Chapter 1: Tutorial boss

[ That sentence was someone’s final wish. ]

I lifted my hands from the keyboard after typing that last line.

“…Is this truly the end?”

I began to read the story I had been writing for three years, from beginning to end.

The sheer volume of text amounted to a staggering 570,000 characters.

Beside the bookshelf where my laptop rested, books and figures sent by the company that created the game ‘Novel Online’ were proudly displayed.

Among them, there was even one of my own character.

While I possessed several figures modeled after my avatar, the most recognized was undoubtedly…

[ Present by Cyan. ]

This demoness character, ‘Cyan’.

She was my first and most powerful character.

With her stunning silver hair and piercing red eyes, she was truly exceptional.

Silver hair and crimson eyes—could anything be more perfect?

In any case, I had many characters who had reached max level besides her, but if I had to choose the absolute best, it would undoubtedly be Cyan.

Moreover, she had contributed significantly to the lore of Novel Online, transcending her role as a mere player character to become one of the official figures within the game’s narrative.

She was even a hidden story character within the game.

[ Demon Princess – Cyan the Chronos ]

“The demon sealed within the Magic Tower has awaited a hero to free her for hundreds of years, even to this very moment.”

This description reflected some of my past actions while playing as this character, which were incorporated into the game itself.

This was a benefit granted only to a select few users who participated in the beta test, and I considered myself quite fortunate.

After all, my character wasn’t merely a figure in the lore; her NPC could actually be encountered within the game.

In fact, she appeared as a hidden boss in the game.

She was colloquially known as the ‘Tutorial Boss,’ found within the hidden stage of the tutorial area.

#2nd Ranked Demon Player, 7th Ranked Overall Player.

#Appearance Location: Tower of Exile.

Because she was incorporated as a boss, her stats were monstrous, leading to rumors of many users entering the hidden area during their tutorial progression and emerging with tears in their eyes.

Nevertheless, clearing her offered a rather generous reward.

Players were given a fraudulent item called ‘Demon’s Blessing,’ which increased a character’s magic power and natural health regeneration rate.

Given that potions in the game were quite expensive, making them inaccessible for casual use by anyone but high-capital users, this item was truly a godsend for new players.

Of course, the difficulty was utterly insane.

[ Demon Exiled in the Magic Tower – Lv.??? ]

Even as a veteran player, it took me dozens of hours of attempts before I could finally clear it once.

This boss wasn’t designed to be defeated; instead, it was a sort of ‘bomb-dodging’ game where victory was achieved by surviving against Cyan for a certain period.

Furthermore, being a tutorial stage, no buffs or items could be used, meaning success relied solely on player control.

What’s more, touching any attack resulted in instant death.

Even invincibility skills were unusable, rendering the situation truly hopeless.

Incidentally, dying even once made retrying incredibly difficult.

Upon death, players had to recreate their character, complete the 10-minute tutorial, navigate a complex maze, and only then could they re-enter the boss fight.

In any case, the story of that character had finally concluded.

-Sending story file! Please review and implement it as appropriate! Thank you for your hard work!

I compiled the final journey of my experiences playing as Cyan and sent it to the GM.

It detailed everything that had happened, including how I, alone, managed to solo clear ‘Transcendent Delatros,’ the boss with the highest difficulty in history, at a point when all other users had given up.

‘f*ck! I got it! I soloed this thing!’

Though I had initially started the game as a hobby, the exhilaration I felt at that moment was truly indescribable.

I had managed to clear the strongest boss in history—one that even other top-ranked players couldn’t defeat in parties—all by myself, using this very character, Cyan.

Given the game’s global popularity, the clear video had amassed over 7 million views a month later, even at this point.

“Ah, the comments are still pouring in.”

The multitude of comments, written in various languages, asking how I managed to defeat her alone, were enough to make my head spin just by looking at them.

I had received this figure after that video was released.

At this point, I could no longer call this game merely a hobby.

I had earned a considerable amount of money from related play videos, and my character had even been incorporated into the game’s story.

Moreover, the game company had officially produced merchandise for her; as a gamer, what more could I possibly achieve beyond this?

Was there even anywhere further to go?

“But ultimately, games always get boring.”

However.

Perhaps because I had achieved everything possible within the game, I had grown tired of playing Novel Online.

And yet, starting over with a new sub-character after all I’d accomplished with Cyan didn’t feel right either.

Even if users could influence the story and become characters, there were limits.

Still, it had been a good memory.

But now, it was time to leave.

I was not merely a gamer; I was one of the people living a real life on the planet Earth.

No matter how strong I (as Cyan) was within the game, in reality, I was just an ordinary citizen.

[ Do you want to delete the character? ]

…

Ah, honestly, I was conflicted.

It was truly difficult to decide to delete characters I had spent years playing.

After all, she appeared as an NPC anyway.

I thought I wouldn’t have any regrets, but I couldn’t help but hesitate.

But I needed to live my life now.

Starting tomorrow, I had to report to my newly accepted company, and I also needed to practice driving to operate the new car I’d bought.

While I did have a driver’s license, I’d obtained it in my senior year of high school and hadn’t touched a steering wheel since.

In any case, it was time for me to cultivate my real-life self.

The self within the game had already done everything it could.

I closed my eyes tightly and pressed the character deletion button.

[ Are you sure? ]

“Yes.”

[ Once deleted, it cannot be recovered forever. ]

However, warning messages kept popping up.

It felt as though the system was pleading with me not to delete her.

But Cyan on the monitor remained unresponsive.

That was only natural; she was merely a character I had played, not a being with her own consciousness.

She showed no reaction even as I prepared to delete her.

Yes, she *should* have shown no reaction, but…

-Crack!

“…What?”

For a moment, Cyan moved slightly.

No, not slightly—she moved freely.

She exited the character selection screen and, in an instant, was looking from the menu, out towards me, beyond the monitor.

And her gaze was incredibly eerie.

It was like a scene out of a horror movie.

“Impossible, how can a character…”

I immediately minimized the game window and went to the official website.

My intention was to report this insane bug.

I didn’t know what was happening, but I had a terrible feeling.

I felt that if I left things as they were, it would be dangerous.

[ No internet connection. ]

“What?!”

But the internet, which had been perfectly fine moments ago, was now disconnected.

And that wasn’t all.

-Crack!

“A power outage too?”

Suddenly, the electricity in my house went out, and even my cell phone lost its signal.

A ominous premonition settled over me.

I opened the front door and tried to rush outside.

However.

“Gasp…!”

As I opened the door and stepped out, the ‘world’ was gone.

Only a vast, utterly black, unknown darkness spread out emptily before me.

I stretched out my hand, but there was nothing to grasp.

Neither the old woman next door, with whom I’d exchanged greetings just that afternoon, nor the neighborhood kids who constantly annoyed me with their noisy chatter, were anywhere to be seen.

The ‘Earth’ I knew was no longer here.

“W-what in the world is this…?”

My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the ground.

Something was terribly wrong.

It was beyond terribly wrong.

Were these not the kind of absurd events that only happened in games or novels?

But this was reality.

It wasn’t merely a story from a virtual space; it was a real situation unfolding in the world where I lived and breathed.

“Huh?”

Turning around, I saw that my house had vanished.

The living room sofa I had spent all day attached to when I first bought it, and the wall-mounted television I rarely watched and thus felt was a waste of money—neither was anywhere to be seen.

Only the same darkness as before had descended.

“W-what is happening?”

And then, the darkness began to close in.

The world around me was progressively disappearing, even up to where I stood.

Everything I had known was vanishing, and the void was being filled entirely with nothingness, with darkness.

Could this be a dream?

Yes, perhaps I was simply having a nightmare.

I pinched my cheek, a common method to wake myself from a dream.

“Ugh!”

It hurt.

My trembling hand hadn’t controlled its strength, and the pain was stronger than I expected.

Wait a minute, but if I could feel pain…

“…It’s not a dream?”

This meant these surreal events were not a dream.

“Stop, wait.”

Moreover, while I was doing such foolish things, the darkness had already risen to my feet.

“St-stop… Aaaaaaah!”

Now, the darkness swallowed my legs.

Seeing that sight, a scream escaped me without my conscious will.

The sensation in my lower body was disappearing.

The darkness that had swallowed my legs wasn’t satisfied; it continued to rise, attempting to consume even my head.

No matter how much I struggled, nothing changed.

The sensations in my body were gradually fading.

Would I die if my head was consumed too?

Like this, so suddenly? Dying so pointlessly before I even truly began to live my real life? That’s too unfair.

Why, what wrong had I done…?

I squeezed my eyes shut in terror at the thought of dying.

-Ding!

At that moment, a sound like a game’s effect echoed.

“…?”

Hearing that sound, I cautiously opened my eyes.

Before me, there was a bright light.

More precisely, it was a warning message from Novel Online.

[ Delete character, ‘Cyan’? ]

-Thump. Thump. Thump.

And then, footsteps echoed.

Soon after, I found myself doubting my own eyes.

A woman, her silvery hair flowing, walked gracefully towards me…

It was none other than my character, Cyan.

“No way.”

Seeing that sight, something flashed through my mind.

Before all this happened to me, I had intended to delete Cyan, the character I’d played for so long, to focus on my real life, and I had indeed been repeatedly pressing the delete button.

However, persistent warning messages had delayed the process.

“Is all of this because I tried to delete you?”

I asked, looking at Cyan.

She nodded, her face expressionless.

Then, she quietly approached me, placed a finger on my forehead, and pointed to herself.

That gesture seemed to say, ‘I (Cyan) am I (myself).’

[ Delete character, ‘Cyan’? ]

– YES / NO –

The warning message glowed once more.

“…”

I raised my head and looked at Cyan.

She was looking back at me in the same way.

“…You’re asking if I’ll delete the character Cyan?”

Honestly, I had no idea what was happening right now.

I had no grasp of why Cyan, who was merely a game character, had suddenly begun to move on her own, or why the world I lived in had been swallowed by an unknown darkness.

However, one thing I did understand.

“No.”

There was no other choice left for me.

―Heh heh.

“…Did you laugh?”

At that moment, a quiet chuckle echoed.

It was the beautiful voice of Cyan before me, who now wore a faint smile.

-Crack!

“Ugh!”

Immediately, an unknown headache surged.

My head felt like it was splitting apart.

I winced, groaning in pain.

―…Now, it’s time to wake from your sweet dream.

Cyan leaned closer and whispered those words to me.

‘Sweet dream’? Given the pain I’d just felt, this was no dream, so what was she talking about?

However, I soon lost the ability to comprehend her words.

My consciousness faded shortly thereafter.

****

…My consciousness returned.

The sound of wind filled my ears.

As the sound registered, a cool breeze brushed against my skin.

The flutter of birds’ wings could be heard.

Soon after, their chirping followed.

This sensation was too vivid to be a dream; wondering where I could possibly be, I cautiously opened my eyes.

“?”

Wind blowing through the window, birds perched on the sill.

The scenery was so utterly different from the cityscape I had known that I looked around.

An unfamiliar ceiling, unfamiliar furniture, unfamiliar air.

Faced with such an alien environment, I carefully pushed myself up.

But something felt odd about my body.

My shoulders ached, and my chest felt heavy.

Moreover, the sensation of moving my legs was strangely light, leaving me with an odd sense of emptiness.

“It’s heavy.”

And my voice, too, was strange.

It wasn’t that my throat was hoarse from a cold.

If my voice were hoarse, it should have been deeper, not this thin.

It sounded just like a woman’s voice, didn’t it?

Wondering what in the world had happened, I looked around again.

Just then, I spotted something like a mirror.

But I didn’t recall ever buying a full-length mirror like that.

“Huh?”

Silvery white hair, a beautifully curved physique.

And even a tail that moved of its own accord.

Upon seeing this reflection, the first thing I did was touch my chest.

“Mmm.”

It was soft, smooth, and pleasantly plush to the touch.

It made me want to rub my face against it.

And I even felt a slight sense of pleasure from it…

“Haha, I must be crazy.”

I chuckled nonsensically and sat down on a nearby chair.

It wasn’t my usual gaming chair.

Outwardly, it resembled an unrealistic throne from a medieval fantasy, yet it was incredibly comfortable.

Simply sitting in it made my fatigue melt away.

“…Haha.”

However, I couldn’t enjoy such comfort.

“Damn it.”

Because, at this very moment, I had become Cyan.

Yes, the demon character I had raised in the game.

“What in the world happened?”

And then, the location suddenly came to mind.

[ ~Hidden Stage~ Tower of Exile ]

This was the hidden stage of the tutorial, the Tower of Exile.

The very place where my character, Cyan, appeared as the tutorial boss.

This confirmed it.

It seemed I had become the game character I created.