He was normal, he was happy, he had a life for himself and felt no desire for it to change.

“Azal, you finish the presentation?” A man shouted across the office.

“Check your email now,” Azal shouted back his head popped over the cubical. He had finished the presentation a while ago but waited for them to ask before sending it so he could play the game on the computer.

On his screen was the most recent MMO, his son had recommended it and he decided to try it. He didn’t see the enjoyment it and now played as it gave him something to talk with his son about.

His could hear his son’s passionate voice as he over-exaggerated the feats achieved in the game with the brightest smile he could muster. It was contagious as Azal felt he needed to continue playing to keep that smile.

To help his son he learned to play a support role of a healer with the hobby of blacksmithing. He is a max level healer with intermediate ranked blacksmithing. He completed the class quest to become a white mage after meeting max level. He was only one of 10 to be possible next in line to be a pope. By being a solo player when his son wasn’t online he played with a diverse amount of parties making it so the unique revival count was met. There was also required unique heals, and a grand amount of time praying, which could only be achieved by being afk and in a meditation state. The final requirement was to have enough fame among the NPCs of both the church and townsmen. It was useful but not required to be known among nobles.

This didn’t mean he was ranked though, he was maybe in the top 100 of the million or so healers. There were many others who did nothing but play this MMO while he was busy but with enough time put in, he met all the requirements. Of the ten people in line to be Pope only two others beside himself were players, and he could only assume these people were sadists or people in similar situations as himself.

With his attention, back to the game, he saw he had a message sitting in his mailbox. Not an odd occurrence when you are a high-level solo healer. Guilds always need good healers and his friends' list may not be large but it wasn’t small either.

He used the teleportation crystal and appeared back at the house he owned and opened the mailbox. The message was strange,

“How would you like to be your character?”

Not caring he pressed delete without a reply. He didn’t care to lose his current life in exchange for one of being in a fantasy world.

The same message appeared in his mailbox. Azal again deleted the mail. Though again it appeared, every time he deleted the mail it reappeared without exception.

In annoyance, he begrudgingly replied, “No, now stop messaging me.”

He went to block the sender but it was blank, an occurrence he had never seen.

“Do you not wish to be the main character?”

“I do not. I’m happy in my role. I have a wife, and son, and stable job.”

“Do you not wish to be king?”

“And have the expectations that come with it? Sounds like a lot of trouble with little gain. Money and power become meaningless after a while.”

“We require you.”

“Find someone else.”

“Not an option.”

Azal’s vision went black as found himself above the clouds.

“The message was a formality.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He was livid, this was a formality! His so-called free will meant nothing here.

“You are needed to save the world.”

“No, I’m not. Go get someone else. I’m some random middle-class man.”

“Not everyone can do what you did.”

“What I did? You mean be a top-level healer? There were two others who did the same. If not them find some brain puppet with a set of quests to be the world’s best healer.”

“You are the only one to fit the requirements.”

“Damn the requirements! I’m not leaving my family for some fantasy world!”

“Then your family will die.”

“Oh no don’t kill my family! Please no!”

“Good to see you understand the si-”

“You seriously thought that would work? Threatening my family? Blackmailing me to do your dirty work?”

“Then you won’t be seeing your family again.”

“I wasn’t going to in the first place. You weren’t ever going to listen to what I had to say.”

“Why do you care so much for them when you’re divorced! I can’t understand! She isn’t your wife anymore! Your son? You can’t even see him! What is holding you here!”

“…”

Azal shook his head with a complicated expression on his face, “You make it sound so simple. Does the word divorce mean the love just dies? Does the word marriage mean the love will last forever? No. She left me, she tore me a part of the two people I love most. This doesn’t mean I hate or even dislike her, those years of passion are still a constant solace for me. That son I can’t see? I played that game because of him. I became who I was because of him!

You think it is so simple! That only shows your ignorance. You’ve never had someone you cared about in your entire life!”

The being across of him open and closed their mouth but no sound left it. Then the world faded, and there was a shred of hope in Azal’s heart. He hoped his eyes would open and he would back at his desk the game in front of him.

He hoped he would be able to hear his son’s voice or even experience his ex-wife’s anger. Though most of all he didn’t want to lose either of them. He didn’t want to be in a world where neither of them could be by his side.

That wasn’t his decided fate though, when his eyes opened he was at a temple. The interior was extremely familiar and he was filled with anger. ‘Damn you to hell. Damn you to hell!’

“Damn you to hell!”