['Ji-yeon' asked me to deliver a message. 'I miss you'.]
Fuck.
The name of my dead childhood sweetheart suddenly came out of his filthy mouth.
The moment I heard that name, my hands trembled involuntarily.
"...."
I was silent for a while. Rather than thinking about what the man really was and how he knew Ji-yeon's name, I couldn't believe that Ji-yeon said she missed me.
That day, I was the one who asked her to meet, and I was the one who looked helplessly at her from beyond the traffic light without being able to do anything. There was no way she wanted to see me, even though I was a worm that couldn't even avenge her death properly.
I thought so until now.
[15 seconds left.]
If that's true, how am I supposed to act? No, maybe he was a simple madman? I don't know if he deliberately dug my information to threaten me.
Such miscellaneous thoughts ran through my head, but the conclusion I came to was, in a way, natural.
'So what if it's a scam or a crime attempt?'
It was a body that could not die anyway. Having already seen the abyss, I had nothing more to lose.
I staggered toward the front door, grabbed the doorknob, and turned it.
On the other side of the door, a man wearing a mask, whom I had checked on the intercom earlier, greeted me with an exaggerated action, posing like an English gentleman I had only seen in movies.
[Thank you for your precious courage. Player (PLAYER).]
Again, I had the feeling that this man's voice entered my head through some other means, not through my ears. As proof of that, his mask did not tremble in the slightest.
"...player?"
[That's right. From this moment, you, Kim Si-woon will be the only player in the world. In this world on the verge of destruction.]
The world on the verge of destruction.
However, that wasn't what in my mind as I couldn't careless that the world without Ji-yeon would vanish or whatever.
What caught my attention was the earlier part.
"What do you mean by player?"
At my words, the eyes of the man in front of me crescent as if smiling as he started speaking.
[That's right, it's a term for people like you who is chosen. Have you ever heard of the term parallel world?]
"I've heard of it."
Was it a theory that there are infinitely many identical worlds? But what did have to do with this bizarre situation?
[In a nutshell, this world has reached the end of its lifespan. It means that the role of the normal world has been taken over by another world, and it has been reduced to mere entertainment.]
[We call ourselves 'gods', but in order to progress the story according to the rules we have set, it is necessary to change the world whenever a part goes wrong in the middle.]
[And, this world is the world that has reached the end of its lifespan this time. And the authority to do anything to this broken world was finally given to me.]
"So, what do you want to say?"
[You're quite an impatient young man.]
He chuckled, as if having fun. But I couldn't share his sentiment, a frown appeared on my forehead as I run of my patience.
Seemingly not bothered by my attitude, the masked man carried on, still on his own pace.
[Just like the name, "Player." You just need to "play" in a game I set. As simple as that.]
Squinting my eyes, I threw him a suspicious glare. "...a game?"
[As I said before, I have the absolute right to do whatever I want with this world. That means this world doesn't care what rules are broken. For example, 'The dead come back to life'.]
"...."
[How is it. Don't you like it?]
His playful tone irked me. It was so fucking annoying but I couldn't say that I wasn't tempted by his offer.
This might be the only chance for me to reunite with Ji-yeon.
I took a deep breath to collect myself and asked, "What am I supposed to do?"
[Please have sex with the women of this world.]
I was dumbfounded for a moment, unknowingly blurting out my thought. "...what?"
[Are you deaf? It is S.E.X, SEX. Do you understand the meaning of the word SEX?]
What the fuck was this crazy bastard saying? Was this some kind of jokes? Was it fun to pull a prank on a desperate man like me?!
My patient that had already run thin blew up at this exact moment.
"You fucker!!!"
Like a mad dog, I pounced at the man in front of me. My fist was ready to break that grotesque mask!
The man stood there unmoving, looking at me somewhat amused, but did nothing to defend himself.
And something unbelievable happened right before my eyes.
My fist that should've been in contact with flesh passed through the man like punching the air. My expression turned into one of horror as my whole arm literally pierced through his body.
"What the fuck are you?! Are you ghost?!"
Unable to make sense what was transpiring in front of me, I punched several times more to no avail.
After hurling some curses at him, I finally came to my sense, stepped back to make some distance from this bastard and stared at him in silence.
I slapped my cheek as hard as I could, the stinging pain throbbing on my face was the proof that I wasn't dreaming. This was a reality. A fucking bizarre reality.
[Have you calm down, Siwoon?]
The man's voice was still as nonchalant as usual as if nothing had happened before.
I once again drew a sharp breath, nodding my head to urge him to continue his explanation.
[Have you ever read a hero story or a novel with a hero as the protagonist?]
[The ending of the story is, as always, a happy ending. With the person he/she love, he/she lives happily ever after.]
[However, the reality is not like that. Even if you conquer the world with your ignorant power, you'll die from being stabbed by someone you love, or you'll die by taking poison from trash that's aiming for your property.]
"...."
[Anyway, with strength, intellect, and at least luck, I've created countless heroes in the abandoned worlds I've been given, but their endings have always been miserable. Most of it was because of betrayal by someone they loved.]
[That's what I thought. If you are a man with a skill that can captivate or even conquer the opposite sex. Isn't it natural that he won't be betrayed at the end?]
Listening to this madman's rambling, I could roughly guess his identity. He might be a being that you call a god, transcendent, almighty being or whatever. But it wasn't enough to call on his bullshit. In my heart that's it.
The "God" carried on.
[If it's a world that's going to perish anyway, isn't it okay at least once to do anything you want? So, let's treat is as a game. A game where you can get your precious person back.]
Of course, I will help you to some extent. You can trust him because he won't do anything like a lion pushing his children to the edge of a cliff. The guy added.
I was dumbfounded, so I was silent for a while, then I told him.
"If I clear this game, can you bring me back to the past?"
[Obviously. Because I have the qualifications and ability to do so.]
I still have many doubts about this whole shady "game" thing, but it's not like I have any other option.
I was desperate enough to get my Ji-hyeon back that I have no qualm to even sign a contract with a devil, let alone a God.
So, without much hesitation, I voiced my decision.
"Okay. Do as you like."
[Okay, so this concludes the contract.]
After saying that, the man's mask distorted grotesquely, and the corners of his mouth went up.
[Then, let the game begins.]