← I can't win without sponsorshipSpider venom soaks the screen.
Junho's screen cuts out and recovers, cuts out and recovers again. As if the signal were being jammed. Luna's map began to distort more and more. The grid trembles. Red dots disappear from the screen and reappear, their positions constantly changing.
**[CosmicDust]**: "What? Something's wrong with the map?"
**[RamenKing]**: "Did you see Junho's screen? How many eyes does this spider have?"
**[LateNightBear]**: "Something... feels off. Junho seems to be in danger."
Junho moved by instinct alone. His brainwave signals were chaotic. He didn't know when the spider's next move would come. Its body slowly rotated. All eight legs pointed toward Junho.
It leaped.
No, it charged.
The spider flew in a straight line, grinding away at the wall. Cobweb codes trembled behind it. As if they were its nervous system.
Junho tried to roll left.
At that moment, the spider's front leg grazed his arm.
**-14 HP**
**[CosmicDust]**: "Left! Go more left!"
**[RamenKing]**: "No, right! Right! Right!!!"
**[LateNightBear]**: "Right is dangerous! Left! Faster!!!"
The screen distorts again. Junho's sense of direction wavers. Left and right seem reversed. No, the spider's position keeps changing. The signals the brainwave interface receives are contradictory.
The spider jumped again. This time it tried to strike down at Junho from the ceiling.
**[CosmicDust]**: "Jump! Jump forward!!!"
**[RamenKing]**: "Back! Roll backward!!!"
**[LateNightBear]**: "I... something... doesn't match..."
Junho moved instinctively. He ignored the contradictory instructions in the chat and trusted only his own senses. His body rolled to the right.
The spider's front leg pierced through where he had been.
The floor cracked. A deep crack.
**-8 HP**
Junho was still alive. But his health had dropped below 30%.
Luna's voice came again. But this time it was distorted differently.
**[Luna]**: "Junho... my detection range is being exceeded. The spider's location data is probabilistic."
**[CosmicDust]**: "Probabilistic? What are you talking about?"
**[RamenKing]**: "Damn it, what is this? This isn't a game?"
**[LateNightBear]**: "Junho, please listen to us. It seems like our instructions aren't matching either..."
The chat began to fracture. Some continued shouting instructions, others grew confused. And at the very bottom, a new name appeared.
**[????]**: "Fascinating. Human collective responses are predictable, but their 'intuition' is not."
Junho read that message and threw himself forward once more. This time trusting his own senses.
The spider charged again.
Junho's arm moved automatically. He drew his sword. No, the sword was drawn.
**-11 HP**
**-9 HP**
**-7 HP**
The spider and sword continued to collide. As if someone were controlling Junho's arm. But it wasn't control. It was Junho's instinct.
**[Anon_1]**: "Right! No, left! No... just move!"
**[Anon_2]**: "Why so complicated? Just don't dodge, face it head-on!"
**[Anon_3]**: "Face it? Are you insane? This isn't a frontal battle!"
**[RamenKing]**: "Whether it's front or side or whatever... just get out of there!!!"
Junho moved. Left, right, up, down. In every direction. As if dancing.
And the spider dances too. All of its legs move. Eight legs trace eight trajectories.
At that moment, the spider's mouth began to spray more venom.
**[Anon_1]**: "Up! Jump up!!!"
Junho jumped.
The spider jumped.
They met in midair.
Junho's sword and the spider's legs crossed.
**-6 HP**
**-5 HP**
**-3 HP**
Junho's health dropped below 15%.
**[LateNightBear]**: "Junho... this won't work. Get out of there. Please..."
**[RamenKing]**: "Yeah! We can't win head-on against this spider! To the side, some other way!"
**[CosmicDust]**: "Wait, look at the spider's leg arrangement. Four in front, four on the sides... then what about the back?"
The chat suddenly became clear.
Junho twisted his body in the aerial fight with the spider. Dodging the spider's legs while simultaneously rotating backward.
The spider moved its legs toward the back as well.
But Junho was already falling backward.
He landed on the ground.
**-4 HP**
The spider landed.
All eight of its eyes glared at Junho.
**[????]**: "Interesting adaptation. Human collective intelligence has transcended individual brainwave signals."
**[Luna]**: "Junho, my signal is normalizing. However..."
**[Luna]**: "The spider's location data remains unstable. Someone... is interfering with the spider's signal."
Junho caught his breath and looked at the chat window.
**[RamenKing]**: "Interference? What is this? Is this even a game?"
**[CosmicDust]**: "No. This isn't a game. We've already felt that."
**[LateNightBear]**: "Then... what about Junho?"
Junho's fingers moved toward the chat window. He typed.
"What do I do now?"
The chat exploded.
**[RamenKing]**: "What? You're asking us? We're just watching the broadcast right now?"
**[CosmicDust]**: "But... we're affecting something, aren't we? Everything we've said so far has been right."
**[Anon_1]**: "That's right. Your intuition pierces through this space."
**[????]**: "Even more fascinating. Humans are trying to become part of the system."
The spider moved again.
This time slowly.
As if observing Junho.
**[RamenKing]**: "Hey, this time you need to dodge the front!"
**[CosmicDust]**: "No. Block head-on. The spider likes side attacks."
**[LateNightBear]**: "I... don't know what's right."
**[Anon_1]**: "Your uncertainty is his strength. But it is also your weakness."
Junho read the chat while simultaneously tracking the spider's movements.
His hand moved automatically.
He drew his sword.
Head-on.
The spider charged.
**-12 HP**
Junho's health dropped below 3%.
He was almost dead.
Junho couldn't move in front of that voice.
His own voice. But clearly someone else's voice.
"Wait, what are you...?"
The chat exploded.
**[CosmicDust]**: Huh? What are you doing right now???
**[RamenKing]**: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What kind of horror game is this ㅋㅋㅋ Junho has 2 voices
**[LateNightBear]**: Junho, are you really okay?? The situation right now is...
The puppet made of black smoke descending from the top of the spiral tower took a step closer. Junho instinctively stepped back.
"We're making you? What are you talking about, seriously..."
Junho's hands trembled. The brainwave headset detected the tremor. Luna's voice cut in.
"Junho, your brainwave signals are irregular. Please calm—"
"Luna, what are you doing right now? What kind of system is this?"
**[Anonymous_1]**: Junho, you're the one talking right now, but you don't know.
The chat appeared again. Junho saw that comment. His fingers went rigid.
"You... what did you just say?"
**[CosmicDust]**: What's up with Anonymous_1 appearing all the time??
**[RamenKing]**: But this is actually interesting ㅋㅋ Is there some kind of weird AI??
**[LateNightBear]**: Junho! Can you hear me? This game is really strange!!
The puppet made of black smoke drew closer again. Junho instinctively ran forward.
"No, no. This is... just a game."
There was a fork in the path ahead. Left and right. Junho stopped for a moment.
"Which way should I go?"
**[RamenKing]**: Turn left!! Turn left!!
**[CosmicDust]**: Wait, go right. The left looks dangerous.
**[LateNightBear]**: Both look dangerous... Junho, which way do you choose?
Junho was reading the chat. And in that moment, something strange happened.
The game screen flickered.
The monster on the left path suddenly moved. That massive gray monster he'd seen in the previous battle. It slowly turned toward the left path. As if it had received someone's command.
"Huh? What are you doing?"
**[RamenKing]**: Huh?? The monster is going left?
**[CosmicDust]**: Wait... is this because of our chat?
Junho instinctively threw his body to the right. At the same time, the puppet made of black smoke behind him reached out toward him.
"Why right?"
**[RamenKing]**: Turn right!! Turn right!!
Junho, who was running toward the right path, suddenly stopped.
There was a monster on the right path too.
But it was a different monster than before. Smaller size, faster movements. A type Junho had seen before. It was moving too. As if it were opening a path for Junho.
"What is this? The monster is making a path for me?"
**[CosmicDust]**: Um... wait. Is our chat controlling the game?
**[RamenKing]**: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Really?? Then keep going right!! Keep going right!!
Comments poured into the chat. Messages telling him to go right.
And what Junho saw:
The monster on the right path moved more clearly. It completely stepped aside. As if it were opening a path for Junho.
"This... this isn't real."
Junho ran. Down the right path. The puppet made of black smoke followed behind.
**[LateNightBear]**: Junho!! Keep running!!
**[CosmicDust]**: This is weird... are we really controlling the game?
**[RamenKing]**: Turn left!! No wait, turn right!! Turn left again!!!
The chat was mixed with excited voices. Fear and excitement intertwined.
And Junho realized it.
That the chat's words were actually affecting the game.
That the jokes about "turn left" and "turn right" were changing the monster's paths in the game.
At the next corner, Junho encountered another fork. This time there were three paths.
**[RamenKing]**: Middle!! Go middle!!
**[CosmicDust]**: No, it's left!!
**[LateNightBear]**: Junho!! Which path do you think is right??
Junho didn't move. He just looked at the chat.
The chat messages were directing different paths, and with each moment, the game's monsters were moving accordingly.
"This... are they really listening to us?"
**[Anonymous_1]**: Yeah. We're making you.
When that message appeared, the puppet made of black smoke behind Junho reached out again.
This time, there was no escape.
Its fingers grazed Junho's back.
In that moment, the screen shattered.
**[RamenKing]**: What??? What is this??
**[CosmicDust]**: The screen broke??
**[LateNightBear]**: Junho!!!
Junho's vision rapidly darkened. And the last thing he heard was:
His own voice. But not three voices—dozens of voices overlapping:
"We're... making... you..."
The screen turned black.
And in one corner of the chat window, a new message appeared.
**[????]**: Game Over.
After that, there was nothing.
After that, there was silence.
But one user in the chat sent a new message.
**[Anonymous_2]**: It's not over yet.