Episode 16
Beyond the banner, three diverging paths came into view. At the entrance of each path stood a doll holding a sign.
The way they waved their hands didn’t feel like the gestures of something alive…
‘More like a robot designed that way.’
That was about right. Those were agents of the “Eternal Seeker of Pleasure,” and the “Eternal Seeker of Pleasure” was a Third Party that did not use living beings as agents.
Agents. Beings that act as the eyes, mouth, hands, and feet for Third Parties who can only manifest under certain conditions within their own event zones.
Simply put, contractors of the Third Parties.
“Hey!”
Lee Hoin, who had followed right behind, grabbed my shoulder hard.
As expected, he came.
“You came.”
Hoin frowned slightly as if he had something to say, then let out a sigh. He looked extremely dissatisfied.
‘Still, it’s good he came in right away despite that.’
This event didn’t have just one entrance. Even if you entered through the same entrance, if there was more than a one-minute gap, you might end up entering through a different one.
And if he had hesitated and entered after all 150 participants were filled, he would’ve been placed into a completely different round.
“Ha… fine. You must’ve had a reason.”
“I do.”
I always had a reason. The problem was that things rarely went according to my plans.
I turned my head and looked at the signs.
The phrase on the sign held by the rabbit doll at the left path read:
{ ⇦ The participant waiting room is on the left path. }
And the phrases on the signs held by the horse doll in the center path and the cow doll on the right path were…
{ ⇧ The participant waiting room is on the center path. }
{ ⇨ The participant waiting room is on the right path. }
Same message, just different directions.
Hoin, who had been scanning the signs, frowned again.
“What are they even trying to say? So where exactly is the waiting room?”
“Drop your assumptions.”
“What?”
“The waiting room might not be just one.”
At that, Hoin went, “Ah,” and nodded.
They were simply guided to their respective waiting rooms. Depending on which waiting room you choose, different advantages would be given.
“So where are we going?”
—
[The first crossroads has appeared.]
[〉 Left
[〉 Center
[〉 Right]
—
The choices appeared.
As if timed perfectly with the appearance of the choices, each doll on the paths added a comment.
{ ⇦ Rabbits are cute! No matter what, cute means profit! }
{ ⇧ I’ve already allowed you onto my back. }
{ ⇨ Do you have someone you want to protect? I did. }
Three animals are babbling away.
As Hoin listened to them… their words, their stories, his body subtly leaned toward the right.
“Hoin, where are you going?”
“Huh? Ah–?”
As if he had unconsciously drifted that way, he flinched and stepped back toward me.
“We’re going left.”
“The rabbit?”
“Yeah.”
Hoin glanced at the rabbit doll, which was smiling brightly.
“But if the waiting rooms are split like this, doesn’t that mean each one is different?”
That was sharper than expected.
As he said, each waiting room had a different starting buff. The rabbit gave an extra life, the horse gave stamina, and the cow gave strength. None of them were bad choices.
‘Well… none are bad, but.’
Thinking back to when Sa Jaeheon participated…
‘The rabbit waiting room’s buff is hard to obtain in its complete form.’
You could steal the buff, but since it required killing, the extra life was often damaged in the process.
Hoin hummed for a moment, then asked:
“Is the rabbit really okay?”
Out of the three, the rabbit did seem the most suspicious.
{ ⇦ Rabbits are cute! No matter what, cute means profit! }
As if responding, the rabbit doll chirped again.
“Maybe? They all have catchphrases, but this one only emphasizes cuteness. That might mean it’s actually the best.”
At my casual explanation, Hoin gave the rabbit a doubtful look.
“Let’s just go. We’ll know once we get there.”
“…Well, alright.”
Clicking his tongue uneasily, he followed me to the left path.
{ ⇦ You have to choose me until the end! Then even someone as huge and ferocious as you can become cute! }
“…That sounds kind of insulting. Huge and ferocious? Me?”
Dragging along Hoin, who was pointlessly having a staring contest with a doll, we walked down the path.
***
After that, including the first fork, we encountered three crossroads in total. At every single one, we chose the rabbit doll.
{ ⇦ Good! The next one is the last! Keep your pure heart! }
{ ⇦ Nice! The next path leads straight to the ‘Rabbit Class Waiting Room’! }
The waiting room we finally arrived at was closer to a small cabin. The only thing indicating it was a waiting room was a single sign stuck in front.
ᕬᕬ
{ Rabbit Class Waiting Room }
When we opened the door, the inside was far more spacious than expected. Aside from the walls being covered entirely with rabbit drawings, it was an ordinary waiting room.
‘Spatial distortion must cost quite a bit of story stones…’
This made it clear that the “Eternal Seeker of Pleasure” was one of the wealthier Third Parties.
Third Parties created events to collect stories, but if they tried to exceed the set limits when designing an event space, they had to pay additional resources.
‘They probably also paid to get the right to host an event right after the tutorial ended.’
According to what Sa Jaeheon confirmed, the event system roughly worked like this:
The Narrator grants Third Parties the right to host events. At least once, they are forced to host one, making it a “right” in name only.
In other words, they must host at least one event.
Because of this, whenever special timing allowed events, Third Parties would swarm in to exercise that right. And the Narrator took advantage of this, selling “event hosting rights” separately.
‘Through auctions, no less.’
Not fixed prices, this alone showed how much of a merchant the Narrator was.
Now, this “first” cooperative event right after the tutorial carried special meaning. It might be where heroes of this world would first emerge.
And if those heroes’ first stories began in your event? Then your story would gain the trait [Beginning of a Legend], elevating its value.
For Third Parties, that was a golden opportunity.
‘Of course, higher appeal means higher cost.’
Participants entered with nothing, so they had to be given weapons to fight, along with rewards. On top of that, building the event itself required resources.
—
[If you want legends, you must accumulate failure.]
—
Among event options, spatial distortion was one of the most expensive.
‘Most Third Parties invest more in agents than events.’
Agents could guide participants and roam the world, conducting both shared and individual events. Meanwhile, events yielded limited-quality stories.
So many Third Parties abandoned events and focused on gathering stories through agents instead.
Among the most low-effort events…
It was the event of the “Black Night Storyteller.” A tiny arena, tournament-style, with participants fighting in order.
—
[What a boring event. I feel sleepy just watching it.]
[Yes, yes, such lifeless deaths. Why waste your lives on this?]
—
One of the Narrator’s least favorite events.
But when encountering that Third Party’s agents…
—
[Now this is different! You can tell a lot of resources were spent! Did you know that the agent has lived for 1,246 years, excluding time tricks like regression? Titles everywhere! God Slayer, Mass Murderer, Flame Sword Emperor…]
[So flashy! But is it truly meaningful?]
—
That’s when the Narrator got excited.
I shook off the thought. I didn’t want to meet those agents. Each one had over a dozen titles.
‘Mass Murderer is guaranteed… How many were there again? Twelve?’
‘…Not that things will go as planned.’
With that thought, I looked around.
The space was neither bright nor dark, and many people were gathered.
The contrast was clear.
Some stood there unharmed, neatly dressed, with dazed expressions. Others were covered in blood, wearing torn clothes, and trembling. Some gripped weapons, unable to lower their guard.
‘…And.’
My gaze stopped at one corner.
A character who informed Sa Jaeheon about this event… and someone who still frequently appeared in the latest chapters.
—
[Character of the “Ruined World”: Cha Hyeongseo (□□□ Justice)]
Importance: 4/5
□□□: 0/5
<Records>
A character whose actions appear only in certain chapters.
Search a chapter below to trace their actions.
—
Cha Hyeongseo.
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