My corpse slumped forward in its chair, head bowed. A pair of glassy eyes stared into nothing. Blood and brain fluid cooled on a patch of concrete, adding another stain to the little room. My interrogator spat onto a mop of unkempt hair, then shouted behind him for someone to untie my corpse and dispose of it.

Somehow, being shot in the head hadn’t destroyed my sense of awareness. I wasn’t sure if I was conscious—you need to be alive for that—but I found myself seeing and hearing the little interrogation room. The pain from my torture had vanished, too.

Several more men in the same uniform barged into the room and dragged my corpse up. Its head rolled back and I received a close and personal view of a hole in the back of my head. A trickle of nausea broke past the numbness. My career had led me to various examples of grievous bodily harm, but this was bordering on the surreal.

A force suddenly hooked itself on my existence, soul, mind, whatever, and dragged me backwards. The interrogation room shrunk into a pinprick of grey in the distance. I sank back into pitch-black darkness, falling like a small stone unto the polluted oceans of the world. Space rippled in my wake, spanning outward through the murk in invisible circles.

Trails of light floated up from the depths like little humming butterflies. Each one glistened bright as they approached me, their sheen temporarily fading and allowing me to see past their crystalline surfaces. Immediately, I wished I hadn’t.

The older guys were right. You really did see life flash in front of your eyes as you died. And it took the form of tens of thousands of light shards surrounding a man, each one replaying his greatest failures in full color, high definition and complete accuracy.

Everywhere I turned, I saw that detestable, idiotic younger self of mine. He found an obstacle, stumbled over it, then made the worst possible decision in the heat of the moment. Rinse and repeat. No sound was present, but I had replayed some of these conversations dozens of times in nightmares to recite their words from memory.

The light shards spiralled and danced around in a kaleidoscopic maelstrom of my own guilt. I had spent my career as a mercenary building up a reputation for being analytical and cool-headed, but in this moment, white-hot rage seized me like venom. All the mental locks I had carefully crafted throughout my life shattered at once. I screamed, voiceless yet loud, and reached out to smash the shards against my body, only to remember I no longer had any hands. I wanted nothing more than to turn back time, grab my younger self by the neck and throttle every last drop of stupidity out of his system.

Did he seriously think that drowning himself in booze and drugs was cool? Did he not understand that other people—ergo, his own family—gave more than two shits about him? And all that bravado about dealing with the consequences as they came, as if he was some magnificent savant with poise as smooth as steel? Lies! All lies! He was just afraid of taking responsibility!

It was pathetic. It was amazing in its awfulness. It was…me.

God damn it.

The rage fled my body. My soul slumped down and curled into itself. The light shards kept on soaring.

A funeral. Two funerals. A man was shoved out the door by his furious little sister, as two kids watched with narrowed eyes from around the hallway.

Vile jobs. Murder, arson, theft, blackmail and more, all for the sake of a paycheck that only went towards his own self-indulgence. A trip to a desert nation, stricken by war. The man was a convoy, performing maintenance on his rival. The man was ambushed by insurgents. He was captured, interrogated and his brains were blown clean straight out of his skull.

Thus ended the life Kyle Harris Licht, as meaningless it lived.

The last of light shards trailed off. I watched them go, numb yet again. Nothing but the endless void awaited me. Presumably, I was fated to reside here, ruminating on my sins for all eternity. And you know what? I deserved it. I had every chance to better myself—I knew it all—and I messed it all up. My only wish was that my little sister was able to move on with her life, assuming she hadn’t done so already.

ERROR_CONNECT_FAIL_601A: FAILED TO ESTABLISH A PROPER CONNECTION. UNABLE TO PROCEED WITH INITIALIZATION SEQUENCE. PLEASE ACCESS AN OPEN AREA FOR A BETTER CONNECTION!

Oh, Jesus Christ. This thing was still here? Was I doomed to be nagged by a poor Internet connection for the rest of my afterlife?

A final shard of light floated up. I sighed and glanced towards it. Then, I frowned inside.

The shard did not display a scene from my distant past. Instead, it was from my recent confinement.

The insurgents showed us propaganda in our cells at first. They showed us propaganda in our cells at first. Trying to see if any of us would break and go turncoat. It was a method I had experience with, which meant I was very resistant to the insurgent’s tactics. It was as simple as turning up the little dial in my head whenever the speeches came one.

One time was different. I can’t remember the exact date or time, but the faded screen in my room flickered and hissed all of a sudden, as if an EMP had gone off near it. It then came back online, only to show the following:

Good day, viewer!

Are you tired of BORING video games with UNFUN gameplay and LACKLUSTER stories? Did VR not provide the REVOLUTIONARY experience that it promised? Is the future of gaming not looking BRIGHT with its endless COPYPASTED tropes and cliches?

Look no further! The newly formed Interactivity Division of IEHAR (International Effort for Humanitarian Aid and Relief) is proud to present a BRAND NEW REALITY-IMMERSIVE & FULLY INTERACTIVE RPG EXPERIENCE!

A great calamity has occurred in our world. Thousands of REALITY-IMPURE entities have broken free from their cages and are now ravaging human civilization with their ANOMALOUS powers. If left unchecked, they will eventually DESTROY the world. Are you BRAVE, SMART and STRONG enough to step up and prevent humanity’s destruction?

If that already hasn’t convinced you, check out these magnificent features!

A gripping storyline of humanity’s struggle, starring you as the main character. Your every decision actually matters in the long run! Constructed by the finest reality writers. Hundreds of unique and interesting Allies to recruit and interact with. Train them, build your relationship with them and form an unstoppable team! 1000+ impure entities to fight, conquer and research! Unlock their unique stories and their special bonuses via an interaction system. Watch out for their factions, too! Tens of thousands of unique items to find and use. Wield shiny new guns, equip yourself in powerful armors and collect rare trophies! Resources are collected using an exciting luck-based system! An entire base all to yourself! Decorate it and spend time with your recruited Agents here! Eastern, western, Christmas and esoteric styles are available for purchase. Frequent special events and missions. You’ll never get bored with this game with its constant updates! A fully immersive soundtrack produced by the greatest yet most underrated composer known to man!

Remember, only YOU can prevent humanity’s destruction! So what are you waiting for, viewer? Click on the button below to get started today! It costs nothing to get started!

Disclaimer: The developers are not responsible for any harm received during the course of the game, including physical harm, mental damage, psychological trauma, cognition impairment, hazardous information retainment, loss of afterlife and/or permanent death.

Yes, that was indeed me reciting the entire advertisement from memory. I just could. My actual memory after that was fuzzy as all hell, ironically. A searing pain, the screen glitching up again and I was face-down on the ground with a mild headache. The looping error message then made its first grand appearance.

The shard containing that memory vanished, leaving me nothing but the darkness and my own thoughts. Weird how that was the last thing I saw before oblivion. God’s idea of a prank, I guess. I closed my eyes and wondered how long my mind would last before it broke again.

Connection formed successfully!

Wait, what?

The error message I had grown so familiar with disappeared. It was then replaced by another one.

Thank you for selecting our game! Would you like to initialize the startup process?

I stared at the new message. It was asking me a question. I didn’t see any virtual keyboard, microphone or brain jack, so how was I supposed to answer it?

(Tip: Audio and mental commands are accepted)

What, I could just say something and it would know? Well, it wasn’t like there was much in my schedule.

Sure? I half-asked, half-replied.

BEGINNING BOOT PROCESS IN 3...2…1…

With that, the buoyancy keeping me afloat collapsed like a trapdoor and my existence dropped like a stone. I landed on rock ground and tumbled around in circles before rolling to a stop on hard floor. My body had returned, along with its nervous system.

“Christ, my ass…”

Groaning and cradling my stinging forehead, I picked myself up and saw more text was being dumped into my face.

Scanning IEHAR registry for user id…failed!

Scanning archives for user data…failed!

Scanning local data for user data…error!

We were unable to find a template among our sources. Your data may have been manually wiped or suffered corruption. If you suspect this is the case, please contact an IO-OTH-100 technician regarding support on data recovery. Would you like to initialize a new user identity in the meantime?

“Yes.” I answered.

Enter Name:

>>

A flashing cursor lay in a second text box in front of me. “Kyle Harris Licht.” I tried.

Name is “Kyle Harris Licht”. Is this correct?

“Yes.”

Name accepted. Continuing with the rest of the initialization process…

Assessing new user health…user is healthy!

Seriously? After I had been lacerated to all hell and back? I stared down at my body and saw that all the torture wounds had healed. My joints felt limber and my skin was unblemished. I jumped up and down, swung my arms back and forth and realised all my normal senses had returned.

Assessing new user mental faculties…faculties are satisfactory!

Assessing user’s bodily parameters…complete!

Assessing user’s mental parameters…complete!

Assessing user’s spiritual parameters…complete!

Assessing user’s knowledge of game theory…within acceptable limits!

…

Welcome, User Kyle Licht, to INTERFACE-OS.

INTERFACE-OS is main feature of our interactive RPG experience. Unlike most boring video game peripherals, INTERFACE-OS is built directly within the very core of your existence. It provides all the tools necessary for the core mission of the RPG experience.

What is this core mission? The suppression and research of reality-impure entities (Impurities, for short).

Created by [DATANOTFOUNDEXCEPTION 0X03412345E] in [99/99/9999] we at IEHAR are incredibly proud to present this to you. But before we proceed we must ask you the following question:

Is this a mission that is appropriate for you?

Was…was this interface thing offering me a second chance at life? My breath caught in my throat as I processed the ramifications of this. Could there be a chance to really turn back the clock and undo my mistakes, or at least help me prevent making similar ones? I had no clue what these ‘Impurities’ were, but dealing with them didn’t seem to price to pay for this golden opportunity.

Nothing was confirmed yet. No use in planning before all the intel was laid out. Nodding my head, I waited for the text to scroll further.

The usage of INTERFACE-OS requires commitment, initiative, patience and understanding. Is this okay with you?

“Yes.”

The experiences provided by this interactive experience may result in the following hazards: physical trauma, flammable objects, liquid toxins, gaseous toxins, electrocution, asphyxiation, geological faults, sudden transmutation of self, radiation poisoning, extreme temperatures, spatial destabilization, temporal shifts, forced cognition shifts, acquisition of dangerous information, onslaughts of sudden fits of anger and many more. Is this acceptable?

Christ, that was a lot of warning labels. It was a disclaimer straight out of a lawyer’s worst nightmare. The image of my body set on fire, dunked into a tub of radioactive waste and flung headfirst into live wires crossed my mind. My eyes then surveyed the bleak, empty landscape and I pressed a hand to my forehead.

“I accept.”

Please select your difficulty: [modulenotloadedexception: 0x031234FRE3]

Difficulty selection not available! Assigning the default difficulty of ‘Very Hard’.

Wait, what? My mouth opened in protest, but it was futile. The text kept scrolling.

The following restrictions will be placed upon you:

Automatic scan of entities is disabled. You must instead select the [Scan] line of Perks. Assistant is only unlocked after completing the first tutorial mission. Assistant features are limited from the start. Starting inventory space has been reduced. Missions are more difficult. All enemies have increased stats and additional perks. You cannot select your starting location. You will only regain partial Health and Energy upon levelling up (~25% for both). Allies must be retrieved from the field, instead of being automatically granted.

The following benefits shall be granted:

1.2x modifier to all EXP received. Shop and Gacha will be made available earlier. Perks are acquired with every level, instead of every two. Training missions will have better rewards.

Please select your beginning age: [modulenotloadedexception: 0x031234FRE4]

Age selection not available! Assigning the default age of 18.0 years!

Invisible hands wrapped themselves around the body until not a single patch of skin was left untouched. An almighty force then squeeze on all directions. I screamed, trying not to bite my tongue, as my entire body compressed inwards with the force of an iron maidens. Hallucinogens and thumbtacks were nothing compared to the agony of having my skin, organs and bones crushed down to the wire.

Then, as suddenly as it had came, the hands released. The floor shimmered and transformed into a gigantic mirror. I saw myself in it, younger, scrawnier, flabbier and stupider. It was a an almost-perfect replica of my younger self. Didn't remember wearing that brand of tracksuit back then, but it had been almost twenty years.

All acceptance checks have been confirmed. The rest of the initialization process shall commence shortly. We hope that you, User Kyle Licht, try your utmost at completing the game. We also hope that you accept all the consequences of your actions from hereon out.

Now proceeding with the rest of the initialization process…Initiating scenario…

Organising setpieces… (10%)

Sorting items… (20%)

Analyzing encounters… (30%)

Finalizing text… (40%)

Preparing all Impurities… (50%)

Preparing all Personnel… (60%)

Preparing all Skills, Perks and Status Conditions… (70%)

Preparing the rates of the gacha… (80%)

Garbage cleanup… (80%)

Loading the localization files… (90%)

Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

INITIALIZATION COMPLETE!

BEGINNING THE FIRST SCENARIO IMMEDIATELY!

HELLO WORLD. HELLO KYLE LICHT. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!

A pulse of white light blossomed in the distance. It rushed at me with the speed of an incoming car, even as I backed away whilst shielding my eyes. It swallowed me up, taking the mysterious text screens with it and I found myself float up, up, up and back in the direction whence I came.