"Hey, Jake! Get outta there!" shouted a man standing by the door that led to Jake's room.
Inside, Jake had his headphones on, lights off, the only glow coming from the monitor in front of him. The curtains were drawn tight, sealing out the world.
He was gaming — completely ignoring the man at the door.
"Jake!" the man yelled again. "I'm gonna count to three, and if you're not out by then, I'll break it down myself, you hear?!"
He was ignored again. The man let out a frustrated sigh and started counting. "One… two…"
Just as he drew his leg back to kick the door open, it swung inward.
Jake stood there, expression blank, his dark hair messy from hours in front of the screen.
The man—Mr. Kim—was wearing a white vest and a grey short that barely reached his thighs. From Jake's angle, the sight wasn't pleasant; Mr. Kim's legs were hairy enough to make him look half-beast.
"What do you want, Mr. Kim?" Jake asked in a low, tired voice. "I told you, I'll pay the rent by the end of the week."
He ran a hand through his hair and added quietly, "Please… just bear with me."
"I'm tired of your shit, Jake." Mr. Kim snapped, face tight with anger. He said he'd felt sorry when Jake claimed his parents had died and he needed a place to stay — that was why he'd let him move in, on the condition Jake paid rent.
"If you don't have my money by the end of the week, I'll kill you," he warned, then stalked out, leaving a frustrated sigh behind him.
Jake bowed as the door shut, then turned and walked back to his room with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He sat down at his desk, leaned toward the monitor and murmured, "Rerun of Chaos — my favourite MMO. I'm almost at the end."
"Let's grind until I finish it. Mr. Kim can wait until I get a job," he told himself, slid his headphones on, and began clicking furiously.
---
Six days later, Jake was still at it — clicking away at his mouse like a madman. Empty Red Bull cans littered the desk and floor, forming a metallic graveyard around him. The dark circles under his eyes told the story clearly: he hadn't slept in days.
"Yes!" he shouted suddenly, slamming his hands into the air. "I finished the game! But damn—what a sloppy ending."
He stood triumphantly, arms raised, legs spread in victory. For a brief moment, he looked proud, alive.
But fate has a cruel sense of humor.
Without warning, Jake's body went rigid. The triumph drained from his face.
Then he collapsed — the room falling into complete silence.
Jake, eighteen years old, died doing the one thing he loved most — playing games.
No girlfriend, no family, nothing to his name except his PC and a room filled with empty cans. No life… literally.
And what about Mr. Kim's rent?
He never thought about it.
Dead men don't think.
---
Jake floated in a void — endless, weightless, and silent. Shades of deep purple and black swirled around him, stretching into infinity. There was no up or down, no sense of time, no trace of light except the faint shimmer that outlined his formless existence.
"Am I… dead?" The words echoed, though he wasn't sure if he'd spoken them or merely thought them. "What is this place? Did I really die?"
His voice rose into a shout that vanished into the emptiness.
"No!!!"
Then he stopped. A bitter laugh formed somewhere in the space that might've been his mind. "Wait… why do I even care? I didn't have a life anyway. Maybe I'm better off dead."
As the words left him, the void stirred.
A bright yellow light appeared in the distance, glowing faintly at first, then growing stronger. It floated toward him, pulsing gently like a heartbeat — a shining orb cutting through the darkness.
"Greetings, Jake," the orb spoke, its voice echoing softly across the endless void.
"I offer thee mine condolences for thy untimely demise. Though fate hath dealt thee a cruel hand, despair not, for fortune yet smiles upon thee. Thou hast been most unfortunate… yet most blessed.**"
The orb glowed brighter, its light rippling through the emptiness like sunlight over water.
"For thou shalt be reborn."
Jake hesitated, then spoke up, his words tumbling over one another.
"Okay, I've got no problem with that, but… where exactly will I be reborn, sir? Will there be dragons? Monsters? Strong people? Elves?"
He kept going, question after question, his curiosity spilling out into the void like a stream without end.
The orb pulsed gently, as if amused.
"Worry not," it said in its calm, regal tone. "For thou shalt be reborn in the world thou hold most dear — Rerun of Chaos."
Jake's formless essence seemed to brighten with excitement, but before he could speak again, the orb continued.
"Yet, take heed… thou shalt not live as the protagonist."
"Fuck!!" Jake yelled, his voice echoing through the empty void. Then, after a pause, he snorted and shrugged.
"Well, whatever. The protagonist suffered quite a lot anyway, so I don't think I wanna be him. No thanks."
His tone shifted from frustration to bubbling excitement. "So, who will I be then, sir?" He asked, barely able to contain his grin.
The orb dimmed slightly, as though sighing.
"That, I cannot tell thee, young one. But know this — thy journey shall be long, and the world hath changed in ways thou canst not yet fathom. Bear it well, however thou can."
Jake chuckled nervously, but before he could speak, the orb's glow intensified.
"I shall bestow upon thee a gift… a tool mortals oft name a system. Use it wisely."
Jake's entire being practically vibrated with joy. "Awesome, sir! Thank you! I don't care who I am — as long as I've got a system, it's all good!"
He pranced around in midair, pure energy and excitement in a formless body, while the orb simply shimmered… silently watching.
"I wish thee luck, mortal," the orb's voice echoed softly, fading into the darkness around him. "This journey is thine to shape. Live it as thou wilt — even if it be wicked. Let none command thy path… Seth Crimson."
Jake froze.
"…Huh? Wait, what? Seth? Not Seth!" His voice cracked with disbelief. "No—no, no, please! NOT HIM!"
Before he could protest any further, a surge of blue energy swallowed him whole. His surroundings distorted, twisting and warping until even the void itself disappeared.
A flash — and silence.
When Jake opened his eyes again, his vision blurred under the harsh light of a blue sky. He groaned, pain spreading across his entire body.
"Ugh—my whole body feels like it's been crushed…" he muttered, clutching his abdomen. "But… my gut—damn—it hurts the most…"
He turned his head slightly, feeling grass beneath his fingers, the smell of iron thick in the air.
"So… I'm really here, huh?"
Jake muttered, his voice half in awe, half in dread. He looked down at himself — or rather, at Seth Crimson's body. His clothes were torn and bloodstained, his limbs weak but still intact. The body felt lighter, stronger… but undeniably foreign.
Then—
[Ding!]
A crisp chime rang inside his head.
[Welcome, Seth Crimson, to Rerun of Chaos.]!
[Initializing with host body…]!
Jake — no, Seth — froze.
"…No way," he whispered, watching faint blue text float before his eyes like a hologram. "I'm actually him?"
The words hit him all at once. Seth Crimson — the most irrelevant character in the entire game. A stepping stone. A man fated to die in the first arc.
He looked up at the blindingly bright sky, an ironic smile creeping across his face.
"Oh no," he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm so fucked. What a twisted life ahead…"