Click. Click. Clack.
That sound—it was rhythmic, mechanical, almost violent in nature. Like someone firing a machine gun inside a quiet library.
Only sound in the entire room, cutting through the thick silence that hung heavy in the air.
The room? A proper tomb, honestly. Blackout curtains pulled tight, blocking every bit of sunlight trying to sneak in. The only light came from two monitors sitting on the desk, casting this blue glow over the guy slumped in his chair. Sickly kind of blue.
And god, the smell.
It wasn't just bad. It had presence, you know? Like it could reach out and grab you, Mix of stale sweat, three-day-old pizza crusts sitting in boxes, and that sharp metallic taste of cheap energy drinks. If depression had a scent? This would be it.
Right in the middle of this disaster zone sat Kim Ryo.
Looked like a corpse someone had brought back to life just to play video games. Pale skin, almost white. Bloodshot eyes mapped with red veins. Dark hair sticking up like a bird's nest that survived a hurricane.
Click. Click. SMASH.
"Fuck!! No!"
Ryo roared, slamming his fist down hard on the desk. The tower of empty 'Thunder-Rush' cans toppled over, crashing onto the floor with all that noise.
"This is bullshit! Complete bullshit!"
He grabbed at his hair, staring at the screen with eyes that hadn't blinked in god knows how many minutes.
"Who designed this? Which sadistic developer woke up and chose violence? Neither mana spells nor aura attacks work on it! It has a hitbox smaller than a peanut and an attack range bigger than Texas! How's anyone supposed to defeat this thing?"
He groaned. Long, pathetic sound. Let his head fall back against the chair.
Kim Ryo.
Twenty-seven years old.
Occupation? Unemployed.
Status? Existing, but not really living.
If you saw him now—skeleton of a man buried in trash—you wouldn't believe he used to be someone.
Used to be the pride of his family, actually. Top of his class at some prestigious university. Had a high-paying corporate job lined up before he even graduated. Friends. Future. A life that actually sparkled.
But life's a glitchy game with no save points, isn't it?
One rainy night, one slippery road. One truck driver who fell asleep behind the wheel.
His parents died just like, in an accident.
The funeral passed in blur of black suits and empty condolences. Ryo stood there nodding, shaking hands, but inside? Something had snapped clean through.
Grief didn't come as a scream. Came as a fog.
He tried returning to normal life. Really did try. But the fog was too thick, too heavy. Missed deadlines. Skipped meetings. Stopped answering calls. Eventually got fired.
Didn't fight it. Just... stopped.
Retreated into his apartment, locked the door, decided reality was too painful to deal with.
So he found a new reality.
Video games.
In games, rules were fair. You put in effort, you got reward. Died? You respawned. It was logical. Safe.
And for the last five years, his entire existence revolved around one specific title.
Started as generic fantasy RPG. But thanks to insane difficulty, flashy combat, infinite content—it became a global phenomenon.
Millions played it. Streamers screamed over it.
Some characters were "Meta"—overpowered gods making the game a breeze. Others were "Trash Tier"—joke characters with stats so low that playing them was basically psychological self-harm.
Ryo loved it.
He'd climbed the ranks grinding day and night until he became one of the top players in the world.
Then two days ago, developers dropped a nuclear bomb on the player base.
The new expansion.
Since the update finished downloading, Ryo hadn't moved. Been playing for 48 hours straight. His blood was currently 90% caffeine and 10% sugar.
Why the rush?
Because of single banner on the game's website:
[To the first 15 players who clear the 'Any Ending' of Part 3: A Special Gift awaits.]
A special gift.
For normal person, meant nothing. But for shut-in gamer with nothing to lose? Holy Grail.
But Part 3 was different.
Introduced the [Fate System].
Unlike previous chapters where ending was fixed, Part 3 changed based on your choices. And developers were cruel.
[Fate is Absolute.]
Once you picked a route, you were locked in. Couldn't reload save file. Had to beat the final boss of that route to restart.
Most players—unlucky 97%—were currently crying tears of blood.
They'd all stumbled into the "Demon King Route."
Demon King was nightmare. Had four phases, immune to physical damage in phase two, regenerated health in phase three. Fourth phase unknown. Nobody had beaten him yet. Every top streamer was raging, stuck in endless loop of death.
But Ryo was built different.
Or just lucky.
He'd found hidden dialogue option in second act—something trivial about killing a stray cat—that diverted his path away from Demon King.
Instead, he was facing Dragon King.
[The Monarch of Destruction]
Still hard. Insanely hard. But it was 'possible'.
For past four hours, Ryo had been dancing with death.
He sat up straight, cracking his knuckles. Sound like dry twigs snapping.
"Focus, Ryo. Don't blink. Blink and you die."
Placed hands on keyboard.
"Round 42. Let's go."
Click.
Battle resumed.
On screen, Dragon King—mass of obsidian scales and purple fire—roared. Breathed torrent of flames covering entire arena.
Ryo's fingers blurred.
Tap. Tap. Roll.
His character, SS-RANK Shadow Assassin, dove through Shadows taking zero damage. Golden text flashed:
[PERFECT DODGE].
"Gotcha," Ryo hissed, manic grin spreading across face.
Unleashed his combo.
Clack-clack-clack-SMASH.
Dragon King roared, speakers shaking the desk. Boss's health bar, once the size of a skyscraper, is now a tiny sliver of red.
[1%]
"Die..." Ryo whispered, heart hammering against ribs like a trapped bird. "Just... die!"
Dragon reared back for the final attack. If this hits, instant kill. Game over. Start over.
Ryo didn't retreat. Didn't block.
Pressed [F].
[Archetype: Shadow Execution]
Screen flashed white. The sound of a blade slicing through heavy scales echoed through the room.
Dragon froze.
Time seemed to stop.
Then slowly, the massive beast began disintegrating into particles of light.
[VICTORY]
Ryo stared at screen.
Brain needed second to process.
"...!!"
"I-It's done!"
"I-I did it!!"
Threw hands up in victory, nearly knocking over the monitor.
"I DEFEATED THE DRAGON KING!!!"
Voice cracked, sounding like a dying seagull, but didn't care. Laughed—breathless, hysterical sound.
"Finally! Take that, oversized lizard! Humanity wins! I win!"
Slumped back into the chair, adrenaline crash hitting instantly. Limbs felt like jelly.
"I can sleep now! Oh god, sweet sleep."
Ding!~
Cheerful chime interrupted the celebration.
[Calculating clear ranking...]
Ryo cracked one eye open.
"Right. The ranking. Let's see where I placed. Wasted some time on puzzle section... but the boss fight was flawless. At least Top 5? Maybe Top 6?"
Text swirled and solidified.
[Clear Ranking Updated!]
[Rank 1st - Heavenly Shit Demon (07:49)]
Ryo blinked.
Rubbed eyes and looked again.
"Heavenly... Shit Demon?"
Let out a snort that turned into laugh.
"Who the hell names themselves 'Heavenly Shit Demon'? And cleared it in seven minutes forty-nine seconds? What is he, gaming god or hacker?"
Imagine the history books of this fantasy world. 'And the world was saved by a great hero... Heavenly Shit Demon.'
NPC villagers must've been so confused.
Ryo shook head and scanned the list.
[Rank 2nd - Donut Destroyer]
[Rank 3rd - NPC With Ego]
.
.
.
[Rank 7th - Pudding Maker]
"Rank 7th..."
Ryo's lips curled into a tired smile.
"Pudding Maker. Hah."
Username that he'd chosen five years ago because he was eating vanilla pudding while creating the account. Wasn't exactly intimidating and didn't strike fear into the hearts of enemies.
But right now, seeing it on leaderboard, looked glorious.
"Rank 7th isn't bad. At least made Top 10. That makes me officially one of the elite."
Stretched arms over head, spine popping like string of firecrackers.
"Finally can be footloose and fancy-free."
Ryo didn't even bother turning off PC. Simply closed eyes and fell asleep.
Darkness of room seemed to embrace him. Within seconds, frantic clicking of keyboard replaced by soft, rhythmic snoring.
---
Time passed.
Sun rose outside, but heavy blackout curtains kept room in eternal twilight.
Ryo woke to sound of own stomach growling. Deep, angry sound. Like beast waking from hibernation.
"Ahh... Fuck."
Peeled face off sticky leather of gaming chair. Felt gross. Mouth tasted like sandpaper and regret.
Squinted at digital clock on corner of monitor.
11:34 AM.
"Already 11:34?"
Slept almost nine hours.
"Need food," muttered, rubbing eyes. "Real food. If I eat another instant noodle cup, think my liver will file lawsuit against me."
Reached for mouse, intending to close game and order pizza.
Ding~
Notification sound chimed.
"Hmm? What now?"
Ryo paused. New window had appeared over game's main menu. Pulsed with soft golden light, looking expensive.
"Ahh... right. Forgot about reward."
Scratched messy hair, sending shower of dandruff onto shoulders. "Top 15 rankers get gift. Wonder what it is? 'Congratulations' email? Coupon for 5% off next game?"
Yawned. Didn't really care. Just wanted to clear the notification so he could close program.
"Let's just check and go eat."
Focused on text box.
[Thank you for playing
[We have monitored your journey. Your dedication is impressive.]
[We would like to give you a special gift for achieving Rank 7th.]
[Would you like to accept special gift?]
Below the text, two buttons hovered.
[▷ Yes] [▷ No]
Ryo didn't hesitate.
Why would he? Free stuff. Even if just digital badge or cosmetic skin for character, he earned it.
Moved cursor.
Click.
Pressed [Yes].
"...?"
Moment finger lifted from mouse button, atmosphere changed.
Wasn't sound. Was feeling.
Air in room suddenly felt heavy, like pressure dropped before hurricane. Hairs on arms stood up.
"Huh?"
Then world tilted.
A sudden wave of vertigo slammed into him, hitting harder than truck that hit his parents. The room began spinning violently.
Blue light from the monitor seemed to stretch, twisting and distorting like liquid. Reached out, swallowing vision.
"W-What the..."
His Body felt weightless. Smell of old pizza and sweat vanished.
Consciousness began fading, slipping away like sand through fingers.
"Ahh... Shit."
Those were the last words he muttered before collapsing out of the chair.
"Didn't even get to order my pizza..."
His Body went limp, collapsing out of the chair and thudding heavily onto the floor.
Monitor flickered once.
Then—
Ding—!
[Are you ready?]
Everything went black.