Chapter One — Game Over
My name is Zen.
I'm twenty-three years old, a school dropout, and until recently, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life.
I didn't have a family to go back to. No friends waiting for me after work. No one who would notice if I disappeared for a few days.
I grew up in a church.
When I left school, they were the only people who helped me. They gave me enough money to rent a tiny room and told me to find a job.
So I did.
I found work at a convenience store.
It wasn't much, but it was mine.
My first paycheck went toward something I'd wanted for years—a decent computer.
That was when everything changed.
I discovered a game called Demon Hunter.
It was an RPG I'd heard about before, but I'd never had a computer good enough to run it.
Once I started playing, I couldn't stop.
One day became three.
Three became a week.
And tonight, after another exhausting shift, I was already looking forward to getting home.
"Zen."
I looked up.
My manager stood at the end of the counter, holding his jacket.
"Your shift's over."
I glanced at the clock.
9:00 PM.
"Ah... right."
I rubbed my eyes.
"Thanks. I'm heading home."
I changed in the staff room, grabbed my bag, and stepped outside.
The night air was cold.
I started walking.
The streets were quiet, and the exhaustion I'd been ignoring all day finally caught up with me.
My vision blurred.
I yawned.
I really need to stop staying up all night.
I almost laughed at myself.
Then I remembered the past week.
Seven days of barely sleeping.
Seven days of playing Demon Hunter.
I'm probably going to pass out before I even get home.
I was right.
My legs suddenly felt weak.
The world tilted.
I reached for a wall.
Missed.
And everything went black.
I couldn't feel anything.
There was no pain.
No cold.
No sound.
Nothing.
I tried opening my eyes.
I couldn't tell if they were open.
Am I dead?
There was no answer.
Then—
Music.
A familiar melody slowly emerged from the darkness.
My heart jumped.
I knew that song.
It was the opening theme of Demon Hunter.
"...No way."
The darkness suddenly flickered.
White letters appeared in front of me.
[DO YOU WANT TO RESPAWN?]
[YES / NO]
I stared at it.
"What the hell?"
A ridiculous thought crossed my mind.
Did I actually die?
My fear was quickly replaced by excitement.
If this was some kind of dream, it was an incredible one.
And if it wasn't...
I already knew what button I wanted to press.
"Yes."
Nothing happened.
I waited.
"...Hello?"
The screen changed.
[GAME OVER]
[OK]
I stared at the words.
"What?"
I hadn't even selected anything.
"I said yes!"
The screen didn't respond.
Then another message appeared.
[NO CHARACTER DETECTED]
[0/1]
A single option appeared beneath it.
[CREATE CHARACTER]
My excitement disappeared.
I slowly sat down in the darkness.
"...Create character?"
The realization hit me.
The menu.
The music.
The respawn screen.
The game.
Everything was too familiar.
But something was wrong.
Demon Hunter didn't have a respawn system like this.
And it definitely didn't look like this.
I reached toward the floating menu.
My hand passed through it.
"Am I dreaming?"
[SELECT RACE]
A new window appeared.
I frowned.
Race selection.
That was normal.
Demon Hunter had dozens of races.
Humans.
Elves.
Beastfolk.
Demons.
And more.
But I knew exactly what I wanted.
There was one race I'd spent hundreds of hours researching.
The strongest race in the game.
Or at least, according to the players.
"Half-Demon."
The screen went completely still.
Then—
[RACE CONFIRMED: HALF-DEMON]
My stomach dropped.
"Wait."
The menu changed.
[SELECT SPECIES]
I blinked.
"Species?"
That wasn't in the game.
I searched my memory.
I'd played Demon Hunter for hundreds of hours.
There was no species selection.
"Why is there a species option?"
No response.
I sighed.
"Whatever."
My head was beginning to hurt.
"Dear Lord, I'm probably losing my mind."
The screen flickered.
For the first time, the text changed before I finished speaking.
['LORD' — HALF-DEMON SPECIES SELECTED]
I froze.
"...What?"
The darkness around me began to tremble.
A strange pressure wrapped around my body.
Then the final message appeared.
[CHARACTER CREATION COMPLETE]
[WELCOME, ZEN.]
I stared at my name.
I had never entered it.
The screen faded.
[PREPARING TRANSPORTATION]
I barely had time to speak.
"Transportation?"
The darkness shattered.
[WORLD TRANSFER INITIATED.]
And then—
I fell.