Perhaps it all started with a phone call. A mundane, ordinary phone call to Lee Minjoon, an average worker.
"Didn't I tell you I quit that stuff a long time ago?"
"No, come on! Just do it once, even if you think you're being fooled!"
To think he had to listen to such a strange proposal out of the blue on this golden weekend evening. The voice on the other end was brimming with excitement, but Minjoon let out a sigh with an unimpressed look on his face.
The person calling Minjoon was a college acquaintance who occasionally attended the same lectures. While they did hang out together, they weren't particularly close, so after graduation and getting their respective jobs, they naturally lost touch. The last he'd heard was that the guy had gotten a job at some game company.
"Hey, did I suddenly send you a wedding invitation or invite you to a baby shower? We're not complete strangers, so can't you do me this small favor?"
Well, it was a hundred times better than asking him to show up to a wedding with a cash gift. But in terms of convenience, it was still quite bothersome, and honestly, Minjoon didn't want to do it.
"Just download the game and leave a review! You review often, don't you? I checked and saw that you still post reviews on your blog sometimes. That's why I called."
"This bastard, trying to get free viral marketing… Wait, before that! I don't play gacha games anymore! You saw me blow over a million won on in-game purchases back in school, and you're still asking me this?"
That was it. The reason this annoying college acquaintance had called Minjoon was to ask him to play and review a new game that his company had just produced. It was bad enough that he was trying to squeeze out a free review by leveraging their past friendship, but what really irked Minjoon was the type of game it was.
No matter how favorably Minjoon tried to interpret his former classmate's explanation, the true nature of this new game was what is commonly known as a 'gacha game.' It's a gambling-like game where you randomly draw characters, equipment, or other random items. This method had already become mainstream in mobile gaming.
"They call it a game, but it's essentially no different from gambling. No, maybe gambling is better since at least you can win money?"
To become stronger in the game, you need to draw good characters and equip them with high-grade gear. The problem is, whether you draw a good or bad character in the gacha game is purely a matter of luck.
If you're lucky, you might snag a top-tier rare character with just one or two free draws. But if you're unlucky, you could pour in a million or three million won and end up with nothing but trash, leaving you frustrated. Some might laugh and call you an idiot for spending millions on a mere game, but once you're in it, you can't say that anymore.
When everyone else seems to have all the best equipment and characters through some unknown means, and you're the only one without them, human reason can go out the window surprisingly easily. Add to that a dash of unchecked optimism of 'if luck is just slightly on my side, I could get that character too,' opening your wallet becomes a matter of seconds.
And so, the addicted suckers—no, enthusiastic players—desperately pour money into the game to obtain top-tier characters and equipment.
'I must have been crazy back then. Spending money on mere bits of data that disappear when you delete the game…'
By now, you've probably figured out this was actually Minjoon's story. Minjoon was the sucker who poured several months' worth of part-time job earnings into non-existent characters on a screen.
He only came to his senses when the game shut down after half a year. If the game had remained popular for a long time, he might still be getting his wallet drained. Having been badly burned once, he didn't want to fall for it a second time.
Of course, even now as a company employee who has graduated from university, Minjoon still loves games. He regularly posts game reviews on his blog, which is how it reached his former classmate's ears. However, the games he enjoys now are mostly PC games without any gacha elements, and he absolutely refuses to touch games with gambling elements, no matter how fun they're rumored to be.
"I'm not telling you to spend any money! I'll give you coupons! I'll give you as many as you want, so just try it out!"
"You're trying to pay for the review with coupons! No, before that, how many do I have to say no before you understand? Are you perhaps investing in the hope that I'll get addicted to the game later and spend a ton of money?"
After that incident, Minjoon didn't trust his own judgement or self-control one bit. Humans are creatures of their environment, and to avoid failure, one must eliminate the surrounding factors that could lead to it. Rather than risk touching a game that stimulates the urge to gamble and end up pouring a ridiculous amount of money again, it's better not to start in the first place.
"If you have nothing else to say, I'm hanging up."
"W-wait! If you're upset because I'm not paying for the review, I'll pay you!"
"Now you're talking! I don't need it, you know? It's not like I'm short on money. Don't you know that saying it at this particular moment only pisses me off?"
"Then something else! You still like console games, right? I'll buy you a game console! You know that latest console from Company N that's so popular you can't buy it even if you want to? I'll get you the limited edition of that!"
Minjoon's hand, which was about to press the end call button, stopped for a moment. He shouldn't fall for such nonsense. Even if the idea of someone in a secondhand marketplace could claim to be selling a rare, limited edition console at a cheap price is something a scammer would do. So, he thought it would be better to hang up now, but…
'If it's a lie, I'll storm that bastard's company and beat him up, that's all.'
Minjoon sighed, thinking once again that he really couldn't trust his own judgement and self-control. But what could he do? It's only natural to be tempted by a limited edition console that's rumored to be impossible to buy even if you offer extra money. In the end, Minjoon accepted that stupid proposal.
When it was time to sleep, he turned off the lights, lay down on his bed, and turned on his phone. He searched for the game name his former classmate had mentioned, and at the top of the search results appeared a game with an impressive icon. It was said to be a new game, and indeed, it was a fresh release that had just come out today.
As soon as he pressed the download button, the download and installation were completed in an instant. Usually, it would take about 10 to 30 seconds to download, but this time it was installed so quickly that it was rather puzzling.
'That download speed is incredibly fast. Is the game size small?'
Although Minjoon found it strange, he immediately tapped the game icon. As the game launched, the phone screen darkened, a simple log appeared, and soon an opening video played with grand background music.
[As the world collapsed, uninvited shadows rose from the earth. The shadows took the form of terrible monsters and attacked people.]
[Warriors blessed with divine grace saved the world with the power of light. Through their efforts, the shadows were sealed deep within the earth.]
[Hundreds of years passed, and both the shadows and the power of light become distant memories… One day, without warning, the shadows rose again.]
While a fairly impressive animation unfolded, Minjoon's eyes gradually narrowed. To put it kindly, it was conventional; to be frank, it was an excessively cliché storyline.
What era was this introduction from? "Heroes saved the world, but after a long time, the world began to destabilize again"? This was as predictable and dull a cliché as the whole "war between gods and demons a thousand years ago" trope.
[The shadows returned, but the power of light did not. Without the power of light, humanity was helpless against the shadows' attacks.]
[Even desperate prayers to the gods brought no blessings, not even a response. It was useless even when kings from all countries offered sacrifices and performed rituals.]
Minjoon guessed that the story would probably develop in a way where the player becomes the only warrior who can draw out the power of light. This kind of introduction was so common in RPG games that it was practically tripping over itself, to the point where you could predict the rest of the story just by watching the first few dozen seconds.
Even though the game tutorial hadn't even started yet, Minjoon was already half-disappointed with the game. With such a cliché story right from the opening, there was no way the gameplay would be anything special. Minjoon's judgement was that this was undoubtedly just another mass-produced game found everywhere.
However.
[In their desperation, they finally resorted to a forbidden method. None other than the art of reviving the dead.]
Suddenly, the art of reviving the dead?
Minjoon's eyes, which had been almost closing, opened slightly at the content taking an unexpected turn.
[While the humans of the present day couldn't receive divine grace, the ancient humans did. While the humans of the present day didn't possess the power of light, the ancient humans did.]
[The necromancers, who continued their experiments by reviving the ancient humans, confirmed that those resurrected through necromancy still retained the power of light. That power of light was sufficient to fight against the shadows that now roamed the world.]
[Once, necromancy was taboo, considered a heretical art, but after this discovery, it was adopted as a universal means to drive away the shadows. People everywhere learned necromancy to summon ancient heroes.]
Minjoon's expression wrinkled, but for a slightly different reason than before. It was hard to judge whether this development was cliché or unique. Certainly, the premise of summoning ancient heroes to fight terrifying monsters was a common setting in gacha games but… Expressing it with the term 'necromancy' made it feel incredibly unfamiliar. It even sounded like an act beyond human ethics.
'If you think about it coldly, isn't this basically saying they're digging up corpses from graves and sending them to the battlefield?'
So, it's essentially implying that they're resurrecting people like great-great-great grandfathers and great-great-great grandmothers and making them fight monsters with their skeletal limbs. Of course, it's a bit exaggerated, but that's the gist of the story.
It might look impressive due to the grand presentation, but isn't this actually disrespecting the dead? Minjoon felt an unnecessary uneasiness as he imagined countless people digging up graves and pulling out coffins.
[People gave a new name to the act of reviving ancient heroes: 'spirit summoning'. Those who resurrected ancient heroes to fight against the shadows began to be called 'spirit summoners'.]
Whether Minjoon frowned or not, the opening video ended with grand closing music as the screen faded to black. Although it left him feeling a bit uneasy, he figured there was no need to scrutinize it too deeply from the very beginning. After all, it was just a fictional setting to immerse players in the game. While it might be cliché, it had its own coherence, so perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad game after all.
A moment later, as the screen brightened again, something began to install with the message 'Downloading additional in-game data'. It seemed that's why the game files installed so quickly earlier—they were planning to download additional data later.
Now the screen displayed a progress bar being slowly filling up, along with an illustration in an exquisite art style. Minjoon stared blankly at the illustration while the download progressed.
In a forest where countless leaves were fluttering, an open coffin half-buried in the middle of a clearing could be seen. Whether it had been dug up by someone or not yet buried, it seemed to have some kind of story behind it.
And inside the coffin lay a blonde man. His features were quite handsome and his armor was ornate, but his face and body were covered in blood and wounds. He looked as if he met his death after a fierce battle.
However, that man didn't seem to be a corpse. For one, his complexion was far too healthy for a dead body, and his peaceful expression, contrasting with the wounds covering his entire body, made it look as if he were having a pleasant dream.
Perhaps the man was simply in a deep sleep. Wearing armor bearing traces of battle and clutching an ornately decorated sword to his chest, as if waiting for someone to wake him someday…
[Wake that man. Raise him up.]
Did someone just whisper? Or was it a sound from the game? Hearing an unfamiliar voice from somewhere, Minjoon instinctively tried to turn up the volume on his phone, but he couldn't even move a finger due to the sudden wave of drowsiness that washed over him like a tidal wave.
[Reach out from the edge of the world. If it's him, he'll grab your hand.]
Just seconds ago, he had been wide awake, but now he could barely keep his eyes open. Though he had a gut feeling that something was off, Minjoon's brain, already invaded by sleepiness, couldn't even process a proper thought. Vaguely assuming he was just getting drowsy while waiting for the download, Minjoon fell asleep as if passing out.
[Throw yourself from the end of the world. Whether you fall or soar, you'll know right after.]
It was a deep and sweet slumber.
So much so that he wondered if he might never wake up again.