NOVEL NEXT The Strategist I
Now, in the 593rd cycle.
After bringing Oh Dok-seo from the Busan Station Tutorial Dungeon and forming an alliance with the Saintess, I immediately commenced the operation.
The enemy of today's story was none other than the Outer God.
There was no time to be leisurely.
“Sorry. Normally, I would take my time to form a strong rapport with you, but this time, we need to hurry.”
“Ah, okay…”
Oh Dok-seo's reaction was hesitant.
It was understandable. Anyone in her situation would feel uneasy. After all, knowing that the regressor had already memorized every detail about you would be unsettling for anyone.
In a world ravaged by anomalies, realizing that you had read about this situation in a novel gave some confidence but that confidence shattered immediately as the tutorial began, and I destroyed any advantage Oh Dok-seo had gained from the previous cycles. She had no time to enjoy the benefits of the 'Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint' advantage. It was only natural for her to feel insecure.
Oh Dok-seo exhibited leadership when dealing with strangers but revealed too many of her vulnerabilities to those she considered close. She was a person who lived with an imbalance in her heart. And I existed as a very delicate weight on her twisted scale. I wasn't quite a stranger, but I hadn't yet formed a bond of intimacy either—a 'character in a work of fiction.'
Instead of leisurely clearing the tutorial and forming a bond, I had almost forcibly dragged her out of the Busan Station Dungeon, resulting in this uneasy relationship.
“So, um… Undertaker?”
“You can just call me Mister.”
“No, it feels a bit weird to call you Mister on a first meeting… And you're not old enough to be called that. Anyway, why did you bring me here?”
Her heart pounded just a little.
It was something that happened often.
“Oh Dok-seo, have you ever heard of the genre called 'speedrunning'?”
“Huh? Speedrunning?”
Most people played games for enjoyment. However, some humans loved speed itself. The deeply ingrained "ppalli ppalli" (hurry hurry) spirit in Korean DNA, when applied to games, became a common phenomenon worldwide.
-To clear it faster.
-To be the fastest!
Speedrunning, also known as Real-Time Attack (RTA).
Playing a game with the goal of clearing it as quickly as possible. Sometimes, players even used glitches in the game to reduce their time. For example, using 'Hate Pill' and 'Savior' anomalies to crash into each other could be considered a type of glitch play. Many gamers repeatedly failed in their attempts, aiming to leave behind just one speedrun record, the achievement of being the fastest player in the world. I was no different.
“Oh…”
Oh Dok-seo looked up as if recalling something.
“Now that you mention it, I think I saw some gameplay videos like that on YouTube. I remember an American clearing the community center achievement in Stardew Valley in just two hours…”
“Exactly.”
I pulled out a laptop.
“In this world, there is an anomaly-level outer god called the 'Logout Game.'”
And I explained.
As succinctly as possible, while ensuring Oh Dok-seo could fully understand what kind of outer god the 'Logout Game' was, I used words and phrases tailored specifically for her. This explanation style was refined through several trials. Though Oh Dok-seo often exclaimed, “What?” “No way—” and “How can such an anomaly exist,” she grasped the situation relatively clearly in less than ten minutes.
She stared down at the laptop on the table.
“So, this laptop…”
“It’s an item left to me by the outer god. It’s a perk given to a player who kept struggling until the server was about to shut down. It’s also the only clue to defeating the 'Logout Game.'”
Click.
I opened the laptop and launched the only installed program, a notepad.
From the 135th cycle, when the 'Admin of the Infinite Metagame' first destroyed the world, to the current 593rd cycle, the sentence written in the notepad had never changed.
[ W h a t i s t h i s w o r l d ? ]
A simple sentence.
Yet, not an easy question.
Oh Dok-seo frowned.
“What is this world…? What does that mean?”
“It’s a battle over who gets to define our world.”
“Huh?”
“Listen closely. This outer god defined this world as a 'game.' High-level anomalies each try to define the world in their own way.”
I spoke calmly.
“Defining the world requires significant power. The 'Admin of the Infinite Metagame' introduced many features such as status windows, level-ups, and logout systems to prove that this world is a game.”
“Oh…”
“People then accepted and believed that the world was indeed a game. I call this 'being bewitched by the anomaly.'”
The Magical Girl Association referred to the same phenomenon as kamikakushi (神隠し).
“In other words, anomalies can never deny the systems they create. Giving them up would also mean losing their bewitching power.”
“Oh… I think I understand…”
“The 'Admin of the Infinite Metagame' defined himself as a game administrator. Therefore, he can only perform actions allowed to an administrator.”
For instance, why could Sim Ah-ryeon resist the 'Logout Game' even slightly?
Why, when even individuals with extraordinary mental fortitude like Noh Do-hwa and the Saintess were helplessly logged out, was Sim Ah-ryeon an exception? The reason was simple.
- Huh, reality? Being in the moment? Saying that I don't need the internet because I'm happy right now? Are you stupid? Guild leader, are you really that stupid?
- Here, inside this smartphone screen, is reality! It’s the truth!
Sim Ah-ryeon did not treat the 'Logout Game' as a mere game. Just as she projected herself into SG Net, Sim Ah-ryeon genuinely immersed herself in the 'Logout Game,' which had engulfed the world in emptiness. To her, disconnecting from SG Net was impossible. Even in the utopia Dang Seo-rin created in Busan, Sim Ah-ryeon never stopped her community activities until the very end. Likewise, if Sim Ah-ryeon started playing a game, quitting it was equally impossible. To her, such an act was akin to dying in reality.
――Therefore, the 'Admin of the Infinite Metagame' could not delete Sim Ah-ryeon’s account without cause or reason. There was always a loophole for anomalies, even for outer gods.
“I was the one who denied until the end that this world was a game.”
“You, Undertaker?”
“Yes. To the 'Admin of the Infinite Metagame,' I’m an extremely troublesome critic who constantly gives low ratings and calls the game trash.”
To the outer god, I was an enemy that had to be eliminated. In response, the anomaly challenged me with the question, "Then why don’t you create a game yourself?" The notepad file on the laptop embodied this challenge.
“'If this world is not a game, then what is it?' This is what the outer god is asking me.”
“Oh…”
Oh Dok-seo’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
I wanted to use the [Mind Reading] skill to gauge her thoughts, but I refrained, remembering my promise not to do so again.
“The battle between the outer god and me is simple. If I type 'This world is a game,' I lose. It would be as if I raised the white flag and surrendered.”
“What’s the victory condition?”
“To come up with an answer that the outer god cannot help but accept.”
So far, I had failed to type the correct answer into the laptop.
[This world has material substance.]
[This world is eternally recurring.]
[This world has no anomalies.]
I had tried various answers, but the outer god never accepted any of them. Nothing changed. Simply forcing my desires with power was meaningless. Just as I resisted the 'Logout Game,' the outer god resisted the regressor. Both of us were not strong enough to impose our will unilaterally on the other but strong enough to avoid being overpowered.
A stalemate. A tie. A deadlock.
“But, Oh Dok-seo, your arrival brings hope.”
“What?”
She looked startled.
“Me?”
“Yes. I am a regressor, and you are a book possessor. Both of us are in an 'exceptional position' in creative works. Even if we are not protagonists, we hold significant importance as main characters.”
“...…”
“That makes such a stunt possible.”
Click, clack.
I typed on the laptop keyboard.
Black letters spread across the white notepad file from my fingertips.
[This world is a 'speedrun' game livestream.]
Oh Dok-seo muttered blankly.
“A speedrun game livestream…?”
“You said you watched similar videos on YouTube, so it should be easy to understand.”
I pointed at her.
“Oh Dok-seo, you are the 'protagonist' character of this game.”
Then I pointed at myself.
“I am the 'player' controlling you, the protagonist character, on the computer.”
“...…”
“The character and the player are sometimes considered one, but they are always separate. However, both are treated as 'exceptional beings' within the game world.”
“I’m the protagonist, and you… are the player controlling me.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“The outer god defined this world as 'a game with only characters.' That’s why people logged out so easily. They were bewitched by the anomaly, thinking it was simply logging out of a character, not dying themselves.”
“……”
“We need to deny the outer god’s strategy head-on. Both you, the character, and I, the player, must coexist in this world. In other words, this world is not just a game with logged-in characters—it’s a world where players who can log out also exist. Real humans and characters coexist.”
I smiled.
“You’re quick to understand. That’s right.”
I showed her a prepared diagram.
“Whether viewed on a computer monitor or a smartphone screen, a 'game livestream' typically looks like this.”
The diagram looked like this, summarized:
――――――――――
[Game Screen]
[Game Screen] [Streamer’s Face]
[Game Screen] [Streamer’s Face]
――――――――――
A format commonly seen on YouTube.
“In the bottom right or left corner, the streamer’s face and upper body are shown, while the rest of the screen displays the game in progress.”
“Right.”
“The streamer corresponds to the player. The figure in the game is merely a character. But the important fact here is that 'in a game livestream, both the character and the player coexist.'”
“……”
“If the world is defined as just a game, there’s no way to withstand the logout. But if it’s defined as a game livestream, we can neutralize the outer god.”
I folded the diagram.
“You should be familiar with this format, especially since you primarily read novels. 'Constellation stories' often follow this format.”
“Yes. Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint was also a constellation story.”
“How about it, Oh Dok-seo? Will you join me in defeating the 'Admin of the Infinite Metagame'?”
I extended my hand.
Before Oh Dok-seo could reflexively grasp it, I added a crucial warning.
“This won’t be an easy fight.”
“...…”
“You must follow my instructions precisely. The tasks I give you will be challenging. There will be frightening and disgusting tasks. Fighting the outer god will be extremely difficult.”
Oh Dok-seo remained silent.
“Still, is this the best scenario you’ve thought of, Undertaker?”
“…So far.”
“Then, I’ll trust you.”
Oh Dok-seo took my hand.
“Let’s clear this trash game together.”
“...…”
I slowly nodded.
At that moment.
[Starting the fastest speedrun in the world.]
Flinch.
Oh Dok-seo blinked and looked around, startled. But there was no one else around us.
An emotionless voice.
Of course, it was the Saintess’s telepathy.
[The game this time is called the 'Logout Game,' made by a strange company called the Admin of the Infinite Metagame.]
I deliberately didn’t arrange a meeting between the Saintess and Oh Dok-seo. In the 593rd cycle, the novel 'Omniscient Regressor's Viewpoint' Oh Dok-seo read hadn’t progressed to the point where she met the Saintess. Therefore, the voice she heard would genuinely sound like 'a constellation streaming a game' to her.
“Uh, um, Undertaker, what is this…?”
I smiled.
“I told you.”
[It’s a problematic game, but there’s no reason I can’t achieve the fastest clear.]
“We’re livestreaming a game.”
[Among the characters, Oh Dok-seo, who has the attribute of 'book possessor,' has immense potential despite lacking significant stats now. She’s the perfect candidate for a speedrun.]
“Oh Dok-seo, I’ve prepared extensively for this cycle.”
The Saintess’s voice gently flowed.
[Logout Game speedrun.]
[Let’s get started.]
Footnotes:
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