Chapter 1 – The Truth of This World
[The identity of this world is a game.]
One day, such a voice came from Jeong Chan-ho’s cell phone.
I checked to see if I had touched the game screen by mistake, but there was no such thing. No apps were running on the phone. The phone started talking on its own.
“What is this? Is it broken?”
Chanho tapped the phone with the palm of his hand. Like the primitive belief that electronics can be fixed by hitting them. As can be seen from the primitive countermeasures followed, Chanho did not consider this an emergency. In the first place, there is no place to contact you, so what?
[This is not a mobile phone malfunction, Mr. Jeong Chan-ho. This is the word of God.]
Okay, now it’s an emergency.
“What the fuck is this. How did you know my name and call me? Hey you crazy bastard What did you do to my cell phone? Do you want to eat bean rice?”
It was Chanho who came up with hacking as a hypothesis that can most reasonably interpret the current situation.
I don’t know how this happened, but what can Chanho do knowing that? What matters is who the guy on the other side of this phone is.
The voice over the phone at the angry Chan-ho’s voice showed no signs of embarrassment.
[When she was in the 5th grade of elementary school, she confessed to her mate and made her cry, so she became an outcast?]
Said.
“Ugh..”
Chan-ho didn’t say anything and took a deep breath. Because he said what the phone said was true.
Among the traumas scattered throughout Jeong Chan-ho’s life, the dirty memories are counted among the five fingers.
“You, what are you? How did you know that? Are you someone I know?”
[I know Mr. Jeong Chan-ho. But Mr. Jeong Chan-ho does not know me. I’m just conveying God’s will to you. That’s enough. If you still don’t believe me, I can tell you about the rest of my traumas that I can count on my five fingers. Would you like to do that?]
“…”
Goosebumps ran down Chanho’s spine. It’s not just that this voice was aware of his trauma, or that it was the voice of God or something like a pseudo-religion.
This guy used the expression “Trauma,” Which is counted on five fingers.
As if I had read Chanho’s thoughts just now.
Chanho looked up at the ceiling. Of course, the sky was not visible, and no one could see the curtained room.
Still, he couldn’t hide the terrifyingly unpleasant feeling that someone was watching him.
Chan-ho said, barely calming the anxiety and fear.
“Let’s listen.” [Let’s listen.]
Voices overlapped. As if you knew in advance that this would happen.
[I did this even though I knew it was rude. Because performance is important to buy trust.]
The cell phone continued.
[This makes you believe me. Of course, I don’t mean that I believe in everything I say, but at least I guess there is some surreal force involved that I can’t ignore.]
Commentary, not prediction.
This mobile phone was explaining Chanho’s feelings. And the explanation was correct.
This is also a performance.
[Now that Mr. Chanho understands, let’s go back to the main topic. The essence of this world is a game. Not figuratively, but in the true sense]
//
There is a so-called simulation hypothesis.
It’s long to explain, but to put it simply, this world is actually a virtual world created by higher beings, and we are like NPCs.
At first glance, it seems plausible, but in the end, there is no way to verify it, so it is ambiguous to name it as a hypothesis.
“You mean that hypothesis is true?”
[That’s right. I said I was a god earlier, but strictly speaking, it’s a bit different. The creator of this world is an ordinary person who is not seen in his world. However, it doesn’t matter if at least the influence it can have on this world is truly God itself.]
An ordinary person in which the god of this world is nothing special in the real world.
It was a shabby fact compared to the absolute feeling that the word God has.
No, that’s just fine. Important thing.
“Uh, then that god is sending me a message. Why?”
[Because I’m going to start playing from now on.]
Chan-ho didn’t know how to accept this.
Are you going to start playing? From now on? Then, what on earth is the history of this world so far?
Reading Chanho’s thoughts, the mobile phone answered.
[When you start a simulation game, isn’t there a loading time to set up and load the game? That’s it.]
“…”
The history of mankind so far.. Game loading?
No, apart from the history of mankind, the history of the Earth and the universe… Loading?
“..Then it’s like the 5-minute world hypothesis?”
Did you say that the hypothesis originated in Japan? That the world actually came into existence five minutes ago and what we perceive is just a fabricated memory.
[No. Well, in the real world, it may be as short as 5 minutes, but at least from the perspective of this world, it is correct that about 13.8 billion years have passed. At least the people who lived before Mr. Chanho actually believed that they existed and then disappeared.]
Chan-ho was confused. It’s not because he didn’t understand what the cell phone was saying. Just,
“Isn’t that too much of a waste?”
Why the hell is it necessary to create a world and even recreate the past in detail in one game?
[It’s trivial. It’s a bit of an investment for realism.]
How far can I trust this absurd statement? Chan-ho was confused.
[Believe everything.]
There is not even freedom of thought.
“Uh, then I want to ask…”
[You are wondering why you are telling yourself that.]
It was the correct answer, but I couldn’t help but feel awkward somewhere when I said it in such a concise form.
[The reason is that you were chosen as the avatar of the god, the player.]
“Uh? Avatar?”
[That’s right. You may not be aware of it, but you are already with Chanho. He lives and breathes with the same emotions, knowledge, and thoughts as Chanho. For realistic play.]
“Me, I don’t know. The difference between me before and now…”
[There will be no difference. You didn’t make the decision to erase Chanho’s personality. Players want to enjoy the world they have created from the perspective of the natives of that world. You just have to move according to your free will. Because that is the player’s wish.]
Confusion continued to accelerate.
Rather than a story like the setting that this world was actually a game world, your own body? Soul? Anyway, it’s natural that the absurd sound that God is with you is more touching.
[I’ll say it again. Don’t be awkward about anything. You have only one thing to do. All you have to do is enjoy the game, this world.]
“…”
A flood of information that comes in without consideration.
Chan-ho thought about it for a while, but there was no point in thinking that he had no direction on what to do.
In the end, Chan-ho, who came to the conclusion that it was just a headache and there was no answer, asked in a slightly servile voice.
“Well, what if I say I don’t want to do it?”
[Chanho, what would you do if the avatar of the game you were trying to play had a bug? Wouldn’t he just erase it and create another avatar?]
Chan-ho began to feel cold as if a cold knife had been stabbed in his spine.
Isn’t this just a threat?
[You don’t have to be so afraid. On the contrary, you can be happy that you have been chosen for such a wonderful role. I assure you, you are the chosen one. It’s a story like that in this world.]
“Uh… Please give me one for reference. So that play? What is the game about?”
If it’s post-apocalyptic or heroic, I’ll never be able to do it.
Even if success is guaranteed, even if there is a chance to win a beautiful woman, Chan-ho’s mental strength is not strong enough to overcome difficult trials and tribulations.
If you think about Chanho’s life full of failures and hikikomori.
[You don’t have to worry about that. You can see that there is nothing to see sick. It’s a kind of management game, if you have to ask.]
“Uh, is it some kind of tycoon?”
[Exactly.]
Tycoon.
I don’t know if kids these days know it, but in the past, there were times when games with that name were popular.
Running a small shop, or running an amusement park.
They were games that had a little bit of fun and a taste that subtly penetrated them.
That would be fine. After all, isn’t it the same as the main characters appearing there all wearing their own CEO title?
Compared to hikikomori in the corner, it’s success, success.
Thinking that, Chan-ho’s heart became much lighter. Although his crazy idea of creating a world to play a game of tycoon is absurd… Well, he has enough scientific power to create a world. It must be a world where such useless waste is tolerated. The real world.
“Then what should I do? Should I decide that too?”
[Freedom is guaranteed as much as possible, but the subject is fixed. I can’t do anything that goes against the name of the game.]
The good news is that the topic is fixed. On the contrary, creativity tends to drift if there is no theme.
Chanho asked the mobile phone what the name of the game was.
Then the phone responds,
[This is a common sense change tycoon.]
“…”
What is that.
