Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 2: Your Story (2)

Dreams once told me this.

He said that he doesn’t talk much about himself to others and that he has never told anyone about his games.

-Then why did you tell me about it? You even gave me a demo to play.

When he says something like that, I can’t help but wonder.

Why would he tell me everything when we’re just talking about random things on the internet?

But the answer was very refreshing.

-Don’t know? Just. I don’t have to have a reason to want to.

I didn’t like the answer.

I wasn’t sure if I was really curious or if I just didn’t like vague answers.

I nagged him to think about it, that there must be some other reason in his subconscious mind for his whims.

-Where is it? Don’t leave me hanging, tell me.

-I’ll think about it, I just can’t think of it right now. Really.

But the Dreams of that time just pushed back, saying he’d tell me later.

It wasn’t until today that I realized I still hadn’t heard the answer to that question.

* * *

“Can we stay? Shouldn’t we run away?”

“But the neighboring neighborhood has the same thing?”

“What should we do…….?”

People kept calling here and there, trying to make sense of the situation.

Of course, no one knows what happened and what to do now.

I wonder if that’s why.

Surprisingly, not many people left school.

Maybe it’s because it’s exam time, but there were only as many people at the bus stop as usual.

Maybe they didn’t feel the need to go back.

It’s the middle of final exams, and you can’t give up your studies just because a slot machine appears.

What should I do then?

I just wish I had somewhere to go, somewhere to think by myself…….

“Huh? Senior?”

It was then.

One of the students in line to board the bus pretended to know me.

His name was…Lee Min-seo.

We were in the same club, so I knew his name, but that was it.

No, it’s worse than that now.

I left the club a while ago.

“Are you going home?”

“Yeah, I’m done with my exams today, and I was actually going to stay for lunch with the guys, but that…That thing earlier…Are you heading home too?”

“No. I’m thinking about it.”

…The guys.

I was hoping to avoid talking about them.

“You’re the only one going back?”

“Yeah, I’m the only one who’s missing, which is understandable, but I feel like I’m the only one making a big deal about it…….”

“Maybe so, how’s everyone doing?”

“Yeah…….Well, the club is running smoothly.”

He seems to be deflecting.

I’m trying to decide if I should ask more or ignore him.

“Oh, the bus is here! I have to get on that one or I’ll have to wait 40 minutes!”

When the bus arrived and the doors opened, Min-seo said goodbye and hopped on.

I felt a bit awkward grabbing the person standing in the front row, so I just waved along and saw him off.

For now, all of my acquaintances seem to be doing well.

But if I stay at school, wouldn’t I run into club members like Lee Min-seo?

It’s a little awkward right now.

‘……I’ll go home and think about it.’

It was a chance encounter, but it helped me decide what to do.

* * *

I got on the bus and headed home.

On my way out of campus, I snapped a cell phone photo of the slot machine outside the window.

There was no particular reason why I took the picture.

It was just that, once I saw it on my phone, I realized it was real.

“Does it seem okay? Hey, come back home. I have plans.”

“Dad, is everything okay? Like I said earlier…… ”

“I’m on the bus, but I can’t hear you. What?”

The bus was full of loud phone calls.

It was rude and something no one would normally do.

Only now, no one was pointing it out, and everyone was doing the same thing.

I, too, felt noisy but didn’t say anything until we reached our destination.

I was too distracted by Dreams to pay attention to anyone else.

-Beep-beep-beep

I got off the bus at the last stop.

I walked in silence, not even turning on my cell phone, and entered the dormitory between the alleys.

But being in a quiet, familiar place didn’t calm my mind.

To put it bluntly, it made things more complicated, not less.

-Kang Hyunseok: Looking at the news, it doesn’t seem like there was an accident somewhere. That’s fortunate.

I received a hopeful group message from a senior in my club.

But even that didn’t really hit home.

Wouldn’t it be better if I didn’t know anything and just worried about the safety of my acquaintances?

I put my phone down and pinch my cheek and bite my hand.

It hurts.

Maybe I wasn’t dreaming.

I sent a persistent message to the chat room where Dreams was on the other end of the line but he never replied.

I knew it.

I guess the world did change when I ran the file.

Now that I put it into words, it felt like a weird delusion.

‘Why?’

Outside the window, the sky changed color, then returned to its normal color.

I don’t understand.

I get that the world has changed.

I’ve accepted that Dreams wasn’t a normal person.

But why was the world he showed me so real?

Did I want to be the only one to enjoy something that no one else enjoyed?

Did I want to curse at him for not being able to make a game?

No. Maybe he wasn’t even human in the first place.

I would have felt better if there was some kind of creative rationale for it.

Then I could have just accepted the clichés and said, “This is how it’s always been done.”

If I had any information about Dreams left, I would have looked it up…….

Ah, there was a computer.

I hadn’t deleted any of the game files or pictures he’d given me.

Maybe there could be some trace of him there.

“Tsk.”

There was no reversal.

All the data I had received was gone, just like the files I had received on my laptop a few minutes earlier.

I checked my downloads folder and restored my system.

Still nothing.

…… I guess I can’t recover it.

All I have left of Dreams is two things.

My unreliable memory and my chat history, with all the attachments and photos gone.

It’s a miracle I even have those.

If what Dreams has said so far is true, I’m the only one who knows about his game.

[Page does not exist; may be a private or suspended account.]

Even his social media presence, which had a full follow window, disappeared in an instant.

‘1pm…….’

By the time I got home and started looking for things, an hour had passed.

The group messages also stopped updating a few minutes ago because the conversation had come to a conclusion.

I have a lot of acquaintances, and my primary conclusion from many DMs and group messages is this.

-Kang Hyunseok: I’m glad everyone seems to be okay.

The person who asked about the safety of others first was relieved.

-Seol Do-yeon: I don’t know what it is, but it’s not like something strange happened……?

The person who thought the world was falling apart was also relieved…….

-Seol Do-yeon: I didn’t go outside anyway, so it didn’t matter!

…She went back to her normal life.

No, I don’t think she ever took it seriously in the first place.

Anyway, since nothing happened right away, everyone seemed to just watch and wait.

The slot machine is still blocking the way.

The strange countdown is still going on.

However, that doesn’t mean there were any casualties.

I heard what happens when the countdown ends, but it doesn’t really hit me.

Since they don’t know what will happen and they can’t prepare for it, they just stay still for now.

But I shouldn’t do that.

I know what happens when the countdown is over.

Because I also know that I can’t be completely at ease for the remaining three days.

[Retained Story (1/1)]

[Text Shift (NEW!)]

I glance down at the strange notification in front of me.

No worldview has yet invaded reality.

However, countless people have already awakened and gotten the story.

Awareness, a prerequisite for awakening, is particularly easy to fill.

Whether it’s an internet humor piece or a firefighter’s tale of heroism, those who have a story in the form of a narrative and share it widely gain power.

How many of them are willing to use it against people?

How big a crime will be committed in the future?

That was reason enough to act.

……In addition.

I wanted to find Dreams.

There had to be a connection between him and me.

He didn’t really tell me so much for no reason.

Let’s act like in the game Dreams gave me…at least until I find him.

“……Phew.”

Finally, my thoughts are a little clearer, and what I need to do is clearer.

I stared at the text in front of me.

Text Thief is a free mobile game founded by a senior at my university and produced by a club I belong to.

Has a payment system. Occasionally has mid-roll ads. Rating: 3.9.

It’s about going through 30 days of text events, gaining equipment and helpers, and stealing valuable treasure on the last day.

And now it’s also the name of the ability I have.

This ability was never in the game Dreams made.

I never asked him to include it.

It was my own new “story,” a mix of game setting and reality.

Story is a kind of superpower awakened by “creators” who create works in reality and gain a certain level of recognition.

The genre of famous historical or mythological beings gaining power through recognition has gained ground in recent decades.

It’s similar to that, but here, fictionalized stories created by individuals living in modern times become powerful.

When I saw the setting in the game, I thought it was just a unique ability.

But in the real world, it’s the most unequal distribution of abilities I’ve ever seen.

There are only a limited number of people who can awaken.

The rest of us have to live as normal people unless we jump in late.

But I got it, so I guess it doesn’t matter, right?

‘I need to see what the story is about first.’

I checked the details of my story in a subconscious way.

I awakened the story by making a game, so the way I checked my abilities was similar to a game.

So…it’s a status window.

People who awakened by creating other mediums won’t be able to use this.

It’s a reflection of how it fits into the story.

—

[Text Thief]

#game, #stealth action, #text adventure, #noir

Awareness Rating: C

Skill Level: Lv. 1

Traits: [NEW GAME F], [Behind the Mask C], [Choice C]

The first and only story I ever created.

Possession of this tale allows me to become proficient at stealth, theft, disguise, assassination, and other stealthy maneuvers, increasing in effectiveness with each rank.

From a distance, my popularity may not be high, but that doesn’t matter to me.

I’ve got something special that doesn’t depend on my current rank.

—

The story is another me.

It has a unique name, a rating, and you can make it stronger through direct action.

Traits are also unique to the genre, story, and appeal of each individual story.

For now, at least in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think the information I knew has changed.

Except for one thing.

[NEW GAME]

A trait with the same name as the last file Dreams sent me.

Only this one has an English name, and it’s an ability that wasn’t in the original demo.

The moment I saw this name, I realized.

More like realized, it popped into my head as if my thoughts had been manipulated.

“……What did you do to me?”

This trait is a trace and message that Dreams left for me.