The screen flashed with glitter gold. A soft fanfare played from the speakers of Han Tae-Min's ancient monitor, grainy and a little off-key. The bold letters that lit up the room didn't feel triumphant to him, but they were the only thing breaking the darkness of his apartment.
CONGRATULATIONS, PLAYER. YOU HAVE CLEARED KINGDOM CLASH.
He stared wide-eyed at the glowing screen till the golden words faded, leaving him in the dark of his tiny studio apartment with his fingers hovering over the keyboard with a slight tremble. Not from excitement. Just leftover tremors of too much caffeine and too little sleep.
He didn't smile. He didn't celebrate. He stared.
The chat on his stream window raced by:
youfreakinglegend: FIRST CLEAR OMFG
7days_n0sleep: Wasted time on this garbage paid off
coffeeorblood: Crying rn. didn't think it's possible
Tea-Min leaned back in his bed and let out a long breath of disappointment. It had been almost a full year. Every day, ten to fourteen hours, grinding. Streaming. Learning the story. Talking and befriending the main characters. Protecting the kingdom he fell in love with. Winning awards that he could never get IRL.
He never thought he'd actually beat the game. It was advertised as an unbeatable RPG with unlimited story and adventures, a second chance for those unable to be anything other than a NEET in the real world. He wasn't good at the game, just persistent. Obsessive. His world had become Kingdom Clash.
And now it was over.
His small apartment was silent but cluttered. Empty ramen cups littered around the room, with piles of empty trash that had collected over the weeks, the bed had a nest of dirty clothes that he slept in. The windows were closed, the blinds drawn. The air smelled of mold, sweat, and dust.
He turned off the stream and sat there in silence. Empty eyes turned toward the TV screen as a message appeared in the darkness.
"Thank you for your participation. As our first clear player, you will receive a special pass to continue the adventure. We appreciate your dedication to our beloved world. We look forward to seeing you soon."
His eyes lit up ever so slightly with a twitch of a smile as his heart fluttered with joy and excitement. The feeling faded soon after it was noticed.
The apartment was silent.
The type of silence that ate at his brain, with anxiety-ridden thoughts crawling through his head like bugs and the pessimistic words of others ringing so loud he felt like his head would explode.
He got up and stretched for the first time in hours. His spine cracked. His knees ached. There were ugly, dark circles under his eyes when he passed the bathroom mirror. A gaunt face and body, chapped lips, pitch black hair, and cold blue eyes stared back. Tea-Min had always hated his appearance. Ghostly. Depressing. Too Pale. Too Thin. Hair covered his eyes and neck.
He splashed cold water on his face and avoided looking at his reflection again. The exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he could feel his puffy eyes burn with overuse.
He rubbed a towel over his face, then wandered back into the kitchen. He poured the last of the cereal into a chipped bowl and ate it dry. The milk had expired last week, or maybe before then; it looked like a science project gone wrong and ready to explode. He'd meant to go buy more, but there was always something else to do in the game. A quest. A new side story. A new patch.
The quiet tick of the clock on the wall told him it was nearly noon. He couldn't remember what day it was.
He couldn't remember when he left the apartment.
He had bought more ramen and cereal at some point when he felt as though he would actually starve to death mid-game, but that had to be weeks ago now. Probably.
He used to take walks. Used to clean. Used to attend college. Used to be bullied. Used to be Abused. But those things had faded slowly, piece by piece, until all that was left was glowing pixels and a peaceful emptiness filled with conversations with the fictional characters he relied on.
Tea-Min sat by the window and opened the blinds. Light spilled in like it didn't belong there. Dust glittered like stars and tickled his nose. He squinted. The world outside was loud and alive. Kids playing, someone walking a dog, the hiss of a bus engine. The air was warm and slightly humid, the sun gentle through the early spring clouds.
He felt like a ghost watching a world that had moved on without him. And he was perfectly ok with that, he wasn't worth remembering anyway.
He used to have friends. A few. From high school. It had only been for a little bit before they turned on him. They became distant after his parents came to the school looking to recruit kids for their strange cult before being taken off by the police. No one looked at him the same after that, and rumors spread like wildfire.
Have you heard, Tae-Min belongs to a cult that praises sex with minors
Tae-Min always looks beat up. You think they make him perform? I bet they do
Tae-Min looks so creepy. I feel like if I talk to him, I'll be kidnapped by their cult
He had dreams once. College. A job. Maybe travel. He'd thought of studying biology. He loved plants and animals as a child. But he wasn't even smart enough to attend a program.
He was homeschooled by his cult-obsessed parents before his senior year of high school. Everything he was ever taught was wrong. He never learned proper reading, writing, or math skills. By the end of the year, he failed miserably, with barely passing grades to graduate. His parents beat him so viciously after, and he still had the scars from the battle.
Tae-Min ran away soon after he recovered. He never saw them again.
Gaming became his escape while living in an overnight PC cafe. Streaming became his way of making money. Profitable enough to move to his tiny studio. And Kingdom Clash consumed him. It filled the emptiness, providing a way for him to escape the horrid world that lived outside of a glowing screen.
He let out a soft laugh. Bitter. Quiet. It was too bad he couldn't live in the world he loved, leaving his hellish life to become someone loved and praised by all.
Tae-Min rubbed his eyes. They were dry and stung from the sunlight.
The warmth was inviting him out, it was the first time in so long he had had the time to enjoy the outdoors without worry. Maybe he could take a small break. Just a short one while Kingdom Clash is loading the new content.
He grabbed a hoodie from the floor, slipped on some torn sneakers. Opened the door.
Sunlight hit like a slap.
He blinked rapidly, shielding his face with one hand as he stepped into the outside world. It was much brighter than looking through his tinted apartment windows. The air smelled like early spring and car exhaust.
He began his walk to the nearest convenience store, half-blinded, heart pounding like he had stepped onto a battlefield.
His hoodie was too warm for the weather, but he didn't want to take it off. He already felt exposed, tense, and ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. Every person who passed seemed too loud, and he couldn't help but feel they were all looking at him, waiting patiently for him to make a mistake.
He rushed to the convenience store, tugging his hood down further and avoiding eye contact.
Tae-Min arrived out of breath and skin prickling with discomfort. He could feel it in his bones. He didn't belong here.
He lingered inside the store longer than necessary, letting his nerves calm in the quiet and having the cool fan breeze wash over him. He picked up a few essentials: milk, new cup ramen, and a vitamin drink. He stared at the freshly cut cup of fruit for a long time, trying to remember what he used to like before his diet became instant food and caffeine.
He picked up a cup of fruit.
At the counter, the clerk smiled and said something, but he barely registered it. He mumbled thank you and left.
He felt like his skin was once again burning with nonexistent stares of people on the crowded street. He rushed through the crowd onto the crosswalk, ready to hide in his apartment once again like a shy turtle.
A notification buzzed in his pocket. He reached for it instinctively and stopped on the crosswalk as he read the message from Kingdom Clash.
YOU'VE PLAYED AS MY KINGDOM'S SAVIOR WITH COMPASSION AND HONOR. YOUR WISH WILL BE GRANTED AND A NEW STORY WILL BEGIN.
DON'T REGRET. DON'T FOLLOW GREED. DON'T TRUST . . .
Tae-Min never saw the car.
The last thing he remembered was the sound of shattering glass. And the sudden, absolute silence that followed.
Not even pain. Just stillness. A floating nothingness.
And then darkness.