I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

The final objective of the new main quest:
[Shut down Dongto’s operating website, or recruit their hacker].
When I read that, one specific site came to mind.
I’d always felt there was something off about the anonymous forum called Monster Gallery.

And now, I was nearly certain that someone from Dongto was operating behind the scenes—pulling the strings.
The evidence was clear.
Whenever I searched for Dongto-related posts on Monster Gallery, the only ones left up were strangely positive. Anything with even the slightest hint of criticism would vanish almost immediately after being posted.

Meanwhile, it was the exact opposite for Baekho-related posts. The place was flooded with slander and insults, while even ordinary posts explaining Baekho’s positive aspects were all deleted.
“Knew it…”
Someone was clearly manipulating public opinion.

Packaging Dongto as some great company while painting their competitor Baekho as some kind of black company.
And at the center of it all… there had to be that hacker from Dongto.
My job now was to track that hacker down.

I sat down in front of my computer and opened Monster Gallery.
There were deleted posts only I could see.
Within them, there was a high chance I’d find either a clue pointing to the hacker’s identity—or at least traces of their activity.

“Come on, just give me one…”
I reloaded the list of deleted posts.
Gray-tinted post titles filled the screen from top to bottom.

This was where the real work began.
Determined to stay up all night, I started combing through every line—searching for a single post that had been deleted under suspicious circumstances or where the hacker might’ve forgotten to cover their tracks.
That night, I got my first real taste of the true abyss of Monster Gallery.
“…Kuaaaagh…!”

My mind reeled.
It was a mental assault even more intense than the choral singing.
There was definitely something non-human mixed into this forum. A monster, no doubt about it.

Otherwise, there was no way such twisted, horrific posts could exist.
[What the hell does Dongto think people are?]
[Let me out let me out LET ME OUT YOU FUCKERS AT DONGTO I’M BEGGING YOU]
[Sharing my story: ran away three days after getting hired at Dongto.]
Only I could see the contents of these deleted posts, and they were truly something else.

At first, it was the usual stuff—criticisms of Dongto and whistleblowing from insiders.
Signs of the hacker scrubbing posts quickly and efficiently, no doubt. But that was just the beginning.
As I scrolled further, I started to see raw, unfiltered human malice and grotesquery in all its forms.

[No mods around? Let’s go.]
[Only for you. Heehee.]
[Posting hot nurse monster body pics.]
[Honestly I think monsters have good bodies because they eat well, lol.]
Sexy images and borderline porn were the mild stuff.
What followed were photos of naked elderly people—too disgusting to believe—and even pictures showing the dismembered body parts of monsters.

But the worst… the worst were nude images featuring hideous-looking monsters as the subject.
I didn’t even want to know how those photos were obtained.
It was through the comment sections that I discovered a phrase I had never even imagined existed: “monster fetish.”

For multiple reasons, I began to deeply regret delving into these deleted posts.
“Forget recruiting the hacker—this site needs to be shut down...”
That thought crossed my mind more than once, but I shook my head.

Seeing all this again made it obvious:
There was no other place where information about this world was this easily accessible.
Everywhere else would delete your post just for typing the word monster.

So I endured the revulsion and kept scrolling—and eventually, I struck gold.
There it was: a rare, meaningful find.
The usually silent site admin—who never responded to any comment or request—had actually left a reply under one photo post. A post they clearly reacted to with unusual sensitivity.

[Admin: Why are you doing this to me?]
↳ [Anonymous: Delete this one too.]
A pleading message, straight from the admin.
I knew I had them.

Whatever was in that photo—it was enough to provoke a reaction from someone who had always acted like a stone wall.
But when I looked at the actual image…
It was just an ordinary photo of a café worker in a chain coffee shop uniform.

Completely normal.
A post with nothing special about it on the surface.
“…Is it them? Or maybe…”

Why had the admin—who never even blinked at grotesque, horrifying images—only reacted to this?
There had to be something personal between the admin and the person in that photo.
I was certain: this image was the first key to finding Dongto’s hacker.

Thinking there might be some clue within it, I saved the photo first.
Then I clicked the user ID of the person who posted it, going through all their posts and comments.
Even the ones they’d already deleted—I could see them all.

And that made it pretty easy to piece together their identity.
When I cross-referenced both deleted and undeleted posts, I was almost certain: this person was part of Dongto’s exploration team.
[If a monster escapes, will playing dead work?]
[Is ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ there no monster that manages monsters? I’m seriously worn out.]
[Guys, go apply at Dongto—they’re hiring new exploration team members.]

They often posted complaints about how hard it was to manage their assigned monsters, or begged for them not to escape.
And judging from the replies, they seemed to have a lot of pride in being part of the exploration team.
The way they talked down to other, lower-ranked teams suggested they were in one of the upper-level squads.

That was all the info I had for now.
Upper-rank exploration team member from Dongto.
And a strange photo of a barista in a franchise café uniform.

I stared hard at the photo I’d saved. Maybe because it was a generic coffee shop, it looked vaguely familiar—but I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d seen it.
“…Already this late…”
The sky outside had grown faintly bright.

I’d pulled an all-nighter without realizing it.
I caught a bit of sleep, then dragged my exhausted body to work.
…I ended up having a nightmare. Probably from peering into the abyss of that gallery.

***
Fortunately, there were no rescue missions or emergencies today, so we were given the morning for personal training and maintenance.
I took the opportunity to pull out the items I’d recovered from the abandoned supermarket and approached Hanbit.

“Hanbit, I’ve got a favor to ask. Can you appraise these items?”
I also pulled up the café photo on my phone to show him.
“And also… do you know where this café is? Looks kind of familiar, but I just can’t place it.”

“Hmm… As for the items—”
Hanbit took them and closed his eyes in concentration.
A faint energy shimmered over the objects in his hands. A moment later, he opened his eyes and began explaining them one by one.

“Okay, this small compass always points to the nearest exit, no matter what indoor space you’re in.”
Not bad—but since I already had a map, it wasn’t particularly useful to me.
“This wristwatch tells the exact current time, even if you’re in a distorted space or time zone, like during a monster event or abroad…”

That one might actually come in handy.
Time can slip away during monster events without you noticing.
“And this candy… it says here it makes you feel good.”

Feel-good candy?
Sounded incredibly sketchy—like some kind of drug.
Apparently, it literally erased negative emotions and made you feel better when eaten.

Honestly… that was something I could use.
If I ever felt overwhelmed by fear—
I nodded and returned the items to my inventory.
After finishing the appraisals, I showed Hanbit the mysterious café photo.

“Do you recognize this place?”
But Hanbit studied the image and shook his head.
Didn’t look familiar to him.

Just as disappointment was creeping in, Park Sunja happened to pass by, glanced at my phone screen—and suddenly reacted.
“Huh? This picture…”
She took my phone, zoomed in, and said with certainty:

“This place is a café right across from Dongto’s headquarters.”
A coffee shop in front of Dongto?
I asked if she recognized the barista in the photo, and she said she used to see him often while going back and forth during her time at Dongto.

Since I hardly ever drank coffee, I’d never had any reason to go there. I didn’t even know such a place existed right under Dongto’s nose.
They say the darkest place is right beneath the lamp.
At last—I had a solid lead on the hacker.

Then Park Sunja looked at me and asked curiously:
“But Minjun… why do you have this photo?”
Worried she might misunderstand, I scrambled to respond.

But since I couldn’t exactly go into detail about the quest…
“I—uh… it’s for reducing Dongto’s influence…”
I trailed off awkwardly.

Hanbit tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.
“If you’re trying to reduce Dongto’s influence, wouldn’t it be faster to just storm their HQ and smash everything?”
I was speechless.

It was a brute-force solution…
But honestly? Probably effective. No idea if the quest would count it, though.
Park Sunja chuckled softly.

“Poor Dongto. Of all people to get marked by…”
I made up my mind—I was going to that café.