If you asked me about life, I'd tell you it's far from fair. We spend most of it working, and by the time we're old enough to enjoy the freedom we've earned, we don't have the energy left to do anything. And society? That's exhausting in its own way. Pretending that certain people or situations are pleasant just drains the life out of you. Maybe that's why I withdrew from it all and immersed myself in games. In those worlds, I could live different lives—lives that felt so much better than my own.
I started out with FPS games, but they quickly wore me out. I was never any good at them, and they required way too much communication with other people. That's not what I wanted. It's bad enough I have to talk to people all day at work—why would I want to do it in my free time, too? No thanks.
For a while, I shifted to triple-A games. I'd buy them the moment they were released and play for nights on end. Sure, they were expensive, and I needed a top-of-the-line computer, but luckily, my job pays well—well enough that I have a computer that's more expensive than a car. And I don't even own a car... Maybe I should start saving for one? But anyway, back to the games. As stunning as they looked, I could never seem to finish any of them. I'd always lose interest halfway through.
That's when I discovered something far more interesting: visual novel games.
I've always liked watching anime and reading light novels when I was younger, so why hadn't I thought of this sooner? I fell in love with them. They were so simple, but I'd always finish them, in every possible route. When I ran out of titles to play, I even started trying out some otome games. I'm a straight guy, but there was something oddly satisfying about seeing my protagonist end up in a harem, with all the heroes happy and content.
Happy endings... yes, those were the ones I craved the most. It wasn't necessarily about the harem—but the feeling of everyone reaching their happiness in the end… After all the trials they'd gone through, didn't they deserve that? Even the villains, if there was a route for them to be redeemed and find their happiness, I'd always take that one. Their world was so much brighter than mine, so why wouldn't they deserve to be happy?
Maybe I should've seen a psychologist. But well, it's too late now...
After a few months into my immersion in the world of visual novels, dating sims, and otome games, something happened that would change everything. One of the biggest companies in the genre from Japan announced its most ambitious release yet—a visual novel that promised to revolutionize the entire industry. The game's title was The Kingdom Keepers, and it came with bold claims: thousands of routes, thousands of endings, and five incredibly charismatic heroines. With a price tag even higher than the most expensive triple-A games, the company had to deliver something spectacular; otherwise, it would be a complete failure.
When the game finally launched, I bought it immediately. And to my surprise… they delivered everything they had promised.
It was a masterpiece. In the shortest of the game's routes, you'd face up to 10,000 dialogue choices, each offering six different responses. Do you realize how incredible that is? If each conversation took around three minutes, the shortest route alone would take 500 hours to complete—about 21 days of playtime! And that was just one of the shorter routes. Some paths had up to 50,000 dialogue options, meaning it would take you 105 days of gameplay to see everything on that route! It sounded unbelievable, but there it was, right in front of me. And it was glorious.
I was so hooked that I bought two more monitors just to play three routes simultaneously, a trick many in the community were doing. The game was extraordinary—each of the heroines had a magnetic charm, the protagonist's backstory was moving, and the world itself was rich with detail. It was set in the medieval kingdom of Aetheria, with noble families and political intrigue, but there were modern touches too—like vintage cars and homes with futuristic vibes. It was a perfect blend of old and new.
But there was one problem…
By this point, I had already completed three routes, and I'd had the game for four months. I even went so far as to create a computer code to keep playing different routes while I was at work or sleeping, all in search of one goal: a route where no one died. That was the game's fatal flaw. No matter what choices you made, no matter how careful you were, one of the heroines always died.
The deaths didn't even happen close to the end of the story—they happened early on, usually right in the middle of the game. One would fall at the hands of the villain, another might die from poison, get run over by a car, or succumb to some illness. Each time, it was a different ridiculous reason, but the result was always the same—one of them never made it past the halfway point.
The community, just as smitten with these characters as I was, became obsessed with finding the legendary route where all five heroines survived. But there were countless possibilities and an overwhelming number of choices. Even with everyone banding together, restarting their playthroughs whenever a death occurred, it felt impossible. The sheer number of dialogue options was staggering, and the odds were stacked against us.
My computer, as powerful as it was, couldn't handle running a code to simulate all possible outcomes, and the game's source code was locked tight, fully encrypted. After another four months of searching, I was on the verge of giving up. Maybe that happy ending where everyone made it through didn't exist at all. Maybe it was just like real life—some people don't get a happy ending.
And then, out of nowhere, the game's creator, flanked by some executives from the development company, appeared on-screen, giving a surprise interview. The man, wearing a smug grin, dropped a bombshell that made the entire community freeze:
"An ending where all the heroines survive exists! It's just one of the thousands of endings!"
That single announcement reignited the hopes of the entire community. It was possible… it was really possible to give these characters a happy ending!
Sure, I know—they're just fictional characters. But still... I couldn't help but want to see it happen. I needed to see these heroines, who I'd watched die countless times, finally get the happy ending they deserved.
From that moment on, the game's sales skyrocketed. Computers were flying off the shelves, too. It was obvious—everyone was buying new machines and copies of the game, trying to tackle as many routes as possible all at once. Hah! Amateurs. I'd been doing that long before it was cool!
And just like that, the media erupted with a story so absurd it felt ripped straight from the plot of a ridiculous visual novel.
Some idiot who worked at NASA's computing division had developed a code to brute-force every possible route—over billions of them—and ran it on the agency's most powerful computer. He locked himself in a room, keeping the program running for hours. The whole space agency lost connection with their satellites for almost three hours straight.
Yeah, three hours. NASA's space stations? Totally offline.
Nothing catastrophic happened, thankfully. But obviously, the guy got fired... and arrested. The agency couldn't believe someone would put national security at risk over a visual novel. They even thought he might be a spy.
And that idiot? Yeah, that was me.
Turns out, people here don't joke around when it comes to espionage. And, well... now I'm serving a 30-year prison sentence.
Amazing what a game can do to you, huh?
You see, I wasn't always this way. I grew up as an orphan, had a pretty rough childhood. But somehow, I clawed my way through life with scholarships, graduated from one of the top engineering schools in the U.S., and landed a job at NASA. Not bad, right?
And yet... I never even got to see the results of that stupid code. Even after brute-forcing 99% of the routes, we still hadn't found a single one where no one died. Just a little more... if only I'd blocked that door with one more chair!
Damn it... Well, too late now.
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Prison life wasn't too bad, though. To be honest, I've always had a knack for adapting to new environments. After just a few days, I'd already come to terms with my situation. Sure, I took a beating now and then from inmates who didn't like my "spy look," but whatever.
"Hey, you guys are the ones who betrayed this country with your crimes, not me!" I wanted to shout, but there was no point arguing with people whose only hobby seemed to be throwing punches.
One day, I was sitting in the cafeteria, bruised and picking at whatever sad excuse for food they gave us. The TV was on, as always, blaring some news program nobody cared about—a crazy guy who hacked NASA just to play a light novel game. People really love eccentric stories these days, huh... And then, out of nowhere, a press conference with the game's creator appeared on the screen.
I stared at the TV, blinking in disbelief.
"Wow! Look at you guys, on national TV in the U.S. You're really famous now, huh?" I muttered to myself.
Apparently, the story of "the idiot who shut down NASA for a game" had gone viral. The developers must've felt obligated to address it. Honestly, people here love absurd news stories. But what the creator said next... it shattered something inside me.
"We apologize for the incident caused by our game," the creator began, looking solemn. "Our goal was simply to bring happiness to everyone. That said, we have an important announcement to make."
The man took a breath, his expression darkening.
"Several months ago, we claimed that a deathless ending exists in our game. I'm sorry to say that... that was a lie."
Wait. What?
"We only said it to keep sales high. Developing the game was extremely expensive, and we had to keep the sales momentum going. We never imagined something this... extreme would happen."
Maintain sales? What the hell...?
The creator continued, his words cutting deeper with every syllable.
"There is no route where all the heroines survive. In our vision, the death of at least one heroine was always necessary for the protagonist's growth. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we hope you continue to enjoy the game."
With that, the press conference ended, and the news anchors went back to talking about the "crazy NASA idiot."
Inconvenience? Necessary for the protagonist's growth?
Are you kidding me? This guy...
I had never felt so destroyed as I did that day. I didn't get up from my chair until the guards dragged me back to my cell. On the way there, I mouthed off to one of them, which earned me a trip to solitary. Honestly, I didn't mind—I just wanted to be alone for a while.
I really am an idiot. They didn't just make me look like one; they made me feel like one, too. But what hurts the most isn't the 30 years I was sentenced to. No... what truly eats away at me is the fact that it's impossible to save all those characters. That creator... he's nothing but a sadist.
The last memories I have of that world are a blur. I got into trouble with some inmates again. That day, they really went too far—pummeling me until my head felt like it was going to split open.
Well... what can I do? It's not like I ever had a happy day in this life—not even once, not even at the end.