NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6
Chapter 6 – Sudden Visit (6)
“…”
In the dark room, it felt like not even an hour had passed, yet in reality, it was already evening. Just like in the game, the sun had set, and the stars and moon began to brightly appear in the background.
But I remained dazed, sitting in my spot. It felt as if a storm had passed. If you look at the facts, I had only played the game a little bit, but the aftermath was anything but light.
‘Get a grip. This is reality.’
With a sigh, I closed the game window and looked at the desktop. I could see the residents happily cooking the meat I had rescued.
The meat I saved. Not a game item, but real animal meat. And not just that. The sword I had crafted from the materials I hastily gathered had also transformed into a real sword, now held firmly in their hands.
[Next opening in 19:42:11]
[Extension possible for 100P]
In truth, it wasn’t my will that sent them out of the game. Both they and I needed a time to regroup, but it was the Master Program’s will that opened that strange portal, sending the residents out once the usage time had ended.
If you pay 100P, you can extend the opening time. I think I understood what that meant.
It meant I could bring game resources into reality, i.e., into this desktop background, and not just the points needed for unlocking. It also meant more costs were required. The game even transmitted a message first, demanding I assign residents, making it impossible for me to play alone.
[Checkable Achievement List]
And the points necessary for that could be earned directly by the residents inside the game. Beating the first monster, hunting 100 beasts, mining rare minerals, etc.
“This is crazy.”
I let out a hollow laugh and absentmindedly moved the mouse.
To keep these residents living here—or rather, to help them become stronger—I had no choice but to use this system.
At first, I was too dazed to notice, but now it seemed they had nothing of value.
Pushing aside my fundamental question of why I should be thinking about this, I pondered seriously and carefully about what to do as if I had never been this serious before.
‘Are they happy? Just for a bit of meat.’
In my eyes, they looked so happy feasting. Even though I was merely watching from afar, my interest and concern were far greater than any game could offer.
If I thought of it merely as a game, perhaps I could take it less seriously.
‘I don’t know right now.’
Eventually, as I held my head in frustration, I came to a decision. I would call it a day and end it now. After all, until the next game opened, my actions were limited anyway.
[External invasion detected]
“—! –!”
The moment a new event occurred in the world of my desktop just when I was about to turn off the monitor to sleep was quite startling.
‘Wolves.’
Accompanied by the alert of an external invasion, beasts that looked like wolves emerged from the left side of the desktop, crossing the grassland.
They looked robust compared to wolves I knew, flashing their teeth as if they feared the people gathered around the fire, approaching the residents.
“–, –!”
Naturally, the residents panicked and grabbed their weapons. Most only had torches or wooden clubs, with scarcely any decent weapons, but they couldn’t just sit still and take it.
“Not working.”
I tried a left-click with the mouse on the wolves to see if it would register, but it was as ineffective as it had been against glitches. Now I was merely a bystander, just as before.
Seeing their tense faces made me feel tight in my own throat. Especially Riena, who stood at the forefront with her sword drawn, was frozen in place, fearing that any wrong move would injure the others.
“—!”
And then the battle suddenly erupted. The wolves seemed to have decided to charge first.
‘Will we win? Or lose?’
Starting with Riena cleaving one wolf’s skull in half with her sword, others, including Chieftain Balun, got entangled in combat with the beasts.
Blood flowed, and innards spilled from wounds. Someone screamed as they were bitten, while enraged companions avenged their injured friend by hacking at the wolf’s body.
A life-or-death struggle. Witnessing the fierce scene without any mosaic or editing, I couldn’t help but make one firm resolution.
I had to provide as many supplies as possible to them by tomorrow.
‘There’s no time to rest.’
In the end, this midnight battle didn’t last long and concluded with the residents triumphing to protect their lives and livestock. The wolves that charged like flaming tails were all wiped out.
However, the residents had also suffered injuries. Numerous were injured, several tent houses were damaged, and Riena’s iron sword was harmed.
Those gritting their teeth and bandaging their wounds were unfortunate, but my current points stood at 0. Utilizing the vaccine program for healing was impossible.
Ultimately, this too had to be endured until the game opened again tomorrow.
*
“Junyung, is something wrong? You look spaced out.”
“Oh, no, I’m fine.”
“Get ready. Let’s call it a day.”
The experiences from last night had shaken my heart throughout the morning and into the afternoon, unlike the first day. My supervisor, Deputy Kim Gyuseok, even let out a hollow laugh and initiated a conversation.
Finally, the awaited quitting time arrived. Leaving the office without any issue, I rushed home and turned on the computer.
[Next opening in 00:04:17]
Just in time for the game to restart. While I had been away, it seemed the residents were doing what they could, but the atmosphere was grim.
The condition of the injured was poor, and Riena, whose sword was broken, had a dark expression.
Only Chieftain Balun stood in the middle of the village, seriously touching the black portal that had appeared. Perhaps he realized that the portal was the answer.
‘I want to tell him it’s the right answer.’
Taking a deep breath, I launched the game as soon as it became possible.
I couldn’t afford to waste time like the previous day, stumbling around without accomplishing anything.
I hoped they could understand what the answer was as I called the four I had brought into the game world yesterday once more.
“—?!”
“–!”
As expected, they were startled and flustered again. However, seeing Balun quickly regain composure and urge his companions to calm down, I was even more convinced of his qualifications as the village’s leader.
‘First, achievements in resource gathering.’
With half vigilance and half curiosity, I tossed them an item I had made at the crafting bench.
A stone shovel. Naturally, a shovel is a tool used for digging the ground.
I also took a shovel and opened the bomb shelter door to guide them outside. Fortunately, they recognized my intent and followed me obediently, and right in front of the bomb shelter, I used the shovel to dig up some dirt.
“Good. Let’s keep it this way.”
I chuckled softly while manipulating the mouse and keyboard. Though we didn’t speak the same language and even looked different, surprisingly, we synced well.
After I dug up one block of dirt and pointed to the land beside me, a man named Kun cautiously began to dig the ground.
Unlike mine, the dirt they dug wasn’t in block form, but nonetheless, a small window popped up indicating that it counted as an achievement.
[Basic Healing: 100P]
I used the 100P I earned from that achievement to heal the injuries of a resident who was groaning in pain before the injury got worse.
‘Next is stone.’
No time to rest. This time, I handed Balun a pickaxe and pointed to the stones that were exposed on the ground.
Balun’s actions were swifter than the others. Holding the pickaxe, he struck down and struggled to break the stone, and as part of it shattered, the achievement was completed.
Their expressions were dazed, not knowing what on earth was happening, but every time I rewarded them with meat as compensation, they gradually came to understand my intentions.
‘Today, I’ll give them iron too.’
Afterward, I wandered around the bomb shelter where the portal had formed, teaching them various things and achieving milestones.
The ultimate goal was to provide them with iron-made items. It seemed that what they needed most right now, lacking the means and technology to handle metals, was weapons and protection made of iron.
“It’s night now.”
However, before even 20 minutes of reality passed, the sun in the game world began to set, turning it into night. Simultaneously, monsters that appear at night emerged into the field, emitting eerie howls.
To me, they were merely cute bits of data shimmering on the monitor, but to the residents, they were grotesque monsters of the strange world.
I took the startled residents back into the bomb shelter and closed the door.
However, I couldn’t allow all of them to play inside for the sake of safety.
While I planned to gather what I needed outside during the night, I also had to achieve the tasks that could only be completed at night. That way, I could continually extend the time by paying points.
“—?”
As I slowly approached, Riena flinched and backed away.
I drew my sword and gave her the signal. A message that indicated for her to come outside with me, I wondered if she understood.
‘Good.’
Fortunately, she comprehended my intention, her eyes trembling before she nodded resolutely. While she tried to stop her surprised companions, she drew her sword and followed me out.
[Basic Achievement: First Werewolf Defeated]
The achievement I wanted her to accomplish was to kill that howling black werewolf surrounding this bomb shelter.
In terms of the game, it was one of the weakest monsters. With her attack that could easily reduce my character’s HP by half in one hit, we could overpower it in no time.
“Right.”
Two of the beasts rushed toward us, and I swung my sword, marking one of them. The remaining one was her duty.
In that instant when Riena faced the creature, it transformed from a pixelated game monster into a real, living werewolf, and she effortlessly beheaded it with a single stroke.
It was a clean strike, as if it were nothing to her. Clearly, she possessed special power.
[Basic Achievement: 10 Werewolves Defeated]
At this rate, perhaps I should move on to the next stage. There were more than enough enemies to dispose of, so I began roaming around the bomb shelter with her by my side.