The Novel’s Villain

33. Big Event (3)

The first event effect was awesome. The experience points were increased to 200% using the beads left by Corruption. That alone made the players fearless.

They wandered deep into the dungeon because they could grow fast again if they died. Besides that, they could store their equipment in the recently opened bank. As the number of equipment that could be stored increased according to contribution and rank records, it was possible to play riskier.

New inflows had also increased significantly. The Login Device could be supplied smoothly overseas by producing large quantities through the Frontline Group. There were many restrictions in obtaining permission since it was virtual reality. However, it wasn’t a problem at all when the Frontline Group came forward. Rather, it felt like each country was pushing for approval.

Jin-woo looked around the Village of the Beginning. Many villages were built in the safety zone of the lowest floor, and each was crowded with players as more went beyond the beginner level.

‘The time has come.’

Finally, the opening day of the Land of Nightmares had come. Jin-woo headed to the front of the Valley of Erosion. The event control room was set up at the highest point of the valley. Se-yeon was controlling the Maze and the scene inside, while Yoo-na oversaw the outside situation. General Manager, Arcana, and the maid corps were also present to support Jin-woo.

The weather was very nice today. Unlike Korea, it was early summer here. It was perfect weather for a picnic. A comfortable and soft chair was prepared for Jin-woo. As he sat down on the chair, General Manager opened a parasol above him.

“It’s nice.”

It felt like he had come to play with a cocktail in his hand. The Emperor of Nightmare was perplexed by Jin-woo’s relaxed appearance. After all, there had never been an entity that had shown such a reaction before. When the preparations were complete, Se-yeon looked at Jin-woo.

“Sir, everyone is waiting in the village.”

“How many are there?”

“About four million people are waiting. It seems to be increasing over time. The highest rank is Rank E.”

All the angels in Heaven clung together and gathered their strength to create their avatars. Blacksmiths were dispatched in large numbers from the Middle-World to craft their equipment.

“I will show you the on-site scenes.”

Several screens appeared in front of Jin-woo. They were linked to the central control room through the Maze, so there was no problem with the connection. A large dungeon entrance emerged in the Village of the Beginning, connecting the dungeons to the Emperor of Nightmare.

People were lining up in the squares of every village. It was quite the festive atmosphere.

“Start it.”

“Yes! Let’s start the first wave!”

Everyone was given a quest, and a number appeared on the huge door in the village. It was the countdown to announce the opening.

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1!]

“Open up!”

When Se-yeon pressed the button, the huge doors creaked open. The first wave, the advanced dungeon rush, had begun.

‘How about it?’

He knew about the powers of nightmares, but its weaknesses were unknown. Jin-woo was thinking of acquiring information very leisurely.

* * *

Lee Jae-hyun was a professional gamer. He was in the lower ranks of the 2nd Division, but as his team was demoted, Lee Jae-hyun naturally had to retire. He had devoted his life to the game since he was in middle school, but there was nothing left for him. Yet, suddenly, his life changed dramatically because of a post written by ‘A Man of Two-Handed Swords.’ Since then, he learned about The Maze: New World, and his life changed 180 degrees.

“Customer LunaPicaPica, you have deposited 23.42 million won.”

“Thank you.”

A banker with a horn on her head smiled as she exchanged the money. She also introduced him to the Demon Realm Fund, and the profits had been good. Recently, Lee Jae-hyun was investing about 30% of his earnings in the Demon Realm Fund. When he came out of the VIP room, he could see players sitting all over the bank. He couldn’t even buy a rice ball until a few months ago, but now he was paying off all his parents’ debts and living a decent life.

He told his parents proudly that he got a job. New World was his job!

‘I have to go quickly.’

LunaPicaPica, or Luca for short, moved at a rapid pace. Today was the day of New World’s best event, The Land of Nightmares. Luca had already read several analysis articles on the event in preparation.

So far, G&P had shown content beyond imagination. Several experts argued that virtual reality couldn’t have been implemented without the dungeon’s limited view and space. Analysts said that the computation processing of the huge amounts of data required could be smoothly carried out thanks to the blocked sky, land, winding passage, and limited space. In addition, they warned that if millions of people appeared on the open field, a fatal error may occur as the overload couldn’t be overcome.

Of course, the G&P didn’t turn a deaf ear to it, and the experts disappeared without a word and issued an apology.

“When will it open?”

“Is the wait a bit longer? Could it be postponed?”

“The update was a bit fast.”

It was when such concerns erupted around the players.

[Event Quest!]

The Land of Nightmares is a space of despair. Let’s overcome that fear and defeat the Nightmare. You can receive rewards according to your contribution.

*Basic Reward: Experience Points

*Contribution Rewards: Advanced Equipment Sets, Dimensional Gold Coins

The countdown started immediately after the quest appeared.

Woooooooow!

Everyone shouted. More than 300,000 people gathered in the village where Luca was located alone just moments prior. Luca was also a little worried. Other villages were said to have more people waiting than this. It was an open field, but could it handle this many people?

“3! 2! 1!”

“Let’s go!”

More than 300,000 players rushed inside when the huge door opened. A bank NPC was there to greet them. She held a placard with the number five. Luca was burning with enthusiasm!

Although everyone entered the door at once, there was no congestion at all. Everyone just disappeared as if moved to another space. Luca also went inside.

“Ooh!”

The Land of Nightmares unfolded before his eyes. It was fantastic. The purple sky and the surrounding scenery seemed to have popped out of a horror movie. About 300,000 people entered from his village alone, but strangely, there weren’t many around.

“Wow, it’s crazy here. It’s creepy.”

“Isn’t it a cemetery? Ugh, I hate this place the most.”

“Me too.”

So did Luca. He feared cemeteries the most. A hazy mist came out and blocked the view. The players tensed up and grabbed their weapons. It was like stepping into a horror movie. A cold sweat naturally broke out over them. Naturally, players grouped. There were about fifty people, but it wasn’t awkward because of the atmosphere.

“It’s great directing.”

“Wow… I think I’m going to pee myself.”

The cemetery continued endlessly under the dark sky.

[Khufufufu! Be tainted with pain!]

Luca tilted his head. He thought he heard something. It was then.

Whoosh!

Hands came up through the ground. There were so many that they filled their surroundings.

“Z-zombie?”

“Kyaaaa!”

“Ugh! Gross!”

Numerous zombies appeared. When he saw the zombies, Luca was terrified. His raised sword was shaking. It was as if the zombies were laughing at him.

[Taste pain, foolish creatures!]

Kheeeeeeek!

Zombies rushed in. Luca and other players started running away from the horde. Everyone screamed and ran. However, it was a little different from the screams that came out of the extreme situation.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

A zombie caught a female player who fell behind. She was a tanker with a shield, so she was caught because of her slow speed.

“Kyaaaaa!”

Chomp-chomp!

The zombies began to bite at the tanker. Since she was a tanker, it took a little while to eat her.

The tanker felt fear at first. But as time passed, that fear began to turn into a thrill. As the fear that made her feel like she might pee herself and put all of her hair standing up disappeared, a feeling of pleasure spread throughout her body. Endorphins were released. Since it was an avatar, the effect was even stronger.

“Wow! I’m being eaten! That’s amazing! Am I becoming a zombie now?”

As soon as the tanker finished speaking, she turned into a zombie.

[Uh-huh? What?]

Pain normally forced the ego to crumble, but the tanker was fine. She was rather enjoying it.

“Wow, I’m a zombie! Wow!”

“Really?”

“Do you want me to bite you, too?”

Curious players approached the zombie tanker. The zombies who rushed around were rather embarrassed. The players who became zombies started slaughtering the monsters.

Puck-puck!

The position was reversed in an instant.

“Guys, my arm fell off. Can’t I put this on later?”

“I think we need to regenerate the avatar.”

“Kyaaa! It feels good. Anyway, I’m used to it now, and I’ll be an F rank in a day, so I’ll just enjoy it.”

[W-what, these guys….]

Luca’s ears seemed to hear someone bewildered. The players went one step further and split the fallen zombie’s stomach apart.

“Wow, I can see why it’s only available to adults. It’s so real.”

“Wow! Ugh, I’m nauseous. Is there anything?”

“I think there is something like a mana stone.”

Luca nodded and ripped the zombies apart. Something like black mana stone came out. The price seemed a bit high. The tanker looked at her arm and muttered as she put a little piece of flesh in her mouth.

“Oh, why does it taste like strawberries? Is that why they eat it?”

“My thighs taste like oranges!”

“It tastes okay. It’s like beef tartare.”

Luca stayed away from that girl, thinking it was a good thing he didn’t become a zombie.

[C-crazy. Kugh, s-stop….]

Luca and other players caught every zombie they could see. The ranks were similar, but it wasn’t that difficult because of the huge difference in weapons. From the monsters’ point of view, the players were more like zombies than they. Even if their body fell apart, they smiled and swung their weapons.

“Guys! There’s something like a house of horrors over there!”

“Wow! A mansion in the cemetery! I think I saw something like that in a movie.”

“It feels like a ghost will come out if we go inside.”

“It’s so damn scary.”

“I think it will be a hit if I upload it on MeTube.”

All players headed to the mansion. Everyone wanted to fully enjoy the event, and the same was true of Luca. The inside of the mansion was terrible, filled to the brim with gory traps and bizarre creatures.

“Ugh! Guys, I’m being tortured!”

A monster made of blades dragged a player and restrained him. It stabbed him with a knife, smiling bizarrely. However, the player just looked at it curiously. The player cut off his arm and twisted his body to grab his weapon. Then he cut apart the bewildered creature. Then the player took a potion and poured it on his arm. His arm was regenerated almost instantly.

“Wow, that was very scary.”

Saying so, he calmly cut apart the creature’s body and pulled out its black mana stone.

“I’ve been to theme parks in Japan before, and I think it’s a lot scarier here than there.”

“I looked all over the mansion, but there was nothing much.”

Luca looked around the mansion. There was a large portrait right in front of him, depicting a woman crying tears of blood. Luca turned away and looked at the portrait again. The portrait’s expression was bizarrely distorted.

“Ugh! What a surprise.”

He was genuinely surprised. If it were real, he wouldn’t have come to this place. Knowing that it was fake, thrill took the place of fear and the desire to farm dominated reason. Luca looked at the portrait and took it off the wall.

‘I’m sure there are quite a few people who have this kind of taste.’

A portrait that changed every time you look at it! It was a rare item. These days, many people built houses in the safe zone, so there was a high demand for interior items. Luca put the portrait in the subspace he bought at a high price. Most of the players were thinking the same thing as Luca.

“This looks a little expensive.”

“Is it a silver bowl? Ooh! It automatically generated blood in it.”

“Blood fountain? Awesome. As expected of the event.”

[S-stop it! You crazy people!]

The players, including Luca, seemed to have heard the voice, so they raised their heads and looked around. They thought it would be natural because it was a haunted house, but soon enough, they were again absorbed in what they were doing. They emptied everything that looked expensive.

At this point, they were a group of bandits.

“I am just amazed. I guess the freedom is crazy.”

That was what the players on MeTube said. The title of the video had been decided.

‘I Became a Zombie and Robbed a Haunted House! So Much Fun!’

The players were a little sad to leave the game like this.

“Shall we burn it up?”

“The fire won’t stick outside. But it’s possible inside.”

“Ah, then I’ll start it since I’ve become a zombie.”

As Luca and other players came out, the zombies lit a fire inside.

Flutter!

The mansion was soon engulfed in flames.

“Ooh! I’m on fire too!”

“It’s like a movie!”

“Fire zombie!”

The zombie players that were caught on fire ran out. They were simply enjoying the game rather than farming or raising event contributions.

‘It’s… so much fun.’

Luca seemed to be addicted to the thrill. The thrill of fear, the exhilaration of overcoming it, and even farming! It was truly a good game. That was all he could say. He couldn’t even think of it as the game that made him into a professional gamer because he was so into it.

“Is it over? It’s a pity to just come back like this.”

“Oh! I think it’s connected to another place over there.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye like this, so let’s go together.”

When the mansion was set on fire, the space behind it shook. Luca decided to go with them. As they crossed the space, a completely different landscape unfolded.

“Wow! There is a field boss here.”

“Ooh! Can we make clothes out of spiderwebs?”

“Let’s just grab it first!”

Thousands of people were rushing at the giant spider, laughing like crazy. Luca and the zombie players also joined. It was the beginning of another slice of content.

[Keaaargh! What’s this!? There are too many crazy people!]

Someone was suffering while everyone was having fun.

* * *

The Nightmare’s voice rang out, but the avatars couldn’t hear it properly. It just sounded like a terrible noise. No one could hear it unless they were at least Rank A. The Emperor of Nightmare seemed to be panicking. Millions of people poured in at once, so it was understandable. However, it soon recovered its mind and responded with its power. As time passed, panic turned to astonishment, and that astonishment became a constant scream.

‘It also has weaknesses.’

The power of the Nightmare proved to be great. It read their memories and reproduced the environment in which its opponent could feel the greatest pain. It created their most hated Nightmare, but its power wasn’t infinite. As millions of players rushed in, those powers split and bound those with similar nightmares.

That alone was great. If they had been normal creatures, the players would have been annihilated while feeling pain. But they were only avatars. Instead of feeling the pain, the players felt the thrill of pleasure and were enjoying it openly. Naturally, the Nightmare’s rank didn’t rise. Moreover, thanks to the event, the players had highly enhanced equipment. The results were obvious.

[P-Please get out! N-no! If you touch it…!]

The Nightmare suffered great pain when the black mana stones in the monsters’ bodies and the items in the nightmares were ripped out. It was convenient to think of it as millions of ants entering its stomach and devouring its flesh.

The results of the first wave were satisfactory. Kim Se-yeon quickly analyzed the black magic stones.

“Sir! I think the black mana stone has the power to transform space.”

“I see.”

Jin-woo looked at Yoo-na.

“Buy all the black mana stones. It’s an event. Give them a good price.”

“Yes, I got it.”

“Um, it seems nice to give them rewards depending on the amount.”

Yoo-na immediately carried out Jin-woo’s orders. The space in the Nightmare was divided into so many branches that it was impossible to grasp the whole situation. Jin-woo decided to see the internet reaction first.

The reaction proved to be much hotter than expected.

BEST Posts

Title: Review of Land of Nightmares! A Really Good Game

Written by: Hot Panty Man

First, I would like to express my gratitude to CEO Lee Jin-woo and everyone at G&P.

I stayed in the Land of Nightmares for a whole day. I wasn’t expecting much at first, and I thought it would be crowded because there were so many people or that it would be hard to see the monsters, but as expected of G&P., It seems to have implemented the open field in an instance dungeon format. Still, if it were just that, I wouldn’t praise them like this.

So many people had all experienced different things. They saw something else; they caught different monsters. Zombies, insects, ghosts… they were all in vast open fields, and they all had different themes. Besides, they didn’t make it half-heartedly. The details are so great that it feels more real than reality.

In my case, it was a large ship in the open sea.

[Ghost Ship.jpg]

A ghost ship appeared. There were even sharks, a Kraken, and ghost pirates… it was creepy. After all, I can’t swim. I hate octopuses, too. Had it not been for the game, I would have fainted.

[Ghost Ship Captain Raid (MeTube Link)]

It took me about five hours to kill it. I farmed black mana stones and gems, and now my income is rather good.

When I came back, I found another scene. It looks like they have replaced the real developers with aliens.

3,120 Comments

Man’s Scent: For me, it was a swarm of grasshoppers in a cornfield. It’s creepy to see grasshoppers gnaw at me… but it’s good when I roasted it with corn. Does anyone have any salt left?

└Cheese Restaurant: Oh, lol. So it was you who burned the cornfield? All the grasshoppers are burning, lol. Boss grasshopper was also burned.

SSD: Our party was at an amusement park. A chainsaw killer was chasing me. It’s a game that transcends genres.

AnyangHamDrinkEat: We were in a desert. The mummy was awesome, lol. I was caught and mummified, but it’s so much fun. It’s worth resetting.

Jin-woo nodded. The Emperor of Nightmare proved to be really good game content. It served personalized content that never ran out.

‘I need to extend the duration of the event.’

Jin-woo wanted to make this fun content enjoyable for everyone. Jin-woo nodded and closed his eyes. Hearing the screams of the Nightmare lulled him to sleep.