Creating Hidden Endings - Chapter 5

I, too, was curious about its huge popularity and started playing the game. The game introduction that I read while downloading ‘The Return of the D-Class Hunter’ was about a D-class hunter, Lee Jehee, who became a ‘transcendent’ through the awakening skill and returned every time he died. 

As a result, the player starts playing as Lee Jaehee, a D-class who has just acquired the awakening ability. Because there is no save device in the game, we will return to the beginning when the character dies. The good news is that, following the setting of a returning ‘Transcendent,’ it restarts while keeping skill and level-up stats.

Therefore, the reward or progression line for ‘The Return of the D-Class Hunter’ changes completely depending on the current recruit, the time of death, and the progress method. Among them, the most important point is ‘when will you die.’ So, it was difficult to clear the dungeon or build a liking with the character without a strategy book shared by users. 

Thanks to this, I also died a lot on purpose while looking for a strategy book. I think I died about 300 times to develop the main character’s ability. Still, I almost quit because of my mental breakdown when I died while catching the keymaster at the last minute. 

Fuck, I should have quit back then— If so, then I probably wouldn’t have gone through what I’m going through today.

Anyway, this ‘The Return of The D-Class Hunter’ was a PC game centered on single-player. Still, at the same time, it was a cooperative game in which you were required to gather fellow NPCs. 

In other words, Lee Jehee must first recruit his ideal colleague before exploring the dungeon to develop his character. Also, it was a game that frequently prevented outbreaks that burst into events. When they discover and defeat the keymaster, the final boss, they will see the ending.

Lee Jehee was technically an S-grade in the setting. Still, he is a hunter with unmeasurable powers whose stats change based on how many times he has regressed.

In the last play where I saw the ending, the experience points accumulated through more than 300 crazy regressions continued. I took the highest stats as a swordsman and a wizard. As a regressor’s privilege, I was monopolizing all kinds of hidden skills and top-class items. 

At this point, it can be said to be the final king of the world. 

Of course, I don’t know how many times Lee Jehee has returned here, but I don’t think it will be a small number of times considering the atmosphere. 

However, as is the case with popular hero films these days, the main character, Lee Jehee, was neither a good person nor a bad person. 

Relentlessly cold to the enemy. That was Lee Jehee’s motto.

However, if he had a friendly and warm personality toward his people, then that was also not the case. This is because the present is an illusion to Lee Jehee, who may return to the past at any time.

Can such a guy show his sincerity to someone? Does the reality he’s living right now feel like his life? 

In the character introduction, it said no. Lee Jehee had no intention of living in the present with all his might. He never knows when everything will go back to reset. 

So maybe that’s why his mind is a little crazy. I know it well because I’ve played a sub-quest that kills anyone whenever I want to see how the future changes. There, collecting all the death endings gave me a hidden skill, so I was pretty excited. 

In short, he’s just a handsome crazy guy.

And I was like, “That’s a fun character when playing games.” Now that the game has become a reality, it only felt scary. I don’t know if he was hit by the ending. It meant that at any time, he could commit such a crazy act without hesitation.

So as soon as I realized that it was the world in the game, I thought, “Let’s avoid it.” I tried to find a way to avoid him as much as possible and return to the real world. 

Anyway, I didn’t think it was difficult because ‘Yeon Seonwoo’ wasn’t even a character that appeared in the game. Instead, it is difficult to set up a relationship with him, so what is difficult is to quietly avoid him? I didn’t want to be recognized as a character that could be attacked for nothing. 

I should’ve done that—.

The plan I believed to be perfect was shattered by Lee Jehee, who came directly to me. 

Most of the people who visited the clinic were hunters. Yeon Seonwoo played a role in temporarily infusing them with the feelings they wanted and resolving the deficiency. 

Then isn’t that what Lee Jehee wants? Too many regressions and battles may have destroyed one part of his mind. That’s why his engagement with Shin Sora was broken. In that case, this may fit perfectly. 

Actually, for me, it wasn’t a bad thing if he could only guarantee my life. On the contrary, I didn’t know if I would find a way to return to reality more quickly because there would be a lot of stories that I would pick up on as I got closer with Lee Jehee. 

Anyway, isn’t this jerk the main character of the world in this game? 

The biggest problem in the game was not the dungeon. Of course, if the dungeon is not cleared periodically, breakdowns occur, and monsters pour out, but there was no problem if it was managed well. Instead, it is close to a good hunting ground where you can grow your character. 

But Outbreak was different. The Outbreak, where many monsters poured out from a gate that did not know when and where it would appear, was the most challenging quest even when playing. And the reason why such an outbreak appears was because of the monster that made the gate exist.

It’s called Keymaster. 

Initially, the keymaster, who hides his body, appears in any dungeon with a random probability. If they fail to destroy it, the area will suffer from fear because they don’t know when the Outbreak will come. 

However, the problem was that it was difficult to catch it as it was the final boss. A keymaster with high intelligence enough to freely use magic is rated as an S+ grade beyond the S grade. 

Thanks to that, I also went around dungeons for two days just to catch that jerk. Then on the 3rd day, I could barely catch it. 

And because the situation continued, I had no idea what the reward for killing Keymaster was. It seemed like something was hidden, like an Easter egg, but I couldn’t figure it out because I turned off the game after only watching the ending. I also didn’t find anything about it in the gaming community when I sought a strategy.

Maybe the keymaster’s final reward for dealing with dimensions is related to my current situation? If so, this opportunity to get information from Lee Jehee should be seen as a piece of gold. 

Because it was Lee Jehee who defeated Keymaster in this world. 

However, the biggest problem is that there is no way to guarantee my life—.

“After all, I have no choice but to lie flat.” (like to have one’s entire body touch the floor with the belly facing downward.) 

At the moment, I was surprised by the words I said to myself without realizing it. Fortunately, the skill was working well, and the opponent was sleeping deeply without even making a sound of breathing. If it wasn’t for his shallow chest, I might have wanted to check if he was breathing.

While still looking at Lee Jehee, I quietly raised my mouth.

Let’s skip it. Since it’s like this, I should use Lee Jehee as much as I can. Shouldn’t I just put down the liver and gallbladder for a moment? 

Just suck the sweet water and throw it away. And I will get out of this beggar-like world and return to my original world. 

It was when I smiled wickedly in the dark. ‘Triing! With the sound, the status window popped up again. 

[Achieving ‘Ambition’s Mind,’ ‘Ambition’ is added to the state transition setting.] 

[Achieving the collection of 20 set values, the skill ‘Dreamer’ is unlocked.] 

[The skill ‘Dreamer’ can only be activated by those who are in a sleep state.] 

“….!”

This is crazy! I didn’t expect to see new skills being created like this.

To add a state transition setpoint, I have to go through the state myself. 

I quickly called up the skill window, looked at the added skills, and felt strange. It was good, but it felt like I was a step away from the reality I lived in, so it wasn’t just good. 

It feels like I’ve been confirmed in front of my eyes that I’ve fallen into a strange world.

I let out a long sigh in a strange yet complicated, unknown feeling and pondered how to get back. How can I roast and boil Lee Jehee, who is never an easy opponent, and omit the necessary information? It felt like my head was throbbing at a difficult task. 

2. Is this a slave contract? 

“….?”

It was when I was sitting on the floor and organizing my thoughts blankly. I felt like I was losing energy little by little from my whole body. 

What’s this? What’s wrong with me? 

I was bewildered when I saw that even my arms on the floor were trembling, but the red status window that appeared in front of me made an ominous sound and informed me of the lack of Mana. 

[Warning: low Mana! If the skill use continues without mana replenishment, the vitality will decrease.] 

I quickly stopped using the skill by stirring off the status window that flashed red with a beeping sound. Even so, the opponent who usually got the skill’s effect would continue to sleep without waking up. Because there were many cases of falling into a really deep sleep as the sleep state continued for a long time. 

However, Lee Jehee broke my expectations and immediately opened his eyes. Lee Jehee, who had been sleeping, looked at the ceiling and quietly blinked his eyes.