“What happened to the real me?”
“......”
That was my question.
Dino nervously shook his head.
So he can’t tell me?
“If I die in the game... does that mean I die for real?”
“......” nod
One thing was now certain.
I absolutely must not die.
“Then why was I brought here—to this game world?”
“......” shakes head
“Is that the only way you can answer?”
“......” shakes head again
“Then why all the head gestures. Want to die?”
“......” rapid shaking
“Speak.”
“Y-yes.”
I repeated the previous questions. My real self. Dying in the game. Why I was summoned. And so on.
“...I-I don’t know.”
“You do know.”
“...I don’t knowww!”
But Dino only looked more flustered.
“You think that’s good enough?”
“Huh?”
“You should go find out.”
“O-okay...!”
“Knowing isn’t enough. You have to tell me.”
“Don’t bully me...! I said I can’t tell you....”
“You’re a helper, aren’t you? That’s your role. If you stay silent when I ask for help, how are you any different from someone who knows nothing? Worthless little bug.”
“Stop...! No matter how much you bully me, I won’t say it...!”
Even bullying didn’t work.
It had to be a system restriction—a prohibition enforced at a fundamental level.
“Then, am I the only player in this world?”
“Yes! I-it’s a single-player game... In your world, you’re the only player.”
In my world, I’m the only player.
That line hit harder than expected—was that just my overinterpretation?
“Then...”
I paused, then continued my logic.
“What you’re saying sounds like... everyone else also has their own separate world.”
“Y-yeah. And each person’s world is a little different.”
So it’s a sandbox-style game, huh?
Interesting. Strange, too.
“Oh, right!”
Dino clapped his tiny dinosaur hands.
“Come to think of it—someone’s waiting for you!”
“Waiting for me?”
“Mhm. A whole bunch! Like, this this this this muuuuch!”
He spread his short arms as wide as they’d go.
Which, judging by his size, should mean one or two people—but apparently, it meant far more than that.
“Who are they?”
“Other players like you...! And, you’re actually super famous among them...!”
“Why would I be?”
“Because you’re playing on [Hell Difficulty]...!”
Didn’t seem like something to be famous for, honestly.
But what Dino said next hit like a brick.
“...You’re the only one still alive!”
Ah.
So that’s it.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
This really was like a real single-player game.
But even single-player games often have community features, right? Forums, chat groups, social servers.
The people Dino mentioned—they must be those other community users.
“So, all the other [Hell Difficulty] players died?”
“Mhm.”
Thinking back, of course they did.
How many assassination attempts were there on my very first day as a professor?
Situations where death was just one misstep away were practically constant.
But I survived.
Because I’m a veteran? Because I’m brilliant and exceptional?
That’s only half true.
The other half was luck.
Bugs, exploits, desperate acting, deep game understanding—all that mattered. But in the end, without luck, I would have died. And I know that better than anyone.
“...But if everyone has their own separate world, what’s the point of me being on [Hell Difficulty]?”
“Hmm. Well, that’s because later, in the DLC, there’ll be a mullllllltiiiiiiiiiii—eeeeeeeeeeeee...”
Whoa.
His words began to stretch out like a broken tape recorder, then a blue status window slammed over his mouth.
「⧉」
At the same time, the light vanished from Dino’s eyes.
As I thought—a prohibition.
A [Stigma] from System⧉ had forcibly sealed his mouth.
So what had he been trying to say?
Something about a DLC multiplayer...?
Well, DLCs are always add-ons, after all.
Maybe someday there’ll be a multiplayer server—a place where single-player gamers can gather.
‘I get it now.’
That also explained why I was so famous among them.
[Hard Difficulty] had already been vastly different from [Normal], in terms of both reward systems and game scale.
To defeat overwhelmingly strong enemies, you had to become even more overwhelmingly strong.
It wasn’t just a number buff.
The entire scale of the game had changed.
Even dungeons that used to be 3 floors deep got extended to 5 floors.
Same would apply to [Hell Difficulty].
At just the first main story checkpoint, a [Legendary II]-class weapon had already dropped—and I secured it.
Sure, that was partly thanks to [Error Space], and also because circumstances aligned.
But even so, my growth rate was absurd.
And it would stay that way.
I was bound to outscale every other difficulty level—as long as I stayed alive.
That, apparently, gave people hope.
At that moment, the light returned to Dino’s eyes.
“...Huh? What was I saying again...?”
Then he asked me:
“Anyway, want to go take a look? At the other players? They’re all waiting for you in [End Ocean]!”
I don’t mind meeting them.
That’s fine.
But first—I wanted to think a bit more about what was happening.
Let’s start with the game itself.
"Hiaka Academy: Department of Assassination" was one of three titles released together, along with:
Warrior Department Magic DepartmentThey came out in that order: Warrior → Mage → Assassin.
I’d tried all three, but Assassin was the most fun. So I’d gone all-in on that.
The game had been released abroad.
In Poland, maybe Finland...?
Anyway, somewhere-land. Europe.
The system was so complex that the entry barrier was high.
It gained a cult following overseas but never really caught on in Korea.
Which meant that when I needed community support, I had to rely on international forums.
“Dino. How many people died on [Hell Difficulty]?”
“A whole lot.”
“Roughly how many? Hundreds?”
“Even more than that.”
He looked up with a gasp.
No system gag this time.
“More than hundreds, huh...”
What happened to them, I couldn’t say.
But what was certain—
They died.
“And players on other difficulties? Did many survive?”
“Mhm.”
“You mentioned [End Ocean] earlier. What is that place?”
“It’s the sea where players who’ve cleared the game can go.”
So... those who finish their single-player story can enter the community at the edge of the game world?
Makes sense.
“But I haven’t cleared the game yet.”
“Right! That’s why you can’t go very deep. It’s super rare for someone who hasn’t finished the game to show up in [Offline] like this.”
I see.
The fog was beginning to lift.
Bit by bit, I was forming a mental map of this world.
This reality was divided into three dimensions: The world within the single-player game – [Overworld] The world outside the game – [Offline] The community for players who cleared the game – [End Ocean][Overworld] was the place I had just left.
When logging in, I saw <Seed: 3340 1414 5592 **** ****> — that was the address of my world.
[Offline] was this white space I was currently standing in—where people are sent during patches or after endings.
And now, Dino was suggesting I go to [End Ocean]—dimension 3.
Where other players from different difficulties, who’ve completed their stories, were waiting for me.
< Time until patch completion for Ver.2.3.1a... [21 minutes] >
I glanced at the clock and made up my mind.
“Alright. Let’s go then—to this place called [End Ocean].”
“Okay! Get on!”
Me?
Dino walked up and bent over slightly.
Revealing the back of his gray dinosaur costume.
I was supposed to ride this child’s back?
“You’ll have to steer properly.”
Sure enough, there was a long button installed on the back of Dino’s dinosaur head.
[ JUMP ]
A gray dinosaur. A white world. A jump button.
I’d seen this somewhere before...
Whatever.
As soon as I climbed onto Dino’s costume, I shrank—quite literally—and we snapped together as if we were one.
“Here we go! We have to get past 10,000 points!”
“Got it.”
Dino began running.
Waddle, waddle.
Surprisingly, there wasn’t much shaking.
< Current Score: 1 >
< Current Score: 2 >
⋮
The number hovering above my head started climbing.
So that’s what he meant by reaching 10,000. That score.
But then—
Riding on Dino’s back like this, the world began to shift rapidly—unlike when I’d walked alone.
Cacti began appearing. The sky changed.
Dino wasn’t just running through [Offline].
He was phasing into a subspace.
< Current Score: 15 >
< Current Score: 17 >
⋮
The rhythm of it all felt oddly familiar.
< Current Score: 35 >
Dino started running faster.
A cactus appeared.
I hit the jump button.
Bonk!
“Ack!”
“What now.”
“Don’t hit the button so hard...!”
Seriously?
Who told you to install the jump button on the back of your skull?
But if it hurts, I’ll ease up.
Bonk. Bonk.
“Ow! Ow! That still hurts...!”
Even gentle taps weren’t good enough?
I tried pressing even more softly.
“It hurts, I said! Be gentle, please!!”
Forget it.
BONK! BONK!
“AAAGH!”
< Current Score: 65 >
< Current Score: 79 >
< Current Score: 139 >
⋮
After a series of jumps, a pterosaur-looking creature came flying toward us. Not jumping caused it ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ to fly overhead harmlessly.
Also familiar.
< Current Score: 512 >
Eventually, the pterosaurs started flying at awkward heights.
“What do we do?”
“It’s fine. Looks like it’ll miss.”
“You sure?”
“Yup.”
“I’ll trust you.”
The pterosaur crashed directly into my forehead.
Ah f*ck, that scared the hell out of me.
< GAME OVER >
When I opened my eyes, the cacti and pterosaurs were gone.
Dino stood there, looking at me with disappointment.
“What was that, man? That was such an easy stretch—only 512 points.”
“You said it would miss!”
“When did I say that?”
“......”
He tilted his head like he genuinely didn’t remember.
This little shit. We get a little closer and he’s already shameless.
But arguing with a kid just felt... stupid. So I let it go.
“Let’s try again. Do it properly this time.”
But now that I’d done it once, I understood the rhythm.
I had a sense for the game’s level now.
< Current Score: 611 >
< Current Score: 1,552 >
< Current Score: 2,914 >
⋮
I was starting to feel suicidal from the boredom.
Dino kept speeding up.
Night fell on the path we were running.
Cacti and pterosaurs began pulling dirty tricks in tandem.
BONK!! BONK!!
“Ow! Ow!”
By smacking the button like hell, I was able to sail through easily.
I think I heard something about being gentle again, but the wind was so loud, I couldn’t really tell.
BONKBONKBONKBONKBONK!!
“GYAAAH!!”
< Current Score: 6,335 >
< Current Score: 8,595 >
< Current Score: 10,000 >
Finally, we made it.
Dino rubbed the back of his head, then grinned brightly.
“Hey, you're really good! It’s the first time anyone’s made it in two tries!”
I didn’t say aren’t I the only person you’ve ever met? That seemed unnecessary.
Instead, I turned my eyes toward the horizon.
At the very edge of this white world—
The sea opened up before us.
So this... is [End Ocean].
The place where so many are supposedly waiting for me...?
***
Clink...
Clink...
Cli...
Something fell to the ground.
...Thunk.
A blank stare flickered back to life.
Eve reached out and picked up what had fallen.
Something had dropped from her—something that used to dangle from her body—but now it no longer stuck.
No matter what she did...
It wouldn’t attach again.
After that, the bell made no more sound.
No matter how hard she shook it, no matter how she struck it—only a dull thud came in return.
“......”
Eve turned her head toward the distant horizon.
Vacant.
And remained that way, for a long, long time.