episode_0002

What remains when you take games away from a gaming addict?

Well, only an addict is left.

A few days after my life game ‘Last Day’ ended.

I was truly living like an addict.

“Ah… there’s nothing to do.”

Just like how Teacher Ahn Jung-geun said that if he didn’t read a book for a day, thorns would grow in his mouth.

If I didn’t play games for even a day, I was the kind of person who couldn’t forget this miserable life.

Comparing myself to the great independence activist, even my conscience seems to prick me, but…

Since I have no family, beliefs, or patriotism to mourn for me, can’t I consider myself more pitiful?

“Ugh, what nonsense.”

Seeing myself spouting such nonsense, it seems like my condition is really serious.

Since a significant element of life has disappeared, it can’t be helped.

Is the most important thing in your life games?

Of course, isn’t that obvious?

“Sob… Even so, it’s still just a game.”

Thinking of ‘Last Day’ that left my side brings tears to my eyes.

Should I say it feels like being a top expert whose own faction has perished?

But they had sects and vendettas to seek revenge on.

In the fact that I have nothing, I was a hundred times more wretched.

“…Ah, did it really shut down.”

With a slight hope, I entered ‘Last Day’.

But all that unfolded was a black background and a lonely sound of wind.

The lonely server was sobbing alone, having lost someone to play with.

Sob. Sob… Gohuhuhu.

It made me feel depressed as if it was showing a world that had truly come to an end.

Even though it’s a game where the world is destroyed, there was no need for it to be like this until the ending.

“Huh? A message?”

At that moment, a small link appeared below.

What is this? Could it be a message left by the administrator?

I’ve always had strong curiosity.

If there’s a gangster wearing a wig in front of me, I have to take it off to confirm if they’re truly bald. It’s my crazy personality that can’t be satisfied otherwise.

I immediately clicked on the link, and a website came up.

[Earth Server Terminates Service]

The site had nothing but a black background, just like the game.

There was a short sentence written there.

And nothing but an incomprehensible number.

For an ordinary person, it would simply be an unpleasant site to pass by.

However, if you’re a player of ‘Last Day,’ you can’t not know this.

“It’s a game prologue scene.”

More precisely, it’s one of the scenes from the opening video that plays when you start the game.

‘Last Day’ is set in a zombie apocalypse world.

At first, it shows scenes of civilization gradually crumbling.

And this screen was the very first sign of that destruction.

An unidentified website appears on the internet, announcing the apocalypse.

In other words, suddenly, a sign of destruction identical to the game emerged on Earth.

“…….”

Of course, no one would see this and actually think about the end of the world.

At most, they would just pass it off as something like, “Did they finally make a sequel after surrendering?”

But still, why?

The intuition that has kept me alive until now was warning me that this is dangerous.

“…Could it be that the world is really ending?”

Of course, there is no evidence.

All I have is my intuition.

But what if this is the real beginning of the end?

If the world ends like in a game?

“If something like that really happens, it’s better to prepare in advance.”

Doomsday preppers.

People who live their lives believing that someday the world will end.

It’s rare to find them in Korea, where the land is cramped.

But surprisingly, they are more common in foreign countries like the United States.

Of course, they are generally considered eccentric there as well.

Corona, the war in Ukraine, and so on.

They always made a fuss, but in the end, it all blew over.

Moreover, my evidence is just a single game site.

Am I really becoming one of them by seeing this?

“It’s insane to think that I quit playing one game and now the world is ending.”

My dilemma didn’t last long.

“Alright, let’s do it right away.”

It’s an apocalypse.

Well, my life wasn’t meaningful anyway.

It wouldn’t hurt to bet on this.

Actually, it doesn’t make a difference to me either way.

“…Honestly, the truth is, I don’t really care.”

After all, my life has nothing to do once the game I liked is over.

To live as a human, you need goals and a will to live.

That grim sentence breathed that into me.

Even if others point fingers and call me crazy.

This is how I live.

And you know what?

Maybe it’s the truth that I’ve gone insane, and the sane world has gone mad.

It’s quite fascinating to explain how the Earth server comes to an end. Oh, I mean here on Earth where we live. Specifically, it’s about how it happened in the game ‘Last Day.’ In most other games, there tends to be a nuclear war, a zombie epidemic, or an alien invasion to fill the void. In contrast, ‘Last Day’ starts off very spectacularly. Firstly, all firearms and bombs on Earth disappear. The reason is unknown. Suddenly, it seems like a purple alien flicked its finger, and guns and gunpowder turned into dust and vanished. Next, all communication devices and the internet become completely useless, as if the entire Earth was hit by an EMP. Then comes the onslaught of zombies and monstrous raids. There are no weapons, and communication is non-existent. However, the zombies devour the citizens. Monstrous creatures appear periodically, attacking humans wherever they find them and consuming any remaining food supplies. If that wasn’t enough disaster, it seems the game developers thought it was still insufficient for humanity’s demise. Suddenly, meteors start falling from the sky. My goodness, even meteors. If that philosopher who said he would plant an apple tree witnessed this, wouldn’t he have given up? Moreover, the meteors accurately strike key cities and bases from a military standpoint. Places like the Blue House, the National Assembly building, the 1st Division, and Daejeon’s Sung Sim Dang. Even if General George Marshall, the hero of World War II, were to be reborn, he wouldn’t be able to bomb these strategic points so precisely. It would have been nice if it ended there… Well, not nice, but you know what I mean. And yet, the madness of the game operators didn’t stop there. Was this not enough to achieve their destructive goals? The developers shouted, “Since it turned out like this, let’s attack China!” and rained meteors on China. However, one of those meteors directly hit a fentanyl factory secretly operated by the Chinese government. Yes, the infamous zombie drug. But how did it combine with the virus in the meteor to create a real zombie virus? I’m not sure if that’s biologically possible. Maybe if you desperately wish for it, the universe will help. Perhaps someone fervently prayed for a zombie apocalypse to happen.

The administrator of the Earth server, who fulfills such wishes so faithfully, is truly a son of a bitch. Anyway, because of that, the zombie virus spread worldwide. Well, that doesn’t mean everyone turned into zombies just by breathing. Roughly around 30% depending on the person’s constitution? The zombies won’t just stay still, so thanks to them, the already scarce population got torn to pieces. Damn, this is insane. Guns and gunpowder disappeared too. Monsters are pouring out into the world. The leaders and key facilities for recovery have all turned to ashes. And now the zombie virus has spread there too. Wow, Sans!!! Honestly, with this, I see ample probability for a planet with a 4.6 billion-year history to go to hell. That’s how the Earth server shut down. It feels like somewhere, we hear someone saying, “Ah, what’s fucked up isn’t the Earth, it’s you humans lol.” Isn’t a storm in a teacup not a disaster for the person living inside the teacup? Humanity is screwed. This is the conclusion we reached after long deliberation. We’re fucked. Well… but that doesn’t mean we can just die. Even though the Earth server shut down, we still have to live somehow. If we sleep and simply close our eyes comfortably, who knows what will happen. If we’re still alive, we can only struggle. We pride ourselves on being the most terrible creatures, as long as the will to live continues. Well, there were plenty of people diving into the Han River too. There’s no way to stop that either. Everyone will find it difficult to survive, and maybe even face something more terrible than death. People who surpass the fear of the world and the hope for life. Now this world is not kind enough to protect everyone. More people will die than I probably imagine. In fact, even those who survive are not all hopeful. No one knows when or by whom they will be stabbed in the back and killed. It’s grim, but that’s the world surrounding us now, a world that has already perished. But still, that’s not me. I intend to survive in this kind of world somehow. …Huh? But since earlier, does it seem like I’m talking from the future?

Yeah… Why do I always talk about it as if it really happened? The world hasn’t changed at all, and it’s still running the same way.

[The Earth server is shutting down]

Except for one message that appeared on this persistent site.

…Hmm.