----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
A young man in his early 20s was currently relaxing in a couch, in a certain apartment in Santa Ana, California. He had dark hair and eyes. His skin was a healthy white. And his features didn't make him look like a hunk but he was definitely above average in terms of looks, and his physique was normal. Not ripped or anything, but semi-frequent trips to the gym helped him stay in shape to a certain extent.
This young man was Lars Cromwell, 23 years old.
'Should I call her...? Nah, I should meet up. It's the minimum amount of respect I can offer...' Lars mused. He was currently hesitating on something, while fiddling with his phone. In the end, he decided to meet up. He was just about to bring up her number, when his phone started ringing.
'Oh. Speak of the devil' Lars thought, while grinning at himself. The caller ID on the phone said 'Amber', which was the name of Lars' girlfriend, of 3 months. She was the one Lars was hesitating about earlier. Lars couldn't believe his luck. Now he didn't need to trouble himself on how to ask her to meet up, he could just make up whatever bullshit reason he wanted now that she had called him first.
Lars accepted the call, and said, "Hello. What's up?"
"I'm breaking up with you." Amber's voice said to me over the phone, her voice as cold as ice.
"Mmm... Wait... really?" Lars was a bit shocked at first, but he managed to ask, despite sounding a bit absent-minded.
"Yeah. Don't bother trying to stop me since I've already made up my mind."
"Uh... okay." Lars said awkwardly. He didn't really know what to say at this point, but he didn't feel that it was appropriate to end the conversation already, so he decided to ask, "Can you tell me why...? Just for reference."
"There wasn't really anything. I just don't think it would've worked out between us." She said matter-of-factly. She paused a bit, but then said in a somewhat guilty voice. "Don't get me wrong, it was fun being with you. You're funny, and the sex was amazing... but I just found someone better... and richer. That's all."
"Oh... okay." Lars said, feeling a bit complicated. He obviously heard what Amber whispered towards the end, but he didn't really care. "Is that all...?"
"...Huh? Uh... yeah, I guess that's it...?" Amber said, confused. She had just suddenly broken up with Lars. It was over the phone too. Why didn't he seem affected at all?
"Oh yeah? Well good bye then. I hope it works out between you too." Lars said. He couldn't control himself, and let a little bit of his joy mix in with his voice.
"Huh? Wai--" Amber was about to say something, but was cut off by Lars.
"By the way, you're hot, but sex with you feels like fucking a dead person. You kinda just lay there, y'know what I mean? Anyways, just wanted to give you some feedback so your new relationship goes better. Bye!" Lars hangs up the phone, and deftly blocks her number. Then he walks over to his bed, and dives into it.
'I did not expect it to go that well...' Lars mused, as he stared into the ceiling. 'Who knew the person I was trying to break up with would break up with me instead?'
That's right. Even before Amber had called, Lars had been hemming and hawing over the past 3 days on how to break up with her. As for the reason? There were a few, actually.
First, Amber made Lars feel like she was always cheating on him. Lars had had previous relationships before, and he wasn't the type to be paranoid, but there was something about Amber that just made him feel like she was secretly fucking around behind his back. This ended up being confirmed by the person herself earlier. She broke up with him because she already found someone else.
Second, Amber gave off the impression of a gold digger. She was always subtly asking for all sorts of things. Take note, they had only been together for 3 months. Also, the dates. Lars didn't give a crap if he had to pay for their dinners and stuff, but he didn't like it when the woman pretended to accidentally leave her wallet at home every damn time. The constant asking for expensive gifts aside, he would have been fine paying for dinners if she had just boldly said it, without the crappy acting. He didn't hate women who were a bit frank.
Third, Amber just wasn't interesting as a person. Well, Lars had met her on tinder, so he didn't expect a chick with some crazy backstory, but he wanted to at least be genuinely interested in knowing more about his partner. Amber just wasn't interesting. She was shallow, and basic. The only thing she had going for her was that she was hot and had a big rack (big points for these). Furthermore, she didn't even make a conscious effort to get to know Lars better. The only thing she seemed to be super interested in, was his job and income.
Fourth, The sex. Even with all of the above, Lars would have been somewhat okay with staying in a relationship with someone, if they were a good lay. Although the nature of the relationship would be strictly physical, it was a relationship nonetheless. But Amber just kinda lied down there, which was a major turn off for Lars. Virgins and the inexperienced get a pass for Lars, in fact, he found the inexperience a bit appealing, but Amber was very obviously someone who got around. Even if her personality was horrible, her looks were top-notch. But Lars still preferred skill in bed over looks, as long as they didn't look too ugly.
And those were four of the five reasons were why Lars wanted to end things with Amber.
Lars took out a piece of paper from his pocket. It was a lottery ticket.
'Hehe...' Lars couldn't help but giggle both inside his head and in real life. "Hehehe..."
What was the fifth reason why he wanted to break up with Amber? Why was he suddenly so giggly while looking at the lottery ticket in his hand?
Well, that's because this wasn't just an ordinary lottery ticket.
The ticket in his hand was the winning lottery ticket.
In other words, Lars had just won the lottery.
The fifth and final reason he wanted to break up with Amber, was because he didn't want to share it with that gold-digging bitch!
With a light heart and a skip in his step, Lars got up, hopped in his car and drove off to claim his prize!
*****
About a month later, Lars was now sitting in his car, looking utterly exhausted.
'Fuck, why is winning the lottery so complicated!' Lars cursed the American government in his mind. He drove off like an idiot a month ago, only to be told that he couldn't claim his prize yet. Then a fortnight afterwards, Lars had finally gone back, then had to sign all sorts of shit, and even have part of his prize claimed by the government. He was okay with this, but did they really have to make him go through hell just to complete all the paperwork? He was paying his taxes like a model citizen, so why did he have to suffer so much!?
"...hehehe... Hahaha... MUAHAHAHA!!" In any case, now that the suffering was over, Lars couldn't stop himself from laughing. He looked lovingly at his phone's screen, that was currently showing his bank balance. Lars couldn't help himself, and laughed loudly again. "MUAHAHAHAHAHA~"
After a few minutes, Lars finally calmed down. He was still visibly elated, but he wasn't laughing like a lunatic anymore. He stopped looking at his bank balance, and brought up his messaging app. He then sent a text to his two best friends.
----------------------------------------
Lars: Hey bitches, I command you to show up at the usual place for dinner. If you don't come, I'll kill myself.
Lars: I'll even write your names with my blood, too.
Randy: Fuck off.
Jin: I'm down. But I can't leave till 8.
Jin: Also
Jin: Fuck you, bitch ..l..
Randy: I guess I'll come too. Don't wanna be left out ๐ข
Lars: Great. I'm paying btw.
Randy: ๐คจ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ
Jin: What...
Randy: With what money? lololol
Jin: Lars, you know scamming people is bad right?
Lars: I'm going to kill you motherfuckers.
----------------------------------------
After confirming that those two were going to show up, Lars nodded, satisfied.
He was about to put his phone away, but then he suddenly thought of something. He unbuttoned his pants, and took a picture of his dick, then sent it to the group chat with the other two.
He had sent a dick pic for no reason whatsoever. He just felt like it.
After a few moments, he promptly got two dick pics back. Lars couldn't help but howl with laughter. He put his phone away, and started up his car.
His wallet was full and he was meeting up with good friends. Brothers, even. Lars couldn't contain the happiness in his heart and just smiled like an idiot as he drove off to the meetup place.
*****
A bell chimed as Lars went inside an old looking restaurant. It wasn't that it looked run down, but rather that it just gave off that kind of impression. This place had been Lars and his friends' haunting grounds since junior high. Even after they got jobs and became well off, they still met up at this place around 2 times a month. Or really, anytime something good happened to one of them.
As Lars went inside, his eyes were greeted by the relaxing interior he had come to know and love. The walls and the floor looked like they were made out of some kind of wood, and there were lamps and chandeliers for lighting. A restaurant having a chandelier would make it sound like a fancy place, but this chandelier was apparently made by the restaurant owner himself, during his spare time. Overall, the place was clean and homey, and made you feel comfortable just being there. At least, that was how it was for Lars and his friends.
"Hey Pops!" Lars called out loudly, as if he owned the place.
"What!" An old man with a mean looking face came out from the back, he glared at Lars in annoyance. "It's you, boy?"
"Yep." Lars said casually. "The table upstairs open?"
"Are you blind? Can't you see we don't have any customers right now?" The old man crankily retorted in exasperation. "The other two boneheads coming?"
"Yeah, they'll come in about half an hour." Lars answered back casually.
"Right. I'll get you the usual then" The old man stated, then went to the back to presumably start preparing the food.
Lars just went up to the second floor, not minding the old man's cranky attitude. He was used to it. He knew the old codger wasn't actually mad about anything, although Lars and his friends constantly tested his patience. Once up on the second floor, Lars sat down next to a table for three. This was Lars, Randy, and Jin's spot, since forever ago. They were the only ones allowed to sit here. A perk for the shops most regular of regulars, so to speak. Lars just fucked around on his phone while waiting.
After about half an hour, Lars heard two men shout downstairs, making him smirk.
"Hey Pops!"
"Where the hell are ya?!"
"Stop fucking shouting, you bastards!!" Pops shrieked back. "That other idiot is upstairs already, and I cooked the usual. Go to the back and bring it up yourselves. Don't make an old man climb stairs!"
"Haha! We got it."
"So he got here first... and now we gotta carry all the food by ourselves!"
Listening to the conversation, Lars couldn't help but snicker. It was an unspoken rule that the two who got here later would be the ones to help the old man carry the food up. Of course, 'help' meant that they did it by themselves, since they couldn't expect the old man to get up here.
After a few minutes, two men slowly made their way up the stairs, while carrying a massive tray full of food and drinks. They eventually made it to the table and set the massive tray down, afterwards they plopped their butts down on the other two chairs, looking exhausted.
"Fuck. I'm beat." Randy said tiredly.
"Goddammit, I knew this was gonna happen..." Jin cursed under his breath.
"HAHAHA!" Lars laughed at his friends' worn out demeanors. He then looked at his two brothers from other mothers, who he had been with for a long time. Randy was a tall black guy, with bulging muscles and a scary face, while Jin was a Chinese guy, with a thin physique and nerdy looking glasses. Since Lars had Latino blood, together they made for a weird trio. But the three people concerned didn't really give a rat's ass about that.
After the other two had rested enough, they wordlessly started ravenously devouring the food. Lars, naturally joined in as well. It was always like this. None of them liked talking while eating, so they ate everything fast, then talked.
After 5 minutes, every plate was cleaned of its contents, and the only thing left was a pitcher of water, a few beers plus some peanuts. It was Randy who spoke up first.
"So, what are we celebrating?" He said, while picking at his teeth with a toothpick.
"Yeah, I'm curious about that too. What's up?" Jin piped up from the side, while wiping his mouth with some tissues.
The two looked inquiringly at Lars, who smirked at their question.
"Amber and I broke up." Lars said, casually.
"Oh." Randy just gave a noncommittal reply, instantly growing uninterested. He started focusing on picking a particularly annoying piece of meat stuck between his back molars.
"Which one was she again?" Jin, who seemingly couldn't even remember her appearance, tried to dig through his memories.
"She was the one I met on tinder. The one with the double Fs" Lars helpfully reminded.
"Oh! That one." Jin clicked his finger in understanding. Then he smirked while nodding approvingly. "Those were rather impressive. Were they real?"
"Surprisingly. Yes, they were." Lars admitted. Amber was a shitty girlfriend overall, but he had to admit he had never played around with a better pair of tits before. Those puppies were world class.
"Should I really be congratulating you then? Or is this a pity party?" Jin asked awkwardly, not knowing what to do in this situation.
"No no no. That was just part of the good thing." Lars paused for dramatic effect, then he stood up, put his hands on his waist, puffed out his chest, and proudly declared. "I won the fucking lottery!"
"Oh."
"Oh?"
Randy and Jin just stared at Lars for a bit, but then what he said seemed to finally sink in. They both had very different reactions.
"The hell...? They still do that? I thought lotteries went out of business?" Randy narrowed his eyes, while wondering.
"Oh wow. How lucky. But I didn't know you participated in that kinda stuff. I thought you said your luck for that kind of thing was horrible. Congratulations anyways!" Jin congratulated him casually.
"..." Lars just stood there blankly staring at his friends, while still staying in the same pose. He felt like a moron that wasn't being taken seriously. "You don't believe me?"
"What? Of course we believe you? Why wouldn't we?" Randy raised an eyebrow in confusion, then looked at Jin for agreement.
"Yeah. I believe too." Jin nodded.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"Then what is with these reactions!? I expected more fanfare goddammit!" Lars complained. He sat back down and banged the table with his fists. It was made of very hard wood, so it hurt like hell.
"Meh. I mean, how much could it have been? I doubt it's that much." Randy just shrugged.
"Yeah. Isn't it like, a million or something?" Jin asked, but his face made it look obvious that he wasn't expecting much.
"Well, after all the taxes and shit..." Lars paused, taking a look at his phone. "About a billion dollars."
"..."
"..."
The two just sat there with their mouths agape before standing up suddenly and shouting.
""A BILLION DOLLARS!?!?"" The two said in unison.
"Yeahh~~. Motherfuckers, this is the reaction I wanted!" Lars nodded in approval.
"Holy... you're richer than both of us combined now." Randy gaped at Lars. "That's fucking sick! Haha!"
"Hahaha. Well that's great! Haha. Congratulations, man!" Jin just beamed happily at Lars, then clapped him repeatedly on the shoulder.
"Haha..." Lars just scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Lars then brought something up that he had noticed earlier. "Jin, you said you didn't know about me participating in the lottery?"
"Hm? Yeah, that's right." Jin tilted his head in confusion.
Lars looked at his friend like he was an idiot. "The hell are you talking about. The three of us bought lottery tickets together, how the hell did both of you forget?"
Indeed. Lars, Randy and Jin had bought lottery tickets together. It was about a month and a half ago, all three of them had gotten dead drunk, so none of them could drive. Coincidentally, Lars had forgotten to charge his phone while Randy dropped his' somewhere. Jin had apparently gotten his phone pickpocketed on his way to the place they drank at. So, none of them could call an uber. Combined with the strange absence of taxis, they all just decided to walk to the nearest hotel, to get a room where they could safely pass out.
On their way there, Jin had whined about being thirsty, so they all detoured to a nearby store to get some water. While inside, Randy noticed the store selling lottery tickets, and was strangely excited about the them. Lars didn't think this was strange, since they were drunk. They would've been excited by a lot of things. This was also further exacerbated by the fact that they smoked some pot in the bathroom. So to shut Randy the hell up, Lars, the one who was the least drunk (and high), bought him a lottery ticket. Jin whined about him feeling left out, cuz he didn't get a ticket, so Lars got him one too. Then Randy and Jin whined that Lars was getting left out. Even after insisting that he didn't mind at all, he still succumbed to their whining, and bought a goddamn lottery ticket for himself too.
The entire affair really tested the limits of Lars' patience. And that was on their way to the hotel. Trying to get the two drunken idiots to behave while he got them checked in was really hard. Especially since he was drunk(and high) too. Then he had to get them to go up to the room, and to get them to actually sleep on a piece of furniture, instead of the bathtub or the top of the closet.
'A-after what these bastards put me through while taking care of them... They forgot everything!?!' Lars really wanted to kick these best friends of his in the nuts. After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Lars explained what happened that night.
"Ohhhh. Lol, I can't remember anything." Randy chuckled, amused at the idea of a troubled Lars.
"Ah. That happened? I can't remember anything. My bad." Jin indifferently replied.
'Th-these fuckers...' Lars clenched his fist, and tried to compose himself. 'God give me patience. Do not give me strength, cuz if you do, I might actually kill these two.'
Lars eventually sighed. He decided to stop caring. He then blankly stared at his friends. "Anyways, why are you talking about this like it has nothing to do with you?"
"Hm?" Randy tilted his head in confusion.
"What do you mean? We congratulated you. That's about all we have to do with this, no?" Jin asked in wonder.
"What? No?" Lars also tilted his head, confused about why it was so hard for them to understand. "We're obviously gonna split this between us, yeah?"
"Huh?" Randy raised an eyebrow, while looking at Lars like he was an alien or something.
"Split it up...? Why would we even do that?" Jin was also confused. "I mean, you bought the ticket. And your ticket won. So you get the money."
"Hah? But when we bought the tickets together..." Lars hesitantly said. For some reason, he didn't really understand why he thought it was an obvious thing to split it up.
'Huh? Wait, I thought I had a super valid reason before coming here... what was it again...?' Lars wondered. He dug around in his memories for a bit, but came up empty-handed.
While Lars was stewing in his thoughts Randy and Jin shared a look, then smiled wryly at Lars.
"My man, just cuz people buy their shit in the same place, doesn't mean they have to share it." Randy said, exasperated. He was smirking at Lars, like he was a new species of moron.
"Tsk, I know that." Lars snapped back. "But I mean... It's a billion dollars. What do I even do with that kind of money?"
"Why is that our problem, dude? It's your money." Jin quipped from the side. Then he scratched his cheek awkwardly and said, "Besides, if you tried to share that money with us, we'd end up owing you even more!"
"Yeah, that's right! I don't want anymore of yo damn money!" Randy agreed while laughing loudly.
"You guys... I already told you that you don't owe me--" Lars was saying something but was cut off by Jin.
"OH! But we do!" Jin shouted loudly. He chugged some beer then said, "I still don't feel like I gave back enough man."
Randy nodded sagely. "True, true. Our debts ain't payed yet. 'Sides, we don't have valid claim over any part of the lottery money. So you keep it, dumbass."
"Bu--" Lars was interrupted yet again.
"No buts!" Randy shouted. "Hey Pops! Bring out more booze!" Randy shouted towards the floor below.
"Come get it yerself, ya fuck!" Pops yelled back.
"Aight!" Randy stood up to presumable get more alcohol.
"Ah!" Lars exclaimed. "You bastards are gonna get drunk again!?"
The three friends continued to make merry for a while.
*****
"Phew!" Lars exhaled as he sunk into his bed.
After drinking a bit, the three went their separate ways. Randy and Jin were the owners of their own companies, but that didn't mean they could just skip work the following day. They had a reputation as upstanding bosses or whatever to maintain. Thinking about the companies that Randy and Jin owned, Lars remembered what happened earlier.
'Those bastards didn't take my money...' Lars drunkenly cursed at the two. 'I already told them to chill the hell out, since they already payed me back but they just wouldn't listen.'
Lars, Randy, and Jin were all of the same age, so how was it that Randy and Jin were already successful company owners at the young age of 23?
The answer, was that it was actually partly thanks to Lars.
Lars had been orphaned at a young age, but before his parents died in a car accident, they were both incredibly successful in their respective careers. They had an astonishing amount of savings and even prepared a college fund for Lars, even though he was still 7 at the time. They also owned multiple pieces of real estate, that just continued to inflate in price throughout the years. The two also had life insurance, so the amount of money Lars inherited, or rather the amount he was to inherit in the future, was incredible.
He had to grow up with relatives who he didn't really get along with, but in hindsight, Lars actually thought they were at the better end of the spectrum as far as relatives go. After all, they never tried to take Lars' money, or trick him into sharing it. When Lars turned 18 he was kicked out to live on his own, but with the vast fortune he had, he didn't have any particular trouble. Lars had also seen it coming, so he had long before studied up on how to live by himself.
But what did that have to do with Randy and Jin? Well, when they turned 18 and graduated Highschool, Randy and Jin mentioned their dreams to start up a company. Both of them had very clear visions on what they wanted to do. However, their families were either poor, or didn't give enough of a fuck about them to invest the incredible amount needed to fund a company. But Lars, who had suddenly gotten such a large amount of money, took out a portion, split it in two, then gave them one part each.
It wasn't as if Lars just gave them the money out of friendship alone, but rather because he knew that the two were honest and hard-working people. He could tell that they would definitely succeed, so he just decided to trust them.
The two tried to refuse at first, but eventually Lars managed to get them to accept. Afterwards, while Lars attended college, Randy and Jin worked like madmen. Lars didn't get to see them for months at a time. Lars wasn't even sure what they actually did. But he cheered them on in his heart.
But eventually, when they were 21, both their respective companies took off. It wasn't at the level of apple or anything, but they were definitely upper middle when it came to companies. They just blew up, and even expanded overseas.
The two immediately payed back the initial investment Lars provided, and even gifted him a 30% share of each of their companies, which Lars tried to refuse, but since they both threatened to cut relations with him if he didn't accept, he relented.
In any case, Lars considered the debt repaid with that, and he was also happy that he could meet up with the two more frequently, since they had a bit more freedom by then.
But his two friends never really thought that they had already repaid their debts. They felt incredibly guilty when they received anything from Lars.
'If you're gonna feel guilty over stupid shit like that, why the hell aren't you guys sorry for troubling me with your drunken crap all the time!?' Lars cursed at the two inwardly. But eventually, he ended up smiling warmly, thinking back to all the shit they got up to. 'Who needs hoes when you've got bros.'
While Lars was pondering over whether he should consider being a poet, his phone got a notification. Lars felt a bit buzzed, but not enough to stop caring about the possibility of someone from work emailing or calling him. It has happened plenty of times, someone calling at the dead of night, while he was coincidentally drunk, or trying to pick up girls. Or possibly having already picked up a girl.
Lars grumpily looked at the notification, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.
'It's actually from Dungeon Soft Inc.? Is this legit?' Lars pondered, any trace of drunkenness was replaced by excitement. He quickly checked some of the emails he saved in the past, to check the authenticity of the sender. 'It's actually them! It's from the same address as the previous emails!'
Dungeon Soft Inc. was the creator of Lars' favorite game, Dungeon Invasion. Lars had started playing it the moment it came out when he was 15, all the way till the game shut down for some reason when he was 20. It had been 3 years since the game shut down, and Lars really missed playing it.
The game, Dungeon Invasion, sounded like a generic dungeon building game, but it wasn't just that. It had superb graphics, and bugs were practically unheard of. It had a bit of a gacha mechanic, but even if your luck was horrible the game had multiple ways for you to get around that if you were skilled enough. The game was highly competitive in nature and... Well, Lars could go on and on about it all day. He just loved the game. The game was top-notch in a lot of aspects, but there was another reason why he was so attached to it.
It was because he was the undisputed #1 player, worldwide.
His Dungeon, was never defeated. Not even once.
And as for the Invasion aspect of the game, he didn't have a 100% invasion success rate, but it was pretty up there!
He had the most number of Heroic-grade units out all the other players in the world.
He had the most difficult dungeon territory, which was unanimously agreed upon by the top players at the time.
And his Dungeon has never been defeated! Not even once!
Oh, was that mentioned already? Well, was it also mentioned that his Dungeon was never even challenged?
That's right! Nobody had even entered his Dungeon Proper. All potential challengers were vanquished while trying to pass through the territory and it's outer guardians before they even saw the entrance to the actual Dungeon.
This was the pinnacle of Dungeons!
Lars wholeheartedly believes that the best Dungeons are those that are never challenged. He started playing this game with that mentality and actually pulled it off to perfection!
Truly the #1 Player!
Although, let us ignore the miniscule, chance that his Avatar may not be the strongest...
'B-but it was a Dungeon builder game! Not an MMORPG! The strength of your Character shouldn't matter! It's all about the Dungeon!' Lars argued to empty air.
After reminiscing about the good ol' days, Lars finally remembered the email that was sent by his Gods. He opened it with reverence, and scanned it with his eyes.
----------------------------------------
Greetings Player Number: 000000706, ID: [xX-Larz-Xx],
We would once again like to thank you for your dedication to playing our game, while it was running.
We would also like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by our sudden action of shutting down all servers.
As someone who had spent so much effort on improving your Dungeon and it's various aspects, we feel that it was truly unfair to you.
Once again, we apologize.
Upper management were astonished that someone could accomplish so much, given the short span of 5 years. Especially since your average daily play time was only around 8 hours.
With that said, we would like to inquire if you would be interested in participating in a survey.
This is in relation to the continuation of the game, so it would really be an enormous help, if we could receive feedback from the game's TOP PLAYER.
Upper management has decided to make an exception, and has allowed you to play a continuation of the game.
You would still keep everything you've built up of course. We do not wish to erase all your hard work and dedication.
Please answer the survey sincerely.
P.S - Here is the link to the survey: www.DungeonInvasion.com/survey-player#000000001
Dungeon Soft Inc.
Dungeon Invasion's Lower Administrative Team
----------------------------------------
"Wow." Lars unconsciously blurted out.
His eyes didn't even travel towards al the useless stuff, like the address and whatnot. The message, the beef of the email, was all he paid attention to.
He was also mercilessly reminded of that crappy username that his stupid fucking 15 year old self picked.
'Fuck you, 15-year old me.' Lars cursed at his past self. After about a year of playing, he had realized that the name he picked was really cringey, and wanted to change it.
Unfortunately there was no such thing as a Name Change.
And he couldn't just delete his account and start over.
So he had begrudgingly played while praying that Dungeon Soft added a Name Change feature someday.
There were people who made fun of his name...
And he made sure to repeatedly crush those people's Dungeons with the force of a thousand armies.
He didn't care if he was seen as petty, or if he didn't get anything form taking down weaker people.
Everybody had a sore spot.
If Lars was a Dragon, then his username was his reverse scale!
Lars quickly snapped out of his thoughts about his dark past and clicked the link to the survey. It immediately redirected to a certain page, but for some reason it was taking along time to load.
It had kept loading for 10 minutes.
"Why the fuck is the internet so slow now of all times!?!" Lars couldn't help but scream in impatience. Just as he was about to channel his inner Karen, and call his internet service provider, the page finally loaded.
"Let's fucking go!" Lars quickly scanned the contents of the page.
----------------------------------------
Greetings, Player: [xX-Larz-Xx]
Partly due to the numerous emails you've sent us, regarding a request for a [Name Change] function.
It has come to our attention that you have regrets over the username you initially chose.
Before we start the survey , would you like to change your username?
[YES] [NO]
----------------------------------------
Lars didn't even need to think about it, he immediately pressed the Yes button.
----------------------------------------
Please type your new username below:
_______________
----------------------------------------
Lars immediately typed in a new name.
----------------------------------------
Please type your new username below:
Larz-sama
----------------------------------------
"Lol. Okay I better stop fucking around. If I accidentally press enter, I'd really kill myself." Lars chuckled and carefully pressed the backspace button. Then he typed in his real name.
----------------------------------------
Please type your new username below:
Lars Cromwell
----------------------------------------
"Okay." Lars smiled, satisfied that he wouldn't have to see that blasted cringe fest of a name ever again. He pressed enter.
----------------------------------------
Greetings, Player: [Lars Cromwell]
Please answer the question below as sincerely as you can.
Question
Assume that you were given a chance to live in a Fantasy world of Swords and Magic, as the Dungeon Master of the Dungeon you created, together with the Heroic-grade, Elite-grade and Soldier-grade units that you have cultivated.
Would you take the chance, knowing that you would never see the people you know from this world?
[YES] [NO]
----------------------------------------
Lars stared blankly at the question for a while. He had answered surveys for things before, but he had never been asked just one question for any of them. Furthermore, for the question to be so strange.
"Hmmm..." Lars rubbed his chin while pondering about what his answer would be. Despite the seemingly goofy question, Lars still decided to answer it seriously.
He began to think about the things that mattered to him in this world. Lars didn't have any parents anymore, nor did he have any relatives he was close to. He didn't particularly have any big dreams or aspirations. Lars was a frugal person at heart, so he never wished for extravagance. In fact, most of the money he got from his parents and the jobs he took, weren't really used for the most part. It was enough that he ate decent food, lived in a decent home, and wore decent clothes. Naturally, his computer had to be super high-tech, and his internet provider had to be the best in the country. Other than that, he never really spent much on anything. He didn't succumb to any of girlfriends' needling for expensive stuff, and dumped them before he got in too deep.
As for his love life, he didn't have any. He played around and had fun, but nothing serious. It wasn't like he didn't want a serious relationship, just that he didn't click with anyone enough to want to start one.
In the end, Lars' only attachment to this world were his two best friends. And maybe Pops from the restaurant, too.
Would he forgo going to a fantasy world with his beloved creation, just to stay with them?
The answer was a resounding NO.
It wasn't because he didn't care about his friends much, or anything like that.
It was simply because his friends didn't really need him. They were big boys now. Successful big boys. They would be okay even without him.
Lars believed that his friends were the type of people that would still end up successful somehow, even if you threw them in a deserted island.
And another reason was that, he had always been a bit envious of his friends.
Watching them doing something they loved, Lars thought that he wanted something like that for himself too. He just didn't really have any ambition, nor interest in much of anything. He didn't have any goals to strive towards. He was envious of them because they could feel a sense of achievement for the stuff they succeeded in, while also enjoying the journey to get there.
Lars was proud of them as their friend, but he was seriously longing for something like what they had.
The only place that he had felt accomplishment was Dungeon Invaders.
Every time some schmuck waltzed up to try to take down his Dungeon, but ended up getting stopped before they could even see the entrance to the Dungeon Proper, he always felt a rush of Pride.
HE had been the one to create this.
That's why, when the game shut down, Lars felt like he had lost a part of himself. He just drifted around, doing whatever, playing around with girls and horsing around with the boys. It all felt so empty to him.
So without much hesitation, he clicked YES.
----------------------------------------
Thank you very much for answering the survey.
We will inform you of the Dungeon Invasion's continuation soon.
๐
----------------------------------------
Lars read the message with blank eyes.
'That's it...?' He thought. But then he shrugged. 'Well, I don't know what I was expecting. But I guess they'll just inform me of whatever they'll inform me of...?'
Lars was a disappointed. He really wanted to get back to playing the game. To being the Master of the Dungeon.
'But I suppose I'll have to wait.' Lars smiled put his phone on top of his bedside table. The drowsiness that had been blown away by Dungeon Soft's email had returned at some point.
He curled up to sleep without even changing his clothes. It didn't even take him a minute, and he had already drifted off to dreamland.
Lars slept comfortably, until for no apparent reason, he stopped breathing.
Lars Cromwell, winner of a billion dollars, after a night of merry-making with his two best friends, died in his sleep.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------