Debut or Die

As the conversation progressed, the name of the character that appeared as ‘??’ was introduced.

And it wasn’t ‘Park Moondae’.

[??? : …Right.]

[B11: I… Call me B11. That’s enough.]

Then the comrade’s additional cut scene entered, and a boy in a black hood rotating a luminous drone showed up as a playable character.

‘Ah, then did Moondae copy this character?’

She had seen a few s with that concept, so she tried to skip over it, but her over-immersed mind started to spin and analyze the situation.

‘Wait a minute. In High Five, the back number of Moondae’s baseball uniform was 11. Then if we assume that B is derived from ‘Park^[1]Park is 박 in Korea. It’s actually ‘Bak’ but usually gets romanized as Park ‘…!?’

The college student gulped at the reasoning that seemed to fit.

‘Huh, anyway, let’s keep playing…!’

Surprised by the unexpected content, the college student continued to play.

Besides, this game was actually quite interesting.

The game was completely in first-person and it began with the main character falling into a sinkhole while out of town and moving to Seoul, a half-destroyed parallel world.

[It’s strange. I clearly went out early in the morning, but the sky outside the sinkhole is red and dark.]

[I think I hear someone crying and groaning up there, but I’m not sure.]

[I am terribly embarrassed, but I am also worried that the sinkhole will collapse further if I stay still. What should I do?]

– Find a way up.

– Wait for rescue.

– Call for help.

– Listen to the sound more closely.

The atmosphere was somewhat depressing, but it was interesting and fun thanks to the joy of adventuring and exploring a well-constructed worldview for the first time and the abundance of options.

Even though it revolved around text, it wasn’t boring because it included eye-catching graphics or illustrations for each battle and choice. And it was full of tension because it required a combination of luck and strategy.

‘Hmm, let’s keep going. I’m also curious about the story behind it.’

However, it hadn’t given much weight to the storyline of the comrade character who was presumed to be Moondae, or of the characters similar to other Testar members who continued to join.

So, she wondered if each of the characters’ stories would come out in the future.

‘Ah, perhaps, will Testar’s worldview appear?’

There would be people who cursed at Testar for making them play games, but for those who decided to continue playing, it was a bit thrilling.

The game continued, and the college student arrived at a subway station that had been engulfed in a strange red lump, with the animated characters half collapsed.

[The building is dark and only the emergency lights are blinking. It seems there’s a strange fishy smell coming up. The subway doesn’t seem to be operating, but there is still an announcement that a train is entering.]

[B11 : …Should I go search?]

– I agree.

– I refuse.

– Rebuke him.

– Go together.

“Go with me! Let’s go together!”

The college student was completely over-immersed and enjoyed the game.

It was then.

[Sudden vibrations start to reverberate everywhere!]

[A huge red lump that is stuck underground flashes ominously, and strange things start to soar from the lump with a terrible noise…]

A battle forcibly progressed.

And all of the comrades were killed by something terrible from the red lump.

The last one left was B11 who resembled Park Moondae.

[B11: …You live.]

A cut scene where Park Moondae pushed the main character away was inserted.

The screen turned black with the vibration of the smartphone.

…Again, a narration popped up.

[…And when you come to my senses, you realize that you’re alone.]

[All that remains are the burdens and heavy lives left by the comrades.]

[Now you have to go through this ruined Seoul, <Section 127> alone.]

And only then did the opening screen of the game appear. On the dark screen, the <127 SECTION> logo emerged, based on the biohazard sign

“…??”

The college student stared blankly at her smartphone, unable to accept what had just happened.

After a brief opening, a short help message appeared on the loading screen.

[※ The comrades who died in battle will not return. Forever.]

“…?!”

The college student was horrified.

“What the, w-what is this?”

Something must have gone wrong.

‘What kind of game kills all your comrades as soon as it starts?!’

It was in the middle of <CHAPTER 2>’s cut scene that started after the loading was finished that she managed to pull herself together.

[You admit that you can’t do everything alone in the end.]

[You need a comrade. Whether it’s a strategic ally or a temporary alliance.]

‘Yes, it can’t end like this!’

The college student recalled the complaints she had heard from her close gamer acquaintances.

‘I heard that there are a lot of people who have to buy all the game progress and connect them to be able to pick the characters!’

In that case, she was willing to spend money with tears and curses, saying ‘Are you treating me like an ATM? Isn’t your intention to extract money too vicious?’

‘Moondae, only pull out Moondae…’

However, after the cut scene, there was a warning attached to the character draw that finally popped up.

[※The character you welcomed as a comrade will not appear again.]

“Hey!!”

She couldn’t figure out why these crazy people wouldn’t let her spend the money she owned.

She hurriedly turned on the Internet.

‘Maybe they died because I picked the wrong choice…!’

Then, this time, she would go through the strategy and proceed properly! She logged on to SNS with a bit of hope.

And she saw fans rolling in a pit of fire.

– Uaaaa

– What should I do? What is this? Why did Moondae die?ㅠㅠㅠ

– My impression on playing section 127: The developer is as evil as Idol Inc’s production team

– No, Baese in a robeㅠㅠ He told me to live and he diedㅠㅠ But why can’t he live, isn’t this strange? It’s strange, why did he no matter what I choose?ㅠㅠ

– I’ve sorted it out… 7 comrades from the tutorial… Those comrades who are similar to Testar from the trailer will be annihilated at the end of Chapter 1 no matter what they do…

However, it seems that the character with the highest favorability dies last… F*ck this gameㅠㅠ Ughuhuㅠㅠ

“…”

The college student lost her mind.

And she wasn’t the only one who was distraught.

In Testar’s trailer video, the latest comments had already started running in hangul at a terrifying speed.

– ㅠㅠㅠAigoo guysㅠㅠ

– Now that I know the kids’ ending…I can’t even watch the trailer the same way… Help me… Take my money and give my kids backㅠㅠ

– Is this why they said you won’t die in the lyrics?ㅠㅠ No, seeing it again, they’re saying they’ll save me, crazy

– No way, is that why bonus book is the title? Is it Testar’s big picture trying to reduce the blow by taking themselves outside? But a weak fan is already a disgrace…Come back to life!ㅜㅜ

There were sometimes people who fought to not give game spoilers, but most of them were swept away by the flooding comments.

Fortunately, fans soon regained their sanity and began to worry about hate posts such as ‘The trouble Testar’s fans caused to the new game’.

So the comments were mainly filled with crying or screaming.

And foreigners who didn’t know the situation were perplexed, leaving comments such as ‘What happened?’ and ‘Someone tell me why’.

What was funny and sad was that in the midst of this, there were people who continued to curse at the game because it was fun.

In addition, attractive elements suddenly popped up.

It was a costume shop that was added midway through Chapter 2.

[Give your comrades a new look!]

If you clicked this pop-up, costumes that were currently available for special purchase would appear.

And now, the costumes sold during the game launch season…were the costumes of comrades who disappeared brutally in Chapter 1.

Although dead comrades couldn’t be pulled from the character draw, they had made it possible to overlay their appearance.

In addition, this explanatory text was attached.

[Purple Drone Boy Costume]

[: Someone’s costume that evokes sentimental memories. I once protected you.]

Thanks to this, the people who picked characters with similar abilities and personality scripts and put on costumes to play them appeared one after another.

By the way, this symptom also occurred to game enthusiasts.

But they were a little calmer. Because it had already happened in the previous work.

– Abandoned Factory’s persistence to not give up the leadership even after sticking with a large company

– It wasn’t just a day or two this happened, so I already expected it

– These bastards must have enjoyed being cursed at. Are you feeling good after releasing the costumes and blocking the refund run?

– It’s ranked 1 Play Store sale, I don’t feel good

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋShoot, I am so annoyed, save Bill~

└I watched the trailer and got Billㅅㅂ I really f*cking liked the sniper, should I buy a male character costume, you factory bastards?

– If the game is thrown out after 2 years, they will 100% give the selection of initial comrades. They’ll get all the management’s know-how and rob naive people’s pockets until the end.

└Wouldn’t it be better to do it now when they all get sucked into it?

└You’re right, but I’m already sweetly choosing a costume, so it won’t happen

└It’s modeled after idiots’ long-term cash

And as they had expected, Abandoned Factory didn’t open the selection of the initial comrades despite a flood of inquiries.

Since it was time for the users to be more immersed in the game’s worldview, it was the developer’s determination not to artificially give out comrades who could break the flow of the story.

At the same time, it was also because sales were already doing insanely well.

– Successfully restored all 7 characters with identical abilities and similar personalities. now we’ll be together forever… (game screenshot)

└ Oh my goodness

└How much did you spend…?

└ Whatever you imagine, I spent more than that. But I’m satisfied.

This happened frequently.

Several Testar’s fans and game enthusiasts who were completely immersed in the game continued to increase the sale.

And in the process, most of the 127 Section players became familiar with Testar.

– I’m glad that they’re living well as idols in 3D

└Isn’t something strange…? Isn’t it usually the opposite…?

└What the hell, are you saying they died in the second dimension and got reincarnated?

└Wow, this bastard is real.

– Bill’s name in this life is Moondae? No wonder he was given the codename B11, it seems even back then his name was suck

└There is Easter egg in Myeongdong Cathedral. I recommend you check it out at least once.

└Ohㄱㅅ

This interest lasted for quite some time, as they could occasionally find small tidbits about the initial comrades in the later chapters of the game.

And an unexpected content from Testar was suddenly announced.

[Testar(TeSTAR) ‘BETTER ME’ Official Music Video]

The music video for Testar’s b-side track, BETTER ME, was released.

And the beginning of this music video… It was the last scene of the game collaboration trailer.

• 1. Park is 박 in Korea. It’s actually ‘Bak’ but usually gets romanized as Park