Chapter 112

CHAPTER 112

(>△<)

The Compactor Robot has three hearts.

If two players successfully dodge its attacks and attach their grappling ropes to the rings on its shoulders, they can temporarily pull the Compactor Robot.

And if they slam it into the garbage mountain three times—

It will fall over with an expression like this.

Or sometimes like this.

(@@)

That's when you're supposed to stab its eye.

It's a little cruel, but what can you do?

You have to survive.

Seojun watched the scene with sympathetic eyes.

The way it pitifully backed up before falling over, combined with its appearance, couldn't be called pleasant even as a joke.

The thing was damaged badly enough that the broken parts were obvious at a glance.

Even if it was an enemy, it looked like something you should worry about.

And then—

As if it had sensed something, it moved its arms very, very carefully.

Unfortunately, it seemed it should have been even more careful.

Snap.

The long blade attached to the front broke cleanly in half.

The expression on that toy looked awfully despairing.

Probably just his imagination, right?

-Poor thing lol.

-So that's how you're supposed to do it! lol.

-Whoa, the scraper turned into dual swords lol.

Beside it was a much larger Compactor Robot crying.

That's right.

Seojun was currently watching other people's gameplay footage.

Specifically, streams from other teams participating in the same sponsorship event.

"Hmm."

When he turned his head, he saw Taewoo.

With only his crudely made face sticking out, still grumbling at Seojun.

Spinning in circles on the spot.

"The bug triggered."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get me out already."

"It might not be over yet."

"...Ha. I want to cry too."

(π△π)

Fortunately, Seojun's prediction was wrong.

The narration signaling the end of the tutorial began playing.

"Hey! Everyone! It's not like I didn't save him because I didn't want to! And that's the narration speaking, not me!"

[Phew. Hey, you. Good work.]

[You did well too.]

At the same time, a cutscene began.

In the cutscene, Taewoo had already escaped from the garbage pile.

-Taewoo, do you have any shame?

-What exactly did you do???? Seriously asking.

And together with Seojun, he was dragging the crying robot somewhere using grappling hooks attached to both of its shoulders.

Seojun's character spoke.

[It should be around here somewhere.]

[What should?]

[Found it.]

Fwoosh!

Beyond a door, something special flickered.

Something bright red.

Something that looked hot just from seeing it.

Fire.

Seojun's character scanned the wall and activated some kind of control device.

Rumble.

With the sound of some enormous mechanism moving, a giant door on the opposite side from where the robot had entered slowly opened upward.

Seojun spoke before even seeing the explanation.

"It's an incinerator."

Taewoo replied.

"That's a bit..."

[That bastard. You're planning to throw it in there?]

[Yep.]

[Let's do it immediately!]

-This is self-defense, okay?!

-Humans are obviously the villains here lol.

-Ahhh...

-Humanity apologizes~

-It attacked first, so why do I suddenly feel bad? lol

The robot was so badly damaged that even a toy repair center would probably wave its hands and refuse to touch it.

It was currently staring down at what used to be its scraper.

Though... can it still see? Maybe not. It's not resisting.

Seojun and Taewoo's avatars spread apart and pulled on their ropes.

The Compactor Robot was shoved forward all at once.

Whether their strength wasn't synchronized or it had been intentional, nobody knew.

But the robot's body spun as it entered the incinerator.

Inside was a steep downward slope that abruptly turned into a cliff.

If the robot fell, there seemed to be no way back up.

Fortunately, even while dizzy from spinning, the robot hooked its now-sword-like arms onto the doorway and stopped itself from falling.

For a toy, its survival instincts were remarkable.

Without Seojun and Taewoo interfering, it looked capable of climbing back out on its own.

Its freedom of movement had returned.

Just as it seemed they would have to push it the rest of the way, Taewoo's character spoke.

[Hmm. Should we push it?]

The robot's face, which had previously been full of anger, had become pitiful before anyone noticed.

(π△π)

The toy shook its head desperately.

Drops of liquid—whether tears or oil, nobody could tell—fell from its eyes.

Seojun's character spoke.

[You know... it's kind of cute.]

[Are you insane?]

[It's the guy who charged at us the moment it saw us.]

[That's just how this world works. A world where everyone lives only according to what they were made and programmed to do. Catching us was its job, so of course it attacked immediately. Hmm. Should we let it live?]

[You've seriously lost your mind.]

[We can just get a promise that it won't attack us.]

[Ha... Fine. Do whatever you want.]

[Hey. Mind letting us off this once?]

It really was kind of cute.

The robot nodded.

Seojun silently listened to the narration while Taewoo wandered around the area.

"Seojun. I think we need to back up a little."

Taewoo had come to a conclusion.

The robot was trying desperately to save itself, but the very people who had shoved it into the incinerator were standing right in front of it.

Because of that, it seemed unable to properly exert its strength to climb out.

Seojun replied.

"So if we stay here, it'll just fall?"

"The story won't progress."

"Oh."

-Clear and simple.

-Yeah, this is how you handle the host. Facts and common sense!

"No, wait. I do have an argument here. In my opinion, the protagonists of this game seem incredibly devilish, okay? So maybe my character said all that because he wanted to give the robot hope and then take it away. I was trying to figure out whether that was the intended meaning..."...

[“Big Bro” donated 30,000 won!]

[Stop making excuses.]

• How are stream viewers with no money supposed to join in? 

“Yes.”

Seo-jun shut his mouth and stepped back.

• Handling things with money isn’t a bad idea either lololol
• The only way we can beat this streamer

The robot struggled its way up.

Then it approached them, smiling, spreading both arms wide and waving as if trying to express its gratitude.

Can’t it see?

(^^)

The boss battle was over.

“So it just ends with everyone making up?”

Tae-woo said in disbelief.

Well, considering the narration from earlier, it wasn’t completely unreasonable.

Hadn’t it said it acted according to orders?

There was probably some kind of lore behind it.

“I didn’t do anything, though?”

Ah, so that was the issue.

Anyway.

“Wow, the tutorial is finally over. Then shall we give this game a review now?”

Seo-jun smiled kindly, and the viewers were confused.

• Suddenly???
• What?
• The tutorial just ended and you’re already reviewing it?

Well, of course.

Setting aside the fact that they had only just finished the tutorial...

Seo-jun’s playthrough had clearly been abnormal.

Was he about to start sarcastically roasting the game over it?

Both the viewers and Tae-woo thought that was entirely possible.

No matter how much he’d been paid for an advertisement, Seo-jun was still Seo-jun.

But that wasn’t the answer anyone expected, and nobody could understand what he was intending.

“First of all, five stars.”

The moment Seo-jun opened his mouth again, everyone understood.

• Oh, come on.
• Not buying it!
• Seriously, where do you find a streamer like this? He carries harder than anyone, disappears on break afterward, and somehow keeps building up resentment. Truly the GOAT of generating hostility!
• The monster devs are crying right now lololololol

“You’re saying they made it carelessly?”

Seo-jun’s game review—which assumed the monster developers would be in tears—continued for about five minutes.

“Everyone, if you look here, there’s no way you could solo this unless you moved at exactly the right timing like I did. Which means it obviously wasn’t intended.”

• No matter how he phrases it, it somehow turns into insulting the monsters lol
• More importantly, how did the streamer even find that route in one try?

“I didn’t know it would work either. Anyway! The fact that this game even has a solo route makes it a god-tier game. See? It’s just—”

That was literally how it went.

No matter how Seo-jun tried to explain it, the conclusion was always the same:

The reason only he could climb the trash pile easily and clear it solo was because the monsters had designed it carelessly.

“Serves them right.”

“Hey, it’s your advertisement too, Tae-woo.”

Clicking his tongue, Seo-jun thought about how to get past this obstacle and eventually reached a conclusion.

“Let’s move on.”

At least it had generated some buzz.

“Now then, let’s head over to that spot on the wall with the marker. Tae-woo.”

A green mark appeared on the lower section of the wall next to the entrance where the Compression Robot had come from.

Seo-jun and Tae-woo followed the circular wall toward it.

Behind them, the Compression Robot followed along.

It didn’t attack.

Though honestly, was it really okay for its attitude to change this much just because they spared it?

Then again, it was a classic trope:

Fight at full strength, one side ends up on the brink of death, the battle stops, someone saves the other, and they become friends.

When they reached the marked section, the Compression Robot quickly passed them and moved ahead.

Art spoke.

[It’s saying not to go through the main gate? That its friends are asleep?]

The robot nodded.

[What? Did you gain some kind of ability or something??]

[No. I’m just reading the situation. Anyway, if its friends are over there... where do we leave from?]

[Hmm. The protagonist went straight out through that outlet using a rope, but we couldn’t reach it. Probably because we got split into two.]

[Then why not merge back together and try?]

[Before that, there’s something I want to test. I know about a secret passage. I came up with it as an Easter egg idea a long time ago.]

[“Came up with”? Then how would it even exist?]

[Yeah. This Compression Train was also something we only thought up as part of the setting. We never actually put it into the game files, yet it still exists. If that’s the case, maybe the secret passage exists too.]

[Hah. By “we,” you mean you. Anyway, go look for it.]

Seo-jun placed his hand on the wall with the green mark.

Immediately, the wall moved like an elaborate machine, revealing a small crawlspace.

Seeing this, the Compression Robot clapped from the side.

Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew.

“We’re heading out!”

Tae-woo greeted the robot first before climbing into the hole.

Seo-jun followed him inside.

The secret passage was narrow and so low that they couldn’t even raise their heels while walking.

After moving forward for a bit, they saw the end of the tunnel.

Tae-woo, who was in front, suddenly stopped.

Walking up beside him, Seo-jun asked why—and immediately understood.

“What is it?”

“Whoa. I almost walked right off while spacing out.”

A cliff was waiting for them.

“I guess we’re supposed to ride that?”

“Yeah.”

Tae-woo pointed at a bar hanging from a rope ahead of them.

There were rings on both sides where ropes could be attached, and those sections were glowing green.

Seo-jun and Tae-woo fired their grappling hooks and latched onto them, then pressed something like a button on the wall.

Vrrrrrrr.

With the sound of pulleys turning, they were rapidly lifted upward.

And when they arrived—

Tae-woo screamed.

“WAAAAAH!”

Squeak?

There was a mouse.

• ???
• Why are you screaming?
• It’s just a normal mouse? lololololol
• What’s wrong with him lol

Watching the scene unfold, Seo-jun slowly curled the corner of his lips into a grin.

No wonder Tae-woo had been talking less and less since earlier.

The curtain was rising on the first chapter.