Episode 1
Ruin.
My life has always been close to ruin.
Since ‘ruin’ means to perish and cease to exist, my life was more than qualified to be defined by such a word.
[16:49]
I bit my lip hard amidst the ticking auditory hallucinations and let out a sigh.
There’s still no message about the school counselor qualification results that were supposed to arrive by today.
'……Did it really not come?'
I already know.
'It wasn't like there were many positions open in the first place.'
Even regular teaching positions are scarce, let alone school counselor positions, of which there are only one or two per school.
I used words like these to avoid facing reality, to look away from this self-destructive day.
Today too, my life is quietly, unknowingly to anyone, meeting its ruin.
[While you were asleep, a companion mistook you for an enemy….]
[You have died…….]
[You have collected the 'Betrayal' death ending.]
[You already possess this death ending.]
Staring at the text announcing the death ending, I habitually loaded a new game.
[World of Destruction]
The title that appeared on the screen when I loaded the new game shimmered briefly before disappearing.
A text-based adventure, roguelike game.
All it requires is luck and judgment; a game where all you do is read the text and make choices to ensure the survival of your character and your companions.
If that’s all there was to it, it would seem like an ordinary choice-based game… but there’s just one problem: Sanity.
"...Goddamn Sanity."
Sanity was the most crucial stat in this game.
The characters in this game are affected by their Sanity stat in every action.
The first thing affected is the choices. Sometimes, only extreme choices appear, making it impossible to choose at all.
For example:
[There is a little food left. It's time to decide the next action.]
[〉 Starve
[〉 Rob passersby
Choices like these. There is no option to acquire items through normal means.
Moreover, it’s not just about managing my own character; I have to manage the Sanity of all my companions too.
If I don’t, they’ll smash my character’s head in while they’re sleeping, like just now.
'It's not like there's any great solution for it either.'
Aside from a few items and occasionally receiving the blessings of statues one happens upon, there’s no proper way to recover depleted Sanity.
So, that means it’s a race against time to reach an ending before your Sanity runs out.
'It's not like I'm lucky enough to only get good events either.'
I generally fall on the unlucky side. Quite a bit, actually.
That held true in this game as well.
I had never once made it into the main story of this damn game. Because it always ended with me being killed by companions whose Sanity had hit rock bottom before I could even clear the prologue.
So, my character, who just respawned, was probably one of the things that faced ruin most often due to my misfortune.
[You decided to save companion 'Kim Taekjin'.]
[Companion 'Kim Taek jin' has insufficient Sanity. He has entered a <Panic> state.]
[Companion 'Kim Taekjin' has run away.]
[Pieces of the collapsing building are falling from above.]
[You have died…….]
[You have collected the 'Betrayal' ending.]
I stopped reading the text, irritably closed the ending screen, and let out a deep sigh.
Betrayal again. Those insane traitors.
"Do they really have no intention of doing a balance patch?"
That bastard’s Sanity is always bottomed out. Without him having done anything in particular.
Ever since the choice where we hid in a car in a nearby alley due to a mutant wave and the rain, he just lost his mind.
'He's the character with the highest skill-related potential among the companions available early on.'
And all because of one Sanity stat, I can’t bring myself to use him.
Maybe I accidentally triggered some trauma of his with that choice earlier.
If raised well, he’d rival any top-tier support. But raising him well is a pain.
He keeps betraying and running away at the slightest thing. What am I supposed to do about it?
"This is so frustrating, it's driving me crazy…. What on earth is he digging for alone that keeps draining his Sanity? If only he'd just talk…."
If it’s going to be like this, they should hire a counselor or something. Maybe have him submit a resume.
<World of Destruction>, this game is based on a fantasy web novel.
The story begins with the world being ruined due to an invasion by something. The web novel’s protagonist is ‘Sa Jeheon’, who tries to save the world through hundreds of regressions.
'Eight years….'
Unknowingly, I’ve been following the novel’s serialization for over eight years.
I spent my entire twenties with 'World of Destruction', and somehow the attachment… makes it hard to just quit.
Damn it all.
Dragging my weary mind, I exited to the title menu, where one notice caught my eye.
['It was the beginning of the sublime ruin.']
A small pop-up notice quoting the first line of ‘World of Destruction’.
It’s definitely not the balance patch I’ve been screaming for. If it were a patch, it would have been neatly labeled [Patch Notes 1.13].
'Just do a balance patch already.'
What are they trying to squeeze money out of us with this time?
Chewing back a sigh, I clicked on it anyway.
[World of Destruction Collaboration Cafe Guide]
Hello, Narrator-nim, who is busy day and night completing the one and only apocalypse!
The previous collaboration cafe shone like a constellation thanks to the attendance of many Narrators.
This time, another collaboration cafe is coming to Seoul!
A collaboration?
It was a simple notice featuring the tiny ‘Narrator’ character. My hand, which had been scrolling down roughly, stopped at the final sentence.
[Guess the 00 that will fill in the blank for 'Ruined Seoul, 00 Chapter'! We'll give an entry ticket to those who guess correctly!]
[〉 Hongdae
[〉 Jamsil
[〉 Gangnam
※ First 300 people only.
I didn’t particularly want to go to this collaboration cafe. I didn’t have the time to go anyway.
'Are they selling confirmed goods this time? If you're charging an entrance fee, at least sell some guaranteed goods.'
Who knows how the game company will handle the money? They’ve probably stuck in a couple of random items for sure.
Even though my heart grows cold at the thought, not clicking this feels like a loss somehow.
Plus, the view count was only 13, suggesting the notice hadn’t been up for long.
'In things like this, the early bird gets the worm.'
Feeling ridiculous for even hesitating, I let out one sigh and clicked a random option.
What possible meaning does this have for me right now…….
[Winner!]
"Holy crap!"
I reflexively clenched my fist tightly, then flinched and opened my hand again.
'……I won something like this?'
Last collaboration cafe, I rolled the gacha 20 times and only got one Sa Jeheon weapon keychain! And I still haven’t digested all the egg tarts I ate to get those rolls.
There must be at least five still in the freezer, for that matter.
While I was having these thoughts, the page automatically changed.
[Web Message]
'World of Destruction' Collaboration Cafe Event Winner Confirmation Text.
I stared blankly at the winner confirmation text that arrived instead of a job offer.
'Seriously…….'
I actually won.
I stared vacantly for a moment, then, belatedly coming to my senses, the moment I pressed the close button—
A familiar line of text appeared.
[When was your most brilliant moment?]
The moment I saw that text, I let out a sigh so deep I felt like vomiting.
'I think the collaboration cafe wasn't supposed to come first.'
I won’t even ask for a balance patch, just fix the bugs first, please. This game wasn’t exactly well-made.
It’s like rowing a boat full of holes, patching them with tape as you go. Only adding a plank over the tape after it falls off.
[〉 Age 11
[〉 Age 18
[〉 Age 20
[〉 Age 25
I roughly pressed [Age 20], closed the text window, and searched for and clicked the bug report button.
[▶ Send]
The moment I pressed send, perhaps due to another error, the screen turned black.
I blinked once, looking at it.
It was a moment with no time for anything to happen.
No, a moment where I didn’t even believe anything would happen.
In that moment.
Just that single moment.
As if the lights had gone out, my surroundings were completely engulfed in darkness.
Not long after, I reflexively furrowed my brow at the blindingly bright light.
'What the…?'
A stifling heat enveloped my cheeks. Tilting my head, feeling the heat in my flushed cheeks, the moment I raised my hand—I heard the distinct rustling sound of a padded jacket.
A padded jacket….
'…Padded jacket?'
Information began to fill my blurry vision. My lowered hand, holding nothing, yet…
The thing persistently rustling, making that alien noise, was unmistakably a padded jacket.
There was only one reason this was strange.
'Because it's summer right now.'
My sluggish gaze fell lower, towards the floor. A wooden floor. A familiar-looking wooden floor.
"Following the national anthem, we will now proceed with the conferment of diplomas."
Along with the words ‘conferment of diplomas’, two things came into view.
One was.
[The 42nd Sunghwang High School Graduation Ceremony]
The graduation banner.
And in front of it, displayed.
[Chapter 1, Apocalypse ▼]
I’ve definitely seen this somewhere before…
[▼]
This is your apocalypse, the sole record documenting you.
I am the sole narrator of that apocalypse. Though we may be separated by centuries, I will be your only friend.
They say some apocalypses begin like this.
Simultaneously, a tinnitus so sharp it felt like it would tear my eardrums rang out.
Beeeeeeeeep-
The sound tearing apart reality and unreality.
If I were to think about it now, that was the noise of my day, my life, undergoing a tremendously grand ‘ruin’.
