The empty ground stretched with the revelation of my nickname. I closed my eyes for a moment and took stock of the situation. First, the Nuna Elf they were talking about. They were right, this was the nickname I used to go by. Without much thought, it happened to me because my character was an elf back then
I wrote a summary of statistics...
Was it three years into the game? It seemed a waste to keep the organized information to myself after working so hard on it, so I posted it on the bulletin board partially to have a place to store it. As befits a failed game, I remembered that it didn't get more than 100 visits in a whole year.
Why does everyone look at me like I have a weird name?
Now that I think about it, that woman from before also asked me if I was a fan. Why? The last time I used that community must have been five years ago.
Did I become famous during that time?
Whatever the cause, I came to one conclusion: I became famous. The reason why could be discovered later. I had gathered enough clones to deal with it for the time being.
"Ah, there's been a misunderstanding." After grasping the situation in about three seconds, I smiled brightly and waved my hand. "I'm a fan of theirs. If you read my username carefully, you'll realize. It's not Elfnuna, but Elf nunna. Nunna." It was a relief to have to spell it differently because of the previous user. Unnecessary attention wasn't my thing.
"Ah, I see..."
"The nicknames are different."
The men read my nickname after I spoke
"It's Elf nunna! Not Elfnuna."
"What, was it an impersonation?"
"Of course. Although I had gotten my hopes up because he said he was Korean..."
They soon let out a collective sigh as if disappeared. Perhaps because they thought they had been disappointed, some of them looked at me with a slightly unpleasant expression.
"Haha, that can happen if you're a fan!" The head of the room, Darkman, stepped forward to mediate and explained the rules that had to be followed in the room. I think he said that everyone should be addressed with honorifics? Aside from being executed in case of agitation, there wasn't much else to keep in mind.
"Then I'll go my own way, so you can speak freely," Darkman said. "It doesn't matter when you leave."
The welcome atmosphere for the newcomer didn't last long. Everyone returned to their original places and chatted amongst themselves.
As I was wonderful where to go, a white man approached me. He was a gambler nicknamed Pinkguy. "How long has it been for you?"
"Oh, it's been a year for me."
Actually, five months had passed, but I thought it would be strange to say I had arrived too soon. However, the response I received was unexpected.
"Really? I suppose you received the letter remove late."
"Sorry?"
«Well, only a few people receive letters after gaining fame. Most others receive them at first, when it's obvious».
«I see...»
«Seeing that you received the letter late, I guess you're a good actor. I started out as a human and received the letter while carrying luggage.»
«Ah, I see...»
«Anyway, if it's been a year, it will only be about 70 days there... You probably know a lot about what's going on these days. How are things there?»
I didn't know if there were any incidents worth mentioning, so I asked as if I had heard wrong. «70... days?» I said clearly that a year had passed. Why did it become 70 days?
Pinkguy continued with an apologetic face. «Oh, if it's your first time you wouldn't know either. The flow of time is different between that world and this one».
«Different?»
«Yeah. A month on Earth is about five months here».
Simply put, it was a 1:5 time ratio. It made me feel strange as soon as I heard it.
Had it only been a month?
I was glad less time had passed, but I wondered if I had been reported missing. No one would come looking for me other than the company. Later, while I was still talking to Pinkguy, I learned several things.
«How to return? Well. There is much speculation... But I have heard that nothing is certain yet».
Not even the players who came here much earlier could figure out how to get back. The founder of Ghostbusters was a 20-year-old player.
«Isn't it amazing that they removed this game five years ago?»
«It's true».
The more new information I heard, the more defeated I felt, almost as if my professional pride in this game was collapsing. Whatever happened, in the end, wasn't everyone here an expert who arrived at the Gate of the Abyss before me?
Although they may seem stupid on the outside, they are actually all amazing people...
«So in what mode did you beat the game?» What mode? In what way? When I looked at him as if I didn't know what he was talking about, he added: «I'm sure it wasn't the original version. You probably beat the remake version, right? What mode was it?».
I still don't understand what it means... remake?
»The pirated version»? You know. The game file that can adjust XP and drop rate that was posted on the Stone Iven bulletin board five years ago.»
Does that exist?
Pinkguy spoke, revealing inconceivable pride. «Oh, I'm not bragging, but I broke it 50 times».
How could there be so many people who beat this game? This was the moment my old question was answered. Dungeon and Stone, the game where I was able to enter the final boss room after spending 10 years of my life playing. While playing it, I couldn't help but wonder how a game of this difficulty could exist.
Can you set up to 100x maximum XP and 100x drop rate?
What kind of scam was that? Until now, I didn't even know that the maximum level was 30. Even if you caught all the monsters coming out of the maze, level 11 was the limit.
Wait, if the maximum level was 30, did that mean I could feed my character 30 essences?
To be honest, I couldn't even imagine it. That meant I wouldn't have to give up any of them and I could stuff my character with all of them. I felt like an idiot for wondering what the best combination was considering the synergy of each essence. Hearing this, it seemed that even the cracks, which were the core of the character's growth, could open at the desired moment.
If the drop rate is 100 times, the numbered objects would fall from the sky.
Thirty essences and a super munchkin character armed with all kinds of treasures. What if five of those characters got together to form a group? The ancient dragon that took me hundreds of attempts to catch, or the Lord of Destruction, or even the Leviathan could have died with the touch of a finger.
«So what mode did you use to defeat him?». Pinkguy asked again.
«...50 times. Like you».
«Oh, I see. Wasn't it difficult?»
Hard, shit. Under those conditions, he was sure that he could overcome it in a single attempt, no matter if a dimensional collapse or any damn event occurred.
But I would miss it if I said it out loud.
As soon as I gained fame and an evil spirit hunter came looking for me, the excess attention turned to poison. It was foolish to risk bragging. I decided not to stand out and learn just what I needed to know.
«What mode did the person who created this place use?».
«Oh, him? Don't be surprised. He cleared it 15 times. It must have been possible since I was an original user».
«15 times... I see.»
I figured it must sound surprising, so I pretended to be. Pinkguy said the average for players was 60 to 80 times. After hearing that, the conversation of those laughing and chatting further away began to pierce my ears.
«Haha, what a ridiculous world! I have never entered a crack. In the game, it was just a click».
«Ugh, right? If entering the crack is so difficult, how are we going to get to the top floor?».
«I had heard that the game had a lot of Easter eggs, so I should have informed myself».
Players complained as they compared the remake version they had played to reality. It was understandable, because it was a real version with a higher level of difficulty than the original.
«Ugh...»
A deep despondency took hold of them. Thinking that these were older people who had defeated this game before me, I had taken solace in the determination to learn from them rather than put them down. But this was, well, a joke.
«Elf nunna?»
«Oh, I'm sorry. I got distracted...»
After that, I continued chatting with Pinkguy for a while. In doing so, I learned common sense things that any normal player should know, and much more about how this community worked. However, a question was also resolved.
'Remake'... Thus, the game began to become popular again as the copied version circulated, and my nickname also became famous.
In many ways, the conversation with Pinkguy was helpful. It was also kind of fun.
«Ugh, if I could eat just one box of pizza right now, I could die happy... Do you have anything you want to eat?».
«Coca and meat soup.»
«Meat soup? What kind of food is that?»
«It's the most efficient meal I've ever eaten».
How long has it been since I had a conversation like that? After chatting with a few other people, I left the freshman room. In the end, Pinkguy asked me if he could add me as a friend, and I politely refused. It was clear that he was a good boy, but I didn't want to be his friend. He treated me too kindly, like a member of the opposite sex.
Anyway, I think I know everything I need to know.
Even when I returned to the room with the computer, I read bulletin boards and notices and put random information in my head. Now was the time to fulfill my purpose here.
I had to start learning about dimensional collapse.
While typing, I checked the timer at the bottom right. What was initially 12 hours had been reduced to 7. Even if I didn't log out manually, I had to hurry because the space would close when time ran out.
[Exchange]
Using the mouse, I opened the exchange page. It offered a service where you could purchase information or goods with ghost points, or GPs. In other words, it was possible to obtain goods or purchase rare items using GP.
As expected, it would be best not to touch this.
I decided not to use this feature as much as possible, since, in the case of goods, it had to be done in real life. No matter how complicated the intermediary system was, even if the system seemed quite secure, in the end there would be inevitable contact with me as a barbarian.
[GP Possession: 0]
Therefore, I also moved on from the option to top up GP with real money. Of course, I needed GP to buy information on dimensional collapses, but it wasn't a big deal. Here he could be self-sufficient.
Click click.
Using the mouse, I added the [Information] filter to the bag items and changed the category to [Purchase Request]. Then, countless questions appeared.
[20 GP] Is there an easy way to get to the second floor?
[100-500 GP] I am developing a melee skill, but I want to know a strong cultivation method from the beginning.
For the easy questions, the amount of GP offered as a reward was small.
[7,000 GP] I would like to know the special events of each step of the fourth floor of the Tower of Heaven.
[2,800 GP] I would like to know exactly how the Dragon Lord passive ability is judged.
For the in-depth questions, the reward was big, so I ordered them in descending order of price. That was the most efficient.
[70,000 GP] Buy Lord of the First Floor clear strategy. Trolls are ignored.
[69,000 GP] Only those who know more about Skull Island on the sixth floor send me a message.
The Lord of the First Floor?
[You have requested a 1:1 conversation with TacitRonin.]
[The exchange is complete. GP owned: 70,000]
Skull Island, a hidden piece element on the sixth floor?
[You have requested a 1:1 conversation with Bro_78.] [The exchange is complete.
[The exchange is complete. Owned GP: 139,000]
There was nothing I didn't know about this game.