Ch.11. A New Story

What is punk?

A world where science and magical technology are so advanced that human dignity is worth less than a single bill.

A world where intangible values like love, religion, and truth can’t even be considered jokes.

Stories about living in such a world are called punk genres.

A dystopia with developed steam engines is steampunk.

A dystopia with developed diesel engines is dieselpunk.

A dystopia with developed mechanical engineering is cyberpunk.

Just sprinkle some SF seasoning on dystopia, and that’s punk.

I like this punk genre.

Money becomes increasingly important, and even emotions are calculated in terms of money. When I look at myself, barely surviving just to earn that money, it doesn’t seem like a story from another world.

Of course, the world I live in hasn’t deteriorated to that extent, and technology hasn’t reached such a singularity yet,

But watching it change in that direction year after year, I think by the time I die of old age, it will become either cyberpunk or biopunk.

As you can tell from my punk talk, my favorite game series is definitely <Punk City>.

A series that appeared ten years ago, showcasing a high-quality open world and bringing a new genre to the gaming market.

This series caused game companies to jump into open world development left and right, but none came close to their reputation.

There’s a saying that Punk City’s only rival is the previous Punk City, and it’s not without reason.

The setting of this masterpiece is, as the title suggests, a punk world.

The basic foundation is SF punk, but they claim it’s fusion punk by adding magic and genetic engineering.

I’m a die-hard fan of this series and consider myself among the veteran players.

I could proudly say that anywhere.

I’m not particularly skilled at controls, but I’m the type of veteran who brings incredible strategies through meticulous planning.

Since getting a job, my playtime has decreased to about an hour a day, but before that, I played more than 9 hours daily, somehow reaching a total of 20,000 hours.

(Of course, in the community, I still pretend to be a newbie.)

But even as someone who loves the series this much, I have one complaint about it.

After playing through all kinds of endings and concepts, repeating playthroughs so many times I’ve lost count,

After getting tired of the third game and revisiting the first and second, each exceeding 4,000 hours,

These developer bastards

Haven’t released the fourth game.

*

When the series that used to release a new title every 2-3 years didn’t come out after 3 years, my first reaction was understanding.

‘Games don’t have predetermined results, they might take some time.’

Then came depression.

‘Could the company be short on money? Or have they lost affection for the fans?’

Then negotiation.

‘I’ll pay more! If that’s not enough, at least release some DLC! Please, part 4!!!’

Anger.

‘You bastards! How could you do this! After all the love I’ve given you!’

And now, denial.

“Hehe. No way. Part 4 must be out there. I’m just too stupid to find it.”

The problem is that I’ve been in this denial stage for 2.5 years, and all Punk City series fans are in the same state.

Now, 5 years after the third game with no news, the word “Punk City” has become a trigger for fans.

================

I got a tire puncture

– The title says it all

Comments

– What? Punk City? Punk City? Punk City? Punk City?

– Punk? Punk? Punk City? Punk City?

– The end of waiting has come so let’s all hold hands and pray Punk City Punk City

================

That’s roughly the situation.

While I was among that crowd desperately waiting for the 4th game, my angel suddenly appeared.

As usual, I came home after work, showered, and turned on my computer.

While Punk City 3 was loading, I alt-tabbed to check the community as part of my routine.

And right as I entered the community, I saw a trending post:

[Punk City 4 Development Rumor Leak]

As always, thinking it might be clickbait, I entered with a lukewarm attitude just to check.

And there were images and videos too credible to be mere clickbait.

By the time I had almost finished reading, I couldn’t help but believe the leak and was about to cheer with joy.

But as I scrolled to the very end, I saw:

[By the way, this is all made up.]

“…”

Only then did I understand why this post was trending.

These bastards…

They couldn’t bear to suffer alone.

Normally, I would have joined them by clicking the like button to help trick others,

But having just finished two consecutive night shifts, I wasn’t in the mood.

Rising blood pressure.

Tightening neck.

Constricted chest.

And suddenly, a headache.

Ah.

Something burst in my head.

I collapsed without resistance.

What a cursed end.

*

Fortunately, by God’s grace, I woke up alone the next morning.

It was truly fortunate.

Living alone, if I collapsed, no one would report it, so this was a stroke of luck.

I should take sick leave today and tomorrow and visit the emergency room.

Thinking this as I tried to move, I noticed something strange on my computer screen, which I hadn’t turned off when I collapsed yesterday.

It was a trailer uploaded on the official Punk City YouTube channel.

“Huh?”

Forgetting even about going to the hospital, I instinctively tried to play the YouTube video, but my right hand wouldn’t move.

I couldn’t feel it.

And it didn’t end there.

Not just my right hand, but my left hand, legs, and even my face.

Gradually, sensation disappeared from my entire body, and my vision darkened.

When I regained consciousness, I was still lying on the cold floor, staring at the fluorescent light on the ceiling.

After desperately racking my barely functioning brain, I concluded…

‘Damn. Even when dying, I get the light tunnel ending.’

Clearly, God must hate me.

Couldn’t I at least die peacefully?

While I was lamenting, my senses gradually faded away.

It was truly the end.

*

I opened my eyes again.

I could properly feel myself standing in a white space.

Checking reality for a few minutes, hoping it wasn’t another light tunnel ending.

In conclusion, I existed in this place, and this was neither a dream nor an illusion.

My fingers and toes moved well.

My nose caught my familiar scent.

I could hear sounds and my voice clearly.

And finally, I could clearly see the busty beauty in front of me.

…. Huh?

“Who are you?”

The woman in front of me spoke.

“I am the goddess of the world you loved.”

*

To summarize my conversation with Mom… I mean, the Goddess:

I had died, and she was the goddess of the Punk City world.

When I asked how the game came to exist in our world,

She said she wanted to show off her lovely world but had no one to show it to, so she was bored.

So she continuously showed this world in the dreams of game developers with sufficient ability and capital over several years, and they unconsciously turned it into a game.

‘Sorry for calling you bald.’

I felt sympathy for the developers who must have been gaslighted through dreams for decades, after I had cursed them as bald for not releasing the game.

Moment of silence ends here.

When I asked why I was brought here, she answered,

She was moved by how much I loved her world, even searching for Punk City in my dying moments, so she called me here to reincarnate me into that world.

According to her, she didn’t want anything from me.

She just wanted to see how I, who loved her world, would live in it.

It wasn’t coercion either.

If I didn’t want to go to that world, she would send me back to Earth.

With the added explanation that if I returned to that world, I wouldn’t be resurrected, but would go to either reincarnation or heaven.

She gave me two choices:

Either take the portal behind me to Earth’s afterlife, or take the reincarnation portal behind the goddess to Punk City. The choice was mine.

I wanted to dive straight into Punk City.

But my reason held me back.

Doesn’t it seem strange?

The logic of reincarnating me just because I loved her world.

What’s her ulterior motive?

Or is she just bored?

Maybe she’s a naive goddess with too much pride in her world?

No, considering recent reincarnation stories, there might be some terrible plot waiting…

Then I realized that if she was a goddess, she might be able to read my thoughts, and I quickly composed myself.

But she responded to my rude thoughts with a smile more merciful than any I had ever seen.

“Do I need to explain why I want to show off the world I love to someone who loves it just as much?”

Like a fan showing endless kindness to another fan of the same genre.

Like a veteran player helping a newbie.

It was simply love given without expecting anything in return.

That was the only reason, as the goddess embraced me with her benevolent smile and inclusiveness.

Instead of reproaching my distrust and rudeness, she comforted me, saying it must have been hard living with such distrust.

And she said:

“That world might be a bit different from what you loved through the game. But I want to tell you this: Just as you loved that world regardless of which series it was, you too deserve to be loved, no matter what kind of person you are.”

I felt her touch.

With each stroke of her warm hand on my head, my doubts melted away like snow.

The goddess finally told me:

“Have confidence. No matter what anyone says, you are the protagonist of your own life.”

A tear rolled down my cheek.

Having lived alone without knowing love, this unconditional love was too warm for me,

Her compassion, returning love simply because I had loved, was too radiant,

I couldn’t help but vow on the spot:

“I will definitely live happily and show you.”

On the day I was born anew as a mother’s child, my second life began.

*

After the reincarnator disappeared into the portal, only one woman remained in the white space.

She sighed, looking in the direction where the reincarnator had vanished before even hearing her words.

“I wonder if I’ve burdened him too much…”

Just before he threw himself into the reincarnation portal, the goddess had glimpsed his mind, which was filled with a sense of responsibility.

That wasn’t her intention, but his mind was filled with a sense of duty to benefit the world as a “protagonist(?)”

“Haah…”

There was no need for that.

She just wanted to give him a chance to directly experience the world he had seen through the game.

The goddess worried that in his second life, he might be too burdened by responsibility to look around him.

Because of this, she wanted to tell him through divine revelation that he didn’t need to be so consumed by responsibility, but she refrained.

After the underworld had developed civilization in earnest, she had clearly stated through the mouths of prophets that she would no longer intervene through direct revelations for the independence of her children.

In such a situation, giving revelations only to the reincarnator would be favoritism and a denial of her own promise.

From the moment he descended to the underworld, he was both her child and an independent entity.

Out of respect for her new child’s independence, she decided not to give revelations.

She erased her worries about the reincarnator from her mind and began working on crafting his physical appearance.

Wouldn’t it be nice to give him the appearance he desired for his reincarnation?

Of course, he hadn’t specified how he wanted to look.

But people often reflect their desires in their characters.

So the appearance of the character he invested the most playtime in would likely be his desired appearance.

The goddess checked the characters the reincarnator had used.

Among them, she identified the character with the most invested time and…

Was horrified.

“W-what is this?”

The character with 3,000 hours of playtime was a strange creature with fist-sized eyeballs, protruding cheekbones, and purple skin.

Moreover, it had no hair on its body, and its only weapon was a Dildo.

Even worse, the nickname was Prostate Opene-

She stopped reading the nickname.

In thousands of years, she had seen countless instances of madness and malice, but this nickname was comparable to, perhaps even far exceeding, those.

Fortunately, the goddess understood human hearts well enough to avoid the mistake of thinking this joke character represented the reincarnator’s true desires.

Her gaze moved to the next one.

A total of 2,000 hours.

Sunglasses, rabbit ears, and a reverse bunny girl outfit… worn by a hairy-legged, pot-bellied middle-aged man.

The concept was a man who hypnotizes people through hacking.

“Rejected.”

A total of 1,400 hours.

A rainbow-colored afro with a bushy beard… on a girl(?).

The concept was a magical girl who turns people’s heads into afros with a squeaky hammer. (Gender: both.)

“What on earth…”

The goddess continued checking the reincarnator’s characters.

This reincarnator’s brain seemed completely abnormal.

Feeling her SAN points decreasing with each character she checked, the goddess eliminated candidates one by one.

And at the end, she found the face of a reasonably kind-looking man.

It was a very kind face that 10 out of 10 people wouldn’t doubt if approached on the street.

In human terms, he was a handsome man with an appealing appearance.

That must be the reincarnator’s true desire.

‘Phew…’

Having finally completed her work, she sighed in relief.

Satisfied with the reincarnator’s completed appearance, she looked down at the underworld again.

Anticipating the new story that the reincarnator who had plunged into that world would write.