1 Chapter 5

When Janus was young, he always wonders how does it feel like to be a leader of a huge group. He has no other sibling and his classmates before do not want to include him in their little group. He tried to ask them once and they said he is a weirdo. Their words never affected him since he was already contented with the video games his parents gave to him. But still, Janus never tried to get near those children again.

And his childhood curiosity was slowly forgotten and Janus became more immersed with his games.

But at that moment, Janus never expected that he will finally get his answers. Janus thought he will never get a chance to be a leader because of some reasons. First, he does not want to socialize that much. Second, he would rather play with his video games instead of chatting with other people.

Janus closed his eyes once again and took a deep breath. He already lost count on how many times he did that but that is out of his concern now. His priority right now is to completely calm himself so he can think straight and make rational decisions. Janus took a few more deep breathes before he counts from one to ten in his head.

He is now finally ready. Doing some breathing exercises can really help someone to calm their nerves. After exhaling slowly, Janus slowly opened his eyes and blinked twice.

'Glob. Squish. Glob.'

"..."

'Trying to be calm? To be logical? Make a rational decision? I think the fuck not!'

Janus cannot be calm in this situation. He suddenly wanted to cry but no tears are falling from his eyes. Pressing his lips, Janus focused on the clear blue slime ball crawling in front of him. It was obviously talking to him and its body bounced a little every time he makes that squishy sound.

This slime in front of him is quite talkative. Even though Janus is obviously ignoring it, the slime actually does not mind it at all and continued with its story on how did he accidentally bumped with yellow slime and that created a green spot on both of their body. Although that slime cannot pronounce a proper word and it looks like the slime is just making some fluid sounds, Janus can still understand it.

How? By reading the subtitle in front of him.

Yes. Subtitle.

Every time that slime talked to him, strings of words will suddenly appear in his line of sight. Although he tried to blink his eyes several times, it will still appear in front of him. Janus tried the accuracy of those words by asking the slime a question if he wants to eat some molds. And guess what? That slime actually answered him!

'Oh goodness... What kind of mental torture is this?!'

[Master Janus Fleigh, are you now enjoying your time?]

'Ah, really...'

The other thing that is giving Janus a headache is this system that started all of this ruckus. Janus knows that he is the only one who can see and hear this system. On the other side, having a system in your mind sounds so cool. But in this situation, Janus is having more headaches due to overthinking.

When he woke up again with a start an hour ago, Janus found himself sitting with his legs crossed on a black throne. Both arms are resting on the armrests and his back is leaning on the throne. Looking around, Janus thought the place is so familiar to him.

And that was when the system called AI001 popped up again. The system introduced itself again as his own system that will give him pointers on how he can manage his own powers and skills. Before Janus can process all the things that AI001 mentioned, the heartless system continued dumping him with new information that took Janus a moment to digest.

According to the system, he is now going to live a new life as Meluna. He is now responsible for handling the Rozea Dungeon and prevent anyone who dares to enter their lair from escaping. He is also the only one who can manage the creatures living in the dungeon since they all feared him. The whole dungeon is now his territory and his every word are the rules and laws of this place.

When Janus heard the clue words like 'Meluna' and 'Rozea Dungeon' from the system, it finally dawned on him why this place is so familiar. This place is the final stage in VR where the players can face the most powerful final boss! And the final boss is also the one who created and started all of this chaotic charade. And it none other than Meluna, the leader of the Valkyries.

Everyone including him thought that Meluna is a woman since that is what also the developers put in their game introduction. But that information was just another puzzle in the game. Before you reached the final stage, the player will encounter a two-way tunnel. The first tunnel is in color blue covered with tulips and huge thorns while the other one is in color white and its pathway is covered with red and blooming roses.

Janus chose the second tunnel after that. It was because, in one of the CG released in VR, there is a picture of Meluna standing in front of a rising sun. They cannot see her appearance clearly because she is wearing a mask that covers the upper part of her face. But on that CG, Meluna is wearing white armor while the rose petals are scattered around her.

Thinking that white is the color that represents the powerful Valkyrie, Janus saved the game first before picking the white tunnel. When he reached the end of it, a huge two-headed lion with a pair of huge crow wings on its back welcomed him. He also saw the words 'You shall defeat me first if you want to see my master' written on the wall using blood. That made Janus so confident that he chose the right tunnel.

Janus thought that he will finally meet the final boss after defeating the lion. So he spent three days straight strategizing on how he can defeat the monster. But when Janus finally defeated the lion, he suddenly got a curse which instantly killed his avatar.

Janus can still see that scene vividly in his head. After stabbing the red jewel hidden carefully on its mane, the two-headed lion died in an instant and turned into ashes. But that ashes quickly attacked him and old scriptures suddenly covered his body until he became a statue and crumbled into pieces. He almost threw his computer out of the window when saw the words 'Game Over' on the screen. He just wasted three whole days of his life defeating a monster that will not even bring him to the final boss.

And so, he came back to his saved data game and chose the blue tunnel. Unlike the white tunnel, the only obstacle he faced there is the huge thorns. After that, Janus reached a huge door and opened it. And Janus saw the final boss of VR.

It was Meluna.

In the game, the player and Meluna will have a short conversation first before they start fighting. And that is the part where the player will discover that Meluna is a real man and roses are his most hated flower. The people just thought Meluna is a girl because of his long, braided blonde hair and his pale skin. Well, Janus cannot really blame them for thinking that Meluna is a girl since the game developers made him look like a porcelain doll beauty.

But despite his doll-like beauty, Meluna is not so easy to defeat. Damn those game developers! Meluna is an OP character! Janus quickly lost 85% of his HP in just one simple hit. And take note, Meluna is not yet in his Valkyrie form!

'Ah... Those were the days when I doubted myself if I am really good at playing video games or not.'

His reminiscing was disturbed when AI001 beeped once before it showed another information to him. It is the status information of Meluna. When Janus first saw it, mixed feelings suddenly rose in his chest. Meluna's stat is too OP! Meluna also has special abilities like using thunder that can instantly fry someone and water controlling ability which he can use to dry the water on his enemy's body in just a few seconds.

But if Meluna is too OP, then how the hell he defeated that character in the game?! Did the game encountered a bug or suddenly have quick emergency maintenance while he was fighting with Meluna that's why he won his final battle? Damn.

The information he received made a throbbing pain in his head. This is too much for him in just one day. First, he finished the VR then he died few hours after that. Second, he woke up in a gray space and a system told him that he will start living in a new world. Third, Janus just discovered that he is now Meluna who is an OP lord. Lastly...

'Squish... Glob glob... Squish squish glob squish...'

['Do you want some entertainment, my lord? I can show you my impressive dance if you want!']

"..."

Is there even a clinic in this world where he can receive therapy?