Transmigrated into the Gacha Game I Abandoned for 10 Years

Everything is over.

…Of course, thanks to Arthur and Loria causing chaos, there was some damage in the territory that had to be addressed, but from a larger perspective, it could be said that there was no longer anything that Kim Hyunwoo needed to do.

After all, he had successfully stopped the demons, angels, and even the otherworldly beings who were trying to destroy this world.

The day after Kim Hyunwoo completed his tasks in his own way.

“Hello.”

Kim Hyunwoo made a strange expression as he saw the Mysterious Merchant enter the office before receiving a proper report from Elena.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

The Mysterious Merchant asked, frowning, as if Kim Hyunwoo’s strange expression bothered her.

“No, you acted like you’d tell me everything yesterday, then told me to rest today and disappeared.”

“…That may be, but I still think it was slow in many ways.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Normally, in situations like this, everything is explained before the fight.”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the Mysterious Merchant shook her head and spoke.

“That’s something that happens in novels or games, but in reality, how could everything align so perfectly? Sometimes this happens, sometimes that happens.”

“…I see.”

“That’s right. There are even kids who finish everything and still don’t know what happened to them. Compared to that, I’m quite the decent one for coming to explain everything.”

“Actually, before hearing that, there’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“First of all, everything is truly over, right?”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the Mysterious Merchant hummed and then spoke.

“Well, everything is over, right? The demons can no longer come here because they’ve lost their power, and the angels have lost most of their power as well, and Arthur has been erased. Essentially, your tasks are finished, and this Continent will no longer face any problems.”

“That’s true.”

“Right?”

“Then it’s fine. I was just asking because if there was something left, I’d be drained.”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s words, the Mysterious Merchant shrugged and replied.

“That won’t happen, so you don’t need to worry. Now, the only thing left for you is the right to hear the secrets of this world directly from the Administrator.”

The Mysterious Merchant said that, then placed one leg on her thigh and continued speaking.

“Now, go ahead and ask whatever you’re curious about.”

“…Even if you tell me to ask, there’s so much I’m curious about, it’s hard to know where to begin.”

“Then, I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.”

The Mysterious Merchant thought for a moment before speaking.

“Kim Hyunwoo, you might have an idea, but the Arteil you played was not an ordinary game.”

“Well, I know that.”

“Oh? You knew?”

“The developers were crazy bastards.”

“……”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s response, the Mysterious Merchant sighed,

“Ah…”

and then continued.

“I didn’t mean it that way. What I mean is that Arteil was really not an ordinary game.”

“…Honestly, it’s not that I’ve never thought about that.”

In fact, Kim Hyunwoo himself had questioned Arteil before.

Not just Kim Hyunwoo, but countless players had questioned Arteil at some point while playing it.

That’s understandable because, at least, the hero AI of Arteil was so sophisticated that it couldn’t have been replicated with the technology of that time.

Because of that, some even speculated that Arteil was a game made from a real-world reality like those in web novels.

…Of course, such rumors were quickly shattered when the development team accelerated the BM system.

As Kim Hyunwoo thought about this, he looked at the Mysterious Merchant, who responded.

“In conclusion, the Arteil you played was indeed a game created based on the real world. To add more to it, it was intentionally made like a game in order to receive help from humans of your dimension.”

The Mysterious Merchant thought for a moment before speaking.

“I believe you’ve heard about it, but have you heard of higher dimensions?”

“You mean that this is the lowest dimension, and that the dimensions above it are higher, right?”

“That’s right. I guess you’ve heard of it.”

The Mysterious Merchant continued.

“To put it simply, the game called Arteil was developed to create the power to fight against demons, angels, and otherworldly beings.”

“So, to summarize, you created a connection through a game to borrow power. Is that about right?”

“You have a sharp mind.”

Kim Hyunwoo responded to the Mysterious Merchant’s words.

“…But, are we really of help? Even if we play the game, it’s just strategically beneficial, and I don’t think it’s going to be that helpful.”

“I get what you’re thinking, but that’s not the help we’re looking for. To be more precise, it’s the connection with you.”

“…A connection?”

“Yes. Beings from lower dimensions can gain a stronger power just by forming a connection with beings from higher dimensions. You know about the correction value, right?”

“…Ah.”

“Originally, what you needed was that correction value. The heroes were made by ‘us’, but those heroes alone could never drive out the demons or angels.”

The Mysterious Merchant paused for a moment after saying that, taking a breath before continuing.

“Anyway, this is the starting point.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you need to have this information to fully understand what I’m going to say next.”

The Mysterious Merchant said this and then began explaining to Kim Hyunwoo.

“The beginning is the Demon War of the Two Thousand Years.”

About 30 minutes after hearing the Mysterious Merchant’s story.

“…That’s the gist of it. Did you understand?”

“It’s a bit long, but I managed to understand.”

Kim Hyunwoo nodded affirmatively, though he thought to himself.

‘…Not like there was much to understand, though.’

The Mysterious Merchant’s story could have been told in great detail, but it was enough to summarize it briefly.

To summarize, a few hundred years ago, there was the Heavenly Demon War, which sounds like something from a martial arts novel, but in reality, it was a war fought between the Celestial Realm and the Demon Realm over the lowest level resource called Ether, resulting in the destruction of all three.

“So, in short, they destroyed each other.”

“Exactly, the ones who returned to their own worlds gathered their power again with the goal of invading this world. They intended to revive their leaders through Ether, the power that grants wishes, which exists in this world.”

“Surprisingly, there are no otherworldly beings?”

“No, there weren’t. The Otherworld was something I created myself.”

“You created the Otherworld?”

“Yes, to be more accurate, it’s closer to something that was created accidentally rather than intentionally.”

The Mysterious Merchant paused, then spoke.

“Well, to continue the story, as the Administrator of this world, I had to protect it. Unfortunately, once either the Celestial Realm or the Demon Realm crossed over, the balance would be broken.”

“What would happen then?”

“What happens is destruction. Not just this dimension, but everything from the bottom to the top would be affected…including your dimension.”

“……”

“Anyway, from the Administrator’s perspective, I had to stop that from happening, so I thought about preparing by borrowing the power of higher dimensions.”

“So that’s what you mean by Arteil.”

“That’s right.”

“…But in the end, wasn’t the game supposed to be sustained for a long time to hold up? Why did you manage it so…poorly?”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s sincerely curious question, the Mysterious Merchant made a heavy expression before speaking.

“…Well, it’s a bit of a long explanation, but even though I’m an ascended being, connecting higher and lower dimensions to mediate like a game takes a tremendous amount of energy. In other words, I needed a way to replenish that energy.”

“…You mean that’s what the payments were for?”

“Exactly, specifically, the emotions you emit from your payments are brought down and turned into excellent Ether resources… Well, something like that.”

At the Mysterious Merchant’s words, Kim Hyunwoo realized why Arteil’s BM system had been such a mess, and said:

“…Just so you know, it wasn’t because I liked it. It was something I had to do, out of necessity.”

“I see.”

“…Actually, I did push a bit harder to feel a little more comfortable, but I didn’t expect everything to go downhill so quickly.”

“……”

The Mysterious Merchant sighed heavily before speaking.

“Anyway, the situation got worse after the players quit the game. As more players left, it became harder to keep the game running.”

“…So, that’s why the service ended.”

“That’s right. There was no more energy to keep the game going. So, in a situation where we were left waiting for an invasion from the Celestial Realm and the Demon Realm, she appeared. Loria, the one who summoned you here.”

Kim Hyunwoo was focused on her words.