Indo Maraki, a 30 year old shut-in living in a small 1 room studio apartment in Korea. His room surrounded with pictures of scantily dressed women, a box of tissues and lotion next to it. Works two jobs as a store clerk and mover. Has had one girlfriend in his life for 1 week before she broke up with him. In every sense of the word, a loser.
Hey isn't that intro kind of harsh on me? I'm just a guy trying to get on by. Sure I have quite an interesting hobby, but so does everyone else.
Except your hobby is being a pervert. Any time Indo gets a paycheck, he spends it on more perverted things. Most definitely on a list of some kind. From fake "hypnosis" rings, to other women's panties he has it all. It's truly disgusting.
This narrator is pissing me off. Indo gets up and heads out of his apartment. Walking through the streets towards an undisclosed location. I recently found a new thing to spend money on. A website talked about a special game called "Magic Medieval World 3", the third instillation of a game from a company that has quite the history. Every single time the company releases a Magic Medieval World game, there are unexplained disappearances. There are quite a few rumors that a select few are chosen by a higher being to be transported into the world of the game. Due to the controversy of the first two Magic Medieval World games, the company came under investigation and has supposedly shut down. Meaning the existence of a third game shouldn't be possible. I've done a lot of research on this, and I think that this time, this is the real deal. Like the narrator said, anytime I get my paycheck I spend it on crazy things. I believe in the supernatural and I want to utilize it for my own purposes.
Your own perverted purposes. Such as the "x-ray glasses" which could see through women's clothes.
Alright yeah, sure, most of the time a might spend money on "perverted" things. But I also spend it on food and rent.
Barely, Indo's 6 months behind on rent and hasn't had a decent meal for almost 2 years now. Granted he is a minimum wage worker and would probably live like that anyways. Recently Indo has been fascinated by the "Isekai" genre, and has been trying to find ways to go to a different world without having to kill himself. For the last month and a half, he has been spending his paychecks on things like this, having countless games and novels that supposedly could transport you into another world, but none have worked.
Indo finally arrives at a shady alley. It's full of hoodlums and homeless people. There are a few doors that lead somewhere, but they're probably just someone's house. He walks through the shady people, getting stung and menacing looks. A large man approaches him.
"Who the hell are you?" The man states.
"Uh, I'm Indo, I'm trying to find Bob's Video Store?"
The man looks down at Indo in a menacing way. Indo, although so scared he might piss himself- Hey! Nonetheless, he stands strong looking at the man. May he rest in peace. I'm not dead… right? The man continues to stare down Indo, before turning away.
"Follow me." Says the man. Indo follows him into one of the side doors. Once he enters he sees a small video store, a neon sign above the checkout counter says "Bob's Video Store". The man walks behind the counter and crosses his arms.
"I'm Bob, what can I do for you." Says the man. Indo approaches the counter, he says,
"I heard that some time ago you got a game? It's called Magic Medieval World 3, do you still have it?"
"Yeah I have it," Bob replies, "But I can't give it to you." Indo's face is shocked,
"Why not?" Indo says, with sweat dripping down his forehead.
"A customer already ordered it."
Indo pauses for a moment, considering what to do, then says,
"How much did he he give you?"
"500,000." Once again Indo is shocked. 500,000!!? Why did some asshole pay so much for it? He ponders for a moment. Is it possible that this is the real deal? If someone is willing to fork over that much money it has to be credible to some point. If so, then I have to get it.
"I'll pay double." Indo says, his eyes show desperation. The store owner picks up on it, and sees an opportunity.
"Triple." Indo considers the amount of money he is going to lose. 1.5 Million!? That's insane! That's the equivalent of a VIP room at the strip club! Who does this guy think he is?
"Aren't you being a little hasty? Who in their right mind would pay 1,500,000 for a game?"
"If you don't want it then don't buy it, I have a reputation to uphold after all." Indo ruffles his hair in stress and contemplation.
"Fine fine, I'll pay. Just bring it to me." The store owner gives an evil smile. Idiot, what an easy mark. The man thinks. He goes under the counter and pulls the game out. He rips the post-it note off of it saying "Cyrus" and throws the game on the counter.
"We take cash, card and digital." Says the store owner.
"Yeah yeah" Indo pulls out his phone and pays for the game. Indo is left with only 23 won in his account. Well there goes dinner for the next month. Indo walks out the store with tears in his eyes.
At home Indo sits down and opens up his laptop. He takes the game out of it's case and puts the CD into his laptop. He attaches a VR headset to his computer and puts it on. This better have been worth it. The game whirs for a minute, then starts up. [Downloading content. Wait time: 2 Hours] 2 hours are you kidding me! Indo sighs tilting his head back. The screen shows various images of the game. Characters and scenery go by. Crap, I guess I better find something to do. Indo takes off his headset and goes across the room to open his mini-fridge and pull out a beer. He goes back to sit at the desk. While the game loads Indo reads the game back cover.
"Magic Medieval World 3, a brand new adventure with more content, more characters, and more skills. Introducing new mechanics, unique skills and dual skills. Choose one of the many skills the game has, and develop your own unique skill to create a special dual skill tree with unique dual skills and mechanics. Huh." Inside the case there is a game pamphlet. There is a QR code on the front of it. Indo scans it from his phone and it leads him to the game's website. So far so good, at least the game looks legit, but I don't know if the rumors are true. Indo goes through the website.
After 2-ish hours, the headset makes a ping. Indo stops reading through the website and looks at the time. It is late at night. Indo stretches and grabs the headset. He puts it on. There is a start screen. Finally, time to see this thing for real! [Loading] the game loads for a couple of seconds. Just then the power in Indo's apartment goes out. [Please Reconnect] Oh come on! There's a knock at Indo's door, not really a knock but an aggressive pound on the door.
"OPEN UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT INDO! WHERE THE HELL IS MY RENT!" The landlord screams from the other side. Shaking the door with his fists. Indo lifts his headset up. Shit, I don't have have the money! Maybe if I don't say anything, he'll go away. The pounding continues on the door.
"OPEN UP RIGHT NOW!" Indo stays silent. The pounding slows down until it comes to a stop.
"So that's how he wants to play huh." The landlord calls someone on his phone. "Jimmy, do it." He walks away. Indo sighs in relief. That was close. He looks back at the game. Then places the headset down. Guess we're stealing from the neighbors. Indo climbs out of his window, and scales up the side of the building. He gets to a breaker box and jiggles it open. He grabs his house key from his pocket and cuts on of the wires. It gives him a little shock and he almost falls down. He hangs looking down from the 6th floor, before pulling himself back up.
"Crap, that was too close. Now to reroute." He connects the wire from his apartment to another neighbors wire. The lights from another building go bright for a second, then super dim. The resident of that room can be heard saying,
"What the hell?" Indo quickly enters back in his apartment while the neighbor sticks his head through the window. Indo walks back to his computer, and puts his headset back on. As he starts to boot the game back up, a molotov enters through his window.
"What was that!?" The fire spreads quickly as Indo moves the headset from his eyes. His eyes widen and he quickly tries to put the fire out. But it is to no avail, the fire is spreading too fast.
"Are you kidding me!?" I couldn't pay rent so that asshole is going to burn down my apartment? Indo runs towards the door and tries to open it, but there seems to be something blocking the door on the other side. Is this it?
"Help! Someone help me! Call the fire department!" Indo yells but there is no response. There is a ping from Indo's headset.
"There's a fire! Someone please!" [Choosing "Fire"]
"What's that random noise?" [Randomizing] After a few seconds, Indo realizes that the sound is coming from his headset. He puts it back on. [Would you like to start the game? Y/N] Indo looks around at the fire around him, completely surrounding him with no way out. The fire is rapidly approaching him. So how do I want to die, spending my last moments looking at my collection? Or burning to death looking at a game that has a slight chance of getting me out of here…. Well, what's life without taking a gamble when you can lose it all. Indo puts the headset on and smiles.
"Yes!" [Game Start]