Chapter 1

Director: Goyo, there’s a coaching position available. Come by whenever you want.

SGY: Player-nim, I’m Sagongyeon from Day News. Would it be possible to do an intervie….

I turned on my phone screen to check the time, and a notification for unread messages appeared.

How much time had passed since I retired as a professional player, and people were still calling me player-nim?

The Director should have given up by now, but he kept contacting me persistently.

I lowered my gaze to my hand for a moment.

It was a hand that, after the accident four years ago, looked completely normal on the outside and caused no problems in everyday life.

It was just that I could no longer continue as a professional player.

With a familiar motion of my hand, I swiped away the notifications and left only the push alert for the livestream.

It was time for my favorite M-Tuber’s broadcast. I didn’t have any time to waste on messages I wasn’t even going to read.

I turned on my computer, and as soon as I entered the livestream, the first thing I did was donate.

My nickname and donation message appeared prominently in the chat.

The M-Tuber smiled broadly as he called out to me.

“Gunbam-nim, welcome!”

[Gunbam: Hello]

My greeting was quickly buried beneath the chats of the enthusiastic viewers.

[helpmehelpmepleasegetmeoutofherenicanttakeit]

[ican’tdoitanymorehihigihigikgikgikhik]

[imadeamistakeimadeamistakeimadeamistakeimadeamist]

[imgonnadieaaahithurtshurtshurts]

[the?ending?how?theendingpleasetheending?]

My favorite M-Tuber’s stream didn’t have that many viewers.

There were only a few dozen, but since they were all loyal followers, the chat was far more active than in other streams.

Another curious thing was that normally in small streams, viewers tend to become friends with one another, but here nobody showed any interest in anyone else.

Everyone was far too busy telling the M-Tuber what they wanted.

But that was exactly why I liked it. Since nobody showed unnecessary interest, I felt much more comfortable.

“I was waiting only for Gunbam-nim.”

[Gunbam: I was waiting for the stream too.]

More than anything else, I genuinely liked this M-Tuber.

I smiled shyly while typing in the chat.

I debuted as a professional player at nineteen and retired after building a career that wasn’t bad at all.

It was a forced retirement caused by an accident, and after becoming unemployed overnight, I ended up terribly bored.

So while looking for something to kill time with, I started playing video games.

I became obsessed with all kinds of online games, and then I ended up becoming interested in standalone games, playing everything from AAA titles to indies without discriminating against any of them.

And that was how I came across an indie game that perfectly matched my tastes.

I spent two entire nights without sleeping to see every ending, and naturally I ended up looking for the developer’s other games.

Then, by chance, I even ended up finding the livestream run by the creator himself.

That was exactly two years ago.

After becoming a regular follower of the developer, I gained an incredible privilege: testing games that were still in development.

Since he was a solo developer, all of his games were indie titles with pixel-art graphics.

But thanks to the creativity of the settings and stories, I could immerse myself in them more deeply than in any other game.

Moreover, the genres were varied, so they never felt repetitive, and all of the games eventually connected within one enormous shared universe.

The so-called Archive World.

For two years, I tested the games the developer gave me and enjoyed spending time inside his world.

I wrote in the chat, excited to find out what kind of game he had brought this time.

[Gunbam: The game you gave me before was really fun.]

“As expected, I knew Gunbam-nim would manage to see the True Ending.”

How did he know I had completed the True Ending?

I blinked for a moment.

But considering that he knew perfectly well that I spent every night without sleeping to see every ending in each game he gave me, it wasn’t that strange.

Putting aside my doubts, I asked:

[Gunbam: What game is it today?]

Amid the chat messages the viewers were throwing around like mad, the M-Tuber managed to catch my message exactly and smiled broadly.

“Hmm, today there isn’t a game.”

Then he suddenly moved his face closer to the camera.

His face filled the entire screen, and before I realized it, I leaned my body back slightly.

The M-Tuber whispered, his eyes shining with reflected light.

“And from now on, there won’t be any more either.”

I felt my heart sink.

“There won’t be any more games?”

For someone like me, who had enjoyed countless games thanks to that M-Tuber, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Unlike me, who had gone completely rigid from the shock, the M-Tuber seemed excited today.

Anyone would think he had just won the lottery.

[no?game?nogame?can?i?leave?getmeout?]

[iwanttoleaveimadeamistakepleasedontletmedie]

[It’s over already? How boring.]

[finallyfinallydiediediediediedie]

After the bombshell the M-Tuber dropped, the chat exploded as well.

I barely moved my fingers amid the flood of messages.

[Gunbam: That’s a shame…. May I ask why?]

“Because it’s finished.”

The M-Tuber spoke in an incredibly relieved voice.

“Thank you for all this time. It was thanks to Gunbam-nim.”

Had he just said he was going to quit streaming?

Would he continue making games? Or would he quit development as well…?

It was common for independent developers to abandon projects for various reasons.

But it was truly a shame. He was a developer with genius-level talent.

Even the viewers of this stream adored his games.

‘Couldn’t he at least release some of them in Early Access?’

I, who already knew he had several extremely high-quality games, bit my lips.

I tried to type another question to ask for more details, but my fingers stopped.

It made no sense, but I felt as though I had made eye contact with the M-Tuber through the screen.

The M-Tuber, staring directly into the camera, smiled as he stretched his lips to one side.

At that instant, along with a hot sensation, blood started flowing from my nose.

“Ugh….”

My eyes burned, and a stabbing pain began splitting my head apart.

Was it because I had stayed awake all night and come straight to watch the stream?

As I stood up for a moment to look for tissues, I heard a voice.

“Gunbam-nim is the best viewer I’ve ever known. If it’s Gunbam-nim, you’ll be able to do it. Because I found you and confirmed it.”

I finally found a tissue, covered my nose, and looked back at the screen.

The M-Tuber was still staring directly at the camera.

“From now on, I suppose I’ll be Gunbam-nim’s viewer.”

For a while now, he had been saying nothing but incomprehensible things. I pressed the bridge of my nose while hitting the keyboard with one hand.

[Gunbam: I don’t understand what you’re talking about.]

“I’m excited. I’ve truly been waiting for this for far too long. Far too long, far too long, far too long.”

At this point, it was impossible not to realize that the M-Tuber’s condition was abnormal.

He didn’t seem drunk. Surely he wasn’t telling me he was on drugs…?

As a follower of many years, I was about to type in the chat asking whether it might be better to end the stream for today.

“Then, shall we begin?”

He spoke my name.

“Han Goyo.”

A name I had never told him even once.

The instant I parted my lips and said, “Huh…,” the entire world distorted.

The studio-style room that had been completely normal just moments ago began to stain itself with fluorescent patches of color and wrinkle as though it were melting.

Along with a cheerful notification sound, a system window appeared before my eyes.

‘Han Goyo’ reveals his name to Akasha!

Current Recognition: 0.01%

System windows containing unknown content sprang up one after another, covering my vision.

I confirmed the final system window and lost consciousness.

You are the system of the planet ‘Earth’.

***

The sound of strings echoed through a set of old speakers.

The constant static mixed with the drawn-out notes irritated my ears, and I frowned.

I let out a groan as I opened my eyes.

Before me was a sight I had never seen in my entire life.

Decorations filled with bright colors. Massive murals painted with adorable characters. Boxes of toy packages stacked as high as a Christmas tree.

No matter how I looked at it, it was a place incredibly far removed from my small apartment.

It looked something like a toy factory.

I pressed my temples because of the slight headache that still lingered and looked around once more.

There was a huge sign written in a rounded font.

It was a phrase that was far too familiar. Even as I looked at it, I found it hard to believe and ended up reading it aloud.

“…?”

I hurriedly looked back at the character mural I had seen earlier.

Welcome to Happy Smile Factory!

We are toy friends who will make you happy!

Let’s all say it together! Happy Smile!

The children’s toys with their adorable phrases smiled cheerfully.

A cold sweat ran down my back.

Because this was .

A game created by the developer I liked so much.

Had the developer kidnapped me and locked me inside a place modeled after his game?

I considered the most reasonable hypothesis, even though it was still completely absurd.

Who would kidnap an unemployed former professional player? It was a ridiculous waste of time.

I remained frozen in the face of the unreal situation before slowly getting up from the floor.

“…Wow.”

As I stood up, I saw the clothes I was wearing and let out an empty laugh.

I was wearing the work uniform from .

On the chest of the bright green uniform was a badge bearing the Happy Smile symbol.

Employee: Gunbam

I scratched at the embroidered badge with my fingers, but it was firmly attached and wouldn’t come off.

I checked my pockets in case there was anything useful, but I found nothing except dust.

Instead, there was a flashlight hanging from a holster at my waist.

It was exactly the same beginning as the game.

“This is insane.”

The curse slipped out of my mouth on its own. I ran a hand across my face.

Happy Smile Factory was the first game from that developer that I ever played.

It was about a player who woke up inside a toy factory and escaped while uncovering his lost memories and the factory’s hidden secrets.

The problem was the toys.

The toys in this place deeply hated “adults.” Because of that, they tried to eliminate any adult who entered the factory without permission—in other words, the player.

So if the situation was unfolding exactly like Happy Smile Factory.

I would have to escape the factory while avoiding murderous toys.

If someone was crazy enough to prepare a factory of this size, they had probably also prepared killers disguised as toys.

What was I supposed to do?

I tried to abandon the logic of a normal person and think like a lunatic.

First, I thought it might be best to act exactly as in the game.

After all, the objective in the game was to escape the factory.

I carefully began walking across the lobby. Just as I was about to enter the interior—

Boooom!

A tremendous explosion erupted from inside the factory.

‘Don’t tell me the toys have already started moving?’

If that was the case, staying outside offered no benefit.

I jumped over the entrance turnstile and ran inside.

A cloud of dust rose up, obscuring my vision. I quickly covered my nose with my sleeve while searching for somewhere to hide.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt something grab me by the neck and lift my body into the air.

“Kuugh!”

The sensation of hard plastic squeezed my throat, and I barely managed to struggle before the other person quickly dropped me onto the floor.

I heard a confused voice.

“What the hell? A civilian?”

The dust began to clear, and I could see the person who had grabbed me by the neck.

She was a beautiful woman with short hair, a small frame, and sharp eyes.

Beside her was also a man wearing the same work uniform.

The moment our eyes met, a rectangular system window appeared.

You have discovered ‘Mo Haein’!

‘Mo Haein’ is a registrable character. Would you like to register her?