CH 1
Some people are willing to do anything for enjoyment, even if it means putting themselves in danger.
And of course, I am not one of them…
—----------
The Fortress, the academy that formed humanity’s greatest hope, a place meant to nurture the youth of this generation and make them the pillars of society in the years to come. This academy is located at the center of the human nation and its borders are protected as if they were the borders of a superpower.
It sits on land the size of a small city, with all the necessary and recreational amenities, so that students rarely need to leave. The average time a student spends within the academy’s boundaries without leaving is four months, a testament to how well The Fortress was designed.
Students here learn everything important, everything humanity relies on to excel over other races. Without this academy and the outstanding students who graduate each year, humanity’s resistance against demons and other hostile races would be much weaker, and some border cities might even be captured.
In one of the dormitories of this academy, there was a certain student who managed to get in despite not being noble or wealthy. This student lay in his room, seemingly suffering from a severe headache, barely able to stay in place without screaming.
His name was Perrin Thorn, the son of a mercenary with above-average skills but not much talent.
Perrin wasn’t chosen for a scholarship because there were others more deserving, so his father had to take on a huge debt to get him in without recommendations. All this so that his son could be the hope of his humble mercenary group. But did Perrin want this? No.
But would he do everything he could? Yes.
No matter how cowardly or rude, the sacrifices his father made to put him in this dorm within the academy's boundaries were countless. Not giving his best would render him unable to sleep in the future. But currently, Perrin was facing immense pain, pain that almost made him scream out loud.
Strange memories were invading his mind, memories of someone not from his world and with no connection to it. Someone from a place so far away it made him doubt his reality and the importance of his life in this universe.
But this wasn’t the most significant impact right now. Perrin put one hand on his head, and the other was around his neck, trying to choke himself.
"This can't be real... this can't be real!"
The memories in his mind were of a person around his age on a planet called "Earth," a person who lived an ordinary life there and died in a car accident. This person worked in game production or creative production, the name isn’t important right now.
This person supervised several departments responsible for creating a specific game story. The story writing team, the design team, and the art team…
All these teams worked hard to create a realistic game aimed at entertaining the audience and, of course, making some money. And the story they created was about... this world...
Perrin’s life, all the hardships he and his father went through, the millions of victims from all the demon attacks… Everything in this world, all the achievements, pains, sacrifices, sweat, and blood!
Everything was just a game to a random person!
A game they played, enjoyed, got bored of, and then forgot forever, a temporary pleasure for one person based on the sweat and blood of billions of humans in this world!
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Sweat and blood!
A strange foam came out of his mouth after a short while, and he felt himself choking. He couldn’t breathe, how could he when these memories had just attacked him?
He ran immediately to the nearby bathroom, opened the faucet to clear his throat and breathe again. While doing so, he was lost in his thoughts, all his worries had already disappeared and all that was left were thoughts of self-denial.
His initial reaction was to deny these memories, but he found them too detailed to be a mere illusion. The memories of someone who lived for about forty years had just flooded his mind, he saw this person’s youth, his university days.
He saw this person writing the story of this world in one of his notebooks before bed, then later turning those notes into a game.
Ironically, Perrin was a nobody even in the game, actually more than that, he didn’t exist at all! Just a character designed to populate the game, a filler to make the game seem lively and for the player to interact with.
Perrin vomited the dinner he had eaten before sleeping the previous night, starting to feel insane.
"I won't allow this… I won't allow this…" his voice was trembling, unable to accept what was happening. He would have accepted it more if he were the hero of the game, for instance, or a main character, but he wasn’t.
His existence was meaningless, he was just data made up of zeros and ones in a random data storage. Everything around him was made up of zeros and ones, how could he take anything seriously after knowing this?
Reviewing the memories in his brain once again, he became certain that what he was experiencing wasn’t an illusion. It was a strange feeling, he wanted to reject it but all the evidence proved otherwise.
He wanted to forget, but there was no possible way to do so.
"This can't be... this can't be..."
He shivered as he thought about what to do next. How could he continue his life normally after all this? Impossible.
He no longer thought about his previous desires, he just wanted to prove that he was important, not someone existing for a purpose that wasn’t even secondary. A real person with desires that weren’t imposed on him…
In the game itself, there are three endings.
'If I want to prove my existence... and reject these strange memories, I have to create a fourth ending myself…'
Someone without any power trying to challenge the world’s context, how ironic…
From this point forward, there is no stopping... there is a point to reach...
=+=
I washed my face thoroughly, drank some water, then went to rest on the bed I had only slept on once.
"I…"
Ironically, these were the first coherent words to come out of my mouth after all that… I.
"It seems that my ego is what's driving me after all…" I put my hand on my head to rest it, I had just woken up and I was already tired.
I lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling of the room with boredom, or so it appeared outwardly. My mind entered a state of chaos, I didn't even know what to think about now, what to do?
Should I go out to search for a cheat item to make me stronger? I knew this term from the works watched by the unknown person whose memories attacked me.
In that world, the entertainment industry had reached extremely high peaks, and its development was incomparable to this world. I found in some of those fictional stories wisdom and advice that were not just fantasies, but things that could be considered treasures here.
It was truly unfortunate that this game was made with maximum difficulty, and there was no easy way to move forward in it. The first and easiest thought that crossed my mind was to kill the game's main character, it was really the easiest way to create a fourth ending.
But there were two questions that determined the seriousness and success of this idea:
1- Could I really do it? With my skills?
2- Was I brave enough?
The answer to both questions was a big "no."
First, the MC's ability was too strong, otherwise, he wouldn’t be the hero, to begin with, this was a game, not a story.
The MC finds a steady and easy way to level up unlike the others, people in reality have to understand their skills well to develop, and that requires unbelievable intelligence and adaptation. And since excessive complexity makes the game less popular, the MC wouldn’t face those problems.
Also, due to his exceptional skill, the MC wouldn’t have difficulty fighting some people stronger than him, he was a real miracle.
Strength, wisdom, and appearance… he defeated me in all areas completely and overwhelmingly. As for the second question... killing him from behind might be hard but still possible, but…
His death now would cause widespread destruction around the world, as he was the only one capable of defeating the ultimate enemy.
No matter how strong a person was, without a way to prevent the regeneration and destruction of that giant creature’s cells once and for all, it was impossible to defeat it.
And what a coincidence! One of the MC's abilities was to destroy cells! What a plot twist…
I covered my face with my hands, feeling the tears forming.
"I wish I hadn't gotten these memories…"
I was completely mentally destroyed, it was impossible to return to the same peace I once had.
***
The sunlight woke me up once again, the summer heat made sleeping again impossible, and I didn’t feel sleepy anymore. Despite that, I didn’t get up from the bed.