Playing was all he had been doing, every single day, without a break. And with the pressure of ranking up, he trapped himself in the same routine. The same game mode, the same maps, the same rhythm. MP, Multiplayer matches. He never bothered to look at other modes. He just kept repeating the same thing, hoping something would change. But the monotony started to eat away at him, and even he, someone who no longer felt tired like a human, sensed that something was wrong.
One full month passed like that. Constant matches, constant grinding, constant fighting. Yet his rank never moved. Veteran III. Stuck. Frozen in place as if someone glued him there. It irritated him more than he wanted to admit. No matter how many kills he got, no matter what tactic he used, no matter the score, the result was the same. Nothing.
What made it worse was that he could not even ask the system why. The system never answered questions. Their communication was always one way. It spoke when it wanted to, dropped instructions out of nowhere, then shut itself down again. Silent. Empty.
During that week however, he received a strange message, so unexpected that it almost startled him. It told him not to worry about the developers, because the system had created a legal identity for him, connected to his gameplay, so no one would suspect anything unusual. After giving that strange reassurance, the system went silent again, as if it had never spoken at all.
So after failing to rank up over and over again, Reever finally gave in and let himself stop. Even if he did not have muscles to rest or lungs to breathe, he needed a moment to just exist. He sat down on the ground, letting the artificial wind pass through the empty battlefield around him, and he began to speak inwardly, knowing that it would not take long before B, the voice formed inside his mind, would answer.
" A, you are becoming more and more like a real machine, I swear you do not even notice it anymore. Grinding for a whole month without a single rest, that is insane man. Even if you cannot feel hunger or pain or fatigue, that does not mean you are fine," B said, sounding more serious than usual.
Reever sighed, or at least he mimicked the act of sighing, since he no longer needed air. " I know. I really do. But I cannot stop right now. I need to reach Master rank. Only then can I get a body and escape this game. But the system seems to be messing with me on purpose. It refuses to let me rank up. It is like it locked the progress just to trap me here. It is frustrating," A said, his voice carrying a slight tremble of anger, something he rarely allowed himself to feel anymore.
" Maybe it is actually trying to stop you from becoming a mindless killing bot," B said softly. "Maybe it wants you to hold on to the little humanity you have left. You need rest, A. Real rest. Think about what happened before, when that teleportation bug sent us to the past. You lost control. You went wild. And because you were alone for so long, I appeared. I am literally a piece of you that formed because you had no one else to talk to. And now, I can already feel it. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you might break again. Only this time, the part that forms might not be someone to talk to. It might be someone far more violent. Someone you cannot control. You do not want that to happen."
Reever looked down at his hands. Metal fingers, smooth and cold. He flexed them slowly. " And who are you to care. Nobody is dying for real. It is just a game. The old me, before I died, played this game too. And this is the new normal inside this world. Kill to level up. Fight to survive. That is the rule now. There is nothing to worry about."
B sighed, and the sound made Reever's chest tighten for a moment. " That is them, A. That is the players. Humans sitting in their rooms, using controllers and keyboards. But you are not like them. You are inside the game. This place affects you differently. Your mind, your senses, your emotions, even if they feel weaker, they are still there. And yes, I admit it, I want to escape this place as badly as you do. But that does not mean you cannot slow down. You need to. Enjoy the battlefield for once. Try something new. I am telling you, the Battle Royale mode would be perfect. You can explore, move around freely, no pressure to win or lose. Just play. Just experience something new for once. And remember what the system said. Once its energy is restored, it will teleport us back to our real timeline. So until then, enjoy what little freedom you have."
Reever stayed silent for a moment, letting B's words sink in. Then he said quietly, " You might be right. But after being reborn as a bot, everything changed. My emotions are dull. My voice barely feels like mine. I cannot even talk to players or know anything about them. It is like I am trapped behind a wall. But… fine. You are right. Let us enjoy something before we leave this game."
" Good. Finally some sense is coming back to you," B said with a relieved tone. " If I had hands I would pat your shoulder right now."
Reever chuckled softly. That was rare for him these days. He stood up and opened the game menu, selecting the Battle Royale mode. This time, he felt something new. Not excitement, but a small spark of curiosity.
He knew he could experience the game more deeply here. His armor could blend into any environment, making him almost invisible. And he had a special gift the system gave him, allowing him to enter the mode as a non player. He would not be forced to follow player rules. He could wander, observe, explore. Maybe even enjoy the world he had been trapped in.
Maybe the system gave him this option to ease the boredom it had caused. A small apology, in its own way.
With one final breath that he did not need, Reever confirmed the selection. The world around him blurred, colors twisting and bending, and then everything shifted as he was teleported into his new adventure. The start of something different. Something he hoped would not break him further.