Most games fail for simple reasons.
Sometimes they just aren't fun, or the character balance is hopelessly broken.
Other times, the controls are clunky and unresponsive.
But there are other reasons a game might die.
For instance, when it's absurdly, punishingly difficult to clear.
The virtual reality game [Tower of Judgment] was a prime example.
A year after its release, a legion of Korean gaming veterans—the kind who lived to make developers' lives a living hell—banded together to conquer it.
For 365 days, they gave up food and sleep in their quest to reach the end.
Three years passed, however, and a grim realization began to dawn on the player base.
This game, they realized, could not be cleared. That wasn't an exaggeration; it was a fact.
A simple example?
The Guardian of the Gate protecting the 10th floor was invincible.
Literally invincible.
You could have a hundred players unleash their ultimate skills, armed with the game's best weapons, and it would be utterly futile.
Logically, shouldn't something have worked?
Then there was the 7th floor, an arctic wasteland with an average temperature of minus sixty degrees Celsius, where your character would freeze solid in under an hour.
And the 8th floor's labyrinth, a maze with a total path length of more than ten thousand kilometers.
The game design wasn't just "not fun." It was torture.
Perhaps it was a masterpiece created with the sole purpose of tormenting the people of Daehan.
Naturally, the game's popularity cratered.
It was all but buried.
Still, a handful of dedicated players continued to challenge this damnable hellscape.
And among them…
…was a young Korean man named Park Min-jun.
[You have conquered the 50th floor!]
[Congratulations! You are the first-ever player to clear the Tower of Judgment!]
Is this for real?
The 50th floor of the Tower of Judgment.
A wave of emotion washed over Min-jun, and he let out a long sigh.
It had been fun.
Unlike the other players, he had never given up his assault on the tower.
That sense of accomplishment that came from repeating a level until you'd memorized every last detail... but to actually clear the final floor…
He was seventeen when he first stepped into the world of virtual reality games. He was twenty-seven now.
Wow, almost eleven years… gone in the blink of an eye.
"Haha. Guess I should end the stream?"
Although he was a Broadcast Jockey with a decent following, a BJ was still just a BJ.
But Min-jun shook his head.
Honestly, no one would even notice if he turned off the broadcast right now. Even his most loyal viewers had started logging off as he streamed the same content for three straight months.
By this point, even if he titled his stream "Boss Attack" or "50th Floor Attempt," no one would bother to watch, simply because it was for Tower of Judgment.
Still, if I upload it to ClipNuri, a few people might watch it, right?
After ten minutes of editing, he had a slick-looking video ready.
It was then.
Tring!
[Thank you for playing our game for all this time.]
[A full reboot update will be implemented in 12 hours. We hope you will enjoy it.]
It was a message reserved for administrators.
He'd thought the company had abandoned the game entirely. It had been eleven years without a single update or line of communication.
That's surprising. A reboot update, no less. Did they strike oil in the desert or something?
The logic escaped him. There was no profit to be made from this now.
Ah, why bother thinking about it. They must have their reasons.
He had no intention of playing anymore, reboot or not.
Besides, Min-jun was already planning to make today his last day as a BJ.
Even without a family to support, he was nearly twenty-seven. He couldn't keep living on five hundred dollars a month.
I should probably tell the director I'm taking a break from training.
He'd once been told he had the talent to become a pro martial artist, but right now, money was more important than dreams.
-jjy77: Min! Min! Min-jun, hi!
-Eagle Owl: Oh, what's this? You're on early today, too?
As he started the broadcast, his twenty or so dedicated viewers trickled in. On his desk sat a feast: chicken, pizza, cream prawns, and two bottles of beer.
-Been On to Die for 25 Years Now: Look at that spread!
-Best Meokbang: As expected, bro's mukbang is the best.
-Jin-hyuk on the Roll: Who do you think BJ Min-jun is?
-Coffindance: He'll eat the table after he's done with the food.
-Unemployed Sicheongja: He'd chew on rocks if they were seasoned!
-1person2chickens: He's gonna lick the pot clean and then eat the lid!
It was thanks to this small, loyal group that he'd kept the broadcast going for so long.
Dawn approached as they laughed, talked, drank, and ate together.
I'll have to post a notice tomorrow to tell them it's over…
He just couldn't bring himself to say it out loud right now.
Right.
He'd tell them tomorrow.
But…
Even Min-jun himself could not have known.
That when he opened his eyes the next day, the world he knew would be changed forever.