Rain fell.
The sound of raindrops crashing against the stone pavement echoed through the courtyard.
A man knelt, blood pooling around him. He shivered in the cold, dark courtyard, his voice trembling as he looked up at the figure before him.
His face twisted with disbelief and betrayal.
"Adrian… why…" COUGH "Why did you do this…"
"After all this… time."
His voice rang with desperation and pain.
There was no answer.
The figure—Adrian—stood over him, gazing down
His dark eyes held no sympathy, no pity. Only cold indifference.
The rain poured harder.
"ANSWER ME!! ADRIAN… WHY?! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR YOU!"
"Captain… you still don't get it?" Adrian exhaled sharply. "Tch. I was a fool to expect anything from you."
The man clutched the earth, coughing blood.
"Wait…"
"What about the fight…"
"The Black Hand agreed to handle it."
"Black Hand…? You mean Bjorn…"
Adrian gave a silent nod.
The man exhaled shakily. "So… you also sided with him in the end."
Adrian turned away, his back to the dying man.
He didn't spare even a final glance.
"We don't need you anymore… Captain. Just die."
With that, he walked away.
[YOU DIED]
[GAME OVER]
SLAM
The young man slammed his fist into the keyboard, sending a few keycaps flying.
"This… TRASH GAME!!!" he hissed. "HOW THE HELL DID I DIE THERE?!"
"He was supposed to be the most trustworthy companion."
He had been playing a game called Ashes of Kraust.
It was a single-player RPG—an obscure indie title barely known.
The young man had installed it simply because it was free.
But what started as casual curiosity quickly turned into obsession. He found himself drawn into the sprawling world of Kraust.
"I was so close to finishing it this time… Ahhhh," he groaned, slumping in his chair as he stared at the screen.
CLICK-CLACK. TAP TAP.
[Death Counter: 6,665]
The number glowed mockingly in the corner of the screen.
To beat Ashes of Kraust, players had to journey through the continent with 50 different characters—each with their own stories—and ultimately defeat the entities known as the Apostles.
It sounded simple. People online joked, "Just watch a walkthrough, follow the steps, and beat the game."
But it wasn't that easy.
The developers had built an AI system that procedurally generated new characters and events for every playthrough. Outside of the five fixed starters, no two players ever received the same characters.
He rubbed his temples and muttered, "The devs are sadists…"
Players were scarce, especially after the 20th character run. The game's difficulty didn't just spike—it broke the curve entirely. Most people quit long before the halfway point.
PING
A message window popped up.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
Bro, what are you doing?
[Golden_Gooner77]:
Just playing.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
You still playing that trash game? PUAHAHAHA!! Bro, you need professional help.
[Golden_Gooner77]:
Shut up. I'm almost done. I'm on the 50th run. Final character.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
Wait… no way. You actually made it to the end? Damn, respect. I dropped it at run 22.
[Golden_Gooner77]:
This last character is straight-up garbage. I've died over a thousand times already.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
LMAO!! I always knew you were a masochist. That game is made by demons.
[Golden_Gooner77]:
…
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
So what's the last character? Please don't tell me it's something stupid.
[Golden_Gooner77]:
Cursed Son of a Farmer.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
AHAHAHAHA!! What the hell is that?! XD
[Golden_Gooner77]:
You don't even know how bad it is. The dude is cursed and leaks mana every second in combat. You can't even cast basic spells properly.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
Bro that's not a challenge, that's abuse.
[Golden_Gooner77]:
Tell me about it. He starts in a fucking war zone with an underwear and a wooden stick. I got jumped by old ladies with pitchforks in a city too for some reason.
[Malevolent_Meatbeater]:
LMAOOOO I'm crying. You sure this isn't a prank character? Like a dev joke?
[Golden_Gooner77]:
If it is, they've been laughing for 6665 deaths.
They chatted for a few more minutes before the young man returned to his game screen.
"Alright… Last try for the day," he muttered, cracking his knuckles like a seasoned warrior about to go into battle. He took a deep breath, leaned forward, and clicked the [Retry] button.
The screen went black.
He blinked. Then blinked again. "…Huh?"
Click.
Click-click.
He started furiously tapping the mouse. "Don't tell me it crashed again." He reached for the keyboard and slammed a few keys. Nothing.
"What kind of cursed spaghetti code did they build this thing with?!" he growled, ready to alt+F4 in a blind fury.
But then—
The screen flickered.
Then shimmered.
Then turned red. Blood red.
He leaned back a little. "Okay… spooky."
Then he narrowed his eyes. "Wait—is this a hidden event? Did I finally unlock something for dying a ridiculous number of times? Like a pity reward for losers?"
A message appeared in stark white text:
[Do you wish to proceed?]
He scoffed. "You think I came this far just to say no?" and clicked [Yes] without hesitation.
Immediately, another pop-up appeared.
[Enter a name for your character:]
"What the—? Since when do I get to name the character?" He scratched his head. "Is this some kind of... alternate ending route? Dev Easter egg? Hidden mode? Secret DLC I didn't pay for?"
He rubbed his chin dramatically like a philosopher deep in thought.
"I should name him something cool... Like Shadowblade… no, too edgy. Maybe something ironic, like Kevin."
He paused. "…Nah, let's not get him bullied by villagers and demons."
After a moment, he shrugged. "Alright, let's just go with my name. Arlen, Sounds fantasy-ish anyway. Probably won't get me smited immediately and bring me good luck."
He clicked [Submit.]
The screen exploded in a burst of blinding white light.
"WHAT THE FU—!!"
He threw up his hands, shielding his eyes. 'Is this a cutscene or a summoning ritual?!'
A piercing, high-pitched noise rang in his ears, and a strange warmth spread through his body—thick and consuming, like liquid fire. His vision faded; his limbs turned weightless. It felt like he was drifting on clouds… And then, nothing.
FLASH!
Time passed—how much, he couldn't tell. But slowly, awareness returned. The blinding light dimmed, and the ringing in his ears gave way to distant, haunting sounds.
He felt wetness beneath him. Mud.
A wave of pungent smoke hit his nose, followed by the sharp scent of blood.
Screams echoed faintly, muffled but terrifying.
His eyelids fluttered open.
The world before him was chaos.
Broken towers loomed overhead, their silhouettes framed against a blood-red sky. Huts and buildings burned violently, flames painting the sky. Corpses littered the stone pavement, their blood pooling into the cracks.
He stood in the middle of it all—barefoot, half-naked in his underwear, holding nothing but a worn wooden stick.
Just like in the game.
But this time… it wasn't pixels.
It was real.