Chapter 4

My heart was pounding, and before I realized it, the corners of my lips kept rising.

Was it an easter egg?

Or perhaps an ending route I had never discovered?

Whatever the answer was, this was a new Happy Smile Factory.

To think there were still things I didn’t know about a game I had played to the point of wearing it out!

I wanted to investigate everything immediately.

Since I knew perfectly well that my reaction was far from that of a normal civilian, I bit my lips to hide my smile.

Just then, Mo Haein finished discussing things with Park Seonggyeon and noticed the Sad Smiley that I had put back together.

Her gaze clearly said, “And what the hell did you do this time?”

I put on an innocent expression and explained myself.

“Well, I found this candy, and it said it could repair toys. Even if it’s a toy, I thought it must hurt.”

Upon hearing that, Mo Haein’s face went blank.

Park Seonggyeon burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! You’re a really good person. So you wanted to repair it?”

He patted me on the shoulder.

“But being that innocent is forbidden here, okay? You need to be careful. I can’t explain it in detail, but this is a very dangerous place.”

Then he tried to scare me by saying that the toy might get back up and attack us again.

I apologized once more.

After bothering me enough, Park Seonggyeon suddenly fixed his gaze on the air and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, Captain. The description of this item is a little strange.”

He had read the description of the Sad Smiley item through a system window.

“U-uh… Sorry, but could we move on? I want to get out of here.”

Pretending to be frightened, I insisted that we move somewhere else.

I was worried they might touch the Sad Smiley doll.

I didn’t know whether a broken toy could recover using Nut Candy, but since it seemed like the story was progressing along a different route, I intended to keep leaving candies for it.

Of course, Sad Smiley wasn’t an NPC, just an item with a recorded voice.

Even so, I kept leaving candies.

“It seems to have some significance, but since we already split it in half, it doesn’t matter. Besides, we have a civilian with us, so let’s finish the Trial first.”

Fortunately, Mo Haein was focused on completing the mission quickly.

She had already brought out the Black Moon Blade, so it seemed she intended to force her way through and finish everything in one go.

That mindset was very fitting for the Collapse Ending route.

Whoosh.

Mo Haein swung her weapon broadly, shaking off the rainbow-colored blood covering it.

Then she gave me one last look before turning around.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Park Seonggyeon was in a good mood again.

He couldn’t stop looking at his hands.

By now, he had even replaced his left arm with another toy arm.

Mo Haein still retained one human arm because she needed it to use the Black Moon Blade.

If it weren’t for that weapon, she probably would have equipped both toy arms as well.

I carefully observed Park Seonggyeon.

Inside a Trial, obtaining items was directly tied to survival, so it was normal to be happy about acquiring additional equipment.

‘But this is a little strange.’

Mo Haein and Park Seonggyeon had cleared Happy Smile Factory many times.

Even though there were unexpected variables now, as long as Mo Haein had the Black Moon Blade, clearing the Trial shouldn’t be difficult.

No.

It was a guaranteed victory.

So why did he seem so happy about obtaining just one more toy arm?

“Goyo, you look young. Are you a college student?”

I temporarily put aside my suspicions and answered.

“Yes.”

Well, normally a twenty-four-year-old would be a college student.

Explaining that I was a former professional player forced into retirement by an injury and currently unemployed was far too complicated.

“And your military service?”

“Not yet.”

Actually, I’m exempt.

But there was no need to explain that either.

“And how did you end up here?”

“I just fell asleep, and when I opened my eyes, I was here…. Will I be able to go home?”

“Of course. Trust this hyung.”

As he said that, he clicked his pincers.

Clack, clack.

He looked exactly like the kind of person who could cause a problem at any moment.

Fortunately, the conversation ended when we entered the second area.

The laboratory.

Unlike the bright exterior that looked as though it had come straight out of a fantasy world, the laboratory was a ruin filled with broken stone and exposed steel beams.

There were numerous devices that looked as though they belonged in a biological research facility.

Nothing that fit a toy factory.

◆ Main Mission: Awaken the Fragmented Prince.

The Fragmented Prince sleeps within the toy factory’s secret laboratory.

You believe you must gather the scattered fragments in order to awaken him.

While pretending to observe the laboratory, I glanced sideways at the system window.

We had to find the fragments of the prince doll hidden throughout the area.

To obtain the final fragment, it was necessary to defeat the first boss.

Park Seonggyeon used his extendable toy arms to move debris and quickly found several fragments.

Mo Haein solved a puzzle that appeared on a computer screen and obtained a key.

Afterward, she took the limbless prince doll and used the key to open a locked laboratory door.

Beyond the door, which bore a huge “Restricted Area” sign, was a shattered glass tank.

It looked as though it had broken recently.

A massive amount of rainbow-colored liquid was still spilling out from the tank.

It was exactly the same color as the toys’ blood.

Plop.

A drop fell from the ceiling.

I wiped my damp cheek with the back of my hand while thinking about how to express the right amount of surprise.

Then I slowly raised my head.

“G-Gugh…!”

I hurriedly stepped back.

Park Seonggyeon burst out laughing.

“What an overreaction. We’ll take care of that in no time.”

There was a gigantic hole in the ceiling whose end was impossible to see.

From the darkness descended an enormous toy spider, swaying on a thread web.

Its eight legs were made of toy blocks.

On its body was a smiling face with four pairs of eyes.

It was a spider that should never be sold as a children’s toy.

The first boss of Happy Smile Factory.

Princess Tarantella.

“Captain Mo just has to swing the Black Moon Blade, and this will be over quickly.”

I glanced sideways at Park Seonggyeon.

His eyes were filled with greed as he stared at Mo Haein’s Black Moon Blade.

That gleaming look made me remember something I had forgotten.

‘Ah…. Park Seonggyeon. Now I remember.’

At that moment, a new system window appeared.

You think it would be good to have an example to understand what the ‘System’ and ‘Registration’ are.

Fortunately, you have just found a suitable example right in front of you!

‘Park Seonggyeon’ is a registrable sample character.

Would you like to register him?

The timing was incredibly convenient, as if the system had read my thoughts.

This time, I did not hesitate.

‘Register.’

Registering ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample)’….

When Archive games were completed, an extra scene would appear after the credits.

Normally, it showed brief conversations between the player and various Archive characters after the Trial had ended.

Sometimes it also allowed visits to different locations.

In those cases, it was possible to travel around South Korea within the Archive World.

I usually visited the Trial Response Agency.

On one occasion, I entered Mo Haein’s office.

And there, I read an official document related to the trial of an incident that had occurred during a Trial.

It was a death case caused when a teammate attacked Mo Haein in an attempt to seize the Black Moon Blade.

Mo Haein split her attacker in half with the Black Moon Blade itself.

…This incident was caused by the unilateral attack of Lieutenant Park Seonggyeon, and it was confirmed that the response of the attacked individual was an immediate reaction to prior aggression.

The incident occurred during a boss battle.

Due to the chaos of the location, there was insufficient time to properly assess the situation.

The attacked individual also suffered serious injuries.

Taking the above points into consideration, it is determined that the actions of the attacked individual do not constitute excessive force but rather self-defense.

Despite involving a death, self-defense was recognized, so the punishment was reduced to writing a report and a brief suspension.

The name of the teammate who had attacked Mo Haein in that incident was Park Seonggyeon.

Since he was only mentioned in a single line within the official document, it wasn’t strange that I hadn’t remembered him.

‘So he caused trouble in HasFac.’

The toy limbs that could be obtained in HasFac granted superhuman strength and, at the same time, enormous reach.

‘And it seems today is exactly the day he plans to cause that trouble.’

After obtaining toy arms before Mo Haein and taking the Black Moon Blade from her, it seemed that Park Seonggyeon intended either to murder her or turn her into a factory employee in order to commit the perfect crime.

There was a high chance that his actions would interfere with the True Ending.

And I didn’t like the fact that he was trying to lay his hands on Mo Haein, one of my favorite characters.

‘Besides, if he’s going to kill Mo Haein, there’s no way he’ll leave a witness like me alive.’

Therefore, I had no intention of leaving Park Seonggyeon alone either.

Registration complete!

You are curious to review the sample’s status window.

I had been thinking it for a while, but the way the system windows spoke was strange.

In the original game, the system windows spoke completely normally.

They were simply messages guiding the player, like in any other video game.

But now they acted as though they were expressing my own thoughts.

‘Could it have something to do with me becoming the System?’

For now, our goals aligned, so I decided to go along with it.

As the window indicated, I checked Park Seonggyeon.

‘Park Seonggyeon’s Status Window.’

— Park Seonggyeon (Sample) ♥×3

— Happy Smile Factory Employee

— Items: Cherry Picker (3), Nut Candy (12), Flashlight (1)

The information I could access as the System was extremely simple and sparse.

The moment I thought that, another window appeared.

You are dissatisfied with your simple and sparse abilities.

You believe you must improve your capabilities as a System.

It seemed to mean that as my capabilities grew, more functions would be unlocked.

I carefully examined the limited information available.

The three hearts presumably represented his lives.

And the items.

“…Hmm?”

The number of Cherry Pickers was three.

However, Park Seonggyeon had only obtained two during this run.

There was only one explanation.

He had brought items obtained during a previous HasFac run.

Except under special circumstances, the Trial Response Agency prohibited the use of items obtained in previous attempts, even if they came from the same Trial.

It was a measure intended to minimize variables, just like the ban on using items from other Trials.

Moreover, after completing a Trial, the Agency inspected all acquired items, and they automatically became the organization’s property.

There was no reason for them to hand Cherry Pickers over to Park Seonggyeon.

That meant he had obtained them through illegal means.

‘He did it because of Mo Haein, without a doubt.’

My conviction that Park Seonggyeon intended to cause an incident today became even stronger.

As the System, you are curious about what influence you can exert over ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample).’

You wish to examine in greater detail the options that appear beneath Items.

I followed the instructions and checked the options.

> Message

> Execute

There were only two.

And I had no idea what either of them meant.

I decided to try the less intimidating option first.

Message.

Think of the message you wish to send to ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample).’

Don’t tell me I could display system windows to Park Seonggyeon?

While trying to guess how the ability worked, the screen of an old computer in the corner of the laboratory lit up.

A cheerful chiptune melody began to play.

The 8-bit music announced the beginning of the boss battle.

Princess Tarantella.

Tarantella’s smiling face opened in four directions, revealing a mouth full of teeth.

“…!”

An incomprehensible screech emerged from that open mouth and pierced my eardrums.

At the same time, in rhythm with the speeding-up music, musical-note-shaped toys began falling from the hole in the ceiling.

That mechanic only appeared on the Collapse Route.

Mo Haein cut through the musical notes while blocking the eight legs with which Tarantella attacked.

Park Seonggyeon watched the Black Moon Blade dancing through the air with fascination.

Then he fully opened both of his claw hands and slowly began closing them.

Clack.

Clack.

A faint metallic sound could be heard amid the chiptune music.

While I had been busy checking the system windows, Park Seonggyeon had equipped a third Cherry Picker on one of his legs.

Using that toy leg, he leaped into the air.

He cut through the rain of musical notes.

And just as he extended his hand to attack Mo Haein.

I sent him a message.

I saw a system window appear in front of Park Seonggyeon.

Ha

The sudden window blocked his vision.

His hand faltered.

The claw did not strike Mo Haein.

It merely grazed her shoulder.

Mo Haein, who had almost ended up inside Tarantella’s mouth, shouted furiously.

“Park Seonggyeon! What the hell are you doing?!”

Park Seonggyeon landed unsteadily.

He wore a completely idiotic expression.

He cursed under his breath and tried once again to swing his toy arms.

But when he raised his arm.

He froze.

haha

hahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Park Seonggyeon’s face turned completely pale as system windows covered his entire field of vision.

They were the messages I had sent him.