The dark room was silent, except for the soft hum of a gaming PC.
Its glow painted the walls in shifting shades of blue and red, the only light in a cave of wires, cans, and chaos.
Sitting on a worn gaming chair,Dev leaned forward — eyes locked on the screen.
The monitor showed a leaderboard:
[Top Players – Defense Against Infinite waves]
#1 – Dev: 99,363,692,882,282 points
He stared at his name, blinking.
"I… don't even know how I became the top player,"
he muttered, his voice echoing in the empty room.
Before he could even finish his sentence, his surroundings blurred — and the screen went black.
In the next moment, the sound of the PC vanished.
The smell of bamboo and damp earth filled his nose.
Koushik stood there, dazed, in front of a barrier made of bamboo poles, tied with glowing ropes.
A few meters away, a swirling portal floated in the air, its light flickering like molten glass.
"Where… am I?"
he whispered.
Then, a panel appeared before him — bright, floating text glowing in midair.
[The Best Player of "Defend Against Infinite wave." This world needs you.]
"Ha? What—?"
Another line appeared, faster this time:
[Save this world with your skill. You became the best player among 100 million players]
Koushik's eyes widened.
"Save this world? Wait, wait—"
[Yes. Save this world using your strategy of defending against waves.]
The panel faded before he could respond.
Koushik threw his hands up.
"Skill? Strategy? Damn it— I just spam!"
A faint, calm voice echoed inside his head.
[Welcome.]
"Oh, you came back! System, listen— I just want to say—"
[I am not the one who was here before.]
"What? Whatever, I don't care! Just send me back to Earth."
[I cannot do that.]
"Why!?"
[Because you must save this world using your strategy of gaming.]
"What strategy!? I just spam troops, bro! I've never used a single strategy in my life!"
The voice went silent.
Before Koushik could complain again, the portal ahead of him began to flicker violently.
A new panel appeared:
[The First Wave Has Started.]
From inside the glowing portal, a green foot stepped out — rough skin, clawed toes scraping the ground.
Then came the rest of it: a small goblin, barely up to Koushik's chest, its body lean and twisted.
Its eyes burned yellow, and in its hands was a makeshift weapon — a sharp branch of a tree, roughly sharpened into a spear.
Koushik's throat went dry.
"That… that's a goblin?"
He trembled, staring at it.
In his mind, he could only think:
I've only seen these things in games… and they look exactly the same.
The goblin screeched — and charged straight at him.
Before he could even think of running, another panel appeared:
[Summon a Trainee Knight]
[Cost: 100 Points]
[Available: 1000 Points]
[Yes / No]
"YES!"
Dev smashed the "YES" button like a maniac — spamming it ten times in half a second.
Light flashed around him.
One by one, ten young men appeared — wearing simple leather armor, gripping short swords with shaking but determined hands. Their faces were blank, emotionless — like summoned soldiers awaiting command.
Dev's jaw dropped, eyes wide, breath trembling.
"This… is this for real?"
The smell of steel filled the air. The knights looked to him, silent, awaiting orders.