“But why are the kids like this?”
All the students had their own unique appearances.
Yet most of them, especially the boys, shared a striking similarity.
They were cosplaying just like the eldest, Jeonghu, and each held a gun in their hands.
The cheers of being rescued lasted only a moment.
Before long, they all pointed their guns out the window and began a heated debate.
“Hey, there’s one on the left!”
“Where on the left? Ah, damn! Can’t we share scopes? I think I didn’t have one at the end yesterday.”
“Man, you’re lucky. I died right at the start yesterday, so I’ve only got a pistol.”
“Yeah, weakling, I’ll give you that.”
“Look who’s talking. You’re even worse.”
They babbled in their own incomprehensible language, shooting at the monsters outside as if enjoying a Game.
Having witnessed countless students die and the roads turn into a living hell, Yohan, who had risked his life to save his daughter, could not make sense of what he saw.
‘Do these kids have no sense of reality?’
Of course, not all the students hiding here were like that, but the shocking behavior of even a few was hard to ignore.
‘Kids these days…’
Thinking like a stereotypical old man, Yohan gripped Junga’s hand tightly.
“Let’s go home.”
“What about them? They should go home too.”
At Junga’s words, Yohan looked at the kids.
“Hey, 30 minutes left! Hurry up and kill it!”
“Ah, damn! I’m out of bullets.”
…He looked back at Junga.
“There’s less than 30 minutes left. The monsters here are taken care of anyway, so as long as they stay at school, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“Then should we stay here too… Ah, my family!”
“Right. Your brother and sister went to pick up the Maknae. We need to hurry too. They’re right in the middle of the road, so who knows what could happen there.”
“Sorry, Dad. I made us waste time because of me.”
After gently patting Junga’s head as she agreed without protest, Yohan took her hand and hurried out of the school.
Now, only the maknae was left.
Even though Jeonghu and Sejeong had gone to get her, in Yohan’s eyes, they were no different from the Maknae themselves.
It felt like letting three kids loose near the water’s edge all at once.
With less than 30 minutes left, time seemed to crawl.
“Run, let’s run!”
“Huff, huff! Dad, I can’t make it… Go on without me!”
Leaving his exhausted daughter gasping behind, Yohan swung his axe and hurled it.
Screeeech!
A monster charging from afar took the axe to its head and fell.
“How could I leave you behind in a situation like this?”
“Oh! Huff, huff! I’m a little touched! Dad, you know my heart…”
“What do I know? Hurry up!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Huff, huff! You know, right?”
‘She acts just like her brother…’
Clicking his tongue, Yohan bent down.
“Get on.”
“Heh, really?”
“Quickly!”
“Hehe, it’s been three million years since I got a piggyback from Dad. This is embarrassing.”
“Quiet.”
Lifting Junga onto his back, Yohan started to run. Just like when she was a child, she felt weightless in his arms.
Of course, she was much bigger now than back then.
-10 minutes left until Game End Notification.
As they ran, another announcement sounded.
Only 10 minutes remained.
“Dad.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think will happen in 10 minutes? Will the Game really end?”
“Well…”
He’d only thought about surviving, never what came after.
Would everything really end with just this one round?
It didn’t seem likely.
Would the fate of Earth and humanity be decided by a single Game?
No, that couldn’t be.
“Probably, another Game will start.”
Yohan was sure of it.
The ones threatening to destroy Earth had given humans these powers and sent monsters that people could barely handle.
There was no way it would all end in one round.
The difficulty would keep rising, and eventually, they’d send monsters even these powers couldn’t stop, determined to bring about humanity’s end.
‘Why on earth…’
“Why are they doing this, Dad?”
Junga seemed to have the same question.
Yohan glanced up at the sky.
The spaceship stood tall and imposing.
‘There’s no way to know exactly what those inside are thinking…’
“Who knows… Maybe they’re just enjoying themselves?”
Yohan imagined those on the spaceship looking down at Earth, enjoying the spectacle like a TV variety show.
Munching popcorn and having a good time.
He wanted to beat them up right then and there, but he had no way to fight back against beings with powers akin to gods.
Surviving this Game was hard enough.
“Oh? That’s our car!”
While Yohan gritted his teeth and swallowed his frustration, Junga suddenly shouted.
He looked up to where Junga was pointing.
A car was speeding toward them.
“Hmm?”
Wait.
There were two cars.
A small, colorful car was driving alongside theirs.
“…What the heck?”
It was as if they were about to have a mini race. And the driver of that cute car was none other than…
“Isn’t that Sejeong?”
“The Maknae!”
It was the Maknae.
“Kyaaa!”
As the Maknae screamed and sped wildly, Yohan stared in disbelief.
“What Game is that now?”
“Friends Rider…”
“Not KartRider?”
“These days it’s Friends Rider.”
He felt a little embarrassed, remembering how he’d just been clicking his tongue at the other kids.
“Seriously, who did they get this carefree attitude from, geez!”
At that, Junga looked at her father with an exasperated face.
“Dad, we’re your kids.”
“W-what! Ahem.”
Seeing that her dad wasn’t completely shameless, Junga felt relieved.
After all their bickering, they finally made it home. Just as they caught their breath, the Game End Notification rang out.
-The Game is over.
-We will now announce your record.
-Total kills: 43 Orcs, 0 humans, total score: 430 points.
“So those monsters really were Orcs.”
Yohan nodded to himself.
Orcs, a creature no one could mistake. They were the classic punching-bag monsters everyone had seen in fantasy movies and hunted in Games.
“Wow! No wonder their faces looked so busted.”
As Jeonghu gulped down water and wiped his mouth, Junga shot back at him.
“The only busted face here is yours.”
“Hey, that’s harsh. Are you saying I’m uglier than an Orc? Sejeong, you’re the Maknae—tell us. Is your brother that ugly? No, no. Who’s uglier, an Orc or your brother?”
“Hmm? Uh… Well…”
“See, she can’t answer right away! It’s a tough call!”
“Wow! And these are my siblings… Dad! Why did you even have us?”
“If I had you, what couldn’t I have?”
-Bucheon regional record summary now available. Please check your Status Window.
‘Right, the Status Window.’
Yohan finally checked his Status Window at home, something he hadn’t had a chance to do before.
[Yoon Yohan]
-Check Total Record [Open/Close]
-Affiliation: Bucheon City
[Personal Record]
Round 1: Survived
Kills: 43
-Orcs: 43
[Regional Record]
Region: Bucheon
Game Rounds: 1
Total Population: 843,219
Survivors: 710,901
Kills: 49,234
-Orcs: 49,232
-Humans: 2
Yohan stared blankly at the Status Window, then rubbed his eyes and looked again.
Two humans had died?
It wasn’t likely the Orcs killed them.
The original population was over 800,000, and now there were 700,000 survivors.
No need to do the math.
Did that mean people had killed people?
In this insane situation, just surviving was hard enough. Who could possibly…?
Yohan couldn’t understand it.
You have achieved 4th place in the Bucheon regional Ranking with a total of 43 kills.
-As a Victory Privilege, you may choose one item from the list of items we provide, based on the last Game you played.
Despite defeating so many enemies, he was only 4th.
That meant there were three people in this area even more skilled than he was.
Well, there was no shortage of Game addicts in Korea.
No doubt, those who had been top-ranked in online Games started out with insane abilities or items, and among them, there were probably people who adapted as quickly as the Yoon family.
But still—one item…!
It was a good reward, but the problem was that Yohan couldn’t remember what his last Game had been.
He had to know the Game to choose the item, didn’t he?
He called up the Status Window again in his mind.
[Stats Display]
Your Stats Window has been formed based on the last Game you played. Please take note.
[Yoon Yohan]
Attribute: Magic Path
Affiliation: –
Rank: –
Level: –
[Martial Arts Info [Open/Close]]
“Huh?”
Yohan’s eyes widened as he saw the window, its border adorned with an intricately drawn dragon, just like in the Game he remembered designing so carefully.
This design… It was so familiar.
About 20 years ago—no, if he counted from the open beta launch, about 25 years ago.
A Game that had caused quite a sensation in the early days of online gaming came to mind.
Not the very first, but the second, and famous for its unique system that didn’t exist at the time…
“Martial Arts Alliance!”
Its full name was ‘Martial Arts Alliance: Thousand-Year Hero,’ but it was usually called Martial Arts Alliance, one of the earliest online Games.
Now the forgotten memories began to return.
Back in his wild youth.
Right around when Jeonghu was just born.
He was still young then, completely hooked on Games.
Worse than most. It was no exaggeration to call it an addiction.
He was so obsessed with Games that he ignored his family and did nothing but play after work.
Then one day, while holding Jeonghu and playing, Jeonghu got sick from motion sickness after staring at the monitor and started vomiting.
That incident shocked Yohan and made him distance himself from Games, eventually quitting altogether.
“That’s right! The last Game I played was Martial Arts Alliance.”
Others moved on to flashy 3D online Games, FPS, or soccer Games, but Yohan stubbornly stuck with Martial Arts Alliance, which had become outdated.
Recalling those bittersweet memories, Yohan began to smile.
“Hehehe…”
Now he understood.
The reason someone as ordinary as him could become such a monster.
It wasn’t anything special.
It was martial arts.
Instead of a level-up system, you learned martial arts and mental cultivation techniques, and your ability depended on your mastery—this unique system in Martial Arts Alliance made his martial arts techniques special.
And the secret technique was…
[Martial Arts Info]
Mental Technique: Heavenly Demon Divine Art
Level: 1 Star
-A legendary cultivation technique created by the greatest Heavenly Demon after attaining enlightenment late in life. It is said that even at just 5 stars, there is no equal under heaven.
It was the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.