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I am the approaching storm

Chapter 002: Piracy is Costly

"I think it wasn't worth losing sleep over this poorly made game; in the end, I already had it." As Ethan watched the final credits of the game he had just finished tonight, he took off his headphones and slumped into his chair, utterly exhausted.

"In the end, it wasn't worth it—such a waste of time—learning all the routes and places with high-level weapons just to have the same ending as the other routes. If there's another DLC to expand this game, it'll surely cost around one hundred and fifty dollars."

Even though he had seen the endings in online videos and game blogs, at this moment, he considered it a complete waste of time to have spent more than seven hours playing.

It had been almost five years since the books that were the basis for the game he had just finished were released.

Unlike the books, the game focuses solely on a labyrinth and how extensive communities abandoned their desires to leave the place they found themselves in and, instead, advanced slowly through the harsh life within the labyrinth.

"And today, I just spent two hundred dollars on a crystal ball with galaxies swirling inside it. I must have lost my mind to buy this thing with my own money." Looking at that crystal ball, so beautiful because its interior seemed to be alive, Ethan, though he wanted to lament, couldn't.

It was very likely an object much more expensive than what he paid. The problem was that he hadn't investigated enough to be sure of his thoughts.

But he couldn't deny that the object was beautiful.

"Compared to living in the labyrinths, my life is that of a noble from some extravagant kingdom. By the way, I haven't deleted the pirated DLC I downloaded a few weeks ago.

The life in the labyrinths is an incredible game; the story, different from the books, begins in an unknown place both for the player and the character, meaning it was a survival-centered game where one had to live with limited resources.

But what is known is that the stone doors of the safe zone surrounding them open every morning and close at night.

And every thirty days, a new human enters the labyrinth with some resources that help everyone continue surviving.

The most incredible part of the backstory is the value of the characters; no one has value in the labyrinth; the strongest and fastest survive, and intelligence also plays a very important role.

Originally, Ethan was thinking of playing another random online game after finishing the load of the previous character, but the desire to feel the thrill and fear of surviving in the labyrinths with new challenges, making his victories unforgettable, made him return to the game.

This time he was making a new character; he didn't know which safe zone he would appear in, so he decided it would be random. As for his character's potential stats, which were those of a simple human, he decided to max them out. After all, he planned to finish the game in less than two hours.

Considering physical qualities are the best for entering the labyrinth, Ethan knew how important it was to be able to run so fast he could escape any trap and be light enough to jump over any obstacle.

Dying is one of the factors contributing to this game's notorious reputation for abrupt endings.

Due to this, Ethan had died thousands of times before being able to complete the game a long time ago. Die and start again; there is no middle ground, which is why it's said, run or die.

Compared to other video games, Ethan had his favorites, and this one was in his top 10.

Similarly, Ethan finished creating his character with the best physical qualities without paying attention to appearance.

But at that moment, his computer screen went black and then white, and the stats of the character he had created based on his favorite video game character, Vergil, appeared, followed by the base stats he had set.

"What's happening now?" Ethan panicked, thinking there was some kind of problem with the computer, but after everything returned to normal, he thought it was just a small glitch, so he continued configuring.

Now, what's left is to choose the spawning zone.

Choosing the spawning zone offers various advantages and disadvantages within the game.

The beautiful thing this game did by creating the story is that there are different zones to start in, each with its own advantageous qualities.

From the start, no help is offered, even if it's a player playing a second time. Only after gaining special items in the labyrinth at the cost of their lives can they obtain certain advantages, from the most mediocre to the most technologically advanced.

For example, when you are a runner, you could get weapons as rewards in the labyrinth, from a spear to a firearm.

Due to this type of game theme, from the beginning, humans within different safe zones start to arm themselves and understand how the labyrinth works.

But right now, with these things happening, he doesn't know what to do—should he restart the computer or continue?

"Zz… Damn, buddy, have you seen the new season? This demon slayer series is incredibly cool; don't you want to go dressed as some character to the fair?"

When Ethan was about to disconnect the computer or try to turn it off, a message from his friend came to his phone, which distracted him a bit.

"They just released a statement about several movies; I think I'll wait until they're released."

"Zz… You can read the manga.

"If you give me the volumes, I'll read them, but I want to wait to see it all animated."

"Zz… If you die, you'll regret it today."

"I suppose the right height to boost my speed would be 1.90." Ethan understood that you can't really assert something like that because it depends on many factors.

However, for the character he's creating with all his physical stats boosted, it was the best.

"Well, let's try it this way." Ethan got excited and ignored the fact that he was playing a new game. After all, he had no commitments tomorrow, and his grandfather's store wouldn't open.

Since Ethan wanted to play calmly and without worries, this time he would appear in the place most related to the books' story.

"If I die, I'll go to bed... I'll play at my own pace, and no one can stop me." Ethan pressed the new game button, and his computer screen went completely black again.

"System failure?"

"[Congratulations, player! This is your 2589th game of the Labyrinth, and you have been selected to play with a more realistic experience outside of survival games! [Would you like to use the created character to start this incredible experience?] "

"Am I high?"

First of all, and to be clear, how is he receiving an invitation to another game within a game that was released several years ago?

Besides, this game wasn't online and didn't have a support assistant. Although everything seems nice, the most likely thought Ethan had was that a virus had ended up on his computer for going to those foreign sites.

"All for reading where I shouldn't; those bastards screwed me over." Ethan took off his headphones and immediately disconnected the computer's power source. However, at the next moment, something unexpected happened: the screen didn't turn off.

"Damn… Am I about to be killed by a spirit coming out of my screen?" Ethan was sweating cold and instinctively moved the cursor to where it said yes, then pressed it continuously, hoping his computer would finish frying itself.

When he pressed yes, numerous command codes began to scroll on his screen, appearing one after another. Instead of being scared, Ethan got furious; this was really a damn virus.

Immediately, he tried to backtrack by entering various commands with his keyboard, but nothing worked. Ethan then checked that he wasn't connected to any other power source, but this demon thing was working without power.

"Are viruses this sophisticated now? Those damned Asian sites from hell"

At that moment, Ethan's nose started bleeding, not in a natural way but uncontrollably. When anger turned into fear, the first thing he did was try to stop the bleeding with his hand while looking for a cloth with the other. However, after moving a few more meters, his heart pounded so hard and deep that he knew he was dying.

Was he dying this suddenly?

It seems so, and as he fell to the ground, he held that crystal ball he had bought from that old man. If only… What exactly?

This is how he dies.

"Damn virus…"

How pathetic…