NOVEL WEB Chapter 1: You’ve Caught Game Disease
Chapter 1: You’ve Caught Game Disease
“Ah… I finally cleared the game! This game is really exhausting! But it’s way too early for anyone to stop me from finishing, I still have twenty thousand years to go!”
As I stared at the screen displaying 【GAME CLEAR】, I stood up to stretch my limbs. It took a solid effort to conquer the final boss of the newly released Beautiful Girl Symphony from Company T last week. Just moments ago, I had finally defeated the last boss after figuring out all their attack patterns and dodging tactics.
To make this possible, I had arranged a week off from work and stocked up on supplies to last me the entire week. It had taken a grueling four days to finally beat this ridiculously difficult boss. My mental and physical limits had been pushed to the max, and the only thing keeping me going through this gaming marathon was the smile of that blonde girl on my screen.
Aelgiss Platin.
According to the character introduction by the game developers, she was royalty among the Blood Clan. Plus, she was a genius.
Of course, I didn’t care about the character’s backstory or any of that. What mattered to me was the character herself. From the first promotional trailer, I was captivated by this blonde girl and instantly pre-ordered Beautiful Girl Symphony.
What’s more, the game company announced on launch day that the first ten players to defeat the final boss with each character would receive character-related goodies provided by the company. The very first player to conquer the final boss for each character would get a special Mysterious Gift Package. That was why I dove headfirst into the game!
“Congratulations! You are the first player to successfully clear the game using Aelgiss. Please enter your shipping address and details here.”
This message popped up on my game interface, prompting me to fill out my real-life address and contact information.
“Whoa. I’m actually the first? Looks like my efforts paid off!”
Without a second thought, I filled in my address and identity info, then closed my laptop and flopped back onto my bed. I hadn’t slept for far too long, invested so much energy into this game—within three seconds of lying down, I was already in dreamland.
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“That’s the third one now.”
As the woman bit her fingernail, she gazed at the messages flashing across her screen. This was the third player to defeat a boss, using the Blood Clan girl, no less.
“Hey? Someone else cleared it? Let me take a look. This time it’s the Vampire Princess.”
A man sitting at a desk sipping coffee rushed over to check out what she was talking about.
“Yes! This is the third one after Black Dragon and Phoenix. Honestly, if I had my way, I’d prefer to wait until all six players are in before we start.”
Taking a golden USB drive from her drawer, the woman prep it for the players. This was her prepared 【Gift Package】.
“Well, I get that you want to hold off, but we don’t have much time left. We’ve got to send them over before they interfere with that world.”
The man looked outside at the skyscrapers, realizing time was running short. They needed to hurry and send them.
“Send this out. We should be getting ready to leave soon.”
After tossing the USB drive and character goodies to the man, she began clearing her desk of files.
“Heading into another world, huh? It’s such a waste since we finally made it to a high level in this one.”
The man sighed regretfully, heading out of the office to send off this so-called 【Mysterious Gift Package】.
Three days later…
“Oh? It’s here! Wow, as expected from a big company, their stuff is top-notch!”
After work, I opened the package sent from Company T. True to their reputation, it contained all sorts of goodies: a body pillow, a thermos, a mousepad, a wall scroll, and a badge!
“What’s this? A USB? Could this be the infamous 【Mysterious Gift Package】?”
Not thinking much of it, I plugged the USB into my computer.
“Whoa, is this a sequel? I can’t believe I’m getting to play a sequel! This is amazing! Hehehe, Aelgiss, I’m coming for you!”
As soon as I opened the USB, the file named 【Beautiful Girl Symphony 2】 popped up, sparking my excitement. I went to grab a bottle of cola from the fridge and a bag of chips from under my bed for snacks. Fully prepped, I eagerly clicked on the game.
However, the moment I launched the program, my computer screen went black.
“Eh? Hey, what’s wrong? My R9000P isn’t that old, right? It shouldn’t be crashing!”
Seeing the screen go dark, I panicked and tried to access the Task Manager to figure out what was going on, but it remained black. I then attempted to hard reset my computer. Alas, that didn’t work either!
“Huh?”
I soon realized something was wrong with my body as well—it felt like I was being broken down!
“What’s happening? What’s going on?”
Watching my body disintegrate faster and faster, I felt a chill run down my spine. I didn’t know what was happening, but this situation surely called for a trip to the hospital!
“Damn it, why won’t this door open?”
Gripping the doorknob with my crumbling hands, I exerted all my strength to twist it. But what should have been an easy task felt impossibly hard at that moment.
“No! No! I don’t want to disappear! My life is just beginning! I haven’t played enough, I haven’t honored my parents, and I didn’t even leave behind an heir! How can I just vanish like this? Stop! Stop it!!”
Watching my form fade away, my emotions exploded. I had so many things left to do, countless wishes unfulfilled.
How could I just… vanish like this?!
“Aahhh!!!”
With a piercing scream, my body completely disintegrated, leaving not a single hair behind in the room. All that remained were the traces of my once vibrant life—nothing more.
P.S.: Just think of the main character’s disappearance as game disease from Ex Aid, haha!