Chapter 2

As the members of the Hero Party charged fearlessly into battle, the mages and archers supporting them from the rear raised their hands in unison.

Sparks flew as blades clashed against one another. Powerful spells streaked through the air, leaving blazing trails of fire and ice in their wake.

Amid the carnage of the battlefield, where countless arrows whistled just overhead, a grotesquely deformed monster lunged forward with a savage roar.

The Hero’s gleaming blue blade flashed.

In a single clean stroke, it sliced through the creature’s torso.

As he weaved across the battlefield, trading blows with one enemy after another, there wasn’t the slightest hint of hesitation at the tip of his sword.

I watched in silent anticipation.

Before I knew it, I was rooting for him.

Praying for his victory.

Sitting in front of my monitor, I clenched my fists tightly as my eyes remained fixed on his back.

Then…

The battle reached a desperate turning point.

The screen suddenly slowed to a crawl.

The in-game camera shifted to an arrow flying straight toward the Hero’s back.

Dark demonic energy shimmered around its razor-sharp arrowhead in a sinister violet glow.

If it struck…

It would pierce straight through the Hero’s heart.

No…

Just as a sigh escaped my lips, the heavy thud of someone’s footsteps echoed through the battlefield.

A towering warrior carrying an enormous shield rushed into the arrow’s path.

The moment I saw him raise his shield and block the shot…

I realized what I was watching.

This was the final ending scene from Journey of the Hero Party III.

The Hero and his companions—the very people who had made my brother and me laugh and cry throughout our childhood—had finally returned.

It was a memory from long ago.

But I remembered every bit of their story.

I already knew how this battle would end.

With their victory.

Having lost the will to fight, the enemy army threw down their weapons and surrendered.

Seizing their hard-earned triumph, the Hero Party erupted in thunderous cheers.

Peace returned to the kingdom.

A brilliant sun rose once more over the land.

The citizens emerged from their shelters, embracing one another in celebration as news of the Hero Party’s victory spread across the continent.

But at the very moment everyone was rejoicing…

The sky darkened.

Lightning split the heavens.

The Hero slowly looked up, his expression telling me he’d sensed that something far worse was about to come.

A deep voice echoed through my headset.

“O Hero of countless victories…”

“After you disappeared, the continent was swallowed by darkness.”

“The Goddess has fallen into corruption. The land has been overrun by monsters, and humanity lives in constant fear.”

From that point on, scenes I’d never seen before began to play.

The corrupted Goddess raised an army of tainted undead, spreading chaos across the entire continent.

Countless lives were lost.

Bodies piled upon once-fertile fields.

Humanity knew they had to stop her.

But defeating a Goddess was no simple task.

As mournful music filled the air, the screen revealed a continent left utterly devastated.

“Beneath the madness of the Corrupted Goddess, Arkerion has sunk into the depths of chaos.”

“What will it take to stand against such overwhelming evil?”

Unmatched strength?

I found myself murmuring the answer instinctively, recalling the Hero’s extraordinary swordsmanship.

After all, wasn’t saving the world the role of someone truly exceptional?

But…

That wasn’t what this game wanted.

“It is the courage and wisdom with which you once saved us.”

A shiver ran down my arm.

The game wasn’t calling out to the invincible Hero who carved his way through the battlefield.

It was calling…

To me.

To the child who had once immersed himself in games with nothing but excitement and boundless passion.

“Please… come back.”

“Please hear the voices of those abandoned in Arkerion.”

“Become the hope of this cursed land.”

“We still need your help.”

As if entranced, I leaned closer to the monitor.

My eyes met those of the Hero Party and their companions.

They were speaking of the things that mattered most in the world.

Justice.

Courage.

And wisdom.

In an era where idealism had become nothing more than the punchline to a cheap joke…

The screen overflowed with words that still had the power to stir my heart.

How could I possibly refuse?

They had been my friends.

My teachers.

The people who had kept the memories of my brother alive for decades.

From that day onward, I threw myself into the game with an obsession bordering on madness.

There were plenty of weekends where I lost all track of time and devoted every waking hour to playing.

The massive story was overwhelming at times.

But I never regretted a single moment.

The meticulously crafted scenario was breathtakingly original.

The world’s incredible attention to detail made it feel as though it truly existed.

And the individuality and charm of every single character…

Those went without saying.

It feels like I’ve become a resident of Arkerion myself.

Lately, I’d spent more time thinking about the game than reality itself.

Before I knew it, my identity had become that of Arkerion’s guardian.

Every day was spent exploring the continent, becoming immersed in its stories, and looking forward to tomorrow because of the people who lived there.

This Saturday morning was especially important.

The ending was finally drawing near.

Main Quest: Journey’s End (5)

The truth behind the chaos consuming Arkerion will finally be revealed…

Stage 12 cannot be retried.

If you lose the battle, the player will suffer permanent death.

Do you still wish to proceed?

Accept / Decline

A smile crept across my face as excitement coursed through me.

Finally.

After an endless journey and countless hard-fought battles, I’d made it to the very brink of the ending.

Of course, it hadn’t been easy.

Like most SRPGs, Journey of the Hero Party featured multiple difficulty levels. Every time you cleared a higher difficulty, new content would unlock, along with branching quests designed to push players to their limits.

Long-held truths were overturned one after another, and shocking secrets that had remained hidden until then left players completely blindsided.

Yet, perhaps because so few people had ever reached the highest difficulty, no matter how much I searched online, I couldn’t find any useful information.

That meant there was only one way to uncover the truth behind this world.

I had to conquer the highest difficulty myself.

There was one catch, however.

The game imposed penalties on the player.

With each new difficulty level came a new curse.

Cursed players were forced to face enemies far stronger than before. Certain stats became unusable, while others were heavily restricted.

The cruelest part, though…

Was having to watch trusted companions betray you.

After overcoming every one of those hardships, the Hero Party I’d led had finally made it here.

We stood on the threshold of clearing Difficulty Level 12—the highest difficulty in the game.

The final battle.

The Main Quest before me would lead me to the game’s true ending.

I took a deep breath.

Since there were no retries, I needed to make absolutely sure I hadn’t overlooked anything.

I checked the food I’d prepared for buffs, my potions, and even the durability of my equipment before opening the quest confirmation window.

Then a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

I should probably grab some caffeine.

I headed to the refrigerator for an energy drink.

While I was at it, I planned to grab a few snacks to substitute for a proper meal.

But then…

Something felt strangely off.

It’s only two in the morning… so why is my vision already getting blurry? Am I getting old…?

And why did my body feel so limp, as though it were soaked cotton?

It was probably because work had been so exhausting lately.

Just as I took a sip of the energy drink to sharpen my focus…

Something completely inexplicable happened.

“Ghk…! Kgh…!”

What…?

What’s happening to me?

The aluminum can slipped from my hand and clattered onto the floor.

A violent pain exploded through my forehead.

Without realizing it, I’d pitched forward and collapsed.

My face throbbed as though it had been crushed, and the area beneath my nose felt wet.

I must’ve smashed my face against the edge of the dining table.

Blood was pouring from my nose.

Everything blurred.

My head pounded.

I lay there groaning from the dizziness for what felt like an eternity.

When I finally regained a little awareness…

I found myself staggering through the middle of my living room.

But…

It wasn’t by my own will.

I wasn’t moving because I wanted to.

My arms and legs were moving on their own.

It was…

As if someone were controlling a game character with a mouse.

But…

How was that even possible?

My body continued moving against my will, crossing the living room before throwing open the door to my room.

As I approached my desk, my reflection appeared in the black screen of my monitor, which had entered sleep mode.

I looked like a corpse.

Dried blood clung beneath my nose.

My arm moved by itself.

It nudged the mouse.

The monitor woke from sleep, revealing the game exactly as I’d left it.

The quest window was still open.

Main Quest: Journey’s End (5)

The truth behind the chaos consuming Arkerion will finally be revealed…

Stage 12 cannot be retried.

If you lose this battle, the player will suffer permanent death.

Do you still wish to proceed?

Accept / Decline

Damn it.

My breathing grew ragged.

Every breath sent a sharp stab of pain through my side.

I’d probably cracked a rib when I fell.

My favorite game…

The true ending…

None of that mattered anymore.

The only thing that mattered now…

Was the phone sitting on my desk.

It was so close.

If I could just stretch my arm a little farther to the right…

I could reach it.

But no matter how desperately I tried…

My body refused to move.

My phone was right in front of me.

Yet I couldn’t grab it.

All I could feel was an overwhelming sense of revulsion, as though something was forcibly overriding my will.

The moment my twisted fingers wrapped around the mouse…

I knew.

The words “permanent death” displayed on the screen…

Maybe they weren’t talking about the game.

Maybe…

They meant exactly what they said.

It was the kind of development I’d seen countless times in movies, dramas, and especially web novels.

A scene like this was always followed by someone being transmigrated into a game, reincarnated into another world, or swept up in some grand conspiracy.

It felt…

Like I was living through that exact moment.

Fuck…

A terrible premonition pierced my mind.

No…

It was closer to certainty.

Objectively speaking, it sounded like a ridiculous delusion.

But reason was useless in a situation like this.

Something utterly impossible was already happening.

Stay calm…

I have to move somehow… Call 119…

The problem was…

There was nothing I could do.

My body obeyed me less and less with each passing second.

The only thing I could still move were my eyes.

But that accomplished nothing.

My jaw and neck were locked completely in place, limiting everything I could see.

My legs, standing motionless before the monitor.

My hand gripping the mouse.

And the quest confirmation window.

My consciousness slowly faded beneath an unknown force.

A suffocating darkness crept in, as though it were devouring my very sense of self.

Damn it…

Now I could see nothing except the screen.

My home.

My room.

Everything beyond the monitor had vanished into pitch-black darkness.

It was a darkness so absolute that it seemed to numb every sensation.

I couldn’t speak.

I couldn’t even feel the air entering my lungs.

Only complete, endless nothingness remained.

Then, suddenly…

My family came to mind.

If something happens to me…

Mom… Dad… Hyung…

The instant my finger pressed the Accept button…

Even that final worry was swallowed by the darkness.