《Digital Decent》 Chapter 1: Between two Worlds In my dark room at night, staring at my precious newly-bought screen, and suffering from painful dry eyes, I couldn''t help but feel an endless excitement. I gazed at my completed creation... a 2D game I hadn''t decided a name for yet. Despite its simplicity, I had poured every ounce of effort into writing its story and creating its characters. In the golden skylands of the ruined Sun Kingdom ¨C Solara, where the game mostly ends and where the player battles the immortal Sun Queen: Amberlyn Solisar, to overthrow her tyrannical and racist rule. The queen, who has nine forms and dozens of skills, possesses endless solar energy and an incredibly long lifespan. There are several endings, with only one ending in her defeat. Bloodmere Forest, the Time-Frozen Domain, the Rotting Lands, the Golden Sky Continent, and many other areas took a terrifying amount of ideas, along with characters I tried to make as realistic as possible. A dark and grim fantasy game... I watched the cinematic that began on the screen at the start of the battle, the only one in the game, as such things cost a frightening amount of money. For my hobby and as an investment for the future, I decided to spend thousands to create a high-quality cinematic. It didn¡¯t hurt me much financially since I had a job and a decent salary. The player, wearing metallic clothes and armor, enters with his blue-black hair and glowing golden eyes, a hybrid born from sun and shadow beings, surviving a tragic past. Then the Sun Queen descended from the sky, with her golden hair and matching eyes, covered in endless flames, and a crown shaped like a giant phoenix. She was incredibly tall, more than two meters! Her expression was cold as she landed, staring at the player as if he were an insignificant insect. She wore a luxurious blue dress, and with a flick of her fingers, flames danced in the air and surrounded her, forming the unbeatable figure... I then turned off my computer and threw myself onto my bed to browse my phone before sleeping until morning... *** I woke up to weak shakes, which I had been feeling for a while and were now starting to annoy me... I opened my eyes to see an elderly woman with wrinkles like spider webs on her face. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. My grandmother had woken me up, laughing proudly as she did. "See? I can still do it!" she clapped her hands. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at that sight. I got up and helped her down to the first floor, then returned to my room. The first thing I did after waking up was head to the bathroom for a shower. I took off my cap and looked at my reflection in the mirror, my mood worsened slightly. Bald... that¡¯s right... Even though I hadn¡¯t reached thirty, there wasn¡¯t a single hair on my head, and the reason was quite simple... illness. Specifically, lung cancer, and a somewhat advanced stage. The doctor told me that treatment was very possible and that I should stay optimistic, and it would be over in a few months, and I believed him. That burning cough was very annoying at first, but I started getting used to it after a whole year. There are still rare cases of blood coming out, which is not comfortable at all. I sighed as I left the bathroom. My appearance was well above average, maybe even very good, but the side effects of cancer made me look almost like an old man. Weight loss and hair loss, wrinkles, weakness, and lack of sleep... all these things force me to age quickly... I immediately went to the downstairs of the house, where I found the only person living with me, or rather, living with me. Very short and with a bent back, the wrinkles on her hands alone made me forget about my appearance issues and feel sorry. I immediately went to help her sit down. "Grandma, rest, I¡¯ll take care of it..." I held her hand and made her sit on the wooden chair, letting her lean on the table. I saw her warm smile as I helped her. "Kaiden... it¡¯s okay, I can still make some food! Speaking of which, what did the doctor say to you again?" she asked me. I smiled a bit and went to prepare something quick while continuing my conversation with her. My grandmother, in her late seventies, had taken care of me all my life since I became aware, and she made me a decent man without the presence of a father or mother to care for me. She worked as a teacher until the age of sixty! Although teaching isn¡¯t physically demanding, it¡¯s extremely mentally exhausting! And she exceeded the retirement age by a lot! Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer''s several years ago. It¡¯s mild and manageable, but she can no longer spend much time alone, or she might lose her mind and get into serious trouble. Although she needs full-time care, I never complained. I hired a specialist to stay with her when I go to work, and then it¡¯s my turn to take care of her until she goes to bed early. After breakfast and waiting for the specialist to arrive to care for my grandmother, I immediately went to work. *** Although using a phone while driving is strictly prohibited, I still ignore all the laws as usual. I communicated with my friends, browsed social media for some interesting things, and so on... Then suddenly, a huge white notification covered the top part of the screen, catching my eye, . My heart skipped a beat and my breath quickened. Was what I was seeing really true? I could hardly believe it... how could it be so fast? My happiness was instantly shattered when I was suddenly attacked by a coughing fit, forcing me to stop the car by the side of the road and wait a few minutes for the pain to subside. I took out my phone to read the previous email from that advertising company. I didn¡¯t expect, even in my best dreams, to get a response just one night after sending the proposal. As I read the message, my eyes continued to widen more and more, and I began to daydream. It seems I¡¯ll be resigning from my job soon... Chapter 2: Between Two Worlds 2 My game wasn¡¯t just approved; it received full sponsorship and an opportunity for a complete re-creation! This time, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, would be invested! It wouldn¡¯t just be a 2D game anymore! The first thing I thought about was my grandmother. Maybe I could make her enjoy her final years more, to make up for everything she sacrificed for me in her mid-life... With that amount of money, my life would become a dream come true. All that¡¯s left is one simple thing... I checked the email address several times, took out my laptop from my bag, and inspected their website in every way I knew. Everything indicated that what was happening was real and not some kind of silly scam... I clicked the link immediately, where I was met with a single input field, above which I read: There must be a mistake... this can¡¯t be real... they said a private driver would be sent to pick me up, shouldn¡¯t they ask for my address or ID card, maybe? Something like that... Asking about my favorite character... how would the answer to this question benefit them in any way? I sighed, but I still answered honestly. Personally, I prefer characters that feature some realistic elements, such as honesty, selfishness, and courage. Ironically, I hate the weak. Thinking this way with my small body is... interesting at least. I entered the information for the character that matched the traits I mentioned: As soon as I clicked the submit button, I closed my eyes and put the phone aside, waiting for their response after work... I¡¯ll resign at the earliest opportunity. Although my job is comfortable, the life of the unemployed is still the best. I looked at the car¡¯s side mirrors to check my surroundings before starting, and my sight was met with a horrifying scene... A massive 16-wheeler truck, speeding over 100 kilometers per hour, shattered all the street barriers and hit my small car. ¡®My life just reached its peak! Damn you all!¡¯ In this tense moment, I didn¡¯t even know who to blame... The truck hit my car, and I felt my body fly through the air. This shouldn¡¯t be happening... Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. **** ©·©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©³ || Statistics Screen || || Vitality: 0.1/1000 || || Strength: 0.5/1000 || || Agility: 1/1000 || || Energy: 0 || || Skills: - || || Basic Programming: 3/5 || || Note: A parasitic body is attacking the host¡¯s body, estimated time until death: six and a half months. || ¨s©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥¨t ** ©·©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©³ || Mission #1: || Rebirth. As a newcomer in the midst of a fierce battlefield, you must survive to prove your true potential. Reward: Regress lung cancer to stage one. || Do you accept this mission?: || || Yes || || Yes || ¨s©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥©¥¨t After that damned driver hit me with his giant truck, I felt myself flying through the air before losing consciousness, and the moment I woke up again, I found myself lying on a strange, sticky ground. I opened my eyes to see only one thing. "Red... everything is red!" I felt my mind grow weaker and weaker, and I slapped my cheek with my hand unconsciously. An endless sky was all I could see above me, and strangely enough, its color was crimson red, just like freshly spilled blood, which immediately terrified me. It looked as if it was bleeding, and its blood was falling on the ground, which shared the same color. Is that why the ground is so sticky? How ironic... what is even happening around me?! I still couldn¡¯t comprehend what was happening. None of this was supposed to happen... my mind refused to think of anything to explain my strange situation. While lying there without any purpose or thoughts, I felt a strange pain throbbing throughout my entire body, returning with each heartbeat, and finally, I realized strange sounds echoed around me. Swords clashed with each other, producing loud sounds of battle, and the screams of wounded soldiers sounded like music in some kind of enthusiastic event, and I felt myself in the midst of everything. The sound was so loud it seemed amplified by a giant speaker; it couldn¡¯t be natural! The noise startled me, forcing me to change my position and sit up, ignoring the pain. I started coughing uncontrollably, even spitting out some blood. But I was interrupted when a man in armor ran past me, accidentally hitting my head with his knee. He didn¡¯t care and continued without even looking back. I felt my jaw almost break, and I began to choke after my coughing was interrupted, but I didn¡¯t care about anything, as I saw a horrifying sight. The eyes of a dead body stared into my soul, its pale body suggesting it had died only hours ago at most, with fresh blood still flowing from it. A great sword had fallen into its skull from above, spilling out half its brain. Its bloody eyes didn¡¯t blink; they continued to stare at me, and I didn¡¯t realize it was a corpse until a long time had passed, a very long time... Adrenaline surged through my body suddenly, making me stand up to see the area around me. Hundreds of soldiers fought hundreds of soldiers, each side wearing different colored armor and using very distinctive weapons. The first side wore heavy brown armor that covered everything from their toes to their heads, leaving no room for joints, making the idea of fighting in that thing ridiculous. The other side wore ordinary silver armor, but their weapons glowed with black or red lights, and they seemed superior in attack. Before I could think of anything, a massive explosion came from behind, apparently the reason for the soldier who hit my jaw just now running. I looked in that direction in disbelief, seeing the scene of a small nuclear bomb, a mushroom cloud covering the sky, and at its top, two mighty men were fighting. ¡®This isn¡¯t real...¡¯ I fell to my knees in disbelief, placing my hands over my head. "I feel pain, and I¡¯ve never focused this much before. The cough is still there, and the scene is incredibly realistic..." "Could it be that this... isn¡¯t a dream?" A high-pitched moan escaped my mouth, no... no... I don¡¯t want this! This isn¡¯t the kind of life I wanted! I was at the peak just seconds ago! I want to go back! " My teeth clenched, and I scratched the ground hard, soldiers running around me fleeing the mushroom cloud, but I couldn¡¯t move. Screams escaped my mouth, but no one cared... Birth on the battlefield!