I Became a Monster in a T*ash Game

Where am I? The red eyes wandered through the void. What constricted his breath was undoubtedly deep resignation and lethargy.
Yet somehow his body thrummed with strength. Joo-o, who had been listlessly fiddling with his fingers, suddenly caught a familiar scent carried on the air.
‘Jin Muhae….’
It was Jin Muhae’s smell. Only then did the stalled gears in his head begin to turn again.
This place was… a shelter far from Seogyeong City. An abandoned space for a long time.
Joo-o had come outside with Muhae to look for the researcher. They planned to spend the night at the second shelter, and Muhae lay asleep on the bed right next to him.
When he slowly turned his head, he saw a still silhouette lying in the darkness. Even though the muscles looked relaxed, his face did not look gentle by any stretch.
But Joo-o knew: behind that indifferent expression and clipped speech was someone more humane than anyone else in this game.
He’d played this damned game a hundred times. He couldn’t remember the details, but he always felt that truth intuitively.
That was why countless data points remained in his mind: every reaction of Jin Muhae, every new facet he’d ever shown.
Warmth spread to his fingertips. Joo-o curled himself into a ball and lay down on his side.
Kreeeek. The rusty hinges of the bed groaned, and Muhae’s tightly shut eyelids fluttered open.
“…Not sleeping, what are you doing?”
How could he know Joo-o was awake when all he could see was darkness?
He had no idea, but in any case Muhae was sharp and perceptive.
“Jin Muhae.”
“What.”
“Want to sleep together.”
He glanced around, then spoke in a low, husky voice.
“The bed’s too small for that. Don’t you see my feet are already halfway off?”
“……”
At Joo-o’s silence, Muhae sighed and ran a hand through his hair. After a moment, he swung his tall frame out of bed.
He gathered the musty mattress and bedding from the other bed, then flung them onto the floor as-is.
“Lie down.”
Joo-o smiled broadly without realizing it. The strange tightness in his chest that had pressed on him until moments ago melted away like snow in spring.
It was exactly like cotton candy. Once, in Jae-gang district, he’d begged Muhae to share some. Sweet, soft, gone in an instant.
And yet the taste lingered, making him laugh again and again. Muhae had given him every last bit because he said it was too sweet—and that made it all the better.
“Hold me.”
“Did you dream?”
How could he not sense that, too? Joo-o hadn’t said a word.
As expected, Muhae was the best. Stupid but smart. Joo-o chuckled softly and quickly settled onto the floor.
When firm arms wrapped around him, even the leftover unpleasantness vanished. Joo-o buried his nose in Muhae’s chest and drew in a deep breath.
The dark shelter grew silent at once. Joo-o peeked out, summoned the system window over Muhae’s shoulder, and read:
WELCOME TO LA VIDA :)
~Day 15, Year 233~
[Quests]
Main Quest
Tutorial (Completed)
CHAPTER 1 (Completed)

CHAPTER 2
☞ Those Responsible for the Lost Reform (Completed)
- Scheduled Duty √
- DIY 777 √
- Blue not Vlue √
- Planned Hero √
- Sewer Exploration √
- One to Replace the Net √
☞ Cooperation Across the Sea (In Progress)
- Letter from the Past √
- Golden Remnants √
- Fourth Companion √
- Lost Link (In Progress)
[Lost Link]
I saw the researcher who survived the Olga calamity.
Let’s find that person and uncover the traces of Solar City.
He had helped Muhae on a few side quests and accepted small requests that didn’t appear in direct play. Yet Chapter 2 of the long story had already passed its midpoint. It was strange: that slow trek toward the next quest, once over, felt like a flash in hindsight.
‘Come to think of it… was that this?’
Ever since Joo-o had joined, subtle changes had begun appearing in the story. The main thread stayed the same, but minor details diverged from what Joo-o knew.
He’d even encountered clues and events that couldn’t be found in the game. Realizing they tied back into the main plot sent a tingle of excitement through him.
―Breaking news. On May 22 we declared jijikjik jijik– chiiiii–…
The memories seen in his dream were so fragmented that he still didn’t know what he’d done before falling into this world.
But Joo-o was certain: everything was moving forward. The game’s story, and the past glimpsed in his dreams.
Aligned with the passing time, Joo-o could think more clearly and judge more complexly. Even the changes he’d suppressed for fear Muhae would pull away now surfaced, gently and cautiously.
That was why. The memories of his past—unreachable for fifteen years—had begun slowly returning.
‘I’ll stay close. I’ll never let go.’
That desire burned more fiercely than when his mind had been simple. Maybe Joo-o had yearned for this world—and for Jin Muhae—even before falling into La Vida Blue.
“…Alright. Don’t squirm.”
A low, rumbling voice tickled his ear. Joo-o nodded and buried his head in Muhae’s arms again.
After all, he wanted to remain by Muhae’s side forever. He hadn’t found a single route to the true ending without giving up blue energy.
In a world made real, nothing flowed entirely freely. So Joo-o would never give up.
“Damn.”
By morning, they’d checked two more shelters. It was possible only because there’d been no rocky mountains or rugged terrain along the way.
But the remaining shelters wouldn’t be so easy to reach. Already, a forest trail too narrow for the bike blocked their path.
According to the intel they’d scoped out before leaving, it hadn’t been this dense…
“We’ll go back around.”
Muhae checked the bike’s fuel and raised his GPS. Amazingly, Joo-o deciphered the map—just a mesh of lines—at a glance.
“Will it take long?”
“About five hours riding straight ahead.”
No matter how much Boss Gil and he had reinforced the bike’s stability, riding over unpaved dirt tracks for so long would cripple one’s spine.
Yet Joo-o wore an unconcerned look. If anything, he was happy to cling to the back for that long. Simple to the extreme.
“Good thing it’s not raining.”
True. There had been no forecast of rain clouds nearby, but external weather reports were never reliable.
Hearing Joo-o’s remark eased Muhae’s restlessness. He forced a positive air into his mind and fired up the engine.
“Don’t toss the used skewers anywhere.”
Beyond here, anomalies roamed. No need to douse these new human scents in irritant spices.
“Got it.”
Joo-o nodded as if it were obvious and slid the long stick into his bag. He’d probably stuffed in other odds and ends, too—he’d need to clean everything when they returned.
Swoooosh—
The faster the bike went, the louder the wind grew. Even the thud of wheels kicking dirt was partly drowned out, yet Muhae somehow still caught Joo-o’s voice behind him.
“Jin Muhae.”
“…….”
Of course, he didn’t answer. He didn’t want to wipe out at this insane speed on rough ground.
Even without him echoing back, Joo-o always said whatever he needed to say.
“Is blue bad?”
Joo-o, who usually spouted meaningless nonsense, asked an unexpected question. Muhae paused to consider the sudden change of heart, then answered immediately.
“Right now, this is all powered by blue energy.”
“Then why destroy it?”
“Well…”
A simple, ignorant question suddenly branched into complexity. Muhae eased off the throttle and glanced back.
Damn. Joo-o was sticking so close that only his side hair was visible. Abandoning any attempt to read his expression, Muhae refocused on riding.
“Nothing’s entirely bad or entirely good. You just choose which offers more gain than loss.”
He’d answered halfheartedly, but it sounded convincing once spoken. Humanity had gained blue energy yet lost freedom, and even the supposedly safe comfort zones might be destroyed by some variable.
Before Solar City, there was Shinkyo City, and before that, countless comfort zones had vanished.
In the end, the future was a slow march to ruin. The Returners—and his father—had tried to rip human life from that zero-sum game.
“Loss?”
The concept must have ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) been profound for Joo-o, because he murmured the word back.
“Blue energy.”
“If the bike won’t run, what do we ride?”
“Anything. Humans don’t die so easily, originally.”
So this world had adapted quickly, sprouting comfort zones everywhere.
And a kid from the slums had scraped together two hundred thousand deals against all odds.
“Whoa.”
Muhae yanked the handlebars to avoid a deep rut.
Not good. Since it wasn’t urgent danger like an anomaly jumping out, they could finish the conversation off the bike.
That is, if Joo-o remembered any of it. He got happy easily and forgot things just as fast.
And Muhae was the same. Holding onto bad things too long only wasted energy—and life was too complicated to fuss over minor sentiments.
Only thoughts of blue energy lingered faintly in his mind.
Earth laid waste by sucking every fuel source for energy, and people already acclimated to blue energy’s efficiency….
It took six hours to reach the next shelter. Muhae clicked his tongue softly and rolled his sore shoulders.
At last, a building appeared—far from the usual shelters’ nonsensical designs. It looked less like architecture and more like a mass of vines grown densely together.
“Jin Muhae. Something’s off here.”
“I know.”
A radius of dozens of meters around it was cleared like a front yard. Taller weeds grew up to knee height, but not a single obstructive tree or rock stood in the way.
He could feel someone’s handiwork. Muhae slid a hand behind his back and walked slowly toward the shelter.
If something strange popped out, he’d zap it with a taser immediately. It was likelier to be human than a monster, but better safe than sorry.