[Congratulations. You died!]
"Huh?"
Nathan just stared at the PC screen, frozen in place, like it was telling him the sky was falling down.
Forget the congratulations thing… but…how the heck did he die? Someone really beat him? HIM? The Legendary Sung Nathan?
From ten years of experience playing Victory Online, he hadn't lost even a single match. His character, Hell Emperor, was a necromancer type at level 99. So how could someone just beat him like that?
"Today sucks…"
He leaned back in his chair with a long sigh, his head tilting as his eyes drifted up to the high ceiling of his luxury home.
The soft glow of the monitor reflected in his tired eyes. Someone could say he earned this money from gameplay and streaming.
Well, it was half true and half wrong.
Because half of that money belonged to his parents, the owners of Akashic Studios, the company that created Victory Online. And Sung Nathan himself was assigned as the new developer of the game.
His gaze returned to the screen, locking onto the character who beat him. His lips twitched in a grumpy line. Maybe he really was losing his touch at gaming while focusing too much on developing, huh?
"The idiot?" he muttered.
What was wrong with that player ID anyway?
"What the hell… I can't even see his level. Is this a bug?" he mumbled, leaning closer to the screen, his brows knitting together.
Without hesitation, he immediately sent a notice to the developing team about it. After that, he just sighed again, rubbing his face as the defeat screen burned quietly in front of him.
Grumbling to himself, he didn't even bother to look into it more. He just turned off the PC as he got up and stretched his arms, joints popping softly in the quiet room.
He walked over to the glass wall of his room, where he could almost see the entire Seoul beneath him.
Neon lights, moving traffic below, and distant towers spread out like a living map. Living in a luxury apartment had its perks after all.
Well, now back on track.
Victory Online was the most popular game of the era, with over 300 million active players worldwide.
And Nathan was one of the beta players. Well, why not? His dad created the game after all. And after he passed away, Nathan was currently working as the CEO of Akashic Studios. And well, of course, he was also the main developer.
"I don't have time for this…" he muttered, looking up at a thin cloud trail left behind by a jet cutting through the night sky.
Tomorrow was the New Year. And there was a special event planned in Victory Online as well, along with the launch of some limited-edition equipment.
PING!
He was startled as a new message broke his little daydream. His eyebrows twitched as he opened the notification.
…...[SYSTEM NOTICE – Developer Alert]...
Script Owner (Architecture): Sung Nathan (Current), Sung Seo Jin (Original)
Type: Game
Destination: Earth 312
Project Administrator & Sponsor: One_Who_Devours (Astral – Diamond Tire)
Project Tier: Diamond
Project Success Rate of Sponsor: 100%
Message:
"The 'Victory Online' system has been selected for Real-World Application. All mechanics, skills, and player interactions will now affect the physical world. System monitoring recommended. Authority override is active."
He stood dumbstruck.
"Who the hell is playing pranks now? Moreover, who gave them my number?!" he fumed. Not only did he get killed in the game, but now someone was playing pranks on him, too.
Earth 312? What the hell was that? All he knew was Earth, the one they lived on. And what the heck did astral diamond tier even mean?
"Now, am I getting serious over this? Yeah… I must be too tired."
Nathan facepalmed himself, sighing deeply as his shoulders slumped like he was way too tired.
There were only ten minutes left until the event launch. Well, he had already taken care of all the workload before coming home anyway, leaving his mother to oversee the entire project.
PING!
The phone buzzed again, and the veins on Nathan's forehead visibly twitched.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE – Player Notification]
Player ID: Hell Emperor
Class: Necromancer
Level: Lv.99 → (Reset: Lv.1)
Notice: Victory Online mechanics have been selected for application to the real world. All skills, combat interactions, and system events will now correspond to actual-world effects. Players are advised to proceed carefully. Participation is mandatory.
System Tag: [ALERT – Reality Sync Active]
"What the fuck!"
That was the first thing to leave his lips.
This was not a joke.
He could think of the previous one as a prank, but there was no way someone knew his player ID. No way in hell.
His hand tightened around the phone as his fingers shook slightly.
And right then, a call came through.
Nathan stared at the screen for half a second… then answered it.
"Melissa!!" he grumbled. "The heck is going on? I have received-"
"All our players received that," she said, cutting Nathan off.
He stayed dead in his spot, not moving at all, as his brain tried to process her words.
"It seems like there is a personal information leak in the system. We are working on it."
No… why…? There were only ten minutes left until the new event. Why the heck now, of all times, did this have to happen?
"Take care of it immediately. We are launching the new event no matter what," he grumbled into the phone, tightening his jaw
"Yes, sir. And about that message-"
"It was a prank from some kind of jealous bastard! Just fix it. And issue a notice to the public, too. Hurry up, damn it!" he yelled into the phone.
He knew there was nothing Melissa could really do. It wasn't like she was the one who caused this.
The call ended.
Nathan stepped out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing, his shoulders slumping as the cold night air hit his face. The city lights below blurred slightly as he exhaled.
He needed a vacation.
Today was supposed to be the first day off he'd gotten after a direct two months of nonstop work, fixing every damn thing himself.
So why the hell was everything acting up the moment he stepped away from his position for a while?
His eyes were fixed on the skyscraper directly in front of him, some distance away. Giant screens on its surface were already counting down for the event launch. Yet there was an uneasy feeling sitting deep in his chest, something he couldn't just ignore.
Like the silence before a storm.
To new event launch: 10 seconds…
9 seconds…
.
.
.
3 seconds…
.
2 seconds…
1 second!
BEGIN!
The skyscraper announced it, and a smirk pulled up on Nathan's face.
But before even five seconds passed, the electricity in the entire town shut off, along with the generators, which was seriously not practical.
"Huh?" Nathan blinked as the world plunged into sudden darkness.
The night city went silent. With every light gone, the stars shone clearly and beautifully above like diamonds in the sky as if the sky itself had been waiting for this moment.
"FUCK!" He yanked his hair in despair as his phone lost signal. And the internet was 404 not found.
But before anyone could even register what was happening-
A massive, semi-transparent blue box appeared in the sky.
It hovered like a hologram over the entire city, stretching endlessly. Its edges shimmered with a faint grid pattern, and strange symbols crawled across its surface, moving like living code, as if a system interface had been projected directly onto the world itself.
[ASTRAL ANNOUNCEMENT – GLOBAL BROADCAST]
Attention, citizens of Earth 312:
The Victory Online Project has officially commenced.
All game mechanics, rules, and events are now synchronized with reality.
Players are encouraged to explore, engage, and survive.
The world as you know it has changed.
Project Administrator and Sponsor: One_Who_Devours (Astral – Diamond Tier)
Project Tier: Diamond
Success Rate of Astral: 100%
A cold chill ran down Nathan's spine.
And in that moment, he knew it.
He was screwed.