THE ADDRESS
897 Words
*Chapter 9: THE ADDRESS*
12 hours.
That’s how long I gave them.
*[SYSTEM MESSAGE FROM: REN PARK]*
*[MEET ME AT SYSTEM HQ. GANGNAM. 12 HOURS.]*
It was 8AM now.
And Gangnam was packed.
---
*THE CITY RESPONDS*
We watched from the roof of System HQ. J, Hana, and me.
Below was chaos.
*Group 1: Players*
D-ranks to S-ranks. Millions of them. Sitting. Waiting.
Some held signs: *#NOCAP* *#FREEREN* *#DELETEGM*
*Group 2: Guilds*
Iron Fist was at the front. Baek wasn’t smiling.
Iron Shield was next to them. Hana’s guild. They were not happy to see her with me.
*Group 3: GM Drones*
Hundreds. Circling. But they weren’t attacking.
Because of the new rule: *[GM AUTHORITY = SUBJECT TO PLAYER CONSENT]*
"They can’t touch us," J said. "Not unless we say yes."
"Yet," I said. "Rules can be changed back."
My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.
*Baek*: _You better have a good reason for this. 1 mil bounty still on your head._
*Jin [from jail]*: _BRO YOU DID IT. ALSO I NEED BAIL MONEY._
*Unknown J2-J6*: _We’re in. The other 5 Admins. Where do we meet._
*GM-07*: _System Board requests audience. 9AM. Floor 40._
40%. My meter was stable. No longer wanted.
"Time to go," I said.
---
*THE BOARD*
Floor 40. Same white room as before.
But now there were 12 people in suits. No faces. Just masks.
*[SYSTEM BOARD: DIRECTORS]*
*[LEVEL: ???]*
"Ren Park," the middle one said. Voice like GM-07 but older. "You rewrote the System."
"Yep," I said. "Problem?"
"You disabled deletion," he said. "Do you know how many Anomaly Users we’ve deleted this year? 1,403."
"Good," I said. "That’s 1,403 too many."
"You don’t understand," he said. "The System isn’t a game. It’s a containment. The dungeons? They’re real. The monsters? They come from somewhere. If we don’t manage players, they overrun Earth."
Silence.
"Prove it," J said.
The middle Director tapped the table. The wall turned into a window.
Outside the window wasn’t Seoul.
It was black space. And in it, a massive gate. Bigger than any dungeon.
And behind it... things. Thousands. Watching.
"That’s the Source," he said. "Every dungeon is a c***k. We give people powers so they can fight. We delete the ones who break so the Source doesn’t notice us."
"So you’re saying," I said, "if you don’t delete me, the big monsters come?"
"If you hit 1000%," he said, "yes."
I thought about it.
Then I opened [ADMIN CONSOLE].
*[QUERY: SOURCE GATE STATUS]*
*[RESPONSE: STABLE. NO THREATS DETECTED.]*
"Your data is 6 months old," I said. "I just checked. The Source hasn’t moved in 200 years."
The Directors didn’t move.
"So here’s my deal," I said. "No more deletion. No more lies. We tell players the truth. We train them. And we work together to close the Source for good."
"And if we refuse?" a Director asked.
I smiled. "Then I rewrite you out of the System."
*[ANOMALY: 40% → 41%]*
They looked at each other.
"Fine," the middle one said. "Trial period. 30 days. But one mistake, and we revert everything."
"Deal," I said.
---
*THE SPEECH*
10AM. Rooftop of System HQ.
2 million people below. Cameras. Drones. Everything.
I stepped to the edge. Hana and J behind me.
My hands were shaking. Not from fear. From 40%.
"Uh," I said into the mic. "Hi."
The crowd went silent.
"3 months ago I was a D-rank Archer," I said. "Yesterday I was wanted for 1 million. Today I’m an Admin."
Murmurs.
"The System lied to you," I said. "There is no cap. There is no safe deletion. They’ve been deleting people who got too strong because they were scared."
I pointed at the sky. At the black gate only I could see.
"And there are monsters out there. Real ones. Bigger than Titans. But we’re not going to hide from them anymore."
*[NEW SYSTEM UPDATE]*
*[DELETION DISABLED]*
*[ANOMALY CAP: REMOVED]*
*[PLAYER COUNCIL FORMED]*
"The System is ours now," I said. "Not theirs. Mine. Yours. Everyone’s."
I looked at Baek in the crowd. He looked pissed.
I looked at Jin’s guildmates holding a "FREE JIN" sign.
I looked at Hana. She was crying. Proud.
"So," I said. "Who wants to help me close the Source?"
The entire crowd screamed. "YES!"
Even Baek raised his hand. Slowly.
---
*AFTER*
1PM. My apartment. Finally.
88k won in my account. Rent paid.
No GM drones. No bounty.
J was on my couch. Hana was making ramen.
*[NEW QUEST: SOURCE CLOSURE PROJECT]*
*[TEAM: REN, J, HANA, J2-J6, 5 GUILDS]*
*[DEADLINE: ???]*
My phone buzzed one last time.
*Unknown*: _Good job, kid. -Dad_
I froze.
"Who’s it from?" Hana asked.
"No one," I said. Deleted it.
But I knew who it was.
The first Admin. The one who made the System.
And he was watching.
*[ANOMALY METER: 41%]*
*[STATUS: ADMIN REN PARK]*
*[NEXT: FIND THE SOURCE]*
*[END OF CHAPTER 9]*
---
*WHAT JUST HAPPENED:*
1. *The Address*: Ren spoke to 2 million people. Changed the System publicly
2. *The Truth*: Source Gate is real. Monsters are real. But deletion wasn’t the answer
3. *New Deal*: 30 day trial. Players + System work together
4. *Team Formed*: Ren, J, Hana, 5 other Admins, and guilds
5. *Mystery*: "Dad" text. Who made the System?
*Chapter 10* = First mission to the Source. We meet the other 5 Admins and find out why "Dad" contacted Ren.
- Writer
