NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 1: From Zero to Hero to Zero
"And that's it for today! Thanks for watching!"
Violetta Osborne beamed at the camera, flashing a thumbs-up with the energy of a streamer who definitely had their life together or at least pretended to. She hit the "end stream" button, her smile dropping the moment the screen went dark.
Her eyes flicked to the chat replay, squinting at a stray comment that managed to burn itself into her sleep-deprived brain: "You look like you need help."
"Oh, do I now?" she muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. Her frown deepened as she sat back in her chair, the fog of exhaustion pressing heavier than her questionable life choices. "Of course I need help. My diet consists of energy drinks and self-loathing. Honestly, they should sponsor me at this point." She grabbed the half-empty can of liquid caffeine on her desk and chugged it like a shot at a party she'd never attend.
Surveying her surroundings, she was greeted by the usual chaos. Trash bags that might have started developing sentience, a bed that looked like a battlefield, and... was that a cockroach or her spirit animal?
She didn't care enough to check.
Her hair, once a glorious cascade of potential, was now a tangled testament to neglect.
If her room was a metaphor for her life, it was doing a fantastic job.
Violetta Osborne: 31 years old, professional shut-in, and proud card-carrying otaku. She was also, for the record, a virgin. Not that it mattered. Only a wannabe pick-me would care about something like that. Cynicism was her armor, and she wore it like a frayed hoodie that smelled vaguely of instant noodles and existential dread.
With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. "Yup, thriving."
Lately, Violetta had been sinking all her time into a game called Merlysian Realms, streaming it for... well, no one, really. Not that it stopped her.
It's a VR MMORPG where players take on the role of Realmwalkers, adventurers chosen to explore and maintain balance across a network of interconnected worlds.
The game emphasizes freedom and discovery, with dynamic combat, customizable abilities, and player-driven storytelling. Its standout feature is the World Synergy System, where actions in one realm ripple across others, creating an interconnected and ever-evolving universe.
She sighed, fingers tapping the edge of her desk.
"It's a beta, apparently," Erin had told her. "You're literally the only player right now. Isn't that amazing?"
Amazing? Sure. But also kind of depressing. Like hosting a party and being the only one who showed up.
"I'm sorry I'm not a famous streamer or some sparkly influencer," Violetta grumbled to herself, staring at the pitiful viewer count like it owed her money.
Speaking of money, her financial lifeline came in the form of one solitary subscriber, someone with the username RuinMe. The name made her pause every time she saw it. Familiar, almost too on-the-nose, like it belonged to a scientist from a turn-based game. But she had her suspicions. It was probably Erin.
Who else would fund her quest for internet mediocrity while simultaneously harassing her to get her life together?
Honestly, she would've loved the idea of self-improvement. But being a good person? Yeah, that was a tall order.
Her life was a chaotic rinse-and-repeat cycle:
Sleep at 6 a.m.
Wake up at noon (or later).
Stream for her one loyal watcher.
Play Merlysian Realms like her life depended on it.
Survive on instant noodles and energy drinks.
It wasn't glamorous, but it was consistent. Bugs in the game? She'd just send a snarky message to the developer, which, thanks to Erin's mysterious connections, somehow got fixed almost immediately.
Being the first beta tester for a game was surprisingly lucrative, though she wasn't sure where the money was coming from. Probably Erin's deep pockets of judgment bankrolling her entire existence.
Her family had cut her off ages ago, but honestly? Violetta couldn't muster the energy to care. Caring was for people who weren't fueled by caffeine and existential dread.
At 31, she was practically a hag in internet years, but hey, at least she was a beta-testing hag. That had to count for something.
When the clock struck 4 a.m., Violetta stared at it with the hollow gaze of someone who'd long abandoned the concept of bedtime. "Ah... the daily reset. Should I sleep, or should I... head to bed?" She paused. "Nah, reset it is."
With the determination of a true procrastinator, she booted up the game. But just as the familiar loading screen appeared, a sharp headache hit her like a truck-kun special. Her vision blurred, and her body felt weirdly light.
"Oh," she thought, blinking slowly. "This is it. This is how I die. Guess I finally unlocked the 'Death by Gaming' achievement. How fitting." Fear bubbled up, but it was drowned by a wave of grim acceptance. She died useless. How sad.
"V-Violetta?!"
A voice broke through the haze. It was panicked, familiar... but honestly, she was too busy spiraling to figure out who it belonged to. Her mind raced through a chaotic slideshow of regrets. Okay, maybe she did want a love life. Maybe being a shut-in forever wasn't the most genius plan. But she would never admit that - not even to herself. Her pride was way too big, even in death.
As her consciousness faded, she let out a final, resigned thought: At least I died doing what I loved. Gaming to the grave.
Once a prodigy in the business world, she had risen from the depths of a lower middle-class family, where money was always scarce. Her company began humbly with visual novels, a low-cost, high-potential venture, but quickly expanded into comics, animations, and award-winning works. With an uncanny ability to spot emerging talent, she was heralded as the one who would save the country's economy, her business empire growing larger by the day.
However, in a nation built on corruption, her success became a threat to those in power. The government and political elites coveted her achievements, plotting to take control of her company. Despite her resistance, spies infiltrated, ideas were stolen, and her efforts crumbled under the weight of betrayal. The powers that be integrated themselves into her business, turning her dream into their own.
She had gone from zero to hero, only to fall back to zero. Stripped of everything she had worked for, she was left with nothing.
It was infuriating. She had fought so hard, only to see everything crumble. In the end, she gave up. The country could burn for all she cared; she would retreat into a blissfully ignorant life. Erin always encouraged her to go back, but not when her mind was in shambles.
And now? Now she was dead.
...
....
[Initializing...] [Consciousness Transportation in Progress...] [0%...] [1%...] [2%...]
[ERROR: SYSTEM UNRESPONSIVE. REBOOTING...]
[REBOOT COMPLETE. TRANSPORTATION CONTINUING...]
[3%...] [4%...] [PROCESSING EMOTIONAL DATA...] [5%...]
[WARNING: UNSTABLE DATA STREAM DETECTED.]
[ADJUSTING USER'S COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK...]
[6%...]
[ERROR: PERSONALITY INTEGRATION PENDING...]
[9%...]
[10%...]
[WARNING: MEMORY TRANSMISSION INCOMPLETE.]
[UNKNOWN INTERFERENCE DETECTED.]
[CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER INCOMPLETE.]
[PLEASE STANDBY.]
...
As her consciousness drifted in the void, a series of strange, jarring dings echoed around her, followed by an unfamiliar voice, crackling through her hazy mind.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: TRANSPORTATION INITIATED.]
She blinked, her senses disoriented, struggling to piece together what was happening. "What the hell?" she muttered, but no words escaped her—only a low hum of static. The air felt... wrong, like she was floating, her very existence warped. More dings followed.
[WARNING: DATA STREAM INCOMPLETE.]
[ERROR. SYSTEM REBOOT IN PROGRESS.]
What was happening? She couldn't process it. Was she—? No, this couldn't be real. Her mind raced, trying to grab hold of anything familiar.
[WELCOME, USER. TRANSMIGRATION COMPLETE.]
Transmigration? But why was she hearing this? She felt the world around her shift, a tug in her core that threatened to pull her apart.
[SYSTEM ERROR: PERSONALITY DATA MISMATCH DETECTED.]
"What the hell is going on?" she thought, but her voice was lost in the chaos of the system's disjointed messages.
The screen of her awareness flickered, glitching like a broken TV, and she was left to wonder if she was trapped in some kind of bizarre game.