Ryan had always thought that dying was stupid.
But dying in the office, in front of his boss, while trying to fix a bug he had created himself…
That took the concept to a whole new level of pathetic.
"Aren't you finished fixing that yet?"
His boss's voice cut through the air with that annoying tone Ryan absolutely hated.
He didn't look away from the monitor.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it."
Lie.
He had spent the last three hours staring at the same lines of code, looking for a way to avoid getting rid of the only fun thing he'd created in these past few years.
The debt bug.
Five years.
Five damn years working at that company, doing the work of three people, earning the salary of one… and being treated like total trash.
So yeah.
He had done something stupid.
Small. A bit childish.
But satisfying.
Every time the support character buffed a heroine, the system generated a "debt." An obligation. Something they would have to pay back… based on the player's inner desires.
A mechanic that would never pass quality control.
"Damn it... Ryan."
This time, the tone was harsher.
"The build comes out this week. If that's not fixed today, don't bother coming back tomorrow."
Ryan let out a low laugh.
"Coming back…? I haven't even left the damn office in days..."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
He logged in with his developer account.
The virtual world loaded and Ryan activated a skill.
The system responded instantly.
"Debt generated."
He laughed, watching the absurdity manifest on the screen as the support member assisted the heroines, triggering flirtatious, suggestive reactions that shouldn't exist in the final version of the game.
But something… wasn't right.
The message didn't disappear.
It repeated.
"Debt generated."
"Debt generated."
"Debt generated."
"…What?"
His fingers tensed.
He hadn't written it that way.
The system began to chain activations without any input.
The on-screen animations turned erratic.
The heroines were reacting… but not according to any script he remembered.
"Ryan, close that," his boss ordered.
He didn't answer.
A sharp, strong, and sudden pressure appeared at the base of his neck.
"What is this pain…? Damn it, this shouldn't…"
His vision began to blur and the text on the screen changed.
"Accumulated Debt: ERROR."
"Processing…"
"What the hell is that?"
Ryan tried to close the program.
The mouse didn't respond.
The pain intensified, as if something were drilling into his skull.
"Ryan."
His boss's voice sounded distant now.
Distorted.
"Ryan, what the hell did you do?"
Ryan let out a weak laugh.
"Shit... the only… fun thing… I've done in five years…"
The screen flickered.
And then everything went black.
Just a few letters loading on a colorless interface.
"Compensation initiated..."
His body collapsed against the desk before he could finish processing it, and everything around him was covered in absolute blackness.
...
...
...
...
When Ryan opened his eyes, he was no longer in his room. And he heard sounds like clashing swords.
His head felt comfortable; he was resting on something very comfortable, soft, and pleasant-smelling.
When he looked around.
He raised his gaze a bit higher and the first thing he saw was the silhouette of a woman whose face was obscured by the shape of her massive pair of breasts.
'It can't be.' Ryan observed the situation for a second.
'I'm lying on someone's lap. And what a massive pair of tits.' Ryan processed that with more calm than he should have and sat up slowly.
"Eh? You're finally awake!" The girl tilted her head, bringing her breasts very close to Ryan's face.
She placed her hand on his head as if checking his temperature, but Ryan suddenly stood up. He got up very quickly and stood in front of her.
The girl, confused, also stood up and looked at him.
"What happened to you? You fainted after healing me. Did you run out of mana or something?"
The girl asked him with a tone of concern, but she was looking at him with a kind smile.
"If you're feeling better, can you help Helen? She's running out of energy." She gestured with her eyes toward the girl named Helen, who was fighting what looked like a giant humanoid lizard.
"What... what is that!" Ryan shouted in surprise.
"Hey, Helen, Ryan is acting really strange!" the girl shouted.
"What? How do you know my name?"
"Hey, did you really hit your head when you fainted?"
"Handle it, Mirian! Can't you see I'm busy?" Helen shouted while she continued fighting the lizards, which kept coming.
Ryan took a soft breath.
'Okay, calm down. What's the last thing I remember? I logged into the game with my user account, into the game I was supposed to be programming, and then...'
'Wait a second. Did she say Helen and Mirian? And those clothes... There's no doubt!'
Mirian quickly approached and pulled Ryan's head into an embrace, pressing it against her chest.
"Ryan, calm down. I think one of the undead on the 99th floor got to you. Maybe a mental attack!"
Ding!
[Automatic debt collection initiated]
'Where did that window come from?'
"Damn, I'm feeling that again... Ryan, what orders do you have for me?"
"What the hell are you talking about...?"
Mirian knelt before him.
"I... I can't control it anymore... Ryan..." She took Ryan's hand, brought her lips close, and began to kiss it.
Every hair on Ryan's body stood on end; his heart was racing as he watched.
'Did I really end up in that game?'