< Time remaining until Ver.2.3.1a patch complete...... [6 minutes] >
There’s not much time left.
“How do I get into [End Ocean]?”
“You just go in.”
“Into the sea?”
“Mhm.”
The idea of diving straight into the ocean made me instinctively recoil. The water looked clear, but it was impossibly deep and dark.
“Whaaat~? Are you scared to go in or something?”
“I’m not.”
“It’s the sea, sure, but you’ll be able to hold your breath for a long time. You won’t get very deep anyway. You haven’t seen the ending yet.”
Hold my breath for a long time?
Not breathe—just hold my breath?
That sounds like hell...
“Want me to help? I’ve got a good way.”
“What is it?”
As an offline helper, maybe he had some method?
Right after I thought that—
“Mhm. It’s...”
BAM.
Dino headbutted me. Thud.
SPLASH —
Ah, this little shit.
That leering grin on his face... Looks like he’s still salty about getting smacked on the back of the head earlier.
But if it’s about being petty, I’m no slouch either. Once I get out, I’ll sentence you to 200,000 meters in hell-jail. Until your jump button breaks from overuse.
“Bloop bloop...!”
...not that any of that got through.
< Time remaining until Ver.2.3.1a patch complete...... [5 minutes] >
As I plunged pathetically into the water, my consciousness began to sink as well.
***
Only letters continued through the darkness.
< ⧉ [End Ocean] login complete. >
< ⧉ [Hell Difficulty] Player: 1 / 1 >
< ⧉ You have not yet reached the game’s ending. Direct interaction is restricted. >
< ⧉ A crowd gathers at your appearance. They don’t know who you are, what you look like, or what your name is, but they are ecstatic that you’ve arrived. >
Fascinating.
I couldn’t see them in this darkness.
I guess they couldn’t see me either.
Even so, I had this strange feeling... like I was very close to them.
I was standing among people.
Right in the middle of a massive crowd.
< ⧉ 1,821 [Easy Difficulty] players are showing interest in you. >
< ⧉ 255 [Normal Difficulty] players are showing interest in you. >
Players who’d cleared the game on those difficulties were reacting.
The number was staggering.
But no one from [Hard Difficulty].
Then chatter about me seemed to erupt.
Just like Dino said—they were really curious about me.
< ⧉ Intense attention on the one who first enters End Ocean. >
< ⧉ Some are wondering about your [Name] and [Ending Number]. >
< ⧉ Many are curious about your [Job], [Overall Combat Power], [Special Abilities], and [Gear Setup]. >
So they’re asking exactly the kind of stuff I’d want to know if some beast of a player just dropped in.
But I had no way to answer.
No voice. No hands.
< ⧉ Many are wondering if your [DLC] role is Chairman, Professor, Cadet, Graduate Student, Staff, or Outsider. >
An absurdly revealing status window flashed before me.
Apparently others had different DLC roles assigned too.
There’s really a [Graduate Student] DLC?
Christ.
Whoever ended up stuck in a lab even in a game, getting exploited by some in-game professor... I offer my condolences.
< ⧉ Some are curious about how you dealt with the [2.1.5 Bug] in [Hell Difficulty]! >
< ⧉ Countless players agree. >
The 2.1.5 bug?
Now that I think about it...
Wasn’t the current hotfix [2.3.1]?
Wait, what?
So there were other versions? Other bugs?
I don’t even know what they are.
So I held onto that thought a little longer and kept observing.
< ⧉ Someone argues: that bug appears later in [Normal Difficulty] than in [Easy Difficulty], and even later in [Hard Difficulty], so it likely hasn’t appeared yet in [Hell Difficulty]. >
< ⧉ Many find it intriguing that you’re still in very serious danger! >
< ⧉ Countless warnings pour in: Beware of the person closest to you. >
“Beware of the person closest to you”... huh.
Seems like that’s my only real hint right now.
Meanwhile...
< ⧉ Someone declares a new era has begun. >
< ⧉ Someone else rejoices that the repulsive [Hard Difficulty] players’ tyranny is finally coming to an end. >
< ⧉ Many mock the silence of those ‘stupid Hard ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) bastards who used to brag about being kings.’ >
Well, they’re human too.
Even after seeing the ending, they’ve clearly got their own grudges. The strong exploiting and dominating the weak—it’s the timeless tradition of organic creatures like us.
< ⧉ Praise rolls in, declaring the true king has arrived. >
< ⧉ A few [Easy Difficulty] players suggest maybe Easy=Normal=Hard after all! >
And then a stream of agreement followed.
...Yeah, no.
Who said I’m on your side?
As a fellow repulsive organic being, I’m fully prepared to ally with the [Hard Difficulty] tyrants and plunge this world into filthy despotism.
One-third of all Koreans are North Koreans, after all. And if you're North Korean, you’re trained to worship dictatorship.
In other words, we all live with a little red flag in our chests.
I will become the Kim Jong-un of [Hell Difficulty].
Hell Jong-un.
...While I was having such barking-mad thoughts and just watching the reactions—
< ⧉ Someone asks for your [Overall Combat Power]. Will you respond? [YES] / [NO] >
Oh?
The first chance to express my will.
[Overall Combat Power], huh.
Should I share it or not?
After a brief internal debate—I chose to reveal it.
< ⧉ You have revealed your [Overall Combat Power]. >
< ⧉ Overall Combat Power: 157,440 >
And then—chaos.
In a bad way.
< ⧉ All players are in utter shock! >
< ⧉ Most [Easy Difficulty] players are severely disappointed by the underwhelming power level! >
< ⧉ Some [Normal Difficulty] players are baffled at how low the number is! >
< ⧉ Some [Easy Difficulty] players again propose that Easy=Normal=Hard=Hell! >
Well, yeah. 157k isn’t a bad number. But from the perspective of players who cleared the game—it’s underwhelming.
It’s like the richest man in America shows up in Korea and when asked how much he has, he says “100 billion won.”
Everyone’s like, “Eh... I mean, that’s a lot, but... weren’t you supposed to be the richest guy in America?”
Even in [Normal Difficulty], a well-raised character can hit 300k by the end. Plenty of [Easy Difficulty] players probably hit 150k too.
I knew I’d get this kind of reaction. But I shared my power anyway—just in case.
< ⧉ One [Hard Difficulty] player enters. >
I knew it.
< ⧉ The [Hard Difficulty] player laughs. >
< ⧉ He mocks you. >
So you were hiding, huh. [Hard Difficulty] player.
I don’t know your name, gender, face—nothing. But everyone’s been badmouthing you, so I wanted to at least see what kind of person you were.
< ⧉ One [Hard Difficulty] player accuses you of being a lucky worm who happened to reach the ending. >
< ⧉ He boasts that he had already reached 140,000 combat power when he started Main Story Run 4. >
Well raised.
Even on [Hard Difficulty], if he had 140,000 at the start of the fourth run, that’s a seriously optimized build.
That’s probably why he reached the ending without ever dying.
< ⧉ He mocks the [Easy Difficulty] players, calling them brainless pigs and failed losers. Says they must be so desperate that they’re projecting their identities onto you the moment you appear. >
Bit much, though.
Does this guy not have a mom?
Come to think of it, if someone actually cleared [Hard Difficulty] without a single death, they probably do have something wrong with them.
Either they have no mom.
Or they have cancer.
Or they have cancer and no mom.
...That’s my story.
< ⧉ One [Easy Difficulty] player starts sobbing! >
< ⧉ He falls into deep despair! >
< ⧉ Because just moments ago, he was literally projecting his self-worth onto you! His world is now collapsing!!! >
As disappointment rippled through the crowd, someone raised a question.
< ⧉ One [Easy Difficulty] player, unable to accept reality, asks for your progress. Will you answer? [YES] / [NO] >
Another chance to express my will. I debated again. Reveal it or not.
It didn’t really matter either way.
An assassin’s virtue lies in concealing a portion of their strength.
< ⧉ You have revealed your [Progress]. >
Still, I chose to show it.
Wouldn’t want that [Hard Difficulty] bastard getting too smug.
< ⧉ Progress: Main Story 1 >
And once again—absolute uproar.
This time, of course, it was positive.
< ⧉ All players are astonished! >
< ⧉ Someone starts screaming! >
< ⧉ The crowd descends into chaos!! >
At Main Story 1, the maximum combat power is typically around 40,000.
Even for [Hard Difficulty] players, that’s the norm.
But I’m sitting here at 157,000... The gap is just absurd.
< ⧉ A [Normal Difficulty] player demands a statement. >
< ⧉ The [Hard Difficulty] player goes silent. >
The loudmouth from before? Dead silent.
That alone was hilarious.
< ⧉ A [Easy Difficulty] player bursts into laughter! >
< ⧉ He’s thrilled he can once again project himself onto you! >
< ⧉ He urgently seeks someone to curse and begins viciously mocking the silent [Hard Difficulty] player— “your mother...” >
Uh-oh. Let’s maybe keep that one as an internal thought—
Unfortunately, my time was up.
< [Hotfix] Ver.2.3.1a Patch Complete. >
< Transferring to [Overworld]. >
***
All the professors’ eyes were fixed on one place.
On Professor Dante, who had ridden the airship alone to kill Jinksythe.
Everyone had expected a fierce battle.
But once Dante stood before Jinksythe—
The monster with four massive cursed arms simply vanished back into the rift without a single sign of resistance.
The professors were stunned. And Ludenbach, the Black Abyss professor from the Department of Movement Techniques who had followed Dante, shuddered internally.
“Ahhh!”
It was true, just like he said!! Jinksythe had disappeared! The whole thing ended so anticlimactically, but regardless—Jinksythe was gone!
“...What was that, Professor Dante?”
“He withdrew. Likely overwhelmed by the thought of fighting me and fled far away.”
So it was true!!
They had heard of Professor Dante’s achievements in the previous battle—but for even a monstrous entity from another dimension to retreat in fear... Was Dante truly that powerful!?
Professor Ludenbach, who had just recently become a father at the age of forty-eight, considered naming his newborn daughter “Dante.”
...Just considered, mind you.
Why Dante suddenly shot him a disgusted glare like he was looking at a bug—he would never understand.
***
Once Jinksythe vanished, the situation was quickly resolved.
The academy held Professor Dante’s abilities in high regard. To the extent that they assessed his skills—despite being around thirty—as equal to that of senior professors.
Thus, the decision was made to keep Dante Hiakapo’s abilities as hidden as possible. As a proper assassin should conceal at least a third of their power, and because he was now being considered a cornerstone of the next generation of the Academy.
Meanwhile, everyone had witnessed the airship spreading its wings mid-fall and gliding smoothly to safety. Professors and cadets alike were puzzled.
Who activated the wings?
The faculty discreetly investigated the events before and after... And quietly leaked the name “Gray Habanero.”
“Gray! You’re amazing!”
“I always knew you were a genius, but I didn’t know that much!”
Gray blinked, having just woken up in the infirmary, surrounded by compliments from Black Abyss cadets.
“...Me?”
“Yeah! You’re the one who did it!”
“......??”
Gray, confused and dazed, felt a throbbing headache.
Did she really do it?
She wasn’t sure.
Back then she’d been blackout drunk, flu-ridden, overworked, and finally had [Overload] triggered—her memory was foggy as hell.
“Gray’s the best!”
In her daze, she asked them to leave so she could rest. And once alone, she thought—
‘...Gray’s the best...?’
“Truly the best!”
Meanwhile, Dominic, loitering around the ICU, saw something shocking.
“The best, my ass... Everyone knows Hiaka’s medical care is garbage...”
“Shut up! Just this once, he was the best, Professor Gula! He saved your life!”
“Don’t yell... My skull’s vibrating...”
“A miracle, I tell you! A miracle!”
Professor Gula, who had been brought in with a gaping abdominal wound and declared dead hours ago, had somehow regained a heartbeat and awakened in the infirmary—alive and well.
“......”
When their eyes met, Dominic quickly ducked behind the wall. He hadn’t expected it to actually work.
His prayer.
“Let us pray.”
Meanwhile, Rebecca, as the Saint of the Palace, visited every memorial site—kneeling to pray to the Virgin for the fallen cadets and professors. At the same time, she observed the survival of neutral professors she was certain she had killed with her own hands.
She couldn’t understand. When had Hiaka’s medical tech gotten this advanced?
“Princess? It’s time to move to the Memorial Hall in Sector 2.”
Rebecca was the kind of person who got deeply irritated whenever things didn’t go her way. And lately, those things were piling up.
“...Yes. I’ll go.”
Thus, the short war came to a close.