Nero Cross died the way he lived. Staring at a computer screen, alone, at 3:47 AM on a Tuesday.
It wasn't dramatic. No car crash, no heroic sacrifice, no tragic disease. Just his heart deciding that seventy-nine consecutive hours of coding, four energy drinks, and a singular pack of stale chips weren't sufficient fuel for a human body to continue existing.
His last coherent thought, as his vision blurred and the cursor on his screen doubled, then tripled, was almost poetic in its absurdity: I should've just enjoyed the game instead of making it.
Then—nothing.
Or at least, that's what nothing was supposed to feel like.
The first thing Nero noticed was that nothing felt suspiciously like 'something'.
Cold, Wet, The smell of dirt and pine. The distant sound of... was that a bird? Since when did the afterlife have birds?
"Oh god, I'm in a coma", Nero thought, his mind clawing toward consciousness. "Some poor nurse is going to have to change my catheter for the next forty years while my brain dreams up forest ambiance like some organic white noise machine."
He tried to open his eyes. They obeyed, which was promising. Less promising was what they showed him.
Trees. Massive, ancient trees that looked like they'd been growing since the Jurassic period, their trunks thick enough to build a house inside. Dappled sunlight filtered through a canopy so dense it turned the forest floor into a patchwork of gold and shadow. Moss covered everything—rocks, fallen logs, even the roots that twisted across the ground like petrified serpents.
Nero sat up, his hands sinking into soft earth and decaying leaves.
"Okay," he said aloud, his voice hoarse. "Either I'm hallucinating, or someone from the office thought it'd be hilarious to dump my body in the woods. Statistically, it's probably Kevin."
His hands looked... wrong. Not deformed or anything, just 'younger'. The calluses from typing were still there, but the skin was smoother, the veins less prominent. He touched his face—no stubble from three days of not shaving. His perpetually sore lower back felt fine. Great, even.
"What the—"
A blue screen materialized in front of his face.
Not a hologram. Not a projection. Just... there. Hanging in midair like someone had paused reality and opened a menu screen.
⚠️ SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE ⚠️
ERROR: MULTIPLE PROTOCOL VIOLATIONS DETECTED
WARNING: CORE FILES CORRUPTED
ATTEMPTING EMERGENCY BOOT...
[Welcome to Etheria, Player]
[Status: ALIVE]
[Class: UNASSIGNED]
[Level: 1]
⚠️ ERRØR: STANDARD TUTORIAL UNAVAILABLE
⚠️ ERRØR: DIVINE BLESSING NOT FOUND
⚠️ ERRØR: FATE MATRIX UNREADABLE
[Loading Alternative Protocol...]
[ERRØR PROTOCOL: ACTIVE]
[Congratulations! You shouldn't be seeing this message!]
[Good luck! You'll need it!]
Nero stared at the screen. Blinked. Stared some more.
"No," he said flatly. "Absolutely not. I am not doing this trope."
The screen flickered, and new text appeared.
[Yes, you are.]
[STATUS MENU unlocked. Think or say "Status" to access.]
"I refuse," Nero said to the empty forest. "I categorically refuse to be isekai'd. I wrote the code for three different isekai games. I know how this goes. Hard pass."
The screen didn't respond. It just floated there, waiting.
Nero stood up, brushing dirt off pants that were definitely not the coffee-stained sweatpants he'd died in. Instead, he wore simple linen trousers, a rough-spun shirt, and leather boots that looked hand-crafted. No phone in his pocket. No wallet. No keys.
Just him, medieval cosplay clothes, and a game interface that refused to take no for an answer.
"Fine," he muttered. "Status."
The blue screen expanded, filling his vision with text.
═══════════════════════════
NAME: Nero Cross
RACE: Human (Variant: Outsider)
CLASS: None
LEVEL: 1
═══════════════════════════
STATS:
STR: 8 | VIT: 9 | AGI: 10
INT: 15 | WIS: 12 | LUK: ???
HP: 90/90
MP: 150/150
CORRUPTION: 0/100
═══════════════════════════
SKILLS:
[ERRØR] - Reality Debug Mode (Passive)
[ERRØR] - Exploit Detection (Active)
[LOCKED] - Patch Rewrite
[LOCKED] - Rollback Protocol
TITLES:
[Outsider] - You don't belong here. +50% XP gain, -50% trust from NPCs
[Dead Man Walking] - You've already died once. What's the worst that could happen? +10% resistance to fear
[ĘŘŘØŘ ỮŞ€Ř] - ÝØỮ ŞĦØỮŁĐŅৎ† ฿€ Ҁ؀
═══════════════════════════
⚠️ WARNING: CORRUPTION SYSTEM ACTIVE
Using ERRØR abilities increases CORRUPTION score.
CORRUPTION 100/100 = TERMINAL EVENT
═══════════════════════════
Nero read through it twice, his game developer brain automatically analyzing the information.
"Okay, so standard isekai system with stats, levels, the works. Low physical stats, higher mental stats—makes sense for a developer. Skills are all glitched, which is either amazing or absolutely terrible. Corruption mechanic is clearly the catch. And what the hell does 'Terminal Event' mean?"
A rustling sound came from his left.
Nero spun toward it, his heart suddenly hammering. The bush twenty feet away shook, and something emerged.
It was about three feet tall, green-skinned, with pointed ears and yellow eyes that gleamed with malicious intelligence. It wore scraps of leather armor and carried a crude stone axe. Its mouth split into a grin that showed too many teeth.
A goblin. An actual, honest-to-god goblin.
"Oh, come on," Nero said.
The goblin shrieked and charged.
Nero's body moved on instinct—stumbling backward, tripping over a root, landing hard on his ass. The goblin closed the distance in seconds, raising its axe overhead.
Time seemed to slow.
Not metaphorically. Actually slow. The goblin's movement became sluggish, its shriek dropping in pitch. And suddenly, Nero could see things he shouldn't be able to see.
Lines of code, translucent and blue, overlaid the goblin like a wireframe. Numbers floated beside it:
[GOBLIN SCOUT - Level 3]
HP: 45/45
ATTACK PATTERN: Overhead Strike (85% accuracy)
VULNERABILITY: Left knee (weak joint - 200% damage)
WEAKNESS: Fire (150% damage)
More information streamed past his vision—the exact trajectory of the axe, the creature's stats, even a percentage chance of him dodging (14%) or blocking (22%).
One of his skills activated without him meaning to: Reality Debug Mode.
"Holy shit," Nero breathed.
The goblin's axe came down.
Nero rolled right—the system had shown him the exact angle to avoid—and the weapon slammed into the dirt where his head had been. He scrambled to his feet, grabbed a thick branch from the ground, and as the goblin turned toward him, he saw it again:
A glowing weak point on the creature's left knee, pulsing like a video game target.
Exploit Detection, his mind supplied. His other glitched skill.
He didn't think. He just swung.
The branch connected with the goblin's knee with a sickening crunch. The creature howled, collapsing as its leg buckled. Nero swung again, this time at its head.
The goblin dissolved into particles of light, leaving behind three copper coins and a small, glowing crystal.
[COMBAT VICTORY!]
[+15 XP]
[LOOT ACQUIRED: Copper Coins x3, Mana Crystal (Small) x1]
⚠️ WARNING: ERRØR ABILITIES USED IN COMBAT
CORRUPTION +5
CURRENT CORRUPTION: 5/100
Nero stood there, breathing hard, the branch still clutched in his hands. His entire body shook with adrenaline.
"I just killed something," he said to no one. "I just... actually killed..."
The coins and crystal on the ground didn't respond. Neither did the forest, which had gone suspiciously quiet.
Another rustle. Then another. Then five more.
Seven goblins emerged from the undergrowth, surrounding him in a loose circle. They chittered to each other in a language that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, their weapons raised.
Nero's Debug Mode activated again, flooding his vision with information about all seven targets, their stats, their patterns, their weaknesses.
And in the corner of his vision, a new message appeared:
[QUEST GENERATED: "TUTORIAL - GOBLIN AMBUSH"]
Defeat the goblin scouts: 1/8 killed
Reward: +100 XP, Basic Weapon, System Tutorial Access
Failure: Death
[Good luck, Error User.]
"You've got to be kidding me," Nero muttered, gripping his branch tighter.
The goblins attacked as one.