Rain drizzled from the sky. It was a dark day.

My Ferrari came to a stop as I stepped out, the soft pitter-patter of rain hitting the sleek, red surface. The wet reflection in the side mirror reminded me that life had not always been this successful, but now it was. Opportunities were flooding in, making me something big. I flew to this country for my kickboxing match, and yesterday I bought this car to celebrate my victory.

My lips curled into a satisfied smile as I walked over to a nearby vending machine, enjoying the cool rain on my skin.

I tapped the machine for my favorite soda, listening to the hum of its mechanics before it dispensed the can. While I waited, my gaze flickered across the street and noticed a group of girls eyeing me, giggling among themselves. I gave them a little wave, which made their laughter grow louder.

Life’s good.

I opened the can and took a long sip, savoring the sweet and fizzy taste. When I lowered the can from my lips, my phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket and answered only when I recognized the number. "Sup?"

"No. Where are you? We're all waiting for you here!" the voice on the other end said, a hint of impatience in their tone.

I glanced at my watch and shrugged. "Calm down now, I’m almost there. Just grabbed a drink real quick. Be there in five."

I hung up and slipped the phone back into my pocket, taking another sip of the soda as I turned to head back to my car. As much as I loved life, it was a bit too busy. Sometimes I wondered if things were better before. Not that I’d ever want to return to that kind of poor life.

“Mhm,” I hummed and stepped into the street. Then, out of nowhere, a loud horn blared, interrupting my thoughts. I froze. My heart skipped a beat and I snapped to the side.

A truck, large and growing larger, was rushing toward me. Shit. Time seemed to slow down, the sound of the horn deafening my ears as the realization of what was about to happen sunk in. I was stunned, too late to move, but my honed reaction time still made my feet move on their own.

Unfortunately, there was no escape. All I could do was watch in horror as my world came crashing down around me.

The impact was brutal. The violent collision sent me sprawling across the pavement, and shouts of shock spread across the street, but my ears didn’t pick on any of them. My ears only rang in panic. Pain exploded through my body as I lay there, the rain hitting my face like cold tears. The world seemed to cry because I didn’t, as everything became blurry.

****

That did not kill me… but I wish it had. It took everything but my life.

The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from the flickering monitor in front of me. Piles of empty energy drink cans cluttered my desk, twenty-six to be exact, showing how much time I’ve spent on this. The air was stale, filled with the metallic scent of the drinks and the faint odor of sweat. My once-pristine gaming chair was now worn and torn, creaking with every movement I made.

“Oh, man,” I leaned back in my chair, savoring the brilliant end screen. This game had one of the best credit pages ever. Despite seeing it for the 17th time, I wasn’t bored. “I wish more games were like this,” I yawned, stretching my arms. The lack of sleep over the last few days had taken its toll.

“Hmm, has it been three days now?” Time flew when you spent it doing something you love, and this game had grown into something that I dreamed about.

[Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God].

It was such a good game that I couldn’t stop playing. I had tried other games after obtaining all the achievements in this one, but nothing scratched the itch.

I hadn’t felt this passionate about something since my last kickboxing match four years ago… Well, by now it felt like a distant memory. The injury on my leg made it so that I could barely walk, let alone fight. Thinking back to those days, inside the ring, it felt like the scenes from a movie I’d watched one too many times.

“....”

I let out a sigh, my bright mood from a moment ago ruined. It was never wise to think about those memories. It’s just regretful that I, who was rising to the peak of the world, had been reduced to this; living life not like a human but like a bin of garbage.

From a rising star to the bottom of society.

Shaking my head, I got up from my old, torn chair for the first time in 72 hours and limped to the washroom. Washing my face calmed me a bit. Returning to my desk, I noticed my phone screen was alight.

“A notification?” I had all my spam turned off, so it had to be a message. I grabbed the phone and was surprised to see who it was. “A text from Aeth123?”

He was a friend I made online in a forum related to the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God. We clicked well, but we hadn’t talked in weeks. I assumed he’d lost interest, like my real-life friends. But reading his texts, it seemed he was just busy.

More importantly, he had a game suggestion for me.

[Aeth123: Hehe, this one’s interesting. It’s a bit different from ‘Demon God,’ the entire world is different, but it’s still quite enjoyable. I think you’ll like it. Will you play it?]

It wasn’t even officially launched yet, it turned out, and I failed to recall hearing any news about it ever. But Aeth123 played and liked it. His previous suggestions were decent, so this couldn’t be too bad. Since he liked it enough to recommend it while it was still in early beta, it was probably good, right?

I sat down in my chair again, deciding to catch some sleep after trying a short game. Soon, the game screen loaded in front of me.

****

Darkness.

For a moment, everything was dark. Then, ambient sound filled my ears and light fell over my closed eyelids. The chirping of birds, the clinking of chandeliers from the wind coming through the windows, and the humming of a person.

My eyes snapped open, and a grand ceiling greeted me. “What the…!” I rasped in shock, quickly realizing I spoke in an accent far from my own. I shut my lips quickly.

“Huh?” from the side, I heard someone speak. Slowly turning my head, I found a brown-haired man in a butler uniform holding a broom and cleaning the floor. Well, he wasn’t cleaning right now, his body was paused, and he seemed like a statue in all except for his face that twisted in expression. “T-the, the young master woke up!”

What now?

What’s going on?

The thing I remember was… writing a review?

In less than a minute, the room was filled with more people than I had seen in the last few months. A bunch of doctors, a bunch of butlers and maids, and a middle-aged couple. Couple who started calling me their son.

“Oh, my baby, what happened to you?! Are you alright now?!” The middle-aged woman hugged me tightly the moment the doctors backed off. The middle-aged man, his expression stern, rather focused on the things the doctors had to say.

I barely maintained my calm and tried to process this all. It was a bit too sudden for me. What’s this, transmigration? Really? Or did I drink too many energy drinks and am hallucinating a whole different life, instead of just imaginary wings?

“I see,” the middle-aged man suddenly said, his voice making the room quiet down. “Rithea, back off already. It’s because of you spoiling him that he’s turned out like this!”

Sleep deprivation was indeed known to cause hallucinations. Was that the explanation?

The woman hugging me stiffened but didn’t say anything to retort to that. She slowly backed off with a sigh, while the man looked down at me with a scowl, “You’re only 19, and yet you’re acting like this, Iskandaar? While your elder brother and sister are making the name Romani shine in Waybound.” he scoffed, “If you don’t take this family’s honor seriously, then the next time you pass out in the middle of the street after playing around with women and alcohol, Sir Rashid al-Faris won’t bring you back!”

“….”

He yapped a lot, but only three words registered in my head. Iskandaar? Romani? Waybound? There’s no way, no fucking way… The possibility made me shake. Only the Romani Family in this western continent had people with arabic-names.

No way. Why was I hallucinating about that damned game that Aeth123 recommended?

The middle-aged man continued shouting, but my mind was somewhere else entirely. Let’s backtrack a little. Starting with…

That game, [Arcane Crown], was utter trash.

I rarely had rage bursts during gaming anymore, but perhaps the lack of sleep had gotten to my head. I remember my keyboard was split in two before me, and I was glaring at the screen.

I, who beat the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God, one of the hardest games of the decade, 17 times, couldn’t kill a boss after hours? Ridiculous. The fight mechanics were trash. I wish that was the only weak point of the game.

What in the shonen power-of-friendship was the plot? I really thought all that died with Fiery Tael back in the day.

Then the Academy. Did the writer even attend a high school? No, more plausibly he went to an all-boys school, there was no other explanation for how the characters acted in the Academy.

The game did have some good points, such as the world-building, as well as the graphics, along with some really good characters, but every major thing in the game was bad. I recall cursing in my head, how can Aeth123 recommend such trash to me? Is this some kind of petty revenge for something I did?

In the end, my rage got the better of me. I installed a second keyboard and started typing. I had to admit that I was not in my right mind and was frustrated; I needed to release it so I wrote a very detailed review of the game on his DMs. After half an hour of typing, I clicked ‘send’ on the thousand-word plus rant.

I was too sleepy, but I forced myself awake for Aeth123 to see and read it. Soon, I received the message I had been waiting intently for. Surely, he must share my hate for this trash.

[Aeth123: …If you have so much to say about it, how about you go and change it?]

Huh? I recalled scowling at that text. What is this punk- My confusion turned to panic then as my eyes spun, and I fell to the side. I recalled my chair tossing over, and my head hitting against the tile floor. For a moment, I smelled the ever-so-familiar smell of blood, and everything went dark.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“....”

Then, I woke up here.

What the hell was going on?

“...If you’re so addicted to women, then so be it. I shall get you engaged as soon as possible!” the middle-aged man seemed to have had enough as he turned around, stomping on the floor. “Rithea, let’s go. You’re not allowed to meet him for the rest of the week.”

“B-but…!” the woman tried, but one glare from the man had her quiet down. She sighed before following behind him.

“Damn, Lord Count is really pissed this time,” one of the maids whispered, but it did reach my ears still. The butler beside her pinched her waist, and she quickly shut her lips. The doctors cleared their throats and looked at me.

“Your health is alright, young master, at least as alright as it usually is,” one of the doctors said, one with a mustache and a bald head. “But please, take better care of yourself. Your bones are weak from birth, what if you had broken your skull by falling to the cobblestone street? You were really lucky this time. Please rest for a few days before you try to run around.”

Huh, the hallucination even has a comprehensive plot going on. The body’s owner died, and I took over? What a clear hallucination…

“....”

What if all of this is real?

The prospect made me pause. My blood felt hot suddenly, the possibility that I’d been yanked from my ruined life, my ruined legs, and put in a new body. Could all of this be real? I felt adrenaline rush through my veins, it was odd to feel such adrenaline after so many years.

I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and reopened them. Let us assume… that this wasn’t a dream or hallucination, and act accordingly for now.

“…Understood,” I said. Then the doctors excused themselves, and the butlers and maids followed suit. One of them told me to call them any time I needed them, but I barely heard that.

My mind was busy with something more important. Contemplation. Iskandaar Romani, from the Romani Count family? I didn’t recognize the character Iskandaar, but I recognized the family.

It was a noble family from the game, [Arcane Crown]. I… I am inside the game world now. That text from Aeth123 was real? Who- no what the fuck is he?

Unless this was a dream or hallucination, he seemed likely the primary candidate behind my situation. Although there’s a slim chance all of this was a coincidence.

“No, no, wait,” I murmured to myself. “He said he was busy working on something for the past few weeks, and then he suddenly comes out with a game… maybe he is one of the devs? Damn. Might be why he could give me a game that I’ve never heard of, even if it is in early beta…”

Ah, shit.

Truthfully, I don’t know much about Aeth123. He’s always been a little weird and mysterious, so he might just be a big game developer who didn’t want to leak his identity; I wouldn’t be surprised. So assuming he indeed is a part of the developer team for this game, it was my responsibility as his keyboard friend to warn him about this…. Damn, was I too harsh?

Regardless of my shock, I began to go through the information I had about the Romani Family in my head. It was a family that birthed one of the heroine candidates, as well as a minor villain. Heroine Riasmin, and her brother, the minor villain Iaskin. If I remember correctly, Iaskin made the grave mistake of teaming up with a major villain who was later defeated by the main characters, and his older sister Riasmin begged the main character to spare his life.

“Please, I already lost my youngest brother two years ago, I can’t lose him too! My family will be devastated.” – this was how Riasmin begged the main character to spare her brother’s life in the game. And yet, the main character proceeded to cut off one of his hands as a punishment.

Thinking about it, that was quite ruthless. Well, not as ruthless as when one of the other heroine candidates got jealous of Riasmin and decided to ruin the Romani Count family. The family got into trouble, and it affected Riasmin’s mentality negatively. Due to her change in mentality, the main character quit being interested in her, and at that moment, the opposing heroine chose to reveal Iaskin’s past affiliation with the already-defeated major villain to the entire world. That was how the Romani Count family fell.

In short, this was a family destined for ruin.

Now, I had become the youngest member of it, Iskandaar Romani, the one who had already died before the game started. “Goddammit,” I grumbled. Why am I in this world? I wish I was sent to a Murim Cultivation world, instead. My love for Fantasy was low.

Even worse, I was in the body of a cripple? The doctor said I had weak bones from a young age. No wonder I felt like shit in this body, I had a stupid chronic illness. Who knows if I’ll survive if some old lady accidentally bumped into me? What a piece of work.

“....”

I sighed and fell on my back, feeling the soft pillow embrace my head... Surprisingly, the pillows of this medieval-like world were quite soft. Maybe it’s not that bad. Besides this was a second chance at life, I shouldn’t spit on its face. Maybe I could make things right this time. I was ill, but this was a world of magic. I could probably find a cure…

I laid there for a minute and got up. I realized how true that thing about my soft bones was when I stood on my feet. I was wobbly. This Iskandaar’s legs were almost as bad as my own legs since I was released from the hospital after a ‘successful recovery’. I could walk, but barely.

Putting those thoughts away, I slowly walked over to the window facing a grand garden outside. The smell of flowers, nature’s beauty, was a little startling for someone like me who hadn’t seen the sunlight in a long time. Huh. This place looked a lot more beautiful than the medieval times I saw in picture books; it was as beautiful as the game.

Was I really inside a game world now, or would I wake up all of a sudden and find that this was a dream? If this was real, how about Status? Can I access the Game Status page here?

“…Status.” Unwilling to embarrass myself, I whispered softly.

Immediately, a blue screen popped in front of me.

Name: Iskandaar Romani (???)

Age: 19 years

Race: Human

Level: 2 | 36% EXP

Mana: Nonexistent

Class: [Level Requirement Not Met]

Class Skills: [None]

General Skills:

The Heavenly Demon Skill Tree [0%]

Status Effect: Weak Bone Syndrome [Severe]

“What?” I blinked. What the hell was that in the skill section? Was I seeing things, or was that proof enough that this was a hallucination? I reached out a finger and clicked on it.

Then, I fell to the floor, as unimaginable pain bloomed in my brain. My head felt like it was splitting in two, and I grumbled on the floor, rolling from one side to the other, my eyes going bloodshot.

Painful, painful, painful…!

Memories, not one but two sets, began to swirl in my head. Five seconds into it, I realized such pain couldn’t be fake, this was real. All of this was real.

It seemed seeing the Status Page was some type of activation mechanism. All the memories of Iskandaar Romani began to flood my brain, flashing images in front of my eyes that I’ve never lived, a different childhood I didn’t remember, friends I never talked to, and faces that were all new to me—all of these began to fill my head to the brim.

Then, just when I thought it ended, another set of memories was pushed inside. The Heavenly Demon of the Murim God Cult, the Cult Leader Lee Cheon-Ma, nested his knowledge in my head. Rather than all kinds of memories that I received about Iskandaar, mundane or otherwise, I only received memories related to Murim, medical techniques, and the general idea of martial arts from the Heavenly Demon. The specifics were less.

That was fine with me since I knew all about the Heavenly Demon like the back of my hand, I had cleared the game 17 times after all. I knew Lee Cheon-Ma better than he knew himself… and I was grateful since fewer memories meant less pain.

Still. Memories of two characters, one of the body I currently occupied, and the other from the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God made their home in my head.

“What the hell…” I cursed and slowly got up from the floor, looking around to realize the sun was far from the position it was at earlier. It’s been hours since I fell on my knees.

I looked at my hands, fascinated. Knowledge of two worlds, three if I count my original, now rested in my head and made up my whole being. How interesting was that?

If it was like this, it wasn’t impossible to make use of this weak body to rise through the steps. The Heavenly Demon knew how to cure simple weak bones. Since I had the knowledge of the Heavenly Demon, I could not only stop the fall of this family, to which my own fate was intertwined but also reach the peak of both worlds.

Insanity.

****

The [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God].

A masterpiece; that was what this was. Everything from the fights to the world-building was perfected to an uncanny degree. I felt like part of the Murim, also known as the Wuxia Cultivation world, when playing the game.

The idea of a Heavenly Demon came from korean martial arts novels and instantly gained popularity. Murim. Compared to Chinese Wuxia and Xianxia novels where Demonic Martial Arts existed too, in Murim it was a lot more fleshed out. Just the sheer pressure behind just the title of the Demon of Heaven made it all that clear.

This world, [Arcane Crown], saw demons as a general enemy. The final boss, although I didn't get to fight him, was a Demon King, as well. There were also 72 Demon Kings of Hell. It was a typical fantasy game, although with some major unique additions.

Between the Demon King and the Heavenly Demon, anybody would choose the second, because it's just so much better. Cooler, too. Well, anybody who knew his shit, anyway.

“The Heavenly Demon Skill Tree [1%]...” I read the line out loud again. A percentage had increased after I received all those memories. It seemed like my understanding of ‘martial arts’ as a whole concept, along with the other memories, made the percentage increase.

Having played the game 17 times, I knew all about the plot and about the main character, the Heavenly Demon. What I didn't know about was how the martial techniques really worked; after all, clicking the mouse and performing a technique was far different from actually knowing how it worked. Thankfully, these memories helped.

As for why the percentage was so low despite my knowing everything about martial arts, it's because it only gave me a general idea about ‘martial arts’ and ‘demonic arts’ and how to practice them on a basic level. Rather than information about how to perform the magnificent techniques of the Heavenly Demon.

If I had to guess, I'd say that as I level up, the System will grant me access to techniques on its own as the percentage would go up. But I'll have to actually level up to see if that theory was correct.

That's a little sad, I noted. Then again, it's not as if I could have used the techniques even if I did know how to. My body was too weak, and I didn't sense any form of energy in my body.

I was a Mana-less, Qi-less child.

Whatever the case, living in this world as a piece of trash might not be the worst thing. Such a mighty power on my fingertips would make things easier… hopefully. The scale of this world reached up to Gods, so I couldn’t be sure.

[...You have accepted your new reality.]

[Moving on to your tasks, your quest…]

My celebration was cut short when more blue boxes formed in my vision. It was true, I had accepted my reality, and the pain earlier helped. A bunch of messages greeted me first, and then some more. I looked at them and my expression soured.

[You've traversed to another world.]

[Your travel is not random but rather has a clear cause and effect. You have a role to play in saving this world from doom.]

[This Planet, Vear'thia, does not have an open ending. It has a true ending only through which this world can be saved. Please save the world.]

Main Quest: Reach the True Ending

Details: You're in the world of Vear'thia, which you know from a game you've played. Going by the terms of the game, this world has a dedicated true ending. If a wrong ending is reached, everything will meet its end, doomsday will come. It falls on your shoulders to save this world from imminent doom. Make a Cult: Save the World.

Reward: 1 Cosmic Level Wish, Dominion over the World Core.

Penalty: Death

“Oh please.”

Did it really ask me to save the world? If so, why did it have to add that penalty?

“Penalty Death…” I frowned. A moment later, I ignored it. It was nothing to be angry about. If the world was destroyed, I'd die along with it anyway. So I guess it wasn't that bad as far as threats went.

What bothered me was the quest itself. I had decided to not follow the plot the moment I realized I had the powers of the Heavenly Demon. With that kind of power, if I raised myself properly, I could even be dubbed as the 73rd Devil Pillar. Yet, it felt like it was telling me to go to school and fix the plot?

It certainly implied so. I had to go to the school if I wanted to ‘fix’ the plot. A lot of plot heavy incidents happen there – deaths – and missing out on any of them would make things go in a totally unexpected direction.

What was the point in going to some Academy when I could raise my Level in the mountains, slay dragons, and travel the world? Especially since I’ll have demonic energy leaking out of me soon; the people at the Academy would burn me on a stake, thinking I was a Demon in disguise.

But if the System threatened me like this, what other choice did I have? If that wasn’t bad, it then told me to make a Cult. Did it truly want me to revive the Heavenly Demon God Cult, go against the 12 Gods and 72 Devils of this world, and label myself a terrorist to the entire realm?

The problem was, I didn't even know the ending. I didn't get to complete the game, I was stuck in a fight against one of the last bosses.

“Haah…” I let out a heavy sigh. “How am I supposed to reach the true ending and save my life?” The start of my new life wasn’t looking very bright.