"WHAT THE HELL?! HOW DID I LOSE AGAIN?!"
Ezra Dirgantara hurled his headset onto the desk with maximum force—which, unfortunately, made the cable wrap around his water bottle, knocking over his coffee cup, and causing the entire desk to shake like it was joining a protest.
His monitor displayed that cursed death message again. "You Died" from the game *Oblivion Rift Online*—an MMORPG marketed as "open world realism with adaptive AI"—but in Ezra's opinion, it was better described as "hell in digital form."
For the past two weeks, Ezra had been playing this game. And for two weeks straight, he hadn't won a single fight. Not because he was a noob—he'd played hundreds of games and had even ranked top global in a few. But *ORO*? This was different. It was built to break your spirit, cause a mental breakdown, and make you uninstall while crying.
"I farmed five hours for this sword, and it breaks the moment I lift it?! WHO DESIGNS THIS?!"
Ezra stood up, panting with rage, face red. Outside, thunder cracked loudly. He didn't even notice that his hand was resting on the metal PC casing. One last drop of water from the spilled drink trailed down… right into an open power socket.
ZZZZZRT.
"Eh?"
Everything went dark.
***
Ezra slowly opened his eyes. But this… this wasn't his room. Not an internet café. Not a hospital.
Before him stretched a barren desert. The sky was gray, the sun looked like a burnt meatball, and in the distance, something that resembled a giant worm slithered above the sand.
"Where… am I?"
He got to his feet—TING!
A familiar UI voice rang in his ears.
> [Welcome back, Most Hated Player.]
Oblivion Rift Online will now begin.
Note: All deaths are permanent.
Your mistakes are your own.
Try not to make it worse.
"…NANI?!"
He looked down. This wasn't his human body. It was his game avatar! But with tattered armor, flip-flops, and the beginner weapon: "FRAGILE WOODEN STICK X1."
"I've… entered the game I hate the most?"
Ezra wanted to faint. But instead, another pop-up appeared:
> [Achievement Unlocked: Welcome, Hater!]
Entered ORO with maximum negative emotions. +0.001 EXP
"0.001 EXP?! SERIOUSLY?!"
***
Hours later, Ezra accepted the truth. This wasn't a dream. He tried to log out—failed. Tried to die—respawned in the same place. Tried to sleep—got attacked by giant ants while lying down.
This game wasn't fair. But now… this was his life.
If he had to survive here, he'd be the most annoying bug in the system. He knew all the glitches, all the code loopholes. If he couldn't win the normal way, he'd become a legal cheater.
In the distance, a strange chicken stood on a rock. Known in the player community as the "Chicken of Doom"—one peck could knock you out for a week (real-time).
Ezra threw a pebble at it.
The chicken slipped, fell into a ravine, and died. System message popped up:
> [KILL: Chicken of Doom - EXP +100]
Bug Exploit Detected. No Penalty Given. System Is Broken.
Ezra smirked.
"Alright, game. Let's play it my way."
---
To be continued...