I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

After the small meat party at my place ended, I practiced with the talismans for a bit, then fell asleep.
"I'm heading out."
"Rrrrng."

With a send-off from my housemates, I left for work.
As soon as I arrived, the support team was moving busily.
Today, our Team 10 had been assigned a new rescue mission.

According to the concise briefing from former Team Leader Park Cheolwoo, a sudden monster phenomenon had occurred at a shopping complex, and there were still civilians trapped inside who hadn’t managed to evacuate.
Victims were still being reported even now, so we immediately geared up and headed to the scene.
But when we actually arrived, what we saw was very different from the usual monster incident.

There were no monsters in sight.
Instead, at the center of the plaza in front of the shopping building, a man stood unsteadily, gripping a sword-type item.
Around him, several police officers lay groaning, badly wounded. The man himself was on the verge of tears, screaming in panic.

"Please... someone, please stop me! My hand... my hand’s moving on its own!"
Despite his desperate cries, the sword in his hand was slashing wildly through the air like a living creature, threatening everything around him.
He’d probably overestimated himself and tried to use an item far beyond his control—triggering a berserk state.

An item going berserk like that could cause massive damage to its surroundings, so swift subjugation was critical.
"...The rest of us will move the wounded to safety. Bora, Minjun, please subdue that man."
"Understood."
While the others worked to evacuate the injured officers, I slowly drew my sword.

Maybe the berserk sword sensed the faint glow of the Return Sword in my hand.
The tip of his weapon twitched, almost as if it had a will of its own—then pointed directly at me. It was a clear provocation, like it wanted a fight.
I accepted the challenge.

I walked toward him—slowly, but without hesitation.
"Don’t come any closer! It’s dangerous! My sword... my hand’s moving on its own!"
The man was still sobbing as he shouted.
The moment I stepped into range, his sword lashed out at me with brutal force.

I swung my sword with full strength in return.
Whoosh!
CLANG—!
My Return Sword and his berserk weapon clashed head-on.

And in the very next instant, both swords shattered like glass, scattering shards across the ground.
The shards from the berserk sword in his hand fell powerlessly to the floor, and he collapsed to his knees, staring down at his now-empty hand in disbelief.
"H-How...? Even when it hit walls before, it didn’t break..."
"Looks like I didn’t ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) even need to step in."

Bora let out a dry laugh and slipped the talisman she’d been holding back into her clothes.
Mission complete.
I gave a slight shrug.

I tapped the hilt of the scabbard to resummon the Return Sword.
Now all that remained was to calm the man down and handle cleanup. Honestly, the mission ended much more tamely than expected.
Well, sometimes that’s how it should go.

Only after the berserk sword shattered did the man finally begin to settle down, gasping for air.
"...What just happened...?"
"...I, I..."
We waited a bit for him to catch his breath before gently asking what had happened.

He remained stunned for a long time, staring at the broken shards on the ground, before slowly opening his mouth.
"I... I wanted to work at a monster agency."
His voice was still trembling faintly.

"These days, it’s nearly impossible to get into one of the big monster corporations. But I heard that small private agencies will hire you if you can at least handle one item properly. So... I made up my mind and bought this sword through Jinmyeong Group."
With a shaking hand, he rubbed his arm.
There was a small streak of blood.

"I did exactly what the manual said... I drew the sword and let a bit of my blood drip onto the blade. Then suddenly, it got hot—like it was fusing with my arm—and just took control. It moved on its own, totally ignoring my will. I swear, I didn’t do anything!"
As I listened to his desperate explanation, what came to mind was one of those cursed magic swords you’d find in games or novels.
The kind that grants powerful abilities... but gradually takes over the user and spirals into madness.

At that moment, Hanbit, who had been quietly listening beside us, suddenly wore a dark, severe expression. He stepped forward and asked the man in a low voice:
"Are you absolutely certain this was purchased from Jinmyeong Group? Do you still have the manual? Could I see it?"
The man looked puzzled but still pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over to Hanbit.

Hanbit examined the sheet carefully, his eyes sharp. After a moment, he shook his head firmly.
"This isn’t a Jinmyeong Group user manual. The logo, the formatting—everything is a cheap imitation. Where did you get this?"
The man’s face paled.

"What? A fake? N-No way... I just typed ‘Jinmyeong Group’ into a search engine and bought it from the first site that popped up! You’re telling me that wasn’t the official store?"
The moment I heard that, I remembered the sub quest Hanbit had assigned me recently—
—the organization impersonating Jinmyeong Group and selling dangerous counterfeit items.

It seemed their influence had spread far deeper and wider than we’d thought.
"Exactly how did the transaction take place? Did you meet the seller in person?"
At Hanbit’s question, the man nodded.

"Yeah. Since it was a high-priced item, the seller suggested we meet in person. We met at a pre-arranged location, they gave me a live demonstration of the item’s abilities, and once I confirmed it, I handed over the payment."
So they used direct transactions. That might be the surest way to make contact with these people.
Right then and there, I made up my mind—to meet them directly through a transaction of my own.

I had to see for myself what kind of people would brazenly impersonate Jinmyeong Group and how they were able to distribute so many counterfeit items.
We returned to the office and accessed the suspicious website with Hanbit.
Just like the man said, typing “Jinmyeong Group” into a search engine brought up their fake site at the very top of the results.

"These bastards..."
Hanbit’s face twisted in disgust.
The site design was sloppy, but the number of listed items was overwhelming. From all types of offensive gear to defensive equipment—even rare auxiliary items.

As we scrolled through the listings together, Hanbit murmured:
"How... How could they have secured this many types of items?"
At his words, I suddenly remembered the casino monster incident from a while ago.

There, too, countless items had been sold through auction.
Maybe these guys were using some unknown monster phenomenon to acquire their stock in bulk.
First, I needed to establish contact.

From the list of items, I chose one that was relatively cheap and didn’t seem too dangerous—something that wouldn’t raise suspicion.
It was called [One-Stroke Brush]—a brush that supposedly let you write endlessly without needing ink. A simple, low-key function.
If I picked something too expensive or flashy, they might get suspicious. This felt just right.

"There we go..."
The transaction request went through quickly.
The next step was to choose a date and location to meet.

It gave me multiple options, and I selected the earliest one available—“tomorrow morning.”
Conveniently, tomorrow was my day off.
Before we parted, Hanbit repeatedly warned me to be careful.

I nodded, telling him it would be fine—but truthfully, I felt a twinge of nerves myself. I was about to meet with a shady organization selling illegal items.
***
The next morning, I headed to the meeting location they specified.

It was an old, secluded parking lot next to a supermarket—exactly the kind of place someone like them would choose.
I leaned against the wall at one corner of the lot and waited.
When the scheduled time arrived, a black van slowly rolled in from the entrance.

Its windows were heavily tinted; I couldn’t see inside.
The vehicle stopped in front of me. The passenger window slid down.
A rough-looking man inside scanned me and asked:

"You the buyer?"
His voice was thick with suspicion.
I nodded silently.

He jerked his chin toward the inside of the van.
"Hop in. We’ll show you the product in the car."
I hesitated for a moment, but there was no turning back now.

I opened the back door and climbed in.
That’s when I realized there were more people inside than I expected.
One in the driver’s seat, one in the passenger’s, and two more seated in the rear—now staring directly at me.

The cramped interior was thick with tension and pressure.
But strangely, I didn’t feel afraid.
Compared to that subway platform packed with monsters... this was nothing.

As soon as the door closed behind me, the guy in the passenger seat changed his tone—completely different now, openly sneering.
"Alright, customer. Before you get the item, there’s one thing we need to confirm."
He smiled slyly and continued.

"The price we agreed on—there’s now a handling fee. Add another 500,000 won. Simple, right?"
"No pay, no exit. Got it?"
It was basically a threat.
They were changing the terms before even showing me the item—demanding more money.

The mood in the car clearly implied that if I didn’t pay, things could turn ugly.
A normal person would probably have panicked, coughed up the extra money, or just sat frozen in fear.
But in that atmosphere—

—I let out a small laugh.
Every man in the van turned toward me.
Their faces twisted in confusion and irritation. They probably weren’t used to someone reacting like that to their threats.

I hadn’t meant to laugh out loud.
It was just... monsters were the ones begging me to leave, and now humans were trying to keep me trapped.
It felt kind of ironic.

"Boss, this guy’s laughing."
"...What?"
The men stared at me like I was some kind of freak.