There was a game I used to love.
A hardcore game set in a medieval fantasy world.
Its difficulty was so infamous that countless gamers gave up in frustration. It was my all-time favorite.
And now, here I am, saying this because I've somehow ended up inside that very game.
Five hundred years after the ending, to be precise.
As a kid, I loved video games.
After school, I'd grab whatever pocket money I had and practically live at the local internet café.
Even now, as a young working adult, my love for games hasn't waned, although my enthusiasm has dimmed a bit.
With work and real-life responsibilities piling up, I started avoiding games that pushed excessive competition. Pay-to-win games were out of the question—I didn't have the money to keep up.
Instead, I gravitated toward single-player games. Exploring fantastical worlds without competing against others was perfect for my weary soul.
High difficulty? That only fueled my desire to take on the challenge.
Perhaps that's why I became so obsessed with this particular game.
Wide-open grasslands, clashing weapons, and mystical creatures soaring through the skies.
Massive dungeons and sprawling kingdoms.
An open-world RPG set in a medieval fantasy world that encapsulated all those romantic ideals.
Its stunning graphics, challenging gameplay, and deep lore kept me hooked. After work, I'd spend every spare moment immersed in it, losing myself in its vast world.
Sure, the game's brutal difficulty frustrated countless players. But for me, it stoked the flames of my stubborn determination.
[You have completed your 99th playthrough.]
From start to finish, I had completed the game 99 times.
I poured everything I had into it, to the point where I could say I truly burned myself out enjoying it.
Could I have kept going? Sure. But after the 99th playthrough, the game's difficulty stopped increasing, and there was nothing new to experience.
That was the hard limit of the game—99 playthroughs.
"So, this is the end, huh?"
As proud as I was to have mastered my favorite game, it still felt bittersweet to see it come to an end.
The DLCs were all released, and there wouldn't be any more updates. All I could do now was wait for the developer's next project.
Leaning back in my chair, I watched the credits roll on my monitor.
I had seen this scene countless times. Normally, I'd skip it without a second thought. But since it was the last time, I let it play.
The dramatic background music played over the scrolling text until the screen finally went black.
Then, a single message appeared.
[Would you like to play the next cycle? YES/NO]
"What the hell?"
I muttered aloud without thinking.
This game wasn't supposed to have anything beyond the 99th playthrough. A next cycle? No one had ever mentioned this.
It could've been a glitch or a bug, but my hand, clutching the mouse, was already moving toward the YES button.
Click.
The moment I clicked YES, my vision went pitch black.
I opened my eyes.
The air was damp, and the darkness around me was stifling.
"Where... am I?"
I thought back to what I saw before passing out.
That's right. I had just finished my 99th playthrough and was about to quit the game when the next cycle option popped up. I clicked it, and then...
I slowly sat up.
At first, I couldn't see anything in the dark, but as my eyes adjusted, I began to make out my surroundings.
Looking down, I noticed something strange about my body.
"Armor?"
Gone were my everyday clothes, replaced by armor. Not just any armor—this was the starting armor from the game I played.
"That's... the armor the Knight starts with!"
In the game, players could choose from eight starting classes:
[Wandering Knight] [Barbarian] [Mage] [Cleric] [Rogue] [Paladin] [Warlock] [Beggar].
Each class came with unique stats, skills, and equipment. Naturally, I always chose the Wandering Knight.
I preferred melee combat, and the Knight's balanced stats in offense, defense, and health made it the best choice for navigating the game's brutal difficulty.
The armor I now wore was exactly what the Knight started with. Basic gear, but reliable and well-rounded.
In this game, gear didn't have tiers. Every piece had unique traits but remained balanced overall. You could theoretically defeat the final boss with your starting equipment—though the game's difficulty made that a herculean task.
"But why am I wearing this?"
I scanned my surroundings.
The dimly lit stone chamber felt eerily familiar. The more I looked, the more a memory surfaced.
"This place... I know this place."
The Trial Sanctum.
This was the tutorial area where the game began. I had seen it countless times.
The chamber was a small yet ornate temple carved into the rock. The glow of faintly luminous stones bathed the walls in a ghostly green light.
New players often marveled at the scenery, only to curse moments later.
That's because the tutorial boss waiting at the end was infamously difficult.
I reached out and brushed my hand against the wall, feeling the texture of the carved stone. Dust clung to my fingers, and a faint, musty scent filled the air.
"This... feels real."
The sensory details were too vivid to dismiss as a dream. The cold, damp air, the weight of the armor on my body—it was all too real.
I frowned.
Opening my eyes, I had found myself in an environment identical to the game. My equipment matched the game's starting gear.
I didn't know why or how, but the last thing I remembered was clicking that next cycle button.
"Let's just... move."
Staying still in the oppressive darkness of the sanctum made my skin crawl. I needed to keep moving, or I might lose my mind.
I walked.
At first, the armor felt heavy and awkward, but as I moved, my body began to adjust. Strangely, the weight started to feel natural, even comforting.
As I continued, my mind raced with questions.
"What's happening to me? Am I really in the game's world? Is this my character's body?"
Eventually, I reached an open space—a small, circular arena.
I stopped in my tracks.
If my memory served, this was where the tutorial boss appeared.
In the game, this boss was notorious for its absurd difficulty.
Nicknamed the "Newbie Killer," it was designed to crush players' spirits right out of the gate.
Most players couldn't defeat it and had to rely on an in-game event that let them progress after dying.
But I was different.
Through sheer determination and countless retries, I had managed to defeat the boss during my first playthrough. The satisfaction of overcoming it was unforgettable and cemented my love for the game.
"But that was just a game."
If this was reality, the boss's infamous difficulty was now a direct threat to my life.
In the center of the arena, I saw it.
A knight, kneeling silently with its head bowed. But it wasn't a living knight—it was a magically animated suit of armor, a golem.
Its dragon-themed armor design was as striking as I remembered, and its brutal difficulty had left an impression on every player.
"The problem is... I have to fight it now."
I glanced at my equipment.
A standard longsword hung at my hip, and a sturdy kite shield was strapped to my back. These were the Knight's starting weapons—functional but basic.
The game featured a technique called parrying, where precise timing with a shield could deflect enemy attacks and leave them vulnerable. For the Knight, parrying was the ultimate skill.
"If I can time it right, I can block its attacks."
I knew all of the boss's attack patterns. In theory, I could counter them.
"But that was in the game."
In reality, could I replicate the precise timing needed for a parry? If I failed, the boss's halberd could cleave me in two.
I took a deep breath.
As much as I wanted to deny it, this was real. I had to accept it.
Staying here wasn't an option. To leave the sanctum, I had to face the boss.
"Let's do this."
Suppressing my fear, I took a step forward.
To my surprise, my body didn't feel tense. Instead, I felt a strange sense of exhilaration.
I couldn't explain it, but I felt braver and more confident than ever.
With the shield in my left hand and the sword in my right, I advanced.
For some reason, the weapons felt natural in my grip, as if they belonged there.
"Alright. Let's see what you've got."
I lowered my stance and focused on the kneeling knight.
It remained motionless, its head still bowed.
Any moment now, it would lift its head, revealing the crimson glow of its eyes through the gaps in its helmet.
Then, it would rise with a grinding sound, gripping the massive halberd by its side.
But something was wrong.
"Wait... where's its halberd?"
The weapon that should've been beside the boss was missing. In its place was a broken shaft—what little remained of the halberd.
"What the hell happened to it?"
And then I noticed something else.
The boss itself looked... off. It wasn't moving, even though it should've started its attack animation by now.
Upon closer inspection, I realized why.
"It's broken?"