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Skeleton Master Chapter 001


At the age of thirty.

I became quadriplegic due to a car accident.

A state of complete immobility.

I had been living like this for over 7 years.

Today, as usual, the nurses came and put me into a capsule.

It was a capsule designed for patients, allowing simple searches just by moving my eyeballs.

For the first few months, I spent my time lamenting my situation, but after that, I tried to do something.

I earned money through online part-time jobs and even dabbled in writing, recalling the fantasy novels I used to love.

But lacking talent, I couldn't make much of an income.

After working for a whole month, I barely managed to earn about 200,000 won.

The hospital said it would be better not to do it at all.

They said unnecessary stress could worsen my condition.

From then on, I gave up on activities to earn money and just looked for ways to pass the time.

That's when I happened to come across gameplay videos of a virtual reality game called 'Illusion', and from that moment, I was hooked.

Intrigued, I even tried to download Illusion and log in, but somehow the nurses and doctors found out. They forcibly opened the capsule and explained various things to me.

What was it they said? Something about the capsule not recognizing quadriplegia and it could be dangerous.

They used technical terms, so I didn't understand properly, but in my ignorance, I just blinked and nodded.

To compensate for not being able to play directly, I immersed myself more deeply in gathering information about Illusion.

I couldn't log in, but I could read posts written by users and watch the videos they uploaded.

Bit by bit, very slowly.

Before I knew it, I was so deeply immersed that I couldn't escape.

And around that time, I started to let my imagination run wild.

What if I could play the game?

Which village would I choose?

What about my job?

What could I do based on the newly revealed information?

Ways to get ahead.

Efficient routes to catch up with top-ranked players.

What's the level of newly introduced jobs?

I read users' posts again, watched videos, and kept thinking.

Repeating this process hundreds, thousands of times, I spent years of my life with Illusion.

There wasn't a job I hadn't imagined or a process I hadn't considered.

I looked at all the information over and over, endlessly thinking about various situations.

It was all I could do.

Time flew by quickly when I was engrossed in things related to Illusion.

Thanks to that, despite being quadriplegic, I didn't live such an unhappy life.

At least I could be immersed in something.

Ah, it must be really fun.

It's truly regrettable that I can't play it directly.

What should I think about this time?

Recently, the job that appealed to me the most was the Necromancer.

Physically weak, but able to summon countless monsters to become allies and sweep away enemies.

It's attractive, but not such a popular job.

That's because it's extremely difficult to level up.

They say it's starting to shine a bit based on recently revealed information, but the truth is that the number of people playing it is low compared to more promising jobs.

Still, I couldn't deny that I was drawn to it.

I want to do it. I want to do it so badly.

I've held back for 7 years.

I've only been watching.

Because of that, my patience was now wearing thin.

The doctor told me hundreds of times that I should never log into the game.

They warned me about the dangers and I even agreed to a document stating that the hospital wouldn't be responsible if I ever logged in.

Of course, I expressed my consent through the capsule.

They informed my family about it as well.

Still, I agonize over it every day.

Just once.

Couldn't I log in just once?

Couldn't I move around in there just once?

...Couldn't I feel freedom?

I shook my head.

I shouldn't do that. Absolutely not. I could die. It's dangerous.

To quench this thirst, I play another video.

Now that the gaming industry has developed more than anything else, dramas, movies, and animations have all died out.

Why, you ask?

Because no medium can be more real than 'virtual reality'.

The experience there is the most intense thrill.

Now, people have become unable to live without Illusion.

When you turn on the TV, Illusion's rankers appear like celebrities, and scenes of them clearing quests are filmed and broadcast.

Not only guild battles but also wars between kingdoms, and even wars between continents unfold.

How enchanting.

People live in such a world.

Except for 'me'.

Look at this video.

I simply can't take my eyes off it.

How could one not connect to such a world?

As my worries deepened, the images of my mother and sister suddenly came to mind.

And my father who passed away from overwork.

What had they sacrificed for me alone?

My father sacrificed his life, and my family wasted their remaining lives.

For me, who had no hope of moving again.

But what am I doing?

I'm living obsessed with the game, just watching it. Knowing it's reality, a curse escapes my lips.

Damn it...!

Once started, these thoughts weighed heavily on me.

Actually, it was fine at first.

I took it for granted that my family would take care of me.

But after 3 or 4 years, I started to feel burdened.

From the time my father passed away and my mother and sister started lamenting their lives when they visited the hospital, looking haggard.

From the moment I realized that my existence could be such a heavy burden on them.

I started to dislike myself bit by bit.

Sometimes I even thought like this.

I should just die.

If I die, my family won't be harmed.

They would be comfortable.

Shouldn't they live their own lives now?

It seemed like it was really time to stop pouring money they had saved by shedding blood and sweat into hospital bills.

But I can't even commit suicide.

Because my body doesn't move.

Because I can't do anything.

Was it because the situation aligned so perfectly? A fact I knew but had been ignoring suddenly came to mind.

The doctor's words that logging into the game could be dangerous, that voice saying I might lose my life.

Why did it come to mind now of all times?

I don't know the reason, but one thing was certain.

The fact that Illusion had become unfamiliar.

What I had only looked at with envious eyes had now become a tool of death.

I shake my head.

I must be crazy too.

Living as a cripple for over 7 years, it would be stranger if I were normal.

It could be considered remarkable that I've maintained this level of sanity.

Of course, without Illusion, even that would have been impossible.

Ding dong.

At that moment, the capsule opened.

The nurse moved me to the bed.

It was already evening.

I fell asleep listening to my family's laments as they visited late at night.

It was all about how tough today was again. A stifling feeling constricts my chest.

It felt like I was going to have a nightmare.

More than half a year had passed since I realized that Illusion could be a tool for death rather than hope for maintaining life.

I was rapidly becoming desolate.

If there was at least a glimmer of light in my eyes before, now they were sunken as if dead.

I had no motivation.

Everything felt futile.

Every evening when I saw my family's faces, that futility became even more intense.

It was because of my mother and sister's sighs that had begun at some point.

"These days are really so tough."

"I want to forget everything."

"I hate living."

"I want to die, I want to die..."

At some point, even though they were living for me, they found it burdensome that I was alive.

My heart shattered seeing my mother and sister like this.

"Sob... sob..."

One day, my mother cried silently.

The crying continued for a long time.

It was then that I realized.

That it was really time to try.

For a new life.

Or towards death.

Whatever it became, I would have no regrets.

That day, as soon as I connected to the capsule, I downloaded Illusion.

And I tried to log into the game.

Was it because I hadn't shown any signs of logging in again since my first connection?

It seems the hospital had belatedly realized this fact, as I could faintly hear the sound of running footsteps approaching.

They're probably trying to get me out of the capsule.

I need to connect before that.

Once I connect, they won't forcibly remove me from the capsule.

Because that would be even more dangerous.

[Do you want to connect to Illusion?]

I expressed my will with my eyes.

Yes.

At the same time, the world went dark.

[Scanning body.]

But something feels strange.

My head started to hurt terribly.

Ugh, uugh...

My whole body trembled and I had a seizure.

The world became blurry.

Even my consciousness...

And when I opened my eyes again.

I had returned to a day 8 years ago.

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