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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Hidden Piece
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"Goddamn it, what kind of trash game is this?"
I clenched my fist, glaring at the 'Game Over' message on the monitor.
The moment my meticulously raised character blew up into pieces.
It took every ounce of willpower not to hurl the mouse across the room—the rage was that intense.
But like always, I calmed myself down and lit a cigarette.
"...My life's a legend too, clinging to this one game for over five years."
I lit the cigarette and gazed out the window.
Then again, who was I to call something trash?
Park Hyun-myeong—my parents named me wisely, hoping I'd live smart.
But I wasn't living wisely at all.
Outside, the sun was already high in the sky.
Not even the weekend. A weekday when everyone else was busting their asses at work.
Meanwhile, this total NEET hadn't showered and was glued to his game like a shut-in.
"Time to quit."
Pangeniar. The game that exploded in popularity five years ago.
It got trashed hard at launch, called insane.
Because when your character dies, everything vanishes, and you have to start from square one.
Plus, unprecedented brutal difficulty with zero clearers.
Maybe that's why.
The hype fizzled out in a flash.
Honestly, at this point, I wondered if anyone else even played anymore.
The homepage server logs showed concurrent players at always 0 or 1.
For the record, 0 when I wasn't playing, 1 when I was.
...A dead game with one player online, and they still hadn't shut down the servers. Impressive, whatever.
Perfect timing, though. I had nothing but time.
Lost my job, and the girlfriend who nagged me daily was gone too.
"Sigh, damn it."
A sudden memory hit me, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
—Oppa, you're a good guy, but... I'm sorry. I can't keep dating someone without a future. We're at that age where marriage is on the table.
Dumped hard by my five-year girlfriend.
Guess she pictured a future without me in it.
—My friends are all dating or marrying chaebol heirs or big-corp hotshots, and Oppa... Ugh, whatever. Let's end it.
She sorted it all out on her own and bounced. Bitch.
Thanks to that, I quit the dead-end job too. What now? Learn a skill or something?
Click. I grabbed the mouse.
Soon, 'Create character?' popped up on screen.
'Life's always darkest before dawn, right?'
Same thought when making my previous character. But the real end is always the very last one.
Of course, besides the one I just deleted, the character select screen was packed.
Some hit max level, others decked out in treasures—but I was sure none had clear-tier specs.
This insane game had sections where difficulty spiked ridiculously.
Bosses that made you question if they were beatable, allies who backstabbed out of nowhere, named NPCs that hunted you if you got a bounty...
Take the test character 'Brainless Scammer' the devs left for maintenance checks: max level, decent treasure items, but he'd pulled so much bullshit that named NPCs slapped a top-tier bounty on him. Log in, and instant execution.
Some top-tier named NPCs outleveled max player, so once they marked you, deletion was inevitable.
Couldn't even log in anymore.
Anyway.
"Fun time, fun time."
The character I poured my soul into for a clear? Deleted.
Thinking of the gear I'd lost nearly brought tears. Stripped unique items from other alts to build him...
Only 15 known uniques in Pangeniar. Dumped eight into one character.
All-in gamble. Death meant five years down the drain.
But it died. Character gone, items vaporized. Fuck...
'Soul Points 1.6 million? Uniques really pump out the points.'
Lose something, gain something.
Pangeniar has the Soul Point (SP) system.
When a character dies, it converts its value to points.
Use SP for advantages on new characters.
Five years, hundreds deleted—netted about 80k SP. But deleting an eight-unique beast? 1.6 million SP.
Not just uniques; highest chapter progress too. Close to clear spec, for sure.
'10k SP per talent? Jackpot.'
Main use: talents.
At creation, invest SP in desired talents for steep growth based on amount.
Max cap: 10k SP.
Past example: 'Pollock Conan' dumped 10k into swordsmanship, died with Swordmaster title.
'Normally, I'd go safe with lightning magic talents...'
Few reliable routes. Safest: lightning-element magic talents.
But hundreds of talent types. 1.6M SP could max a ton.
'3k+ into each major element unlocks Void attribute. Then 5k more into Void for Void trait.'
Talents unlock talents. Hidden pieces galore. Even a vet like me hadn't uncovered them all.
'Void trait lets you use opposing magics. Grab Light and Dark affinity too—must-have.'
Can't mix clashing attributes on one character without tools or mediums.
But Void trait overrides that.
Problem: Void alone eats 10k SP, starving other talents.
Brutal game. Death loses invested SP too. Hard to start specialized.
'True fun's random, though. All random, let's go!'
Overplanning just gives headaches. For pure fun before quitting? All random's king.
Everything randomized, traits included!
Doom choice, but I smiled.
Not clearing anyway. Fun's the goal.
All 1.6M SP on random.
'Can't clear it anyway.'
Tried everything to beat it.
Conclusion: wasn't made to be cleared.
At launch, devs challenged players:
—We'll grant one wish to whoever clears the game.
Any wish. That line drew hordes who tried and failed.
Five years later, still no clear.
A year ago, a few lingered. Now, just me.
But first and last time: real fun.
'Hit it?'
Randomized appearance before, but 'all random'? My first. Infamous for waste.
Hard choice, essence of past time.
Closed my eyes.
And.
Click!
Pressed it.
Dice rolled. Everything randomized.
But that wasn't the end.
[Hidden Piece activated.]
[Congratulations! Satisfied singularity condition—invited to Pangeniar!]
Unseen text on monitor.
"Hidden Piece?"
[Brighter than light, darker than shadow, dweller in creation and destruction's vortex. May you find happiness in Pangeniar.]
Game intro played.
Reached to skip as usual.
"Huh...?"
Text oozed out of the monitor.
That moment.
—You dogshit god! I'll burn every world you made!
A grating metallic voice.
Hellscape unfolded before my eyes.
Pangeniar continent crashing onto Earth, both crumbling.
Not shitty graphics—real as reality.
Intro had this cutscene?
Doubt flickered.
Then consciousness faded far away.