2 Controller Malfunction
=======QUEST WINDOW=======
>> Storyline Quest: Advent Of A Hero!
>> Quest Description: The ancient seal binding the malevolent Demon King weakens yet again, posing a grave threat to your realm. To safeguard your world from the encroaching darkness, you must reseal the Demon King. However, only a valiant Hero capable of wielding a Divine Weapon can hope to accomplish this task!
>> Clear Condition: Demonstrate your valor and earn the recognition of the Divine Sword 'Heliosurge', and become a true Hero!
>> Rewards: EXP+1000, Title – 'The Chosen Hero', Divine Sword – 'Heliosurge', Shop Currency+10
>> Failure Penalty: The Demon King shall awaken, plunging your entire world into peril.
===============================
⇒ [ Accept / Deny ]
*tak*
[Quest Accepted!]
[Trial of the Divine Sword | Initializing… 10%... 30%... 70%... 100%]
[Press any button to start your Trial!]
*tak*
A new scenery unfolded on the dim screen.
Inside a rocky cave-like environment, a humanoid figure made of bright golden light was seen standing upright, both of its hands resting on a glittering longsword stabbed into the rocky ground.
While maintaining his dignified posture, the glowing figure began speaking in a deep, resounding voice.
[...So nowadays, even a youngling like you thinks that you are worthy enough to wield my power?]
*tak* *tak*
[...Ah, at least your bravery is shining through… Very well! Now show me what you said aren't just empty words, O young Hero!]
The radiant figure dramatically pulled his sword out of the ground, taking a combat-ready pose before swiftly dashing forward.
*tak* *tak*
[Damage+13]
[Damage+10]
*tak* *tak* *tak*
[Damage+11]
[Damage+19]
…
…
*tak* *tak* *tak* *tak*
[Critical Hit!]
[Damage+100]
The scenery on the screen changed once again.
The humanoid figure was now considerably dimmer, with drops of luminescent liquid dripping down from the numerous wounds inflicted on his radiant body.
[Heh… It seems that those audacious words of yours weren't so empty, after all.]
*tak* *tak*
In front of a dim monitor, an average-looking young man – probably in his late twenties – was seen fiddling with his game controller.
*tak* *tak* *tak*
The dim light coming from the monitor in front of him illuminated his bored and tired face, as well as the small and dark room behind him.
He was sitting on a cozy chair with both of his legs propped up on the table in front of him, while his unkempt hazelnut-colored hair messily dangled down from his head.
Heavy dark circles could be seen under his lifeless pair of eyes that were glued to the monitor screen propped up on the table in front of him.
"Tsk, did these developers spend all their money on the cutscenes or what?"
From his slightly chapped lips, a disgruntled voice suddenly flowed out.
"Haah, skip, skip! I don't wanna look at these cutscenes again and again…"
…
…
This unfortunate person who looked and talked just like a homeless guy, and also coincidentally lived in a small apartment house is me, Max Turner.
I worked in a small burger joint in the neighborhood, toiling all week long just to barely make my ends meet.
Well, even though I was struggling to make ends meet these days, I still had a hobby in my otherwise empty life.
You see, I liked playing these different kinds of exciting games and watching the newly launched anime shows before everyone else from a paid anime website.
In short, I am what you guys would call – a hardcore, modern-age 'Weeaboo', also known as 'Weeb'.
Hey! Don't look at me like that!
There's a difference between a 'creep', and an honest 'weeb' like me. At least I contributed something back to society!
It was sad to say, but these small things were the only remaining source of joy and happiness in my ruined life these days!
Some of the more successful ones among you guys might think – why the hell am I working in a poor neighborhood burger joint as a fully grown-up adult? What went wrong with my life that I ended up struggling to make ends meet…?
Well, it turns out that a lot of things went wrong, actually.
Other than inflation, of course!
But that is a very long story… We can reserve that for another suitable time.
*tak* *tak*
Right at this moment, I was playing an Action RPG game that my co-worker at the burger joint recommended to me.
Honestly, he was a great person to hang out with, and we both shared the love for a good RPG game and anime shows.
He was the first kindred spirit I had found in the harsh world outside!
…well, even though he was only 17 and went to a high-school…
…and had a nice girlfriend…
…and maybe even a nice life planned for himself after he graduated…
Well, it wasn't like I was jealous or anything!
Just to let you know, I've literally had Goddess-level beauties grovel at my feet – just to get a little bit of my attention before!
There are two types of virgins in this world – those who can get a girl, and those who can NEVER get a girl.
I was a virgin to this day, not because I couldn't get girls, but because I wanted to become a true wizard when I grew older!
That's why, don't you dare lump me in with you virgin lots!
I am a virgin by choice! We are not the same!
*A–hem*
…anyway, I finally bought and played the game he recommended to me after saving up some money from my daily job.
[Saga of the Eternal Heroes]
An RPG game from the 'Action & Adventure' genre – where six heroes appear during every era to gang-up, bully and then reseal an already sealed Demon King and prevent the forces of darkness from taking over the entire world.
Even though the plot felt generic at first, the entire game's storyline was actually pretty unique.
When I first saw the gameplay, I was simply blown away by the amazing level of detail of the CG this game had.
All the cutscenes, fight scenes, special effects, NPC behavior, anything and everything was absolutely top-notch!
The only problem with this game was the overall storyline content. Which was, to say the least…completely butchered by the developers…
*tak* *tak* *tak*
"I thought the storyline was cool and bought it, but aren't all these damned routes in this game exactly the same…!?"
The game had six playable characters – The 'Eternal Heroes'.
Each of these characters had a separate route to follow in the game.
Each of them wielded a different Divine Weapon.
The only thing that was supposed to be common among them was the Hero Academy they all attended – Aegis.
But it seemed like the lazy devs couldn't be bothered to add even a slightly different storyline for these characters…
After the first playthrough, even if you switched your character, there is absolutely nothing new to enjoy in the game!
Not just that, the sub-quest system and the hidden quest system are also non-existent!
The only selling point of this boring game was the beautiful CG and flashy skills that burnt your retina every once in a while.
"The same story again and again…"
*tak* *tak*
"And this still cost me half of my game savings…"
*tak* *tak* *tak*
"Damned greedy-ass devs…!"
*TAK–!*
*BZZZT–!*
Feeling a sudden electric jolt on my fingers, I looked down at the controller in my hand.
"Hmm…? Damn it, did the controller break down again?"
I had this controller fixed from an expensive shop after it broke down just a few weeks earlier.
Now that I had already spent most of my gaming money to buy this damned game, there was no way I could afford to fix my game controller if it really broke down now.
Even if I didn't like this specific game, I still had other games on my shelf that I still wanted to play!
"Oh, no! Don't give up on me now, champ! Daddy's got survival issues right now!"
Bringing the controller close to my face, I tried to inspect the extent of damage it had suffered.
…but strangely enough, I wasn't able to find anything wrong at all.
*ZAP–!*
Suddenly, a visible arc of lightning shot out from the controller, heading directly toward my head!
"What the…!?"
*crack—*
Throwing the controller away from myself as hard as I could, I slipped and fell down from my gaming chair, breaking one of its armrests in the process.
"No–! My favorite gaming chair!"
Ignoring the sting coming from my behind, I reflexively caught the broken metallic piece of my gaming chair that came off when I fell down.
I just couldn't help it, you know?
This comfy chair had accompanied me throughout my entire seven years of gaming, sleeping, eating, and many more 'indescribable' moments of my life!
It was already an inseparable part of my life now!
Not to mention that it was expensive as hell, and I was flat broke…
Moisture slowly gathered in my eyes, before I glared at the wired controller that was now innocently swinging on the side of my table.
"What the hell was that? What kind of controller can shoot lightning out of it like that…?!"
I did hear about some sort of cloud gaming and cloud computing or whatever the smart guys were making these days, but don't tell me…
…was this controller really connected to the clouds?
Was that the reason why it was shooting out lightning arcs now?
"Damn it, I knew this CyberDiner restaurant was suspicious! Not only did they take away our business after they opened up next door, but now they're trying to build their own Skynet in their underground labs!"
Now in a gloomy mood, I stood up from the cold floor and grabbed at the controller playfully swinging from the table.
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT–!*
"Fuc—!"
Suddenly, with an intense buzzing sound, huge lightning tongues flashed out of everything I had on my table – my monitor, game console, as well as the swinging controller I was trying to grab – and zapped me into oblivion, without even giving me a chance to curse out at it.
As the surroundings gradually grew dim in my eyes, the last thing I saw was a weird quest screen flashing on my monitor…
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the hidden route: The Sealed Demon King!]
…but before I could make any sense out of it, I completely passed out.
