"It's done."
Rio stared at the screen—CONGRATULATIONS. ROUND 100 CLEARED.—as if it might vanish.
He bit his thumbnail until blood bloomed under the nailbed.
"Guess I'm out of excuses."
The words barely left his lips before he laughed—sharp, bitter, empty.
He reached for the drawer. The noose inside had waited longer than most friendships.
They looked like a family.
Rio picked it up, let his fingers trace the glossy paper, and smiled.
A cruel, hollow smile. The kind you wear when the joke's on you-and it's been years.
He set the photo down gently. Like it might break. Like it hadn't already.
Ping!
[ YOU HAVE RECEIVED A MESSAGE ]
He blinked. "What the hell...?"
Rio moved his mouse. He hadn't gotten a message on TCOE in years-not since the last update. That was....what ? 10 years ago? Maybe more.
Even the forums were dead. Like the game had vanished with the players who quit.
He clicks the box.
The screen flickered. Then a message appeared -plain white on black:
[THANK YOU, PLAYER, FOR REACHING THE ENDING AND COMPLETING THE STORY WHEN ALL HAD GIVEN UP.]
Rio squinted. "What the...?"
Another line typed itself out, like someone- or something- was responding live :
[IF IT'S NOT A BOTHER, I WOULD LOVE TO GIFT YOU SOMETHING.]
Rio frowned.
He'd imagined some kind of reward for finishing the impossible.
A hidden cutscene. A credit screen. Maybe a digital trophy.
But this ? A message like it was written just for him ? A little hard to believe.
It didn't seem like a system prompt.
It felt like a conversation.
Like a private call between two people- Rio and someone else.
Someone who claimed to be the developer.
Or it seemed like it.
But something was off yet Rio didn't care.
He murmured," Yes"
His fingers moved to type it- but the word had already been there. On the screen waiting.
The cursor blinked once. Twice.
Then another line appeared, slower this time—like whoever was writing it was thinking.
[YOU'VE CARRIED THIS BURDEN LONGER THAN ANYONE ELSE. LONGER THAN I THOUGHT POSSIBLE.]
Rio's eyes narrowed.
Who was this? A rogue dev? An AI glitch? A troll with admin access?
[PLEASE DON'T END YOUR STORY YET.]
The screen glitched—just for a second. A flicker, like an old VHS tearing.
[I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING. NOT AS A PRIZE. AS PROOF THAT YOU MATTER.]
And then—
FLASH.
A white light exploded from the screen, swallowing the room.
Rio flinched, arm raised over his eyes, but the light poured through his skin like it wasn't even there.
Then—
Silence.
When he opened his eyes,
he was no longer in his room.
The room was empty—except for a single desk and a computer glowing softly at its center.
The walls, floor, ceiling—pure white.
Not the sterile white of hospitals, nor the clean white of fresh paper.
A deeper kind. Like the world had been erased, and this was all that remained.
Rio didn't panic. He didn't ask where he was.
He'd seen worse. Felt worse.
This strange, silent space felt… tame.
Almost peaceful.
Like an old memory.
Like a fortress built just for him—quiet, untouched, and indestructible.
He walked over and sat down in the chair.
Not cautiously. Not curiously.
Like he belonged there.
Then the screen flickered.
Letters began to appear, one by one—
not typed, but spoken as if someone had been waiting for him to sit before they began.
Lines of text began to appear, slow and deliberate—as if someone had been watching him this entire time.
And had just now decided to speak.
[YOU DON'T SEEM SURPRISED, PLAYER RIO.]
[YOU'RE CLAM. ALMOST...FAMILIAR WITH THIS.]
[IS IT BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER REACHED THE END? OR IS IT BECAUSE YOU'VE ALREADY DECIDED TO DIE?]
Rio's breath caught—not because of fear.
But because it knew.
He stared at the screen, unsure whether he was hallucinating or dreaming—or already dead.
[YOU'RE WONDERING IF THIS IS REAL. OR IF YOU'RE ALREADY GONE.]
[YOU'RE NOT. NOT YET.]
Rio leaned in slightly, eyes narrowing.
"Who are you?"
[SOMEONE WHO THOUGHT THIS ENDING WOULD NEVER COME.]
[SOMEONE WHO THOUGHT NO ONE WOULD EVER MAKE IT THIS FAR.]
[YOU PROVED ME WRONG L, RIO. AND FOR THAT, I OWE YOU SOMETHING.]
Rio stared at the screen as if it were a face.
Not glass. Not pixels.
But someone looking back at him.
He exhaled slowly, like some heavy burden had slipped from his shoulders.
"Look… if you wanna give me something, you already did, okay?
You gave me the joy of finishing the game.
Let me live a little longer.
I don't need money or whatever."
The screen flickered—then roared back in bold letters:
[JOY? HAHA. JOY, YOU SAY. PLAYER RIO, YOU ARE TRULY SOMETHING.]
[NOT MANY—IN FACT, NO ONE IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE—WOULD FIND JOY IN THAT HELL.]
Rio blinked.
"What are you talking about?
Universe? Hell?
It's a game. Just a game. Nothing else."
[A GAME INDEED.]
He couldn't see a face, but he could feel something on the other side of the screen.
A smile.
Not cold or mocking—more like a teacher amused by a bold student.
Or maybe… a friend.
[FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE, YES. JUST A GAME. A GAME NO ONE COULD CLEAR.]
[BUT YOU DID, DIDN'T YOU?]
Rio scratched his head, then rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
"I was just bored. I didn't have anything else to do."
[THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE DIFFERENT, RIO.]
[YOU NEVER TREATED IT LIKE A GAME.]
[THAT'S WHY… YOUR GIFT WILL BE DIFFERENT TOO.]
A pause.
Then:
[I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME.]
[SO LISTEN CAREFULLY.]
[I WILL GIVE YOU TWO GIFTS.]
[RIO, THE ONE WHO ALMOST RECEIVED THE □□□—]
[THIS TIME, REACH IT.]
[FOR YOUR SAKE. FOR ALL OUR SAKES.]
[MAY FORTUNE WALK BESIDE YOU.]
Rio's eyes widened.
"Wait—what do you mean? What is that? I don't understa—"
CRACK.
It felt like a hammer slammed through his skull.
He collapsed forward—
and when he opened his eyes again,
he was back in his room.
"What the hell is going on…? Was I dreaming? What was he even talking about? Wait—huh?"
Rio scrambled to his desk.
The message? Gone.
The game? Gone.
No files. No desktop icon. Not even in his history.
TCOE had vanished like it never existed.
That's when it hit.
A sharp jolt in his leg—then his arm—then his spine.
The pain didn't spread.
It climbed.
From foot to knee.
Knee to thigh.
Shoulder to skull.
Burning. Tearing. Snapping.
He fell—hard.
"AHH—FUCK!!"
The floor shuddered under his weight.
Rio writhed, clutching his chest, then his limbs—then nothing at all as they twitched without control.
CRACK.
CRACK!
CRACK!!
One bone at a time.
Each break like a whip of lightning through his nervous system.
His jaw clenched so tightly it nearly shattered.
"What… is happening…?
Am I finally dying like I wished?
Shit… at least let it be painless…"
"M-my… con…sciousness… it's… f-fading…"
And it did.
The room fell silent.
Above Rio's limp body, a faint blue holographic screen hovered in the air.
[Skill: Pain Tolerance Acquired – Triggered by Player's Will.]
>12%remaining....47%remaining...
81%remaining...97% remaining...
100%> [Body Rebuilding Complete.]
[System shutting down temporarily.]
...PREPARING FOR THE CHANGE...
The screen flickered and vanished.
And then—
the world broke.
The ground shuddered.
Buildings rattled.
Cracks split the roads like spiderwebs.
Then came the sky.
Red. Burning. Bleeding.
Meteors rained from every direction like the wrath of something ancient.
People screamed.
Ran.
Fell.
And then—
everything stopped.
Time itself… froze.
A dead silence.
And above it all, in the crimson sky, a massive floating screen appeared.
...PREPARING FOR THE PLAYERS...
ROUND 1 SHALL BEGIN IN 24HOURS.
PLAYERS, PLEASE BE READY.