Complicity in assassination, massive money laundering, extortion, blackmail, military espionage…
and on top of that, slave trafficking — both children and adults.
Those are the various crimes Varok is accused of…
—or rather, the crimes I am accused of having committed…
Damn it.
As a geek hacker, I've often read or played stories where the main character ends up inside the body of a so-called villain who, over time, turns out to have been nothing more than a victim…
Or a necessary evil.
Or a misunderstood hero.
In my case, none of that applies.
Not only is everything I'm accused of entirely true, but there are things they haven't even uncovered yet.
"Fuck… it's really different seeing it up close."
---
After walking for hours beyond the academy grounds, I paused for a moment to take in the view before me.
The Sleeping Forest.
The game described it as a dense woodland where mana and aura were disturbed. That was probably why it had never been developed—no one from the academy would ever want to live in a place like that.
But for someone like me, who had always been surrounded by technology, computers—modernity, in short—it felt like a breath of fresh air to stand in the middle of nature.
"As if that were really the case…" I let out a faint smirk.
In reality, I desperately wanted to escape this caveman-worthy world and see Charlie again—my faithful AI assistant.
Still, I'm a genuine antisocial to the core—so much so that I'd rather interact with animals a thousand times over than with humans.
Especially when those humans want me dead.
Ah…
With a hint of despair, I continued walking, venturing deeper into the forest. Even from afar, I could hear the sounds of animals echoing through the trees.
That's probably one of the traits of these long-eared dark elves.
I had been somewhat worried about the dangerous animals I might encounter in this forest, but that concern turned out to be unfounded.
From the moment I set foot inside the woods, I felt like a fish in water. All the pressure I had been carrying quite literally vanished.
It was like wearing clothes that actually fit.
Like… like slipping into another hacker's database.
Hmm… bad analogy?
With those lighthearted thoughts drifting through my mind, I continued walking.
.
.
.
"Ah, finally!" I dropped down onto the ground, panting from exhaustion.
I knew that at the rate things were going, I'd be forced to remain in this forest for at least two days, until I found a solution. Even though I had absolutely no wilderness survival skills, I knew that finding a source of water would make a real difference.
Hmm…
And there it was—a river. So at least I didn't have to worry about dying of thirst.
As for food…
"I'm almost certain they wouldn't even sell me food at that academy."
I had around 543 gold, and in the game, 1 gold was equivalent to 1,000 US dollars according to the developers—which means I'm currently in possession of 543,000 dollars.
New money, you could say.
And yet I couldn't even buy myself a snack with it, for the simple reason that I'm a piece of trash who continues to live nonchalantly after committing all those crimes—protected solely by his family's influence.
"Come to think of it, it really is messed up… the Continental Congress decided to grant every major leader on the continent a single-use, transferable immunity. And Varok's sister used that privilege on him."
It clearly exposes the weakness and corruption of high society in the eyes of the world.
That's why, in the game, not a single person ever used it.
"From the perspective of the powerful, it must be one hell of a vulnerability to find yourself in a situation you can't handle by your own strength—forcing you to rely on it."
Things must be tense on his sister's side right now.
Mentally apologizing for troubles I was innocent of, I began unpacking the contents of my suitcase.
"Let's see… hmm… a silver flask, a small black box, a ceremonial dagger, a watch…"
There was also a ring, a notebook, and of course the pouch containing the 543 gold.
"That's it? There aren't even any clothes? Did they rob him, or is this really all he owned at this academy?"
I thought I might find something useful in here—at the very least, some spare clothes.
But aside from the ceremonial dagger, there was nothing of real value. After yet another disappointment, I casually picked up the black notebook I had taken out of the suitcase.
Without any real thought or expectation, I simply opened it—as if I were meant to.
"…"
Even though I hadn't expected anything, with Varok, I could expect the worst… but this was a bit too much.
[ Debt of 120,000 gold to be repaid before the end of this year to the Black House ]
I quietly closed the notebook without reading further.
In a flat, emotionless voice, I said:
"He's 120,000 gold in debt… huh. So that makes me a wealthy debtor owing 120 million dollars."
One hundred twenty million dollars—while all the money I actually have amounts to five hundred thousand.
"Hehe…" A laugh slipped out.
"Haha… hahaha."
"Hahahaha… hahahaha… hahahaha!"
I burst into laughter so suddenly that I almost wondered whether I had gone insane.
.
.
.
"I've always believed that there's a reason behind everything—that every situation exists because something, somewhere, caused it."
"A war, for example, is born because someone, somewhere, wanted it… whether for personal gain or simple bloodlust."
So if I was summoned here, into a trash game I hacked in barely thirty minutes, inside a piece of garbage masquerading as a body, then it can only mean one thing:
Someone wanted it that way.
And if I follow that logic, it's easy to assume that this entity is hostile toward me—considering the timing and the body it chose for my reincarnation.
Connecting all these dots as I walked, I arrived at a conclusion.
"Someone wants me to play this game honestly. No hacks. And on extreme difficulty, no less."
"Hahahahaha!" I burst out laughing again, shivers running down my spine.
There was no sensation more exhilarating than finding myself in a situation where cheating seemed impossible.
"… I've seriously been underestimated."
I sat down directly on the forest floor, crossing my legs, then inhaled and exhaled slowly—calmly, steadily.
During my walk—no, from the very beginning—my thoughts had been focused on a single thing: coding.
A crazy idea had crossed my mind, but I had chosen to observe events first before attempting anything, because if it went wrong, I could very well die.
But now, knowing I was in debt to one of the darkest criminal organizations in the game, I could no longer afford to be cautious.
"Regardless of how real this universe may be, to me it's nothing more than a game I have to hack."
And the first step was to…
I grabbed the ceremonial dagger and, in one swift motion—without hesitation—drove it toward my chest, straight where my heart lay.
Splash.
Ugh—!! Ahhhh—
I pierced it.
Ughhh…
Something bluish, mixed with the red of my blood, seeped out from the crack the blade had carved into my chest—but I didn't have time to worry about that.
If I did nothing, in less than a minute I would simply die like an idiot.
██ DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED ██
01001110 01100101 01110111 00100000
01000101 01101110 01100101 01110010 01100111 01111001
01000011 01110010 01100101 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110
01010010 01100001 01110111 00100000
01000101 01110011 01110011 01100101 01101110 01100001
██ REWRITING CORE ██
Hahaha… either I hack it, or I die.
What an incredible feeling.