

This time, I pressed “Yes.”

If I tried to play hard to get one more time here, the quest itself would probably disappear.

[Connecting one world to another…]

[Please wait a moment.]

“Ah. An update?”

If they were adding new content, of course it would take time.

I dove onto the bed.

I buried my face in the soft mattress and closed my eyes.

In the silent room, the sound of the television next door came through the thin wall even more clearly than before, breaking the stillness.

[That is correct. The failure of the second subjugation attempt rests entirely on me. I bow my head in apology.]

“….”

[The third subjugation attempt will differ from the previous two attempts in that… Hm?]

“…?”

[Uh? Huh?]

Han Seol-ah’s calm voice broke.

“What is that? A broadcast accident?”

We did not have a television in my house.

I had never even considered getting one because I could not afford to make noise.

So I could only follow the broadcast through the sound coming from Cheol-su’s family’s TV next door.

Because of that, I had no idea what exactly was happening to Han Seol-ah right now.

Murmur, murmur—

…But apparently it was the same at the press conference itself, because I could hear the reporters reacting to Han Seol-ah’s sudden behavior in raw confusion.

[….]

Then Han Seol-ah fell silent for quite a while.

[…Yes.]

Soon after, her voice returned, carrying something that sounded like resolve.

And the moment after that—

[Huh?]

[Wh-what?]

Along with the reporters’ stunned voices—

[H-Hunter Han Seol-ah?]

[What the hell! A person just vanished!]

[Emergency! Emergency!]

[Get the person in charge here!!!]

Absolute chaos erupted.

“W-what is going on?”

Han Seol-ah suddenly vanished?

Did that mean Han Seol-ah, who had been in the middle of the press conference, just disappeared?

It was hard to keep up with the situation.

[…Um, excuse me?]

“…No, that is not right. I can still hear her voice.”

Unlike the chaos on the television next door,

Han Seol-ah’s voice was coming through clearly.

[Um, hello?]

Han Seol-ah’s voice said that, while at the same time—

[P-Please calm down, reporters! We are trying to assess the situation right now—]

“Calm down? Calm down? How are we supposed to calm down right now? If Han Seol-ah is gone, then who is going to kill the Ice Dragon?!”

“Find Han Seol-ah, damn it!!!”

“We are finished! The Republic of Korea is over!”

The situation on the television was in total pandemonium.

…But the two situations did not line up at all.

In one place, Han Seol-ah was talking just fine.

On the other hand, everyone was losing their minds because Han Seol-ah had vanished.

[Nebula?]

“…Huh?”

Nebula?

That was my character’s name.

[Are you there?]

“….”

C-come to think of it…

Han Seol-ah’s voice…

was not coming from the TV beyond the wall.

It was coming from behind me.

No, more precisely…

It was coming from my computer speakers.

“……No way.”

Clutching at my wildly pounding heart, I staggered back to the monitor on trembling legs.

[Are you there?]

“….”

And when I checked the monitor—more precisely, the game—

…Han Seol-ah was there.

Silver hair tinged with a blue glow.

Blue eyes like they held the sky itself.

“H-heh… Hahaha.”

[Um… I heard… that you would make me EX-rank.]

Han Seol-ah had been summoned into my game.

Ding-!

[Time until quest clear: D-5]

[If the quest fails: Destruction]

…Along with that brutally ominous notice.