From Game to Real-Life Fireball Frenzy

"Dodge the Fireball – enjoying it despite lacking the skills... What an optimistic soul."

"Eek... That's too much, ya!"

Yaruru gripped her mana panel tightly as she read the community comment.

Crack—

"Gasp! Big trouble, ya!"

At the ominous sound from her mana panel, Yaruru hurriedly loosened her grip. She frantically checked it over for damage, then let out a sigh.

"Ugh... Nothing ever goes right, ya..."

Yaruru, a second-year at Grace Academy. Her hobbies included chess, cards, Sudoku, all sorts of games, and community activities. Her routine was to browse the community for about 30 minutes before bed.

As usual, she logged into the academy community and mindlessly scrolled and clicked. That's when she spotted a post with an bizarrely high number of recommendations and comments.

"Whoa, a concept post after so long, ya!"

As far as Yaruru ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could remember, it had been about two weeks—ever since that senior who'd spent 17 years in the lab studying posted their job experience review.

"But 99 comments? That's a first, ya!"

Yaruru tapped the post with an intrigued look, but tilted her head.

"Huh? Nothing in the body... An attachment?"

She ran the attachment without a second thought. Her eyes widened.

"This is super fun, ya!"

On the mana panel, a small character in a fluttering robe darted left and right. Fireballs rained down relentlessly above it.

"Hmph, this is a piece of cake, ya."

And three seconds later.

Yaruru stared at the panel for a moment, then hit start again.

"Hmph, hmph. Just got careless there, ya."

Boom—

"...Why do I keep dying here!"

Clicking her tongue, Yaruru hit start once more.

"This time it'll work, ya."

The character danced left and right following her fingers. Early on, dodging fireballs was easy.

"Hehe. Perfect strategy, ya."

But what Yaruru overlooked was that in dodging games, the bigger the movements...

Boom—

As the character exploded, Yaruru's composure blew up too.

"Kyaaah!"

...

The game, started from one attachment and comment, dragged on longer than expected. Yaruru's eyes sank into despair after endless retries without a wink of sleep.

This wasn't just Yaruru's situation.

# Chirp ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chirp— Coo coo—

Warm sunlight tickled my closed eyelids. Cozy blankets and a languidly relaxed body. As I savored the light, refreshing mood, a thought suddenly hit me.

'What time is it?'

"..."

I bolted upright and grabbed my mana panel.

"Ah."

I scrambled out of bed, splashed water on my face haphazardly, threw on a shirt, and bolted from the dorm.

Full sprint—running was the answer.

There were fewer students on campus than usual, but no time to care.

"My grades are already on thin ice...!"

A boring world with nothing fun. Sleeping had become my hobby, filling over half my 24 hours with shut-eye.

Napping in class was standard. When even heading to the lecture hall felt like a chore, I'd skip entirely and stay holed up in the dorm.

That had been my routine for 21 years, but last night was different.

"Because I awakened my Status Window!"

How could I not get hyped after awakening my status window? At least, I couldn't.

"Safe!"

The professor hadn't arrived yet when I opened the lecture hall door. Lucky.

"Haa... Good thing it's a liberal arts lecture."

Unlike major classes, liberal arts profs were lenient about start times. The catch was they applied the same to themselves...

Today, I was grateful for the late professor and took an empty seat. But the atmosphere felt off from usual, so I slowly scanned the room.

'...What's this?'

Come to think of it... No one was talking.

Normally, they'd chat in groups or debate the lecture until it started. But today, everyone was glued to their mana panels.

Some giggled at their screens, others frantically tapped away.

"...What the hell."

Didn't look like studying.

"...A game?"

Could the silence be because of the game I uploaded yesterday—

Creak—

The door opening snapped me out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it. Thinking it was the prof, I hurriedly pulled out my textbook, but in walked a girl looking utterly wrecked.

"Yaruru?"

"Chase... Not doing well at all, ya..."

"...That's a unique morning greeting."

Yaruru wasn't her usual bubbly, smiling self. One side of her hair was flattened, her makeup-free face pale and drawn.

"You look beat."

"Yeah. Pulled an all-nighter, ya..."

The screen on Yaruru's mana panel made me flinch—it was familiar.

"Dodge the Fireball?"

"You've played it too, Chase?"

Her eyes sparkled at my reaction. Well, yeah—I'm the one who made it...

"Ahem. Just happened to have a light assignment season."

Yaruru tilted her head but soon nodded.

"It's insanely fun, ya!"

"That good, huh?"

And with those four words—

That good, huh?

Every student nearby looked up from their panels and stared at me.

"..."

Under the burdensome stares, I broke into a cold sweat and added,

"You know I sleep a ton, right? I was half-asleep playing it."

"Yeah. You need to cut back on sleep, ya."

As Yaruru nodded, the stares withdrew.

'...Felt like a horror flick, not fantasy.'

Convinced by my excuse, Yaruru showed me her mana panel.

"Anyway, Dodge the Fireball kept me up all night, ya..."

She began praising it to the skies.

"It's simple but addictive—that's the charm, ya."

"Just dodging fireballs?"

"Yeah! Easy at first, but from 3 minutes in, they rain nonstop, ya."

"Ho ho."

"So 'just one more time, just once more...' and boom, all-nighter, ya."

And Yaruru's record after a night of it...

"..."

Pretty pathetic. I'd designed difficulty to spike every 10 minutes. The first 10 were a tutorial for acclimation. And she barely passed the midpoint...

"So you died every 5 minutes all dawn?"

Glare—

"Ah. Sorry."

Whoops. Too flustered—my inner thoughts slipped out.

"That's not the point, ya."

Yaruru opened the community and showed me a post.

"YRRRR...?"

"..."

Butthurt by the comment, huh...

"Seeing that comment pissed me off big time, ya."

"So you proved your skills with an all-nighter?"

"Yep, ya."

Yaruru nodded. But then...

Fireworks burst on her mana panel screen. A notification: new concept post.

Her face stiffened as she tapped it.

"All night and still below average..."

I couldn't help but burst out laughing at her despair.

"Laughing now, ya?"

"Sorry, sorry."

Yaruru glared, then hammered at her panel, posting a comment.

"Yaruru?"

I flinched seeing her post it right next to me. I'd seen plenty of folks like that in my past life meet grim ends.

'Better tell her to delete it.'

But just as I opened my mouth—

The lecture hall door opened, and the professor entered.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late? Let's start right away."

'Gotta tell her right after class.'

But during the lecture, Yaruru's comment blew up the community.

And soon after.

Things were snowballing.

...

During the lecture, Yaruru's mana panel buzzed nonstop. While she took notes, I checked the community right away.

"...Huh?"

I'd worried about her comment, but the community had spiraled in a different direction.

"What the—"

I couldn't comprehend, rereading the title. Same thing.

'Dodging real fireballs? This ain't a battlefield.'

Game-reality confusion happening here too, not just my past world? Baffled, I clicked.

"..."

One impulsive comment from Yaruru led to this...?

'Even as a reincarnator, this is too much.'

Fantasy-world madness made my head throb.