Mc POV
The office lights buzzed faintly above me, the kind of soulless hum that gnawed at your skull after hours of listening. Empty cubicles stretched in every direction like grave markers, glowing monitors serving as the only source of light in the sea of darkness.
It was well past midnight. The air conditioner wheezed like it wanted to die too.
I adjusted my glasses, rubbed the crust out of my eyes, and stared at the code that was giving me a migraine.
'Again. Another bug in the combat algorithm. Didn't I patch this three times already?'
The game—Boundless Realms.
My blood, sweat, and tears lived in its servers and yet, no one would ever know my name.
Players would cheer at the cool mechanics, the thrilling fights, the open world but me? I was just one of the faceless programmers under an equally faceless manager.
I cracked open the energy drink sitting on my desk.
Lukewarm, bitter and my fifth can for today.
My phone buzzed. A new message from the manager:
"Deadline tomorrow. No excuses. Fix it before the morning meeting."
I chuckled bitterly. "Of course. No excuses. Who needs sleep anyway?"
My fingers kept hammering the keyboard but I wasn't sure if the clicking echoed in the silence, or if it was just in my skull.
'Why am I doing this again? Oh, right. Rent. Groceries. Keeping myself alive in this hellhole of a city.'
The more I stared at the code, the blurrier it became.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, but the dizziness didn't go away.
I tried stretching my back—my chair groaned like it was protesting the abuse as much as I was.
Out of the corner of my eye, the office window reflected me.
Pale face, messy hair, dark circles deep enough to bury a body in.
I looked more like a ghost haunting the workplace than an employee.
I leaned forward, typing furiously, ignoring the pain in my wrists.
The line of code compiled successfully and another bug squashed.
I allowed myself a hollow laugh.
'Congratulations, Liam. Yet another invisible victory no one will clap for.'
My chest tightened. I coughed, thinking maybe it was from all the caffeine but then it tightened again—harder. My breath hitched.
"…Hah?"
The pain shot down my left arm. My vision blurred, flashing white spots like broken pixels.
My head felt heavy, heavier than the world.
"No… not now. Just… let me finish this line of code…"
I reached for the keyboard again, but my hand slipped. My body wouldn't listen as I toppled out of my chair, hitting the carpeted floor with a dull thud.
The cold office air felt distant now and my heartbeat was erratic, like corrupted data crashing a system.
'So this is it? I die here? Alone… in the office… because of some stupid deadline?'
I thought of all the things I didn't do.
The trips I never took. The family dinners I always skipped. The friends I stopped calling. The smiles I lost.
Everything faded. The buzzing lights grew dim. My body felt lighter, and for a fleeting second—free.
Then—darkness.
I opened my eyes to the creak of wood.
The stale office air was gone.
Instead, a warm, smoky scent lingered around me. I blinked several times, sitting up slowly.
My hands touched rough tatami mats instead of the hard office floor.
"Huh…?"
I looked around. A dimly lit hut. Wooden beams overhead. Shadows flickered from a lantern in the corner. The walls were lined with straw and bamboo.
And then, my eyes caught it.
In the corner, propped up neatly, was a black samurai armor.
Its lacquered plates gleamed faintly, menacing yet regal and beside it rested a sheathed katana and a finely crafted bow with a quiver of arrows.
My stomach dropped. My throat went dry.
'Wait. No way. This… this looks familiar.'
I staggered up, legs shaky. The armor's design. The placement of the weapons. Even the lantern's position. I knew this scene.
Because I wrote the damn code for it.
"This is…" My voice cracked. "This is from Boundless Realms."
I rubbed my temples, half-expecting to wake up back in the office but the sensation was too real.
The tatami mat scratched against my bare feet. The air was thick with incense smoke.
And then—BAM! The door to the hut slammed open.
A clan member burst in, panting heavily, clutching his knees. Sweat poured down his dirt-smudged face.
"Adrian! Adrian!" His eyes were wide with panic. "It's time—the duel! Your elder brother is waiting! The whole clan has gathered!"
My heart skipped.
'Adrian Black. That's… that's the NPC's name. A mid-level villain in the Blackfire Clan storyline and the guy doomed to be crushed by players in the future. The guy who never makes it past chapter three in the story line.'
I swallowed hard. My hands trembled.
"…What did you just call me?"
"Adrian!" The clan member grabbed my arm, urgently. "If you don't go now, your father will punish you. Everyone's waiting at the training grounds!"
The words echoed in my skull.
'So it's true. I'm not Liam anymore. I'm Adrian Black from the Blackfire Clan of the West.'
I staggered back, my eyes flicking to the armor and weapons again. The black lacquer glistened, as if mocking me.
'This scene… this is the cutscene where Adrian begins his downfall. His elder brother humiliates him in front of the clan. His fate as a disposable villain begins here.'
The clan member tugged harder. "Hurry, Adrian! You'll anger him!"
I clenched my jaw.
'So that's it. I died in the office, and now I'm stuck here, inside Boundless Realms. Not as a hero. Not even as a player. As a damn NPC villain.'
My fists tightened.
"But…" I muttered under my breath, a bitter grin spreading. "If this is my second chance, I'm not going to follow their script."
The villager blinked. "Huh?"
"Nothing." I forced a smile. "I'll be there soon."
As he ran out, I turned to the armor and katana again.
The fire in my chest burned hotter.
'Adrian Black. Mid-level villain. Doomed to fall. No… not this time. If the gods themselves try to stop me, I'll tear the script apart.'
I stared at the armor for a long moment. The weight of my situation pressed down harder than any deadline ever had.
'So, the duel happened in the original story… I lost badly. My brother crushes me, and I'm tossed outside the clan like garbage. I travel and gain power and take revenge against my brother but that's the moment players see me as just another stepping stone.'
I exhaled slowly.
'But not this time.'
My reflection in the polished armor plates stared back at me. A stranger's face, Adrian's face. Dark eyes, sharper features than mine, hair tied back in a warrior's knot.
'I look nothing like Liam anymore. But maybe that's fine. Liam died in the office. Adrian lives here now.'
I pulled the armor toward me. The lacquered plates were heavy, cold against my hands. As I strapped them piece by piece, I couldn't help but feel the irony.
'Wearing the skin of a villain. Am I really Adrian Black now? Or still Liam?'
The helmet felt suffocating. Like it wasn't armor—it was a cage.
I pushed the thought aside and grabbed a leather satchel. Carefully, I packed supplies: dried rations, a water flask, and bandages.
Then I slid in a small pouch of gold coins that had been tucked under the mat.
The katana's sheath was smooth against my palm as I lifted it. The weight was different from any controller or keyboard. It was real. Dangerous. Alive.
I tied the blade to my hip, adjusted the bow and quiver on my back, and stood tall.
The muffled sound of drums echoed from outside—the signal that the duel was about to begin and my chest tightened.
'My brother. The clan's golden child. Born of the main wife, destined to be clan head. And me? Just the son of a concubine. A stain for the golden child. That's why he challenged me. To crush me publicly, so no one questions his future.'
My hands clenched into fists.
'Well, if he thinks I'll roll over and play my part, he's wrong. I've played this game before. I know the script and I'll tear it apart, piece by piece and make my own path.'
I pushed open the door. Cool night air hit my face.
Lanterns flickered outside, and the distant roar of voices carried from the training grounds.
Step by step, I walked forward. Each footfall heavier than the last, each breath sharper.
I wasn't walking to my death.
I was walking to rewrite fate.
The End