Chapter 1 – Salem(1)
1. Salem (1)
Shall I tell you a touching story?
People often think that darkness is the opposite of light.
It’s dark without light.
That’s right.
That’s right, but…
It’s not like it’s dark only when there’s no light.
Even though the sun is still shining.
Despite the fact that there are thousands of people nearby.
The mysterious monster that appeared in the darkest place that day brought us from the realm of light into the thickest darkness in an instant.
What is that monster?
Well.
One thing is certain, just that I was aware of the darkening itself, and now I can recall what happened at that time.
Maybe at that time, many people didn’t even know that they were dragged into darkness.
Because…
I was the only survivor at the time.
What kind of nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?
Haha.
Isn’t it funny
Haha.
Isn’t this fun?
Yeah…
Hee hee
Ah.
Come on.
Defeating the fear that sows darkness
Warriors?
“Aww, the last one is disgusting whenever I see it.”
I don’t know what the intention was, but I’ve already seen this abominable intro that is impossible to skip. It’s fortunate that it’s short, but I couldn’t get used to that fucking laugh at the end.
Every day, I ran the game as soon as I turned on the computer. The game is a turn-based roguelike RPG game 〈 The Long Terror〉.
One day, the whole village in the corner disappeared due to an unknown monster that suddenly appeared and a monster group that worshiped the monster, and the village was transformed into a strange fortress. As time passed, even in the vicinity of the strange fortress, people went crazy or disappeared, and terrible monsters began to appear in proportion to it. So, people from all over the world, including that country, visited that fortress with various emotions and purposes, such as a sense of justice, a sense of mission, and desire, and people gradually began to call the fortress a ‘dungeon’.
The people who entered and exited the dungeon were called warriors, and the protagonist was one of many such warriors. And the main character begins a great adventure to break through the dungeon with other like-minded warriors and defeat the fear that is the root of the dungeon…
To sum up the world view, it was like this.
At first, of course, I was interested in the world view, so I carefully looked at the story, but after 3,000 hours of play time and thousands of tries, the story was just an element that no longer gave me any inspiration.
As he became a deceased person, he became obsessed with clearing the game by playing the game more maniacally with his own hardcore modes such as achievement quality and time attack.
Although the game itself was quite difficult, unfriendly, and heavily applied luck to the point of being lucky, it was a magical game that literally melts time if it suits your taste.
The best game of my life.
By the time I got tired of standing still, I reached the limit of my idea of what kind of penalty I should try.
The new DLC has finally arrived!
High difficulty level added!
Added a new job!
Added new dungeon types and monsters!
Added new artifacts and items!
The entertainment is greatly increased.
After the intro was over and the DLC application was finished in the menu, I pressed the start button.
“Oh.”
Then, at the bottom of the difficulty selection window, the new difficulty ‘The Longest Terror’ was emitting a sinister light.
“Go fuck go.”
Developers, let’s feel how confidently they talked about it in the promotional video because it was so difficult and damn hard to make.
〈Warning〉
You cannot save, quick save, or pause on Longest Terror difficulty. If the attack fails completely, the data will be deleted.
Longest Horror Difficulty Calibration
– Monster Max HP +++
– Monster Max Attack +++
– Monster preemptive attack (surprise) probability +++
– Hero’s mental state (mentality)—
– Probability of acquiring abnormal status +++
– Probability of obtaining negative traits of a hero +++
– Probability of overcoming the boundary of the warrior life and death –
– Treasure Acquisition Probability –
– Amount of Treasure Acquisition –
“I’m fed up. I’m openly frightening you.”
Until then, there was no warning window like this on the difficulty level. There was only a difficulty correction table.
However, the warning content is also content, but looking at the difficulty level correction table, I wondered if it was made to break this, or that the developers gave up balancing because it was annoying to balance while creating a new difficulty.
– Higher Treasure Acquisition Probability+
– Probability of encountering high-ranking warriors +
– Higher Artifact Acquisition Probability+
– Awakening Probability+
At least, there were only four positive corrections, and even that was literally condescending compared to other negative corrections that reached their peak.
“Well, it’s impossible not to have a sense of challenge.”
The level where the game itself pressures you not to break openly.
Breaking through it head-on is the beauty of the game, and isn’t it the mission of the deceased?
I ignored the warning and pressed the proceed button.
〈Warning〉
Once executed, the progress cannot be reversed.
“What do you mean, you’re going to give me something to scare you?”
I laughed when I remembered that sometimes in any game, there was an option not to select a different difficulty level while playing Hardcore Mode.
I’m going to proceed with this difficulty anyway, but I kindly warned you twice.
What kind of kindness is it that is not like this game?
Again, without hesitation, I pressed the go button.
And.
**
“Oh, I will live! If you’re not going to buy it, get out! It’s interfering with business!”
“Ah, ah yes. I’m sorry.”
Who am I and where am I?
I am… Obviously, I was going to proceed with the highest level of the DLC.
When I opened my eyes, I was wearing a rather boring leather armor and hanging a rather boring sword. And even being scolded by a nasty old man who looks stinky.
Why are all the buildings made of wood, why are all the people foreigners, and why are the clothes so poor?
Confused, I sat down under a nearby tree. I wondered if the surroundings would be the appearance of a medieval European manor, if I had to compare it, and there were many people walking around with weapons.
The old man who yelled at me earlier was rubbing his hands against a man in rather gaudy plate armor as he bowed his head. The plate armor man shook his head and he handed the uncle a few gold and silver coins.
‘Ah, isn’t it? Did you fall asleep while playing the game? No matter how much time I put into this game, it’s not like I’m dreaming of this game even in my dreams.’
At first, I was confused and didn’t notice it, but seeing it from afar, that man… It looked just like the general store that sold the japtem you needed when heading to the dungeon.
Especially when I saw that the man in the plate armor put the lantern, lantern oil, herbs, and bandages in his backpack.
‘I am crazy. I should have played the game in moderation.’
Even if I dreamed, would I dream of such a gloomy world? No matter how bleak and terrifying this world was, it was still fun to enjoy because it was inside the game.
Going through it myself was a requirement no matter how much it was a dream.
‘If you stay still, you will wake up someday. Oh, if this is really the Longer Terror dream, there must be basic money.’
When I searched the chest, there were 4 gold coins and 9 silver coins.
“What. Is the basic money worth it?”
The base price of the previous stage was 10 gold coins. Seeing that there were 4 or 9 clumsy, it seemed that I forgot one silver coin for some reason. It must have been cut in half and paid for 5 gold coins.
For reference, 10 gold coins equaled 100 silver coins, and 1000 coins equaled 1000 coins. It was similar to not using a 10 won coin in reality.
“I’ll have to look for an inn.”
Rather than sitting and resting on the ground on the street, I wanted to take off my armor and rest in peace.
“Welcome.”
“One night stay.”
“Alone?”
“Alone.”
“Five silver coins.”
“Here.”
Since it was a dream anyway, I tried to imitate a mercenary who ate a little knife. The innkeeper looked like an idiot, but the money was great.
I lay down on a shabby bed, woke up from a dream, and went to sleep thinking about what combination to make.
**
‘Salem’, the city closest to the dungeon outside the dungeon’s sphere of influence, is a large number of people who gathered to attack the dungeon, and later all of these people are called warriors. Is said to have been enlarged.
The dungeon was more horrifying, terrifying, and dangerous than any other battlefield, but people who were looking for a quick get-rich-quick kept coming, and as the demand increased, the number of merchants also increased. Compared to other cities, the price was overpriced, but considering the cost and time to get to other cities, I had no choice but to live by eating mustard while crying…
There were only three types of people living in this city.
Merchant.
After hearing the rumors, the fire moth has just arrived.
And day by day.
A coward without skill will not be able to bear the waters of this city, and a good man will go to a deeper place and never come back, or he will return and leave for another city.
So, if I had to argue, I belonged to the second category, and in the original game, I would have heard detailed explanations on how to use various facilities in Salem and how to recruit and manage fellow warriors through tutorials. Because that’s the first and last kindness this game has to offer.
But why am I looking back at the settings of ‘Salem’ endlessly right now…
[Hendrik the TerrorHunter]
Race/Gender: Human Male
Class: undecided
Level: 1
Max HP: 11
Attack Power: 2~7
Defense: 1
When I woke up, my character status was floating in front of my eyes, and more importantly, I was still in a shabby inn room.
“… Should I really quit this game?”
When I first wrote my profile, I made it look like there was something about my hair for a while, from the character name with plenty of ambiance to the character status for The Long Terror.
Are you really dreaming? No, isn’t it?
And the confusion was once again put to an end by a system log popping up suddenly.
[Hendrik ‘Eugene’ TerrorHunter]
* Welcome to The Long Terror, ‘The Longest Terror’ tutorial.
* Final goal: Clear the longest horror difficulty
Failure: Han Yu-jin dies
* Go to the Warriors Management Office and organize a new warriors unit
* Go to the warrior training center and select a class
* Go to the Hero Support Center and recruit your first hero mate
* Go to the warrior training center and learn skills
* Go to the equipment support center and receive basic equipment
* Go to the general store and buy dungeon exploration items
Time limit: 3 days
“What’s this.”
To be sure, The Long Terror’s tutorial never went this way.
It would have been a way to end it by forcibly clicking on various buildings once, telling them what they were for, and then clicking on the Warriors Support Center to recruit the first ally for free.
Crucially, the name ‘Eugene’ entered as the middle name of the character, and the penalty of death of Han Yu-jin in case of failure.
Han Yujin was my real name.
Haha?
“… Shit?”
Sensitivity was shouting that this must be a dream, that it was nonsense, but reason realized it.
“What the hell is this situation!”
That he had fallen into the world of ‘the longest fear’, the highest degree of viciousness that had never been tried.
Gacha gacha gacha gacha.