real world, Kai Maddox
What?! No—the light! I have to move!
Sheko's thoughts were frantic as he watched the supposedly subdued boss escape its prison—not through sheer force like before but by unleashing a suicidal torrent of magic. It poured out, raw and uncontrolled, from every possible outlet, as if the Alicorn’s very existence was tearing apart.
The beating heart Sheko had heard earlier was fake. His ragged breaths were unnecessary. Yet, in that moment, none of it mattered. Details blurred into the singular reality that he was fighting for his life. His body, patched together through the artificial means of potions, protested against his desperate movements. Twisting to gather speed, he aimed to escape the deadly light.
He knew he was doomed. Somewhere deep down, a part of him recognized the falseness of it all. But as the Alicorn’s magic tore through him, the phantom pain felt horrifyingly real. He couldn’t run any longer. The light consumed him entirely.
And then, silence.
Kai was back in his room, staring blankly at a black screen. The words Death Penalty glared at him, the timer beneath reminding him of what he already knew five minutes ago. He had lost. The Alicorn had killed him. He had failed.
For the first minute, Kai lay completely still, as though frozen in time. His motionlessness might have been mistaken for sleep. But then, silently and without warning, a tear traced down his cheek.
He didn’t sob. He didn’t scream. He just let the tears fall, slow and steady. Failure pressed heavily on him as he replayed the fight, trying to dissect every decision, every move, every moment. His mind always circled back to the phase change—the kick that should have killed him.
Someone had saved him. He didn't fail once he failed twice.
Who even saved me?
Kai’s thoughts raced. Mai is the most likely... but I don’t think her Venomancer or Alchemist jobs could do something like that. Raggedy patched the hole in my chest, sure, but she only healed the damage after it happened. There’s no way I could’ve survived that hit. It had to be the scale—the one I didn’t notice in my bracer. But... where did it come from?
He had checked all his equipment before the raid. It wasn’t there when he logged in. It wasn’t there after helping Mai with her poison either.
The events following that moment felt muddled, like a cheap battle anime lazily reusing footage. The memories refused to line up, frustratingly fragmented. Still, some parts were clearer. He berated himself for trying to block the crystals with the borrowed sword.
What was I even thinking? Not only had it failed, but now i owe even more.
Unless... unless I’ve doomed the raid entirely. What if Emilia and Nue died because of me?
In the chaos of battle, Kai had believed he was truly fighting for his life. And if he had died a “fake” death in what felt like a real fight, didn’t that mean the others had been in a real fight too? Were Emilia and Nue—fake or not—sacrificed because of his mistakes?
He thought of everyone’s sacrifices, of the risks they had taken. And now, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that he had wasted all of it.
The path in front of him began to clear. He needed to get stronger.
For a brief moment, everything clicked. Years of martial arts training resurfaced in his mind—techniques he could still recall and emulate, albeit to an embarrassing degree. His awareness, already sharp in real life, was further enhanced by the game’s special abilities. Coupled with the avatar’s body, optimized to assist rather than hinder him, he felt invincible.
His stats in the game would improve over time, making him stronger. But it wasn’t just about numbers. When he could bring his full focus, skill, and physical enhancements together, the results would be exponential.
Tomorrow… no, not tomorrow. Today. I will start training again. I can do this for myself. It will be good.
Kai knew he was deluding himself, imagining himself as some competent fighter in real life. He understood—or at least hoped he did—that these fantasies were born more from boredom than reality.
What he did know was that real-life combat wasn’t his thing. He enjoyed casual scuffles with friends, but he had never and would never enter a real fight. Yet, even knowing this, the resolve to start again—to train and improve—felt like the first step toward something fulfilling.
Not wasting any more time, Sheko removed the helmet, wiped the tears from his face, and began doing sit-up crunches on his bed.
I’m allowing myself some leniency here, but hopefully, this will balance out by letting me do more when I’m not bothered by the feeling of the floor underneath me, he thought.
Normally, when a whim like this struck, he aimed for 50 sit-ups. But today, he decided to alternate between a few exercises he knew well, going for two minutes each with a half-minute pause in between. After so much time spent lazing around, the workout was excruciating. He hated every moment of it.
After 25 minutes, he thought he had done a reasonable amount of work for now. As the physical exertion started to take its toll, he noticed his thoughts settling, the stress from before gradually ebbing away. Lying on the cold floor for five minutes to rest, he felt oddly accomplished.
Finally, he stood up and put on his running shoes. They were lightly used despite being years old and fit a bit snug. When was the last time I even wore these? he wondered. Probably more than a year ago. Maybe even two.
Determined, he headed toward the front door but was intercepted by his mom, who noticed him from the couch.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
For once, Kai didn’t feel like he had to hide anything. “I’m going for a short run. I’ll probably be back in like half an hour. Maybe I’ll stay out a little longer.” He paused for a moment and added, “You can use my helmet while I’m gone. The death penalty timer won’t end until tomorrow anyway.”
“Alright, good. Have fun,” she replied, mumbling to herself about how nice it was that the game didn’t let him spend the entire day glued to it.
Once outside, Kai realized he hadn’t done any stretches yet. Awkwardly, he took a few minutes to prepare his muscles, hoping to avoid being terribly sore the next day. He skipped a few stretches he knew but couldn’t do very well, lamenting that he would almost definitely regret it later.
With the stretches done, Kai rushed down the walkway in front of his house, nearly falling in his carelessness. Damn it, I forgot it rained last night, he thought as his foot slipped. Catching himself at the last moment, he took a moment to check that nothing hurt before finally starting his run uphill toward the town center.
Known simply as "The Center," it was a small shopping hub with a handful of good restaurants unique to towns like his. Opposite the shopping center was a large grassy hill, carefully maintained year-round for the events held there every few months. These events were popular with the town, so much so that even recluses like Kai and Tsuno often ventured out to check them out. The music was always pleasant, and the vibe stayed relaxed, even when the organizers added elaborate light shows.
Today, however, was an ordinary day. No events, no crowds—just the familiar hill in the distance.
After a short, exhausting one-kilometer run—during which Kai huffed and paused far too many times—he finally reached the hill, standing on the other side of the road from him. There are a few sports devices in the corner near the playground at the top, I remember, he thought, catching his breath and gearing up for the next part of his journey.
He noticed something else midway up the grassy hill: a group of people around his age wearing long white pants and sleeveless sports shirts, all featuring the same or similar bold logos at their centers. They were old acquaintances from his days practicing capoeira. Normally, when he saw them, Kai tried to avoid them, embarrassed by the memory of why he had quit after years of practice.
It had been almost four years ago, a moment that stood out clearly in his mind despite so many other dates blurring together. It was during the summer break between 9th and 10th grade. Their trainer had received permission to use the school’s massive gym for practice and had even gone to the extraordinary effort of renting an inflatable trampoline for the occasion.
The practice itself had been fine until the trampoline came into play. His friends had been incredible that day, each showing off their skill and fearlessness. Their trainer—a huge, powerfully built man with a natural athleticism, not the overly sculpted look of a bodybuilder—had set the tone. With three bounds on the long track trampoline, he launched himself into the air, performing a corkscrew, landing smoothly before executing a backflip, a front flip, and finally finishing with an impeccably steady landing.
Kai’s nervousness grew with each display of talent, but he refused to back down. He told himself he would be failing himself if he didn’t at least try. The question of whether he could match even a fraction of what his friends and trainer were accomplishing felt too important to leave unanswered.
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But the answer turned out to be worse than the doubt.
Kai ran almost to the end of the trampoline, hesitating just before slowing down and awkwardly attempting a backflip. His spin was too slow. His head hit the trampoline with a crushing force, his pathetic momentum causing his entire body weight to collapse onto him.
The first second after the impact brought the worst pain he had ever experienced. Worse than the time he was kicked in the face. Worse than the time he cut himself with a Swiss army knife. And then, as if his body had given up, he assumed he went into some form of shock. He couldn’t move. Breathing became difficult. His vision blurred.
He barely remembered anything after that except the way he cried as his trainer and friends helped him, checking to make sure he was okay.
Kai never told his mom the real reason he quit, nor did he explain it to his friends or trainer. But he was sure they had figured it out on their own.
He had been stagnant, not setting out to change his situation. He thought the extra training their trainer had provided wasn’t essential for continuing. This, combined with the fact that Kai had been stuck in a mental rut for years, made him hesitant to push forward.
Even before quitting, Kai had struggled to progress beyond a sideways back jump into a handstand—a flashy way of admitting he couldn’t quite master a backflip. He let out a tired sigh as he thought about it all. After years of doing nothing, his only strength was his good memory, which allowed him to imitate what he had learned during training.
Finally, on the grass, he took a moment to make sure the group wasn’t paying particular attention to him. With a deep breath, he attempted a hand spin. His stance was off, but not terrible. His kick upward was half-hearted, and his second leg was slow to follow. He barely got his feet above his head before his balance broke, causing him to land awkwardly—stable but low.
This failure made him question his plans, but he knew the group was supportive. They wouldn’t belittle him for quitting or for asking to join after such a long time.
Kai looked towards the group once more, checking to see if they had noticed him. It didn’t seem so. He made his way up the slight incline, and thankfully, the only friend whose name he remembered stepped forward to greet him.
The next words surprised Kai.
“Would you like to join us? We have another half hour before we finish,” Tom asked, his voice tentative.
This scene had happened a few times over the years, even when Kai was still training, but his answer had always been "no."
The look of surprise on Tom’s face when Kai answered “yes” was priceless. However, there wasn’t much time to savor the moment, as they didn’t pause for long to let him get into the rhythm. Kai rushed to take off his shoes.
He always felt better training barefoot, and with the wet grass, the extra grip his bare feet offered would be necessary to avoid slipping and rolling down the hill.
Tom set the pace, and Kai was sure he wasn’t going easy on him. First came 100 straight kicks. Kai managed only 60 before he was back to huffing and puffing.
This brings back memories. It’s weird that I feel nostalgic about this, Kai thought to himself.
Next came five cycles of moving from one side of the hill to the other and back. They alternated between stances or took steps after a kick. It sounded simple, but with the others also tired from an hour of training before Kai joined, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. The whole remaining half hour was spent finishing this task.
With the hill being about 40 meters across, moving in a way that was similarly demanding to a crab walk, covering almost 400 meters in total wasn’t something to scoff at. Kai had to give up on finishing when he had just started the fifth cycle. As the others began to disperse, he caught Tom before he left and asked if he could plan something to train with them again.
Tom invited him to their chat group and told him they usually trained there every week. He also mentioned that their trainer was still teaching and would likely be happy to have Kai return.
However, Kai was apprehensive about the offer. His friends were one thing, but even though he knew his trainer wouldn’t care if he came back, there was always a sense of judgment in the trainer’s eyes whenever they ran into each other after Kai had quit. His trainer couldn’t force him to do what he believed was good for him, but Kai couldn’t shake the feeling that the man was still disappointed that Kai hadn’t made the decision to return on his own.
Tom had already left when Kai started to realize how pathetic he would sound if he explained that he wanted to train again because of a video game.
he didn't have much time to dwell on that when a notification went on his phone
```
Tam: "Kai, are you on right now?"
KaijuMonster: "I assume you mean on Dendro. Then no. How would I even answer if I was?"
Tam: "You can connect your phone to the helmet. I'll send you a link in a sec. Never mind that—did you catch that raid in Legendria?"
KaijuMonster: "How do you know about the raid? They probably just now finished."
Tam: "Wait, you were in the raid? Lucky! Since you aren't logged in, I assume you died. When was that?"
KaijuMonster: "Why? So you can chastise me? I don't think there's anything wrong with how I died. I was too close when the Alicorn changed to phase 3."
Tam: "Wait, wait! Don't spoil it for me. I'm at the cave-wide AoEs, just got to the part with the lightning storm. Where are you? I might be able to spot you."
KaijuMonster: "I'm really close to the Unicorn the whole raid, honestly—except, I guess, when it switched to phase 2. Where is the video perspective from? The entrance, I guess, is the best reference spot."
Tam: "Oh, it's really close to the entrance. I think it's nearby the raid leader's team."
KaijuMonster: "Finn's group? Oh, then you should at least keep watching for a minute. I'll wait; it's really cool."
While Tam went back to watching the video, Kai started checking the tutorial Tam had sent him for connecting his phone to his helmet.
Hmm, I'll probably want to disconnect it when I let Mom borrow it. Hopefully, it’s not too much of a hassle, he thought.
The tutorial was hosted directly on the official Infinite Dendrogram website—probably to prevent hackers from spreading malicious code—and was concerningly simple. According to the guide, there was a hidden port at the back of the helmet. The website made a specific statement noting that, unlike other modifications, accessing the helmet as shown in the tutorial was permitted. The company warned, however, that tampering beyond what was shown could lead to legal trouble, especially if there was any attempt to replicate the technology.
Curious, Kai clicked on the provided link explaining what constituted illegal tampering. The document was worryingly long and detailed. He was diligent when it came to legal agreements, so he took his time going over the finer points of the terms.
Engrossed in reading, he didn’t notice when Tam tried to get back to him—until his phone rang, snapping him out of his focus.
KaijuMonster: "Sorry, I was going over the tutorial while you caught up. Did you notice the anti-tampering agreement is like 20 pages long?"
Tam: "I didn’t worry about it too much. You were right—the lightning attack was cool! I didn’t see you, though. The Unicorn growing wings was brutal. Poor Sheko. I wonder what caused the focus on them."
KaijuMonster: "Dude... I’m Sheko. I have no clue what made it want me dead so badly. Honestly, everything after it kicked me into the wall is kind of a blur."
Tam: "BULLSHIT! You are not some acrobatic god. Did you somehow miss how to connect your phone to the helmet while downloading hacks?"
KaijuMonster: "Hey! I’ve been training for years in capoeira—before we even met! Don’t immediately disregard that. It’s a video game anyway. I bet that girl on the light monowheel doesn’t have a clue how to drive a bike in real life either."
Tam: "I doubt there’s any level of training someone can do in real life to get results like that. What build do you have, anyway? And your Embryo?"
KaijuMonster: "Oh yeah, I guess you don’t know—it evolved. Anyway, I took Knife Juggler as my second main job, and Odysseus got a new ability that links two marks together. Honestly, that’s how I did all the swinging... I think. It’s seriously blurry in my mind."
Tam: "Oh, I see. Okay, it makes a lot more sense if you had something pulling you back to make it look like you were flying instead of kicking that thing. Honestly, that evolution sounds fire. Wait—you said you died in the shift to the third phase. How?"
KaijuMonster: "Okay, so on the kicking thing—that’s where I’m most blurry. But I’m pretty sure I actually did kick it to gain distance. The fight in the air wasn’t that long—something like five minutes."
Tam: "Sounds brutal. Well, fine, I’ll come check your 'mad gamer skills' later to confirm. Are you planning to retry the raid?"
KaijuMonster: "Honestly, I was worried that after I died, they might’ve been wiped. But after taking some time to relax, I’m sure Finn, Prismo, and Emilia got it handled, together with whoever else was left. Mai wasn’t a great fighter, but she’s not reckless. She prepared more than I thought, so maybe she survived until the end too."
Tam: "Yeah, you’re probably right. I just got to the part where you died. Wow—they’re wrecking that baby Unicorn! I want to say it feels personal for your benefit, but I think everyone hates it by now. A healing raid boss? What bullshit."
KaijuMonster: "Right? Anyway, yeah, I guess I’ll check back with Mai and Emilia at the news office once I’m back. They probably got my loot. Emilia will probably hunt me down for losing that sword she gave me."
Tam: "Oh, yeah, that’s the woman with the giant sword—I can see it. Is that her Embryo? What sword did she give you?"
KaijuMonster: "It was called a ‘Whole Longsword.’ Bad name, but it had a really good ability. She’s not a player, though. She’s a reporter NPC."
Tam: "Oh, yeah, I heard about those. They became really cheap recently. Probably some Master got... Wait, what do you mean a reporter NPC? The woman who just picked up someone over level 500 and used him like a hammer is an NPC? By the way, someone just tried to steal your raid loot and got absolutely crushed. No clue how they’re still alive."
KaijuMonster: "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh... It’s that idiot Phantasm, isn’t it? I’ll put him on my list of grudges."
Tam: "Yup. Don’t worry—they got him. I don’t know what you meant about Mai. I think she’s just not the best for fighting bosses. But she landed the final hit on this guy—went through his giant shadow and hit him with a sock or something. LOL."
KaijuMonster: "Fair, well... It’s getting cold, so I better run back home."
Tam: "Do you mean figuratively or literally? I remember how you used to shortcut runs back in high school."
KaijuMonster: "Ha ha. Yes, literally. You saw what I did with the boss—I barely know how I did it. It was luck on all fronts. I want to actually be able to fight like that on command instead of hoping my body knows what to do—which apparently involves breaking every bone I have in the process."
Tam:"Alright good luck with that, bye for now see in class"
KaijuMonster:"Yeah see you in class"