Ghost Story Club

 

HEIID

 

Far Away Land!

 

[Warning: Beware of system overload. This is a restricted area which hasn’t been coded by the developers.] 

 

Before we could step out of the house and cross the border, a huge window containing a warning message appeared in front of our eyes.

 

For a moment, I stared at the message blankly, puzzled if the message that appeared was from the System Window, or was it from the MineCraft game system.

 

The font of the message was definitely different from the messages of the System Window which I was used to seeing. Moreover, it also contained a different meaning from the usual warning of the System Window, and all the other members could also see it.

 

And a moment later, the message disappeared from our eyes, who were staring at it blankly.

 

Creak, creak.

 

When we opened the door and stepped out, the same view of the endless meadow stretched beyond the horizon appeared before our vision.

 

All we could see was endless green grass and the horizon in the distance, with the blue sky spreading above our heads.

 

However, the scene in front of us felt different from before.

 

The surrounding was extremely quiet.

 

No sound of birds or other animals could be heard.

 

Except for the occasional sound of the five of us walking, only silence that was deafening was enveloping us from around.

 

The absence of sound made us feel like the scene before us was truly artificially created, not the real world we imagined it to be.

 

Step, step.

 

Without making much noise, we silently stepped on the green grass and walked forward.

 

We walked a few steps in silence, then as if we promised ourselves in our heart, we all slowly turned around.

 

Finally, the front of the house we worked so hard to build, entered our vision.

 

Amidst the endless dichotomy of the blue sky above our heads and green pasture beneath our feet, the house we built with baked red brick, stood like a painting.

 

Green, red, blue.

 

These three colors dazzled our eyes.

 

Among the background created by the three colors, we stood on the borderline of an unknown world.

 

What would be happening from now on?

 

Although none of us voiced the doubt that raised its head in our heart, we probably were wondering the same thing. Or perhaps because of the atmosphere that overwhelmed our thoughts, we couldn’t utter a single syllable.

 

“Joon…”

 

After what seemed like eternity, Sunah opened her mouth first with a slightly worried look.

 

Perhaps the voice of Sunah must have made the club members come to their senses again. Slowly, one by one, they all started to look at me with gazes filled with questions.

 

“Haaa, Prez.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Explain how this all happened…”

 

“First of all, I’m sorry for not explaining to you anything in advance. But if you guys knew the truth, this method wouldn’t have worked.”

 

“Haaa.”

 

Sighing again, Gyeongwon raised his glasses as if he had given up reasoning with me.

 

“What? What do you mean?”

 

Dukhun appeared to be bewildered, as if he couldn’t comprehend the meaning of my words.

 

He sometimes showed surprising insight while explaining complicated situations, especially situations related to video games using his accumulated knowledge as an otaku. However, he didn’t seem to be the type of intelligent person who understood a situation just by a few hints.

 

“Gather around. I’ll explain everything.”

 

“… I’m not sure but I believe the President knew everything but didn’t bother to explain.”

 

“Yeah. Sorry.”

 

Dukhun nodded in an understanding manner.

 

As everyone’s attention was focused on me, I started explaining everything from the beginning.

 

“This illegal version of MineCraft that hackers cracked and leaked on the social platforms is true to its rumor. People say that those hackers unlocked things that shouldn’t be unlocked while disabling security.”

 

“Yeah. So what?”

 

“I don’t know what was the thing that hackers unlocked, but it seems to have a significant impact on the people who are too engrossed in this game.”

 

“Too engrossed?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The members listened to my explanation with a thoughtful expression while standing side by side.

 

“Do you remember the rumor where people who played the illegal version of the game disappeared or became mentally ill? I think they were probably sucked into the game while being so immersed that to them, the game world overlapped with reality. Just as what is happening to us now.”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

Gyeongwon exclaimed loudly as if he was dumbfounded.

 

“Then why didn’t you tell us? Because you were afraid that if we started paying attention and becoming conscious, we wouldn’t be too immersed in the game?”

 

“Exactly. That’s why I suggested we build a house.”

 

The reason for which I suggested to them to build a house was simple.

 

The more they became engrossed in the game, the more they would forget about reality and their consciousness would overlap with the world of the game. It was the best way to maximize their focus on the game in the shortest amount of time.

 

And just as I had expected, the members were deeply immersed playing the game while decorating and assembling things here and there.

 

At some point, we all were sucked inside the game world.

 

“…Then how were we able to cross the border? We were originally being blocked by a transparent wall.”

 

“That’s, um…”

 

At the question, I pondered over the various online games I’ve played so far and thought for a moment about how to explain so that they would understand easily.

 

“For those who have played games, have you guys sometimes seen that NPCs can enter some places but players can’t?”

 

“It’s normal.”

 

Dukhun answered as he stroked his chin.

 

“NPCs can freely enter their own houses in the village, but players can’t… That’s pretty normal in games. Without any doubt, it’s just a trick that the developers purposely use on areas they haven’t coded.”

 

“That’s right. I think it’s the same here in this world beyond the edge.”

 

All eyes focused on me as if they were intrigued.

 

“We are currently beyond the edge of the world map. A world that the developers haven’t coded or created. So originally, players would never be able to cross the border and enter this world.”

 

“But why us?”

 

“Listen.”

 

I continued my explanation with a serious expression while drawing the shape of the boundary line with the gesture of my hands.

 

“The edge of the world is blocked for the players from crossing by a transparent wall. However, we could clearly see a path, the grass, and the sky beyond it, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Sunah and I even saw an NPC rabbit running away after seeing us and actually crossing the transparent wall without being blocked by it. Not to mention, the grasses and trees growing at both sides of the borders were similar.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

“In other words, the programmers probably closed off the end of the edge of the world to prevent computer errors that would occur if the players crossed the border and entered the uncoded world. However, in the case of NPCs, because of the presence of the system, they aren’t blocked by the transparent wall as they are considered in-game elements. And that’s-”

 

“-Because that’s what looks natural in the eyes of the players.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Dukhun answered on my behalf, resting his hand on his chin.

 

I nodded affirmatively.

 

“Sodesune… A loophole in the system that can never be avoided in a game. You’re digging into that gap.”

 

Correct.

 

A trick developers often use in games.

 

In order to reduce resources and the time to code for a broader world, they purposely don’t code places that players can enter.

 

‘If they were to code for all of that, in the case of an international game set in a different world, the computer specifications wouldn’t be enough.’

 

The principle of developing a game is to create such trivial things only as the background of the game. Instead, they focus more on implementing the places that can actually be visited and entered by the players necessary for their adventure.

 

However, even if players are restricted from entering certain areas, that doesn’t mean that NPCs can’t enter those areas that serve as the background.

 

Even in an empty space where nothing has been created, players can see NPCs opening doors as if a door indeed exist there and go in.

 

And after a certain time has passed, they naturally appear through that empty space, and so on. By using this trick, developers show the players the limitations of the game world and help them mark areas which are unnecessary for their quests.

 

And this game, MineCraft, is also the same.

 

Even if the terrain beyond the transparent wall was a place which we couldn’t venture into, showing it right in front of us was the detriment to the concept of a game that aims for infinite freedom.

 

Therefore, to create the illusion of an infinite world, the developers made a dazzling view just beyond the border, blocked the players from crossing with a transparent wall, but set it so that NPCs could cross it freely. In this way, they successfully implemented the concept of a vast, endless world.

 

“That, that means… we’re now…”

 

“That’s right.”

 

I confidently nodded to Gyeongwon whose face was turning pale by the second.

 

“After successfully crossing the border, we’re no longer the external elements called ‘players’ who enjoy the game from outside, but ‘NPCs’ that exist inside the game.”

 

“Sodesune…”

 

“That’s impossible…”

 

Dukhun and Sunah showed an expression of amazement.

 

However, Gyeongwon’s face had turned white.

 

“What, what the hell…”

 

His face changed rapidly as if he was panicking.

 

“Son of a… This punk…”

 

Suddenly, he walked over and grabbed my collar.

 

“S, such a dangerous thing… you should have consulted with me in advance… you could have asked me… Damn it.”

 

“Sorry. Like I said before, I thought if I told you the truth before, you wouldn’t have…”

 

“E… Even if I was willing to participate… You could have just asked…”

 

“Didn’t I tell you when we first started playing that we were gonna look for ghost stories?”

 

“Really… I didn’t know it would really happen… This… This kind of thing… You dragged me in without saying anything…?”

 

Grabbing my collar weakly, he shook it as if he had no strength.

 

“Uh… What are you going to do now? This… If I knew things were gonna turn up like this, I wouldn’t have come…”

 

This guy.

 

I had no idea how to comfort a person who seemed like have lost his sanity while shaking my collar.

 

Not only did I feel apologetic, I also felt uncomfortable.

 

And top of all, I felt a little frustrated at his unreasonable attitude.

 

“I understand that you must have made a plan before coming here but… How are you going to get back…”

 

“That’s…”

 

Of course I had planned it through before coming here. However, I didn’t think it was a surefire way to put Gyeongwon’s anxious heart at ease.

 

His expression eventually collapsed as if he had lost everything.

 

“I just went out to eat with my parents… I thought it would be good to share the rumors with you, then…”

 

“…you should have consulted with a doctor, a doctor. Some people might not be mentally prepared…. Uh, right? R, right?”

 

Gyeongwon always boasted about his knowledge in every situation, be it either the preparation of college entrance exams or in other fields.

 

Surprisingly, among us, he was the weakest one mentally when dealing with sudden unrealistic developments.

 

He also didn’t seem enthusiastic when he explained the ghost story earlier. It was as if he just wanted to assist me with the information but had no intention in participating.

 

Even Hayoon appeared out of nowhere and showed interest in chasing the ghost story, although she also wasn’t aware that things would turn out like this.

 

I never thought he would be so anxious by the sudden development.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

“How could this happen… How could…”

 

Slowly lowering his hands from my collar, he looked down with a dispirited look on his face.

 

Perhaps because it was already the third ghost story he had encountered this week, this made him mentally exhausted.

 

“Gyeongwon…”

 

Sunah called out to Gyeongwon, who sat down on the grass with a worried expression.

 

Dukhun had an indifferent face as if he couldn’t understand why Gyeongwon was making a fuss and behaving as if the world had collapsed.

 

I stared at Gyeongwon who was continuously blaming me after sitting down with a dejected look. At that time, Hayoon, who had been quiet until now suddenly stepped forward and said in a clear voice.

 

“You came here out of your own volition, so there’s nothing we can do. Get up.”

 

“Ugh.”

 

A bright but firm tone.

 

Gyeongwon finally stood up with a pained expression under Hayoon’s piercing gaze.

 

Because of the rising anxiety, he was wobbling on his feet so Dukhun quickly stepped forward and supported him.

 

“You must think of a way to get us out alive, President…!”

 

He began to reprimand me.

 

His emotions were getting intense because of anxiety.

 

“You dragged me in, so you have to take responsibility! Don’t say such nonsense like you’ll solve everything after you turn back time!”

 

“….Haa.”

 

Nothing was in my hand.

 

These guys… Had to follow me wherever I wanted to drag them to.

 

He wasn’t a fellow NPC with a strong sense of justice and mental maturity.

 

He was just an ordinary highschool student who lives in South Korea with an eccentric personality.

 

“….I’m sorry for dragging you in without a proper explanation. But it’s not like I don’t have a plan. I also have some good news to tell you.”

 

“What? Tell me.”

 

Hope seemed to enter Gyeongwon’s eyes, who was being supported by Dukhun.

 

“I’ve contacted Jinhee to come to the internet cafe. I even sent her the number of my seat in advance. I think once she arrives, she can just shake us awake.”

 

“…What is the guarantee that we’ll be still sitting in our seats in reality by the time she arrives?”

 

Even in his almost broken state, he questioned me in a sharp tone.

 

“You don’t think it’s possible to have meaningful interaction like this just by sitting and fiddling with the keyboard. Huh? Huh? Huh?”

 

Clenching and unclenching his fists several times, he showed an enraged expression.

 

“What if my body itself got sucked really into the game? Huh?”

 

“What are you going to do if we’re all stuck in this weird place and die because of you!!!”

 

“Be quiet. Don’t be ridiculous and be quiet.”

 

At Gyeongwon’s outbursts, Hayoon cut off in a cold tone.

 

“Don’t whine like a child, I don’t want to see you complain like a complete idiot. Joon has no obligation to take responsibility for all of that.”

 

“…What?”

 

Gyeongwon furrowed his eyebrows and glared at Hayoon.

 

But Hayoon, in response to his glare, raised her crossbow as if she didn’t care what anyone thought and poured out her opinions.

 

“Do you think Joon is going through all this trouble so that he can have a comfortable life? If you want to have the life of a king, go figure out a way to do it yourself. Don’t whine like a child and fill my earbuds with your ridiculous statements. It’s the same whether he dies now and time goes back or he dies on the graduation day three years ago. Everything is the same.”

 

At Hayoon’s sudden remarks, we all were at a loss for a moment.

 

“What-”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Without even looking at Gyeongwon’s face, who seemed like wanted to retort, she suddenly turned around. Then carrying the crossbow that Dukhun had crafted for her earlier, Hayoon started walking.

 

“Oi, I’ll get going.”

 

Dukhun patted Gyeongwon on the shoulder as if comforting him.

 

Then he followed Hayoon behind, carrying his axe next to him.

 

“…I’m sorry, Gyeongwon. I have nothing to say to comfort you.”

 

I apologized to him one last time before slowly turning around and started walking, following the two who were walking ahead.

 

“Joon…”

 

Sunah seemed torn between staying with Gyeongwon, who was standing still like a statue or leaving with me. Then, she also started following us, not before throwing a pitiful look at Gyeongwon.

 

And Gyeongwon stood in his position blankly.

 

Not wanting to stay in a strange place alone, he also moved his feet and slowly began to follow us.

 

“Wait, wait for me…”

 

The world beyond the border was so quiet that one couldn’t hear the sound of birds or the wind passing, just complete, endless silence.

 

The vast green pasture before and blue sky unnaturally divide the background into two different colors.

 

It was more than obvious that we were in a game world, but compared to our existence in the game with our own real self, the surroundings appeared to be extremely artificial.

 

Entering the Far Away Land, we continued to walk forward.

 

“That hill, it’s the default wallpaper of the Windows XP desktop we were playing on.”

 

“I remember that one.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Dukhun and I were walking in the middle of the group, discussing the various strange structures that appeared out of nowhere. Hayoon was walking at the front, carrying her crossbow.

 

Sunah was following behind.

 

And Gyeongwon was walking about 10 meters behind us, slightly behind the group with his head bowed dejectedly.

 

‘There’s probably about an hour left until dinner time in reality.’

 

Suddenly, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Status Window would appear here. So I quietly called out to the system in my mind, hoping for it to actually show up.

 

‘Status Window.’

 

Po-

 

Just as I thought, it couldn’t appear here in the game world.

 

I could feel like something was hovering before my vision, but I couldn’t see anything in front of me.

 

‘Could it be that it popped up in front of my real self sitting in the internet cafe?’

 

I was puzzled at the thought, but soon I gathered my composure.

 

Even if the Status Window did appear there, I didn’t think I could do anything using it except for checking the time.

 

However, since it has become a habit of mine to check the time through the Status Window, I called out to it habitually. The situation was like losing the smartphone you always carry with you, but you feel anxious without its presence.

 

The Status Window has become like a rosary to me that a priest always carries out of habit.

 

‘Let’s see… It’s probably around 5:30 according to my guess.’

 

I quietly calculate the time in my mind.

 

‘It should be okay as long as I can send the members home before dinner time. So, we’ll just explore the surroundings for about 30 minutes and then try to go back in 30 minutes…’

 

I thought like those online games, I shouldn’t attempt to get out of the game from an unnatural location, lest any errors occur.

 

Since we had entered a world beyond the original game world, I thought to disconnect only after returning to the original game world until Jinhee woke us up.

 

Step. Step.

 

The endless horizon began to change as we approached slowly.

 

The vast pasture ended and trees once again began to appear on both sides of the trail. The terrain became slightly bumpy and undulating.

 

While walking on the uneven path, a sudden thought occurred. There was a high chance that this artificial world could be sphere shaped like our planet Earth, and not a flat land.

 

“Even though the horizon beyond could be seen, the terrain doesn’t seem to be completely flat. The ground is somewhat inclined. Look. That tree standing over the edge of the field of vision. As you get closer to the top, you can see the rest of the way down.”

 

“Wheeze, wheeze.”

 

“As scientific evidence that the Earth is round, ships coming from across the ocean are visible from above the mast.”

 

“I understand, so you don’t have to explain everything to me.”

 

Dukhun waved his hand as if he was annoyed and continued to climb up the sloppy road while wheezing.

 

The path gradually became steeper, and soon we were walking over a steep uphill trail.

 

On the uneven and inclined hilly path, we walked for a while.

 

Suddenly, Hayoon, who was leading at the front stopped walking as if she saw something shocking.

 

The expression on her face hardened like a statue.

 

Then Dukhun, who quickly approached Hayoon and stood beside her, also flinched at the view in front.

 

“…What the hell?”

 

Looking down from the hill to somewhere below, he muttered with an astonished expression.

 

I also quickly approached them, wondering why their expression was so strange as if they saw a ghost.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

Reaching the top of the hill, I looked slightly below.

 

And my heart sank at the view that entered my vision.

 

That thing, it shouldn’t be there.

 

“What’s wrong, Joon…?”

 

Sunah, who was following me from behind, also climbed to the top of the hill and tried to catch her breath. However, her breath hitched at the thing that appeared before her eyes and she froze in surprise.

 

“Uh, that… Why is it here…”

 

“…What is it?”

 

Gyeongwon was walking at the very end of the group. Seeing us standing still as if we had witnessed something terrible, he asked curiously.

 

I couldn’t open my mouth at the shock that went through me. So I just answered with a gesture of my head, indicating to him to come up and see by himself.

 

He eventually reached us with plodding steps.

 

A strange expression of incomprehension appeared on his face at the view, much like us.

 

“Why is that here…?”

 

There, the two-story cozy brick house that we built with hand-made red bricks stood like a painting.