<PHANTASM> was a technological achievement of the 22nd century.

By the time Diving Devices became affordable for consumers, having remained exclusive to military and astronaut training for half a decade, the entertainment industry was bracing for a severe draught.

Yet, the expected scarcity of new, innovative forms of entertainment never truly arrived.

For the first time in millennia, humans observed a decreased importance in their physical bodies. Virtual Reality had always been great, but the yearning for True VR continued to be marginally out of reach.

Then arrived the Dive technology.

Using the newest discoveries in neuro-science, the new Dive Devices allow humans to forego, though only temporarily, their bodies and direct their consciousness toward a virtual avatar. And, as the technology improved, the device’s CPU and RAM became capable of handling more and more functionality, which was then offloaded from the user’s brain. As the result, as long as the user had a nutritious meal before Diving, their minds would not tire even after a long session inside the virtual world.

<PHANTASM> entered the industry bearing little to no hope from the players; there were few testing phases, while a release date was never in anyone’s sight. However, it prided itself on the promise of a PvE focused experience with a degree of freedom that the first generation of Dive Device could not handle.

During the final open beta test, the game’s popularity exploded worldwide. The ability to use official dev tools to alter items, environment, abilities, and even quests was described as “addicting” by the majority of user reviews. Modding was now a built-in function which players utilized to optimize their own fun out of the game.

And though <PHANTASM> became a billion dollar IP during its golden age, its reign began to falter nine years after launch: several reports of players falling into permanent unconsciousness after encountering odd glitches.

Within 18 months, <PHANTASM> rapidly lost customers, as more and more people quit, while investors and sponsors wanted nothing to do with a neural software that might rob people of their consciousness.

Eventually, all of its remaining servers were scheduled to be terminated permanently.

* * *

Rein wakes up to his nose stinging.

“Atchoo——!!”

A powerful sneeze yanks him out of dreamland and tosses him into the real world.

“Geez! What the hell?”

The sheer muscle contraction caused by that sneeze pulls his body up, into a sitting posture. Despite feeling as if woken by a dream in which he falls from a skyscraper, Rein’s mind is well rested.

“When did I fall asleep...?”

Rein finally makes an effort to open his eyes, fully waking himself up.

——However, what he sees is not what he expected.

“HUH!? I’m still logged in!?”

The familiar ceiling, the same one he has woken up to everyday for five years, is nowhere to be found. When he looks up, there is only a golden chandelier hanging from a ceiling several times higher and wider than that of his apartment.

On the other side of the room is a large double-door made of a dark metal which sparkles like the night sky. The carvings on the doors depict slumbering creatures to whom humanity bow and devote their faith. Above the two largest giants are eclipsed suns which radiate dark rays of energy.

‘Commissioning OhVinciii was worth every penny,’ Rein thinks to himself, mesmerized for a moment by the exquisite handiwork on each door.

‘Wait, hold on! Why am I still here!? I gotta go to work!’

Just when Rein thinks of logging out, his memory finally catches up. He recalls the battle against the smaller Yurathi’gor, who bore the title of ‘True Servant of Morthoth.’ It was not a particularly tough fight; however, the avatar was identified as a Game Master, despite its bizarre behavior.

‘Is the Log Out button still blocked?’

Rein raises his hand and makes a gesture.

“What!?!”

Yet, nothing happens. The same gesture would have brought up a control menu before.

In disbelief, Rein continues to repeat the gesture, then tries again with his other hand.

However, all of his effort yields the same result as before: the game’s menu is entirely missing.

“Okay......... Let’s just... Calm down......”

Rein hops down from the platform he has been sitting on. Behind it, he sees the statue of a faceless deity. On its neck is a golden necklace which holds a red gem as its pendant.

“That’s the death penalty negating item I made, so this must be the respawn altar inside my house...”

Rein looks around and confirms that he recognizes all the items inside the room. He feels better, knowing that he isn’t stuck inside one of the troublesome, teleport-blocking dungeons. Here, he does not need to battle monsters while the menu cannot be accessed.

“But... I didn’t die. That thing shone a light in my face, and... I just got force-respawned?”

Rein cannot think of a reasonable cause to this occurrence. It has been several years since the last time he was forced to respawn: when his avatar was stuck inside a wall after being blown away by a raid boss’ explosive attack. A GM had to show up to unstuck him, but that was the last time a bug like that happened to him.

“The gem’s not glowing, so that means a death penalty was negated...”

Rein turns around and takes a careful look at the red pendant.

“Menu doesn’t even show up...... But, what about the thought function?”

Though only barebone, a thought command function was added to Phantasm a short while ago. It went through extensive testing, only to quickly be disabled and abandoned by the players, because it could be quite finicky. Most players agreed that just clicking buttons on the menu would be faster, in the end.

“Mghh...... Status... Status...”

Rein recalls the instructions he had carefully studied before the feature was added to the game.

“HUH!? What the——!?”

Rein was expecting a no small amount of difficulty, but as soon as he starts wishing to see the character’s information window, a sensation not unlike ‘familiarity’ rises up from the depth of his mind.

The information is sizeable, yet it comes neatly organized inside his head. He can vividly perceive the amount of life force and mana coursing through his body. He knows the number of skills, their descriptions, costs, cooldowns, debuff values, and damage as if the game’s system has been programmed into his brain.

“It was never this intuitive... Did they overhaul it or something? No, why would anyone update the functions of a game that’s about to shut down forever?”

Rein cannot believe how easily he managed to invoke a thought command.

However, his issue remains partly unresolved: the game’s menu is not appearing, still.

“I might’ve gotten lucky... Let’s try something else...”

Rein concentrates and commands that the content of his Inventory be displayed.

In an instant, the information about his avatar fades, giving way for new information to enter. This time, he has a complete list of items in his possession, all conveniently written into his memory. Any item he wishes to know about, its description simply appears in his mind.

“Ridiculous... This wasn’t even in the game!”

Rein sits down on the altar and falls into deep thought.

‘Service was supposed to shut down, but that thing showed up. I beat it, but it forced me to respawn back in my house. Then, all of a sudden, menus don’t work anymore, while thought commands become infinitely better...’

As someone who lives and breathes pop culture, the possibility of a ‘stuck in a death game’ scenario comes up first in his speculations, followed by ‘being dropped into a foreign world.’

‘Nobody’s shown up to announce the death game yet, but it could be that they’re just making it harder for those who’re trapped. Getting blasted to a different world sounds plausible, but is there even anyway to prove that this isn’t a virtual world of some kind? When all the menus refuse to work?’

Rein dearly wishes to obtain more information, yet he is simply afraid of leaving this safe zone. If the setting of a death game follows the rules of a battle royale, then his life will be in immediate danger. Rein has a comfortable spot in the ranking chart, but there are others with the same amount of time and effort invested into Phantasm as him.

‘On the other hand, if safe zones have stopped functioning, like the menus, then I’d be instantly cornered in here... There’s just nowhere to run...’

The respawn altar lies deep within his Housing territory. If the enemy is powerful enough to reach this place, then Rein has no chance of fighting back, or escape from them, to begin with. Hence, there was no need to build an escape route here.

——click!

‘Shit——’

While Rein muses over his options, the double-doors come unlocked. Despite their size, the hinges create entirely no sound as they turn. The inner corners of the doors hover over the floor, drawing two beautiful, sparkling arcs on the shiny surface below. It was a decorative effect from the cash shop.

A slender figure stands under the archway, donning a black and white outfit, which leaves little skin uncovered. When the person comes into the illuminating light of the chandelier, from the gloomy hallway, she is revealed to be an exquisite beauty, her allure unhindered by the buttoned-up maid garb.

Dark haired and hazel eyed, the woman walks with grace in every step, never breaking posture. Her composure appears incorruptible, yet even that stoic expression habours a lasting melancholy.

Their eyes meet, as she leaves the shadow cast by the two large doors.

It is a face that Rein knows better than anyone else. However, this time, her features lack the stiffness of a 3D model in a virtual world. She is full of life; one can tell that the maid possesses life force simply by looking at her. The bewilderment in her eyes surprises Rein to the point of being speechless.

‘Has my NPC somehow become conscious?’

Rein cannot help but wonder.

‘Did the game turn into reality, or did my life just become a webnovel?’

Bizarre thoughts swirl in his mind, as he watches her movements; they do not belong to any animation set in the game. The way her skirt sways and her shoulders move is utterly beyond what 3D assets were capable of.

The maid’s steps quicken as she comes closer.

Eventually, she breaks into a dash and jumps into Rein’s embrace, her arms wrapping tightly around him. Despite her affectionate gesture, Rein grows increasingly anxious as he feels her warmth and smells the pleasant fragrance of her hair.

‘This truly... is a real person.’

The realization wedges itself into the cogs of his thoughts.

When Rein looks down, round spots have formed on his shirt from the tears she sheds.

* * *

A wide dirt road stretched along the shore of a large river. On its other side was a dense forest, occupied by unusually tall trees and thick foliage.

The atmosphere was serene, yet lacking any quietness. The cries of insects, singing of birds, and the loud coursing current came together in a natural, early summer orchestra.

From behind the thick brushes, peered through an ominous gaze. Dark, red eyes of an inhuman nature followed the shaking wagon, pulled by two brown horses. The two pupils within each eyeball strangely moved different ways, as if observing their surroundings from different angles.

The creature shifted its posture and began moving sideways with its four arms and goat-like legs. It looked as if there was a shifting distortion in the environment, as the creature’s skin bore a bizarre likeness to its surroundings——a camouflaging ability which put chameleons to shame.

The oblivious peddler continued to hum a tune which had been stuck in his head, ever since he heard a bard sang it in the last town he passed through. The weather had put him in just the right mood to be singing, all while celebrating quietly the haul he managed to bring back on this trip.

“Mm~mm~ Haha... I’m so happy those new guys showed up. These are really rare stuff~”

Some new faces had turned up in that town recently, and just around the time of the year when this peddler would make the round through that region. It had been the same types of goods every year, and he was satisfied with fulfilling the trade orders, assigned to him by the general manager. But, this year was different...

Some new items entered the market through the Flintstones of Kirksfield, a local merchant guild. The origins of these items were kept a secret, from even the employees of their office.

The peddler was simply in the most ideal situation: he had received a capital from one of his assistant managers, with the purpose of seeking out new, exotic goods with the potential to grow into long-term merchandise. The things he saw on those shelves were simply irresistible, prompting the excited peddler to become “lenient” with spending his guild’s gold.

Quickly gone were the coins entrusted to him, as he welcomed a pair of exotic bracelets into the most magically secured compartment inside his wagon.

“Hehe~ People with Skills are rare enough, and now I have items with Skills to show the boss!”

‘Judge Properties’ was a Skill which could be attained by those willing to work hard as merchants. Not many succeeded, but if someone did, they would become valuable assets of their guilds.

This peddler was one of the lucky few.

As soon as the Skill revealed to him that these bracelets each possessed a Skill, his assistant manager’s coins were as good as spent. And, since he lacked any information about those two Skills, it meant they were of levels higher than his own appraising abilities.

Perhaps, because of such rare properties that the items emitted a faint trace of mana everywhere he took them. The peddler was not a mage. Just recalling the terms he once saw occupying every page of a grimmoire gave him a terrible headache. ‘No, thank you!’ was the answer he gave his parents whenever they brought up the topic of magic. Therefore, he was oblivious to the invisible trail he had left behind, since he left Kirksfield.

The creature, on the other hand, was very fond of the faint ‘smell’ oozing out of the small cabinet hidden under the peddler’s cargo. It craved whatever foodstuff was being hidden there, though it was barely of the certainty that those items were edible.

——sniff, sniff.

The creature’s nose twitched a few times. The town was now so far away, even its keen sense of smell could hardly detect it. Thus, it was time to strike.

But, as it drew nearer behind the clacking, wooden wheels of the wagon, even using Wind magic to conceal the sound of its footsteps, its attention was, at the same time, growing narrow toward the tasty smell before it. The creature never realized the two shadows tailing it from atop the tree branches. They, too, had manipulated nature by arcane means to erase their presences.

Hunting the oblivious prey, the creature obliviously allowed its hunters to prepare their trap.

Soon, it assaulted the wagon with a fervent vigor.