"Ugh!"
I opened my eyes wide, exhaling roughly. My whole body was sweaty, perhaps because of what just happened. After time passed and I looked around carefully, I could barely breathe.
"......I really came back."
What I saw was the campus of the college I attended a long time ago. It was a well-known university, with a good mix of nature and beautiful architecture. Seeing so many people wander around, I felt strange. The world before the 'game' was still extremely peaceful.
"Has the status window been unlocked yet?"
There was no reaction when I tapped in the air with my finger.
In other words, it means that the game has yet to begin. I was sitting on a bench, looking at the blue sky above me. I couldn't remember the last time I felt this relaxed.
"What are you doing there?"
My ears heard a familiar voice. As I turned to its source, I saw a pretty woman with long black hair, staring at me from afar.
I knew this person very well.
"Han Ji-soo."
"Yeah?"
I got caught up in a feeling that was hard to explain. Jisoo was a girl who I was close with back in college. She was one year younger than me, but always talked to me when I was alone. We were on good terms, and she was very polite, but I feel like we never got to open up to each other, even until the very end.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"Never mind."
When I answered without fail, Jisoo, who was still looking at me, said,
"Aren't you tired of playing video games all night? Your GPA is going to be in trouble again this semester."
"It's fine."
"What do you mean 'it's fine'?!"
Because this semester won't even start anyway. I asked Jisoo, who was still upset,
"What's the date today?"
"Huh? It's August 17th."
I bowed my head at Jisoo's words. August 17th. So the message window didn't lie. I'm starting the game from scratch, and I've been taken back to the first day.
"Are you not fully awake yet? You look really out of it."
"Oh, I guess so..."
I did play a game, albeit a non-stop one of life and death. I came back from finishing the ending. The ending was a bad one, where everyone except me dies.
"It's not good for your body! To some extent, you should at least pay attention to your health while playing."
"Okay."
Jisoo liked to take care of others. I was grateful to her because of that.
"Anyway......"
Jisoo seemed to have been thinking of telling me something else, but she frowned as if she saw something unpleasant.
"I think we'll have to move."
Approaching us was a guy with a moderately handsome face. I knew this guy's name too. It was Lee Jong-hyun. The guy who creeped on Jisoo and labelled me a video game addict.
'What happened to that guy?'
In my memories of the first playthrough, I never saw him after leaving the college campus. So there was a high possibility that he didn't even make it through the first stage.
"No, we don't have to move."
"Uh, why? Don't you hate him?"
Was I like that? In fact, I don't care much about him now. At this time, I'm literally relieved just to still be alive. It's already been ten years in my mind anyway. If a person didn't matter to me, it's a given that I don't remember them well. Jisoo frowned again and folded her arms.
"Well, I still don't feel comfortable! It'd be annoying if he tried to talk to me, so let's just go somewhere else."
Jisoo, after saying so, looked around to see where we should move. Then at some point, she stopped.
"......What's that over there?"
Jisoo mumbles blankly. I felt alarmed at those words. No, it may be inaccurate to say I'm surprised, since I have already experienced it.
'Yeah, this was the beginning.'
It was the same back then. After playing games the entire night before, Jisoo came to me while I was resting on a bench. And after exchanging a few words, Jisoo said:
"What's going on over there? Are they shooting a movie?"
Yes, it all started after she said that, ten years ago. Green, hideously-shaped monsters crawled out from a corner of the campus. They shrieked and laughed at the people walking around. When people saw them, they started to gather one by one in a curious crowd.
"Wow, what is this?"
"Are they wearing costumes?"
"But how can they fit? Are they child actors?"
Each of them voiced a question to the green monsters. Some people ran out to get closer.
"We should check it out too!"
Jisoo grabbed my hand. In the past, I was also led by this hand to go see those monsters. I shook my head.
"Wait."
"Huh?"
"Stay here, just for a little while."
People continued to gather together, murmuring. More and more little green monsters started to appear.
"I really want to know..."
Jisoo was intrigued, squeezing my hand, trying to spot those green monsters among the crowd of people. However, such a curiosity did not last long. A puddle of red stained the ground.
People started to run away, screaming.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"A person was stabbed!"
A green monster, a monster commonly referred to as a goblin, held a bloody and rusty sword in its hand. In front of the goblin, the man who had been stabbed was wriggling in pain.
"W-what is that?! A real monster?!"
After saying so, Jisoo grabbed my arm.
"S-something is wrong here! Hurry up and run!"
The goblins attacked the people around them indiscriminately. People were still screaming and running away. But this is the worst possible decision you can make. For goblins, who are weaker than the average man, turning your back on them is a death wish.
"Keke, kekeke."
A goblin was approaching us as well, to kill us with a rusty shortsword. For goblins, they don't kill to hunt. They enjoy it as a sport. That's why, when goblins kill a human, they do it with a smile.
"Sehan!"
Sehan. That's my name, a name I haven't heard in a long while. Jisoo blocked me from the goblin, while I was still standing motionlessly. This was also something I remember. Jisoo saved me, as I stood and watched her bright red blood splatter over my body.
'I was a coward and a weakling.'
The first time I saw the death of an acquaintance was Jisoo's. She told me to run away, while she was the one dying.
'I left her behind and ran for my life.'
As that memory came to mind, I swore. I felt my body moving, as I heard a new notification arrive.
[ The 2nd playthrough will begin shortly. ]
[ Your settings will be synchronized prior to its launch. ]
I tightened my hand into a fist. Kim Se-han, the one who was trembling and terrified, did not exist anymore. Now, I am the player who's witnessed the end of the world.
'Things are different this time.'
[ The 1st playthrough completion bonus allows you to purchase products from the DLC store. ]
[ The 1st playthrough completion bonus allows your remaining points from the 1st playthrough to be transferred over. ]
[ The 1st playthrough completion bonus grants you access to the forums. Please use it when synchronization is complete. ]
Several messages passed by. I ignored them all. It was more important to deal with the goblins in front of me than those notifications.
'I won't let things end the same way.'
This was an opportunity that I had just barely got, for a second playthrough. I will never repeat the same tragedy. That was my commitment to start the second playthrough.
"Kyaak?!"
As I suddenly rushed in, the goblin made a sharp cry in fear. After avoiding the goblin's sword swinging towards my neck, I ran up and twisted its arm.
"Kieek!"
As its arm twisted, the hand holding the sword relaxed. I grabbed the sword as it fell to the ground and stabbed it into the goblin's neck.
This is the sensation of something tearing and entering. Originally, in the first playthrough, when I stabbed a goblin, I'd feel like vomiting. But now, I just felt numb.
[ You are the first player to defeat a goblin on this stage. ]
[ 300 points are awarded as a bonus. ]
'Good'.
Points are resources needed to increase stats or purchase various items. There are cases where you could get points by clearing quests or achieving certain accomplishments. Or you can be sponsored by becoming an avatar of the gods.
'Wait a minute.'
I recalled the message I heard when I ran to the goblin.
'Didn't it say that the remaining points from the 1st playthrough will be transferred over?'
I bought the Second Package, so I have 700, 000 points remaining. I opened my status window.
[ Name: Kim Sehan ]
[ Point balance: 700, 300 ]
"Crazy."
My hands were trembling. The points displayed in my status window clearly showed the 700, 000 left over from my previous life. Unbelievable. This is enough to raise all of my stats to the maximum. Of course, the stats have a limit to which they can be raised for each main quest, but if you have 700, 000 points, you can use those points for a long time, even if you max out your stats.
'I can even buy pay-to-win items that newbies don't have access to.'
Either way, it's a significant benefit. However...
'I shouldn't be too quick to raise my abilities.'
If I increase my stats to the maximum, I'll stand out from other players. Since the game has barely just begun, the gods and GMs would be wary of anyone who's too strong. The difficulty level of current and future quests could be affected.
"S-Sehan?"
Jisoo's trembling voice interrupted my train of thoughts.
"What's going on now?"
Her gaze was not on the goblin I had killed. Because the goblin I had killed wasn't the only one.
"Move!!"
"What are these monsters?!"
It took less than ten minutes for the peaceful campus to become a mess. Screams came from everywhere that people were running away, and the appearance of the goblins chasing them was terribly frightening. I didn't answer Jisoo's question. Even if I don't explain, she'll find out soon enough.
[ Synchronization complete. ]
[ You have been invited to the game of the gods. ]
"Huh?"
Jisoo opened her eyes wide in confusion. It wasn't just her. People who had run away after being chased by goblins responded similarly to the sudden notifications.
[ From now on, you must become the players, and complete every main quest. ]
[ There will be penalties for those who fail to complete. ]
[ For further information, please refer to the player instructions. ]
The messages ended with that. Of course, it was hard for people to understand such one-sided messages.
"W-what are you talking about?! A game?!"
"Ahhhhhh, save me!"
"Oh fuck!"
The surrounding area was in chaos. There was either someone who was yelling at a sudden notification, or someone fighting against a goblin.
"Sehan...what are you going to do now?"
Jisoo asked me with a perplexed expression. Since she was smart, she would have heard the messages and figured out the situation, to some extent.
"You heard it too, right? We're players now."
I pointed a finger to the sky.
"Some high-ranking beings have turned our world into a game."
"Game...what do you mean?"
Jisoo's face told me that she didn't understand. Yes, well, a normal person could hardly be able to comprehend what's going on. But if you don't learn quickly, you'll die. This is what the world has become.
"Reality is no longer as we knew it before. After all, you'd never see these notifications and messages in real life, would you?"
"Yes."
Jisoo nodded slowly and continued looking at the turmoil around us. This is how the first day of my second playthrough began.
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