Chapter 1

This story is a work of fiction.

It contains scenes of drinking, smoking, and graphic content.

Thank you for your understanding.

To stake one's life.

I learned that it is very difficult.

Work, sports, hobbies, gambling.

No matter what, to throw everything into achieving something is difficult in modern Japan.

Life, funds, society, other people, and one's own body all get in the way.

I hardly ever went to school, and even after becoming an adult, I hardly worked.

I just devoted myself entirely to reaching the "peak."

Literally, I bet everything on it.

I dedicated everything except for the bare minimum—eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom—to "it."

『World No. 1』

This is the result.

The peak of millions of people.

Truly, truly exhilarating!

What a joy!

I felt as if all my efforts, my entire life, had been rewarded.

The world's No. 1, recognized by everyone in the world. A god-like existence revered by all. The strongest peak in history, where even a single defeat is not allowed. That's me.

The result of my life.

Everything in my life.

VRMMORPG『Mevius Online』, world ranking, undisputed No. 1.

All of this, up until today.

「…………」

This is exactly what it means to be in a state of shock.

A few days ago, my main character, 'seven,' was hacked.

Not just personal data, but everything, including backups.

The damage wasn't limited to me. It affected about 3,000 people, all of whom were "top 3,000 characters."

The culprit has already been caught. He was one of the top players and apparently committed the crime out of jealousy. Hacking 3,000 character data sets is not something done lightly; it was a result of an obsessive and deviant act. However, the media and the general public didn't seem to understand this.

Now.

The subsequent announcement from the Mevius Online management was as follows:

They stated that the recovery of all damaged characters was impossible. The compensation would only be in the form of preferential treatment when creating a new character, such as reduced fees.

「……………………」

I trembled with anger and a sense of nothingness, vomiting repeatedly out of hatred. But how did other players react?

Public opinion was that "Mevius Online management were also victims," and on a certain bulletin board, it was said, "Well, it's a reasonable response."

On Twitter, a famous streamer whose character was deleted went berserk, threatening to bomb the company headquarters, leading to police involvement.

However, by the time the commotion died down, the Mevius Online hacking incident had been completely forgotten.

What a joke.

「……ha……」

I have no motivation to do anything.

I can't think of anything.

All I can do is sigh.

I haven't eaten anything for three days, just drinking water.

My world No. 1 is never coming back.

「…………Alright!」

This won't do, no matter how long I stay like this.

I slapped my knee and stood up, determined.

「I'm going to die!」