Chapter 1

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 1: Living in the Game World (1)

It was summer.

“…Whoa. I finished it.”

On the monitor screen in front of me, the ending credits were rolling.

The names of the countless people who contributed to making the game were scrolling up, but as for the ending…

I didn’t have time to appreciate it.

I stretched and leaned back in my chair.

Creak.

The fog in my mind cleared a bit with the sound.

“…What time is it? Wow, morning already?”

Sunlight streamed in through the gap in the curtains.

So, how much time has passed…

Roughly 20 hours.

…I’ve been playing the game like crazy.

Now all that’s left for me is…

A condition in shambles, messed up sleep patterns, guilt over wasting the weekend, and a shattered sense of sanity.

Hmm.

It was a very satisfying weekend, though.

Although I played for about 20 hours straight, the actual playtime was longer than that.

Why? Because for the past month, I’ve been giving up my weekends just to play this game.

The genre of the game is cyberpunk…, a bit unconventional.

It had a slight twist to it. A cyberpunk world where species like orcs and elves coexist.

Well, I found that part more interesting, but still.

There was hardly any magic to speak of, unlike what you’d expect from an arcane punk.

Of course, the fact that it was on a 50% discount was the biggest reason why I started playing the game.

Anyway,

Because I’ve been so focused on the game for the past month, my already limited human relationships have become even narrower.

But I had no regrets.

Thanks to that, I’m now facing the ending credits.

I mentally cheered for the gain.

[THANKS FOR PLAYING… AND─.]

While I was lost in thought, new text appeared on the monitor.

The ending credits that were rolling down had suddenly disappeared.

There was only one English sentence left, thanking me for enjoying the game.

But why it was “AND” instead of “END”? I didn’t know.

Yeah. I played for 20 hours straight because it was fun.

But I’m too tired to fully enjoy the afterglow of completing the game.

Ugh, my eyes hurt.

Gently massaging my temples, which had started to ache from being strained for a long time, I repeatedly pressed the Enter key on the keyboard with my other hand.

“I’m going to sleep no matter what.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

[A new mode has been unlocked.]

“I’ll just check this and then go to sleep.”

Hmm. Can’t help it.

A second-playthrough exclusive mode that only appears after clearing the game?

My inner gamer spirit shouted at me to just check out the new mode and then get some shut-eye.

Well, it’s not like I was planning to play the second round anyway.

Might as well check out the new mode while I’m at it.

Of course, I’m too sleepy to play right now.

I’ll just create a new character and go to sleep.

Of course, as per the national gamer rule, the gender of the character had to be female, but since I played the first round as a female character, I decided to go with a male character this time.

Since I decided to play as a male character, there was no need to fuss over appearance customization.

I quickly set it to default settings and moved on.

Let’s see.

“Is this it?”

The ‘scenario’ setting that determines the character’s background and starting location.

Among them, there was one option that I hadn’t seen before when I first started.

[- Challenge – Outsider in the City]

[- You are an unwelcome presence in the city. You wake up in the city’s old landfill… SKIP]

Yeah, skip right away.

I felt sorry for the designer who worked hard to create the game’s background settings, but I wasn’t curious about it at the moment.

If I’m really curious, I can just check out the game’s wiki before playing tomorrow.

It was physically exhausting to delve into the settings when I’m so sleepy.

I quickly checked only the ‘attributes’ section, which has the most impact on gameplay, already determined by the scenario.

“Fragility, sloppiness, Animal Aversion, Weakness to Drugs, Weak Stomach… Ugh.”

I’ve completely messed up the character.

And there were other negative attributes besides the ones I mentioned. Fortunately, traits like ‘chrome allergy’ didn’t seem to appear, so that’s a relief.

Was it a hint to play the second round?

Or a warning?

Is this the result of the developer’s unconscious sadistic tendencies seeping into the game design?

Moreover, even if I tried to delete the negative attributes by moving the mouse, they wouldn’t disappear.

A concise message appeared in red letters, saying, ‘Attribute modification does not apply to this scenario.’

…This isn’t the end, is it?

Surely they wouldn’t just make the character a complete mess.

Of course, there’s no law saying I have to choose this scenario to proceed with the second round.

But since it’s a scenario given only to those who have cleared the first round, I couldn’t just ignore it.

I scrolled down further.

Only then did I start to see yellow letters indicating positive attributes, aside from the red ones representing negative attributes.

There were several positive attributes, but among them, the most noticeable one was…

“…Exceptional magical talent?”

Oh.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

That’s quite appealing.

“I can’t just ignore a concept play like this.”

But I didn’t expect magic to be possible in this game.

I hardly saw the word ‘magic’ while playing the first time, as I recall. I didn’t know you could play as a mage after clearing the first round.

I’ll look up strategies tomorrow.

For now, I’ll just create the character and get some sleep to clear my mind.

With that thought in mind,

I pressed the ‘start game’ button.

—

And when I came to my senses,

I was standing in the middle of a garbage landfill.

And to make matters worse, my body was about 10 years younger.

At first, I thought it was a dream.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Honestly, at first, I was a bit excited.

To think that I had entered the game I was playing, isn’t that a common development in novels?

Of course, that excitement didn’t last long.

Only for about a day or so.

Without even food, let alone a sip of water, I ran from the killer drones of a company cleaning up organic matter in the landfill.

When I finally met someone I could talk to, they said they had nothing.

I even got hit in the solar plexus and rolled down under a mountain of garbage.

Then suddenly, I came to my senses.

I still don’t know why I’m suffering so much, what crime I committed to deserve this.

If I hadn’t created a second character and just went to sleep right away, would this have happened?

I’ve thought about it dozens of times, but the answer didn’t come easily.

Whether it’s in the game or in reality, I had to survive.

So I survived like that for about 10 years.

The exact duration couldn’t be determined. After all, I spent several years rolling around in the landfill.

It wasn’t a situation where I could worry about time.

Anyway, during that process…

I even met the protagonist of the game and ingratiated myself with them (there was a separate protagonist ).

Thanks to all the hardships I went through, I managed to leave the landfill and enter Neon City, the center of the game’s story.

Ignoring the gaze of those around me who thought I was a skill less idiot not even worth noticing.

I joined the protagonist’s group, absorbing the flow of information while receiving the occasional kick.

Ultimately, I succeeded in progressing through the main storyline of the game, saving the city from near destruction.

(Of course, about 95% of it was done by the protagonist alone.)

Now that everything is over.

Now all I have to do is live peacefully and happily.

“Hmm… I feel like I’m going to get diagnosed with a grade 3 depression.”

“Ah.”

…Now that I think about it carefully.

I was in a state where it wouldn’t be strange to be depressed.

But apart from that, it was right to avoid a diagnosis of depression from a professional doctor.

Even if I received a complete recovery diagnosis, it would remain on record forever and wouldn’t easily restore my dropped Social Score.

It would interfere with my happy (subjective) life in Neon City.

And I had once learned a “magic spell” for this exact situation.

Among all the magic spells I could use.

The most useful and most used spell.

The effect of the spell was almost 100% confirmed as I checked the reaction of the elf doctor who was hesitating strangely and looking at me without uploading the diagnosis results.

That’s it.

I took out the magic spell (a data chip containing credits) prepared for such a situation.

I covered my body to block it from being seen by the sealed surveillance camera I had already checked, and transmitted it.

It was bribery magic.

The elf doctor didn’t change his expression as if he was very familiar with it and placed the electronic document he was holding on top of it.

“Ahem, um. I’ll inform you of the results later through a message.”

“Ah, yes, thank you for your hard work.”

There was a strange rumor that bribes don’t work well on elves.

No.

It works very well.

Because the elves living in Neon City have already tasted both the sweet and bitter sides.

Most of the elves I’ve encountered didn’t fit the image of elves that ordinary people think of.

Perhaps it was the rumors spread by low-ranking citizens who lived in the lower class that created that image.

But they were still elves.

At the entrance of the hospital, there was a rare bonsai plant that was hard to see in Neon City.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an artificially made ornament.

As a bonus, it also had an air purifier function.

At this point, I realized that this doctor had been compromised by the world.

I still found it difficult to understand the emotions of the people in this city.

“Well, then I’ll be going.”

Now that the situation was resolved, there was no need to waste any more time.

The elf doctor would probably want me to leave quickly as well.

That way, he could check the data chip with the credits.

The elf doctor got up from his seat and saw me off. Was this also the effect of the magic spell?

I survived because I happened to be a mage.

“And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“It seems like you’re under a lot of stress. In such times, doing something you want without thinking about anything else could be a big help.”

“Oh… Something I want to do. Thank you.”

“No problem. Then, have a pleasant time in Neon City.”

And thus, my first nervous diagnosis came to an end.

* * *

[…So, are you saying you’re going to stay indoors and play games for a week from now?]

“Uh-huh.”

[……]

It was what the doctor had suggested.

[Translator – Peptobismol]