“Cheater.”

My foe typed into the chat log. I let out a soft sigh, not bothering to reply. 

“Reported. I hope you get banned, noob.”

After typing that threat, they disappeared from the duel room. I couldn't say I didn't expect something like this to happen, though, as I had received similar messages many times before.

What were they expecting?

I stood on the top of the leaderboards. Surely they expected me to be no regular player? I wasn't using some new account, nor was I trying to hide my skills. I guess people were that dumb.

I moved my controller stick and left the duel location. The previous player had disappeared to who knows where. They at least had the courtesy to leave me alone. A different player once tried to attack me the second I left the duel state.

I won, of course.

I moved my character back into town. On the way back home, bandits struck. They posed little challenge, though. I clicked my tongue and looked toward the clock. Two minutes wasted, just like that. 

I managed to arrive back in town without a scratch. I went to the house I bought and logged out. In the game, green areas existed. You can log out without the risk of being attacked in these places. That said, returning to the room where I started the day gave me a cozy feeling. As I logged out, I looked at my own room in real life. 

It was pale in comparison. The room had whatever the apartment came with. Nothing less, nothing more. I didn’t have the money to do renovations and decorating would be a complete waste of time. No one ever came to my place anyway.  

I set the controller down on the coffee table in front of me. I noticed the light gray color on top of it. I swiped my hand across the smooth glass surface, picking up some dust on my fingers.

Time for cleaning, huh?

When you live a life like mine, you eventually lose track of time. What was hours felt like minutes, days felt like hours, and months felt like days. 

A notification made its sudden appearance on my phone. It came from the Mimosa Online mobile companion app. A message from another player, a name I didn’t recognize. I opened it up, expecting a duel request, only to find something completely different. 

Level up request? Easy enough.

In Mimosa, you could level up by killing monsters, standard RPG stuff. The thing that made Mimosa different from other games was how the game rewarded team play. Even low-level players could craft a ring called the Ring of Experience. You could transfer experience points, called magic energy in the game, through these rings.

I typed in a reply.

“What time?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Sure.”

Players who didn’t have much time could use level-up services like the ones I provided. Craft multiple rings, then give one to me. We would then go to a dangerous area and let me fight monsters. The other person would leave their character standing there while I did all the work. The 'parent' Ring of Experience would then absorb all the magic energy I collected and transfer all of it to the 'child' ring, which my client wore, allowing quick level-up.

That was how I got to live purely by playing this game. That said,

Are they dumb?

I couldn’t help but think that. No, not to the players that used such a method. Rather, to the developers. Having an item as overpowered as the Ring of Experience craftable early game meant that players could abuse it to get overpowered. The in-game shop became meaningless, and the publishers lost money. Many players made money through offering services like mine. Considering its popularity, I doubt the developers didn’t know about it. 

After replying, I headed to the kitchen. As I opened my fridge, looking for whatever thing I could eat, my mind thought about the topic. 

Many of the in-game purchases were cosmetics, but that was it. The game itself was free and was available on many platforms.

Could they really make money with just that?

The cosmetics were pure cosmetics as well, with no special abilities.

Don't get me wrong, I didn’t want it to be changed. That meant cutting my source of income. But every time I received a request, that question returned to my head. 

... Maybe because the game's insanely popular?

This game was produced, directed, and managed by the child prodigy, Al1cea. Despite being just a few years older than me, she had managed to make a game that wowed everyone. Since the game was popular, maybe she didn't need to introduce unnecessary stuff like micro transactions.

Still... People would usually look for a way to milk a game dry. I had played a lot of games before. When developers spotted a troublesome issue that threatened their income, they were quick to act. Not to say every developer was like that. Some took all the bugs seriously, regardless of whether they affected their income or not. 

Mimosa Project, the people behind Mimosa Online, seemed to be the opposite. They only care about the bugs that broke the game, giving little care to bugs and issues that might affect their income. This weirdness made me worry. What if, deep inside, there was some kind of a mysterious plan that I didn't know of? Maybe they were planning on introducing micro transactions?  

Those thoughts continued circling in the back of my mind as I closed the refrigerator, not finding anything to eat. I went out and descended to the first floor of my apartment. After leaving the lobby, I noticed a group of drunk office workers hanging around. 

Have I ever seen them around here?

It wasn’t that late, around eight in the evening. I hated how loud they were, and they smelled terrible. I didn’t want anything to do with them, though. So, while their groaning hurt my ears, I left them alone. I headed into the convenience store across the apartment building to look for snacks.

Only the cashier was there, and she didn't seem pleased with the three dudes out front, either. Our eyes met, and she did a little nod. I nodded in return, then went to look around the aisle. I chose the items I wanted and then brought them to the cashier. She was staring out at the three laughing drunkards, visibly anxious.

"... Umm... excuse me."

"Ah, I'm sorry." She brought her attention back to me. "Is this all?"

"Yes."

She began scanning my items. 

“Are they new around here?” I asked. 

“Those people?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think so… They weren’t there the last time you’re here.”

“I’m surprised you even remember me.” I gave her my card. 

“There aren’t many people that came out this late.” She swiped the card and I entered my pin to pay. The machine then printed out a small receipt. "Thank you for your patronage,” she said as she returned my card. 

"No problem, have a good night." I took the snacks and left the convenience store. The drunkards were no longer there, or so I thought.

One of them reappeared behind a light pole to block my way.

“Hey there, young boy. Surely you can spare some money for us,” said one of the drunk men, laughing. His smell made me feel sick. The other two surrounded me, keeping me from escaping.

“Ck.” I clicked my tongue. 

“Come on, don’t be a buzzkill. Life’s more fun when you spend it with other people.”

“I don’t need other people. Especially not ones like you.”

“What did you say, you brat?”

I was indeed far younger than the three of them. I hadn’t even reached twenty-five yet, and these people looked like they were in their forties. 

“Get out of my way.”

I pushed through, not giving them the time of day, or night, considering the hour. I needed to get back to my grinding. I didn’t even want to waste a second on them.

"Hold on!" The drunkard blocked me. "You brat, do your parents not teach you respect?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"I have no parents. Besides, why should I respect trash?"

"H- How dare you!"

"Now get out of my way!"

The drunkard reached out and grabbed my hand. My snacks fell to the floor.

"You!" He glared at me, his friends approaching from behind.

"Um... Hey! Wh- What's going on, here?" the cashier came rushing out. She gasped when she saw me being held. One of the other drunkards turned around and grabbed her shoulders.

"Kyaa!" She screamed. I managed to release myself and rushed to her side. I smacked the man's hands off her shoulders.

"Ouch!" That man yelped as he staggered back.

"Are you alright? Call the police!"

"Ye- Yes!" She reached out for her phone, but,

"Watch out!" I yelled, but it was too late. The third drunkard swung a wine bottle, slamming it to the back of her head. The bottle shattered, and she fell to the floor.

"Miss!" I tried to rush to her, but I didn't notice the first man coming at me. I felt something heavy smack my head, sharp pieces piercing my skull. I fell unconscious right after.

* ••

“Boy… can you hear me?”

Am I dead?

I wasn’t sure of where I was. It didn’t look like a place you would see on Earth. Black, completely void of all things. No light, no sound, no room, no air. Nothing. 

“Boy… Boy… Answer me if you can hear me, please,” a voice begged. I didn’t know where the voice came from, though. I was sure the voice spoke to me in a completely different language as well. But, for some unknown reason, I could understand it perfectly. 

“... Yes? Who are you? What’s going on? Am I dead?”

“Slow down, boy. I don’t have much time, but I need to explain something to you.”

“I’m all ears.”

Not that I have any ears. I wasn’t even sure if I had a body. This voice must be connecting directly into my soul or something. 

“You have died, but you are also the highest ranked player of Mimosa Online.”

“... So am I going to get some kind of consolation prize?”

“No, not that. I have determined that you’re the hope for our world. Please, come and save us.”

“Hold on just a moment. Who even are you?”

“Oh yeah, sorry. My name is Asytelar, or you might know me by my other name, Al1cea.”

Asytelar was a great elf mage that lived in the game’s world. She brought many advancements to the world. She found many magic spells, and created many magic items. 

But, most importantly, she was a part of the party that sealed the demon king. 

Al1cea, meanwhile, was the director of Mimosa Online and owner of the game’s publisher. 

“Al1cea? As in the Al1cea?”

“Correct. Mimosa Online is not a regular game. It’s a game based on my homeworld, Mimosa, and that home world needs help. Many years ago, me and my party went to defeat the demon king, yet all we could do was seal it. The demon king would soon return. Boy, you’re the person that mastered the game. You’re our only hope.”

I took a bit of time to process that statement. 

“... But actual fighting is different from a video game? How are you sure I would be able to fight?”

“Boy, we trust you. Please help us.”

“Well, I don’t want to deny your request, but…”

“My time is up. I shall come visit you every once in a while. But please, boy, please save my world.”

“Wait! Wait!”

I called out, but my voice never reached any ears. 

* ••

When I woke up, I realized I was under a wooden ceiling, light coming through a large window on the right side of the room. 

“Is he alright, Doctor?” came the voice of a worried woman. I immediately realized that I had fallen unconscious at some point, only waking up now. I looked around, looking for a clock, worried that I might have missed my level-up appointment. My vision was blurry, but I could still tell a large circle object, probably. As I looked around more, my vision became a bit clearer. I still found no clock, though. My shock began turning into confusion. 

Then I remembered the experience I had. 

Am I… actually in Mimosa?

“Calm down, calm down.” A different voice entered my ears. This was the voice of a young woman, smoother and calmer compared to the other woman. “He’s going to be alright.”

Who are you talking about? 

I knew instantly that it wasn’t my family. My family never cared about me. My mother left me when I was just a child. My father gave me money and just money. Once I grew up, he stopped supporting me. There was no way they would be worried about me. If those drunkards really did hit me, they would look at the news and go ‘That’s unfortunate, I guess.’ and return to whatever they were doing. They probably wouldn't recognize me in the first place.

But... who are they? ... maybe they were the family of the girl?

I quickly realized that hypothesis didn’t make any sense, either. It began to dawn upon me that the voice was probably not lying. 

What is going on? Where am I? How about the girl? Is she alright?

The questions swirled in my head. I took a deep breath, then looked around some more. My vision had cleared, and now I could look into their faces clearly. The one in front of me, standing at the end of the bed, was a young, healthy man in his twenties with a long orange beard that would make even bears envious. 

Lying behind me was a young girl with round glasses and short, light green hair, her green eyes looking restless. Standing next to the man was an older girl, wearing white clothes. She noticed my eyes looking at her and smiled, waving her hand. 

“Hello. How are you doing today?”

“Waa waa waa…”

In my mind, I tried saying the words ‘Who are you?’ but I could only afford to let out incoherent cries. 

So I am now a baby, presumably in the hands of my mother. 

"Waa waa waa!" No matter what words I said, nothing coherent could come out of my mouth. My mother's restless frown turned into a relieved smile.

“Thank goodness…” Tears appeared from the corner of her eyes. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

… Really? Are you being serious?

My previous mother abandoned me, my father left me behind. Would you do the same for me? Would I need to fend for myself again in this unfamiliar world? 

I probably shouldn’t be thinking such thoughts when I was just born, but it felt hopeless. It would end the same way as it ended in my previous life. I heaved a silent sigh. In their eyes, they probably saw their child doing cute, random things. 

I didn’t know why, but I felt tired already. Maybe it was because I was a baby, maybe because I had not much hope for my future. Heck, maybe because of the huge task in front of me. How was I supposed to save the world when I wasn’t even sure I could have a family to live in?

Feeling tired, I closed my eyes, wishing to go back to sleep. 

* ••

It took me a while to come to terms with my new life. Once I got the hang of this baby body, though, it was smooth sailing from there, kind of. Within fifteen months old, this world’s time, roughly a year on Earth, I could already communicate. Not like a baby, but like an adult. Everyone in my village was surprised at my quick development. I couldn't say that I came from another world, though. At twenty months, I could walk like normal. 

Unlike my previous life, this time, my parents stick with me. They guided me and cared for me just like regular parents would. It puts my mind at ease. For now, at least, I could focus on dealing with the demon king’s threat. 

My brain had already regained its capabilities from my previous life from the moment I was born. I may have the knowledge from the past, but my body was still that of a frail baby. Hence why I put all my younger years into studying as much as I could. Once I grew older, I would be studying combat.

One thing surprised me, though. The more I researched, the more I realized just how similar this world was to Mimosa. As I flipped the pages, not only I found similar information regarding the magic system, the rules, and even the calendar, I saw an exact copy of the historical events. The wars, the demon’s invasion, the triumphant victories. Everything, everything was the same. I must admit. The level of detail contained in Mimosa Online was impressive. 

Am I dreaming?

It was so impressive that I found myself questioning my past life several times ever since I came here. Was the game I played really a game? Maybe I was grown in a simulation and then extracted here. 

I looked and looked, and read every single book I could find in my home. Books filled every corner of my bedroom. My mom and dad supported my endeavors. Dad worked hard to get me more books, while Mom took on various tasks like sewing and knitting also to get more books. 

“Forstibel, are you hungry, Honey?” asked my mom. My new name was Forstibel, by the way. Forstibel Baskator. My mom is Lucens Baskator, and my dad is Fidus Baskator. During the day, Dad would be out in the fields, while Mom would stay at home to watch over me, occasionally doing various side jobs. I felt terrible for them, considering how hard they were working, but I was grateful all the same. 

I swore I would one day repay their kindness.  

I lifted my head from the thick book in front of me. This book was larger than my body. Being able to hold it in place was a miracle in itself. 

“No, thank you.”

“Okay. What are you reading?” Mom got closer and looked at the pages I was reading. I heard from Dad that Mom used to be a teacher before they got married. After that, she continued teaching until she carried me. Even now, she still teaches the local kids every once in a while.

“The principles of magic application in sword fighting… You want to be a knight?”

I shook my head. Being a knight is a pain. “I want to be an adventurer.”

In fiction, adventurers were depicted as drunkards who would work during the day, and party by the night. I hated drunkards, but going around slashing monsters didn’t sound too bad. I could only hope that my party wasn’t the type to sit around and waste money on drinks. 

“Are you even old enough to carry a sword?” asked Dad, who had just appeared next to the doorsill.

“Hmm… I think not.”

The village may call me a child prodigy, but there was no denying that this weak baby body hindered my progress. I could only go through day-by-day, studying as much as I could, before hopping to combat training the second I got strong enough. 

* ••

The years passed by in a blink of the eye, and I was already a seven-year-old. The years in this world lasted slightly longer at three hundred eighty-four days, divided by sixteen months, each month twenty-four days. That meant I was older than a seven-year-old on Earth. 

And what was I doing when I was seven years old?

I befriended a dragon.

Okay, maybe that was going too fast. Here's a quick recap of my younger years.

When I was five, I began combat training. From the books, I learned how to sense my own mana levels. I could tell just how much mana I had left. My parents were concerned with just how fast I was speed-running this game... I mean life, so they banned me from going too far. Dad would give me sword training in the morning and evening. During the day while he worked, Mom would teach me either basic subjects or magic. 

But that wasn’t enough. At the end of each day, I could sense that I still had a lot of mana left over. So I decided to do what any gamer would do. I went to the nearby forest and grinded. I ‘borrowed’ my mother’s magic wand, a tool you need if you want to cast magic, and then ran off. I headed to the nearby forests. There, I hunted as many animals and monsters as I could, before sneaking back to bed by dawn. Supposedly, a child's body needs a lot of sleep, and I struggled to fight against the natural order of my body.

I carefully planned my day. I would have sword training with Dad, then magic and studies with Mom. At night, I would sneak out to grind, and return home before I was too tired. Any time I had nothing to do, I slept. That repeated over and over for a while, until that day... 

The day when I befriended a dragon.