The room was dark and messy.
Empty energy drink cans and junk-food wrappers littered the floor, while the only source of light came from the faint glow of a monitor and the virtual reality headset covering the eyes of the teenage boy sitting in the corner.
His hands moved furiously.
The state-of-the-art controller in his grasp almost seemed to have a mind of its own as his fingers rapidly pressed buttons in a seemingly impossible combination.
"Haru: Come on! Just one more time!"
The boy leaned forward.
"Wait, what?!"
His eyes widened beneath the headset.
"This boss has a third phase?!"
He tightened his grip on the controller.
"Crap. Now I've got to lock in. I've come too far to lose now!"
The clicking became even faster.
On the other side of the headset, his character moved with breathtaking speed.
She was a beautiful female knight with short scarlet hair and pale blue eyes.
Her movements were almost impossible to follow.
She flipped over attacks, twisted through the air and landed gracefully before immediately counterattacking.
There was a reason for her extraordinary agility.
Before becoming a knight, she had been an acrobat in a traveling circus.
Unfortunately, that life ended when monsters attacked.
She would have died that day if the Hero's Party hadn't arrived in time.
Saved by them, she chose to repay her debt by joining their journey.
But one by one, the members of the party had fallen.
Now, she stood alone against the Demon King.
And this was the most important battle of her life.
Her health bar was almost completely empty.
HP: 10
The Demon King suddenly roared.
The ground beneath him cracked.
Six enormous arms emerged from his body, each gripping a different legendary weapon.
Behind him, an army of demons appeared.
The knight stared at the overwhelming enemy before her.
"Knight: One health potion left..."
She checked her inventory.
"Three magic potions."
Her eyes narrowed.
"And my trump card."
She gripped her sword.
"Okay."
She took a deep breath.
"I'll use my trump card. When it looks like I'm about to die, I'll drink the potion."
Her gaze hardened.
"This won't be easy."
The Demon King raised his weapons.
"If I get hit once, it's all over."
The knight lowered her stance.
"Here goes."
A notification appeared across the screen.
[TRUMP CARD: LAST DANCE]
The knight's body erupted with energy.
Her HP dropped dramatically.
HP: 1
But her attack power skyrocketed.
The lower her HP became, the stronger Last Dance made her.
And now she was at its absolute limit.
One hit.
That's all it would take to kill her.
The knight charged.
The Demon King swung all six weapons at once.
She slipped between them.
Steel clashed against steel.
Sparks flew through the air as their blades collided again and again.
But this time, the knight was overwhelming him.
She deflected one strike.
Spun around another.
Then—
SLASH!
Her sword carved into the Demon King's side.
Two of his six arms fell to the ground.
His HP plummeted.
The knight didn't give him a moment to recover.
She unleashed her ultimate skill.
A massive explosion erupted around her.
The surrounding demons were obliterated instantly as the shockwave tore through the battlefield.
The Demon King's health dropped even further.
The knight pressed the attack.
Dodging.
Striking.
Advancing.
But then—
The Demon King roared.
He charged.
The knight's eyes widened.
She tried to counterattack, but the Demon King overwhelmed her.
She was forced onto the defensive.
Every second she spent blocking was another second wasted from the duration of Last Dance.
Come on...
She searched desperately for an opening.
Just one!
The Demon King swung.
She dodged.
Another attack.
She blocked.
Another.
She stumbled backward.
I don't have time!
She reached for her potion.
Too late.
The Demon King's blade struck her directly.
HP: 0
The knight collapsed.
Haru froze.
"NO!"
The screen went dark.
Then—
A golden feather appeared.
[PHOENIX'S FEATHER ACTIVATED]
The knight's body glowed.
Her HP returned.
HP: 35
Haru stared.
Then slowly smiled.
"Oh..."
He leaned back.
"I forgot about the Phoenix's Feather."
The knight stood.
"Knight: That was too close."
She checked her inventory.
"If I remember correctly, it was supposed to save me from a single fatal attack and restore some of my HP."
She immediately drank the health potion.
Her HP rose dramatically.
"Okay."
She raised her sword.
"Now that I've gotten a second chance..."
The Demon King roared.
A purple aura suddenly erupted from his body.
Haru's eyes widened.
"That damn cheater!"
The knight staggered backward.
"Why won't you just die?!"
A notification appeared.
[Demon Lord Aura inflicted.]
Her expression changed.
"Wait..."
Another notification appeared.
[While within the Demon Lord Aura, HP will continuously decrease.]
The knight stared at the Demon King.
"So it's a battle of endurance."
She tightened her grip.
"Who dies first?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Me..."
She charged.
"...or you?"
The battle became absolute chaos.
The knight attacked relentlessly.
She took hits.
She ignored them.
She dodged.
She countered.
She charged again.
Her HP continued dropping.
HP: 20
HP: 13
HP: 7
She kept fighting.
HP: 3
The Demon King's health was also dangerously low.
But then—
HP: 2
The knight's movements became desperate.
HP: 1
Haru's eyes widened.
"Come on!"
The knight raised her sword.
The Demon King prepared his final attack.
Then suddenly—
A strange golden light surrounded him.
The knight froze.
"...No way."
A notification appeared.
[Angel King's Blessing activated.]
Her eyes widened.
"The Angel King's Blessing!"
She almost laughed.
"It causes demonic creatures to die once their HP falls below ten percent!"
She raised her sword.
"This has to be luck!"
The Demon King was suddenly surrounded by a storm of golden feathers.
He roared.
His body began disintegrating.
Golden light consumed him.
Then—
[DEMON KING DEFEATED]
Silence.
Haru stared at the screen.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then—
"GET WRECKED!!!"
He jumped out of his chair.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!"
He threw his arms into the air.
"I BEAT THE GAME!"
He laughed hysterically.
"Thousands of pro gamers have failed to flawlessly beat this game!"
He pointed at himself.
"But I did it!"
He struck a ridiculous pose.
"That proves I'm built different!"
He looked back at the screen.
"Although..."
He scratched his head.
"I've got to admit, Phoenix's Feather and Angel King's Blessing really saved me at the end."
He raised a hand.
"Shout-out to you guys. For real."
His smile softened.
"I wouldn't have made it this far without everyone in my guilds either."
He grabbed his controller.
"I need to tell everyone!"
He paused.
"But first..."
His grin returned.
"IT'S PARTY TIME!"
Suddenly—
BANG!
His bedroom door flew open.
"HARU!"
A girl rushed inside carrying a fire extinguisher.
"HARU! TALK TO ME!"
She looked around frantically.
"Don't worry, I'm—"
She stopped.
"...Here."
Haru turned around.
"Hey, Mika."
He looked at the fire extinguisher.
"What's with that? Did you think my house was on fire?"
He laughed.
"Hahaha! You're so dumb."
Mika stared at him.
Her expression twitched.
"Why else would you be shouting like that at two in the morning?"
"What if I was being attacked?"
"I would've used the fire extinguisher as a weapon and beaten your attacker to death."
Haru stared.
"...Wow."
Mika smiled sweetly.
"Scary, right?"
"Very."
She lowered the extinguisher.
"Anyway, could you tell me why you're shouting at such an ungodly hour?"
"Oh!"
Haru suddenly became excited again.
"I just beat the final boss of Last Warrior."
He grinned.
"Flawlessly."
He pointed toward the headset.
"Hehe. Are you proud of me?"
Mika stared at him.
Then slowly raised one finger.
"Let me get this straight."
Haru nodded.
"You interrupted my beauty sleep."
Another finger.
"You forced me to carry a fire extinguisher from my house."
Another.
"I had to use my secret key to your apartment."
Another.
"Then I broke into your room looking like some kind of action hero..."
She pointed at him.
"...all because you beat some..."
She paused.
"...game?"
Haru's expression immediately became serious.
"This isn't some game."
He pointed dramatically at the screen.
"This is Last Warrior! No professional gamer has ever—"
He suddenly stopped.
"...Wait."
His eyes narrowed.
"Did you say you have a secret key to my apartment?"
Mika folded her arms.
"I'm the one asking questions."
Haru looked away.
"Okay, yeah. What you said was kinda true."
Mika raised an eyebrow.
"Although I didn't ask you to come."
Silence.
Mika smiled.
It was a terrifying smile.
"Oh?"
Haru took one step backward.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
In one swift movement, Mika closed the distance.
BONK!
The fire extinguisher slammed into Haru's head.
"OW!"
He stumbled backward.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Mika glared at him.
"That's what you get for being an idiotic, game-obsessed otaku who goes around shouting at two in the morning!"
She pointed toward his VR headset.
"Maybe next time you'll remember to only shout when there's an actual emergency!"
She turned toward the door.
"And if I hear one more noise coming from here..."
She looked over her shoulder.
"...your VR goggles are the next thing I'm hitting."
Haru stared at her.
"You wouldn't dare."
Mika smiled.
"Want to test that?"
Haru immediately sat down.
"No, ma'am."
"Good."
She opened the door.
"Good night."
She paused.
"Or rather, good morning."
Haru waved.
"Yeah. You too."
Mika left.
The room became quiet again.
Haru crawled into bed.
Within seconds, he was asleep.
His VR goggles, however, remained beside him.
The screen displayed a single message.
Reward in: 06:10:03
The numbers changed.
Reward in: 06:10:02
Again.
Reward in: 06:10:01
And then—
Reward in: 06:10:00