After thirteen long years, Kingdom Stars III was finally being released. The children and teenagers that started the journey with Kingdom Stars were now adults. There were even a few that had died during the wait, brothers and sisters in arms unable to meet the promised day.

Perhaps knowing that, those that remained were filled with joy and anticipation.

Yuu Go was among that group. Like his comrades, he awaited the release with bated breath, eager to drop everything and marathon the game to reach a conclusion over a decade in waiting, one where people would cry all their tears after watching the journey’s end.

But at that moment, Yuu Go was crying all his tears for a different reason.

Yuu Go. A typical young Japanese man with average looks, black hair, and brown eyes. He made the decision to immediately join the corporate world upon graduating, grabbing a desk job crunching numbers at Company X. Since then, three years had passed. The pay was good and he didn’t mind the long hours most days.

This was not ‘most days’.

Yuu anxiously stared at the clock in the corner of his monitor and resisted the urge to pull out his phone to check game reviews.

Friday, 7:59 PM. Just another minute and he would be free. Just another minute and he could head back home, download Kingdom Stars III and finally see if Caelum could save all of the ones connected to his star. Just another minute and he could see if the light would prevail over the forces of darkness and everyone would get their happy ending. Just another minute- no, just a few seconds now…

8:00 PM.

Yuu jumped out of his chair and shut down his desktop, not caring whether work had been saved. He’d make it up later if it hadn’t.

The office was empty. His fellow co-workers, those bastards, had the foresight to request a week’s vacation in advance. Because of that, he was the only one left in the office to pick up the slack.

Yuu stretched and stared out the window.

His office was on the top floor of a towering skyscraper in Tokyo. It also wasn’t far from the Tokyo Skytree, which was completely reworked to advertise Kingdom Stars III.

“...Lucky bastards.”

Most people would already be a good chunk into the game. Meanwhile, he’d just be starting… no, he’d still need to download the game when he got home.

Yuu quickly packed his bag and cleaned up his cubicle. Another minute wasted meant another minute less he had to play. After clocking out and locking up, Yuu ran down the hallway and jammed the elevator button. The button lit up and the soft ding of the elevator making its way up the floors echoed.

Yuu jogged in place, waiting for the elevator to come. One second. Two seconds. Three… Argh, this was taking too long!

Yuu tucked his bag under his arm and ran towards the flight of stairs. The door to the stairs was one with a push handle, so Yuu didn’t lose any speed as he tackled it and kept running.

Behind him, Yuu heard the soft ding of the elevator opening, but it was too late to turn back now.

The door closed and Yuu began his descent down the stairs.

...He could have sworn he heard a terrible grinding noise along with screeches from behind him as he ran, but Yuu ignored it. Kingdom Stars III was waiting!

One flight of stairs. Two. Three… maybe he should have taken the elevator after all? At the top of the fourth floor’s stairs, Yuu suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket.

He grabbed the rail, forcing himself to a stop just before taking the first step down. After that, he pulled out his phone. “This better be important…”

It was a notification for a gacha game he had downloaded recently, Other World’s Brave Five. Something about getting the chance to get a rare drop if he logged in.

“This is so not the time for that.” Yuu swiped the notification away and shoved his phone back into his pocket before starting to move again. Just before he took a step though, he noticed that there was a puddle of water on the stairs.

“...That could have been dangerous.”

Taking care to avoid the wet spot, Yuu started running down the stairs again. Just in case though, he made sure to keep a hand over the rail.

Huffing and wheezing, Yuu kicked open the door to the first floor of the office building. “Never… doing that… again…”

He staggered through the doorway and then leaned over to catch his breath. Suddenly, thunder roared.

“Oh come on!”

A sudden downpour. Despite the weather forecasting clear skies and the view being completely clear before Yuu started heading downstairs, dark stormy clouds had emerged and erupted with rain, thunder, and lightning.

“Thankfully I keep an umbrella in my bag. But still, what’s up with today?” Yuu muttered and pulled out his umbrella. It was clear, a cheap one he bought from the convenience store one day when he forgot to bring one from home. Opening it, Yuu made his way out from the office building and into the pouring rain.

Thunder rumbled and rain dyed the concrete sidewalks a dark gray. It was terrible weather in general, but most people had already gone home. The only poor fool walking around that night was him.

Yuu sighed and started the long trek back to his apartment.

Water splashed with every step he took. And since he was dressed for work, that meant that his expensive black leather loafers were being damaged. That, and his freshly pressed suit and pants would need another visit to the cleaners after tonight.

“Just think about Caelum, Yuu. Think about how everyone is finally going to get together and stop Norton’s plans.” Yuu muttered those words to himself and kept walking.

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate. Was it a text? Were his friends telling him about a cool part in the story? A useful tip?

Yuu thought about ignoring it, but after a few more steps the anticipation got the better of him. Tucking the umbrella’s handle under his armpit, Yuu pulled out his phone to check the notification.

“...Again, not the time for this!”

Another notification from that gacha game reminding him that he had a ten-pull summon waiting for him.

Yuu scowled and swiped the notification away before putting his phone back into his pocket. At that time, the wind picked up. Since Yuu wasn’t holding his umbrella properly, it flew out of his grasp and into the air.

He ran towards it. The umbrella was a few feet in front of him, but if he ran faster he could catch it-

A flash of white light and a deafening boom.

Yuu blinked, his vision filled with purple spots. At the same time there was a ringing in his ears.

After a while, Yuu’s vision cleared and his hearing gradually returned to normal. When it did, he saw a sad and burnt umbrella lying on the ground in front of him.

He paused and then raised a fist up at the clouds. “Curse you heavens! You won’t stop me from playing Kingdom Stars III!”

Heaven’s response was to increase the intensity of the rain.

Yuu sighed and held his bag over his head as makeshift cover. There was a convenience store around the corner from where he was. He could get a new umbrella there.

For a few minutes, Yuu walked in the rain, a sorry sight with a drenched suit and bag. When he entered the convenience store, a small puddle formed at the entrance from all the water dripping off his body.

“Forget your umbrella again, Mister?”

That was the clerk. A young high school girl who worked there part-time to make ends meet. She was also the one who sold him his spare umbrella the last time.

Yuu sighed and walked over to the rack where they kept umbrellas. “I didn’t forget. It got destroyed while I was walking home.” He picked one out, a black one, and then handed it to the clerk.

“Oh? Is the weather that bad out there?” The clerk scanned the umbrella and said, “I mean, it looks bad from in here, but...”

“Oh it’s bad. Rain, lightning, heavy wind… the works.” Yuu rummaged in his wallet and pulled out his credit card, handing it over to the clerk.

She nodded, swiping his card in the credit card machine, and then handed both it and the umbrella over to him. “Here you go, Mister! Have a good night!”

Yuu smiled and waved at her. “You too!”

He quickly walked out of the store and unfolded his umbrella. In his rush, he didn’t see the person walking into the store wearing a hooded-shirt.

“Oof!”

Yuu staggered back, but the person crashed to the ground, landing against the rain-soaked pavement. Something fell from the person’s pocket, clattering against the ground before skidding and falling down a sewer grate.

“Why you…!”

Yuu quickly unfolded his umbrella and ran off, not looking back.

The hooded figure, a grizzly man, scowled as he watched Yuu leave. He shook his head and then walked into the store.

“Can I help you, Mister?”

“Give me all your mon…ey? Wait, where’s my gun?”

“…So you think that you can waltz in here and just demand money? When people like me have to work an honest job just to make ends meet?”

“N-Now hold on. This is misunder- wait. Is that a bat? Why do you have a- Aaaargh!”

Yuu arrived at a crosswalk. The rain was pouring, and it was hard to see anything.

“Come on, come on!”

He was waiting for the light to change. There weren’t any cars around, so he could technically risk it. But considering everything that happened today, he didn’t want to test his luck.

A soft ding echoed, and the light changed to green on his side. At the same time, the sign for pedestrian crossing lit up.

“Finally!” Yuu started to walk across the street, but before he took two steps, he paused. “…Wait. Did I turn off my computer in the office?”

He couldn’t remember.

“Aaargh, Boss is gonna kill me if I did.”

Yuu’s Boss was a stickler for expenses, and if he found out…

A loud blare echoed and then water splashed into the air. A few steps in front of him, a truck blared down the street and past the red light.

Yuu’s eyes grew wide. If he hadn’t stopped and had taken just a few steps more…

He shivered, not wanting to consider the thought.

After that near death experience, he was extra vigilant on his way home.

Thankfully, the rest of the walk back was uneventful.

Unlocking the door to his apartment, Yuu tossed his bag to the side along with his soaked shirt and umbrella.

His apartment was the usual studio apartment. A big room with a small bathroom off to the side. It was just enough to live in and relax, but far from luxurious. Still, that didn’t matter.

“And now… we begin!”

Yuu dashed over to his PF4 and turned on his TV… and then saw that he forgot to predownload the game.

Yuu collapsed onto the ground, kneeling his head against the floor. “I messed up!”

He stayed like that for a few minutes, stunned with shame and disbelief. But then he sighed and sat up, starting the download for Kingdom Stars 3.

At that time, his phone chimed again.

“Another notification? It better not be Boss getting on my back again. I swear to god, if something else came up…”

It wasn’t his boss. Instead, it was that gacha game again, Other World’s Brave Five.

“Godfest, with a guaranteed SSR?”

He frowned and then glanced back at his TV. Seeing the download bar stuck at 1%, Yuu sighed.

“Well, I’ve got nothing better to do.”

He shrugged and tapped on the notification, opening the game.

“I think I did the tutorial already, right?”

He tapped past the logo screen of the game, a simple graphic with the words ‘Other World’s Brave Five’ in a colorful font. Thankfully, it didn’t take him to the tutorial and took him straight to the home screen.

The gacha icon was flashing, so Yuu tapped on it. A message popped up, showing some generic waifus and shiny items. Beneath it, the rates were listed.

“A Godfest, huh?”

The current banner was a Godfest with the SSR rate raised to 5% from the usual 1%. In addition, a SR is guaranteed with a ten summon… the usual deal with those types of games. Apparently there was an event going on where he’d be sent a guaranteed SSR after the first ten summon though.

“Well… Got nothing to lose, so let’s try it out.”

He started summoning.

“Trash, trash, trash, trash…”

After a slew of nine golden doors with trash mobs and items, Yuu sighed. “I knew it. My luck is terrible today.”

First his umbrella, then almost dying…

He shook his head and sighed. “Well, only one left.”

Yuu stared at the summon screen and then tapped next… only to be greeted with another golden door.

Yuu froze and then dropped his phone on the floor. He lowered himself into an ‘orz’ pose.

After a while, he shook his head and sat back up. He grabbed his phone and sighed. “Well… It’s going to at least be a SR, right?”

It was a bit of a consolation at least.

Yuu tapped the golden door… and then it cracked, flashing rainbow. “Hoh? Did I get lucky for once?”

It was the special event, the heart-pumping special effect with higher rarities.

Yuu tapped the cracked door, and then it shattered, turning into a rainbow gate. But the summoning wasn’t over yet.

“Breaking twice? Did I… Did I get an SSR?!”

His heart throbbed with anticipation and he reverently tapped the screen.

Rainbow lights swirled, and when it moved to the summoning result, he frowned.

A young girl with pink twin-tailed hair and soft bangs. An adorable doll-like face stared back with emerald eyes. Thankfully, she wasn’t wearing skimpy clothing. Just an ordinary school girl uniform.

Still…

“Dammit. Another gacha game throwing out loli-bait.” Yuu sighed and tapped on her icon. “Might as well check the details… She has to be good, right?”

[UR - GOD]

[Biography: A super powerful and formidable God from another world.]

[Dialogue]

[Summoning: “Give up and come along already, idiot!”]

[Skill: “Better believe you won’t escape this time!”]

[Attack: “Don’t make me use this!”]

[Defense: “You’ve got none!”]

“Huh.”

While the unit was strong, he definitely wouldn’t be using it in public anytime soon. A loli with sadistic tendencies… he understood that fetishes got more profit, but could the devs be a bit less shameless?

But there was something else about the unit that he noticed as well. “Wait. That’s weird… Were URs a thing in this game?”

He frowned and tapped back in the game to head to the main menu. Since he got a rare unit, he might as well try out the story… Or that was his plan.

But as he tapped to go back to the home screen, his screen turned black.

“Hm?” Yuu frowned and tapped some more, but nothing changed. “Dammit! Did I break the game?”

Finally, a pinpoint of light formed in the middle of the screen, the first signs of loading.

But then that light grew bigger and brighter. Not only that, but his phone started to get hot too.

“W-Wait. What’s going-“

Electricity crackled and blinding white light filled his room.

Yuu threw his phone to the side and covered his eyes. “What the hell?! Scam! The game’s a scam! I should have known it!”

He glanced at his door, debating whether or not to leave until it settled down. But before he could, a giant vortex formed in his room. One almost the exact same as the one that showed up when he summoned the UR unit.

Yuu’s eyes widened and he screamed. “No!” His screams got louder when he felt himself being dragged towards the phone and he realized what was happening.

“I can’t get Isekai’d!” He clawed at his floor and stared at his TV. “Kingdom Stars…! Caelum! Nami! I’ve got to-!”

The vortex roared… and then the room grew silent.

Yuu Go had vanished without a trace.

The moment he did…

A soft ding echoed from the TV and a message popped up on the screen.

“Cannot download. There is not enough free space on the USB storage device. You must free up at least 69GB more space. (KS-133742).”

HappyVainGlory

So I recently learned that there's a competition going on for Scribblehub's anniversary. I had this fun story idea brewing for a while, so I figured I'd pull it out for the competition. It's probably going to be ridiculous antics and far from serious, but it should be entertaining, I think.

I'll be trying to update this daily, but the chapters will probably be a lot shorter after this one. It's just something I'll be writing for fun on the side.

Thanks to Rellawing who helped me bounce off ideas for this story a while ago. You should go read some of her stories! They're a lot of fun, and I took a bit of inspiration for this idea from what she wrote.

Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate it if you left a comment with your thoughts below! I'll also be a bit shameless and ask for a rating and a review too.

Also, cookies to everyone who catches the references or jokes.

Thanks again!