Chapter 8

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the system window, wondering what the hell that ending was.

Of course, the miracle of the ■ symbols suddenly turning into understandable letters did not happen.

The other system windows that appeared afterward did not make much more sense either.

‘Han Goyo’ has revealed his name to Akasha!

Current Popularity: 0.02%

Popularity?

I had no idea who had learned my name for me to gain such a tiny amount as 0.01% popularity.

I was examining the system windows from every angle when something sudden happened.

Smiley began to melt.

His body turned into a mass of rainbow-colored liquid.

I didn’t even have time to react.

He completely melted within seconds.

At the same time, multiple rays of light flew from the remains of the collapsed factory.

Like a meteor shower, those lights merged into the rainbow-colored liquid.

And then.

Smiley disappeared.

He left behind only an unfamiliar candy.

I slowly crouched down and picked it up.

Happy Smile Candy: Upon consuming it, a feeling of happiness accompanied by a smile washes over you.

The rainbow-colored candy was shaped like Smiley’s face.

I stood still staring at it when another system window appeared.

You think you must consume this no matter what.

When I had forcibly accepted the system window’s request, I had expected something.

I thought perhaps Smiley and the toys would become items that I could take outside.

But I never imagined it would happen like this.

I stared at the candy for several seconds.

Then I carefully stored it in my inventory.

The Trial has ended.

The Trial will be permanently closed in 80 seconds.

“I-is this… the True Ending?”

I turned toward Mo Haein.

She had also read the system window.

She was looking at me with trembling eyes.

“It’s the True Ending, right…? I’m not seeing things… right…? Permanent closure…”

True Endings carried a special meaning.

They meant the permanent closure of the Trial.

And the return of all survivors.

A Trial completed through the True Ending would never be generated again.

Furthermore, it expelled every person trapped inside it.

Every single one.

Even those who had been trapped for years.

Even those who had undergone mutations would completely regain their original bodies.

In the case of Happy Smile Factory, all the factory employees would be rescued.

The True Ending was the only way to save survivors trapped inside a Trial.

However, the difficulty was practically impossible.

Successful cases were extremely rare.

When I first started playing Archive World, an NPC had told me that there were only nine confirmed cases in the entire world.

“Yes. It’s the True Ending.”

I gave Mo Haein a slight smile.

“Good work, Captain.”

“……”

Mo Haein stared at me without saying anything.

Suddenly, her face twisted.

She abruptly turned her head away.

I could see her neck reddening with emotion.

Normally, she wasn’t the type of person who expressed her feelings so openly.

So I looked away and gave her time to calm herself.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for her to regain her composure.

When she was back to her usual self, she spoke quietly.

“…Thank you.”

There would probably be a lot of problems explaining my existence once we got out of there.

But at least it seemed she no longer intended to treat me like a suspicious smuggler.

At that moment, another system window appeared.

You are the top contributor of .

You may take 1 item with you.

By completing the True Ending or certain special endings, the players with the highest contribution could take items out of the Trial.

In Happy Smile Factory, only the top contributor received that privilege.

I chose the Happy Smile Candy without hesitation.

Mo Haein seemed curious about what I had chosen.

But she didn’t ask.

She probably thought she would have plenty of time to interrogate me later.

Eighty seconds later, the system window announced the end.

The scenery before my eyes folded in on itself and became stained with multiple fluorescent colors.

I had returned to the outside of the Trial.

The place where Happy Smile Factory had appeared was an abandoned industrial complex.

Inside the area cordoned off with police tape, unconscious people were scattered everywhere.

The wind was cold.

I was wearing only a white short-sleeved T-shirt and gray sweatpants.

I tried rubbing my arms to warm myself.

“Ugh…”

But I ended up suppressing a groan.

In addition to the wound on my thigh, I had multiple minor injuries scattered across my body.

‘If this had just been the game, I would have cleared it without taking a single hit.’

There was definitely a huge difference between pressing keys and moving a mouse.

And actually moving your body.

Even though I trained every single day without fail, I could clearly feel my physical limitations.

With only the basic physical abilities granted by the game, a no-damage run was impossible.

‘I suppose the Agency will give me medical treatment when they take me in, right?’

Since things had ended up this way, I planned to take advantage of the opportunity and have the Agency investigate my current situation more thoroughly.

And while I was at it, temporarily rely on them for food, lodging, and everything else.

I looked around.

In the distance, I could see Mo Haein waking up.

Dressed in her Agency uniform, she stood out easily among the civilians.

I was about to limp over toward her when—

“Don’t move.”

I felt something cold against my neck.

I shifted my eyes.

It was a fixed-blade military knife.

‘Ah. Park Seonggyeon.’

I had completely forgotten about him.

I couldn’t help letting out a short laugh.

“You’re laughing? Damn it, Goyo. Do you really think this is funny?”

“Then should I be crying?”

“…What?”

When I answered him casually, Park Seonggyeon looked bewildered for a moment.

I looked down at him.

He still seemed to think I was that meek and friendly university student.

“Park Seonggyeon!”

At that moment, Mo Haein fully regained consciousness.

She pointed a pistol at him.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Step away.”

However, the hand holding the gun trembled slightly.

She had been the one carrying almost the entire boss fight in HasFac.

Her physical condition was so bad that she should have been on her way to a hospital.

Meanwhile, Park Seonggyeon was perfectly fine.

While Mo Haein and I had been fighting to our limits, he had been hiding and calmly waiting for the end.

“Captain Mo Haein!”

Knowing that perfectly well, Park Seonggyeon grinned shamelessly.

“I’ll give you a chance too. Hand over the Black Moon Blade.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the Agency?”

“Yeeees, not at all.”

“If it’s money you want, I can give you more…”

“Ha. Mo Haein. Mo Haein.”

“……”

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying? Hand over the Black Moon Blade!”

Shiiing.

The blade slid across my neck.

A thin red line appeared.

And while Mo Haein and Park Seonggyeon argued.

I was reading the system windows that kept appearing nonstop.

You know that ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample)’ will not leave any hostage alive.

You feel anger at his insolent behavior.

You think about how to discipline a dog that dares to try biting its owner without recognizing who he is.

Fortunately, an appropriate method comes to mind!

You wish to review the ‘Execution’ option.

I had no idea what exactly “Execution” was, but the system windows were obsessively insisting that I use it.

‘From the sound of it, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be pleasant.’

But at this rate, they were about to take the Black Moon Blade, and I was about to bleed to death.

Blood was still flowing from my thigh.

‘Execute Park Seonggyeon.’

You are about to execute ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample).’ This decision is irreversible and will cause a permanent change in Akasha.

Do you wish to execute ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample)’?

The options appeared before me.

— Yes.

— I want to execute him.

— Dooo it!

Even though my vision was blurring, the system window was so absurd that it made me laugh.

“Park Seonggyeon.”

Park Seonggyeon, who had been facing off against Mo Haein, flinched and looked at me.

I smiled weakly and said,

“I’ll give you one last chance. Let her go.”

“Has this bastard gone crazy…?”

For some reason, Park Seonggyeon’s voice trembled slightly.

As if he were afraid.

I chose “Dooo it!”

Executing ‘Park Seonggyeon (Sample)’!

A fanfare played.

It was such a cheerful sound that it felt as though confetti should have been raining everywhere.

And then came the sound of fireworks exploding.

No.

They weren’t fireworks.

It was the sound of Park Seonggyeon’s head exploding.

His shattered head transformed into golden light.

It shone brilliantly, as if stars had been scattered everywhere.

The headless body also began crumbling apart and turning into golden particles.

Beyond that radiance, I saw Mo Haein.

She was standing motionless, aiming her gun at me.

And she remained there watching me.

Until the very last particle of light disappeared.

Without lowering her gun even once.

‘This is a problem.’

I had thought Park Seonggyeon might die.

But I had never imagined he would be eliminated in such a spectacular fashion.

And outside a Trial, no less.

‘This is way too suspicious.’

Cold sweat ran down my back, but the system window simply displayed another carefree message.

You currently have ‘0 registered characters.’

You wish to register ‘Mo Haein’ as a new character.

Ignoring the system window floating in front of me, I opened my mouth.

“Uh… Captain?”

Just as I cautiously called out to her.

“Captain Mo Haein, what the hell is going on? Did you get the shit beaten out of you inside the Trial?”

I turned around.

Space tore open in midair, and a man in a Trial Response Agency uniform stepped out through it.

He was a tall man with an athletic build.

His red-dyed hair fluttered messily in the wind.

Planting a military boot on the ground, he stood with a relaxed posture and a mocking smile.

“What were you doing to come out only now, Captain Mo?”

The smile disappeared from his face.

His eyes hardened as he looked over the abandoned industrial complex.

Hundreds of people lay unconscious everywhere.

He immediately understood what that meant.

In a low voice, he asked,

“Haein. Is it a True Ending?”

I didn’t see it because I was looking at him, but it seemed Mo Haein answered with a nod from behind me.

The man stood motionless for several moments, unable to speak.

I knew who he was.

Captain Kwak Hanmuk.

Leader of Field Team 3 of the Trial Response Agency.

Along with Mo Haein, he was considered one of the Agency’s greatest talents.

‘As expected, Captain Kwak is really tall.’

I wasn’t short either, but he still had a full head of height on me.

While I was observing him curiously, he finally noticed me as well.

Seeing the state of my injuries, he seemed to immediately realize that I had contributed to the Trial’s success.

Kwak Hanmuk’s eyes sharpened.

Just then, Mo Haein muttered,

“Who would’ve thought the day would come when I’d be glad to see you, Hanmuk.”

When I heard her, I tried to turn around.

But I stopped.

Suddenly.

Mo Haein wrapped her arms around my waist from behind.

For an emotional embrace celebrating our escape from HasFac.

It seemed a bit excessive.

“Hanmuk.”

Ah.

“Restrain him.”

The instant she gave that brief order, a metallic sound rang out.

A long rosary shot toward me.

Before I could react, the rosary beads completely wrapped around me.

With incredible precision, he avoided trapping Mo Haein and immobilized only me.

And as if that weren’t enough, they put a new pair of handcuffs on me.

Having been turned into an extremely dangerous criminal, I looked at Mo Haein with a stunned expression.

“Mr. Han Goyo, you are under emergency arrest on suspicion of constituting a national disaster.”

She continued rapidly.

“You do not have the right to remain silent, you do not have the right to an attorney, and anything you say or do from this moment onward may be used against you in court.”

It was the Trial Response Agency’s version of the Miranda warning.

I never imagined I would hear such words directed at me.

And then she concluded coldly.

“Knock him out.”

The rosary beads emitted a flash.

And I lost consciousness.