Player of the Ruined World – Episode 001
“That’s it!”
A roguelike zombie game ambitiously developed by the game company BattleSteam.
No Way Home.
After a grueling struggle, I finally cleared the final episode—after a full two years.
Among countless roguelike zombie games, its reputation as a masterpiece wasn’t exaggerated.
It was like a hybrid combining the brutal realism of L4D and the harshness of Project Zomboid.
To put it nicely, it had high freedom.
To put it bluntly—it was insanely unforgiving.
Because of that freedom, there were naturally many endings, and I had witnessed countless despair endings.
Several times while playing, I felt like deleting the game, but who am I?
Once I start something, I have to see it through to the end.
“I guess I just can’t beat Baek Doyoon.”
And finally, today—
I saw the true ending of No Way Home.
Leaning back comfortably in my chair, I watched the ending scene.
With this, I had cleared all three games released by BattleSteam.
Most games took about a year to finish, but No Way Home took unusually long.
Even Koreans—who are known for mastering game strategies—gave up after hundreds, thousands of failed attempts.
And yet, I—Baek Doyoon—did it.
I recorded a commemorative clear video and immediately uploaded a post on Yanben.
– No Way Home True Ending (proof).
With a short title, I uploaded a screenshot of the ending scene.
Comments flooded in instantly.
- What the hell? This is the No Home ending?
- For real?
- Wow lol this guy’s insane lol
- You actually finished it?
- Isn’t this the first clear?
└ Seems like it? The colors look different from the despair ending. - Even western hardcore players gave up on that game…
- Perverts are always right.
- The game was well-made though. Since you beat it, go have a drink!
- The difficulty is insane, but the game itself got good reviews
I smiled with satisfaction, reading comments that were half praise, half insults.
Refreshing the page felt good.
- LOL look at the poster’s nickname
- Baekdo? Is he famous?
- Isn’t this that guy? The one who picks a game and beats it no matter what?
- Yep, that’s him
- No uploads for a while, and now he cleared No Home too?
BattleSteam had appeared like a comet among mass-produced games.
At launch, they released three games at once.
Each had its own charm, and players praised everything—from graphics and character design to movement, story, and worldbuilding.
Even for me, someone who considers himself a game reviewer, it was a refreshing shock.
Still smiling, I typed a comment:
- Everyone, watch the ending and have a good night.
└ Oh, the OP showed up
└ What’s your next game?
└ Baekdo, please show the dependent character ending too
└ What’s that?
└ You don’t know that zombie game character?
└ Never heard of it lol
I chuckled while reading, when one comment caught my attention.
- Does everyone see the timer at the bottom of the screen?
└ I think so? I see it too
└ Isn’t it episode playtime?
└ No, it shows even on the ending screen
└ Then why is it counting down? lol
└ The one that says 5 hours left? Mine’s the same
└ Yours too? lol
└ I’m playing another BattleSteam game and it shows 5 hours too
└ Which one?
└ Gigant Punisher
└ LOL newbie, back in my day it was 5 years
└ 5 years? What is that?
└ No idea
Right—the small number displayed at the bottom of the screen.
It kept counting down.
What was it showing?
I had wondered while playing, but it had nothing to do with No Way Home.
Strangely, the same number appeared in other BattleSteam games too.
Since it had no relevance, I eventually ignored it.
Maybe it was a countdown to a new release?
“Well, it says 5 hours left. I’ll find out after I wake up.”
“Ugh, I’m tired.”
Stretching, I closed Yanben.
At the end of the No Way Home ending video, the creator’s name appeared:
[BJ Gaia]
Seeing the name, I unconsciously smiled.
“BJ Gaia?”
Wasn’t that the creator of the other games too?
All three BattleSteam games were credited to BJ Gaia.
“Did one person really make all of these?”
“That’s impressive.”
Such perfect quality—from a solo developer?
Now I understood why no new games had been released.
The three games had come out five years ago.
They must have poured their life into them.
To create three games of that quality alone…
They must be resting in a hospital by now—
[Baek Doyoon has cleared all games prepared by BattleSteam!]
Huh?
As the ending finished, a message appeared on the monitor.
[Thank you for loving BattleSteam.]
Was this a real-time message based on my account?
Or an automatic message for clearing all three games?
[The fourth game being prepared by BattleSteam is ‘Another World’.]
[We hope you successfully clear it as well.]
A new game?
So the timer was a teaser!
If it were before, I would’ve immediately searched for it.
But now, I’m a 28-year-old office worker.
I don’t have the same stamina anymore.
“I’ll check tomorrow.”
It was 2 AM.
Time to sleep.
A normal life—working and gaming after hours.
I liked this routine.
* * *
Beep—!! Beep—!!
“…What is it?”
A loud emergency alert.
Still half-asleep, I grabbed my phone.
[Tutorial completed.]
[BattleSteam’s fourth game, ‘Another World’, release date confirmed!]
[Time remaining: 3 years.]
[Open beta for previous games begins.]
“…What?”
Was I dreaming?
It was 6:55 AM.
I had to get ready for work.
“Why is this on my phone?”
BattleSteam had never sent messages like this.
And as a disaster alert?
That made no sense.
Still groggy, I opened the window.
A cool early autumn breeze blew in—
Flash!
A blinding light covered the sky.
[Open beta begins at 7:00 AM.]
[Three games available. Choose one and clear it!]
[Clear it to earn citizenship in ‘Another World’!]
[Failure will result in this world losing its value.]
[Do your best for the new world!]
“…This isn’t just me seeing this, right?”
Another alert rang.
[The earlier message is not related to the government…]
Fireworks exploded in the sky.
More messages appeared.
[Open beta begins now!]
[Game explanations:]
[Last Odyssey: Action adventure in a martial world!]
[Gigant Punisher: Fight giant enemies to save humanity!]
[No Way Home: A zombie world. Become a mutant and find the cure!]
“…This isn’t a dream.”
It was real.
[Gaia System selects suitable game by country.]
“Gaia…?”
That name again.
BJ Gaia.
[Korean Peninsula players’ first game selected.]
“What?!”
[You will now play No Way Home.]
“…A zombie game?!”
[Background update starting… Progress: 5%…]
“Wait! Let us choose!”
No response.
The percentage climbed rapidly.
So I prepared.
Food. Water. Tape. Protective layers.
Gloves. Armor.
A bat.
“…If it’s like the game, I’ll need to run immediately.”
No signal.
[Progress: 100%]
[Update complete.]
[Starting ‘No Way Home’.]
The ground shook violently.
Everything went black.
Pain. Noise. Darkness.
And then—
Nothing.
* * *
When I woke up—
Rain poured down.
I lay on cold asphalt.
People were scattered everywhere.
Hundreds.
Maybe thousands.
[‘No Way Home’ background update for Korea complete.]
