"Freaking kill yourself!!"
Leon howled the lyrics at the top of his lungs as the song blasted on full volume in his Bugatti, the booming bass vibrating through the steering wheel while the freezing morning wind slapped his face awake.
His long hair fluttered madly behind him, turning into a tangled, flying mess, but he didn't care in the slightest.
He was feeling ridiculously good. That much was obvious from the sheer speed at which he was tearing down the wide, empty highway, as if he owned the whole damn stretch of concrete.
Not that anyone else was around to object—aside from the occasional lonely truck, the road was completely barren. No sane person would be cruising across state lines at this ungodly hour just for the hell of it.
But Leon wasn't just anyone.
This wasn't some last-minute trip, or a dramatic run from the law, or even some attempt at finding peace.
Nope. This was just freedom.
A long, overdue ride, one that he had waited almost ten years to take.
Leon had been chained to a dream, stuck grinding in the shadows, burning away his youth in the hope of building something that wouldn't just pay his rent—but maybe shake the damn world too.
He had dropped out of college early, betting everything on his passion for games, and had spent years locked away in a shoebox apartment, surviving on discount noodles, instant coffee, and a stubbornness that refused to die. His body had starved, his bank account had cried, and his social life had withered to nothing.
Even his girlfriend left him—said he didn't give her enough time, enough attention. Said she was tired of being second to his "silly dream."
At least she didn't leave because he was broke. That would've stung more.
But he couldn't bring himself to hate her for it. Back then, even he had no idea if what he was doing would amount to anything.
And yet, somehow, it did.
With help from a few old friends who still believed in him, Leon had created something truly special—a gacha game that wasn't just a horny cash grab, but a damn masterpiece.
It was a game with soul, a game with characters that felt alive, a plot that could make grown men cry, and visuals that could melt your brain.
Of course, the characters were hot. That was kind of the point. Leon had always been aware of how gacha games were seen. Addictive. Predatory. Basically glorified gooning simulators. The term "gooner" had become a meme in his circles—a badge of shame and honor rolled into one.
So he leaned into it. Hard.
He created the ultimate gooner game. Sexy characters with enough fanservice to crash phones, mixed with heartbreaking lore and worldbuilding that kept people hooked.
It worked far better than he expected. The game blew up. The community embraced it with open arms, proudly calling themselves "Gooners" and pushing it into viral status. It was absurd how popular it became.
People came for the thighs and jiggle physics. They stayed for the feels.
But after years of crunch, updates, events, and merchandise deals, Leon felt… done. He'd already poured everything he had into the game. There was no challenge left. No spark. He was a creator who didn't want to babysit success, he wanted to move on.
So, he sold the company. Cashed out. Became a millionaire overnight.
Now, he was free.
With no real plan in mind, he bought a monster of a car, packed light, and hit the road—just to see where the highway would take him.
The Bugatti howled as it sped along the long stretch of asphalt, his thoughts drifting lazily from one dream to the next.
He had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life as long as he didn't make any stupid investments. Maybe he'd backpack around Europe. Or buy an island. Or vanish into the jungle like a spiritual hermit.
Just as he was about to mentally list more ridiculous fantasies, something flickered in the distance and his breath caught in his throat.
A strange light shimmered ahead, like a crack in the morning haze.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
The moment his eyes registered it, his instincts screamed. He slammed the brakes on pure reflex, but the Bugatti wasn't built to stop quickly from such a ridiculous speed with that short of a gap.
Atleast not the one he owned.
Leon gritted his teeth and twisted the wheel hard to the right, shooting off the road and into the vast open farmland nearby. Dirt and grass flew as the tires dug into the earth, but he didn't care if the car got wrecked.
Only after pulling away did he get a good look at it.
A glowing rift had opened in the fabric of space itself—pulsating, warping, expanding outward like a tear in reality. A perfect circle of twisting, purple light. The air around it shimmered like heatwaves, but instead of warmth, it gave off a gut-chilling sense of dread.
"What the actual fuck…?" Leon muttered, eyes wide.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes. But the thing remained there, vibrating like a living wound in the world.
Was he hallucinating? Had he gone so long without rest that his brain finally snapped?
No. This wasn't fake. The fear crawling up his spine wasn't imaginary.
This was real.
And it was dangerous.
Without wasting another second, he slammed his foot back on the gas and veered away from the rift—but that's when he saw it.
Behind the portal, a dark mass began to form.
At first, he thought it was smoke. But smoke didn't move like that. It twisted and convulsed like a living beast made of shadow, stretching across the sky and devouring the light as it surged forward.
It was coming straight for him.
"You gotta be kidding me…" Leon muttered as his scalp tingled. "This is some horror movie bullshit."
He didn't know what that thing was. But one look was enough to tell him that it meant death.
He shot past the portal and swerved back onto the highway, trying to calm his hands. The car stabilized again but the darkness didn't stop.
It followed him.
And then—just to make things worse—it changed.
The writhing shadow condensed into a form. A car. No, a freaking race car. Sleek and sharp, like a black F1 machine forged from obsidian and nightmares.
It drove up right beside him, matching his speed perfectly. Leon couldn't see inside as the windows were too dark. It felt as if he was staring into the void.
"What the hell is this? Are you Intelligent bro? Is this a Dark Mario Kart boss?" he said, more annoyed than afraid.
But if he was going to die anyway, he might as well go out winning against this stupid thing.
"You wanna race?" he asked, smirking. "Fine. See that fork up ahead? First one there wins."
The dark car honked.
Leon took that as a yes.
With a crazed grin on his face, he slammed his foot on the pedal, unleashing the full power of the Bugatti as the wind shrieked past the windows.
His body slammed into the seat as the car tore through the air like a missile. He didn't even dare look to the side. The road was straight, but if there was even a single curve—
He'd be dead.
Not that he wasn't already headed that way.
The fork neared. Leon's eyes locked onto the road ahead—
Only to see the dark car already there, waiting beside the split in the road like it had been there the whole time.
It hadn't raced. It had teleported.
"YOU FUCKING CHEATER!!!" Leon screamed.
But the roar of the incoming darkness drowned his voice out.
The world went black.
The portal expanded and swallowed his Bugatti whole.
...
Leon jerked awake with a gasp, his chest heaving like he'd been drowning in his sleep.
He blinked rapidly, heart thumping. His back was drenched in sweat, his fingers trembling slightly.
It took him a few seconds to realize—he wasn't in the car anymore.
He was lying in a bed. It was a dorm room and a familiar one at that.
Then the pain came. It wasn't physical, but mental. A surge of memories crashed into his mind like a tidal wave.
His other life.
Eighteen years of it.
It was his life but not the one he remembered, not the one he lived on Earth.
And somehow… he remembered both now.
'This world… I know it. I created it.'
The realization was insane. He had reincarnated into his own gacha game.
"How the hell does that even work?" Leon muttered, rubbing his temples.
Then, as he sifted through the new memories, the truth became clearer and far more terrifying.
This was really the gacha game world he had made and it was fucked up.
Two hundred years ago, a strange otherworldly virus had wiped out a huge chunk of the population—mostly males though.
It left the gender ratio in chaos, with men now making up only twenty percent of the world's people. And even now, the virus hadn't been cured. It lingered, attacking men, corrupting them, and when they finally succumbed—it twisted them into monsters.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
But it also happened with females, but they were less likely to get Corrupted.
Leon, the one from this world, had been infected. He had known what was coming and to prevent becoming a mad monsterz he had taken his own life.
And now, Leon from Earth… had taken his place or rather his death helped in him awakening the memories.
He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and checked his chest. There weren't any marks of the corruption.
Death had purified the corruption. Just like he had designed it in the game's lore.
"So, I really died… and came back clean," he muttered, slowly lying back on the dorm bed, eyes unfocused.
He let out a long sigh.
"This day has been crazy enough. I'll deal with everything tomorrow. I just need rest."
...
But the day wasn't over.
Leon woke up again but this time, not in a room.
He sat up in a field of rolling green hills. The sky was too blue. The sun was too warm. And the peace in the air was… suspicious.
"What is it now now?" he mumbled. "Did I die again? Is this Heaven?"
Then a shadow fell over him.
He turned around.
A rabbit the size of a small truck loomed over him, crimson eyes glowing, drool dripping from fangs longer than his forearm.
Leon blinked, his expression deadpan.
"…Can this day get any worse?"
Then, the rabbit lunged at its prey...at him.