Chapter 118 – System Recovery
Adonis let out a long sigh and said,
"I know just as well as anyone that there’s no solution other than a Dungeon Break. But... we need to think about what happens if we fail. Do you understand what I mean?"
Jhin gave a quiet nod.
Adonis was, in all likelihood, telling him to prepare for panic.
Hope is like a wildfire.
Once it spreads, it grows endlessly—but one passing rain shower, and it could be snuffed out completely.
And in that charred wasteland where the fire’s gone out, no flame can spark again.
"Don’t worry too much. What’s more important now is finding them."
"...Mr. Kyle, do you really believe those people will cooperate with us?"
"Yes."
"They’re with the Company. A terrorist group that tried to destroy Earth."
"I know. But they’ll cooperate."
The Company was far from a normal organization. While other players were struggling to clear dungeons together, the Company actively triggered Dungeon Breaks and spread Spore Viruses wherever they went—a malicious group in every sense of the word.
And yet, their motives were surprisingly simple.
Survival.
They had merely chosen a different way to live. In a world where monsters reigned, they sided with the monsters to keep themselves alive.
That’s how the Company came into being.
"They’ll cooperate. They want to live, too."
After a long and complicated search, they finally found signs of the Company.
They had taken over a storage warehouse at the base of a shopping complex and were hiding there in secret. Judging by their preparations, they were clearly aware of Jhin’s group.
Jhin approached them carefully and called out,
"Hey. Company members."
Shffff!
Magical energy flickered in the air like rising threads of mist. Tension crackled between both sides—Jhin’s party raised their weapons, and the situation turned explosive in an instant.
Someone hiding behind cover responded.
"This is your warning. We won’t go down quietly. We’ll make sure we take at least one of you with us."
The threatening aura confirmed the speaker’s intent. Take one more step, and they’d attack without hesitation.
And it wasn’t an empty threat.
Someone emerged from their hiding spot with a knife held to their throat—moving slowly.
"...Luke. So this is where you disappeared to."
"I-I’m sorry..."
He’d been taken hostage by the Company.
Jhin spoke calmly.
"You’re a little impatient, aren’t you? Who said anything about fighting?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I’ve got a proposal. Something simple. Let’s skip the annoying formalities and just get to it."
There was some murmur among the Company members. Then, after a moment, a man in tattered clothing and a black mask stepped out from behind the cover.
"Cut the crap, Kyle. We’re warriors ready to die. We’ll drag you to hell if we have to—"
"Then why’d you come out?"
"..."
"Enough noise. Let’s get to the point."
Jhin’s eyes sharpened.
"You must be pissed, huh? You went through all the effort to plant a dungeon flower and complete the dungeonization... only to get stuck in this absurd situation."
"..."
"I get it. You probably had ways to avoid the monsters, but who could’ve predicted it’d turn into this kind of hellhole. Am I wrong?"
The masked man finally opened his mouth.
"What kind of bullshit is this?"
"That’s all you’ve got to say? Sounds like that brain of yours is missing a few connections."
Jhin looked around, speaking softly as he scanned the faces of the Company members still hiding in the warehouse.
"If I had a way to get out of here—what then?"
"...What?"
"If you cooperate, it gets easier. If you don’t, it gets a bit messier. So... what’s it going to be?"
The black-masked man crossed his arms and answered bluntly.
"Not interested. Doesn’t sound appealing."
"Huh?"
"I don’t see why we should listen to you."
In the man’s steady tone, Jhin picked up on something—faith. He believed in something.
And given the situation, there was only one thing someone like him might be hoping for.
"Don’t tell me... you’re waiting for the system to restore itself?"
"..."
"You idiot. You’ve got it all wrong. Who knows when—or if—that system recovery will even finish? And you really think that’ll work out in your favor?"
The masked man said nothing, struck mute like someone with sudden aphasia.
Jhin raised his voice deliberately, filling it with magical power so that everyone could hear.
"System recovery isn’t some magical technician showing up to fix things with a wrench."
Skk—skkk—
"In games, when they talk about restoration..."
Skk—skkk—skkk—skk—
In the middle of his sentence, Jhin suddenly noticed an eerie sound—faint at first, but rapidly growing louder. Others began turning their heads toward the source as well.
The sound kept rising.
SKKK—SKKK—SKKK—SKKK!!
Suddenly, a massive pair of scissors ripped through the air.
They sliced open an empty portion of the sky into a perfect square—then vanished into thin air.
Another pair shot toward the areas where the Company members were hiding.
Screams followed.
"AAAAAHH!"
A Company member wearing a white mask scrambled out in a panic—but he was a second too late. A pair of scissors sheared right through his torso.
SKK—SKK—SKK—SKK!
No blood.
No more screams.
The body was gone, as if it had never existed.
Just like that, he was erased.
"F-Fall back!"
"AAAAHHHH!"
Worse still, the attack wasn’t isolated to just one place.
Someone looked up at the sky.
Something was falling—fast.
Upon closer inspection... they were arrows. Giant arrows.
"W-What is that?!"
The arrows slammed into the ground and immediately shot off in random directions.
Like cars with the gas pedal slammed down, they tore across the terrain—devouring buildings, erasing rides.
BeyWorld descended into utter chaos.
Jhin watched the disaster unfold and finally whispered the words he hadn’t had the chance to say earlier—words drowned out by the sudden attack.
"...Rollback."
In games, one of the simplest forms of recovery... was to revert the world back to a moment before the bug ever happened.
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