Chapter 20

The Apocalypse Game I Created Became Reality Chapter 20

“...”

For a while, I couldn’t say anything.

‘Government officials came to the company?’

What kind of government officials?

“Ha-eun.”

- Y-Yes.

“Can you tell me exactly who came?”

- I don’t know the details either. The CEO suddenly told us to clear out the conference room, and then some outsiders came in. There were people in suits, and some who looked like military officials.

“...!”

Military officials?

At that moment, something flashed through my mind.

“...Wait a second.”

I put the call on speaker and turned on my laptop.

At the same time, I typed into the news search bar.

[Paju Armed Deserter]

Immediately.

“...Fuck.”

A curse slipped through my teeth.

Because breaking news was already up.

『<​Breaking News> Deserter Shot Dead During Armed Standoff』

Does this make any sense?

‘Shot dead!’

These days, parents cause an uproar even when military training gets a little harsh.

And they shot and killed a young man barely in his twenties who had enlisted?

- Manager Baek?

I could no longer even hear Shin Ha-eun’s voice properly.

I quickly skimmed the article.

「An armed deserter who had been the subject of a joint military and police search near Paju was discovered close to a civilian residential area.

Military and police authorities reportedly urged the soldier to surrender several times at the scene, but he refused to put down his firearm while repeatedly making statements such as, “Last Protocol is beginning,” and “I will survive no matter what.”

In particular, during the standoff, the soldier fired live ammunition at personnel on scene, and one serviceman was confirmed injured in the process.

Afterward, response personnel, concerned about the possibility of further civilian casualties, shot and killed the soldier at the scene.

Military authorities stated that they are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident, the motive behind the desertion, and any possible connections to online communities or the game.」

Something heavy settled in my chest.

‘The difficulty just suddenly jumped!’

The discovery of the Bermuda structure?

Arctic glacier microorganisms?

Those were stories far removed from reality.

They could be consumed as conspiracy theories in some corner of the internet.

But the shooting death of an armed deserter was different.

Real blood had been spilled.

Someone had died.

The military and police had mobilized.

It was the kind of incident the news would talk about all day.

And the words the soldier shouted until the very end.

Last Protocol.

‘Is this going to blow back on me too?’

Online communities were already in chaos.

『Last Protocol』

『Paju Deserter』

『Game Becoming Reality Theory』

『Armed Deserter Shot Dead』

『Arctic Glacier Microorganisms』

The comment sections were even worse.

↳ Shot dead?? They killed the kid??

↳ Isn’t that fucking insane? Getting dragged into the army is bad enough, and then he dies like a dog like this?

↳ I can hear his parents’ hearts breaking from here...

↳ But I heard the soldier who got shot was already notorious inside the unit as a problem soldier...

↳ Fuck, so if someone’s useless, it’s okay to just kill them?

↳ For real, people leaving comments like this sound like psychopaths. Someone died.

↳ Anyway, he kept talking about Last Protocol right up until he died. Isn’t there seriously something going on?

↳ What the hell even is Last Protocol, you fucking nerd?

↳ It’s a dead game, but basically an apocalypse survival game.

↳ Shouldn’t they investigate the game company too?

↳ Even if nobody says anything, the government will probably start looking into it now. Someone died.

The storyline was obvious the moment I saw it.

‘This is why.’

Right.

This incident was probably why government officials had gone all the way to the company.

- The CEO ordered us to bring in every single piece of material related to Last Protocol. Backups, internal planning documents, the prologue scenario, monster settings, event tables, everything.

“Ah...”

- But everything was deleted on the CEO’s orders, so there’s nothing left. And I could hear the government officials yelling about whether we deliberately destroyed evidence...

“Wait. Everything was deleted?”

- What? Ah, yes. The CEO said not to repeat the mistakes of a failed game and to come up with something new, so...

Damn it.

I never thought he would wipe out all the data!

“What about CEO Bae Young-jun? What’s he saying?”

- He keeps getting angry. Asking why there’s no backup. Asking who told them to delete it.

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Wasn’t he the one who told them to delete it?”

- That...

Her voice suddenly dropped on the other end of the line.

-...Yes, that’s true, but right now the government officials are acting like they’re looking for someone to pin this on...

In other words, the lower-ranking employees were the ones getting crushed.

At least I had quit long ago.

“Ha-eun.”

- Yes.

“Did my name come up?”

-...

A brief silence.

That silence alone was enough of an answer.

-...Yes, it did.

“What did they say?”

- The CEO asked whether there was a chance you might have some of the materials, Manager Baek. Since you were the lead planner... He asked whether you might have backed something up before leaving.

“And?”

- The employees said they didn’t know. I said I didn’t know either. Because that’s the truth...

Haah.

A sigh of relief escaped me.

“I should’ve said this earlier. Thank you for contacting me, Ha-eun.”

- It’s fine. W-Wait a second. The CEO says he’s looking for me. I have to go.

Then the call abruptly cut off before I could say anything else.

“...”

Right afterward, I quietly exhaled.

‘I’m already a former employee.’

But would government officials care about that?

Bzzzzzt!

“...!”

Just then, a call came from an unknown number.

For a moment, I considered not answering.

‘But then I’ll look like someone with something to hide.’

After thinking about it, I answered.

“Yes, hello.”

- Manager Baek! Why were you on the phone for so long!?

The voice was fairly familiar.

It belonged to an operations team employee whose number I hadn’t blocked.

No, I hadn’t even saved it.

- Do you have a moment to talk? We need to confirm something related to Last Protocol!

“What do you need to confirm?”

- Before you resigned, did you happen to keep any development materials personally...?

“No.”

I cut him off immediately.

- Ah, but since you handled a lot of the lead planning work, maybe some local files or test builds...

“All of the materials are company property, and I am a former employee. I do not have any such materials.”

It was a lie.

But this was what I had to say right now.

The local build, AI debug package, Monster Sandbox that I possessed.

Those were no longer ordinary company materials.

‘They’re my survival tools.’

While I was thinking that.

- Manager Baek, the situation is a little urgent right now. I can’t explain the details, but...

“Then check the company’s internal materials.”

- There’s a problem with the company’s data right now...

“That has nothing to do with me.”

- Manager Baek!

“That title is strange too. I already left the company. And I had absolutely nothing to do with data management after the service ended. I have nothing more to say.”

- Manager Baek...! No, Mr. Baek Yi-hyeon, wait. The CEO wants to speak with you personally...

Click.

I hung up on the spot.

Then immediately blocked the number too.

Bzzzt! Bzzzzzt!

Of course, another call came.

I blocked that one too.

“...”

Then I put my phone down.

Things outside were getting noisy.

The company, the government, the internet.

All of them were beginning to turn their attention toward Last Protocol.

‘I might have even less time than I thought.’

I checked the latest breaking news on my laptop.

『(Second Update) Deserter Shot During Armed Standoff Confirmed in Complete Cardiac Arrest』

...Before the monsters had even appeared, human society was already beginning to shake.

_____________

The world had grown noisy, but what I needed to do hadn’t changed.

If anything, it had become clearer.

‘Power.’

I couldn’t put it off anymore.

Water purification, ventilation, VR training, lighting, communications, refrigerated storage.

‘All of it requires electricity.’

If the power goes out, the base is half dead.

I started by searching for the generator I had been putting off.

“...Expensive.”

That was my immediate reaction when I saw the price range.

Because it really was expensive.

Small portable generators, inverter generators, high-capacity batteries, solar panels, charge controllers, fuel cans, soundproof boxes, wiring, accessories.

Every last one of them cost a ridiculous amount.

If I wanted decent products, my money would disappear in an instant.

“...Should I just short the market?”

The words slipped out before I knew it.

If Last Protocol really became reality, the entire stock market would be shaken badly.

But.

“...No.”

I immediately shook my head.

Money was important.

In a normal society, capital was power.

But once a national disaster or emergency situation truly began?

‘There’s no guarantee the stock market will continue functioning normally.’

Trading suspensions, circuit breakers, market closures, redemption restrictions, withdrawal delays, even frozen accounts.

There was no reason to assume none of those things would happen.

‘More importantly, tying up my hard-earned money in one place in this atmosphere is far too risky.’

Right.

Making money could wait.

‘Now is the time to turn money into supplies.’

I looked through the generator list again.

Bigger wasn’t automatically better.

Noise, fuel, ventilation, placement, management, maintenance.

All of it had to be considered.

‘Running an internal-combustion generator inside an underground workshop is dangerous.’

Exhaust fumes, noise, smell, heat.

Every one of those could expose my location and create danger.

‘Then batteries need to be the foundation.’

High-capacity power banks, solar panels, a system that could be charged outside in an emergency.

And a small inverter generator for limited use.

‘It might work if I run the generator outside and bring the power inside.’

Of course, even that wouldn’t be easy.

It would still make noise, need fuel, and be exposed outside.

‘I need to figure out how to conceal the generator outside first.’

Naturally, regular operation would have to be handled through batteries and energy conservation.

“You get what you pay for. I can’t just buy based on price.”

I bit my lip.

But I couldn’t buy the highest-performance equipment either.

My money was limited.

‘Balance.’

Preparing for an apocalypse ultimately came down to balance.

I soon narrowed down the final candidates.

‘First, one low-noise inverter generator, two proven high-capacity power banks, two sets of solar panels, spare cables, small chargers, batteries, flashlight batteries...’

I roughly finalized the list and added up the prices.

“As expected, that’s steep.”

My bank balance floated before my eyes.

Still, I had to buy what I needed.

Slide.

I placed my finger over the payment button and hesitated for a moment.

Click.

Of course, the hesitation didn’t last long.

Ding!

The sound of money leaving my account seemed to stab into my ears the moment the payment went through.

‘There’s hardly anything more important than power.’

_____________

A few days later.

The deliveries began arriving one by one.

Of course, I didn’t receive them all at once.

I spread them across different times and locations.

Some went to the workshop, others to pickup lockers in the shopping district.

I received the large equipment personally.

Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

Meanwhile, I created a power section inside the workshop.

An insulating mat on the floor, shelves along the wall, batteries placed somewhere with good ventilation.

I labeled the cables and replaced the lights with low-power LEDs.

“...Good.”

It wasn’t perfect, but even if the electricity went out, I wouldn’t immediately be left sitting in the dark.

Right afterward, I looked at the display on the high-capacity battery.

「Charge Level 100%」

I never thought this number could look so reassuring.

“Now for the most important part, how to conceal the generator...”

As I thought about it, one person suddenly flashed through my mind.

“...Right, there was that guy.”

Yeah.

Because I knew an expert in this field.