Chapter 111

Chapter 111

“Is this Moondae? It’s Moondae?”

Park Moondae’s fansite master found herself muttering and tapping the screen. The character looked so familiar—she’d seen him in the comeback trailer—but she couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

As the dialogue progressed, the character’s name, previously displayed as “??,” was finally revealed.

It wasn’t “Park Moondae.”

[??: All right.]

[P11: Call me... P11. That will do.]

A cutscene played, during which he was added to the player’s group as a companion, and thus the boy with the black hood who could control glowing drones was now a playable character.

Does this mean Moondae was playing this character in the trailer? She’d seen a few game ads that had done this before, so she decided to just keep playing. Her mind was in overdrive from excitement, however, and began analyzing what they’d been given.

Wait a second. Moondae’s baseball uniform had the number eleven on the back during “Hi-five.” Maybe “P” could be a reference to his surname Park? The college student swallowed, her gut telling her she was right.

W-well, I’ll keep playing, regardless! Surprised by the unexpected twist, she continued to play. As it turned out, the game itself was pretty fun. It was first-person and began with the protagonist falling down a sinkhole while on a walk, transporting them into a half-destroyed version of Seoul that existed in a parallel universe.

[That’s strange. You left the house in the early morning, but the sky visible above the sinkhole is red and dark.]

[You think you hear crying and groaning from above, but you can’t be sure.]

[You feel very disoriented, but you’re worried that the sinkhole will collapse on itself if you don’t get out. What do you do?]

- Find a way to climb out.

- Wait for rescue.

- Shout for help.

- Listen to the sounds more closely.

The game world had been devastated, but it was fun to explore the detailed environment for the first time. The variety of choices available to the player added to the enjoyment.

Even though the dialogue was mostly text, each battle and choice was accompanied by an eye-catching scene or illustration, so the player had no opportunity to grow bored. There was a moderate mix of chance and strategy, injecting a sense of tension into the gameplay.

Hmm. I can’t seem to stop playing. And I’m curious about what’s going to happen next. However, there wasn’t much of a focus on the companion she took to be Moondae, nor the other characters who resembled the other TeSTAR members that were slowly added to the party. This led her to believe that each character’s storyline would be explored in detail at a later point.

I wonder if there’s anything about the TeSTAR universe in this game? There were definitely people who would criticize that they were being forced to play a game to find out, but since she was determined to give the game a shot, the prospect excited her.

She continued playing, and the character she controlled arrived at a dilapidated subway station covered in strange red chunks of some unidentifiable substance.

[The station is dark and only the emergency lights are blinking inside. You notice a strange odor. The subway doesn’t seem operational, but the loudspeaker keeps announcing that a train is arriving.]

[P11: Would you like me to look around?]

- Agree.

- Refuse.

- Rebuke him.

- Go in with him.

“I’ll go with you! I can’t send you in alone.” Completely immersed in the game, she was enjoying herself immensely when more text appeared.

[A sudden rumbling shakes your surroundings!]

[The huge red chunks begin to flicker ominously. There is a terrible noise as strange things begin to pour forth!]

An unavoidable battle broke out. All her companions were killed off systematically by the terrible creatures that had been issued by the red chunks, leaving only P11, the character who resembled Park Moondae.

[P11: I want you... to survive.]

Moondae pushed the player’s character in the cutscene and the phone vibrated as the screen faded to black. Text appeared onscreen once more.

[When you come to, you realize that you’re alone.]

[The only things left are your companions’ gear and you, the only survivor.]

[You must now venture out into the world of 127 Section—a devastated Seoul.]

The game’s opening cinematic finally played and the 127 Section logo appeared on a dark screen with a biohazard symbol in the background.

She stared at the phone, unable to process what had just happened. After the short opening sequence, a loading screen appeared, accompanied by a short message.

[* Companions who die in combat remain dead permanently.]

She gasped. “Wh-what in the world?”

This had to be a mistake, surely.

What kind of game kills off all your companions at the very start of the game? It took her until the middle of the cutscene for Chapter Two to regain her composure, which began immediately after it was done loading.

[In the end, you realize that you can’t do this alone.]

[You need companionship, be they strategic or temporary alliances, or otherwise.]

I knew it! It can’t end like this. She remembered hearing a gamer friend of hers complaining once.

“In many cases, the entire game is about inducing people to spend money on microtransactions and buy characters!”

If this was the case, she was willing to begrudgingly open her wallet, all the while complaining about the developers’ predatory practices.

Moondae... I just want Moondae... But after the cutscene ended, a random character draw popped up on screen with a warning attached.

[* Characters you’ve already had as companions will never reappear.]

“Hey!” she screamed. With no idea why these idiots weren’t allowing willing victims to spend their money, she quickly turned to the internet.

They might have died because I chose the wrong dialogue choice! If so, she could find a walkthrough and try again. Daring to hope, she logged onto social media and realized her fellow fans were experiencing the same predicament.

- OH MY GOD

- What do I do? Why is Moondae dead? T_T

- Review after playing 127 Section: The developers are at least as wicked as the production team behind Idol Inc.

- Wait... Bae Sejin wearing a gown saved me and died in my place T_T. Why can’t I bring him back? This seems really weird. Why does he die no matter what I do?

- Here’s what I was able to discover. The seven companions in the tutorial, who resemble TeSTAR from the trailer, will all die no matter what you do at the end of the first chapter. I think the character with the most affection points dies last, though... The f*ck kind of game is this? T_T

The college student felt her mind go blank. She was hardly the only person to feel this way. The TeSTAR trailer suddenly blew up with Korean comments.

- T_T Oh my god, guys T_T

- After learning what happens to them the trailer just doesn’t feel the same... Someone save me from this sadness... Take my money and bring them back T_T

- Is this why they said they wouldn’t die in the lyrics? T_T I just realized they offered to save me in the song, hot damn

- Is this why the title was Bonus Book? They wanted to exclude the song from the main TeSTAR universe to make it less sad? The more emotional among us fans are crushed... Bring them back! T_T

A handful of people complained, saying that fans shouldn’t spoil the game for others, but these grumbles were lost in the flood of comments. The fans, however, soon regained their composure and began to fear that people might think TeSTAR fans were harming the success of the game by giving spoilers.

This meant new comments abruptly transformed until they mostly consisted of tearful or screaming emojis. Foreign viewers who didn’t know what was going on were confused, commenting things like “What happened?” and “Someone tell me why everyone’s freaking out.”

The sad—and admittedly funny—thing was that the game itself was fun and many people continued to play even as they complained about it. There were plenty of elements effectively drawing the players in—one of which was a cosmetics shop that was added to the game mid-chapter two.

[Change up the appearance of your companions!]

Clicking this pop-up showed a list of skins, or costumes, that were available for special purchase at the moment. The skins being sold in celebration of the game’s launch were none other than the outfits that belonged to the companions who’d been killed in the first chapter.

The companions themselves could never return, but their appearance could be applied to a different character. The skins came with a description to add flavor.

[Purple Drone Boy Outfit]

[: This outfit brings back wistful memories of a certain... someone. He protected you once.]

Many people began to pick characters with similar stats and dialogue to their preferred members, applying these skins to them. This symptom began surfacing even in the gamers, though they were far calmer about it. They’d already experienced similar heartbreak in the studio’s previous game title.

- Ruins Factory never lets up on making players sad, corporate investments won’t change that

- I was expecting it. We’ve been here, done that, gentlemen

- These bastards must have enjoyed the influx of TeSTAR fans who picked up the game. Did you have a good time rushing out those skins to keep people from getting refunds, you assholes?

└ Yeah, probably. They’re #1 on the app store

└ God f*cking damn it! LMAO. Bring P11 back!

└ I opened a can of beer after seeing the TeSTAR trailer. I f*cking loved the sniper. Must you make me buy a skin for a male character, devs? Really?

- After the game fizzles out in a couple of years, they’re bound to release a character draw that lets people bring the companions back. Their juggernaut investor is going to teach them every technique they can use to squeeze our wallets dry

└ Wouldn’t it be better to do that while the TeSTAR promo is drawing people in?

└ That’s true. But they won’t do that. The skins are already selling like crazy

└ This is a very aggressive long-term monetization model

As expected, Ruins Factory refused to allow people to bring back the early companions despite the outpour of requests. They steadfastly maintained the view that users needed to focus more on the game’s world and as such companions who broke immersion would not be reintroduced just for the sake of it.

No doubt part of the reason for this was that sales were already through the roof.

- I managed to fit out all seven TeSTAR members with the exact same stats and similar personality traits. Now we’ll be together forever... (screenshots)

└ Good god

└ How much did this cost?

└ More than you can imagine. But I’m happy with it.

Similar brags were becoming very common, and both TeSTAR fans and gamers who were infatuated with the game kept on spending. In the process, most serious players of the game grew to like TeSTAR.

- I’m happy they’re alive in the real world, at least

└ Isn’t that kind of odd? It’s usually the other way around...

└ What are you saying? They died in the game and came back in the real world.

└ Holy sh*t. I think he really believes it

- P11 in real life is Moondae? No wonder. The code name checks out. I guess his name was terrible in the game, too.

└ There’s an easter egg at Myeongdong Cathedral. Check it out in one of your playthroughs

└ Cool! Thanks for letting me know

There were easter eggs about the initial companions hidden within the later chapters, so interest in the game lasted for some time. Amidst all this TeSTAR made an unexpected announcement.

[TeSTAR | BETTER ME | Official Music Video]

The music video for the B-side track TeSTAR was currently promoting, “BETTER ME,” had been released. Interestingly, the music video continued where the game collaboration trailer had left off.