Haruto Takeda stared blankly at the holo-screen, the flickering blue light casting eerie shadows across his cramped, cluttered apartment. The blinking notification was so out of place it felt surreal. He hadn’t touched a VRMMORPG in years—not since the incident. His old rig sat covered in dust in the corner, a relic of a time he’d tried so hard to forget. The message on the screen, though, was clear and impossible to ignore.

You’ve been invited to Ascension.

The words were enough to send a cold shiver down his spine. Ascension—the game that had defined his teenage years, the same game he had sworn to never touch again. It wasn’t just a VRMMORPG; it had been his world once. He was one of the top players, a name whispered with awe in the virtual corridors. But that was before everything went wrong. Before the tragedy that shattered not just his life, but his sense of reality.

He clenched his fists, eyes narrowing. The memory of his brother's face flashed in his mind, the echo of the accident that had stolen him away. Haruto had walked away from the game and from everything connected to it after that. For the past three years, he’d been living in self-imposed exile, refusing to even consider strapping on a VR headset.

Yet here it was—an invitation from a game that should have been forgotten. He swiped at the holo-screen, attempting to dismiss the message. But instead of closing, the notification flickered, a new line of text appearing in blood-red letters.

This time, there is no logout.

Haruto froze, his breath catching in his throat. No logout? That wasn’t just a glitch. VRMMORPGs always had multiple safety measures, and Ascension was no exception. For all its depth and realism, players could always log out at any time. This had to be a prank or some kind of system error. His finger hovered over the screen, uncertain.

Suddenly, the world around him began to blur. His apartment—the cold, dim place he called home—started to distort, the edges melting into darkness. Haruto stumbled back, panic rising in his chest. He blinked, trying to clear his vision, but the harder he tried, the more the room seemed to dissolve.

“No—no, no, no!” Haruto muttered, reaching out to steady himself. But there was nothing to grab. His legs buckled, and he fell to his knees as the entire world collapsed into a void.

Then, as abruptly as the darkness had come, it was gone. Haruto opened his eyes, the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding finally escaping in a ragged gasp. But the moment he did, he knew something was very wrong.

He wasn’t in his apartment anymore.

The first thing he noticed was the cold air biting at his skin. The second was the weight of his own body—the sensation was too real, too tangible. He looked down at his hands, flexing them slowly. They felt solid, like they had actual weight, unlike any VR experience he had ever had before. His senses were sharp, painfully so. He could feel the slight breeze against his face, smell the damp earth beneath him, and hear the distant murmur of voices and creatures beyond.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Haruto stood on the outskirts of a small village. The architecture was familiar: medieval-style wooden huts, cobbled roads, a small tavern in the distance. He recognized this place. It was the starter village in Ascension, the same one he had first spawned in years ago when he began his journey in the game. But something was off. The colors were muted, the atmosphere was heavy, oppressive.

Before he could fully process what was happening, a screen materialized in front of him, displaying the familiar Ascension interface—except it had changed.

Welcome, Haruto Takeda. You are now Level 1.

Level 1? Haruto blinked in confusion. That made no sense. He had once been a max-level player in Ascension, his character a force to be reckoned with. He had hundreds of hours of gameplay behind him, untold levels and skills honed to perfection. And yet here he was—back to Level 1, like a complete novice.

Before he could dig deeper into his status, another message appeared, its chilling words making his blood run cold:

Survive. Or Die for Real.

Haruto’s mind raced as the weight of the message sunk in. This wasn’t just a game anymore. Something had changed. If he died here... no, he couldn’t let that thought settle. He needed answers, fast. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on and why he was here in the first place.

He looked around at the other players scattered in the village, most of them with the same confused, unsettled expressions. A few were poking at their menus, trying to log out. Some had gathered in small groups, murmuring anxiously among themselves.

“Hey!” Haruto called out to the nearest player, a tall guy in a leather tunic. “Do you know what’s going on?”

The player shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. “I can’t log out,” he whispered. “I’ve tried everything. The interface is locked, and there’s no response. This can’t be happening. It’s supposed to be just a game!”

Haruto clenched his jaw. He had heard of glitches and bugs in other VRMMOs, but nothing like this. It was as if Ascension had rewritten its own rules. No logout. Level reset. And that ominous message about survival.

Panic was starting to set in among the other players. Some of them were shouting, demanding answers that no one had. Others were running for the village gates, likely trying to explore the area for clues. But Haruto wasn’t like them. He had experience, and despite his fear, he knew that panicking wouldn’t get him anywhere. If this world worked anything like it had before, then leveling up would be his first priority. The stronger he was, the better his chances of surviving.

But it wasn’t just that. There was something else lurking in the back of his mind, something dark and unsettling. If this was real—if dying in Ascension meant losing his life in reality—then who was controlling it? And why him?

Haruto’s thoughts were interrupted by the distant sound of footsteps—heavy, deliberate. He looked toward the edge of the village and saw them. Goblins. Dozens of them, riding massive wolves, their eyes gleaming with malice. They weren’t supposed to spawn this close to the starting area. This was a safe zone, meant for beginners to get their bearings. But the goblins didn’t seem to care about game mechanics anymore.

They were hunting.

The village erupted into chaos. Players screamed, scrambling for weapons they hadn’t yet acquired, while others ran in the opposite direction, hoping to escape the oncoming horde. Haruto’s heart pounded in his chest. This wasn’t a glitch. This was deliberate.

He needed a weapon. He needed to fight. But first, he needed to survive.

As the goblins closed in, Haruto’s mind went into overdrive. His years of gaming experience came flooding back. This was a death trap—but only if he let it be.

Time to move.

With a quick glance around, Haruto sprinted toward the nearest building, diving behind its crumbling stone wall. The goblins might be fast, but he was faster—if he stayed one step ahead.

His instincts screamed at him. This was no ordinary game.

And if the rules had changed, so would he.

End of Chapter.