Chapter 4: The Turning Point (3)

He had achieved the impossible.

The moment he had dreamed of since the very first day he started playing the game had finally arrived.

Yet—

contrary to his expectations—

he didn’t scream.

He didn’t explode with joy.

Instead, what washed over him was a tangled mix of emotions best described as…

emptiness.

A deep.

Endless emptiness.

“Did I really… finish it?”

He couldn’t bring himself to believe it.

After spending tens of thousands of hours immersed in its world, Ethan had thought it would never end.

But every beginning has an end.

And the failure who had never accomplished anything in life—

had achieved what hundreds of millions could not.

“I did it…”

Ethan sat there, numb—still trying to process it all.

Unlike his viewers, who had gone completely insane.

Viewers he had forgotten for a moment—

before finally remembering them and glancing at the chat.

Viewers: 10,900

For a moment, Ethan was stunned by the number.

And it kept climbing.

Meanwhile, the familiar group that had stayed with him all this time was there—as always.

VenusPanties:

You did it! I can’t believe it! You actually did it!! You finished the game!!!

MrTrashKim:

Congratulations!! You achieved what no one before you ever did! You’re the GOAT!! There is no better player in this world!!

BlackRose:

I can’t believe this moment finally came… I’m about to cry. Congratulations.

SquareDick:

Hurry, guys— Share the stream everywhere! The whole world needs to know!

Post the link everywhere—now!

…

Congratulations poured in nonstop.

More and more spectators flooded the stream .. unable to believe that someone had truly finished Ordeal.

Thousands invaded the broadcast—

and Ethan found himself unable to say a single word.

The praise was overwhelming.

Yet it arrived silently—

in the form of words.

Among the thousands of messages, Ethan’s eyes followed only a handful—

lines written by a small group of loyal viewers, their usernames glowing in a different color.

Four years. Three months.

That was how long it had taken Ethan to finish the game.

And throughout all that time ..

they had stayed with him, supporting him until the very end.

They were the true companions who had walked this journey beside him.

A journey that had finally reached its end.

“Thank you… all of you.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you for walking this path with me—

for staying with me until the end.

I did it, guys.

I conquered Ordeal.”

With a gentle smile, Ethan thanked his viewers ..

sincerely.

There was no exaggerated reaction.

No flashy celebration.

Just honest words ..

from a man they had spent countless hours watching.

The number of viewers in the stream rose at an alarming rate, and major pages had already begun talking about what had happened.

At some point, Ethan could no longer keep up with the speed or volume of the messages.

So he gave up—

and let his eyes rest on the game screen.

[NIGHTMARE SLAIN]

He had defeated the Night Lord after an epic battle that lasted a full hour.

Ethan felt genuinely satisfied with what he had achieved.

Yet somewhere deep inside him, there was a faint trace of regret.

Because even though he had won ..

every character who had accompanied him throughout the game had died in the end.

“I suppose everything has a price… doesn’t it?”

That was the price of his great victory.

After staring at the screen for a long while, Ethan eventually shifted his attention back to the chat window.

The viewers were extremely active, and some of them had begun urging Ethan to try and claim the reward.

“Haha… I don’t think the reward is real, guys. The developer disappeared a long time ago.”

Ishizaki had vanished the moment he released his cursed game.

There was no hope of ever finding him.

And thankfully, the game itself hadn’t been shut down or erased completely.

“Still… getting all that money would be pretty amazing.”

Money was tempting—but Ethan had invested all those hours for the achievement itself.

Even so, he couldn’t help but wonder where Ishizaki had gone…

and how he had even managed to create a mad game like Ordeal.

A living game ..

one that had made Ethan feel like he truly belonged.

So while the viewers speculated wildly and sent messages nonstop,

Ethan focused instead on the game’s final scene, quietly savoring the moment.

A profound sense of satisfaction filled him—born from completing the game—

mixed with a strange feeling of accomplishment he had long been deprived of,

and a faint emptiness now that everything was over.

Then…

at that exact moment ..

a notification struck out of nowhere, freezing Ethan and thousands of viewers in place.

On the main game screen, a message appeared .. written in golden letters.

A message whose content made everyone’s minds grind to a halt for a brief second.

— Hello, MOON YOU. I am the game’s developer, Ishizaki.

That single, simple line caused the chat room to explode harder than ever before.

VenusPanties:

No way!!! Is this real!?

MrTrashKim:

WTF?!

BlackRose:

Is that really the developer?

SquareDick:

Maybe Moon’s system got hacked…

…

Ethan was genuinely shocked by the developer’s sudden notification.

He had never expected something like this.

And how could he?

The man who had disappeared for years had suddenly reappeared ..

sending him an exclusive message through the game interface itself.

No matter how he looked at it, Ethan became convinced that the person on the other side of that message was truly Ishizaki.

And that he had chosen to finally break his silence—

after someone had completed his game four years after its release.

— I want to thank you. Honestly… I had given up some time ago. I never believed anyone would actually do it.

The developer’s messages continued to flow as everyone read along with Ethan.

— But you did. And I can’t begin to tell you how happy that makes me. Truly… thank you.

“Ah… um… there’s no need to thank me…”

Ethan replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

He didn’t even know whether Ishizaki was watching the stream at all, since his messages were coming through the game interface.

But the developer’s next response erased all doubt.

— No. I should be thanking you. You proved that the impossible can become possible for those who refuse to give up. I am truly grateful.

“Hahaha… you’re embarrassing me.”

Whether this was really the developer or not, Ethan found the whole thing incredible.

He had never imagined that someone would feel this grateful to him ..

just for finishing a game.

But the next line from Ishizaki made him tense up even more.

— Your victory gave me hope… that we still have a chance to survive.

“A chance…? What are you talking about?”

Ethan tried to grasp the meaning behind those words.

He remembered how the developer’s studio had taken a devastating hit after Ordeal—

to the point where its shares had plummeted dramatically.

’Is he trying to use me as a gateway to rise again?’

After all, players had long accused Ishizaki of creating an unfair, impossible game.

But Ethan had proven them wrong.

Meanwhile, the viewers were practically exploding ..

desperately urging Ethan to talk about the reward Ishizaki had promised in the past.

He had clearly stated that he would give all of his shares to whoever finished the game.

After Ordeal, those shares had lost much of their value—

but they were still more than enough for Ethan to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

Ethan himself had already intended to bring it up the moment the developer appeared.

So it didn’t take long before he spoke.

“Um… Ishizaki-san,” Ethan said with a half-smile,

“I think it’s time we talked about the reward, don’t you?”

The viewers let out a collective sigh of relief.

The developer replied almost immediately.

— Yes. You have proven your worth and your capabilities. You deserve this opportunity without question. Come—and show the entire world that you are the strongest player.

“An opportunity…? What are you talking about?” Ethan replied, confused.

He had so many questions.

So many things he wanted to discuss with the game’s developer.

Questions about Ordeal ..

about its strange secrets.

But suddenly ..

the world began to spin.

“Huh…?”

Unable to see clearly, Ethan staggered, clutching his head.

“Is this dizziness from playing for too long? Come to think of it… I haven’t eaten or drunk anything in a while… haha…”

He laughed foolishly as he tried to steady himself.

But the dizziness worsened ..

turning into a full collapse as his breathing grew heavier.

His alarming appearance sparked fear among the viewers.

Yet in that state, Ethan could no longer read the messages flooding the chat.

The glow of the screens became unbearably bright.

The collapse intensified.

“Could it be… the illness? Really… now of all times?”

Slipping from his chair, Ethan fell to the floor as his consciousness began to drift away.

His eyes remained fixed on the screen—

barely able to make out what was displayed.

Gasping for air, he laughed at himself.

“It’s fine… if anything happens to me, the viewers will definitely call emergency services… I’ll probably wake up later in a hospital.”

Little by little, darkness crept in ..

stealing Ethan’s vision as he continued speaking incoherently.

“I need to stop playing for so many hours… I’m not young anymore… the illness could kill me at any moment.”

“I need to be careful… take better care of myself.”

“I finished Ordeal… my life will get so much better from now on.”

“I did it… I won.”

“I… proved it… to all of them…”

Slowly ..

Ethan’s consciousness faded away.

The world around him darkened completely.

A suffocating silence swallowed the room.

The dark chamber from which he had streamed his games for years returned to its familiar stillness.

As always, the gaming screen remained the only source of light.

And on that thin, glowing screen ..

one final message appeared.

Written as a farewell from the developer.

— Thank you, Ethan.

And welcome… to Ordeal.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep