Episode 286
Crack—!
“What…!”
“Huh?”
“W-what is this!”
At the sudden turn of events, the people outside the glass wall reacted in simultaneous shock.
Blue sparks enveloped the capsule.
The light was so intense that it was impossible to look at properly.
A low hum—
a strange resonance and amplified light obscured the entire space inside the glass.
“Momo! Lord Black Dragon!”
Kenji, who was already wearing medical work clothes, hurriedly tried to enter.
However, even when he pulled the door open, he could not get in, as if blocked by something.
“Damn it!”
Panicked, Kenji threw a punch, but the force did not reach him, as if obscured by a curtain .
It was an unreal situation that seemed destined to happen only in role-playing.
It was hard to even comprehend that such a thing was unfolding before their eyes.
“Kang Hanbit! Are you okay?”
Just then, Lee Minho, who had been watching from inside, raised his voice.
He was worried about Hanbit, who had taken the full force of the sparks right next to the capsule.
However, no matter how many times he called his name, there was no answer.
“Please calm down. Both of you are fine.”
Kazuki, the only one maintaining his composure, examined the monitors and spoke.
Momo's condition, as displayed in the numbers, was normal.
Hanbit, who was standing next to the capsule, was in the same state.
This was because the medical work suit he was wearing had a function to monitor the wearer's condition.
“Really?”
“You mean he’s fine?”
Lee Min-ho and Kenji gathered at the monitors simultaneously.
After checking a few things, Kazuki pointed at the screen with her finger and said,
“His vital signs and brainwaves are fine, and there are no symptoms like a shock caused by the spark. If there had been a problem with Mr. Hanbit, it would have appeared on this sub-monitor. The problem is that the gear monitoring status is completely dead.”
She tapped her finger on the two monitors whose screens were malfunctioning.
The devices displaying the gear's operating status and the sensory feedback linked to the brain—
only those were in a state where bizarre characters were scattered, making them illegible.
“Keep an eye on Momo and the Black Dragon. I will go inside.”
Kenji immediately moved to where the gear was installed.
However, that, too, was dead.
“……?”
Faced with a pitch-black vision, Kenji removed his headgear with a puzzled expression.
Something is seriously wrong.
That thought dominated his mind.
“Why? Can’t you get in?”
“…It’s just a black screen.”
Kenji answered Kazuki’s question while looking down at the Gear.
Anger welled up from his frustration, but assessing the situation was his priority right now.
“I think you need to take a look at this.”
Just then, Lee Min-ho approached.
He held up the smartphone screen in his hand and said,
“It seems not only the players currently connected, but other people’s devices aren’t working properly either.”
“……?”
At this unexpected news, Kenji immediately took the smartphone.
A community RPG was displayed on the screen.
[Am I the only one who can’t get in?]
[Anyone else having trouble connecting?]
[What’s wrong with the Gear?]
[My world went dark.]
[Here’s one minute. Fix it.]
They were all stories about connection and Gear issues.
Scanning through the titles, Kenji spotted one that caught his eye.
[There’s a strange sound coming from the headgear?]
Everyone said they couldn’t get in, so I turned it on, you know? Then I heard something like a crying sound.
It disappeared right away, but it gives me the hell of a creep.
If this is a ghost, do I need to go see a shaman?
-What is this guy again? Hahaha.
-Shaman: What is it? Is he crazy?
-Let's go to the hospital first.
-Let's go for a mirror match while crying together.
└ 500 gold on the ghost winning
. – You admins. Don't you feel any guilt looking at this guy?
└ Seriously, hurry up and perform the apology restoration.
└ I'm as angry as 1 billion gold.
– But I heard it too?
└ Yeah, I heard something like a scream for a moment too.
“A crying sound?”
Kenji narrowed his brows and wore a serious expression.
People poured out playful comments, but some had experienced the same phenomenon.
Kazuki, who had been looking at the content with him, turned his gaze away.
“What do you think? If the gears weren't functioning at all, there shouldn't be a situation where a large number of people are experiencing auditory hallucinations like that.”
“Hmm…….”
Lee Min-ho, who was examining the same post as well, pondered.
Hanbit, who could at least resolve the doubts about this situation, was showing no reaction from inside the glass.
The emitted light was still obscuring the view.
In other words, people from the outside had to take action to solve this problem.
“Just a moment.”
Lee Min-ho turned around and approached the gear Kenji had used.
Then, he quickly began to dismantle the structure.
“I’ll help.”
“Me too.”
Kenji and Kazuki, having gathered their tools, assisted in the work and finished the dismantling in an instant.
After extracting a small chip from the inside, Lee Min-ho immediately stood up and approached the installed microscope.
“…As expected.”
Checking the results, he nodded and muttered.
The image visible through the lens was appearing on the connected monitor.
“It’s the object you showed me last time.”
“It’s slightly cracked.”
A small sphere was embedded in the center of the complex circuit wires.
It was shaped like a fruit encased in a shell.
It was the object that had been the catalyst for discovering the word ‘Edlen’ at Lee Min-ho’s house.
However, that sphere, which had been impossible to damage no matter what was done, was now cracked, revealing a clear line.
“May I investigate the other gears at the company?”
“I’ll talk to them.”
Kazuki immediately contacted someone and relayed the message.
Kenji watched the scene for a moment, lost in thought.
Then he turned his gaze to Lee Min-ho.
“I will call the CEO of Mirai Tech.”
“Certainly… he might know something.”
The CEO of the Gear Company who had intended to provide capsules to the Black Dragon.
Although he was aware of Momo’s situation, he had always avoided answering, promising to address it later whenever important questions were asked.
There was no way he would hide something without a reason, considering he had tried his best to help.
That is why they believed his proposal to the Black Dragon marked a turning point.
Even though this unexpected situation had occurred before the two had even met.
“Yes. I believe we will hear something meaningful. I will contact you immediately…”
Whoosh!
Just then, a strange sound suddenly came from inside the glass wall.
The three of them turned their heads simultaneously.
“Huh?”
“That is…”
Kazuki and Lee Min-ho discovered something.
A silhouette revealing its outline amidst the gradually fading light.
It was not just one.
“Momo?”
Kenji, instinctively certain, murmured his daughter’s name.
And the moment the afterglow of the receding light completely vanished.
“…Huh?”
The sight of Momo, having raised her upper body from the capsule, came into view.
Hanbit, standing beside her, turned her gaze toward him and spoke.
“I have something to tell you.”
***
Beeeee-
A sensation like sinking into a bottomless ocean.
The stifling feeling of being unable to even swim, combined with the ringing in his head, threw his mind into confusion.
‘What kind of situation is this?’
The moment he touched Momo, his vision turned pitch black with a massive spark.
And then, he was plunged into this inexplicable sensation.
‘…I wonder if everyone is okay.’
He couldn’t tell if the spark had affected only him, or if the damage had spread due to the explosion. He
simply hoped that no harm would reach Momo inside the capsule or the people outside.
After all, it was an event that had occurred solely due to his own judgment.
Swoosh-
Just then, a faint light appeared in his black vision.
The translucent blue light gradually flickered and began to approach Hanbit.
And then.
“Aaaargh!”
A terrifyingly vivid scream shook his entire body.
"Aaaargh!"
"Please, just my life… *Gasp*!"
"P-Please save me! Save me…!"
The mournful screams and pleas began to materialize as simple sounds intertwined into words.
Unable to even cover his ears, Hanbit fully absorbed the product of that pain.
In fact, the emotion surged in, causing tears like blood to flow naturally from his eyes.
Although he had witnessed and experienced countless deaths over 55 cycles, this sensation was new to him. *
Swoosh*
—Having faced the sounds of agony, Hanbit looked at the light that had begun to change in front of him.
There, the scene of a person dying was playing back like a panorama from the victim's perspective.
The scene, which had lasted less than a second, began to lengthen ever so slightly.
"…Sirius?"
A familiar face appeared amidst the overlapping scenes.
It had appeared without a single exception, delivering death.
And another person, an unforgettable figure, appeared.
"Don't bullshit me! Do you think I'm going to die like this?"
The face was invisible, but the voice was clear.
Adventurer A.
He was a man who had met his death in reality.
"Do not worry. You will be the cornerstone for a righteous future."
Sirius said this with a stoic expression.
He looked like a Grim Reaper devoid of even a shred of emotion.
"I… I cannot die like this…"
"Swoosh!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, the sword flew in and severed half of his neck.
Adventurer A's final voice trailed off very faintly.
"Goddess… I… you…"
The intermittent words were cut off abruptly.
Before there was even time to wait, the next scene of death rushed in.
"Aaaargh!"
"Please… please…!"
There were countless numbers.
The problem was that the setting where they died was unknown.
Judging by the atmosphere, it felt like a death in reality, but the armor and sword Sirius was wearing were ones seen in the RP.
"Haa."
Hanbit let out a sigh after confirming the final scene of death.
The strange sensation that had been weighing down his body had vanished before he knew it.
“So that’s the truth.”
It was one of the hypotheses that had surfaced several times, starting with Odin’s testimony. The theory
was that experiences within the RP could affect the physical body in reality.
It was speculated that the Holy Body Faction possessed that power, but it seemed to be a problem limited to Sirius.
Could it also be related to the contract made with the demons of the House of Belzenor?
*Pow!*
The space had changed distinctly in an instant.
The panorama had vanished, replaced by a complex intertwining of all kinds of blue light, resembling the neural networks of a brain.
It was a sight so intense it felt as if it contained the souls of hundreds of millions of players.
“That is…”
As Hanbit sorted through his complex thoughts, he spotted a sparkling light nearby.
Unlike the others, it was emitting a red glow.
*Thump—*
He lightly kicked his foot, and his body springed up lightly.
Reaching his target was instantaneous.
*Sob…*
Crying began to be heard.
Approaching closer, Hanbit found a black-haired girl with her chin resting on her hand while hugging her knees.
“Momo?”
Upon confirming her identity, he asked in a surprised voice.
There was no way I had seen it wrong.
It was because she looked exactly like the Momo I had seen in the capsule just moments ago, and the one I had encountered at the Guild Headquarters.
"Black Dragon… sir?"
The girl, who had spotted Hanbit just as she had, raised her head and spoke the Black Dragon's name.
This was the girl who had no memory of being Kenji's daughter.
In other words, it was Momo, who had been trapped inside the game.
After a moment of hesitation, Hanbit cautiously extended his hand.
"Do you want to try holding it?"
"…Yes!"
Nodding, Momo stood up and reached out her hand in the same way.
And the moment she grasped that hand.
*Crack!
* Red sparks engulfed the two, and their visions were reversed.
