A violet, almost unearthly light suddenly emerged in front of me. It was a notification window, similar to those found in video games, but disturbingly intense.
I blinked, trying to recover from what had just happened, but no sooner had my vision stabilized than I realized I was no longer at home.
All around me was a dark, enclosed room with no windows or doors. Barely any furniture and an oppressive air. The floor was cold, and the atmosphere seemed... strangely familiar.
I struggled to my feet, my heart pounding, wondering where I was and why I was there. Then, in the shadows of the room, I saw a silhouette. A moving shadow, tall and menacing.
I didn't even have time to panic. New notifications began to appear before my eyes, scrolling by one by one, like an implacable warning.
[Tutorial about to start-]
[-Tutorial path-
Rule: Defeat the boss "Minotorus" as quickly as possible
Weapon available: Iron Sword Level 1].
The cold intensified. My hands were shaking, and I began to understand. It only took me a few seconds to grasp what was happening. This scene, this setting, these rules... They weren't new to me.
This was the very first level of Ultimate Bounty Hunter.
No, it wasn't possible. I refused to believe it. UBH was just a video game! And yet, everything was there, everything seemed real, right down to the notifications that were displayed just like in the game.
Don't tell me that UBH now offers an immersive experience... I must have been in a dream, or worse... In a trap.
I didn't have time to think any longer. The Minotorus, that iconic creature, roared through the air.
I had no choice.
Strangely enough, the roar of the Minotorus didn't frighten me. I'd heard them a thousand times in UBH, and after playing the hardcore version for thousands of hours, I'd become capable of beating this boss in less than a minute. It all seemed so familiar, almost too easy.
But then a detail struck me. This wasn't just a survival challenge. The aim of this first test was far more subtle: to rank players by their time of success. Those who managed to beat the Minotorus quickly found themselves grouped with other strong players, while those who took longer were placed with the "less experienced", a way of dividing the good from the not so good.
At the time, I always found the matchmaking system incredibly punishing. It wasn't simply a question of winning or losing, but of being judged on the smallest of your failures. Simply spending a little more time than others in an event would land you in a category of players considered weak.
I found myself in the same situation as in the game. My name, Bareass, was synonymous with "noob" in the community. Everyone knew I was no good, that I was far from the best. And if I beat the Minotorus too quickly, it might look... suspicious. Too suspicious.
A wave of doubt washed over me. If I did it, I might attract attention. People might realize something was wrong. That they'd find out I'd spent the last three years honing my skills on a secret version of the game.
I didn't want the world to know how far I'd come. I wanted to keep this asset to myself, let it remain my own victory.
I thought for a moment, trying to find the best way to navigate this situation without being spotted. I had to beat the Minotorus, that was obvious, but how?
Then an idea popped into my head. I remembered a crucial detail: in UBH, the Minotorus didn't start attacking until you threw the first blow. And the timer, which recorded the elapsed time, didn't start until you picked up the iron sword. A basic rule, but one that offered me an opportunity.
I picked up the iron sword, and immediately the timer went off, registering the start of the trial. My plan was simple. As long as I didn't launch an attack, the Minotorus wouldn't do anything; it would just stand there, motionless, waiting for me to make the first move.
Then I remembered a bug that some players had exploited in the past. Some clever players had discovered that, if you started attacking the boss with your bare hands, you'd save a few precious seconds, because the timer wouldn't start until you'd picked up the sword. They'd pick up the sword after a few hits, reducing their time significantly.
Of course, I knew that many would try to defeat the boss as quickly as possible, optimizing every move, every second. But I had another plan in mind. I didn't need to play everything to perfection, not right away. It wasn't the speed that interested me most, but how to keep that advance discreet.
I let out a small, slightly ironic smile at the thought. No, I had no intention of rushing into anything. It would be much more fun to manipulate the rules in my own way.
So the solution I'd found, apparently the simplest, was... to sleep.
I lay down slowly on the cold floor of this dark room, letting my mind wander as I rethought everything that had just happened. What was really going on? Was this a strikingly realistic virtual experience, or was it as if I'd literally plunged into the UBH universe? Every element around me seemed so tangible, so authentic, but the confusion persisted.
Fatigue, inexorable, began to overwhelm me. By dint of thinking about it all, my thoughts were gradually fading. In a last effort to understand, I gave in to weariness and, without really realizing it, fell asleep.
Where am I?
I stood up abruptly, helping myself to my trembling arms, but was immediately panic-stricken by the sight of blood. I looked down at my abdomen, where a gaping hole had appeared. Intense pain flooded my insides, but I couldn't understand what was happening. The boss wasn't supposed to move, was he?
I turned my head frantically, desperately searching for the Minotorus around me, but it was nowhere to be seen. Then, without warning, a great flash of light invaded the room, and I screamed.
I see... It was a dream," I murmured as I awoke.
The uneasy feeling persisted, but my eyes finally opened to reality. I looked at the stopwatch, and my heart raced. It was still ticking away. The time on the display was... 6h40.
What?! I slept... six hours?!
The absurdity of the situation crushed me for a moment. But it was high time to get rid of this boss, wasn't it? I was about to advance towards the Minotorus, but a new notification appeared, floating in front of me:
[Unlocked achievement: "Legendary level of mediocrity".
Description: Spend over 6 hours fighting the tutorial boss]
Huh?!