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[Player Master High School; Notice of Server Shutdown]

“These motherfu–!”

The man started swearing as soon as he saw the announcement.

It hasn’t been long since the last chapter was updated!

The game was long ruined, and the fact that the servers were getting shut down was not something anyone should be surprised about, but the man couldn’t help but curse.

He did leave malicious comments before, asking why the game hasn’t shut down yet.

‘They have in-app purchases but they’re shutting down?’

The man didn’t really spend much money on the game since he wasn’t that well off.

He only bought Ahn Dain’s avatar and skins.

But in the end, money is money and so the man’s anger rose quickly.

He decided that if PMH servers really are shutting down, he should email the platform for a refund as soon as possible.

‘Gah, I was gonna go see jo2god111’s attack guide once he uploads it though.’

The chapter of the game was updated, but jo2god111, who had been posting attack guides and review blogs on every new chapter, was strangely quiet.

No matter how many times the man refreshed the bulletin board and rechecked jo2god111’s blog, there was no update.

To be exact, there was a memo stating that he was in the middle of clearing the chapter, but no update came after that.

‘PMH is that dude’s life so he must’ve been shocked by the server termination announcement. Maybe he decided to live a real life now?’

No matter how long he waited, the blog from jo2god111 did not come.

As the time for the server termination approached, the man gave up on waiting for it and decided to play the final chapter on his own.

He did not expect that a proper ending will be given in the game where most of the playable characters were killed off, but the title hero and heroine survived so far.

He had to play PMH to see what kind of ending the title heroine, Ahn Dain, would face.

‘Sigh… this failed game’s final chapter difficulty level is hell. It’s because they make levels like this that no one bothers to play the game.’

The level of difficulty was high, but it didn’t take long to clear the chapter.

Fortunately, the man managed to see the ending before the PMH servers shut down.

Though the ending made him feel empty.

‘That’s it?’

All of the main characters, including Ahn Dain, died and failed to stop the Black Screen.

There was nothing left to protect, and nothing good was saved.

The man spat out a river of curses as the ending credits were shown.

He suffered just to see the game’s ending, and it turns out the ending scene itself made him suffer even more.

His anger rose further when a game notification popped up after the ending credits.

[You can obtain a reward for clearing the final chapter. Please check your inbox.]

“This crazy freaking failed game! What’s the point of a reward for clearing the chapter when all the playable characters are dead!”

He hasn’t received a proper reward in the ten years he’s been playing, but now he received one after every character in the game died.

Everything from the tutorial level to the ending was characteristic of a failed game.

Curse words kept flowing as the man opened the gift box when he suddenly began to hear strange sounds.

<You have been connected to a universe beyond imagination. Screening connected players’ suitability.>

<Screening complete. Selection is on hold.>

The sounds were over in no time.

At first, he thought he was having auditory hallucinations, but he decided to dismiss the sounds as noise from his neighbors.

“Live quietly you people!”

He swung a rubber hammer, hitting the wall in retaliation before landing on his bed.

When he lay on the bed, he saw the PMH posters put up on his ceiling and walls.

Before PMH was launched, there were promotional posters distributed showing Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain looking up at the night sky.

Those were rare goods — the only good things that came out of the failed game.

“That crazy failed game. Freaaaking failed game!”

With the demise of the two main heroes coming to mind again, the time for PMH’s server shut down dawned closer.

The Nation’s Failed Game that he spent his crooked 20s on will disappear beyond history.

As soon as the PMH servers were shut down, the man’s smartphone was bombarded with notifications.

They were from articles with the keyword PMH being posted, and it seems like writers and bloggers waited for the game’s end before releasing their articles.

Normally he would be in those articles’ comment sections, but he just didn’t feel like it.

At that moment, the strange noises came up again.

<Due to lack of characters… Player is… Two-dimensional… candidate for fit selection…>

The sounds were somewhat faint.

He reached out quietly to find where it was coming from while he held the toy hammer in his hand.

Whether it was upstairs or next door, he was prepared to give hell to whoever was making that noise.

It was hard to understand what the strange voice was saying.

<Unqualified candidate… is…in order to… support program. 5… 2… 0.

With the last word zero, a white light filled the man’s vision.

That was his last memory of the previous world.

***

Gye Idam’s story had a lot of keywords that stuck in my mind.

Lack of characters, unqualified candidate, support program.

Combining those keywords, I formed some sort of hypothesis.

‘Those noises must be the same system message that Eunho and I heard. This bastard cleared the game, but he didn’t pass the preliminary screening.’

My confidence in the transcendent universe suddenly soared.

It knows how to read people.

Of course, I didn’t like everything about it.

It ruled Gye Bastard ineligible, but still brought him here as a candidate.

‘This bastard ended up here because there weren’t enough candidates. Still, I don’t like it.’

I didn’t like the decision of the transcendent universe, but there was something else in front of me that I hated even more.

And I can vent my anger to it.

“After that voice was cut off, I became a freshman at Eungwang High and then I went to the entrance ceremo— ahk!”

Hit!

Gye Idam was about to explain further when I kicked him again, making him inhale deeply as he twisted his body.

My power was slightly out of control this time, but it wasn’t my fault — it was the transcendent universe’s.

Well, in the end, it’s still Gye Idam’s fault.

While I thought about where to kick him next, something else came to my mind.

‘My vision turned white before the server termination notice came up. Eunho said he saw the white light when the termination was about an hour away.’

But this Gye Bastard is saying he saw the white light after the servers were shut down.

He even said he saw articles pouring after.

However, Eunho and I came to this world at the end of last year, the season when the entrance exams were going on.

On the other hand, Gye Idam became a freshman and even attended the entrance ceremony early last year.

‘Gye Idam departed last, but he arrived here first.’

After the white light, the next thing I knew I was in Group 13 and in the gym where the practical exam was held.

Perhaps there’s a discrepancy in the facts.

It’s possible that the time being transported was much longer than what I perceived.

“At the entrance ceremony— Ahk! I told you it hurts! Stop hitting me when I’m talking.”

This guy’s still energetic.

I pressed the Sangbosimgeumpa against Gye Idam’s head.

“Want me to beat you until you can’t talk?”

“Ugh… Ahk! I’m talking! Yeah, so the next thing I remember was…”

Perhaps he understood the threat, but Gye Idam held back his pain as he ran his mouth.

I’m not really curious about what he went through, but it was a series of secret stories that I should know for now.

***

“Oath. We freshmen who have been accepted to enter Eungwang Player Master High School will do our best to excel in our studies and focus on improving ourselves. We will respect the schools’ traditions and rules and follow them in their entirety.”

A low voice rang out from the speaker.

Gye Idam woke up to the sound and looked around.

The Sangin Hall, Eungwang High’s main large hall, and the current entrance ceremony going on.

‘Huh? Why am I here? I mean…’

Gye Idam was clueless about why he was there.

And then he belatedly remembered that he was a freshman at Eungwang High and was currently at the freshmen’s entrance ceremony.

He felt that his train of thought was unnatural.

“Freshman represent, Cheon Dongha.”

The sense of incompatibility from being there slowly faded as he saw Cheon Dongha, the freshman representative who led the oath.

Soon enough, he was more concerned about what he was hearing around him than the sense of incompatibility.

“Isn’t that guy Cheon Dongha? The one from the split TC Group.”

“I heard there’s a Dragon Clan descendant freshman too. It’ll be great if Cheon Dongha beats that descendant.”

“I heard he’s the Red King sunbaenim’s son.”

“…The Dragon Clan’s famous for being heads-over-heels over that guy though. Aren’t we gonna die if we make a wrong move?”

“Hey, you’re worried about the dragon descendant? This year’s freshmen Class Zero is no joke. The Geum Chansol who was beaten by the Eungwang District King of Back Alleys and…”

“The name Geum Chansol reminds me of Wang Chansol.”

“Yeah, who’s that?”

“Hey, haven’t you heard of Neuru?”

Names were pouring out in the conversation, but he didn’t remember how he knew those names.

Gye Idam concluded that there was something wrong with him.

‘Am I nervous because of the entrance ceremony? But I’m getting intense deja vu feelings…’

Gye Idam lived in foster care.

He was a very good student, but his energy wave and abilities were awakened late, perhaps because of his unstable puberty.

That’s why he had little connection to the player world prior to entering Eungwang High.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t know what the students were talking about.

‘…Maybe?’

In his first weeks, Gye Idam continuously felt lost and confused.

More than anything, the sense of incompatibility was most intense when he looks at himself in the mirror.

He was sure that it was his face, but his mind kept saying “impossible”

Every morning he felt confused, and he talked less and spent more time on his own.

Gye Idam wasn’t a naturally silent or serious person, but the people around him began to misunderstand.

The truth is, he was just dazed by the constant sense of incompatibility.

And then, one day the Class 3-0 homeroom teacher and student council adviser Ham Geunhyung spoke to him.

“Gye Idam, what do you think of joining the student council?”

All the students of Eungwang High who knew Gye Idam considered the proposal reasonable.

Gye Idam was quite a good player, and he appeared as a student who did his job silently.

However, he felt embarrassed by the proposal.

‘Oh god… His face is scary.’

It was scary even from a distance, but it was more so up close.

Intimidated by the professor, Gye Idam immediately agreed.

Ham Geunhyung didn’t know this though as Gye Idam managed his expression well.

He decided to think about it positively since he hasn’t been able to decide which club to join.

When Gye Idam was finally able to win over his mind…

‘If I were to choose, I’d prefer the Student Association though… Oh?’

The thought came to mind, but he couldn’t pinpoint where it came from.

Why did he want to join the student association?

The answer didn’t come up.

‘Did I lose my mind while preparing for the exams?’

He was familiar with Taekwondo and it would’ve been better if he used a physical skill as his main, but he chose an energy gun as his main weapon despite being bad at shooting.

He was sure that something was wrong with him.

“You’re Gye Idam, right? You’re the first among the freshmen. Come in.”

When Gye Idam first went to the student council room, only sophomores were there.

Ham Geunhyung and the third years were all away.

Oh Hyeji entertained the questions of the freshmen and kindly explained things to them.

“Oh, the Year Three sunbaenims have gone to the old school. They’re with Professor Ham Geunhyung to stop Year Three Class Zero.”

The incident started when one of the Year Three Class Zero students said they saw a ghost.

The Year Three Class Zero students, who were doing some sort of a courage test, were terrified and vowed to do physical elimination work.

Fortunately, the student council stepped up to block the Class Zero students who made a plan to blow up the old school building.

‘…Should I quit now?’

When Gye Idam seriously considered a quick withdrawal, Oh Hyeji talked to him.

“Here, take this first!”

The sophomore Oh Hyeji gave him three codes.

They were the contact information of Class Zero homeroom teachers.

Year One Class Zero homeroom teacher, Head of the Teacher’s Department, Jegal Jaegul.

Year Two Class Zero homeroom teacher, Head of the Research Department, Im Yeonhwa.

Year Three Class Zero homeroom teacher, Head of Student Affairs, Ham Geunhyung.

It was natural that he’d be given Ham Geunhyung’s, adviser of the student council, contact information, but Gye Idam was clueless as to why he received the other two’s device codes.

“When an unidentified incident occurs or you receive a threat, you guys have to call the Class Zero homeroom teachers first. It’s most probably the Class Zero kids’ doing.”

Hearing the reason, he felt more and more like withdrawing from the student council.

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