The first thing Ashreign noticed when he woke up was the smell of vanilla cake. Not the artificial, plastic-wrapped kind he'd grab from the 7-Eleven on his way home from work back on Earth, real vanilla, steeped in cream, with hints of cinnamon and fresh butter that melted into the air like a warm hug. For a second, he forgot everything. He forgot the fluorescent lights of his tiny apartment, the hum of his old laptop, the way his chest had seized up as he stared at the game screen.
Then he opened his eyes.
Above him was a ceiling of carved oak, its beams twisted into patterns of lions and eagles, nothing like the stained, water damaged plaster he'd lived under for five years. He pushed himself up, his muscles feeling loose and light, and looked down at his hands. Small. Soft. No calluses from typing eight hours a day, no ink stain on his index finger from the broken pen he'd used for notes. A mirror hung on the wall across from the bed, and when he turned to look, he didn't see Ashreign the 28-year-old office worker who'd died at his desk staring back. He froze when he saw the 12 year old boy. Messy black hair hiding part of his face, honey toned skin glowing in the light, and eyes the color of deep amber. Eyes he recognized instantly
Eyes belonging to Ashreign Khain. The boy who would become the Demon Lord of Aethelgard.
His breath caught in his throat. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, a massive four poster with silk sheets and pillows stuffed with goose down and put his feet on the cold stone floor. The room was grand, with tapestries of battles hanging on the walls, a bookshelf filled with leather bound volumes, and a window that looked out onto a garden blooming with flowers he'd only ever seen in pixels.
Aethelgard. The name echoed in his head, sharp and clear. The world of the game.
Back on Earth, Aethelgard: Demon Lord's Fall had been his only escape. Every night, after dealing with his boss's yelling and his coworkers' gossip, he'd log on and play as Ashreign, watching the boy grow from a noble heir into the most feared villain in the land. He knew every detail, how Ashreign's mother would die protecting him from assassins at 16, how his sister Lila would be killed by the hero's allies at 18, how betrayal after betrayal would push him down a dark path until he had no choice but to embrace the demon's power. He'd played the game a hundred times, trying to find a way to change the ending but no matter what he did, the hero always won, driving his sword through Ashreign's chest in the final battle.
And now he was here. Reborn. 18 years before that final, fatal blow. 18 years to fix everything.
A knock at the door made him jump. "Ashreign? Are you awake, my dear? Time for your birthday speech, everyone's waiting in the main hall!"
The voice was soft and warm, with a lilt he recognized from the game's voice acting. Elara Khain. His mother. The king's younger sister. In the game, she'd been kind but weak, unable to stop the forces that would tear their family apart. Now her voice was real, coming from the other side of the door, and Ashreign felt tears prick his eyes.
"I'm coming, Mother!" he called back, his voice higher and clearer than he was used to.
He pulled on the clothes laid out on a chair by the bed, a white linen shirt, a dark blue tunic embroidered with the Khain family crest a shadowed lion with a playful glint in its eye and leather boots that were still new and stiff. They felt foreign on his feet, nothing like the worn sneakers he'd worn every day on Earth. As he tied the laces, he caught sight of his reflection again and whispered the name to himself. "Ashreign Khain." It felt strange on his tongue, but right. Like it had always been his name.
He walked down the grand hallway, his boots clicking against the marble floor. The walls were lined with portraits of his ancestors, men and women with the same dark amber eyes, all looking proud and powerful. House Khain was second only to the royal family in Aethelgard, controlling a third of the kingdom's land and commanding the Shadow Guard, an army of warriors known for their speed and stealth. In the game, their power had been their downfall, the royal family had grown jealous, and the Sunlight Order had labeled their "shadow blood" as unholy. But here, in this moment, it felt like a gift. A way to protect the people he loved.
Through an open door, he saw her. Lila. His 10-year-old sister, chasing a butterfly in the garden. She wore a pink dress that swirled around her legs as she ran, her hair tied in two pigtails that bounced with every step. In the game, she'd been a sweet, gentle girl who'd never hurt a fly and who'd paid for it with her life. Now she was alive, her laughter floating up to him like music, and Ashreign's heart swelled. He made a promise to himself then and there, no matter what it took, he would keep her safe. He would keep them all safe.
He reached the main hall and paused at the door, his hand on the handle. Through the crack, he could see the room was packed. Nobles in fine clothes, knights in shining armor, servants carrying trays of food and drink. At the front, on a raised throne, sat King Theron, his uncle, a tall man with graying hair and a beard, wearing a crown of gold and sapphires. Next to the throne was a table with a 3-foot-tall vanilla cake, decorated with sugar flowers and the Khain crest. It looked exactly like the one in the game's proThero, the one that had been served at Ashreign's 12th birthday, the day everything had started to go wrong.
Ashreign took a deep breath and pushed the door open. All eyes turned to him. He walked to the front of the room, his legs shaking slightly. Don't mess up, he told himself. Just give the speech, smile, and get through this. Then you can start planning how to avoid the dark path.
Then a voice exploded in his mind, loud, hyper, and impossible to ignore.
[ "WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME! To the INFINITE GACHA SYSTEM! I'm your host, ZIGGY, and you, Ashreign Khain, are my new Master!" ]
Ashreign nearly tripped over his own feet. Who is that? he thought, his heart racing. Is someone in my head?
["Me! Ziggy! Your one and only ticket to avoiding that whole Demon Lord mess you know is coming!"] the voice said, sounding like it was grinning.
["Here's the deal, you earn Laugh Points (LP) by making people laugh. More laughs = more LP. Spend LP on gacha draws for cool stuff, weapons, skills, minions, even weird junk. Easy peasy!" ]
A tiny, glittery screen popped up in his field of vision, so bright it made him blink. On it, he saw:
[ HOST: Ashreign Khain ]
[ Age: 12 ]
[ LP: 0 ]
[ FIRST QUEST: Make everyone in the hall laugh. Bonus points if the king laughs too! Reward: 88 LP + 1 FREE Common Draw. Fail: You have to wear a silly chicken hat for a week! ]
Ashreign's eyes widened. A chicken hat? No way. He'd rather die than walk around the estate wearing a silly chicken hat. But how was he supposed to make everyone laugh? Back on Earth, he'd been the quiet one in the office, the one who never told jokes, who always sat in the corner. He didn't know how to be funny.
He tried to step forward to start his speech, to say the words he'd memorized from the game: "Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday. I promise to honor House Khain and serve the kingdom with pride." But his foot caught on the edge of the carpet.
WHOOSH.
The cake on the table toppled over, flying through the air in slow motion. Ashreign watched in horror as it sailed straight toward the king's face, a moment that had never happened in the game.
SMACK.
Cake decorated everything the king wore. His crown was dusted in crumbs, his robes streaked with frosting, his beard entirely ruined. A smear of icing clung to his nose, and a cherry made a slow descent down his chest.
Silence.
The entire room went quiet. Ashreign stood there, frozen, waiting for the king to get angry. Waiting for the knights to drag him away. But then he heard a soft, tiny sound.
Giggling.
It was Lila, standing by the garden door, her hand covering her mouth as she laughed. Then a knight snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. Then another noble laughed, and another, until the entire hall was howling. Even the king, who pulled the piece of frosting from his nose and looked at it for a second, then grinned.
"Nicely done, nephew!" King Theron laughed, swiping out the frosting in his eyes. "That's the best speech I've ever had splattered on me. We might need to make 'cake on the king' a new tradition in Khain!"
Ziggy screamed with joy in his mind. [ "WOOHOO! QUEST COMPLETE! 88 LP earned! Plus bonus points for making the king laugh that's 10 extra LP! Total LP: 98!" ]
A colorful wheel appeared in Ashreign's mind, spinning so fast it made him dizzy. ["FREE COMMON DRAW TIME! SPIN SPIN SPIN!"]
The wheel slowed to a stop, landing on a small icon of a loaf of bread.
[ "Common: SASSY BREAD!"] Ziggy yelled. ["Ta-da!" ]
A small loaf of bread materialized in Ashreign's hand. It was warm and soft, and it wiggled slightly. Then it spoke in a high-pitched voice.
"Nice move, birthday boy. At least the king's face was a better plate than the table. Also, you might want to fix your hair, you look like a bird's nest."
The hall laughed even harder. Ashreign stared at the bread, then at his smiling family, then at Ziggy's glittering screen. Back on Earth, he'd never been funny. He'd never had a magic gacha system in his head, or a talking loaf of bread as a friend. But here, in Aethelgard, maybe being silly wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe it was exactly what he needed to save the world and himself.
"Can I draw again?" he asked, a small smile on his face.
[ "Heck yeah!" Ziggy said. "You need 2 more LP to do another Common Draw. Want a new quest? It involves the king's wig… and a tube of glue!" ]