A terrible game—that's what came to Ethan's mind when he played it.
An erotic fantasy RPG game called Chronicle of Fantasia.
On the surface, everything looked like a typical fantasy world: a stone city with grand architecture, busy streets, and warm sunlight illuminating every corner. But the longer he played, the clearer it became that something… was wrong.
The quests he went through kept getting stranger. The choices given to him often felt absurd, and the outcomes almost always led to unpleasant consequences—as if the world was deliberately pushing everything toward an NTR ending.
He had already checked beforehand that the game did not contain the NTR genre, but he was completely fooled by the developers. He had tried every route, yet in the end, it always led to the same result.
The game tells the story of a 13-year-old boy living as an orphan in an orphanage. Since childhood, he had special feelings for a nun there, but when he finally decided to confess his feelings.
Boom
the nun was already in a relationship with an adventurer.
He discovered this because he was born with a special ability called appraisal, which allowed him to see the status of objects and living beings. And not only that, he could also see how many times a person had engaged in intercourse, even down to detailed explanations of how many times each position had been performed.
For a year, he endured the pain of knowing what the person he loved was doing, and when he turned 14, he decided to become an adventurer. His career went fairly well, and he eventually enrolled in the hero academy.
There, he made friends, especially with women. Ethan thought this was when the real game would begin, but in reality, it did not. He still experienced the same NTR.
All of this seemed to have been designed by the developer, who made the main character a beta male.
Ethan, feeling deceived, left a negative review and demanded a refund. However, like other irresponsible developers, he was completely ignored.
"Sialan, I will kill that person if I ever find out their identity."
Ethan growled softly, his jaw tightening. The frustration still lingered after what he had just seen on the screen. He was not a fan of that kind of genre; to him, it was not just a preference, but something genuinely disturbing.
This is the same as forcing a vegan to eat meat.
He let out a long breath, trying to calm himself.
Without realizing it, sunlight slowly crept through the gap in his bedroom curtains. Golden lines fell across the desk, touching the monitor that was still faintly glowing. The room that had been dark began to fill with the warmth of morning light.
Ethan blinked slowly.
Morning…?
He did not expect to stay up all night just to witness the bad ending of that game. The accumulated sleepiness finally forced him to give in. With slow movements, he turned off the monitor and prepared to sleep.
His hand reached for his phone. He intended to set an alarm—however, the moment the screen lit up, his eyes widened.
10.30.
Huh?
He immediately got up from his bed and rubbed his eyes several times, trying to make sure he was not seeing it wrong.
10.31
Ethan rushed out of his room. His breathing was still heavy when he arrived in the living room—and there, his eyes widened again at the sight of stacked cardboard boxes filling almost the entire space.
The boxes contained stainless steel straws that he had imported from overseas for business. And today—before noon—they all had to arrive at the shipping company.
For God's sake… I really forgot to load them into the car last night.
He rubbed his face harshly, trying to ease the growing headache.
Without wasting time, Ethan immediately began lifting the boxes one by one and placing them onto a trolley. His body felt heavy, his muscles stiff from lack of sleep, but he forced himself anyway.
The wet road slightly slowed his steps, forcing him to be more careful not to slip. He kept going back and forth from the house to the car parked in a public parking area—quite far from where he lived.
The akiya house he bought did not have a garage. Not only that, the alley leading to it was too narrow for a car to pass through. He had bought the modest house when his capital was still limited—a choice that had made sense back then, though now it clearly made things more difficult.
But it was from this cramped place that everything had begun.
Since the age of 19, Ethan had entered the import business—handling shipping, negotiation, and marketing all by himself. From such a limited starting point, he built everything step by step, without anyone's help.
His parents' debt was paid off.
This house… finally became entirely his.
And at 25, he had even bought a car with his own money.
Ethan lifted the back of his hand, wiping sweat from his temple. His chest rose and fell, his breathing still not fully stable. He glanced at his wristwatch briefly.
11.00.
He stood still for a moment, trying to steady his breath while clearing his mind. The adrenaline was still keeping him awake, but he knew his condition well.
Feeling that he still had enough time, he decided to make instant noodles and coffee first to fill his stomach.
He immediately returned to his house and went to the kitchen.
With practiced movements, he turned on the stove and placed a small pot of water on it. While waiting for the water to boil, he grabbed a glass and tore open an instant coffee sachet.
A faint bitter aroma could already be smelled even before the water fully boiled.
Not stopping there, he also took a cup ramen from the shelf. He opened the lid halfway, poured in the seasoning, then set it aside, waiting.
The water began to tremble, then boil.
Ethan poured a small amount of hot water into the glass, then stirred the coffee quickly without really paying attention to the taste, before adding cold water so he could drink it immediately.
After that, he poured the remaining hot water into the cup ramen and closed the lid again.
Without waiting long, he immediately drank his coffee, letting the bitterness spread through his mouth. Once finished, he grabbed the still-warm ramen and quickly headed back to the car.
A few minutes later, Ethan was already seated in the driver's seat. The car door closed, the engine started, and he immediately drove toward the shipping company.
Hahh… I want to sleep immediately. Ethan closed his car door and walked back toward his house.
On the way, he saw thick black smoke rising into the sky. Sirens grew closer, followed by firefighters rushing to secure the area.
Warning, a fire has broken out in this area. Civilians are advised to stay away.
Ethan's steps slowed.
The drowsiness that had clung to his body moments ago vanished, replaced by an odd sense of curiosity.
seems interesting.
He changed direction and approached a neighbor standing in front of their house, watching the scene.
Which house is on fire? Ethan asked.
The neighbor pointed without much expression.
Your house.
Ethan fell silent for a moment.
My house?
Yes.
...
Silence.
Ethan stared at the smoke longer than necessary, as if confirming whether this was some mistake in his life.
He turned around.
And ran.
No… that is impossible… I just came home…
His steps grew faster as the house came into view at the end of the road. The fire had already reached the upper part of the building.
Ethan stopped at the roadside. There were no more words.
He just stood there, staring at the house he built himself being slowly consumed by fire. Not stopping there, the fire seemed to have spread to the neighboring house as well.
Seeing that, his breath stopped.
In his mind, it was not only fire that was burning; another calculation followed as well.
'Loss of stock inside the house… renovation costs… compensation for neighbors… insurance if it does not fully cover…'
In an instant, Ethan collapsed in the middle of the street, as if all his remaining strength had been drained at once.
His chest felt tight, as if something was pressing from the inside—not a sharp pain, but heavy, sudden, and rapidly overwhelming. His breath, which had still remained moments ago, was cut off mid-way, unable to complete itself.
He tried to inhale, but failed properly. His hand instinctively grabbed his chest, his steps staggered backward, unstable.
...wait…
The sounds around him began to feel distant, as if submerged underwater.
His vision trembled, the edges of the world in front of him began to blur.