The young man told me, that he had anger issues.

If something didn't work out in his life, he would blame others. That something out there was envious of him doing well, and just wanted to bring him down.

He was upset since he didn't have power. If only he had them, he was sure to get revenge for everything—until his life would go as expected and nothing would disappoint him.

I was like, "Why don't you just move on? It's just small things, just focus on the big picture."

"Because I can't. No matter how much I bear with it, I couldn't help but get angry. The more I restrained myself, the more I felt my weakness, and so little things I could do. The thought that I had to live like this made me go insane."

"...but you're no longer powerless—you are a God now. Just bear with me a bit, and finish your task, and you're able to return to Earth with your godly powers.

Although it wouldn't be the Earth you know, just a similar copy. That way, if you made any mishap, you wouldn't regret anything."

"Yes."

The young man thought of a fitting ending, to the 'peaceful' fishmen.

To him, the best story was the happiest end for the main character and their friends and the worst tragedy for their enemies.

==

The Deep One pondered about the System's existence, and how it granted him something close to omnipotence.

"It's all me," the young man spoke, "I granted you this power, but I won't be here forever. This might be the last time you can experience such moments, so use it well."

"I see."

It was hard to accept, that in the end, it wasn't his own power, and that person's free to take it anytime.

"Ahem, I might phrase it wrong," the youth shrugged, "I mean, well, this might be our last meeting. From now on, you're on your own.

I wouldn't grant you any new Quest or Powers--you can pick everything you want yourself.

You'll be the God of this world, so have fun.

With omnipotence in his grasp, the Deep One was totally lost on what to do.

While he's limited to this universe, it was already more than enough.

Since his predecessor wanted him to have fun, he thought about what things were the most fun.

It was video games.

While he ends up getting sold to slavery, his living conditions used to be decent, he managed to get a video game cartridge with a low price.

As a second-class citizen, he had to make do with a shit-quality TV and retro console, while the pure-blooded ones could enjoy a high-end VRMMO.

...but to him, these flashy entertainments weren't as good as the games he played. It was an RPG game set in a fantasy world, where an ordinary person could become the world's savior.

The game was distributed in a black market anonymously, if not, the game's idea alone would convict the creator for the death penalty.

Such kind of world was no more.

Since he's now a God, he would make sure no such places would exist.

Was it his predecessor's fault, that he had to go through suffering? No, it didn't matter anymore.

He just wanted to relive his memories of playing that game. In the same old CRT TV, the retro console, and his second-hand cartridge.

The game's 8-bit music played, followed by the story of an ordinary village boy.

His world was once peaceful, and the Kings and the officials ruled wisely, bringing prosperity to both the nobles and commoners.

Until one day, the Demon King came. His influence caused the government to become corrupt, and each only saw their personal benefit, instead of the greater good.

The commoners started to suffer, and the boy's family had fallen to poverty.

As such, like many others—the boy moved into the city to find a well-paying job.

...and so, the boy's journey began.

It took a week to clear it and experiment, of course, he didn't do it on his own. If he's stuck, he could just browse the forums to get 'spoilers'.

He finally knew, from the forums. Even if it's an illegal game in Voronezh, at the neighboring Sardinia Empire, it was one of their olden masterpieces. The Creator couldn't even be charged with the death penalty, since they were long dead by now.

Of course, he wasn't stuck there eating cheeseburgers; he observed the villagers and advised them on their troubles.

The villagers' spirits were back when they finally heard of the good news--it's now time for everlasting peace.

On the way, he also met the Elder. It made him relieved since he's one of his fondest kinsmen.

No matter how close they were, the Elder wouldn't knock nor barge in his residence.

There were lots of disguise technology, if the Elder end up dying due to the Voronezh Agent, even a total annihilation wouldn't be enough.

In any case, he was relieved—so he invited the Elder to a good ol' lunch and discussed the next events.

For the celebration, he invited the villagers to the square, in which he did a speed-run of the game.

His gameplay's projected clearly on the screen, and the villagers reminisced their good ol' past life.

The audience cheered and laughed when the Hero skipped the entire tutorial and picked the equipment from the safe in the guild master's room.

Its code was a 1-2-3-4-5.

There's also a weirdly shaped pass right behind the starting town. If you knock on it repeatedly for a minute, it would reveal a pass straight into the Demon King's castle.

On normal playthrough, the pass would open after you defeated the Demon King's generals that reside in each of the Kingdoms.

The audience erupted into laughter.

Also, there's a peculiarity in this game.

As long as you didn't initiate the first strike, the main character was guaranteed to escape from battle, including boss fights. With the gear from the guild master's room, he'd always get the first turn.

That's how the Hero escaped from all the overpowered monsters in the Demon King's territory and even in his castle, including all the mid-bosses.

Even after engaging the Demon King, he escaped the battle and walked straight into his backroom.

There was a pale-skinned girl with long ears—the Demon King's daughter.

The Hero described the girl as sickly, and nearly on her last breath. In a normal playthrough, the player would only saw her grave, after defeating the Demon King.

"Are you...the Hero? Doesn't look like it—you're not blessed."

"I'm just here for someone in need."

"Even though you're so weak?"

At this moment, the main character was only level 1 and never slain any monsters.

From another experiment, it was possible to trigger this dialogue even at lv 99, as long he didn't slay any monsters in the Demon King's territory or gotten the Hero's Blessing.

Otherwise, the game would proceed as if normal playthrough, with only the daughter's grave, in this room's basement.

After the dialogue, there's a battle scene with the princess.

At this point, if the player has the [Mysterious Medallion] item from the beginning, they could cure the princess and enter the [Secret Ending].

Although it meant the player had to skip the tutorial entirely since it would automatically be lost during a forced event inside the dungeon.

Of course, such an unintuitive ending was actually hinted in the normal playthrough.

Like when you ranked up in the guild, at some point, the guild master would joke how he used to set his password into 1-2-3-4-5. Nonetheless, you couldn't open it, since the guild master was always present except for the tutorial.

...and at the beginning, if you talked with the mobs, someone will mention, "The Guildmaster was out, I wonder what he's up to?"

The Demon King also vaguely mentioned it, after you defeat him on the normal ending, "What if you happen to take the other road?"

From the medallion, there was a clue on the Secret Library at Heaven. You could access it after planting the [Sacred Seed] at the Eternal Rainbow Lake. No matter when you plant it, the seed would always sprout the Sacred Tree when forty in-game hours had passed.

Most of the players would reach that point at around twenty or twenty-five hours of gameplay.

Eternal Rainbow Lake's also easily accessible with an airship.

In Sacred Library, many of the secrets that made you overpowered will be listed, it also vaguely describe the lores and the secret endings.

You would also get the strongest weapon in the game.

After you exit, the Sacred Tree would wither into a [Sacred Tree Stick], which only the main character could equip. It would have guaranteed critical hits that ignore defense against demons, trivializing many of the contents, especially since you could just spam the Hero with buffs and let him solo the bosses.

It also mentioned the Secret Pass in one of their legends, but the story was boring to me so I'd skip that.

It also meant you could only enter Sacred Library once per playthrough.

About the medallion, the main character would find a dusty glowing book. It told a legend about a demon who could regenerate from a drop of blood. It made him not afraid of death and ravaged the heavens one time.

Long story short, any demonkin who consumed the blood will become immortal.

While the Angels managed to incinerate his very being, a drop of blood fell into Earth.

The second clue was the dialogue of Ratatoskr, one of the Demon King generals. After his defeat, he confessed to having stolen the Hero's medallion due to the presence of their ancestor's blood, but when he finally returned, it was too late.

==

The audience thoroughly enjoyed the Secret Ending.

It displayed the Demon King's motive on trying to conquer humanity, and how it drove him insane when all his efforts bore no fruit.

He wanted to get stronger at all costs, so he was able to resurrect his daughter.

...but all he got was the sad end since he stood against the Hero.

Right after that, the Deep One cut off his playthrough.

"If you wanted to know what happened next, go play it yourself! That's what games are for."

He handed the TV and Consoles to each family.

While he once thought about singing and dancing, to celebrate his victory—it all paled in comparison to games.

In the end, games were the best thing to exist in his life. Even after he became a God, it still didn't change.

"Video games are the best."

Satisfied with the closure, the young man turned towards me.

"Since you did well, I'll give you an extra."

...and so I sent him to a world, where he could obtain the most happiness.

The world of a video game.

gaylolis

After this chapter, I probably can still make it, as long I kept writing the stuff I love, like video games.