Chapter 2

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Prologue.

The moment I opened my eyes, I felt my stomach churn.

I got up in a hurry, feeling uncomfortable as if I would be sick at any moment.

I felt the texture of a fluffy blanket under my hands. I tried to get up, but my legs gave way after only a few wonky steps, and I collapsed to the ground. I felt my stomach revolt when I tried to get up again.

Don’t try to hold it in, throw up.

I tried. I felt my eyes tear up, and saliva flow down my throat, but nothing came out. Slowly I noticed the tinnitus creep into my conscience. I felt a chill down my spine, and my body was trembling. Was this how dying felt? After what felt like hours, nausea began to fade slowly. The trembling faded, and my tinnitus started to disappear. Thank god.

“hah…”

After a violent exhale, the tinnitus disappeared completely, and the trembling was reduced to almost nothing.

What was going on?

‘Where am I?’

I glanced around the room, vision blurred by tears. I didn’t recognize this room at all.

The room was full of wooden furniture, with no machinery in sight.

There was one bright spot on the wall opposite me.

I crawled towards it and reached out with my hands.

I could feel the warmth radiating from it, but it wasn’t a light bulb, as I had expected.

There was no power cord. How could it produce light without power?

‘….’

This was too real to be a dream.

I glanced back at the puddle of saliva, where I had laid earlier. Slowly, I got up. Still weak, I stumbled to my bed and flopped down on it.

Where this is wasn’t the most important question right now.

What mattered was why I was here and how I had gotten here.

Slowly, the memories started to seep in.

‘I sitting at my desk, working on the computer…’

I was testing a game — an RPG I had made earlier.

But why did I create the game?

I think I didn’t have anything to play, so I made a game myself.

As technology improved, so many games were created. Players wanted more than just the next evolution of their favorite game. They always wanted something new.

Naturally, it is difficult for a game company to keep up with that demand.

When a game was released, players like Yamche found bugs and exploited them, with unforeseen consequences for the companies.

Games didn’t evolve as fast as players would have liked. Naturally, the news that Company K was developing a new type of game in virtual reality made headlines worldwide. But there were years between the announcement and the final release.

In the meantime, a different company distributed a 3D RPG map editor, asking you to make your games. It was a very complex editor that allowed for a lot of creativity.

The games were only single-player, of course, never online.

The company had two goals with distributing this game editor:

The first reason was that it would have been too expensive to finish the game they had started to develop.

The second reason was to show the public how difficult developing a game was.

Surprisingly, the game became a massive hit, and its stock price went through the roof.

Everyone was suddenly able to make the game they wanted.

Although there was a lot of trial and error involved, the company also shared its know-how in blog posts on their website.

In addition to changing the character’s appearance easily, you were able to modify not only your character, but also the appearance, skills, and stats of NPCs.

The company often showcased new types of monsters and weapons that fans could upload to the official website.

The players could feel like gods.

And so did I.

I created the game ‘Perrnern’s Twenty-Four Hearts.’

I created a map and modeled the environment.

I crafted the landscape based on all my knowledge from previous games. I created lush forests, vast deserts, lava lakes, and mountains under the sea.

I set the goalposts too high, and the map became far larger than I had originally intended.

At some point, the map was so large that it became difficult to work alone, causing problems in later tests.

I wanted to test the map so badly, but I had to fill it with life first. I decided to start in one corner and work my way around the map.

Create a village, place NPCs, give them dialogue and quests.

When a single NPC was completed, the triggers (commands that make the program work the way it was intended to) were not tested.

I created the game when I left high school and became a college student, so I had plenty of time.

Instead of going drinking with my friends, I worked on my game.

On the company’s homepage, there was a ranking system for creators.

I created a blog and posted the update status and the latest version of the game.

People played the map, left reviews, and some donated money, which was quite rewarding.

One month passed. Three months passed.

After a year had passed, the map became so massive that I had to wonder how I made this all by myself.

The company advertised my game on their main page, encouraged, and even gave me some money as thanks for my dedication and constant updates.

The number of people who liked my game had become quite considerate. They provided me with a small income, so I didn’t have to work part-time. Additionally, all the people testing my game were a tremendous help in finding bugs.

All that was left to do was create the army in the center. Unfortunately, I had to pause development because I had to serve in the military. This disappointed many people, but they patiently waited for me to continue development.

Four years after I started making the game, I had finally finished it. I was able to implement everything I wanted to. There were no major updates planned. I only created small new dungeons or added achievements or titles based on my fans’ suggestions.

I thought this was enough.

I was honored to be in the list of the top 10 games that people should at least try once.

One day, Company K approached me. They wanted to make my game into a virtual reality game.

Company K was known for its virtual reality games, so I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I gave them everything they needed.

They told me the game would take at least 4-10 years to complete.

That was a long time, but I understood. I knew how much effort went into creating a game. The huge amount of money they paid me also did it’s part, of course.

They paid me an amount that was hard to fathom for a student.

I was elated. To celebrate, I decided to take a break and started a new character in my game.

That was the last thing I remembered.

Had I been kidnapped?

But if it were so, why would they put me in such a spacious room?

I was sitting on the bed, chewing on my nails, while thinking about various scenarios. Something felt wrong.

My gaze fell on my legs.

‘Why are my legs so thin?’

As I raised my gaze, the room looked so high.

Like from a child’s point of view.

“…….”

Why didn’t I notice that before?

I stopped chewing on my nails and looked down at my hands.

“This isn’t my body!?”

Even my voice was different! Distraught, I stood up.

Mirror, I need a mirror!

I started rummaging through the drawers. The well-organized room quickly became a mess. In the third drawer of the desk, I finally found a small hand mirror.

I looked at my reflection in horror.

The person staring back at me wasn’t myself.

“…It…can’t be!”

How could this be? This face…it was the face of one of the characters in my game!

To further my confusion, something appeared in front of me.

It was a translucent window with a neat green border.

[Soul synchronization complete.]

The blinking window disappeared, and new windows appeared in order.

[We sincerely welcome Master’s participation.]

[All systems are open.]

[Manipulate authority, start Project: ‘Destruction of Destiny’.]

“Am I playing my game?”

There was no way I was playing my virtual reality game without realizing it.

Could it be that Company K kidnapped me and was using me as a test subject?

It had been less than a day since I handed over the data.

There was no way they had created the game in such a short amount of time.

In the meantime, I noticed various system messages flicker and disappear out of the corner of my eye.

After a certain time, all messages disappear automatically.

While I wondered whether this was real or a dream, I felt the hairs on my neck stand up.

When I was looking behind me, I saw a man sitting in a chair. I had no idea how he had gotten there. The moment I saw the man, my heart started beating like crazy.

It became increasingly difficult to understand what was going on.

“How…?”

I looked at a man with an appearance that seemed to be far from reality.

To my surprise, I knew the man’s name.

The moment I saw him, I just knew his name. I had never seen him before in my life.

It can’t be.

The man smiled.

He was so handsome, but he felt like he wasn’t from this world.

He started speaking in a quiet voice that seemed out of this world.

“It’s nice to meet you, Creator. You know my name as well. That’s right. Xian. The first monarch of the world, the second being created by your hands, is finally greeting you after a long wait.”

With his head down, he smiled. I was very confused.

Xian, he was one of the world’s strongest beings. One of the seven monarchs, second only after Lord Perrmern in ‘The Twenty-Four Hearts of Perrmern’.