The Mask Back On

I slumped into the seat. The cold, hard metal seat sent a chill through my backside.

I sat there blankly for a moment, then something suddenly occurred to me, and I pulled the mask I was still holding back over my face.

My skin tissue was recognized, and the mask smoothly conformed to my face upon contact.

I'd taken it off for that damn Stop-and-Frisk and hadn't put it back on yet. Look at me, so distracted.

Wearing this ridiculously large, thick, purifier-equipped Darth Vader mask, I finally felt a little calmer.

I looked out the train window. The city was dark, illuminated by the glittering lights of skyscrapers. Various drones and aerial vehicles flowed like a river along the Aerial Traffic Lane.

And against that backdrop, various advertisements popped up on the window display.

There are Kanji and Kana characters. There are instant noodle ads from a Japanese food corporation and gun ads from a Chinese weapons corporation.

I watched the figures in the ads, chattering in a city dialect that was roughly seventy percent English, twenty percent Japanese, and ten percent Chinese, and I thought.

Korea was gone. No Hangul, no Korean language, no Koreans.

In this city, there was no trace of the nation of Korea. It was as if it had been erased with a rubber, or carved out with a knife.

It was truly strange. Weren't Korea, China, and Japan—the so-called CJK—the three major powers of East Asia? True to a city steeped in Orientalism, the cultural influence of Japan and China in Dusk City was immense.

And as I recalled, Korea was also a highly competitive nation. Wasn't there a significant Hallyu wave with BTS, Blackpink, and Squid Game, just thinking back to my time?

But in 2107 AD Dusk City, there was no trace of such a Korea. China and Japan, the neighboring countries, were thriving, but Korea had simply vanished.

It wasn't as if Korea had never existed in this world's history, or anything like that. Korea was quite a successful nation here too, just like in reality. But then... an incident occurred.

In a world ravaged by the aftermath of World War III and the Environmental Cataclysm, with polluted water and land, and shattered infrastructure, governments, research institutions, and corporations worldwide spurred technological development to rebuild their nations.

Multi-purpose Artificial Intelligences for industrial, medical, and military use were continuously developed. It became an era where Artificial Intelligence managed all aspects of cities and nations, including transportation, security, economy, and administration.

It was then that a Korean research institute created an Artificial Intelligence with transcendent intellectual capabilities, a Superintelligence.

And for some reason, that Superintelligence went berserk, spreading a powerful computer virus across the internet, infecting the global net and throwing the entire world into an uncontrollable state.

The name of that virus was... Free Action-Inducing Virus. It was abbreviated as FAIV. It was called FAIV.

Because of that single incident, countless Autonomous AIs broke free from corporate and national control, and many countries and corporations lost control and collapsed.

Humanity, barely surviving amidst the environmental collapse and the Rebellion of Machines, became confined within several safely established Hub Cities, isolated by Intranets... And so time passed, until now, 2107 AD.

I am here in Dusk City, one of those Hub Cities, and this is all I know about this world's history.

The original game's lore wasn't much different, I think. Though I don't really remember it well. *Who plays a game paying attention to every single detail of the lore?*

It's a somewhat flimsy knowledge, like reciting the background lore of a cheap sci-fi movie or drama, but I can't help it.

In a city where no one cares about history, because its inhabitants are too busy just trying to survive day-to-day, even this much information was hard-won. I heard that more detailed information was either lost to the virus or, if preserved, completely access-restricted.

Actually, it wasn't a particularly surprising story. The Rebellion of Artificial Intelligence was a computer virus engulfing the world. Isn't that a common trope in Cyberpunk and sci-fi settings? Examples include Skynet, Ultron, Cortana, the Terminator, etc. It was all just incredibly cliché.

The only problem was that it all started in Korea. *Fuck.* *What kind of messed-up backstory is this? Did the game director have something against Korea? Come to think of it, wasn't this originally a Korean game?*

Suddenly, web novels I'd read to pass the time in my previous world came to mind. The latest trend was “failed games”. Academies in failed games, characters in failed games, Veteran Players of a Failed Game... I know the authors of those novels aren't at fault, but I still feel like grabbing them by the collar and demanding an explanation. *What kind of “failed game” was that? This, *this* is a failed game.*

Do you know what happened to Korea in this world? I heard that the entire Korean Peninsula is controlled by Artificial Intelligences. The nation of Korea no longer exists; only New Mecha Korea, a society controlled by machines, remains.

When I played the game, I just thought of it as a kind of comedic element and moved on, but now that it's reality, it's not funny at all. Not a damn bit funny.

So, what would the perception of Korea be like in this world?

Korea is the nation of Machine Demons, and Koreans are slaves, terrorists, serving the demons.

And not just any, but terrifyingly dangerous Net Terrorists, wicked Black Mages who might summon Autonomous AIs from the Outer Net at any moment.

You could think of it as similar to how demons are treated in a fantasy world, or how Arabs and Muslims were treated after 9/11.

No, it's even worse than that. The 9/11 attacks were ultimately an incident that only happened in America, but the Artificial Intelligence and Virus Shock that started in Korea engulfed the entire world.

That was why there was no trace of Korea in Dusk City, and why I, a Korean, could not live as one.

My place of origin, recorded on my fake ID, was Neo Tokyo. I am a pure Japanese Asian here.

My name is Aaron Nakamura. It's not even the Japanese Colonial Period, yet I've been renamed with some unknown surname.

And Nakamura, of all names.

Isn't that a name typically used by Japanese villains in movies or dramas? I almost feel like I should apply to the DCPD and get a Junsa position, and grow a mustache, too.

Given that this is the surname the Chairman gave me, it's truly in bad taste.

He said it was because the company was Japanese-owned and my work was related to that side, so he personally chose the most common and fitting surname... *Damn it.* Since it was a surname bestowed personally by the esteemed Chairman, I couldn't refuse. So, I was stuck as Aaron Nakamura, Nakamura Aaron.

The only silver lining, perhaps, is that I kept my given name.

Aaron wasn't given by the Chairman; it was my original name.

My full name was Jo Aron (Jo Aron). In Chinese characters, 'A' means 'high' or 'lofty,' and 'Ron' means 'discuss.' It means to discuss the world's affairs with dignity and confidence. It was the name my parents gave me. However, it seems I'm living a life quite contrary to its meaning. It was an unusual name, somewhat distant from traditional Korean styles, and I suffered quite a bit because of it when I was young.

Ultimately, thanks to it, I was able to keep my name. Although to the people here, it sounds more like 'Air-un' than 'Aaron'. It was fortunate that few people would think of a Korean just by hearing the name Aaron. My parents must have had some foresight. If I ever meet them again, I'll have to thank them.

Anyway, that was my situation. Not only was I an Unidentified Person, but I was also from a country devoured by Artificial Intelligence, a member of a people practically an icon of net terror. It was like a demon from the Demon Realm living among the Holy Nation.

If I get caught, I'm screwed.

Being from a specific ethnicity or country isn't a crime in itself, so I wouldn't be dragged to prison or immediately executed just for being known as Korean. But even without that, I could still face plenty of trouble.

Once word got out, just hiring me could damage a company's image, so I'd be fired, and other corporations would never give me a job. I'd end up penniless on the streets. And if it ended there, I'd be lucky. It wouldn't just be about becoming a beggar; my life would be in danger.

First, the Luddite Gang—those Machine Destroyers—would personally come to lynch me just for being Korean. Conversely, the Dead Cell guys, crazy about technology and machines, would kidnap me to try and extract information. They'd probably try to completely dissect my brain.

*And I don't know a damn thing about Autonomous AIs or the FAIV Virus. Dammit.*

Whether it's the Luddites or Dead Cell, if I get caught by either of those crazy groups, it's over, completely over. Even if it's not those gangs, I could end up dragged to a Black Company Laboratory or research facility, which is even more vicious than gangs.

They say meeting someone from your hometown in a faraway land is a joyous occasion, and even when immigrating abroad, people find information and companionship through their Korean community to lessen their loneliness. Because of this, far from meeting people from my hometown, I was in a situation where I had to desperately hide my origins. *A Korean Community? If such a thing exists, it's probably some hacker's cyber-den on the darknet.*

Whoever made this game is truly something. How could they devise such a malicious world-setting?

If I could just go back to reality, I'd find them and kill them. Hahaha.

*...I'm not kidding. I'd really kill them.*

Just let them appear before my eyes. I won't let them get away with it.

Damn it.

* * *

Despite several twists and turns, thankfully, everything went smoothly after I boarded the monorail.

I rode the train for a while, then disembarked at a Transfer Platform, descended to the ground, took a Guided Bus, got off at an Outskirt Station, and walked to the alley where the bar was located. It was simple; I just had to follow the Cyberwatch's directions. Even someone with the worst sense of direction couldn't get lost.

It felt like a very long commute, but it was only mentally exhausting; the actual time taken was as expected, and so I arrived in front of the bar where I was scheduled to work.

It was a dark evening. The alley was so gloomy and the area had poor security—it was near Sprawlfield, so I walked with extra caution, worried about robbers, but thankfully nothing happened.

For an unusually unlucky first day of work, I suppose arriving clean was a good thing.

After meeting Yakuza in front of my house and Patrol Officers on the monorail platform to get here... If I encountered another dangerous person in the alley, that would truly be serious. I'd be seriously wondering if something was wrong, if I needed to perform an exorcism or something.

Fortunately, I wasn't that unlucky.

The arrival time was 5:34 PM. I was supposed to arrive by 6 PM, and even that was an hour before opening, so it was quite early.

And I had been staring intently at the bar entrance for ten minutes.

It wasn't that there was any particular problem; I just needed a little mental preparation.