Fired Characters from an Idle Game

10. Smurfing is Basic in Pay-to-Win Games – (1)

The topic of the Nest’s natural dissipation and humanity’s hope flickered for a day and then vanished.

Because the Status Window issued a death sentence to everyone worldwide.

[Time Remaining Until Next Rift Outbreak: 42h]

Roughly two days from now, the second outbreak will occur.

We won’t be caught as off-guard as the first time, but even so, it is self-evident that the whole country will be plunged into chaos. Especially because those living in the countryside are fleeing to nearby large cities, the streets are currently packed with crowds.

A phenomenon straight out of an apocalyptic movie was unfolding.

Right now, the biggest problems I face are twofold.

First, the message displayed on my phone screen.

[Unregistered Awakened are requested to register at the government office for Awakened registration by the end of the next day.]

With the outbreak drawing near, only one day remains for the voluntary registration period for Awakened.

And that’s where the second problem arises.

“Even if they tell me to register…”

The infamy of being the ‘Master Actor of Ruin’ was already notorious nationwide thanks to Selene’s flamboyant debut show, making Awakened registration impossible.

Yet, living cut off from society without Awakened registration was equally impossible.

Currently, I was concealed within the space called Ruin, but I too had a home and a society where I needed to live.

“I suppose registering under a false identity is the only option.”

It was the only countermeasure I could conceive.

Perhaps it would be easier to think of it as creating an alternate persona.

However, here lay another problem.

My maximum available forces at present were the Scorched Saint Selene and the Hellfire Watchdog.

But both were far too conspicuous. The Hellfire Watchdog was a disaster in itself, having caused over a thousand deaths during the last eruption, and Selene’s face was also widely known.

“Even if I disguise them… I doubt it would do much good.”

I sighed, looking at Selene.

While things like her ashen hair or crimson eyes could be concealed somehow, there was no way to hide her burn-scarred skin.

I couldn’t exactly put her in a hijab.

Ultimately, only one method remained.

“Elixir.”

As in the game, using an elixir could restore Selene’s body to its original state.

However, elixirs were 4-star consumable items. Obtaining one now would be like plucking a star from the sky.

“I am sorry.”

Perhaps she had perceived my dilemma.

Selene opened her mouth cautiously.

“I have ruined once more the body that my lord so graciously healed.”

Selene wore a genuinely distressed expression.

Apparently, her reverting to her initial state was her own decision.

Could it be that she deliberately damaged her body again?

If I were to ask why she did it, I felt as though I would receive an answer too difficult to bear, so I kept silent.

*

The district office was packed with people.

Tents stood in rows everywhere, and refugees who came from nearby small cities were lined up, waiting for rations.

Everyone had fled south when the war broke out, but this sight of them all fleeing to Seoul now was ironic.

“You there! Get in line properly!”

Someone called out to me.

I stood there blankly for a moment, then spoke tentatively to the public official who approached.

“Excuse me, the Awakened registration…?”

“Ah! Awakened one! Please, follow me!”

The moment the word ‘Awakened’ left my lips, the gazes of those around me shifted, filled with envious light.

The official guided me to a private room. I was even offered what looked to be rather expensive tea. Quite a welcome, compared to those sleeping outside in tents.

Like this, the Awakened were the new sacred caste in a ruined world.

“Now, please fill out these forms. Include your owned Calamities and the status of any stronghold upgrades. Also, enter a number where we can reach you in an emergency. Do you have identification?”

“Would a driver’s license be alright?”

“That’s perfectly fine.”

The clerk in charge of Awakened registration handed me the documents with a businesslike expression.

Without complaint, I began filling them out.

Name: Juyeon. The number of Calamities I possessed, I roughly estimated as one Two-Star and four One-Star.

“Oh my, it seems you possess a Two-Star Calamity? Would you mind if I confirmed?”

“Just got lucky with a combination, that’s all.”

I manipulated my Status Window and summoned the Two-Star Calamity, Starlight Dust Golem.

It was a reward I’d received for successfully subduing the Cheonan Nest.

“Excellent. Awakened individuals possessing a Two-Star Calamity receive a separate grant.”

With the look of someone who had struck gold, the clerk slid another document across the table.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a contract.

“Just so you know, going to another district at their invitation would be a violation of the Awakened Special Law. We call it tempering. It can carry a sentence of up to life imprisonment…”

According to the clerk, outside the Capital Area, local governments were desperate for Awakened to defend their cities, willing to pay large sums of money to poach those from other regions.

What had jokingly been called the Seoul Republic was now reality.

“Alright, Awakened Juyeon-ssi, that concludes the procedure. Here is your Awakened Registration Certificate. Please memorize this number as well. If we call, you must arrive at the designated assembly point within one hour.”

“Assembly?”

“To protect, you know, the citizens.”

The clerk presented me with a summons notice filled with detailed information, and began to explain.

Starting with the legal repercussions of failing to report, and ending with the need to maintain decorum as an Awakened.

I answered absentmindedly as I finished filling out the forms.

Leaving the community center, I heard loud voices, apparently a fight had broken out among the refugees. Something about someone cutting in line, or stealing ration tickets in the chaos. They were bickering over it.

A stark sense of reality settled in, and I quickened my pace. Selene waited outside.

Hood pulled low to conceal her identity, Selene had a certain endearingly awkward quality about her.

“Are you finished with your business?”

“Yeah. Showing them this little guy made things easier to discuss.”

I presented the two-star Calamity, Starlight Dust Golem, nestled in my arms.

Despite its intimidating title of ‘Golem,’ it was surprisingly petite.

Though, appearances aside, it could easily crush dozens of people.

[Kreeeak…]

“Selene, what’s wrong? You’re scaring the little guy.”

“…Nothing, sir.”

I noticed Selene was glaring at the Golem.

When I chided her, Selene finally averted her gaze. It was only a fleeting moment, but I caught a glimpse of her clicking her tongue.

“Anyway, I have to go out as an Awakened for tomorrow’s Eruption.”

According to the public servant, the Awakened are supposed to eliminate the Calamities outside during the Eruption for the sake of the citizens in the shelters.

But for the next Eruption, I can’t bring Selene or Hellfire Watchdog.

They’d draw too much attention.

“So, I’m planning to fight with this Starlight Dust Golem tomorrow.”

“It will be dangerous for you, sir.”

“If it gets truly dangerous, if I think I’m about to die, that’s when you help me.”

“I will remain nearby.”

Selene reluctantly nodded.

Even if she says that, there’s almost no chance Selene will need to intervene directly.

The second Eruption is mostly one-star or two-star Calamities, similar to the first. Occasionally, a three-star might appear, but the possibility is very slim.

Well, nothing much will happen, probably.

I was in a state of optimistic hope.

However, Selene, seemingly considering the worst-case scenario, spoke carefully.

“Might I be so bold as to request one thing of you, sir?”

“What is it?”

“If any Calamity other than myself approaches you, master, you must never respond to them.”

I frowned, not understanding Selene’s words.

Her gaze shifted, slow and deliberate.

A coincidence, perhaps?

At the end of that line of sight, the colossal tower rising above Yeouido.

*

A tower so incredibly high.

Mirien, a woman with raven hair and eyes of an icy blue – a storm from the Northern Sea – sat on the uppermost terrace, looking down.

A mobile phone was clutched in her hand.

For nearly a month since arriving in this dimension, Mirien had devoted her time to mastering these newfangled contraptions.

And so, Mirien skillfully turned on the thing called a mobile phone and played a video.

The figure of Selene, her former comrade, wielding the Hellfire Wedge Sword.

She spoke in a tone devoid of emotion, flat and sterile.

– ‘My only master is the Overlord Actor. None other.’

“…That harlot.”

Mirien muttered the curse, squeezing the phone tight in her fist.

The device shattered under the pressure, but Mirien paid it no mind. She could just rewind time with magic and repair it.

Her focus was solely on Selene, down there beneath the tower, and the Overlord of the Rift beside her.

“Hoping to monopolize the Overlord, are we?”

There was no way that wanton woman would say such things without reason.

This was a message.

A declaration of war to her former comrades scattered across dimensions.

Selene was the sort to do it, certainly. A beast filled with ashes in place of blood. That whore, worthy only of burning at the stake, had survived thanks to the Overlord’s favor.

Mirien found it deeply offensive.

“…How dare she, how dare she…”

If she had her way, she would unleash a great spell, overturning the entire land where Selene stood.

But she couldn’t.

Because the Overlord, inhabiting a human form, lived boldly on this very earth.

And Mirien, though once cast aside, still held feelings for the Overlord.

Feelings akin to, yet distinctly different from, the loyalty that Selene possessed.

“…My very own Overlord, he should be…”

What Mirien held for him was, without a doubt, a lover’s affection.

The sorcerer who dreamt of defying destiny, succumbed to a feeling called love for a mere mortal.

“…I must protect her.”

His obsession with magic, which once made even the gods tremble, had somehow transformed into a desire to safeguard.

“I have to prove… who is more useful to the Overlord.”

This was to be the seed of his ruin.