Part 1
Friday. The most anticipated day for Rea. Why? Because her office was closed on Saturdays and Sundays. That's fun! Working as an assistant finance manager made her head feel like it was constantly overheating. Especially at the end of the month like this. Her computer screen was still glowing on her desk, showing rows of numbers in Excel that made her eyes go blurry every few minutes.
She glanced at the clock in the Finance Department. Four p.m. One more hour. Her gaze shifted to her boss's desk, where he was busy with his computer. Rea was sure that narrow-eyed Mr. Rudi was happily playing CardMaster. Working? Yeah right. Since when do managers actually work? They'd just throw the question back: "Why else do we have assistants?" Rea sighed loudly without realizing.
"What's wrong, Re? You look like you're thinking about something heavy," Mr. Rudi asked.
Rea snorted. "Yeah, Boss. Heavy! As heavy as my workload that's nowhere near as light as my paycheck," she snapped, annoyed. Mr. Rudi and the other staff just laughed.
"Well then, go home if you want."
"You're teasing me, aren't you? Like I'd dare leave the building during office hours and not come back. HR would slap me with a warning letter." More laughter.
"Is your work done?"
"Nope. Still half the report left to check."
"Oooh, finish it, okay? It needs to go to the GM by Monday."
"Omg, overtime. I better get paid for it!"
"Noooope. You're just slow," Mr. Rudi joked, even though he knew Rea worked really well.
"Hiks, stingy."
At eleven p.m., Rea finally arrived at her rented room. Tired, drained, and hungry. She collapsed onto her bed before even changing clothes. Her cheap foam mattress felt like the Sultan of Brunei's royal bed right now. Soft, plush, and ridiculously comfortable.
She stared blankly at the ceiling for about ten minutes. Then suddenly, her phone buzzed in her blazer pocket. She pulled it out and checked the notification.
"Waaks! My base got attacked! The curse of being a free-to-play player."
Yep, it was a notification from one of Rea's games. She'd always loved gaming. Her absurd little dream was to get isekai'd into her favorite game. Where life would feel easier and more fun. Like the game she was thinking about playing right now.
"Hm, this Dragon Realm game has such amazing design. If only I could get isekai'd there. I'd get to feast my eyes on hot NPCs every day. This one, Astralis Saga, is great too. Magical world, cool adventures. And this one … and this one too. Huuuuhuuu, I love them all! Which one should I play first?"
Her eyes suddenly caught the icon of a game with a pretty creepy image. Apocalypse. A game she was forced to play because of a money-making app that gave missions to play recommended games. She'd been playing it for a year, and all the missions were already done. She had planned to retire and uninstall it once the missions were complete, but somehow she got hooked by the players who were deep into this survival game.
Any game that involved gathering and competing would definitely have a global chat feature. A place for players to interact. That feature was rarely used positively—more often it was used for fights, insults, racism, and drama. That's just how gaming works. For Rea, that was the fun part. "I love drama and chaos! Hahaha!" That's why she kept playing a game with a theme she didn't even like.
Speaking of this game, of course there were groups for players to compete together. Every game had its own term—Clan, Club, Alliance, and so on. This game used "Clan." Naturally, she was part of a pretty big and strong Clan. Even so, she wasn't very active in chatting with the other Clan members, most of whom were male players. That made her even more reluctant to talk, worried the conversation wouldn't click. Especially after that sad incident—she was still a bit hurt. What kept her in the Clan was the leader, who was kind of different from typical players. Cocky, annoying, flirty with female players, but on the other hand, actually kind and reliable. His words were blunt, but what he said was usually true. Honestly, she admired his bold personality, even though other players called him "bar-bar."
But among all the players, there was one who was idolized by almost every Indonesian player. Including her. His drama was the most famous on the server. His story was kind of like an antihero from a popular manga. Accused of betrayal by his own Clan—the strongest Clan on the server. That Clan was full of spenders, players who didn't hesitate to throw money to boost their Hero's power.
Thinking about how easy it was for rich people to spend hundreds of millions on game stuff made Rea jealous. Forget games—she worked like a corporate slave just to afford food.
Suddenly, her stomach growled. "OMG! I forgot to eat! It's already this late!"
The girl got up, placed her phone on the nightstand, and fixed her waist-length black hair. Without changing clothes, she rushed to her favorite 24-hour food stall.
The narrow alley leading to the main road was quiet and dim, lit only by a single streetlamp standing alone. The sloped path was flanked by houses and boarding rooms. It was unusual for it to be this empty at this hour. At the security post at the end of the alley, there were usually some guys hanging out, playing Hero Legend together.
Rea pulled her blazer tighter, because for some reason the streetlamp started flickering, making the alley feel even creepier. "This is so weird," she muttered, trying to comfort herself in the silence.
With each step, her breathing grew heavier. Her vision started to blur as she neared the end of the alley. Her gut told her something was wrong. The main road ahead looked dark. It should've been brightly lit—there was a 24-hour Indomax store there. The store lights should've lit up the street.
Rea rubbed her eyes a few times. "Is this just because I haven't eaten?"
Ignoring the bad feeling, she kept walking, slightly staggering. Her head started to ache as a sharp ringing pierced her ears. She didn't notice the thin holographic sheet flickering in front of her—blinking between light and dark, distorting the real view, and then suddenly showing a strange dark room.
Something beyond logic happened when Rea passed through the hologram—crossing the boundary between the alley and the main road. Her whole body jolted like she'd been electrocuted. Just before everything went black, she saw a strange dim room with a hospital-style gurney. Her brow twitched as she felt something suddenly slip into her hand.
All she could think was how hungry she must be to lose consciousness like this. A second later, her vision went completely dark, and her body collapsed onto the cold floor.
[Bahasa Indonesia]
Part 1. Heroine
Hari Jum'at, adalah hari yang paling dinanti oleh Rea. Karena apa? Karena kantornya libur pada hari Sabtu dan Minggu. Itu menyenangkan! Bekerja sebagai asisten manajer keuangan membuat kepalanya terasa penat. Apalagi pas penghujung bulan seperti sekarang. Layar komputernya masih menyala di desk, menampilkan deretan angka di software Excel yang membuat matanya sering berkunang-kunang.
Dilirik jam ruangan Departemen Finance telah menunjukkan pukul empat sore. Masih sejam lagi. Tatapannya pun beralih menuju meja atasannya, yang sibuk berkutat dengan komputer. Rea yakin kalau Pak Rudi bermata sipit itu sedang asik bermain CardMaster. Memangnya tidak bekerja? Mana ada manager yang kerja? Nanti mereka malah balik bertanya, buat apa ada asisten? Tanpa sadar Rea mendesah keras.
"Kenapa, Re? Kayaknya lagi mikirin masalah berat nih," tegur Pak Rudi.
Rea mendengus. "Iya, Bos. Berat! Seberat kerjaan saya yang gak seringan amplop gaji," celetuknya bete yang hanya ditanggapi tawa cekikikan Pak Rudi dan staf lain.
"Ya udah, sana kalo mau pulang."
"Bapak ngeledek, ya? Mana berani saya turun gedung waktu jam kantor terus gak balik lagi. Bisa dikasih SP1 sama HRD." Lagi-lagi mereka tertawa.
"Kerjaan dah selesai belom?" tanya manager itu.
"Belumlah. Tinggal setengah lagi cek laporan kelar."
"Oooh, sampai selesai, ya. Senin dah harus naik ke GM."
"Astagaaaa, lembur doooong. Dapat lemburan ya, Pak!"
"Enggaaak doooong. Kan kamu yang kerjanya lelet," canda Pak Rudi walau sebenarnya tahu kalau Rea kerjanya sangat baik.
"Hiks, pelit."
Pukul sebelas malam akhirnya Rea sampai di kostnya. Lelah, penat dan lapar. Karenanya, tubuhnya langsung terbaring di ranjang sebelum mengganti pakaian. Kasur busa murahan terasa seperti ranjang sultan Brunei saat ini. Lembut, empuk dan luar biasa nyaman. Ada sekitar sepuluh menit ia hanya termangu, bengong menatap langit-langit. Lalu tetiba ponsel dalam saku blazernya bergetar. Dirogohnya benda tersebut lantas melihat notifikasi yang muncul.
"Waaks! Di attack dong sarang guee! Nasib jadi player gratisan."
Ya, itu adalah notifikasi dari salah satu game yang dimainkan Rea. Sejak dulu ia memang senang bermain game. Impian absurdnya saja adalah bisa isekai ke game favoritnya. Di mana hidup rasanya akan jadi lebih mudah dan menyenangkan di sana. Contohnya seperti game yang sedang dipertimbangkan untuk dimainkan sekarang.
"Hm, game Dragon Realm ini bagus banget desainnya. Coba bisa isekai ke sana. Bisa cuci mata tiap hari lihat NPC ganteng-ganteng. Nih, Astralis Saga juga bagus. Berpetualang di dunia ajaib. Terus ada juga game ini … yang ini juga. Huuuuhuuu, suka semua! Mau main yang mana dulu ya?"
Matanya tetiba mengerling pada icon game bergambar lumayan menyeramkan. Apocalypse. Game yang terpaksa ia mainkan karena ikut aplikasi penghasil uang yang memberi misi memainkan game yang direkomendasikan. Sudah setahun ia memainkannya, dan semua misi aplikasi itu sebenarnya juga sudah kelar dituntaskan. Tadinya ia berniat pensiun dan meng-uninstall game tersebut jika misi selesai, tetapi entah mengapa ia malah terpesona oleh para player yang berkutat dalam game survival tersebut.
Di game manapun yang jenisnya berkumpul dan berkompetisi, sudah pasti ada fitur chat global. Tempat para pemain berinteraksi. Fasilitas itu kadang kala tidak digunakan secara positif, malahan lebih sering dipakai untuk ribut, memaki, menghina, rasisme dan drama. Itu adalah hal yang biasa dalam dunia game. Bagi Rea justru disitulah menariknya. Gue suka drama dan keributan! Hahaha! Karena itulah Rea masih melanjutkan game bertemakan hal yang kurang disukainya.
Bicara soal game ini, tentunya ada yang namanya perkumpulan untuk para pemain agar bisa berkompetisi secara berkelompok. Setiap game menyebut kelompok dengan sebutan khasnya masing-masing. Ada yang menggunakan kata Clan, Klub, Aliansi, dan sebagainya. Untuk game ini kata Clan menjadi pilihan. Tentu saja ia tergabung dalam sebuah Clan yang cukup besar dan kuat. Meski begitu ia memang kurang aktif berinteraksi dengan sesama anggota Clan yang lain yang notabene kebanyakan player pria. Jelas-jelas itu makin membuatnya enggan mengobrol sebab dirasa pembicaraannya nanti takut tidak nyambung. Apalagi sejak kejadian insiden menyedihkan itu, ia agaknya sedikit sakit hati. Yang membuatnya bertahan di Clan tersebut adalah leader clannya yang agak beda dari tipikal player yang lain. Gayanya tengil, sok, menyebalkan, tukang modusin player cewek, tapi di satu sisi sebenarnya ia baik dan bisa diandalkan. Walau bicaranya ceplas-ceplos, tapi isi kalimatnya memang benar adanya begitu. Sebenarnya ia kagum pada sosok karakternya yang berani hingga dikatakan player lain sebagai orang yang berjiwa bar-bar.
Namun dari semua pemain, sebenarnya ada satu sosok player yang sangat diidolakan hampir semua pemain yang berasal dari Indonesia. Termasuk dirinya. Drama player ini yang paling terkenal seserver. Kisahnya hampir mirip karakter antihero dari manga populer. Dituduh pengkhianat oleh clannya sendiri yang merupakan clan terkuat di server. Clan itu beranggotakan para spender, pemain yang tidak segan menggelontorkan uang demi menaikkan power Hero miliknya. Memikirkan betapa mudahnya orang kaya membuang uang untuk membeli perintilan game hingga ratusan juta sungguh membuat Rea iri. Jangankan untuk game, buat makan saja ia sudah bekerja layaknya budak korporat.
Tetiba terdengar suara keroncongan dari perut Rea. "Astaga! Lupa makan! Udah jam segini aja sih!"
Gadis itu pun bangkit sambil meletakkan ponselnya di nakas lalu merapikan rambut hitamnya yang panjang sepinggang. Tanpa mengganti pakaian ia bergegas menuju warteg langganan yang buka 24 jam. Gang kecil menuju jalan besar tampak sepi dan remang, hanya diterangi sebuah lampu dari tiang listrik yang berdiri sendirian. Jalan landai ini diapit deretan rumah dan kost-kostan. Tak biasanya jam segini sudah tidak ada orang. Di pos ronda ujung gang biasanya masih ada beberapa anak muda yang berkumpul sambil mabar game Hero Legend.
Rea merapatkan blazernya sebab entah mengapa tetiba lampu tiang berkedip menambah keseraman jalan kecil ini. "Aneh banget gak sih?" gumamnya yang menghibur diri agar tidak terasa terlalu sunyi.
Semakin langkah bertambah, terasa kian berat napasnya. Terutama pandangannya yang jadi agak buram ketika melihat ujung gang yang sedikit lagi sampai. Firasatnya mengatakan bahwa ada sesuatu yang salah di sana. Jalan besar di ujung gang tampak gelap. Padahal seharusnya terang benderang sebab ada gerai Indomax yang buka seharian penuh. Sudah pasti lampu toko akan menerangi jalan. Rea mengusap mata beberapa kali. "Apa ini efek belum makan?"
Tanpa memedulikan firasat buruknya, ia terus melangkah maju agak terhuyung. Kepalanya sedikit sakit kala terdengar suara berdenging yang menyengat telinga. Tanpa disadari, kini tepat dihadapannya ada lembar tipis hologram yang sesekali berkedip antara gelap dan terang. Mengaburkan pemandangan asli dimana persekian detik kemudian berganti sebuah ruangan gelap yang aneh.
Hal di luar nalar pun terjadi ketika Rea menembus hologram tersebut, yaitu melewati batas antara ujung gang dan jalan besar. Seketika seluruh tubuhnya bergetar seperti tersengat listrik. Penglihatannya sebelum gelap memperlihatkan pemandangan yang janggal, sebuah ruangan remang di mana terdapat ranjang dorong khas milik rumah sakit. Alisnya sedikit berkedut merasakan sebuah benda yang tetiba terselip dalam genggamannya. Yang terpikirkan olehnya kala itu adalah betapa lapar dirinya sampai harus kehilangan kesadaran. Sedetik kemudian pandangannya gelap total, dan tubuhnya jatuh ke lantai yang dingin.