A small, plain room.
The faint light of a desk lamp illuminated a young woman gripping her smartphone tightly.
So tightly, in fact, that her fingers had turned white.
So this is what she looked like.
Not too different from what I expected.
「Hey.」
The moment I spoke—
Crash!
A loud clatter rang out.
Anytng had fallen backward in her chair.
I smirked.
Of course, he’d react like that.
A character inside the game had just spoken to her.
I had experienced something similar myself.
Anytng frantically scanned her room, as if searching for a ghost.
「I’m here. Your phone. I’m speaking from here.」
「.......」
「What? You think this is fake?」
「......!」
「Believe whatever you want. I just have one last thing to say.」
Clearing my throat, I continued.
「Quit this garbage game. You’ve been screwed over this badly, and you’re still playing? You’re practically a professional slave. Have some self-respect. Don’t you feel ashamed in front of your family?」
「.......」
「Just think of today as a dream. Your addiction has gotten so bad that you’re hallucinating.」
A lesson.
This was just a sign that she had become so immersed in the game that her mind was breaking down.
「You’ve done enough. Live your own life now.」
「...But—」
「No buts. That’s all.」
Beep.
I severed the connection with Anytng.
Her face, her trembling voice—all gone.
‘But?’
I had no interest in whatever she was about to say.
I nudged Frey’s side with my elbow.
“What are you waiting for? It’s closing soon.”
The dimensional rift was sealing itself shut.
If we hesitated, the passage I had forced open would vanish.
And Anytng’s connection would be severed again.
‘This is the end.’
I glanced at the flickering light in the sky.
Our connection was over.
She was from Earth.
I had chosen to stay here.
Once the servers shut down, there would be no more intersections between us.
“Let’s go.”
I stepped forward.
Just as the gap was about to close—
Anytng’s screen flashed.
[Gift Shop!]
[Purchased ‘Warhorse Figurine’ for 5,000 Gold.]
[‘Warhorse Figurine’ gifted to ‘Han (★★★★★★★)’.]
A small, white figurine landed in my hand.
“......”
I narrowed my eyes.
A child’s toy.
‘Tch.’
I stashed the figurine in my pouch.
Well.
One keepsake wouldn’t hurt.
[Han (★★★★★★★) is pleased with the ‘Warhorse Figurine’.]
[Affinity increased!]
Crackle.
The holographic message in the sky shattered.
[Connection terminated!]
[Error – 7909]
[This account has been sanctioned for unauthorized program usage. For more details, please visit the customer support center for one-on-one assistance. Sanctioned accounts will...]
I secured the pouch to my belt and looked forward.
The dimensional rift was collapsing.
“Frey.”
[...Yeah?]
“I have one more favor to ask of you.”
Frey turned to face me.
I continued speaking.
“If you dig through my data, you’ll find a record of my assets on Earth. It should be quite a lot. About 3 billion won in cash, if I remember correctly. Plus, there’s a few plots of land somewhere in Gangnam, a high-rise office building, and a foreign car. Transfer everything to Anytng’s name.”
[Wasn’t that your backup plan for returning to Earth?]
“Who knows when I’ll go back? What’s the point of leaving it to collect dust?”
I scratched my cheek.
Yurnet had gifted me those assets when I had still been considering returning to Earth, but they were useless to me now.
“If I do end up returning, I can just take it back. I know his face and his address. Even if he tries to play dumb, it won’t work.”
[Are you really okay with this?]
“Of course.”
Frey held my gaze for a moment, then vanished in a scattering of stardust.
She had likely accessed the server’s database to retrieve the necessary information for the transfer.
That task wouldn’t take more than an hour.
By the time I faced Tell in battle, she’d be back.
‘As for Anytng...’
If fate willed it, we might meet again.
I stepped through the closing dimensional gate.
A flood of light engulfed me.
My body was disassembled and reconstructed in an instant.
‘I won’t forget.’
I burned the fading memories into my mind over and over.
Even if I lost all my past recollections, there was one thing I couldn’t afford to forget.
I reached into my pouch, my fingers brushing against the solid surface of the Warhorse Figurine.
That firm sensation reminded me of who I was.
And then—
[0000th Dimension – E.D.E.N]
I landed soundlessly.
Brushing the dust from my sleeve, I scanned my surroundings.
It was deep into the night.
Crackle! Crackle!
A broken neon sign sparked erratically.
I had arrived on the rooftop of a dilapidated skyscraper.
‘Server 1.’
I stepped toward the edge of the building.
A vast metropolis stretched out before me, its true scale indiscernible.
Hundreds of high-rise buildings loomed in the distance, and an intricate web of overpasses intertwined across the city like a spider’s web. Sleek, streamlined cars glided smoothly along the roads below.
This place—
It resembled something out of a cyberpunk film.
‘No doubt about it.’
Far in the distance, piercing through the clouds, stood an ultra-high-rise tower.
Even by rough estimation, it exceeded a height of 1,000 meters. That had to be Mobius’s headquarters.
Countless aerial drones hovered around the building, their spotlights sweeping the area in constant patrol.
‘Better take a good look.’
I widened my eyes.
A massive city where hundreds of thousands resided.
Directly below me, throngs of people bustled through the streets, their voices blending into a lively murmur.
‘This is the place I need to destroy.’
I stepped off the edge of the rooftop.
Whoosh!
Gravity took hold, and my body plummeted downward.
Just before I hit the ground, I twisted my body mid-air.
Boom! Screeeech!
The asphalt road flipped violently as cars skidded and crashed.
“Ahh!”
“What the hell?!”
I pushed away the debris pressing against my torso.
Climbing out of the fractured pavement, I dusted off my cloak.
“A person?!”
“Who... Who is that?!”
Citizens backed away, whispering among themselves.
‘Mobius employees, huh?’
Whether they had been dragged here against their will or had joined voluntarily, they were now working under Mobius.
Given that they managed nearly a billion dimensions, it made sense that their workforce was this extensive.
At a glance, they seemed like ordinary city dwellers.
“Sir, are you alright— Gahh!”
Crackle.
The suited man who had reached out to me was flung backward.
Touching me so carelessly could be dangerous.
Slowly, I began walking down the main road.