"Groan..." The Heavenly Taste of a Long-Lost Burger
"Groan..."
How many years had it been since I'd last had a hamburger? The taste of one after such a long time was pure bliss. The juicy processed patty, built from the pinnacle of modern civilization, and the thick, aromatic yellow cheese filled my mouth completely. A simple hamburger that any modern person could grab via a delivery app with a tap or from any fast-food joint. But the moment I took a bite, I realized once again just how blessed people in the modern world truly were.
To someone else, it might've been just ordinary food, but to me, it was more ecstatic than anything I'd ever eaten. It felt like a small consolation for all the hardships I'd endured. The flavor of a hamburger I hadn't tasted in so long was downright heavenly. That's why I'd become such a devotee—because I'd been cut off from modern civilization for ages.
15 years...? No, 17? My sense of time was all jumbled, so I couldn't say for sure, but I'd been immersed in that game for at least 15 years. Not figuratively—I'd literally possessed a character in the game world, body and soul.
There's this game called Star of Adenia. It's what you'd call a dark fantasy. The boss patterns were all filthy, and their specs were ridiculously overpowered. The extreme physical demands hooked me instead of turning me off. I figured with my skills, I could figure out patterns after a few tries without guides—cocky as that sounds.
So when I started the game and hit the first encounter boss, I nearly quit right then from the bullshit difficulty. Patterns that messed with the rhythm on a whim? Fine, players had gotten better, so bosses scaling up made sense. But fucking hell, spazzing out with off-beat attacks regardless of whose turn it was? What the actual fuck was that about? And on the first encounter boss, no less.
I could've looked up strats and breezed through, but I didn't want the easy way on the first boss. Pride kicked in, and I stubbornly rammed into it. Game over screens with black backgrounds flashed hundreds of times. I didn't quit because the game had this weird addictiveness. Dodging patterns and landing a solid hit felt so damn satisfying.
So I kept at it. Each death revealed the next pattern's tell. I'd get used to it, die, retry, die, repeat. Eventually, that insane 32-hit combo of off-beat and on-beat rhythms started looking familiar. Distinguishing the bullshit off-beats from on-beats attacks? The rush of downing that infamous boss was a thrill no other game could match.
That confidence shattered against the second boss. Tentacles flying from every direction—I couldn't dodge or even approach before dying. With my skills, it was quit or check a guide. But looking up boss patterns hurt my pride.
So I hunted alternatives: useful items, skills, hidden pieces. Grabbing those dialed down the hellish difficulty a notch. I pushed through to the final chapter—it was still brutal, but manageable. True to its rep, though, the final boss was a total asshole. Hell, reaching its face was the hard part. Twelve gates of bosses in a row, no breaks. Quit midway? Back to square one. No item or potion restocks.
Took about three months grinding those twelve gates. Had to farm levels or smash side areas for new gear when I hit a deadend. On the last run, with my gear luck, skill, and RNG aligned perfectly. I cleared it. If that final crit hadn't procced, it'd have been six months down the drain.
Star of Adenia was the most fun game I'd played, with unmatched satisfaction. So when the devs announced beta testers for a new game, I bolted to sign up. It was just called by a project number—didn't really matter to me. Only the fun counted.
It shared the Star of Adenia universe. No, it was a straight-up prequel, set in the past. A dark fantasy prequel? My heart started to raced with the idea. Thrilled, I created my character in my shitty one-room studio... and woke up in the game world.
More joy than shock at my favorite game turning real. I even thanked a god I'd never believed in. 'The shut-in gamer's life ends here. Time to live for myself.'
But the high didn't last. Possession was fine—great, even. I'd cleared Star of Adenia. But this was the prequel beta. The most info I knew about this world? It was all toilet paper now. Skills, items, hidden pieces—all are found during the post-apocalypse.
'What the fuck.' I cursed myself when I realized. Still, I scoured for some hidden pieces. Got some items and skills—not ideal though, but enough to live large for that era.
The problem though? This was the doomed prequel world. Lounging around wouldn't last years. I'm in the real Adenia now, I hustled to suck up every drop of honey, twisting the inevitable doom like a madman. Squeezed everything from my outdated future knowledge. Maxed the Status Window. Then delayed the end, barely.
But I couldn't stop it alone—that was my limit. Was it my selfish living? I guess I was dead even before starting. So I started recruiting for my anti-doom squad. First: the future heroes from the ruined Adenia. They were my top priority.
But they were weak, young, they had low potential. Made sense—they bloomed in the apocalypse, not during peace times. There was no time to train them leisurely.
Racking my brain, a wild idea hit: Not recruiting future heroes—but instead, how about the bosses? Snag'em right before corruption or Abyss pacts hit them. Genius, I thought. They're probably rough to recruit, sure, but better than just quitting.
With a half-baked plan, I went boss-hunting. I stormed the Great Forest, freed the imprisoned high elf. Side effect though: The Great Forest burned. Good—World Tree was dying anyway; and the elves would relocate in the end.
I saved the fallen saintess. I also got a bonus from this: blew up half of the Imperial Capital sky-high. The empire chased me, but even this was inevitable—the labyrinth below them was also waiting to blow up.
I claimed the golem loved by the Abyss. I even had a test run on dropping the Floating Islands Archipelago. Not my fault though. The Tower lord geeked out, tried dismantling it for its circuits—his head flew off when I went for some mana stones. The wizards raged? Tough shit—beat me if you can.
Three bosses recruited successfully. My confidence surged: Did I snag all the bosses? ...Nah. Most were psychos anyway—so I didn't bother talking to them, would probably accelerated the doom of the world. So I separated their heads from their bodies cleanly.
Then I stumbled on a final-boss-like stray. Star of Adenia never showed it—but why are they so strong? Life with them beats solo grinding easily. I shared my hidden pieces. We blocked the doom of the world together. Any near-deaths? Just some minor hiccups since we won in the end.
Doom is finally averted, time for the sweet happy end. Then the Status Window dropped my final reward.
"This is the final reward, huh."
I cleared the empty wrapper and unwrapped my fresh burger. Is the reward my return to Earth permanently? I'd rage if its that. But if its reversible and I can go back to Adenia anytime, I'd be kinda happy.
"Burp... Guess it's time."
No alone time amid my companions, but just this five-day break fixed that. I enjoyed the perks of modern life—I guess its time to return now. I lent my gear to them just in case, and left a note—I hope there's no worries for them.
I opened the Status Window, then hit Adenia.
Bzzzt—crackle—!
"What the hell now."
No return button? the Status Window glitched. It shrunk fast; my shiny stats plummeted. My brain instantly froze.
"Huh?"
Welcome back after 50 years, User Evan.
"...Wait, this is for real?"
And my consciousness faded.