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Hydragon's Soul!

The names burned themselves into both of my eyes. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the rewards floating in midair.

First, the soul of a Raid Boss monster. I'd known such things existed, but this was the first time I'd ever laid eyes on one. A relic that had never dropped even once across more than a thousand hunts. A top-tier artifact — a soul-bearing stone that let you summon a Hydragon.

A Raid Boss monster's "Soul" was a treasure that dropped at the most vicious of odds. You could ride the creature or summon it to fight alongside you, but its scarcity meant there were never any on the market.

In the five years since launch, only one ever dropped.

And among them, Hydragon's Soul was rarer still than the souls of other Raid Bosses. Exactly one had appeared three years ago — and even that had only been mentioned secondhand on the community boards through a photograph. The player had been a complete unknown, a character I'd never seen before.

Rumors flew that they were a GM.

In a sense, these souls were harder to obtain than even Unique-grade items. I was overwhelmed. Under normal circumstances I would have posted the screenshot to the community and pinned it for posterity. And the fact that it could be enhanced by a Hidden Trait was the icing on the cake. A tingling current ran through my entire body.

And on top of that — Michela's Sword.

That wasn't all. A massive two-handed blade, easily over ten ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kilograms by the look of it, gleamed with a luminous light.

There was no better sword for pushing through the early game. For anyone who used a blade, it was the ultimate value pick — gear that boosted stats usually didn't start appearing until the mid-game.

It even came with a set bonus. Gather the sword, armor, and helm, and you unlocked Heavenly Dragon Form — a transformation skill that sprouted dragon wings from your back and let you soar through the skies for extended periods.

If you wanted to skip those godawful bottleneck sections, Michela's set was essential. The only problem was that getting it early was like plucking stars from the sky…

That Heavenly Dragon Form was what let you find certain quest stretches that demanded insane grinding, hidden dungeons, hidden quests, and more. But obtaining it was equally star-plucking. The set didn't activate unless you had the sword, armor, and helm all together — and the drop rates were filthy. Michela's Sword, in particular, was the hardest piece of the lot to get. I'd gotten lucky.

But what the hell is a Broken Fragment of the Golden Rule?

The first two items were ones I already knew well. But that one — that golden coin — I'd never seen before.

Every line of the description was new to me. The Golden Rule itself, the fact that a Golden Rule Shop even existed where you could use it — all of it. And more than anything else: synchronization with reality.

"Holy shit…?"

The Snake Princess frowned at my dying gasp.

"…I am not insane, Snake Princess Isabella."

I hastily walked it back.

Snake Princess Isabella von Dercian. She shot me a brief look that said something was off, then turned to the centurion.

"Attend him."

"My lady? B-but Her Majesty ordered us to kill them all…"

"He is a person of return. He is to be received with the utmost reverence."

Faisalmer, the great city of the desert. A world of absolute monarchy under the Queen's rule. And there, I had suddenly become a person of return — and been handed an entire lavish palace as my private quarters.

I never imagined a character I raised would end up as Faisalmer's second-in-command.

I gazed out from within the palace, lost in thought. What I'd learned on the way here was that Isabella was among the most powerful figures in Faisalmer — a power among powers. The way even the great desert warriors treated her with such deference made that clear at a glance. Desert warriors followed no one but the Queen and those the Queen recognized.

"Shall we bathe you?"

At the voice from behind me, I turned. Five beautiful women stood in a neat line. The palace had been given to me with free rein over everything — a lease was a lease, but there were a lot of women. Beautiful young women, everywhere you looked.

…This was a harem.

The realism was so complete I could barely believe I was inside a game. Every vein stood out in sharp relief. Every small breath felt utterly natural. The women wore nothing but thin silk, their sensual figures on full display. Even with the Iron-Blooded Lord's Heart, the dizzying rush of feeling was an instinct no male could suppress.

"Wash only my feet."

"Yes."

I kept my voice as empty of emotion as I could. The women brought a clay basin filled with water and settled demurely before me.

Washing a guest's feet. It was the ritual by which Faisalmer received outsiders. If an outsider's feet went unwashed, that person was a slave. Those who were washed were guests.

I was a guest. And to the Snake Princess, a very important one.

This is a test from Faisalmer.

Every step of this sequence was a trial Isabella had set. A Star-Touched would never lose himself to lust — she would report my reaction exactly as it was. But if I refused even the foot-washing, I would be marked as a man who knew nothing of desert courtesy. The correct answer, then, was to let them wash my feet while keeping my composure.

A soft splash of water. Smooth skin brushed against my feet. Hands without a scrap of excess flesh. Skin against skin. Ten hands gently melting the tension from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my feet, like being tickled by the finest down.

I forced my thoughts elsewhere.

Is there a way back to reality?

I'd been sucked in while creating a character. But even inside this world, mentions of reality kept surfacing. That meant there had to be a way back.

No logout function in sight. And I can't force a quit, so… wait.

A sudden thought struck me, and I opened my status window.

I furrowed my brow. The growth rate of my stats was no small matter either, but what demanded attention was the section below them. When I'd first seen it, the collapse had stood at 6.12%. Completing the main quest had pushed it up by roughly 1.5%.

Would Earth and Pangenia actually collide if it hit 100%?

There was also that mention of the Hall of Fame. What was that about?

That wasn't the only question. But the riddle of the Hall of Fame resolved itself surprisingly fast — the moment I thought about it, a window appeared before my eyes.

…What?

Names that felt somehow familiar. Especially 2nd place Gracia and 3rd place MintChocoIsDelicious — they had been the companions I'd played Pangenia with the longest. They'd vanished at some point, and I'd assumed they'd quit.

They didn't quit. Don't tell me they were summoned into Pangenia the same way I was?

My head rang as if I'd been struck with a blunt weapon. It wasn't just the characters I'd created that were here. The people I'd played with were here too.

And more than that—

Logout…

Logout. Meaning I could leave. I could get out of this godforsaken game!

"Enough."

At my heavy voice, the women washing my feet flinched.

"Pardon…?"

"All of you, leave. It is time to commune with the Stars."

"But…"

Confusion clouded the women's faces. Foot-washing was Faisalmer courtesy. Refusing it was never a good sign. I knew that — but I had no choice.

"If a Star-Touched fails to commune with the Stars at the appointed hour, he loses his power. Go and ask the Snake Princess whether that is truly what she desires."

"Ah…"

The women nodded. Just as expected, every one of them was a spy the Snake Princess had sent. I already knew well enough why she had brought me here.

"May your communion be peaceful."

With solemn expressions, the women bowed and filed out.

…Whew. Thank god that flimsy excuse actually worked.

Alone in the room, I settled into a seated posture. Then I pressed the red button that had appeared at the one-o'clock edge of my vision.

My vision flickered. And then—

The world changed.

"…"

I stared blankly downward. The chair in front of my computer. A worn white plain T-shirt. Black sweatpants bought cheap at the market. A mountain of cigarette butts in a plastic bottle. The same clothes, the same posture, the same environment as before I'd started playing.

Was it a dream?

Had I been living so much like a shut-in that I'd dreamed the whole thing? But it had been far too vivid for a dream. And besides—

"There's no way I'd just have a gold coin like this sitting around…"

Something else was on the desk. The Broken Fragment of the Golden Rule. That radiant golden coin sat right in front of me. Beside it lay a small leather pouch. And where the logout button had been, just outside my field of view, the word Login was now etched in clear red.

I slowly reached into the leather pouch. Two objects came free with it.

"Urgh!"

Thud.

A massive sword. The mouth of the pouch stretched open and spat out the blade. When it hit the floor, the whole house shuddered with the impact.

…No matter how I looked at it, it was Michela's Sword. And with it, a small stone etched with runes — the artifact, Hydragon's Soul.

"The game?"

The game window was closed. No — the game itself had been wiped. I grabbed the mouse and opened a browser, searched for Pangenia, and tried to access the site.

…The homepage was gone. The same homepage that had been perfectly fine just moments ago. Just in case, I searched for related articles. Not a single line of the usual "service has been discontinued" news. Searching YouTube only turned up videos from at least two years ago.

When the hell did the service shut down?

The fact that YouTube videos still existed was proof the service had been running. The game itself hadn't never existed. People had clearly logged in and played. But at some point, the videos stopped going up, and the players vanished.

Fine. All of that was fine. The real question was this: if people had been summoned into Pangenia, then there had to be others who'd logged out the way I had. And if people had logged out, there would be traces.

Only those who ranked can log out.

But what if that number was limited? What if it was a tiny handful? What if most people were still trapped inside the game? Then the remaining information would be scarce — or nonexistent.

If I'd known it would come to this, I should have at least swapped SNS contacts.

I had been a thorough solo player. Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on raids, I handled everything alone. So while I'd exchange greetings with others, I'd never properly played alongside anyone. Naturally, there had been no email or messenger exchanges either. Damn my mystique complex. I cursed my past self for thinking that was cool as I hammered the keyboard.

Coma patients, missing persons lists…

My fingers moved faster. The number of people in comas and reported missing had exploded over the past few years. There had been plenty of speculation about the phenomenon. It might well be connected to Pangenia.

Rumble!

That was when it happened. A vibration strong enough to lift my body slightly off the chair, and the floor began to shake.

"A m-monster!"

"Help me!"

At the same time, chaos erupted outside. A monster? What monster, all of a sudden?

I pulled back the curtains and opened the window. Thick cigarette smoke drifted out as I took in the scene beyond — and it was the worst possible sight. A praying mantis easily four meters tall had appeared in the middle of the city and was slaughtering everything in its path. Its antennae, long as tentacles, snared people and reeled them in. Its bladed forelegs carved through anything that stood in its way.

The strangely familiar silhouette made me speak without thinking.

A Giant Mantis…?