Chapter 132 – LV.? GM – [One]

The ugly bastard called again several years after that last phone call. As soon as Seo Yun answered, he asked:

‘How’ve you been lately?’

When Seo Yun replied that she’d become a firefighter, he stammered in a weak, lifeless voice, sounding impressed.

‘A fire, fighter? That’s, amazing….’

His speech, heard after so long, was unnaturally halting, and Seo Yun knew that people could change like that after going through something shocking and living alone. Maybe he was suffering from depression and taking medication now.

So she didn’t ask how he was doing. Just hearing his tone gave her a rough idea.

After that, contact was cut off, and later, a meteorite fell, making it impossible to ever reach him again.

The first thing she heard upon regaining consciousness was Gaeulbi’s voice. That uniquely low-Intelligence-Stat way of speaking made it clear whose vocal cords it came from.

“Seo Yun? Are you okay!”

“I’m fine. But the situation…”

As soon as she came to, Seo Yun asked what had happened. She mentioned remembering a Troll appearing and using immense magic, but she was doubtful whether that was the last hallucination she’d seen. Gaeulbi replied:

“That wasn’t a hallucination! That’s how we drove off all the soldiers!”

“How? Did the Troll hurl a meteorite into the middle of the soldiers or something…”

“No? The Troll just took care of a few Centaurs, and the soldiers were chased off by the Players who came out from hiding in the underground parking lot.”

If they were the Players hiding in the underground parking lot, they were probably around Level 3 to 6. Most were Warriors, differing from ordinary people only by having raised one or two Ability Scores. Wondering how they could have driven off hundreds of soldiers, she realized it wasn’t that surprising.

They were all dragged here against their will anyway, so they probably had no desire to fight properly. With bullets not even firing from gun barrels, they likely all chose to flee rather than fight swinging rifle butts.

Anyway, it seemed they’d gotten through the situation. Looking at her body, which had been riddled with bullet holes or had bullets pass through it, it was perfectly fine. It seemed the surgery was already over, so Seo Yun got up and went outside.

She saw Oh Haengun sitting in a chair. Holding some Rulebook, he spoke with a pale face.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. And you, Mister?”

“Me? I’m fine…”

“That’s a relief then.”

For a while, the two exchanged small talk. Oh Haengun said things like he was sorry she had to go through this as soon as she returned to the village after so long, or that he was grateful she fought with all her might that day, then suddenly asked:

“Seo Yun, I heard from Eulbi that it seems you managed a whole village. Is that right? It seems you led the village in every aspect, hauling coal to trade for Provisions, driving off raiders, providing Heals.”

“I wouldn’t say I managed it, but I did help a bit. Why do you ask?”

“Would you by any chance be willing to represent Happy Village?”

Seo Yun’s eyes widened. What was he talking about?

“You want me to be the representative here?”

“Yes. You’re Level 11, so that should be enough…”

She didn’t have the mental energy right now to argue against the logic that a high game Level meant she should take on leadership of a Survivor Group.

“If we’re going by Level, you should do it, Mister. Just looking at how you’ve been handling village affairs under the Chief all this time…”

“I’m not leadership material.”

“Neither am I.”

“But you’d still be much better than me, so think about it. Okay?”

Seo Yun was flustered, not understanding why this man was suddenly acting this way. No matter how kind, wise, mature, and great he had seemed so far, asking a Runt who looked barely like a middle schooler if she wanted to try being the village representative? Unless this was the world of a Japanese anime, this wasn’t normal.

‘He must be out of his mind after Oh Haengbok was kidnapped. He was a crazy fanatic, and with his spiritual pillar gone, he’s fallen into a state of panic.’

Seo Yun took a deep sigh and asked.

“We can decide later who should act as village Chief… What about the Troll? After saving the village, isn’t he demanding some kind of reward?”

“He didn’t demand a reward, but…”

“But what?”

“The Troll said to call him when you woke up. What should we do?”

Come to think of it, the time she had promised the Troll was roughly up by now. As he said last time, he probably wanted to meet for something.

“Let’s call him now. Where’s the Bracelet?”

Seo Yun saw the Troll wearing the Golden Mask.

People who recognized the Troll bowed their heads in respect, but the Troll paid no heed to their words of gratitude. Since his gaze was fixed solely on her, Seo Yun spoke on their behalf.

“Thank you for coming as called last time, and for saving the village. We’re truly grateful.”

“Gratitude, is unnecessary.”

“How can we just let it go? Uncle Haengun also said we’d give you anything you want…”

“I say again, gratitude, is unnecessary. More than that, I wish to get to the point.”

“Please speak.”

And the Troll said.

“As mentioned last time, can you come with me?”

Seo Yun nodded. The Troll extended his hand, and when she took it, her vision changed.

It seemed he had used a Return Spell.

Turning her head, Seo Yun realized she was in the Troll’s village.

Several bluish, shimmering Dimensional Gates were visible around. They must be gates for traveling to and from various villages, including Happy Village.

Between those Dimensional Gates, what appeared to be metallic-skinned robots (she didn’t know exactly what they were, but that was the only way to describe them at a glance) were busily moving about.

“What are all those? Robots?”

“Homunculi. After I am gone, I created them to continue the work I originally did. It required consuming considerable materials and Experience Points, but that is no longer a regrettable matter.”

It seemed the Homunculi were carrying coal and some kind of weapons, entering or exiting the Dimensional Gates. Clearly, they were handling the inter-regional trade originally managed by the Troll.

Seo Yun focused more on what the Troll had just said than on the sight of bipedal walking robots working, something not even seen in the 21st century. He created them to do his original work after he was gone?

“Come to think of it, you said you wouldn’t be in this world going forward, right?”

“That, is correct.”

“What are you planning to do…?”

To Seo Yun’s cautious question, the Troll replied.

“I will tell you when we reach our destination.”

Saying that, the Troll led Seo Yun to one of the Dimensional Gates.The two of them stepped into the dimensional gate together, and once again, the scenery changed.

A landscape covered in ashen snow stretching beyond the horizon filled Seo Yun’s vision.

Though she had seen this scenery several times before, the scene here was more severe than any ruin she had witnessed so far.

Seo Yun looked up. The sky above was covered in thicker ash than anywhere else. The fact that not a hint of blue was visible in the sky proved it. So, even though it seemed to be daytime, it was as dark as evening.

In this eternal darkness, a city lay frozen.

Skyscrapers that looked as if a giant larger than a mountain had uprooted and toppled them whole, buildings with melted, grotesque forms as if struck directly by a nuclear blast, and cars whose tires had all melted, becoming one with the ground, were visible. Among them, undead ghosts and skeletons flew about.

The Troll spoke.

“It’s America. Where the meteorite fell. Those undead are the echoes of those who died that day.”

Seo Yun saw the landscape of a former superpower, perhaps the greatest nation that could have been even afterward, destroyed by a single trivial and childish wish. The citizens of that great nation had been reduced to monsters in a game.

Ghostly undead, which were hard to find even one of in Korea, flew about here in dizzyingly diverse types. The pale woman wailing over there was likely a Banshee, and that ashen person flying without legs was probably a Specter…

At a glance, Seo Yun could see countless pale wraiths flying in the darkness. Thousands, tens of thousands? Perhaps even more.

And below them, at the center of this ruined city, lay a bottomless darkness.

“It’s the crater where the meteorite fell. The terrain itself changed completely, and afterward, snow and dust covered it, so it looks like a natural landscape. And inside there…”

The Troll continued.

“And there, the meteorite is.”

Seo Yun’s eyes widened.

“The meteorite? The one that changed the world like this?”

“Yes. The undead around here are the forces guarding that meteorite. After I eliminated the undead Lich that commanded them, they became wild undead.”

“The work you did for months, perhaps…”

“Opening a path to get here and creating a dimensional gate here. The process was dangerous even for me. If Pygma Mule noticed, it would be the end, and all sorts of powerful undead were abundant. It was literally a life-risking endeavor.”

That statement didn’t seem exaggerated at all. Seo Yun recalled the Troll whose neck Oh Haengbok had choked that day. It must have been terribly humiliating and literally made him wish for death. It was plausible to guess that he embarked on this epic adventure here with the mindset that he’d rather die.

The Troll took the lead and walked into the endless darkness. Seo Yun followed behind, her Soul Sight activated.

The crater formed by the meteorite’s impact was so vast that its slope wasn’t steep. After walking for quite a while, feeling as if descending a mountain, Seo Yun saw something glimmering at the center of that darkness. Seeing several of those small fragments, she could tell what it was.

The meteorite. The massive main body. The culprit of all this, the shooting star that granted a terrible and childish wish…

“Perhaps if we make a wish here…”

At Seo Yun’s words, the Troll shook his head.

“I tried, but it doesn’t work. Altering the wish or canceling it, both are impossible. Originally, that’s why I came here…”

“Then, was all the hardship over the past few months for nothing?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

After a brief pause, the Troll instead posed a question.

“Have you ever thought that the meteorite might not be properly fulfilling its role as the adjudicator of this game?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you’ve never thought that the meteorite might not be properly doing its job as the GM of this TRPG. Think about it. This world has become a massive TRPG, and the meteorite is acting as the GM coordinating these changes… It’s not doing a very good job. It’s not making the Players enjoy it either.

The meteorite is strangely hostile to the free play of people in this world. While it attacks modern civilization and those who utilize it, showing anger at things that aren’t fantasy-like, it doesn’t properly complete the fantasy itself. The strength of monsters based on their Challenge Rating and their use of modern weapons are often unreasonable. The distinction between what kind of play it tolerates from people and what it punishes is utterly ambiguous…

All these adjudications are closer to mechanical video games. Perhaps because of that, bug-like rulings keep repeating, and each time, the meteorite, as the GM, fails to take proper measures.”

Seo Yun recalled all the unreasonable situations she had experienced so far (like the weird Intelligence Stat checks) and agreed with that statement.

“Yeah. That meteorite bastard is a complete idiot. So what?”

“So, haven’t you ever thought it might be better if there were a better GM? Haven’t you ever thought that if I made the rulings and interpreted the rules, I could do a better job than this?”

“Once or twice.”

“I have more. Dozens, maybe hundreds of times, I’ve thought that.”

As Seo Yun fell silent, the Troll continued.

“And perhaps… I might really be able to demand that I take over the unreasonable rule adjudications of this game that has become the world itself.”

“From the meteorite?”

“Yes. Shall I tell you the reason?”

In Seo Yun’s view, there was no need.

“Because you were the GM? The one who played with Arnold.”

The Troll nodded surprisingly readily.

“Yes.”