A girl in her twenties sat in a dark room, the flicker of her screen dancing in her eyes. The words reflected there read:
Beastman Colt was subjugated.
"No! Mr. Colt!" she cried, tears welling up as the message flashed across the bulletin board.
"If the dev's gonna kill everyone... who's even gonna play this crappy game?!" she shouted at the screen. Her headphones nearly flew off as she slammed the table, barely missing her keyboard.
"Arghhh!" She hurt her hand.
Tears streamed from her eyes. "Why, Mr. Colt too?"
On the table beside her keyboard lay the cover of a game, its title beautifully etched:
Fame & Gain of Animal Kingdom.
It was made by an unknown corporation that, without warning, suddenly took the world by storm with its ultra-realistic gameplay.
The game was a kingdom-building simulation where humans could either fight against the beastmen, the original inhabitants, or befriend and ally with them to battle the demon lord together.
The premise was simple, more like an isekai game every teen dreamed of, but the hardships players faced were unlike any other. The game was punishing.
Each time a player dies, they have to create a new character. Once an NPC is killed by any player, they stay dead for everyone, and the quest tied to that NPC disappears as well. Every NPC and quest was unique, so each could only be interacted with once by a player, making the competition fierce to grab a quest.
The wall of opportunity was tough to scale, but in the midst of fierce competition, one rose above the rest—a player with uncanny mastery of the mechanics and a truly one-of-a-kind class.
Animorph Queen: Arcadunes Aria.
"I will punish his killer!" Aria growled.
Suddenly, her vision blurred and a wave of nausea hit her.
"No... Did I have too much caffeine?"
Her eyes closed as she mumbled, "No... Mr. Colt..."
When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself outside under a vast night sky, bruised purple and scattered with slow-moving clouds that moved like living beings. Cracked, ancient stone lay beneath her boots, streaked with dried mud and claw marks. She stumbled back, clutching her arms as if to keep herself from falling apart.
"I am inside fame and gain!!!"
She nearly fell to her knees, startled by the realization. She quickly tried to make sense of what was happening... and the last thing she remembered was that she had been playing—no, she was about to log in—before finally succumbing to death, brought on by her unnatural lifestyle.
"Well, I didn't have a life anyway," she muttered, trying to console herself.
Glancing back, a forest stretched behind her, and before her lay ancient ruins.
"If I remember correctly, these are the ruins of the Tartarmou Kingdom. Maybe I should kill some monsters and see if I still have the same skills. Ah… right."
She then tried to summon the system.
"Ahhhhh!! There is no system!!"
She couldn't use it at all. No matter what kind of shenanigans she tried, it was all futile.
She looked herself over—yes, she was still wearing all the armor and weapons she had when she played as the Animorph Queen.
"I have at least the armor... but what about the skills?"
She tried to use the unique skill she had as part of her unique class, allowing her to morph into any creature, no matter its size. The only limit was the mana she possessed. Fortunately, she already had equipment to cover any mana deficiency that might arise.