A real man doesn't sit around moping when life hands him a raw deal. He gets up and changes the game.
...
The computer screen flickered, scrolling through a news feed that felt disturbingly familiar yet completely alien.
"Solaris Online has officially hit 78 million downloads during its open beta phase. The lead developer's message to the competition? 'If you think you can take the crown, come and get it.'"
"Age of Titans has shattered historical records, logging 1.6 billion concurrent users. The CEO of Vanguard Games made a public statement claiming they effectively own the North American gaming market."
"Meanwhile, NetSphere's latest triple-A title, Azure Dungeon, has kicked off its closed beta. Critics are already calling it the dark horse of the year."
"Gunfire Reborn posted its quarterly earnings, revealing a staggering $9 billion in revenue, cementing its spot as the year's most profitable shooter."
"And finally, the Global Indie Developer Showdown has officially begun. If you have a dream, now is the time to code it into reality."
Yang stared at the glowing monitor, the blue light reflecting in his wide, stunned eyes. He rubbed his temples, hoping the headache would subside, but the information didn't change.
He was certain of one thing: He had transmigrated.
Half an hour ago, he was sitting in his apartment, devouring a pepperoni pizza and humming along to some classic rock on the radio. Life was good. Simple. Then, a blinding pair of headlights washed over his living room window. An eighteen-wheeler had lost control, veered off the highway, and plowed right through his wall.
Talk about a bad roll of the dice. Is there no justice in the universe?
He sighed, leaning back in a cheap, squeaky office chair. He looked around the room. It was messy, filled with energy drink cans and tangled wires. Everything in this world looked suspiciously similar to the one he'd left behind. The only major difference?
The tech. specifically, the Virtual Reality tech.
In his old life, VR was bulky headsets and motion sickness. Here? It had evolved into something terrifyingly advanced. We weren't talking about "Ready Player One" haptic suits; this was full-blown "Sword Art Online" territory. Full Dive technology. You put on the gear, and your consciousness uploaded directly into the digital space.
But there was a catch. Because the tech had advanced so quickly, the creative side of the industry had crashed and burned.
It made sense, in a twisted way. When you can simulate reality perfectly, nobody bothers with style. The anime and manga industries were practically nonexistent because everyone was too busy looking at hyper-realistic trees in VR.
The gaming industry was in the same boat. The "top-tier" games scrolling on his news feed? They were just reskins of ancient concepts. Generic dungeon crawlers, basic shooters, and "walking simulators" that looked like 8K photographs but played like watching paint dry.
The graphics were insane, sure. But the soul was missing.
Developers were obsessed with replicating reality down to the pore, completely forgetting that the point of VR was to experience the impossible. It was all flash, no substance. And honestly? Playing these hyper-real sims wasn't even as fun as a solid keyboard-and-mouse session from back in the day.
But society was stressed. People needed an escape. So, the government pushed VR development hard, launching initiatives like the Global Indie Developer Showdown to find fresh talent.
That's where the original owner of this body came in.
Yang's predecessor—also named Yang—was a lot like him. A massive tech geek. But unlike the cynical gamer Yang used to be, this kid had been an idealist. He had grand ambitions. He wanted to build a game that wasn't just another reality simulator, but something that genuinely moved people.
The competition was his big break. It ran on a voting system: get the players to like your demo, get donations, and you climb the leaderboard. Win, and you become a legend overnight, complete with a massive cash prize.
The original Yang didn't even care about the fame. He just wanted to bring people joy. He wanted to make something different.
Unfortunately, he also forgot to sleep or eat. He pushed himself so hard coding his entry that his heart gave out.
Yang looked down at his new hands. They were pale and trembling slightly. He could feel the residual fatigue in his muscles, the heavy weight of burnout settling in his chest.
He took a deep breath, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"Alright, kid," Yang whispered to the empty room. "You didn't deserve to go out like that. I'll take it from here. Your unfinished business? Consider it handled."
He checked the calendar on the desktop. The competition deadline was exactly one month away.
Yang cracked his neck, a satisfying pop echoing in the quiet room. He had the memories of the original owner, plus the experience of a veteran gamer from a world with actual creativity. It was time to show these people what a real game looked like.
Currently, the market was split into three boring categories: Shooters, Walking Sims, and generic Dungeon Crawlers.
He opened the project file the original Yang had been working on. It was called "Happy Harvest."
He clicked through the assets. It was basically a clone of the old Farmville or Stardew Valley, but in VR. Planting corn, watering seeds. Given the time constraint, finishing a farming sim was realistic. He could polish it up in a month.
But it wasn't exactly... ground-breaking.
Just as he was reaching for the mouse to start coding, a cold, mechanical voice resonated inside his skull.
[System successfully bound.]
Yang froze. Hello?
[Welcome to the Omniverse Game Design System. Purpose: Assist the Host in becoming the premier game architect across all dimensions.]
[The System has archived all ACG (Anime, Comic, Game) data from the multiverse. The Host can convert these assets into VR source code by spending Emotion Points. Alternatively, the System can assist directly in development.]
[Emotion Points are generated by players experiencing the Host's games. Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Fear—all intense emotions are harvested as currency.]
[Warning: Harvesting 'Toxicity' or 'Boredom' will result in a deduction of points. If the balance falls below zero, the System will unbind, and the Host will be terminated.]
[Notification: You have received (1) Newbie Starter Pack. Would you like to open it?]
Yang blinked. A slow grin spread across his face.
The Golden Finger. The cheat code. It was late, but it showed up.
"Hell yes," Yang said aloud. "Open it."
He didn't hesitate. He pulled up the system interface. It was a treasure trove. Every game, every anime, every story from his old world was listed in the store. He saw the Type-Moon franchise sitting right at the top of the rankings.
An idea—a wonderfully chaotic, brilliant idea—sparked in his brain.
[Opening Starter Pack...]
A warm sensation flooded his body, washing away the fatigue instantly. It felt like chugging a gallon of energy drink without the jitters.
[Reward: 10,000 Emotion Points][Reward: Character Template - The Count of Monte Cristo (Edmond Dantès)][Reward: Skill - Mind Palace]
Not a huge haul, but enough to change the game.
Yang scrambled out of his chair and rushed to the bathroom. He wiped the grime off the mirror and stared.
The flabby, overworked belly of the original owner was gone, replaced by a set of shredded abs and lean muscle. His posture had straightened, radiating a dangerous kind of charisma.
Most shockingly, his messy black hair had turned stark, snowy white.
He looked sharper. Edgier.
He recognized this look. This wasn't the book version of Edmond Dantès; this was the Type-Moon version. The Avenger. The erratic, high-speed anti-hero from Fate/Grand Order.
And with the template came the abilities. He didn't just look like him; he felt the power humming under his skin. The "Memory Palace" skill kicked in simultaneously, organizing the chaotic mess of his thoughts into neat, accessible files.
His brain felt like a supercomputer.
The vague idea he had a moment ago solidified into a concrete roadmap.
If he wanted to shake up this stagnant world, a farming simulator wasn't going to cut it. He needed something visceral. Something with stakes. Something that would make players question their own morality while begging for more.
He looked at his reflection, his white hair framing a smile that was equal parts ambitious and reckless.
The Holy Grail War.
It wasn't just a concept anymore. The path to building it was crystal clear.
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