Prologue

I didn't really know how all this started, but what I did know was that I needed to end this and return to reality.

..."Should have declined," I thought to myself....

... "Well, it's too late to regret now."...

In the real world, I lived a rather disgraceful life. I, a 24-year-old disappointing male, lived in a big apartment in a rich neighborhood that my parents paid for. I had to lie about having a job because my parents were too ashamed to say that their son was a loser. I had never really had any close friends or a girlfriend.

Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

My phone buzzed, breaking my train of thought. "Son, did you go for the interview today?" My mom's message popped up on the screen. I didn't go for it, but if I told her that, she'd throw a fit again, so I just ignored it and looked back at the computer screen.

"Life once again" was an open-world RPG game that I had been playing since I was in middle school. The storyline wasn't all that great; it was about a boy who accidentally enters a game where he must help others, fight, and clear different obstacles in order to return to the real world. Today, I finally finished the game.

"Is he being serious?" I said out loud as I saw the ending of the game. "He did all that to return to the real world, and in the end, he decided to stay back? Is he stupid?" I was so annoyed by the ending. I'd played every single day for years, and after everything, they gave us such a bad ending?

Just then, a message popped up on the screen.

... [xxgames: We thank all the players from the deepest end of our hearts for playing 'Life once again' till the end. To show our gratitude, we have prepared a little surprise for you all! Check your ingame mailbox to receive the reward.]...

"Is this some kind of reward to make up for that stupid ending they gave us?" I wondered. I just didn't understand why the main character decided to stay back. He said it was because he had finally found a purpose there, but how can one find their purpose in a fake world? It just didn't make any sense.

I opened the mailbox to see a strange message.

...[Do you wish to enter the game? Accept/Reject] ...

"Enter the game? Is this some kind of endgame content they prepared for the players?" I thought. "I guess I'll accept it."

That was the most important decision of my life. Little did I know, my life was about to take a drastic turn. I clicked "Accept," and the screen went black.

As I waited for something to happen, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I had just made a huge mistake. But it was too late now. I had accepted the offer, and there was no going back.

That was the most important decision of my life.

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