In life, the things we want, dream of, or long for sometimes never reach our hands no matter how hard we try or how much dedication we give. It almost always depends on the luck we have or the talent we possess.
Or better yet, the privileges we are born with.
But even then, having talent or privilege doesn't guarantee you'll achieve your goals.
It was something Lucian Everfall had learned over a long time.
And as the rapid clicks of a mechanical keyboard echoed through the room, Lucian shouted with excitement:
"Come on, come on, come on, kill that miserable Skeleton King!"
The bluish light from the monitor illuminated his face with flickering flashes. On the screen, a dark and gloomy environment displayed the Skeleton King, an imposing undead covered in blackened gothic armor, wielding a sword of the same hue. The ruins of the place were filled with half-destroyed tombstones, wrapped in a dense mist that seemed to breathe with life.
A quick strike, a precise slash from the character controlled by Lucian, cut through the air.
The Skeleton King let out a metallic roar before crumbling into a thousand dark fragments.
And then, a rain of notifications flooded the screen:
... ...
[Mission Complete – Skeleton King Defeated]
[You've leveled up: Level 4999 → Level 5000 (Max Level)]
[You've acquired the skill – Necromancer]
[You've acquired the skill – Soul Stealer]
[You've acquired the skill – Manipulation of Shadows and Darkness]
[New Weapon Acquired – Eternal Death Blade]
[You've acquired – Armor of the Underworld Darkness]
[New Title Acquired – Hunter of Life and Death]
[New Title Acquired – Tamer of Conceptual Entities]
[Congratulations for defeating the Skeleton King
An exclusive and unique boss from the Halloween 2029 event
The Skeleton King is an avatar of the Conceptual Entity known as Death]
[You have gained the respect of the God of Death]
[You've earned +78,000,000 experience points]
... ...
"Yes!" Lucian shouted, with a satisfied smile. "I leveled up again! I reached the max!"
He raised his hands triumphantly.
"Finally… I can't believe it… I just defeated another exclusive boss," he muttered, still in disbelief. "These guys are hard to find, and even harder to kill… and once they're defeated, they never appear again."
Lucian leaned back in his gaming chair, exhaling with a childish smile.
"I'm the best player who's ever existed." He laughed with a touch of irony. "I was born for this game… I live for this game."
Before him, a 31-year-old man in simple home clothes, with messy blond hair, was bathed in the dim glow of the LED lights in his room. His blue eyes were clear but empty, like a sky that was once bright but had grown tired of seeing the same thing.
His room was a disaster: mountains of empty pizza boxes, plastic bottles stacked in a corner, and crumpled papers scattered across the floor. On one side, the bed unmade for several days; on the other, a window covered by an old curtain that blocked out the sunlight.
That place was his refuge. His prison and his escape.
Lucian Everfall was happy… or at least he wanted to believe that.
At some point, he had been a dreamer. His goal was to open his own restaurant after graduating, having studied six years of gastronomy. He possessed a natural talent for cooking: he mastered complex and advanced techniques, knew the origin of culinary traditions, and could identify the soul of each culture through a single dish.
He had something few young chefs had at his age back then: true passion.
But dreams, like poorly made desserts, sometimes get ruined by a single mistake.
And Lucian made too many.
When he gathered all the money he had to open his restaurant, he bet it all. He put his life, his hope, his pride on the line. But the business failed in less than a year.
Debt devoured him as it piled up. Obligations suffocated him.
Every unpaid bill was a reminder of his failure.
He tried working different jobs, but none gave him back what he had lost: his fortune and his dreams.
Lucian wanted to be like his father, Arthur Everfall, a world-renowned British chef known for his unique, elegant, almost celestial cooking style.
The entire Everfall family was made for success.
His five brothers, each with their own famous restaurant, appeared in magazines, cooking shows, and international festivals.
They were all the pride of the family.
All except him.
Lucian was the mistake, the exception. The one who ruined everything for being "incompetent."
And although he knew he had talent, his father and brothers despised him, turning their backs without a second thought.
There was no place for an Everfall who couldn't keep his fire burning.
Over time, Lucian gave up.
What was the point of trying again if he had already lost everything?
What was the point of cooking if his "flavor" was worthless?
That's how he ended up here, in front of a monitor, finding refuge in anime, manhwas, web novels, and video games.
Maybe he didn't cook dishes in real life, but he cooked strategies in the digital world.
Maybe he didn't have a restaurant full of customers, but he had an avatar that everyone respected.
And that… that was enough.
At least in the game, he was someone.
At least there, no one called him a failure.
It was ironic: he spent everything he earned on that virtual world.
Every update, every monthly pass, every premium item.
His bank account was in the red, but his character was at the top.
And that made him feel good.
Even if his apartment was about to be repossessed, even if his fridge only had leftovers and water bottles, at least he could smile when his character defeated a legendary boss.
Because, in his mind, the game gave him what life had taken away: recognition.
The game was called: [The Rise of the Legendary Hunter].
An open-world MORPG so popular that, according to forum jokes, "it existed in every corner of the universe."
And if you saw the fanaticism it generated, maybe they weren't wrong.
It was a massive game, with incredible gameplay and an absorbing narrative.
But it wasn't the typical game where the protagonist had to save the world from the Demon King or stop a cosmic catastrophe threatening existence.
"None of that."
In this game, you decided your fate.
You could be a hero or a villain.
You could found an empire, destroy civilizations, marry, have children, or betray everyone — here, you were free to do anything you wanted, with a free will no one questioned.
You could even rule an entire world if you had the skill and patience.
The world-building was so vast that many players never explored even a tenth of the map. There were parallel timelines, alternate universes, races, beasts of epic fantasy… it was digital madness turned into art.
Lucian had also read the original web novel, with more than 3,750 chapters and an epic ending — he knew every secret, every twist, every betrayal.
And although the game followed that story, it had changed enough to offer total freedom — the "Legendary Hunter" had no fixed destiny.
Destiny was in your hands.
Lucian loved that.
He invested his money in the game, his time, his soul.
It was the only thing keeping him sane.
"At least here I can be happy," he murmured, resting his head on the back of his chair.
His voice sounded soft, tired.
The glow of the monitor reflected in his eyes, and for a second, the reflection of his avatar — an imposing figure in black armor with glowing red eyes — blended with his own face.
"At least here… I'm not a failure," he whispered.
Deep down, he knew his real life was a mess.
He was aware that he had become a hikikomori, a man with no direction who had let his dreams die.
But as long as his fingers remained on the keyboard, as long as the game's music filled the room, the emptiness seemed to disappear for a moment within that game.
Not knowing what to do with his life in the real world, even though he never managed to live a normal life, Lucian here was the best in a fictional avatar.
That game was supposedly his secret ingredient — the only flavor left in his life, or so he liked to think.
...
...
Lucian had never been very lucky in love.
Although it wasn't because of his looks — in fact — he was quite an attractive man. He had a defined face, a strong jawline, a calm gaze when relaxed, and blond hair that fell in soft, though almost always messy, strands.
But his problem wasn't appearance.
It was his insecurity.
Every time he spoke to someone, especially a girl, his voice trembled, his mind went blank, and his breathing quickened.
That silent anxiety ruined any attempt at connection.
So he never managed to have a real relationship.
While his brothers were already married, had children, and lived luxurious lives around the world, he remained alone, locked in his small rented apartment.
He was always left behind.
But that no longer mattered to him.
He didn't need it.
Why live in a world that never gave him anything, when he could live in one he controlled completely?
Why love someone when, in his game, he could command armies, build kingdoms, and challenge gods?
"Who needs the outside world when I already have a max-level character?" said Lucian with a tired smile. "In a game where surviving is almost impossible, I'm the best."
He let out a long yawn as he got up from his chair. He stretched lazily, hearing his back crack softly.
"I've been playing too much today… I need a break," he murmured between yawns. "I'll come back later."
He rubbed his eyes and picked up his phone from the desk.
The light from the screen blinded him for a moment before showing the time:
[2/11/2029, time: 5:10 a.m.]
"What…?" Lucian blinked in surprise. "It's already five in the morning?"
He frowned and let out an incredulous laugh.
"No way… how does time go by so fast? I was playing so much I didn't even notice."
The sound of phone notifications broke the silence of the room.
When he opened Discord, he found himself in his favorite server: the official one for [The Rise of the Legendary Hunter].
The chat was boiling with messages about the recent Halloween event.
Players were talking nonstop:
LordChaos120: "Does anyone know how I can find the exclusive boss Skeleton King?"
Lucian raised an eyebrow, watching the replies flood in instantly.
Kraken_012: "What a dumb question, do you think we'd tell you if we knew where he was? Exclusive bosses are unique, they appear once and disappear forever. It's almost impossible to defeat them."
QueenPancake03: "Don't be like that, Kraken. He's probably new, that's why he's asking. But sadly, the boss has already been defeated by someone."
Kraken_012: "What? That fast? The event just started! Who the hell managed to defeat him so soon?"
LordChaos120: "No way! I wanted to try at least once… damn it."
QueenPancake03: "Well, according to rumors, it was zombysinister_300. That guy's unbeatable. He always pulls it off. It's like he has some power no one else understands. Some say he dominates the game on an impossible level."
Lucian let out a small smile.
"No need to exaggerate, I know I'm good, but I didn't think I was that good," he thought to himself.
Kraken_012: "That damn zombysinister_300! Always the same, always ruining the fun. He never loses, not even in tournaments. I hate him!"
QueenPancake03: "You're jealous, Kraken. Admit it. That guy's a beast, an unmatched player. I bet in real life he's a handsome, rich guy."
Kraken_012: "Shut up! He's probably a forty-year-old fat loser with nothing better to do. And you don't even know if it's a guy — it could be a woman! Think before you talk!"
"That Kraken_012 is so rude. How can he think I'm forty? I'm only thirty-one," said Lucian, puffing out his cheeks in embarrassment.
QueenPancake03: "Don't be like that, I was just kidding. But still… I'd love to meet him. He's one of the Twelve Master Hunters, top three worldwide. Imagine meeting someone like that…"
Lucian let out a quiet chuckle.
If they only knew…
If they only knew that the most feared and admired player on the server, zombysinister_300, was nothing more than a lonely man locked in a messy room, yawning at five in the morning.
"If they knew who I am…" he murmured with a sad smile, tears pooling in his eyes.
As he scrolled through the messages, a notification appeared at the top of the screen:
[New email received – Unknown sender]
Lucian frowned.
"An anonymous email?" he said curiously. "Must be some game announcement…"
He tapped the notification.
The email opened slowly.
And what he saw first left him frozen.
The sender was creavity500.
The very name of the game's creator.
The original author of the novel that inspired The Rise of the Legendary Hunter.
"What the hell…?" Lucian felt a chill run down his spine.
Why would the game's author send an email to him?
To a simple loser like him?
He opened the message.
The text was short, but its content made his skin crawl.
["Dear zombysinister_300:
For your dedication and support to the vast and infinite universe we have built,
I grant you an opportunity to live in the world you so dearly love."]
Lucian stared at the screen, unsure whether to laugh or be worried.
"What kind of joke is this?" he said, letting out an incredulous laugh. "The game's author writing to me? What's next, inviting me to dinner?"
He closed the email and set the phone down on the desk.
"What nonsense… it's probably spam or a prank from some bored fan," he muttered, throwing himself onto the bed.
His body bounced slightly.
The white ceiling of the room seemed to spin slowly from accumulated exhaustion.
"Although…" he said between yawns, eyes half-closed, "I don't know how he knew I was zombysinister_300… bah, must be pure coincidence. I'm way too sleepy right now."
He closed his eyes.
And silence filled the room.
But then, something changed.
He felt a strange pressure in his chest, as if he were being slowly pushed underwater.
He opened his eyes… and he was no longer in his bed.
He was falling.
Falling into a liquid, deep, bubbling darkness, as if submerged in an endless ocean.
He tried to move, to scream, but his body wouldn't respond.
Only the sound of bubbles and a distant roar filled the void.
His consciousness floated between dream and reality.
Suddenly, a strong, warm breeze hit his face.
He felt air slicing against his skin, wind whistling in his ears.
He opened his eyes slowly.
Light.
Too much light.
Lucian blinked several times until his vision adjusted, and what he saw left him breathless.
He was standing in a vast landscape, with colossal mountains and clouds drifting beneath his feet. The ground trembled, and a deafening sound echoed all around.
"Where… where am I?" he murmured, staggering. "I don't remember leaving home…"
His voice trembled.
The air smelled of ash, fire, and magic.
"Is this… a dream?" he whispered. "But it feels so real…"
Then, a roar shook the heavens.
In front of him, emerging from the burning clouds, appeared a gigantic creature:
a purple dragon, with scales like shining obsidian and a deep scar across its left eye, completely blind.
Its voice thundered like a storm:
"Any last words, you worthless fool?"
Lucian stepped back, paralyzed. It was a creature too terrifying — he was dreaming something far too real to be true.
"Are you… a dragon?" he stammered. "I don't know what you're talking about… but… please… don't eat me! I didn't do anything wrong!"
The dragon roared with fury, and its breath made the mountains around them tremble.
"Playing dumb, bastard?" it bellowed. "Do you think you can deceive me, Zarkrion Volcanius IV? Don't play games with me, failure!"
The ground shook. The peaks of nearby volcanoes ignited with living fire.
Lucian looked around and saw dozens, maybe hundreds, of dragons watching from above.
Their eyes glared down with disdain.
As if he were being judged.
"Zarkrion… what…?" Lucian gasped for air. "What are you talking about?! I don't understand anything!"
The purple dragon roared again, filled with restrained rage.
"Today marks your exile from the Dragon Kingdom!" it declared in a voice of judgment.
Lucian felt his heart stop.
"My exile…? Dragon Kingdom…? I told you, you've got the wrong guy! I'm not who you think!"
The dragon narrowed its one good eye.
"Don't play dumb, Zarkrion Volcanius IV." Its voice dropped, dripping with contempt. "You are no longer our rightful king. Begone at once."
Lucian stood speechless.
"What… did you just call me…?" he whispered.
His hands trembled.
But when he lowered them, he noticed something impossible.
His hands were not human.
They were enormous, covered in crimson-red scales, with sharp, dark claws.
His breathing quickened.
He felt his body… colossal, powerful, burning. And a gigantic shadow was cast on the ground — immense wings spread wide behind him.
His heart pounded wildly, a mix of fear and confusion.
"What…!" he shouted. "I'm… a dragon?!"
His roar thundered like lightning, shaking the very air.
Lucian Everfall… or perhaps now Zarkrion Volcanius IV… was no longer in his world.
He had awakened in the universe he loved so much — and had done so as the most hated enemy in all the heavens.