His epic story started like all respecting isekai do — with a truck.

  Oroka Suke was a good-for-nothing bum living in his parents' basement, spending all his time playing MMORPG's and deluding himself that he'll make it big one day as a streamer. He failed his college admission tests, choosing instead to pull all-nighters, grinding on servers during peak loot-drop hours. His biological clock completely shifted, his own mother barely saw him. At night, he only left his room to sneak into the kitchen to grab a quick snack. During the day, he slept off the raids he had done the night prior. It was a never-ending cycle. His father resented him for wasting all his potential on fantasy, earning imaginary in-game currency when eating through real hard-earned money his parents worked for. He never even thought of finding a job — his sight was set on becoming a professional e-athlete.

  You would think this is where the story would end. Useless son, disappointed parents, a wasted life.

  That was not the case with Suke. One day, when browsing on a Reddit forum dedicated to one of his favorite games, he stumbled upon a post talking about a new Dark Souls game. Suke, who liked to call himself a connoisseur of RPG's, naturally got interested.

  He tried it.

  He fell in love.

  Long days of sweating over PvP matches and screaming at children were over. Now, Suke had found a new passion, a single-player RPG game called Arkadia in which he could take the mantle of the hero and go on an epic quest to slay the demon king when at the same time building a harem of cute girls. Truly, a dream come true for a shut-in like him, whose only experience with women was his mother.

  Something changed in him after that. He became obsessed with the world of Arkadia, losing himself completely. That was unusual even for a hardcore player like Suke. He barely slept, barely ate — the only thing that mattered was playing the game.

  And the game was punishing. Every time he died, he had to start from the beginning. The routes were endless, and every playthrough was different from the previous one. Not only was the player learning, but so was the game. Suke had to execute every move perfectly and get as many allies on his side as possible if he wanted to even have a chance at beating it.

  And he would have beaten it.

  Too bad his father had enough of him, 28 years old and still living with his parents, never showing even a smidge of interest in pursuing something other than gaming. Right before Suke was about to defeat the Demon King and save the world of Arkadia after his 420 attempts, his father cut off the power supply, and with this, ended the best run of his son's life.

  Suke screamed.

  His calling, his life purpose, his magnum opus, ruined. Over ten thousand hours down the drain, because his father couldn't wait just a couple of minutes longer. Every attempt had to be done in real-time — he couldn't save the game, couldn't pause it, couldn't close it, because it would make it restart, and he would have to start from nothing again. His last playthrough took him almost 20 hours. It was one of the best times in the world — most of the players took two times as long just to get through the halfway mark. This was supposed to be a culmination of everything he learned, of his dedication, skill, and his hard work. He was about to be the first person to beat the demon king and see the ending of Arkadia. If only his ignorant father didn't ruin everything.

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  He got up from his chair. After a day of almost non-stop playing, his back made an ominous sound of protest. He ignored it. Suke opened the door to his room, letting some fresh air through, spreading the smell of a musty gamer that hadn't washed himself in days. He walked through the hall and then entered the living room, ignoring his mother's concerned look and his father's disdainful one. He put on the running shoes that he never actually used to run and got out of the house for the first time in months.

  Now, both of his parent were concerned. Suke didn't pay them any mind, though. If they really cared about him, they wouldn't have ruined his life and just left him to game in peace, let him complete his perfect run.

  He had only one thing in mind — his parents already killed his soul, it was only proper to finish this by killing his body.

  Suke walked miles, the most he walked in years. By the time he got on the busiest street, he was sweating buckets, heaving like a dehydrated animal. The sun was irritating his skin. When was the last time I saw the sun? He couldn't walk much further than this — his misused muscles wouldn't allow it.

  That's when he saw a glimpse of a big 6-wheeler. He didn't hesitate to throw himself in front of the speeding truck. The impact was gore incarnate, internal organs burst during the collision, splattering blood and guts in every direction. If he were still alive after being hit, he would have heard the panicked shouting of the people around. Fortunately for him, the hero was already sucked into the void by that point.

  And that is how the story of the reincarnated [Hero] began. Someone who would save the world from the evil [Demon King], marry the beautiful princess, and bring peace to the world of Arkadia for aeons to come.

  .

  ..

  ...

  . . .

  What?

  This is not the story about him?

  Then who would it be about?

  Ah!

  Right...

  If the would-be hero were alive after his successful suicide, he would have realized one more thing.

  When the truck driver saw him throwing himself off the sidewalk, he panicked and reacted like one would react seeing a kitten trying to cross the street — by swerving to the side in an attempt to save its life. By trying to save Suke's life, he doomed another soul to a slow, painful death.

  He hit an innocent pedestrian, Kirian Altwood, a 17-year-old girl who was just going back home from school when some sicko chose to throw himself at a speeding vehicle. She barely had time to feel the warm blood that splattered on her from the previous victim before she shared his fate.

  Except in her case, the collision didn't kill her right away, and she had to suffer a full minute before her body finally gave out and departed for the void.

  Suke got himself a tag-along for his journey.

  The world of Arkadia was in for a surprise.