Chapter 4
Ring, ring!
Ring, ring!
Ring, ring!
"Ugh, who the hell is calling so late at night?" Zen groaned drowsily, his hand fumbling across the bed as he searched for his phone. Eventually, his fingers brushed against it, and with a sleepy grunt, he turned over and stared at the screen while stifling a yawn.
"Huh? Unknown number? Damn, all these scammers trying to get me to buy their goods. I swear, if this isn't important..." Zen muttered, sighing as he quickly answered the call and pressed the phone against his ear.
"The famous Zen the Destroyer," a voice said on the other end, calm and sharp.
Zen raised an eyebrow at the tone of the caller. "Who are you? And what do you want, calling so late at night?"
He pulled the phone away for a second to glance at the number again, but it still looked unfamiliar.
"You really lived up to the 'Destroyer' part of your name," the caller continued with a heavy sigh. "Thanks for your destructive review of our game, even though we did everything possible to ensure you enjoyed the experience. We gave you premium access, responded to your every request, fulfilled every demand."
The voice paused slightly before continuing, more bitter now. "All for what? For you to slander our name by dropping such an outrageous review? That wasn't what we agreed on, Zen. Not even close."
"Oh!" Zen muttered with a dry chuckle as he slowly sat up in bed. "So you're someone from the ArcadiaX gaming company. Well, I gave my review based solely on what I experienced in the game."
He rubbed his eyes with one hand and added bluntly, "I don't sugarcoat my words. I tell it how it is. At the very least, I gave credit for the map and some other elements of the game. You should be grateful I even mentioned those."
"Be grateful?" the voice snapped. "You made us lose half a billion in revenue with that single review. Just hours after it went live, thousands of players backed away from the game. Thankfully, we were smart enough to hire three more pro gamers for separate reviews."
There was venom in the caller's tone now. "That's what partially saved us. If not for that backup plan, your slander could have sunk us entirely."
Zen let out another small yawn, clearly unimpressed. "Are you done ranting? Because honestly, that game was pure trash. That's all I have to say."
"We checked our logs," the caller interjected sharply before Zen could continue. "You only played the game once, lost that single round, and immediately posted your review. That doesn't seem very objective."
Zen narrowed his eyes. "So what, you're saying I gave that review out of spite because I lost a match?"
"Yes," the voice snapped. "That's what all the data points to. You could've at least played a few more rounds, explored more features, before coming to such a final judgment."
Zen laughed bitterly and shook his head in disbelief. "Played a few more rounds? Are you being serious right now? You expect me to waste more of my time playing a garbage game just to confirm it's still garbage? The weapons were weak as hell, the gameplay was clunky, there was no proper skill system—nothing worth noting. And you expected me to keep playing?"
He scoffed, clearly annoyed now. "You should be lucky I didn't tear it apart more than I already did."
"Honestly, that was very bad of you, Mister Zen. You cost us a lot of money, slandered our reputation, and so on. The least you owe us is an apology right now, and another one in the morning—by dropping a new review saying you made a mistake in your first."
"Kek, kek, kek," Zen chuckled loudly on the phone after listening to what the man had to say. "Apologize? Me? Forget it. You can take your game, your reputation, and whatever else you lost and shove it up your ass. I'm not going to apologize. Never."
The man calmly sighed before replying, "I hoped it wouldn't have to come to this, dear Zen."
"What? You want to sue me? Take legal action or what?" Zen asked with another chuckle, shaking his head in amusement.
"Doing that will only make us lose more money. I tried my best to fix your cocky attitude, but you refused to be reasonable," the caller sighed again, his tone heavy with disappointment.
"It's not being cocky. It's calling a spade a spade. That game is trash. It sucks so hard it makes Clappy Bird look like Plden Ring. I'd rather choke on a PS5 controller than play this flaming dumpster fire again. I could probably make something better in my sleep!" Zen shouted down the phone, completely unapologetic.
"Welp. I tried." The caller let out another tired sigh, and just before he hung up, he added one last thing. "You can produce something better in your sleep? Prove it. Also, kindly enjoy our post-gift."
Then came the beep-beep sound signaling that the call had been disconnected.
"Tsk! Useless fools," Zen shouted as he tossed his phone aside onto his bed. "Yes, I can make something better even in my sleep. Screw you all, and screw that stupid ArcadiaX!"
After a few more seconds of ranting, Zen let out a long sigh and walked over to his mini fridge. Tossing it open with one hand, he grabbed a cold bottle of water. The cap twisted off with a click, and he raised the bottle to his lips, gulping the water down.
While drinking, something odd caught his eye in the corner of the room. He lowered the bottle slowly and stared toward the object, squinting a little. Then he took cautious steps toward the pile where his gaming tools were stacked.
"Wait… didn't I toss this earlier? I thought it broke," Zen muttered, crouching down and picking up the VR headset he had tossed after playing ArcadiaX.
"Huh? How is it back to normal? Wait, how the hell is this headset fixed? What is—"
BOOM!
The whole house resounded with a deafening blast. A second later, Zen was seen trembling as the floor beneath him began to rumble violently. The walls shuddered, his gaming PC clattered loudly on the desk, his bed bounced, the bottle on top of the fridge crashed to the floor, spilling water everywhere.
In short, everything in the room—including Zen—shook with violent force.
"Wh… what is going on?! Is it an earthquake or something?! Why… what the hell is going on?!" Zen screamed amidst the thunderous rumblings.
It lasted for minutes. Long, trembling minutes filled with confusion and panic before it all suddenly stopped.
Dead silence.
Zen panted as he looked around at the mess. The disarray in the room. The toppled shelves. His cracked screen. The dripping water from the broken bottle.
Then his gaze slowly dropped to his hand—the one still tightly gripping the now-gleaming VR headset.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The headset began flashing red continuously, causing Zen to gulp loudly. His heart could now be heard pounding with immense speed, almost echoing in his ears.
"Wh…why is this blinking?" he asked himself, his voice stuttering with fear and confusion.
Bang!
A sudden burst of energy exploded from the headset. A bright white light engulfed Zen's vision, forcing him to gasp in horror and shock. Instinctively, he let go of the headset, which crashed onto the floor beneath him with a loud crack.
Tring!
A sharp chime rang in his mind. Zen slowly opened his eyes, which had shut tightly moments ago, only to be met with a shimmering system screen floating directly in his line of sight. A notification flashed vividly in front of him.
Wait—no. The notification wasn't just floating. It looked like it was being projected from the fallen VR headset toward his eyes, as though reality itself had begun to bend.
"What is this?" Zen muttered, his voice low and uncertain as he squinted at the glowing words in front of him.
{System has detected arrogance from player. Player has challenged the system that he could do better, so the system has decided to challenge Player Zenixx to prove he can produce a better game.}
{You will now be transported into the game you despise most—to change the game mechanics, prove you are truly the best gamer there is, and also prove you can be a developer.}
{Searching for host which player will inhabit…}
{Search complete; body found. Host will now be transmigrated into the body of the most useless and weak NPC in the game.}
{Difficulty set: Nightmare Mode}
{Reputation: Public Enemy}
{Welcome to ArcadiaX}
---
"Wait, what the fuck is this?!" Zen shouted, stumbling backward in disbelief. His mind struggled to process the message flashing before him when a familiar sentence from earlier suddenly came crashing back.
'You can produce something better in your sleep? Prove it. Also, kindly do enjoy our post gift.'
"Shit! What did he mean by post gift?! Is this what he meant?" Zen roared, panic rising. "Am I going to get reincarnated?! What the fuck is this?!"
He clutched his head in frustration, digging his fingers into his scalp, when the screen in front of him suddenly shifted.
{Search complete; location found. Transmigration will now begin in three seconds. Player Zenixx, buckle up—this will be a bumpy ride.}
"Wait, what?! I don't want to go anywhere!" Zen yelled as he stumbled a step back.
{Transmigration starting in 3…}
"No! Please wait! I'll apologize! I'll do whatever you ask!" he pleaded, waving his hands frantically.
{2…}
"I know hell is what awaits me if this is real, so please stop counting! How can you transmigrate me into the body of the weakest NPC?! Wait—are there even NPCs?! Crap! I didn't play the game long enough to know anything about it!" Zen cried, collapsing to his knees in desperation. His head throbbed painfully, as if a hot iron had been pressed against his skull.
{1…}
"I've apologized, okay?! Just please—please—don't take me anywhere!" he begged, lowering his head to the ground. Tears streamed freely down his face as he sobbed. "I swear I'll delete my review tomorrow and write a proper one. A glowing one. The kind you deserve… Just please… don't."
{System has detected a change of heart in the player. Transmigration will now be cancelled.}
Zen slowly lifted his head, a weak smile creeping onto his tear-soaked face. His mouth went dry, unable to speak beyond a whisper.
"Th… thank…"
{Sike! Transmigration started! Good luck, Player Zenixx.}
"NO!" Zen screamed in horror as the projector-like display abruptly vanished. He stretched his hand out, as if to grab the fading screen and stop it, but it was already too late.
An unbearable wave of pain surged through his skull. A blinding headache tore through his senses as his vision blurred. It felt like his brain was being hammered repeatedly from within.
"I… I wish I knew…" Zen whispered weakly.
And then his body hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Unconscious. Powerless. Unaware of what awaited him next.