Barbarian in a Failed Game

“A clean room.”

“No need for empty compliments. I know there’s nothing here.”

“No, I mean it. You know what Midland is like. Ordinary people share rooms with livestock, and having a full meal is considered a luxury. Compared to that, this place is… peaceful.”

“Well…”

Every day, bandits, dark mages, and mercenaries fight and create carnage. In a world where a single sword can cut through walls and magic can destroy mountains, this place indeed seemed like peace itself.

Turn on the internet, and it’s full of people arguing and dividing, but that’s only possible because they have the luxury and comfort to do so.

If there were a risk of goblins raiding and slaughtering everyone a few minutes from now, no one would be leisurely typing away on a keyboard.

“I understand why you want to return to this world.”

Mortalia’s words, as she looked around my room with a smile, carried more meaning than their surface-level simplicity.

After discovering the horrifying truth that Midland was a fake world where all intelligent beings were bound to some mysterious law, repeating predestined moments due to her exceptional talent, I could only imagine the suffering she might have gone through.

“Still, that’s not the reason I want to return.”

“Oh? Then is there someone you’re leaving behind? Family?”

“No, it’s not that.”

I had lost my adoptive parents early on. It was just my older sister and me. Thanks to her support, despite the age gap, I managed to graduate from school and get a job.

So, even when I found life dull and monotonous, I continued to live. It might have been inertia, but I considered it a repayment for my sister’s hardships.

“To be honest, the people I’d leave behind can manage without me. They might struggle for a while, but they’ll eventually get back on their feet.”

“Then why? The ‘Gordi Khan’ I saw was full of life and relentless, like a blazing fire. Honestly, ‘Chief Han’ here seems a bit mundane in comparison. I found it surprising.”

“…It’s inertia.”

A sense of purpose is like fuel. Without a goal, people tend to lose interest in whatever they do, just as I did on Earth.

After falling into Midland, I became obsessively focused on returning, avoiding deep connections for the same reason. The fear that I might revert to my previous self made me cling to the idea of returning.

And the distant, ambiguous goal of returning gave me the drive to keep moving forward without losing my way.

“That’s interesting. Maybe that’s why our God chose you. You burned brightly and reached the end of your path, didn’t you?”

“…Enough about me. You said you’d take me to meet your God. Why did you bring me to my room?”

“Oh, that? I don’t know either.”

Just as a frown began to form on my face at the sudden nonsense, I noticed Mortalia’s fingertips starting to blur.

“It’s nothing much. It just means my time here is up. My role was only to help you remember so you wouldn’t be consumed by the memories of chaos.”

She spoke with a sense of relief, as if she was not surprised at all by her impending disappearance.

“Still, it was quite enjoyable. I got to see a world I never experienced before. Even though I ended up like this, I’d like to be born into a world like this if possible.”

“……”

“Why the face? I’m the one who brought you here. No need to look at me like that. And besides, I’m just paying the price for my foolish attempt to change the world.”

As she spoke, her body continued to fade away, with only her head remaining in its original human form. Smiling with relief, mortalya made one final comment.

“I hope you achieve your goal, whether it’s returning to your original world or something else.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, mortalya vanished completely, leaving me alone in the room I once lived in.

I stood there, pondering what to do next, and then headed to the fridge for a soda.

Last time, in the illusion created by the spirit of resentment, the soda had no taste.

“This is great.”

After downing a can of cola in one go, I naturally made my way to the computer. This had always been my routine after work.

Whirrrrr.

The fan of my old but once top-of-the-line computer made an annoying noise as it powered up. If this place really was a recreation of my memories, could it also replicate the terrible human interactions on the internet? Out of curiosity, I reached to open the browser but paused.

“Why is this here…?”

The computer screen was filled with large text, a fantasy-themed illustration, and a start menu.

<>

It was the original game of the world I had been transported into, the game I had played endlessly.

***

“Create a new character? Y/N”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at myself for flinching at the character creation prompt. It wasn’t quite PTSD, but close enough.

After all, right after creating a character, I had been thrust into the damned world of Midland. So, being startled was understandable.

“This must mean I’m supposed to create a character.”

Mortalia’s role was to bring me to my room, and from here, it seemed to be the turn of this so-called ‘God.’ The fact that Midland Quest booted up the moment I turned on the computer and the creation prompt appeared seemed preordained.

I clicked ‘Y’ and rolled the dice.

Honestly, it wouldn’t matter much if I created a character haphazardly, but for the sake of thoroughness, I balanced the stats for a standard warrior build, focusing on strength, agility, and stamina.

As for appearance, I was greeted by the familiar face of the human protagonist.

This time, I paid more attention to customizing the appearance, but somehow ended up with a slender, handsome character that resembled the infuriatingly smug Karyan.

“Damn, that guy was good-looking…”

I finalized the creation of the character, venting my frustration at having been embodied as a brute barbarian. Watching the character placed in a familiar setting, I pondered for a moment.

“Am I supposed to play the game…?”

Not sure of what else to do, I approached the town girl with the exclamation mark over her head, following the set tutorial.

“Help me!”

“This is the same.”

The following text appeared in my mind automatically. After all, I’d seen this tutorial quest over a thousand times.

The first tutorial quest involved fighting off a group of goblins attacking the town. It had a relatively high difficulty, so rushing in recklessly was unwise. Using the town men strategically made it an easy clear.

“Let’s do this.”

I felt an odd excitement about playing Midland Quest again. But as soon as I clicked to accept the quest, a completely unexpected text popped up.

“The false angel defies the creator’s will and wreaks havoc on the earth!”

“The gods of the earth have already become the lackeys of the false angel OTL. Silly gods ㅡㅡ! We’ll have to teach them a lesson later, right? But first, you must defeat the false angel!!! (emphasis added)”

“Please, hero, defeat the false angel and restore peace to the earth!”

“Do you accept the quest? Y/N”

What the hell is this?

The excessive use of emoticons, like an old man trying to keep up with the latest internet trends, was one thing. But instead of fighting goblins, the quest involved a false angel and the gods of the earth. Plus, there was no option to decline.

“Declining is not an option!!! -_-”

Is this supposed to be… the God of the void? The one who made the sorceress Mortalia their apostle and dragged me into this cursed world, even granting me the power of the system window?

“What a load of crap…”

It felt like a sudden wake-up call. Regardless of the quest’s content, I had expected something more serious to come out of it…

“Before I accept the quest, I have a few questions.”

「Go ahead!」

Despite the God’s casual tone, I decided to overlook it for now. The sheer power demonstrated by the current bizarre situation confirmed its claim to divinity.

“The Void… or rather, chaos and the Void. I thought they were entirely the same thing, but now it feels quite different. Is that correct?”

「Correct!」

“This false angel… it’s the one controlling chaos or the world’s laws, running amok. You piggybacked on Mortalia’s summoning ritual and possessed me in a barbarian’s body… Is that right?”

「Exactly!」

“My level being stuck at 39 was intentional from the start. Going beyond that would grant me divinity, and I would become bound by the laws. Initially, I thought that false angel was the one preventing my level-up. But if 40 is the threshold for divinity, the false angel would have no reason to stop me.”

「ㅇ_ㅇ; How long are you going to keep asking questions?」

“And you don’t want me to get consumed by Chaos or to conquer it and ascend to divinity like Karyan or Mortalia. Why? Because then I wouldn’t be able to defeat the false angel. Plus, you have other reasons for not wanting me to attain divinity, right?”

「(＃｀д´)ﾉ I’m getting angry now.」

“What was the reward you promised me? Returning to Earth?”

「Finally, you understand! Yes, if you defeat the false angel, I will send you back to Earth! And that’s not all! If you want, I can help you live the life you’ve always dreamed of instead of your current miserable and boring existence! #ㅅ#」

“Alright, I understand.”

Wham!!

I summoned my familiar weapon, resilience, in the form of a hand axe, and smashed it down. Not once, but repeatedly. I pounded the monitor, the computer itself, until nothing but dust remained.

Bam! Bam! Bam!!!

“Hah…”

Seeing the computer I had shattered with my own hands brought a smile to my face. I could practically feel the panic of this ‘God’ beyond the texts and silly emoticons.

“Return? A new life? I don’t want any of that. No, let’s rewrite the contract from scratch, you bastard.”

「… What do you want?」

Seeing the more formal tone in the printed text made me chuckle. Yes, the desperate party always has to yield.

I had long suspected that this being was trying to use me by dangling Earth as bait. It kidnapped me, used me as it pleased, and now that its pawn was breaking down, it appeared, offering a fancy carrot.

So, I decided to turn the tables. From now on, I am the one in charge, and this being is the one at my mercy. It desperately wants to get rid of the false angel, and things must be dire enough for it to appear directly like this.

“Let’s start with what you can offer.”

Negotiation.

Pulling out the best card I could throw to the desperate party, I smirked.