Chapter 1: The Last Normal Night
Arjun was awake at a time his body strongly disagreed with.
The room was dark except for the laptop screen, which was bright enough to make his eyes hurt but not enough for him to stop staring at it. He sat hunched forward in his chair, elbows on the desk, one hand on the mouse, the other hovering uselessly near the keyboard like moral support.
The boss on screen was almost dead.
Almost.
"Come on," Arjun muttered. "Just die already."
He had said that exact sentence at least three times tonight, possibly more. His throat felt dry. The empty energy drink can beside him rattled when his knee bounced against the table.
Three percent HP.
He leaned closer, as if proximity would improve performance.
Then the screen froze.
Not lag. Not stutter.
Just… stopped.
The music cut out mid-beat, leaving behind an uncomfortable silence that made his ears ring.
Arjun stared.
"…No."
The fan inside the laptop whined, high-pitched and desperate.
"No, no, no," he said, sitting up straighter. "You don't get to do this now. I was winning."
The screen flashed white.
For a fraction of a second, he thought maybe it was restarting.
Then the light swallowed everything.
Chapter 2: Two Minutes of Completely Reasonable Screaming
Arjun opened his eyes and immediately knew something was wrong.
The ceiling was missing.
That was the first problem.
The second problem was the sky.
It was too clear. Too wide. Too real.
"…Okay," he said slowly. "This is a dream."
He nodded to himself, because that made sense. His brain did weird things sometimes. Stress. Caffeine. Lack of sleep. All very reasonable explanations.
He pushed himself up.
His hand sank into grass.
Cold. Wet. Unmistakably physical.
He froze.
"…This is a very detailed dream."
The wind brushed past his face.
That was when the panic hit properly.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
He scrambled to his feet, spinning in place.
There were no buildings. No roads. No wires. No sound of traffic. Just open land stretching too far in every direction.
"NO," he shouted, voice cracking. "THIS IS NOT FUNNY."
He ran a few steps, stopped, then ran in the opposite direction like the world might load differently.
"I DID NOT AGREE TO THIS," he yelled at the sky. "PUT ME BACK."
His chest hurt. His hands shook.
"I LIKE THE 21ST CENTURY," he continued, pacing wildly. "I LIKE ELECTRICITY. I LIKE FOOD DELIVERY. I LIKE NOT DYING OUTSIDE."
He screamed until his throat burned.
Then he stopped screaming.
Because nothing happened.
Two full minutes passed.
Nothing reset.
Nothing faded.
Arjun slowly sat down in the grass.
"…I'm going to die," he whispered.
Chapter 3: The Ding That Made It Worse
Ding.
Arjun flinched so hard he nearly fell over again.
A translucent blue screen floated in front of his face.
He stared at it.
"…No," he said quietly. "Nope. I'm hallucinating."
The screen did not disappear.
[Hello, Host.]
Arjun squeezed his eyes shut.
[I am the Messenger System.]
He opened one eye.
The screen was still there.
"…Of course you are," he muttered. "Why wouldn't there be a system."
[I answer queries and deliver messages from higher beings.]
Arjun laughed weakly.
"Sure. Gods. Why not. My life was going too well."
The screen hovered patiently.
"…You're not going to go away, are you?"
[Negative.]
Arjun lay back in the grass and stared at the sky.
"Fantastic."
Chapter 4: Gods, Apparently
"So," Arjun said after a moment, "you're saying gods exist."
[Correct.]
"Actual gods."
[Correct.]
He let that sit.
"…Why me?"
The question came out quieter than he intended.
"I'm not special," he continued. "I don't train. I don't fight. I don't even like leaving my house."
[You were available.]
Arjun stared at the screen.
"That's… deeply insulting."
[It is accurate.]
He sighed.
"Okay. What now? Am I supposed to save the world? Fight a demon king? Get a sword that glows?"
[Negative.]
Relief washed over him immediately.
"Oh thank god."
Chapter 5: The Rules (Which He Already Hated)
[This is not your world.][The rules here differ from those you know.]
"So I'm stuck."
[Yes.]
"And if I mess up?"
[Death is possible.]
Arjun winced.
"…Great."
[However, if you are killed, you may return to your original world.]
He blinked.
"…Wait. Really?"
[Yes.]
Hope flickered.
Then—
[Suicide is forbidden.]
"Oh."
[Attempting suicide will result in your soul being converted into system fuel.]
Silence.
Arjun stared at the screen for a long moment.
"…That's horrifying."
[Correct.]
He lay back down.
"Okay," he muttered. "So I can't quit."
[Correct.]
He looked at the sky again.
"…I guess I'll have to live."
The screen pulsed faintly.
[That would be advisable.]