Chapter 2: Reality is Not a Game - 1
Close Cover
“Found it.”
“You did? Let me see.”
Broken chair legs, shattered glass shards, and dust rising in every direction.
The dangerous junk piled on the floor crunched and crumbled under the weight of polished dress shoes.
The man who stepped up to the desk had a long, straight scar carved deeply into his cheek.
“Lord, what a headache. What’s it say?”
“He split it into three. Cousin, grandfather, and wife.”
“Say it in plain English.”
“...He split the money up, sending some to an aunt, some to the old man, and some to his wife. That sort of thing.”
“I see.”
The man nodded, then fumbled in his pocket for a cigarette and lit it. He took a long drag and exhaled, the white mist crumbling into the air.
“Want one?”
“I quit.”
“Stubborn bastard. This is why they say you should never associate with a man who managed to quit smoking.”
The man flicked the gray ash with his finger, stared at the cigarette for a moment, and then tossed it away. The fallen cigarette was crushed into the floor by his shoe.
“Right then, President Kim. What’re we gonna do with you now?”
Riiip—
“Aaaagh...!”
A muffled scream of agony leaked out, accompanied by the sound of something being violently torn away.
His face was ghostly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably. His shirt and pants were nowhere to be found; he was stripped down to his underwear, and his bare feet were bloodied, embedded with glass grains and wood splinters.
He struggled to survive, but his limbs were tied tightly to the chair, the ropes only chafing his skin and deepening his wounds.
“Take him over to the edge.”
“Yes, sir!”
A man with a sturdy build, a buzz cut, and a suit—a typical thug—roughly dragged the chair where the man called President Kim sat.
Whish—
The wind whistled sharply through the shattered window. Beyond the glass, countless neon signs and streetlights flickered far below.
‘Fear, anxiety, regret, resignation, anger. Hmm.’
The city landscape visible through the broken window. Looking further down, the bottom seemed endless.
At this height, with no buffer against the wind, the sound must be deafening, enough to tear one's eardrums.
“--- --- ---”
“--- -- ------”
“---- --- -------!”
It looked like they were having a conversation, but I couldn't hear a word.
Even if one were to fall through that wind toward the city below, from this height, they would be nothing more than a dot.
Like a bug landing on a sheet of A4 paper—when you swat it, it leaves only a tiny stain. That’s all this was.
The conclusion wasn't much different from what I expected.
The chair they were shoving eventually tipped backward. The body, snagged on the jagged shards of the window frame, flailed for a moment until the thugs, cursing all the while, forced it out, breaking the frame in the process.
“------!”
Thud—
A dull impact followed. A very faint sound.
If I had to describe it, it sounded like a tomato hitting the pavement.
“Let’s move.”
“Yes, sir!”
I followed silently behind them. Complex thoughts were tangling in my head.
‘The interest to collect is 149%, but the actual amount to report is 14%... at this rate, the tax bracket would be...’
While walking, a small street food stall caught my eye. I looked back and forth between the thugs walking ahead and the stall a couple of times.
“I’ll head out first.”
“Huh? Oh, sure. Go ahead.”
“Yes. Good work today, boss.”
I bowed at a ninety-degree angle and watched the hulking men in suits walk away. Only after they vanished into the distant crowd did I turn around.
“Two large cobs of corn and six bungeoppang, please.”
“J-just... just take them...”
The elderly woman who seemed to be the owner handed me the snacks with trembling hands.
I scratched my cheek as I watched her, then pulled out my wallet and offered a five-thousand-won bill.
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Please, just take them.”
“...”
Her voice sounded thick with unshed tears, but I said nothing.
I simply shook my head, placed the five thousand won on the plastic tray, and left the stall. The bag in my hand was more than warm; it was hot.
There were clearly plenty of snacks already made, so why were these so hot?
It didn't take much thought to realize why. She saw me walking with those gangsters, then saw me break away to come to her stall. Fearing she might be harassed, she must have given me the ones she just made.
I pulled out a piece of corn and took a bite. The hot, slightly sweet taste swirled in my mouth.
After one bite, I put the corn back in the bag, fished my phone out of my pocket, and tapped the screen a few times before holding it to my ear.
“Yeah, hyung.”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s up?’ Do I need a reason to call?”
“Just... I’m eating some corn and it tastes terrible. Well, not terrible, but it’s not good.”
“Yeah. It’s hard and barely sweet. Feels like they couldn’t sell it, froze it, and then steamed it again?”
“Eating it made me think of the stuff we had before.”
“Yeah. Right.”
“Okay, I got it. I’m home. Let’s talk later.”
#
A small desk with a monitor sitting on top. Light from countless pixels flooded the room.
The most prominent banner on the monitor read, in neat letters: [Physic of Purity] [Nahida].
The mouse cursor moved to the bottom right. A soft click echoed.
- You are short 2 Intertwined Fates. Spend 320 Primogems to purchase?
[Confirm]
A streak of light cut across the deep blue hole in the sky, and a meteor shot downward.
The blue meteor soon glowed a brilliant gold.
“Please, just don’t lose the 50/50. Please, please. I’ve hit hard pity every time, you can give me this much of a break.”
Ignoring the desperate voice, various items unfolded on the screen.
Sword, Bow, Sword, Polearm, Catalyst...
Even after nine clicks, no one had greeted me. I took my hands off the keyboard and mouse, clasping them in prayer.
After finishing my prayer, I clicked the mouse again. A bright light poured out with a click.
- Nahida ★★★★★
The Dendro Archon revealed her noble presence beneath a hall of greenery, a mix of bright green and white. I squeezed my hands together.
“Finally C2... I made it. It was hard pity, but at least I didn't lose the 50/50 once.”
Feeling fortunate that I hadn't been completely screwed over by the unfairness of the gacha system, I swapped my party members.
There she was—an adorable young girl with snow-white hair tied in a side ponytail with a large green hairpin.
Watching her bouncy idle animations and the way she made a camera shape with her hands, I felt a smile tugging at my lips.
- I can see everything!
- Hand in hand~
After listening to her cute voice lines for a while, the smile eventually faded. The joy hadn't vanished, but the initial rush of ecstasy was gone.
I fed her the materials I had been hoarding, leveling her up and enhancing her talents. I stripped the artifacts I had pre-farmed and placed on Collei, giving them to her instead.
The numbers visible in the character info were quite satisfying.
I ran around for a bit, taking down field bosses. It was fun watching the Dendro cores explode and the numbers fly during a Spiral Abyss run.
But after a few hours, there was nothing left to do. At most, I could wander around Sumeru City and peek into the hearts of NPCs.
However, reading and hearing NPC monologues that barely spanned a single line was incredibly boring.
Little Nahida’s gentle movements and the way she’d ride a swing in mid-air if left alone were beyond cute, but that didn't change the fact that I was out of content.
I opened her character profile to listen to her voice lines and read her stories, but that ended quickly too.
Feeling like there was nothing more to do, I took one last look at Nahida and turned off the game. Seeing her feet, bare and wrapped only in cloth, was cute yet strangely unsettling.
Suddenly, I had the urge to buy her some shoes. I let out a hollow laugh at my own thought.
Was I getting too immersed?
But then again, who cares? I’m not hurting anyone. Spending a bit of money on a game doesn't make my life difficult.
After turning off the game, I checked my phone and played some Nahida-related videos.
Her innocent-sounding voice and her mature way of speaking that didn't match it. Her cute and lovely appearance captured my heart once again.
Unfortunately, seeing the videos end tragically made me angry.
It seemed others felt the same way, as the comments were filled with people saying they were going to go kill someone (the Sages).
A certain saying came to mind.
You don’t need to say anything to a truly pathetic person; even if you don’t, others will do the insulting for you.
But reality wasn't like that.
I clicked the like button and left a short reply: "Count me in."
It was already past 2 AM, so I put down my phone and closed my eyes. I had been waiting for today for days.
The days spent following lore drops and leaks, and farming materials and artifacts accordingly, flashed through my mind.
‘What should I do tomorrow?’
I tried to think of something with my eyes closed, but nothing came to mind. Before her release, I was sure I’d play all day if she just came out, but in reality, I was just lying here thinking because I had nothing to do.
Well, it’s been a few days since the update, so I guess that’s normal.
Still, I played a lot this time. Usually, after a day or two, a new character just becomes 'Slot 1 for the Abyss party.'
I sighed and tossed and turned.
‘I should stop thinking about this and focus on the work I have to handle tomorrow.’
I told myself it wasn't good to keep dreaming of a game world in reality. How pathetic did it sound when people said all I ever did was talk about games every time we met?
Despite those thoughts, the scenes of Nahida being forcibly dragged away by the scholars and waking up from a dream of freedom only to find herself still imprisoned kept swirling in my head.
‘Just let our girl be happy, damn it!’
I shouted loudly in my mind where no one could hear, then cleared my head, telling myself I needed to sleep.
As I struggled to think of nothing with my eyes closed, the image of Nahida’s feet from earlier popped up again.
‘The no-shoes thing... is it just for her character concept?’
#
I stayed like that for a long time with my eyes closed.
But my brain refused to sleep, continuing to churn out random thoughts.
My thoughts drifted from ‘It was the scholars' fault Nahida ended up like that... before that, Khaenri'ah fell and Rukkhadevata disappeared, so Nahida... and before that, there was the Archon War...’
If I couldn't sleep this badly, it would be better to just do something and accept that I’d be dead tired tomorrow.
With that thought, I opened my eyes.
“...Huh?”
This wasn't my familiar room.
It was dark, just like my room, but my room only had one window. I shouldn't be able to see a full moon sitting exactly above my head like this.
I lifted my head and looked straight forward.
Skin as white as milk, almost as transparent as glass. Above it, silver hair tinged with light green swayed quietly yet softly in the wind.
Beautiful emerald eyes set in the center of her narrowed gaze.
It was an appearance of unrealistic contrast and inhuman beauty.
Bright green eyes and a uniquely styled dress.
And in contrast, ears that were longer than a normal person's.
An atmosphere that felt more mysterious than fragile, and a very familiar appearance.
My mouth fell open involuntarily.
“...Rukkhadevata?”
“So, you knew.”
Knew what?
What... what did I know?
The woman called Rukkhadevata, who had been sitting on her knees, slowly stood up and approached me.
At that, I instinctively reached down to push myself up. Instead of hard flooring, my fingertips felt something cool and ticklish.
Only then did I realize. I wasn't lying down.
I could see my bent knees at the bottom of my vision. I felt something hard against my back.
What I thought was the floor was actually the armrest of a chair.
Before I could say anything, Rukkhadevata drew closer.
‘What is this scent?’
Flowers? Trees? Grass?
With every step Rukkhadevata took toward me, a strange fragrance washed over my nose. It was fragrant and fresh—hard to put into words, but if I had to, it smelled like life itself.
While I was captivated by the scent, Rukkhadevata came close enough that I could see the gold thread embroidered as decoration on her snow-white dress. The fresh scent of life rushed in with the breeze.
As I stared blankly, Rukkhadevata slowly raised both hands. Resting on her transparently white palms was a glowing, light-green orb.
“Please, take this.”
Entranced by her clear voice, which sounded like rolling jade marbles, I reached out and took the orb from her hands. The orb felt warm, as if it were alive.
“What is this?”
I had intended to say, ‘What is this?’ in the softest, kindest way possible.
But the words that left my mouth were so emotionless and flat that even I was surprised. My tone was utterly cold.
Yet, rather than wondering if it was okay to speak like that, an unknown instinct took over my consciousness, telling me that this was exactly how I should speak.
“It is the purest branch of Irminsul.”
“A branch? It doesn't look like one.”
“I am the present, and this child is the future.”
‘What is she talking about?’
I pondered Rukkhadevata’s words for a moment. She was the avatar before Nahida, so she must be referring to that.
I nodded slowly. Seeing this, Rukkhadevata wore a look of pure admiration.
“Logos, Great Demon God of Dreams. Just how much do you know?”
‘Who the hell is that?’
I closed my eyes as I looked at Rukkhadevata, who was watching me with clear eyes.
Everything was pitch black.
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