"Hello everybody! Your favorite VRMMO streamer NewsParaPara is here to show you something amazing today that will definitely amaze you! It has been two months since the release of GAIA LIFE and I am pretty sure those that have been playing this amazing game know the name Tanaka! A simple name that's regular and common yet a legend in GAIA LIFE, the legendary player that has broken all the record of boss slaying, event completion, and most importantly the first-ever player to reach Level 998! Can you imagine doing all these feat solo!?"

The commentator screen shows a black-haired figure wearing a cloak with black blazing flame appearing from a giant Gate with numerous drawing of demon figure engraved on it, he walks out of the gate and slowly descends the stairs.

[Stream Chat]

Fan 331: Oh my god! It's Tanaka! I love you Tanaka!

Fan 42: I have to leave the dungeon just so I can watch this, it better be worth it!

Fan 1096: How dare you question NewsParaPara-sama? Has he ever show us a piece of boring news?

Fan 462: Hey... why do that gate looks so familiar somehow?

Fan 299: Yeah, I have seen that gate before, let me do some research.

 

As Tanaka descended the stairs, the commentator gets closer toward him. The screen of the commentator shows the faces of Tanaka, he seems to be around the age of 15 with average looks.

"Tanaka-san! First of all, would you tell the viewer what did you achieved today? Also, can you update us on your current level?"

The commentator asks Tanaka, Tanaka glace toward him and gives a smile, then he answers his question.

"Just now, I have completed the event questline of Demon Baal, the dungeon that I have just completed is the Chamber of Baal Soul. as for my level, you guys can see for yourself here. Status."

Tanaka status appears in front of him, the commentator walks to the side of Tanaka and shows his screen at the status.

[Tanaka]

Level: 999 Max

Class: Arcane Knight

HP: █████████████████▒▒▒

MP:███████▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

The status shows that his level has reached 999 with the icon max next to it, the rest of his information is hidden by the system. The commentator continues commentating with an excited voice.

"There it is guys! The legendary Tanaka has reached the max possible level in the game! We have all just witnessed a historical moment of this game! Let's all congratulate this achievement of Tanaka!" The commentator proceeds to use a consumable item that pops out firework and confetti. Tanaka hold out his hand to shakes the hand of the commentator, he gives a cheerful smile and says:

"Thank you all for the support, since the timing is right, I have something to announce as well. Today will be my last day in GAIA LIFE, I am quitting this game forever, I hope that someday all of you will reach the top just as I have done so, farewell and thanks for all the love and support you guys have been showering me with."

Tanaka gives a 90-degree bow toward the commentator and waves goodbye afterward, he then logs out from the games.

 

 

In the real world, news about Tanaka quitting the games spreads like wildfire, his fansite is bombarded by numerous cries of fan and some even start to debate over why Tanaka has quit the game, there's even a rumor that he has to quit because he needs to take care of his sick mother. However, only a handful of people knows the truth and those are his schoolmates, just as Tanaka gets up from his Virtual Dive Gear, his phone started to ring.

Tanaka walks toward his phone and picks it up, he then sees the name Adachi and answered it.

A- "Hey what's up, dude? Heard you are going to quit playing Gaia Life."

T-"Nothing much Adachi, however, you did hear it right, I am quitting the game for good since I have basically completed the game."

A-"Well that's too bad, I was hoping that you can teach me how to beat the Emerald Python when you have time, me and the crew is stuck on this quest for about a week now."

T-"I guess I could help you guys later, not today though, I am really tired from the Baal dungeon, the boss is way over the level and his minion is practically a mini-boss by itself."

A-"It's ok Tanaka, we can do it tomorrow, get some rest dude! You deserve it 'Champ' haha."

T-"Haha screw you, that was so long ago, pretty sure someone already takes my spot in the arena, anyway nice talking to you, see ya!"

He put down his phone on the table and lay down on his bed, he immediately falls asleep.

 

[4:30 am]

Tanaka wakes up from his sleep, he looks at the alarm clock next to his bed.

"Guess I am not that tired at all, either that or my sleep schedule is so messed up that my brain just wakes me up out of habits."

He walks toward the kitchen and pours himself a glass of milk, he then browses the internet specifically the gaming news.

{Gaia Life newest DLC has been cleared!}

{Player Tanaka is the first player to reach the max level of Gaia Life.}

{MADGAME company assures the player that the new DLC is not as easy as the rumor goes, the reason player Tanaka cleared it so fast is due to his experience as an expert gamer.}

{Player Tanaka announced his retirement! Recorded on Live!}

{A VRMMORPG name Sphere of Destiny is rising in popularity among the US citizen, however, numerous reviewer has been complaining that certain asset found in SOD is similar to that of Gaia Life!}

 

"I didn't expect news of me quitting will be such a hot topic, well it's not like this is the first time."

He glace over to the cabinet next to his Virtual Dive Gear, the cabinet is filled with games that he has completed, some of them never heard of and most of them are the popular game that used to be the best before Gaia Life release. As he glace around and sees his phone, he remembers agreeing to help Adachi in the Emerald Python quest.

"How long ago have I completed the quest? I think I will need to get some supplies to counter the toxic breath of the boss. Since I can't sleep, might as well do it now." He looks at the clocks and the time shows 4:58 am. Tanaka then proceeds to enter the Virtual Dive Gear and log into Gaia Life.

...

......

.........

[Welcome back to GAIA LIFE , Tanaka!]

Your last log out position is ... [Hell Entrance], logging you in now!

██ 20%

█████ 80%

██████ 100%

[Have fun!]

.........

The scenary change from the blue matrix into the once again familiar stairs toward Baal Dungeon, just as he is about to open his inventory to use a teleportation scroll, a system notification appears in front of him.

[Congratulation Player Tanaka! You are the first-ever player to reach the max level of Gaia Life, we have recorded your data in the Hall of Fame of legend in order to honor this historical moment! Furthermore, a statue of you has been created at the end of the Hall of Fame to immortalize you as a symbol of legend.]

"Hall of Fame huh, maybe I should check that out later, wait... what's this?"

Tanaka looks at the notification changes into another.

[You have unlocked the Hardcore mode of Gaia Life! Upon entering Hardcore Mode, your level will be reset and a new class will replace your current class base on your achievement. All your item will be transferred into your bank for future uses when your level once again reaches the requirement, do take notes that this mode is extremely hard and is not irreversible!]

[Would you like to reset your level and enter hardcore mode?]

[No / Yes]

"......" Tanaka carefully read the detail of hardcore mode and think about how hard can the mode really be, he hesitates to touch the Yes button as he wonders if the hardcore mode really is just as described. 

"How do I explain to all the people though? My retirement has already become a hot topic everywhere..., well I will just deal with it when the situation requires me to do so." 

Tanaka press on the Yes icon and smiles.

"Hardcore mode here I go!" 

When he pressed the icon, the notification vanished and a red notification shows up instead.

[Hardcore mode activated!]

[Prepare for full-body assimilation]

"Huh?" Tanaka stares at the notification with a confused look, he then realizes that his vision started to blur as a line of red matrix code started to manifest around his body, when a part of his body gets covered by the matrix code, unusually intense pain that should be impossible to have started to surge around the body part. Tanaka falls down to the ground and groans in pain, he watches the red code started to vanish and the pain slowly subside.

"Hah...hah...what the hell was that?" As he looks down at his body, he sees that his chest has expanded, he grabs his chest and it feels real.

"This... I have boobs!?" He then also realize his voice has changed to a feminine female tone, as he panics and takes out a mirror to check his face, he sees that he has changed into a female version of himself. Her hair now is a long black bang and honestly, she thinks that her figure is kind of sexy.

"Man I look good, I look even better than Sayaka!" She touches her body all over, as she tries to fondle her chest again, she blushed and stops fooling around. Only then he noticed another red notification has appeared in front of her.

[Welcome to Hardcore Mode!]

[Congratulation on your assimilation, your real body has now been transferred into Gaia Life however changes have been made so the player base of Gaia Life will not recognize you! You may experience some unfamiliar sensation as your body is attempting to get used to the changes.]

[Important notes!]

[In hardcore mode, you will not be able to log out of the game until you complete every single event and questline in the game. Also, experience gain has been reduced by 90%, furthermore, dying will now result in losing 2 levels instead of the usual 25% experience lost, your level will never drop below 1. Most importantly, trading between players has been disabled and access to the player market will not be allowed. The good news however is that most NPC in the game will have more interaction and questline available to you, this is related to the new update toward the AI of every entity in GAIA LIFE that has been implemented 2 hours ago.]

As Tanaka finishes reading the notes, she opens up his status to check her new stats.

[Tanaka]

Level: 1

Class: Demon Slayer

HP: ████████████████████

MP: ████████████████████

STR: 10

AGI: 10

INT: 10

Perk:

Hardcore - Experience gain reduction 90%, level reduces by 2 on death.

Assimilated - Pain Tolerance set to 0, you will experience real pain that comes from injury and damage on your body depends on the intensity.

A privilege denied - Trading and Player Market has been removed from your feature.

 

"This is... way more intense than I thought it will be."

Tanaka sigh and open up his inventory again, he sees that the system has left him with a teleportation scroll to beginner town.

"At least I won't have to walk all the way through the level 800 PVP zone, I would have flipped if they made me do it."

The hardcore tales of Tanaka begin.