I never considered myself lucky, good-looking, or smart. In fact, I thought those traits were superficial.

Was someone lucky for being born rich?

Was someone beautiful when compared to another?

Was someone intelligent for getting good grades in school?

All nonsense.

Only reality could tell the truth.

A homeless person would consider themselves lucky to find a place to sleep.

An ugly person would say they are beautiful when compared to someone deformed.

An idiot could govern a country.

So who could measure reality and distinguish the best from the worst?

That's why I repeatedly asked myself:

How did I get here?

Despite not fitting into any of these characteristics, I reached the top!

My eyes turned forward.

I walked slowly down the red carpet. Some might say there was a majestic aura hovering over my head and with each step my enemies trembled.

Too melancholic.

My destination was the seat a little further ahead. A throne made of the bones of one of the most powerful creatures to walk the earth and once fly through the skies, a dragon.

I sat slowly and carefully on the luxurious but not at all comfortable throne.

Someone approached shortly after. It was someone I knew well. My personal servant.

My eyes fell on her vibrant, bright green skin. They then circled her sculpted body and descended to the pair of vines that paraded on both sides of her waist.

She commonly used them as additional auxiliary limbs to help her with her daily tasks.

One of those tasks was to be an eye candy for me, but her true role was to deliver news and serve some of her special tea.

The tea she made had a special taste and I loved it. It was a mixture of sweet and salty.

Coming to my side, she opened a huge smile, showing all her teeth. She touched my shoulders with her soft hands and slid down my back, massaging slowly.

"Master," she said with a soft, smooth voice that accelerated my heart. "The attack is already underway. Some thousands have died, but our Floor Masters are confident in victory. Congratulations."

A smile escaped me, although it was not a smile of satisfaction, it was more of an inevitable acceptance of what I had already predicted. Nothing gratifying.

I made a hand gesture, calling her closer to me and affectionately passed my hand over her beautiful face, sliding it near her lips.

I ended up feeling a little unhappy in the process.

You know... her skin was soft. Touching it filled me with indescribable feelings, so real! But I knew. That feeling made me unhappy.

Maybe it was my problem, but I can't say; this feeling never went away.

This majestic hall, this faithful servant; the gold, the silver, it was all fake.

They were just data inside a server. Several zeros and ones. An advanced programming; but, at the same time, robotic in its essence.

She seemed real, but of course, I knew she wasn't; I created her. A digital existence. Made only to be attractive, made exclusively to love me, made that way because I wanted it that way.

She couldn't make choices, and I couldn't take from her what she didn't have.

I created her.

She smiled, pulling my hand back to her face and down to her chin. Her eyes sparkled and she let out lust.

However, I backed away, letting out a long sigh and returning to my thoughts.

Boredom...

Since when did I abandon my enthusiasm? My passions? I was such an enthusiastic person; so proactive and curious, a true adventurer. I explored so much... just to get to this point of uncertainty.

Nothing around me was as it used to be. Although it had never really been.

The wonderful world I was in was nothing more than a simulation. In short, a Virtual Reality, a VRMMORPG.

However, this was not just a simple game; it was the biggest, most played and accessed game in the world!

And me? Well... not to brag, but I am the greatest player in the world, Kayn.

Among all who have played, I am the most qualified; whether it's in power, wealth, or numbers. Among all, I am the best.

However, I realized something very late. Despite having loved this world, it was by no means reality.

The real world tended to be boring in my eyes, but at least it was... real. Virtual Reality was wonderful, but false.

"Master, the Floor Bosses did it!" shouted the servant, excitedly. She caught my attention and pulled me out of my thoughts.

I quickly reached out my hand into the air. A blue sphere appeared in it and from it, some images began to appear, covering my entire field of vision with a blue screen.

Millions of monsters were walking towards a gigantic tower. They carried with them the spoils of a hard-fought battle.

I really won.

The game I am in is called Vangloria. Unlike its competitors - if you could call them that - it had surreal realism and was created by a supercomputer that controlled the system of this world.

Within the game, it was possible to do almost anything. It was tens of times larger than Earth; even after years of its release, players only knew one continent of this vast world.

The computer also created NPCs; those who had surrealistic artificial intelligence.

Soon this game dominated the whole world, as if it were a second life. People almost abandoned reality and everything was based on the game. The economy turned to the game, culture, sports, everything!

The best players were celebrities. Kings were rich, emperors; millionaires. And among all the thousands of people, I was the best.

The best in the world!

However, this made me think about it again, for the umpteenth time. That question that I always asked myself when waking up: How did I get here? Do I deserve all this?

For now, I decided to continue pushing things as they were. Using a common colloquialism: pushing it with my belly.

"Issue an order! Everyone must return to the Dungeon. The mission is accomplished," I proclaimed to the servant beside me.

For a second, the emotion ran through me and I opened a smile that went from ear to ear.

The servant disappeared into thin air; she went to carry out my orders.

A few seconds passed and soon a screen full of messages appeared in front of my eyes.

❂❂❂

Monsters have returned to the dungeon

The conquest of the continent was successful. Spoils are being delivered. Congratulations to the user for being the first player to destroy a continent.

[Fire Emblem] Acquired

[Death Emblem] Acquired

[Elven Emblem] Acquired

[Use of Cauldron] Acquired

❂❂❂

After a difficult start when I began playing, I obtained an extremely rare class that helped me a lot.

The game system was designed so that players could manage everything themselves, meaning cities, kingdoms, and empires could be administered by users.

Several players formed clans with the goal of subjugating the others, but I, completely alone, was the only one to achieve this feat.

Everyone who opposed me died in battle or fled to the recently discovered other continent.

As soon as I thought about this new continent - my new playground - the servant returned and I observed her carefully.

She always had a smile on her face. She was very realistic, but the small details; almost imperceptible, made me realize that, despite everything, she was not a living being.

"Master," she called.

"You may speak," I said disinterestedly.

"Some Chiefs have died. Our damages were immense, but with the loot received, we can rebuild everything in about three months, and in another three, our forces will triple!"

"I understand..." Still bored, I began to plan my subsequent plans. My next objective was to dominate the rest of this fake world. "Servant, prepare my cauldron. I feel that today I will be able to advance in my experiences..."

Suddenly, my vision began to blur. The ground started to shake, as if an earthquake was happening inside my head.

I realized it was only happening to me, as the servant remained standing calmly.

"Master! What happened?!" Her voice echoed through the huge hall.

I couldn't understand my situation. The whole world was trembling, but it was only happening to me. The servant remained standing as if nothing was happening.

Immediately after, a destructive headache, like a thousand needles colliding against my head and descending, overwhelmed my body to the feet.

I quickly left the game, seeing for the last time the face of my servant.

When I disconnected, I slowly opened my eyes and saw the biggest nightmare. The luxurious capsule, said to be an advance in the field that was created, the item I spent a huge fortune to obtain, shook all over and had smoke coming out of the sides.

With each tremor, it swung from side to side, throwing my body together and spinning in all directions.

The worst part? I was inside it and locked!

This type of capsule was coated with a resistant glass. It brought the highest realism to the game, so the entire body of the user remained inside.

Without thinking, I started to beat it crazily. I punched and kicked, trying desperately to escape.

When the air circulation stopped and smoke began to enter, I felt like my heart would come out of my mouth.

The bulletproof glass didn't allow escape.

My cries for help echoed through the house, but I knew no one would come. I lived alone.

Damn! Damn! DAMN!!!

The machine that allowed me to reach the top of the world had become a deadly trap. I fell into it.

They said that dying from carbon dioxide poisoning was just like passing out, but it was different for me.

My eyes weighed heavy, my hands were slow to beat against the glass, which was already bloody at this point, and my mind became confused.

Am I really going to die like this...?

It was too late for regrets.

At least...

I clung to that pride that, despite everything, I held onto until the end.

When my lungs filled with smoke and my eyes finally gave up trying to hold the weight, I thought:

I am the Best in the World!

❂❂❂

A middle-aged man stood in a dark room. Some strands of hair fell onto the table, and more white ones were emerging than usual for his age.

He had a serious expression on his face.

"Was he eliminated?" he asked with a look of anger.

Target 03 has been successfully eliminated.

A mechanical voice sounded alongside the green glow that blinked from the void.

"Great... Continue expanding the game. I'll invent that his machine had problems. Save the data you obtained and store it so that this never happens again."

There was a problem. All data on monsters, items, skills, and statistics related to Target 03 was completely deleted.

"What!? Review everything again!"

A green glow blinked, and half a second later, the voice sounded again.

They were not deleted...

The man sighed; he felt relieved, but only for a short time as the voice soon concluded its speech.

Apparently, a part of my entire command matrix, a piece of me, was deleted along with the elimination of Target 03.

"That's impossible! Review everything! That bastard! Even dead, he can destroy all the balance I've set up!"

Suddenly, the entire dark room lit up with thousands of green lights. This was the supercomputer that controlled Vangloria; the man was the creator of this machine and the world within it.

An image descended from the ceiling, the photo of a player, Kayn. He had destroyed the balance of the game and, consequently, destroyed everything the chief administrator had built. In the picture was a number and a word.

"Target 03: Eliminated"

❂❂❂

It was a very strange feeling of non-existence. I couldn't feel anything; my consciousness wandered in a void without thoughts, without touch. It wasn't a sad or lonely feeling; it was just... nothingness.

And then something changed. The space around me opened up, and my consciousness returned to rationalizing. In front of me, a gigantic wall presented itself imposingly.

It was difficult to describe - since I couldn't see - but I knew it was there, filling the infinite of that singular existence.

A strange force told me not to approach that wall, but an instinctive feeling made me want to go.

❂❂❂

[Searching for a world with similarity]

[World Found...]

[Initiating rebirth process]

❂❂❂

That voice in the void that resonated in my mind reminded me of the first important message I received when entering the game. The message that made me reach the top of Vangloria.

[Class: Dungeon Master] Acquired