There's no mistaking it. I'm not so delirious as to confuse dreams with reality.
It's real. The monster from Pangea has truly appeared in the real world.
Bang! Bang!
The police from the nearby station rushed out and fired their pistols, but it was to no avail. They became prey to the Giant Mantis without even leaving a scratch on its tough skin.
"Help... Ah!"
"Emergency! Emergency!"
The police, communicating over the radio, were on the scene. Most of the civilians were fleeing, but many were unable to do so.
Inside the buildings, people were pacing and watching the situation. Some were taking photos and videos, unaware of the severity of the situation.
Beeeeeeep!
The air raid sirens began to wail, increasing in volume.
The same was true for cell phones.
Like in a disaster, they emitted loud sounds, and messages appeared on the screens.
*Seek shelter in the nearest underground facility and listen to the broadcast]
...This isn't just happening here. Attacks have begun simultaneously across the entire country, from unknown creatures.
But I know what it is.
A field boss monster that you inevitably encounter when playing Pangea.
A Level 4 Giant Mantis!
I can't mistake it with its distinctive antennae and the vivid red flower on its back.
'What should I do?'
My heart felt like it was about to burst. In the game, I'm a flexible and capable player, but in reality, I'm just an ordinary citizen.
My head ached, and my heartbeat only accelerated.
"Aaaah! Mom! Mom!"
Hearing a child's cry, I snapped back to reality.
I immediately turned my head.
I brought all the rewards from Pangea into the real world.
If the monsters from the game can walk around in the real world, can the items I obtained in the game be used in reality?
'Dragon's Soul!'
I gripped the stone with runes carved on it.
Dragon. A monster far more formidable than a field boss like the Giant Mantis.
I easily defeated it because I knew the strategy, but it was originally a challenge that required 12 people.
Swish, swish, swish!
"Why isn't this working?"
I frowned.
In the game, a double-click is all it takes. The character takes out the stone, pretends to wipe it, and the summoning is complete.
I tried wiping it hard, but it didn't work at all.
I turned my gaze again.
'Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule.'
It was supposed to synchronize the game and reality.
I held it as if snatching a coin from the Golden Rule.
"Activate."
Instantly, a goddess appeared before my eyes.
The twin goddesses of Pangea. The goddess I always saw when logging in kissed my cheek.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
...The sound of my heart, which felt like it was about to burst, calmed down.
The trembling of my body and the cluttered thoughts in my head were neatly organized.
I opened my hand. A thick hand. I had become Randolph.
I picked up Michela's sword. The thick greatsword felt right in my hand.
I gripped the Dragon's Soul and approached the window.
Snap!
I stepped on the window frame and leaped to the ground.
An old five-story apartment building. A height that would certainly be fatal for an ordinary person, but I didn't care.
I floated in the air, feeling the resistance of the air, and rubbed the Dragon's Soul.
Roar!
The adult form of the Dragon was summoned onto the street.
I rode the Dragon's back and charged at the Mantis.
*
'Exclusive!'
Intern reporter Kim Hana thought of an exclusive story at the moment the monster attacked.
A giant mantis had invaded the city.
If I capture this moment, the Pulitzer Prize is a sure thing this year.
Click! Click!
I got as close as possible and took photos with my phone.
"Wow."
It wasn't a movie prop or CG; it was a realistic, real monster.
Exclusive. My tedious intern life would finally be over. Just as I thought that...
"Aaaah! Mom! Mom!"
Not far away, a child, about five years old, was crying pitifully.
A shopping cart. A woman trapped under the debris of a building.
The giant mantis turned its eyes.
I was filled with contempt.
Do I have to capture the monster destroying a family? Is that what senior reporters call true journalistic spirit?
Damn it. Kim Hana threw off her shoes, gritted her teeth, and ran.
I was on my way back from a blind date arranged by a friend, and I thought, "What kind of day is this?" but there was no time to think about it.
Kim Hana almost dove in, wrapping her body around the child.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?"
"Mom... "
"Miss, please... save my child... "
The woman, trapped under the debris, regained consciousness and managed to speak.
The mother's plea to save her child.
Those who can live must live.
But Kim Hana had overlooked something.
The monster's antennae were faster than she thought.
Kim Hana, turning her head to see the approaching tentacle, pushed the child to the side.
'Ah.'
Suddenly, she felt like her body was flying.
Soon, the giant mantis's face appeared before her eyes.
Her life flashed before her.
I'm going to die like this. I haven't even had a proper relationship at this young age.
βOur hospital's young director. He begged to meet you. Can't you meet him just once, Hana?
βHe's a good guy. He was the school's top king card in college, very handsome. Tall and with a great face. You'll regret it if you miss this chance.
Should I have gone on the blind date?
He was a good guy, as my friend said, but I didn't really want to date, so I just planned to spend some time and come back.
'Why did it end up like this?'
Kim Hana closed her eyes tightly. She didn't have the courage to face the giant mantis's mouth and its many sharp teeth.
Swoosh!
At that moment.
She felt her body floating again and the warmth of someone else.
She opened her eyes slightly.
"Whoβ"
"..."
A man with a wild charm.
He threw Kim Hana as if discarding her.
With a thud, Kim Hana landed on the back of an unknown creature.
'What, what is this?'
Wasn't the monster just one?
Is this a dragon? But it has too many heads. A monster of monsters, with nine heads, incomparable to a giant mantis.
"Hic!"
"Hold on tight."
It was Korean. Kim Hana clung tightly to the creature's back.
The man with the greatsword leaped up.
Roar!
The nine-headed dragon began to tear the mantis apart wildly.
The giant mantis screamed and wailed.
The scene was like something out of a legend or myth.
Kim Hana watched, stunned.
Every time the man swung the greatsword like a toy, green blood poured out like a waterfall. The mantis, bitten by the nine heads, couldn't move.
Violence. Kim Hana had never seen such cruel and brutal violence in her life. The intensity she felt from movies and dramas was like child's play.
Is this what a hero in a myth looks like?
It was raw, untamed savagery she had never experienced.
Kim Hana...
"Ahh..."
She shuddered. Her body trembled, not out of fear, but from an indescribable, inexplicable encounter.
Thud!
In the end, the giant mantis fell without putting up a proper fight. Its legs and neck were severed, and its eyes lost focus.
Then the mantis's corpse began to disappear like dust, turning gray and vanishing.
The nine-headed dragon was the same.
Kim Hana started to fall.
"Help...!"
She flailed her arms and legs, and then found herself in someone's arms again.
The man who killed the monster.
He caught Kim Hana as she fell to the ground and landed safely.
"Thank you."
"..."
Their eyes met.
The man said nothing and turned away.
Kim Hana watched the man as he walked away and raised her phone.
Click.
"Ah."
She turned her head, as if realizing something.
People were already working together to rescue the child's mother from the debris.
Kim Hana also ran over and joined in the effort to lift the debris.
*
The world was in chaos.
Not just in Korea, but monsters appeared simultaneously around the world.
The monsters immediately began killing people and destroying human civilization.
But what appeared were not just monsters.
Warriors who could slice through monsters that bullets couldn't penetrate. They wore armor, swords, spears, and bows like in medieval times and brutally slaughtered the monsters.
"Don't worry! I will protect your safety!"
"The world of monsters is coming. We must all work together!"
Some of them spoke in their native languages about people's safety.
What was even more surprising was their 'transformation.'
They existed as warriors and then returned to ordinary people, speaking such words.
Of course, not everyone did this.
"Only about an hour of maintenance time. Everyone wants to save time, right?"
A man muttered as he watched the streaming videos and images.
The warriors who appeared now were all 'loggable' rankers.
If you rank in the main quest, you can log out.
'The remaining time of the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule must be saved as much as possible.'
But the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule is a consumable item. It can only maintain synchronization for about one minute to one hour.
Therefore, almost no one used it in reality.
The man was no exception. There were a total of eight known people in Korea who could log out.
Among them, the man was a strong player with a character named 'Massacre.'
To observe the situation, Massacre took a step back from this incident.
If he acted rashly, the appearance of his Pangea character could threaten both the game and reality.
After all, Massacre was a player recognized for his bad manners.
'Anyway.'
Massacre stroked his chin.
'I thought Phantom would appear. But there's no one who looks like Phantom.'
Phantom. Or Ghost.
The undisputed number one player in Pangea.
No one knows his real name, so everyone calls him that.
It's speculated that he has hundreds of characters and recently led the 'Great Demon Expedition,' which is believed to be Phantom.
However, the expedition failed due to various interference, and Phantom also died, resulting in the deletion of his character.
'Is Phantom really the admin? He was still playing the game, right?'
Massacre was also a pure game player.
But two years ago, when his Massacre character died, he was summoned to Pangea.
The same was true for others.
Only Phantom, or the one suspected to be Phantom, continued to play the game.
To find out the reason, many people went in search of Phantom.
If someone looked like Phantom, they would interfere or betray and kill them, then delete the character.
Others were usually summoned to Pangea when their character was deleted.
'No, he must have been summoned with that character. When the strongest character you have dies, you are summoned.'
A five-star character with eight unique-grade items, armed with all kinds of treasures and talents.
Having eaten five stars beyond level 10, it was an insurmountable wall.
It must have been the strongest character Phantom had.
If he wasn't the admin, he would surely have been summoned.
When summoned to Pangea, the character is reset, but the talents of the strongest character are inherited.
The appearance changes, and the character becomes like an NPC, losing all connections with others, but there is a chance to become stronger by completing the main quest.
'...Randolph. Is this guy Phantom?'
After being summoned two years ago, Massacre ranked in many main quests.
Massacre is level 10, a ranker with hidden traits like other rankers.
However, there was a recent change in the almost unchanged rankings.
In the first main quest, 'Survival.'
'220 points?'
Is that even possible?
Even if I went back two years and did it again, I don't think I could get 220 points.
If this is possible, it must be Phantom.
All the rankers, like myself, must have noticed this, so it's only a matter of time before he becomes a target.
Eliminate the competition. If it's Phantom, killing him will yield a huge amount of 'Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule.'
It's confirmed that Pangea and reality are beginning to 'penetrate' each other. The competition for the Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule will intensify.
Eventually, Pangea and reality might become one.
Pangea NPCs might appear in reality, or even a real demon king might descend.
I need to secure my position before that happens. It's clear that in the future, the stronger and the one with more Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule will be the protagonist of this era.
"...Hydra? Who is this?"
While watching a video, Massacre frowned.
Hydra.
A warrior who appeared with a monster that was officially never cleared, or only one was cleared.
It's clearly a new appearance.
Massacre took in the warrior's appearance.
He also took in the appearances of other warrior characters that appeared in Korea.
They are all competitors.
In the chaotic era to come, I must be the protagonist.
*
"Bring me into the sanctuary? Are you crazy?"
...The snake princess Isabella was shocked.
It was due to my request.
The desert sanctuary. I asked to be brought inside.
'If the first main quest is survival...'
But I must go to the sanctuary.
'The second main quest is to obtain a class.'
Class. The method to become stronger while progressing the main quest is there.
Not only that.
"There's a star there."
"What...?"
Isabella's eyes trembled.
Star. The method to receive the blessing of the star is there, which surprised her.
It was a fact I learned recently while playing, after giving up on it before.
There is a star in the desert sanctuary. The method to lift the queen's curse.
However, it was hidden.
'A star that can shine brighter than any other, even though it is in the lowest place.'
And the class I desire can also be obtained from that star.