NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Ending
A messy, disorganized room.
“Ah, ouch. Spilled a little.”
Limping, he sat down on a chair with a cup of instant noodles.
In the dark room, the monitor cast a faint glow, displaying the title of a game.
A 2D game developed by an obscure indie company of unknown origin.
It was one of those RPG Maker-style games, built with pixel art graphics.
Slurp.
Even as he slurped the noodles, his eyes remained fixed on the monitor.
Playtime: 8,306 hours.
At first, it hadn’t caught his interest, but somehow, he had ended up playing this much.
It started during his military service. After an accident during deployment shattered his leg bones, he spent a long time in the hospital.
Even after being discharged, the pattern remained the same.
“What kind of job could a cripple who can’t even stand get?”
Five years must’ve passed already, he thought.
The old laptop he owned couldn’t run modern games, so he chose this one. And, ironically, he stuck with it.
Switching to other games and then returning to this one became a habit.
Eventually, playing became a part of his daily routine.
It wasn’t just a simple RPG Maker game. Its depth and freedom were remarkable.
The interactions with NPCs were more sophisticated than those of many modern games.
The graphics were crude, but the illustrations were so intricate they looked like photographs.
At first, he thought the developers had stolen images from Google.
“This’ll be the end of it soon.”
The extreme difficulty provided a sense of challenge, and achieving an ending brought immense satisfaction.
The NPCs’ reactions varied depending on the character and actions he chose.
Since the game wasn’t popular, he had to create his own strategies, which drew him in even more.
But today, he knew he wouldn’t reopen the game after this session.
The End.
Seeing every ending the game had to offer—that was his goal. And now, only one remained.
He had prepared meticulously to reach this point.
“Once I see the last ending, I’ll start a new life.”
Thanks to grueling rehabilitation, he could walk, though running was still out of the question.
It was late, but he planned to go to college.
At 27, he’d be a freshman.
Chuckling to himself, he watched the game screen slowly load.
His aging laptop seemed to be on its last legs, making the loading unusually slow.
He resolved to get a new laptop when he started school, moving the mouse as he thought about it.
[Congratulations on achieving countless endings!]
[We commend your dedication to this accomplishment.]
[Would you like to challenge the final ending?]
[Yes/No]
“An Easter egg?”
Normally, clicking the title would bring up the opening message, but today was different.
It was as if the game knew he was attempting the final ending.
Smirking, he clicked the mouse.
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Stretching his clasped fingers, he declared, “If nothing else, I’m the best at this game. That final ending? I’ll clear it up no problem.”
Vrrrrrrrr.
Flash!
As if responding to his declaration, the monitor emitted a blinding white light.
“What the—?!”
That was the last thing he remembered.
He entered the game.
***
The game he had played bore a subtitle.
When playing as a member of the Empire:
When playing as a member of the demons:
In other words, the game’s direction changed based on the faction you chose.
However, regardless of the choice, the opening monologue remained the same.
For a game as gritty and realistic as this one, the opening felt oddly whimsical and absurd.
“Human greed knows no bounds.”
The opening began with this plain statement, accompanied by an unnecessarily grandiose background track.
“The emperor who unified the continent, Belgios Macrona, eventually turned his gaze beyond the continent’s borders.”
“‘Death to the Golden Ruler! Glory to humanity!’”
“Across the seas, he extended his reach to the lands ruled by the Golden Ruler.”
The illustrations, rendered in a hyper-realistic style, brimmed with life.
“After a prolonged battle, the human emperor struck down the Golden Ruler. The mortally wounded Golden Ruler cried out: ‘You have dealt me a grave wound, and you shall pay the price!’”
The content, though, was a bit… off.
“The wounded, eternal sorcerer and Golden Ruler cursed the entire continent. ‘Your descendants shall bear my wounds, and they shall fester before they come of age!’ A curse to annihilate the emperor’s bloodline. No supreme mage existed to break this curse. But the emperor simply laughed heartily.”
“‘Hahaha! I’m infertile! I’ll gladly accept it!’”
The emperor’s words were true, and the Golden Ruler sank into the abyss, seething with rage.
Even now, the Golden Ruler dreams of revenge.
A eunuch king and the misfiring supreme mage.
Since they never appeared in the game, he hadn’t paid much attention to them.
He assumed it was either a mistranslation or the developer’s sense of humor.
But now…
…So it was.
The sorcerer who claimed to be the protagonist of that tale—
No, a necklace that should not exist in real life—
Now hung before him.
And the voice emanating from it was recounting the story he had seen in the game’s opening countless times.
At first, he thought it was a dream. Then, he was baffled.
And now…
“This is… What the hell.”
I was speechless.
I wanted to rip off the necklace hanging around my neck, but it wouldn’t come off—probably because it was cursed.
No matter how hard I struggled, all I achieved was exhaustion.
Eventually, I collapsed face-first onto the bed, flailing in frustration.
When irritation surpasses a certain limit, it turns into an outburst.
“Hah… Hah… Damn it, seriously.”
I threw a tantrum, but it only left me more drained.
[Have you calmed down now?]
“Calmed down? Do I look calm to you? Huh? Does it seem like I’m calm?!”
I raked my hair back with irritation, glaring at the side of the room.
In the full-length mirror opposite the bed, my reflection stared back—a foreign boy.
White skin, golden-brown hair that bordered on blonde, and yellow-tinged eyes.
It was a handsome face, undeniably so.
It looked strangely familiar, but what truly caught my eye was the family emblem emblazoned on my chest.
There was only one family with a symbol of a blood-drenched wolf.
“The Bayerle Count’s House.”
It was an unmistakable crest.
The Macrona Empire—the game’s setting—was a world where humanity and demons clashed.
The Bayerle Count’s House?
“That’s the family that sides with the demons.”
The first family to betray humanity.
In other words…
“They’re the ones wiped out in the story.”
It was an event that occurred in the early to mid-game.
Unbelievable as it was, I had no choice but to accept it now.
I had been pulled into the game—a game I’d spent five years playing, completing every ending except one.
The cause?
There was no need to question it.
The necklace!
It was the handiwork of the Golden Ruler, the malicious entity featured in the game’s title.
[I have deliberated for a long time. Since the first emperor left no heirs, I concluded that even the empire he founded must be destroyed.]
The emperor indeed had no descendants.
As a result, the empire adopted a unique system of succession:
The throne was passed to the individual who posed the greatest threat to the demons.
The Emperor was a symbol—the adversary of demons.
And the proof of this was tied to “the followers of the Empire’s Guardian Spirit.”
A church, entirely separate from politics, filled with zealots devoted to the one true god.
[I explored many possibilities to find the one who could bring down the empire. You have met my criteria.]
“Says who?! I don’t care about your criteria—just send me back home!”
I shouted, demanding to be returned to my room, but the Golden Ruler dismissed the idea as impossible.
[The curse I cast over the entire continent has already drained most of my power.]
[Interfering with another dimension to find a suitable candidate was nearly impossible.]
[I have already expended my strength, and returning you is beyond my ability.]
In short, he didn’t have the power to send me back.
Well, wasn’t that just wonderful?
“Fine, do whatever you want. I’ll live however I see fit, so handle your revenge on your own.”
If he couldn’t send me back, I’d just figure out how to survive on my own.
When something this absurd happens, people tend to become oddly calm.
Maybe it was adaptability—I’d been good at adjusting to new environments during my military service.
Besides, wasting time throwing a tantrum wouldn’t help; the Macrona Empire wasn’t exactly a beautiful world.
“This world was built on the foundation of war between the Empire and the demons.”
Strictly speaking, the Golden Ruler had crafted the game based on this world and released it.
The setting itself was drawn from this reality.
The characters in the game?
They were creations born from the Golden Ruler’s analysis of the entire world, calculated with some unknown magic.
In other words, the game’s world and its characters weren’t different from reality.
“Well, that’s a relief. If it were completely unfamiliar, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
How the Golden Ruler managed such a feat didn’t matter.
A transcendent mage could achieve the impossible—that was their nature.
I didn’t need to question it.
The truth had been imprinted directly into my mind.
This wasn’t just a game anymore.
This was reality.
At least I had one consolation: I was a veteran player who had spent years mastering this game.
“I’ll just hide somewhere safe. I know a few places where I can live comfortably even if the demons destroy the Empire.”
Even in this wretched world, I knew of relatively secure places.
There was no need to play along with the Golden Ruler’s script.
Destroying the Empire, avenging the long-dead first emperor—none of that had anything to do with me.
I had no desire to risk my life in a world where magic and auras were real.
If I could eke out a modest existence and live out my years, that was all I wanted.
But, of course, the cursed Golden Ruler wouldn’t allow even that.
[That is impossible.]
[I have spent all my strength to summon external aid in finding a successor for my vengeance.]
[Through a contract with the Demon King, Guatruka, I borrowed power. He will inevitably seek you out.]
[Demons always claim their dues. Since you appeared through his power, he will regard you as his possession.]
The explanation was lengthy, but the gist was simple:
“I’m going to get killed by the Demon King.”
The king of demons.
Currently sealed and awaiting his awakening, the Demon King would come after me.
[Do not worry. The Demon King will remain dormant until the Empire falls.]
[If you destroy the Empire, I will offer my essence as payment to send you back to your world. This is a vow bound by mana and cannot be broken.]
[After achieving the great deed, come to the land of gold…]
The voice gradually faded, growing weaker.
Anyone could tell the Golden Ruler was losing strength.
“Hey! Hey! Finish what you’re saying!”
[The ending you have yet to see… That is my wish and the most probable path…]
[Keep the token I left behind.]
[What I arranged will aid you.]
[Until then, I shall slumber in anticipation…]
And with that, the voice echoing in my mind disappeared completely.
No matter how much I shouted, there was no response.
I tugged at the necklace, but it still wouldn’t budge.
The token the Golden Ruler mentioned was undoubtedly this necklace.
“This is just… great.”
At the very least, he could have explained things properly.
I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t even do that.
My mind was racing, and one thing became clear:
“I have to destroy the damn Empire.”
And I had to do it with my own hands—not through the demons.
If the demons destroyed it, the Demon King would awaken and come for me.
To destroy the Empire, I would have to betray both humanity and the demons.
Oddly enough, I knew exactly how to do it.
The final ending of —
“The Betrayer Ending.”
From now on, I would have to deceive everyone.