The Tyrant Dragon let out one final, agonized roar as its massive, obsidian-scaled body crashed onto the cracked earth. Thunderous tremors rippled across the desolate battlefield, toppling boulders and silencing even the wind. Fire still smoldered in its wounds, and waves of scorched heat shimmered off its corpse.
Kon stood atop its skull, chest heaving, his black armor battered and scorched from the prolonged fight. His once-pristine crimson cloak was now torn and caked with soot and ash. In his hands, the blade Durandal, glowing faintly with residual energy, was buried deep in the dragon's cranium—right between the glowing red eyes that once terrorized the world.
He had done it.
They had done it.
After ten years of grinding, strategizing, and dying over and over in failed raids… the greatest quest in the entire game world was finally complete.
Above him, the dark clouds parted, and an ethereal light pierced through the gloom.
A divine chime echoed across the sky.
[Quest Complete – "Slay the Tyrant Dragon"]
[System Reward Unlocked: One-Time Wish – Issued by the Admin God]
Kon dropped to one knee, too exhausted to celebrate. His limbs felt like stone. His HP hovered at a sliver. His healing potions and revival stones were all gone. Even his passive regen had stalled from overuse.
But none of that mattered.
He had achieved what every player in this game world had dreamed of—the right to make a single wish from the Admin God, a reward so powerful it defied the system's rules.
He looked down at the glowing altar that rose from the dragon's chest, pulsing with divine light.
All he had to do was speak the wish aloud.
Behind him, the remaining members of Blue Insanity, his elite guild, climbed out from cover. They were burned, bruised, bloodied—but alive.
Kon smiled weakly. "We did it, everyone. It's over."
Maki, his vice-leader and oldest friend, approached with a grin.
"We did," he said, gripping Kon's shoulder. "Thanks to you, Captain."
Kon chuckled. "Save the flattery. Let's make the wish—then we can meet in real world and throw the biggest feast in real life."
He turned toward the altar and took a breath. His voice trembled from excitement, exhaustion, and emotion.
"I wish—"
Pain.
Blinding, shocking pain erupted through his back.
Kon gasped as something cold and sharp slid between his ribs and tore through his chest. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his vision blurred.
He looked down in horror.
A glowing sword tip—a familiar sword, this sword was a drop item from a high-difficulty dungeon. After killing the S-rank boss in the dungeon's altar, this sword, Dreadfall, dropped—and it was now protruding from his chest.
This sword… he gave it to…
His knees buckled. He turned his head, slowly, shakily. Behind him stood Maki, his face emotionless, his hand firm on the hilt of the weapon now lodged in Kon's body.
"Maki…?" Kon's voice was a whisper, cracked and broken. "W-Why…?"
"You were always too soft," Maki replied coldly. "That wish of yours would've ruined everything."
Kon collapsed to the ground, coughing blood, desperately trying to reach for the altar. But his strength was already gone.
The rest of the guild walked toward him—Mira, Razen, Rey, and even Syril, who once called him "brother."
None of them looked shocked. None ran to help. Instead, they looked relieved. Triumphant.
Betrayal cut deeper than any blade.
"You were going to wish to send us back to our real world," Mira sneered. "To end the game, shut down the systems, let everyone move on."
But that was the real purpose of this journey. From the beginning, everyone was trapped in this game like cattles waiting to get butchered. Once your avatar dies here, your real body also dies in the real world.
"That's right," Rey said, crossing his arms. "And where would that leave us? All our effort, our power—gone."
"This world is better than the real one," Razen added. "Here, we matter. We rule. Out there? We're nothing."
Kon's breathing grew shallow. He couldn't feel his fingers. The edges of his vision turned black.
And then he heard Maki speak again.
"I wish," Maki said clearly to the altar, his voice filled with conviction, "for this game world to become reality."
The divine altar trembled.
Light exploded from it, turning the sky white.
Kon's mind reeled. No… that's not what the wish is for… You don't understand…
His body burned. His soul twisted. The world itself shook with the power of the wish.
As his eyes closed, he barely heard Maki's final words.
"Unfortunately for you, Kon… you're not part of the new world."
Laughter followed.
Laughter from his guildmates.
From his "friends."
The light swallowed everything.
Darkness.
Kon's consciousness drifted in a void.
No sound. No form. Only a persistent ache in his chest where the sword had pierced him.
But something pulled him back.
A tug.
A glitch.
A spark.
He gasped awake.
Cold air filled his lungs as he sat up violently, clutching his chest.
No blood.
No wound.
He was… alive?
But something felt wrong.
Kon looked around and found himself in a small forest clearing. Mist drifted between the trees, and the air smelled too real—of earth, of dew, of life.
Far too real for a game.
He scrambled to the nearby lake, kneeling beside it.
When he saw his reflection, his stomach dropped.
It wasn't him.
Not Kon, the level 1000 Swordmaster or the real Kon, Jason Smith.
This was his alt character—Pale_Shadow, a rogue he'd made years ago for scouting missions. Leaner. Younger. Much weaker. Only level 14.
"No… no no no…"
As he whispered,
Blonk!
A system window suddenly popped up right in front of his face. Displaying flickering, corrupted UI panels:
[Character: Pale_Shadow]
[Status: Incomplete Integration Detected]
[Soul Signature: Conflict Detected – Player Not Authorized]
[ERROR: Entity Not Recognized by New World System]
A message pulsed in red across the top of the screen:
[You Are a Glitched Existence]
Kon stared at the message, heart racing.
He was a bug. A leftover piece of corrupted data in this new world.
He wasn't supposed to be here.
But he was.
However, what's important now was that… he was alive!
They thought he was dead.
A small, bitter smile twisted on his lips.
"You took my world from me…"
His eyes narrowed.
"…Now I'll take yours."