Reiji Sato was a shut-in NEET—but he hadn't always been.
He used to be that guy: top student, popular, even had a girlfriend. A literal school prince with a bright future. But after his mother passed away and his father took a job overseas, Reiji was left living alone. Somewhere along the way, the light dimmed—and the screen lit up.
That's when he found it.
Elysia: Fatebound. A game no one had ever completed. Not a single player. The difficulty was legendary. The community called it "Hell with a loading screen." Naturally, Reiji had to try it.
The problem was—it was out of stock everywhere.
Then, fate happened.
One day, a package was waiting outside his room. No return address. Just a single note:
> To Reiji.
Inside? A pristine copy of Elysia: Fatebound.
"...Weird," he muttered. "But whatever. Free game."
It was the biggest mistake of his life.
And the best.
Because once he started, he couldn't stop. It was brutal. It was unfair. It was perfect.
For three years, Reiji fought. He sacrificed everything—school, love, health, sanity. 927 rage quits. Two dead keyboards. One broken mouse. One ex-girlfriend.
But he did it.
He beat the unbeatable.
The final boss exploded in a storm of flashing lights and particle effects. His screen flashed:
> CONGRATULATIONS, PLAYER SATO.
YOU ARE THE FIRST AND ONLY.
Title Unlocked: "The True Player."
Fireworks went off. The victory theme sputtered through broken trumpets that sounded like dying geese. Reiji stared at the screen, hollow-eyed.
"That's it? No lore? No epic monologue? Not even a 'thank you for playing' screen?"
He clenched his jaw. "I lost my girlfriend, dropped out of school, and aged five years for this?!"
Fueled by pure betrayal, he opened the game's review page and typed a final verdict:
> "Finished the most cursed game ever made. I want my sanity back. 1/10. Hope it gets deleted."
Click. Submit.
He slumped back in his chair and exhaled. It was finally over.
Ding.
One last pop-up appeared:
> Would you like to report this game to a higher power?
[YES] [NO]
Reiji squinted. "...Okay, what kind of dumb Easter egg is this?"
He clicked [YES].
His monitor glitched.
The lights flickered.
Black clouds swirled into his room like something out of a summoning animation. A glowing circle formed beneath his chair.
"Wait, wait, hold up—"
> ERROR: PLAYER HAS BREACHED NARRATIVE CONTAINMENT.
DEPLOYING FAILSAFE.
TRANSFER INITIATED.
BOOM.
---
Reiji woke up to... birdsong?
Not the usual screechy, low-bitrate game audio—real birds. Feathers. Judgy eyes. The kind of chirping that felt personal.
He groaned and sat up.
Grass. Trees. Thatched-roof cottages. Peasants carrying baskets like unpaid extras in a fantasy movie. Horses clip-clopping with dramatic purpose. Yep. Definitely not my city.
He blinked.
"This... is Elysia?"
A glowing window popped up in front of him:
> WELCOME TO ELYSIA
Designation: VILLAGER #1042
Status: NPC
Assigned Dialogue: "The weather's nice today, huh?"
Before he could scream, his mouth moved on its own:
> "The weather's nice today, huh?"
He froze. "Oh no. I'm... an NPC?!"
Another window popped up, this one red and pulsing like it was angry at him:
> System_X Online. Unauthorized player data detected.
Foreign code incompatible. Remain in character.
Initiating... minor environmental recalibration.
The sky twitched like a buffering anime stream.
A chicken exploded into gold coins.
A man flew overhead, riding a cow like it was a jet.
In the distance, a dragon was arm-wrestling a goblin while screaming "BAGELS!"
And then—one final message lit up the entire sky:
> YOU GAVE US A 1/10.
WE GAVE YOU A NEW LIFE. DEAL WITH IT.
Reiji opened his mouth. Closed it. Then laughed. The deep, broken laugh of someone who had completely snapped.
"…I got isekai'd as punishment. I flamed the game so hard, it retaliated."
Then, just as the madness was setting in, another window appeared—different from the others. Gold trim. A soft chime.
> Hidden Title Detected: [TRUE PLAYER]
Effect: Immune to Narrative Lock.
System Permissions: Partial Override Unlocked.
NPC Protocols: Bypassed.
Welcome, Developer-Class Entity.
Reiji stopped laughing.
His fake NPC smile dropped. His hands were unclenched. And for the first time since waking up, he felt something spark beh
ind his eyes.
"Oh..."
He stood up, a dangerous grin tugging at his face.
"…So that title wasn't useless after all."
To be continued