A Bleak Beginning

The heavy, ominous soundtrack swelled as the demon dropped to one knee with a vicious scowl. At the same time, its gaze locked onto the one who had brought it down.

The demon’s heavy voice echoed as its hand reached toward the man, only to fall limply with a pathetic twitch. Its body collapsed to the ground at the same moment. Then a message floated up on the screen.

I watched the ending credits roll—the ones that only appeared after defeating the final boss, the Demon King—and stretched my arms wide with a groan.

“Ughhhhhhh.”

My back ached from sitting in the chair for so long. This was already my twentieth clear of the final boss alone. It was only natural that my spine was screaming after pouring every waking moment outside of eating and sleeping into this game.

“Still, I finally maxed it out.”

Once the credits ended and the main screen returned, the familiar title greeted me.

Final Academy. It was the game I had started after exhausting every other title while cooped up in my room. And it was the one I had kept playing for over five years now.

This game was built around single-player but was famous for its constant updates that kept things fresh so players never got bored. The deeper you dug, the more intricately crafted the world ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠became. The storylines shifted dramatically depending on your choices. Even the heroines felt like they were actually breathing and living.

I used to think only perverts played these kinds of games for years on end, but after picking this one up, my opinion changed completely. Just the playtime I had sunk into it over five years easily surpassed ten thousand hours.

Naturally, I had cleared every single achievement. There was nothing left for me to do in this game.

Well… except for one thing.

Sure, the choices were varied, the heroines were incredibly lifelike, and the game never got old—but eventually even the best games lose their spark. That was exactly where I was right now. Considering all the time I had poured into it, the burnout was inevitable.

So I had decided this run would be my last. I was finally going to graduate from Final Academy.

But since it was the final run, there was one thing I absolutely had to try: buying every single trait and creating the ultimate overpowered munchkin this game would allow.

In this game, the traits you picked at the very beginning determined your final destination. You could still buy skills later, but traits were locked in from the start. And those traits played a massive role in how far you could go down your chosen path. They were essential.

I navigated the familiar menus and opened the customization screen. The player’s appearance, every available trait, and the stat window popped up in a long list. Below them sat a massive pile of points I had saved up for buying stats and traits.

“Good thing I hoarded them on purpose.”

Seeing the points—easily over five hundred thousand—I smirked and lifted the corner of my mouth.

Besides the starting trait points given when creating a character, this game had a separate system called Karma Points. It was designed for players who weren’t satisfied with one clear and wanted to chase every achievement and hidden story. The more clears you completed, the more bonus points you earned based ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the achievements you’d unlocked. On top of that, the penalty traits you chose at the beginning would grant even more points.

To farm those Karma Points, I had cleared every achievement possible and shouldered countless penalty traits while watching dozens of different endings. The total I had accumulated was more than enough to buy every trait in the window.

Without hesitation, I spent every point I had saved.

Eye of the Transcendent, Heavenly Martial Body, Blessing of Mana, Beloved by Spirits, Composure, Serenity, and so on… I bought every positive trait available. From the minor ones all the way to the must-have traits required to breeze through each class.

Even after spending everything, a few traits still remained. Most were insignificant, but a couple of important ones were mixed in.

“Ugh, damn it…”

I scratched my head and checked to see if I had any leftover Karma Points I could pull from, but there were none. Trying to take points from my physical stats would drop them so low that early-game progression would become a nightmare. I could probably fix it somehow, but I didn’t want to carry any penalties on my very last run.

My final run was supposed to be a completely unrestricted munchkin. That was what I had decided.

Frowning, I dragged the mouse around randomly until I spotted a chilling trait tucked away in the corner of the penalty section.

There was no description, but I knew exactly what it meant. Or rather, there was no way I couldn’t know. Every man possesses his own magnificent Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon, after all. How could I not understand a trait that rendered that majestic weapon completely unusable?

While beating bosses, watching endings, and growing your stats was fun, the real heart of this game lay in your relationships with the heroines. Everything else ultimately existed to deepen those bonds and take them further!

So if that didn’t work… why even play?

…But the points were just too good to pass up.

If I took this one trait, I could buy every single remaining option. The developers must have had a sense of humor, because they had piled Karma Points onto this particular penalty. It was asking me to choose between relationships with the heroines or absolute power.

If I had to pick one…

“Sorry!”

I hesitated for only the briefest moment before adding the trait. It was a tragic fate for my poor player character, but since I wasn’t the one who would actually suffer it, I figured it was fine. I had already enjoyed the heroines plenty over the past five years. I had probably heard every possible line of dialogue from each of them. I even remembered what each heroine liked and disliked, along with their personal tastes—even the ones that didn’t affect gameplay.

So it didn’t really matter if my relationships with the heroines didn’t develop deeply this time. Besides, the trait didn’t show any outward signs. It wouldn’t affect combat like a limited lifespan, frail body, or brittle bones would. In every way, it was the best choice available right now.

Anyway, I added the trait and used the remaining points to buy everything else. My character was now absolutely plastered with positive traits. Sure, my current stats were still low, so I looked a little fragile, but if I couldn’t become a munchkin with this kind of setup, then my five years had been completely wasted.

With that thought, I clicked the character creation button.

────Crackle. Crackle.

The moment creation finished, a strange sound tickled my ears. It was the sound of electricity sparking—something I had never heard before. I leaned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forward to check if my computer was malfunctioning. The black loading screen looked completely normal.

“Phew…”

I had worried it might be broken, but there were no signs of trouble. The thought of my computer dying right before I could upload my final run was too horrible to consider.

As I breathed a sigh of relief and stared at the screen, a familiar voice suddenly pierced my ears.

“I told you I would return.”

“What?”

The moment I widened my eyes at the heavy, oppressive voice, a black light burst out of the loading screen and devoured everything in the room.

That was my last memory of Earth.

**

I slowly sat up, clutching my throbbing head. The creak of the bedframe stabbed at my ears. Was I lying in a bed? Since when? I had definitely been playing the final run of Final Academy just moments ago, so why was I in a bed?

Full of questions, I opened my eyes. What greeted me wasn’t my room, but an unfamiliar place.

“What the…?”

I stared with wide eyes and touched my face. My body felt a little heavier than usual. My mind was crystal clear, and even without glasses, the world looked perfectly sharp.

Wait a second.

At that point, a chill ran down my entire body. Heavier body. Sharper mind and eyesight. A completely unfamiliar room.

It could be a kidnapping. Someone might have broken into the room of a shut-in like me, knocked me out, and dragged me here. Yeah. It had to be a kidnapping.

With that thought, I slowly pulled at the front of my pants. What I saw wasn’t my beloved cannon, but something belonging to a total stranger.

“You son of a bitch!!!!!!!!!!”

That was when I realized it.

I had entered the character I had just customized.

And from the very beginning, the situation was completely bleak.