Chapter 10

Clue 1. Amnesia.

Having amnesia means you’ve got a peculiar past. As a seasoned gamer, I can confirm this. Never been wrong about it.

This amnesia is casually mentioned. During a key event (when character control is briefly lost), Han Yoorim’s character and your character exchange a few lines, and the dialogue is quite meaningful.

There, Mos realizes that both his character and Han Yoorim’s character, who resembles Thierry, have no past.

Han Yoorim, however, doesn’t seem to have noticed.

Clue 2. Stunning looks.

Han Yoorim’s character was incredibly beautiful.

Her appearance was flawless, as if someone had artificially crafted it, with no imperfections.

Such characters were also mentioned in the game.

Designer Babies. A technology that manipulates DNA to create perfect humans.

It’s still in development, but as the story progresses, it’s revealed that Stella Corporation is researching it.

There’s a theory called Chekhov’s Gun.

If a gun appears in Act 1, it must be fired by Act 3.

This is similar.

If Designer Babies were mentioned, they had to make an appearance.

Clue 3. This was the decisive one.

―――

Just to check, I looked it up. Han Yoorim’s the creator of <Fantasy Life>.

Famous?

Not really. The game hasn’t been out long, and sales are probably around 50 copies. I only played it because it’s a PC game with no new releases. If it were VR, I wouldn’t have even noticed it.

Still playing PC games? Boomer much? LOL

Not much older than you, idiot.

―――

There was a bit of commotion, but to summarize the conversation in the gaming forum, it went like this.

I haven’t played many games made by Han Yoorim, but judging by <Fantasy Life>, her storytelling philosophy is a bit twisted.

She likely wants to give people shocking experiences.

With that in mind, as the story progressed, more clues started to stand out.

―――

Is this also part of the brain-computer interface tech? Or personality overwriting? The Stella Chairman doesn’t seem to care about the Ship of Theseus paradox, huh? LOL

―――

Your character resembles the Chairman in his youth. Han Yoorim’s character, being female, doesn’t look like the Chairman but has an exceptionally stunning appearance. Both were hinted to be Designer Babies, potential vessels for the Chairman.

The brain-computer interface tech is similar. At first glance, it seems like the research failed, but unlike other projects, there were traces of it being abandoned.

Someone had stolen the research data.

Mos recalled the information he obtained from raiding Stella Corporation’s brain-computer interface lab.

The brain-computer interface tech Stella was researching was slightly different from the usual.

To summarize, it was about preserving and downloading personalities.

A slightly eerie technology that involved overwriting memories onto a suitable body.

And this memory download wasn’t about implanting a chip in the head or attaching a machine to it.

It was more refined and ambiguous than that.

In fact, the memory download had already been completed.

Right after Han Yoorim and Mos’s characters were finalized by Stella Corporation.

Han Yoorim’s activation rate was at 89%. Mos hadn’t checked, but his was likely similar.

Once that activation rate hit 100%, the Chairman’s personality would awaken immediately. There was no stopping it. Designer Babies were designed that way from the start.

Han Yoorim’s guess was somewhat correct. To increase that activation rate, she and Mos’s characters were given various tasks. So, the tax accountant was indeed a Stella employee.

But they weren’t the mastermind.

In the end, the mastermind was the Chairman, who had planned all of this.

“What a truly unpleasant story. Look at this personality.”

Mos clicked his tongue and drew his gun.

Having your personality overwritten is akin to death.

So, for Mos’s character to survive, he had to stop the Chairman’s scheme, but the scheme had already started and long since concluded.

Meaning, there were limited ways to stop it.

The cleanest solution was to overwrite the Chairman’s memories back into the character’s memories.

This method was still a bit unsettling in terms of self-identity, but it was better than having your personality completely taken over.

The problem was that the data needed for the personality download had been destroyed and no longer existed in the world…

But even that could be resolved somehow.

Because there was still an unactivated brain right in front of him.

Coincidentally, the basement of the villa had plenty of related facilities, so if he could just defeat Han Yoorim’s character and secure the brain, the rest would be easy.

Secure the brain-computer interface data, reinstall the personality into his own body, and then… well, it might not be a happy ending, but at least he’d survive.

To reach this conclusion, he and the forum members racked their brains and debated endlessly.

I thought I was going to lose my hair. The creator, Han Yoorim, might have intended for players to experience a bad ending at least once, but there were almost no clues pointing to that.

“By the way, Han Yoorim still doesn’t know about this.”

Usually, in games with mystery elements, spoilers are a big no-no. Knowing the truth halves the fun of the game.

So Mos wondered if playing with the creator would ruin the game, but for some reason, Han Yoorim seemed completely unaware of the game’s content.

Whether it was acting or lying, it didn’t matter.

“Finally, we get to face off.”

Mos had watched Han Yoorim’s dazzling debut. He intuitively grasped her reaction speed, which surpassed human limits.

Any gamer who saw her incredible physical abilities would think the same thing.

I want to face her.

And now, he had the chance to make that thought a reality.

Mos loaded his gun.

Click.

“Mallangmabang-nim?”

Han Yoorim paused and turned around, but Mos ignored her and pulled the trigger.

Pulled.

Bang! The gun spits fire. Han Yoorim twists her body to dodge the bullet and shouts.

“What if the original betrays us, not the tax accountant!”

“Why are you asking me? Yoorim is the one who made this game.”

In this match, the one who noticed first had the advantage. Surprise attacks had that much of an edge.

Of course, Mos didn’t want the match to end with just a simple ambush, but he also didn’t want to throw away the advantage he had.

It wasn’t cheating; it was a legit advantage gained through deduction, right? So he fired without hesitation, but Han Yoorim dodged the bullet with a monstrous reaction speed.

Mos calmly drew his sword.

No matter how realistic it feels, a game is still a game.

A few bullets won’t kill a character.

But this way, he couldn’t chip away at her health.

Not a great situation.

The combat system in <Excel Busters> was easily divided into two categories.

Whether you turn on system assist or not. Just those two.

Test results showed that system assist should always be turned off. Using various martial arts was that much better.

But as with everything, just because you want to do something doesn’t mean you can.

Take <Eternal World> for example. Watching a skill’s motion to the end and reacting was always better, but not everyone could pull off such tricks, right?

Turning off system assist in <Excel Busters> was similar.

It’s not called assist for nothing. The moment you turn it off, the difficulty of executing techniques skyrockets.

Accuracy, speed, force control—there was too much to pay attention to. Getting used to it wasn’t something you could do in a day or two. It took at least half a year.

That’s why Mos chose to focus.

Mos’s specialty was optimization. In <Eternal World>, his main position was as a scout, where clean movement was most important.

He pondered which martial arts were the best, which skill combinations were the most efficient, and though he didn’t have enough time to perfect it, he prepared enough to be satisfied.

Han Yoorim’s sword clashed with Mos’s.

Mos fought as defensively as possible with his swordsmanship. He couldn’t attack unless he had a sure angle. With that mindset, he raised his patience.

A petal was etched into the air. Just one, but the power it held was not insignificant.

Han Yoorim, who had been using only basic swordsmanship, finally drew a circle. Tai Chi. The petal returned, and Mos quickly parried.

It was blocked too easily.

But now, two petals had gathered.

Mos continued to swing his sword. Each time, more petals gathered. Three, four, five…

Soon, a plum blossom bloomed from Mos’s sword.

Was the movement too exceptional? There had been pro gamers like that before. Of course, they dominated their eras, but that didn’t make them invincible.

Pros fight to win. They always found a way.

Method 1: Targeted CC skills.

No matter how good the movement, targeted attacks can’t be dodged. This was a useful strategy loved for a long time.

But <Excel Busters> didn’t have targeted CC skills.

He had to find another way.

Method 2: AoE skills.

No matter how good the movement, you can’t dodge area attacks.

And <Excel Busters> had AoE skills.

[Plum Blossom Fragrance]

With the skill’s voice, the world filled with plum blossoms that hadn’t yet bloomed.

The plum blossoms slowly bloomed.

At that moment, Han Yoorim twisted her foot. The atmosphere was crushed. It was the skill of the fake final boss, the Security Chief.

This is insane. How is she using that?

Han Yoorim charged. It felt like she was determined to finish Mos before all the plum blossoms bloomed.

Her sword swiftly pierced the air.

It was as fast as if it could reach the sun.

—

This is the final boss? LOL.

—

Mos struggled to resist, but he was no match for Han Yoorim, who skillfully linked numerous martial arts.

Han Yoorim, who had brought Mos to the brink of death, climbed on top of him.

As the plum blossoms finally bloomed all around, Han Yoorim slowly opened her mouth.

“Malangmapang.”

“Speak.”

“So, what’s the story behind the betrayal? I thought about it, but I don’t get it.”

“…Watch my stream replay.”

Not giving a straight answer was a bit of spite.

At those words, Han Yoorim nodded and raised her sword.

“Your refusal to beg for your life. I commend you.”

Swoosh.

The screen went dark, and text appeared.

[Normal Ending]

He expected it, but this wasn’t the happy ending, the true ending.

Depending on the choices in the final chapter, the ending would differ, and with a bit more time invested, he could see all the endings…

Mos turned off the game and took off the VR device.

I shouldn’t play this game with Han Yoorim anymore.

I’ll play it with viewers later.