Chapter 1

〈 Chapter 1 〉 Prologue

“Da…DAAAAAAAAA!!”

The Young Man tore off the VR device on his head and collapsed onto his bed.

“Haa… haa…”

He had merely played a virtual reality game, yet he was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. But the Young Man was that excited.

“Finally cleared it.”

The Young Man stared blankly at the large TV linked to the VR device, which was playing a video.

[The end.]

On the TV screen, the words “End” appeared alongside his play records displayed in CG images, accompanied by soft music.

Even though continuing to watch through the VR device would have been fine, at least for this moment, he wanted to enjoy the ending with his own eyes.

“Kruuuu, finally.”

The Young Man basked in the glory of the ending, seemingly moved.

An ending he had seen countless times over the past year. But at this very moment, the experience of watching the ending felt incredibly fresh.

“…Heh heh heh.”

As the end credits rolled, remnants of his previous plays—CG images—passed by.

In the memory CGs created based on the player’s actions within the game, the Young Man’s avatar shared affectionate moments of daily life with a maiden with blue hair.

“There’s no such thing as an unobtainable heroine.”

He moistened his throat with a carbonated drink that had lost all its fizz. Just then, a scene passed where the girl smiled at him with a straw in her mouth.

“Wow, that heroine story was really something…. Seriously.”

Blazing Phoenix.

A character from a VR dating sim RPG produced by some studio, and over the past year since the game’s release, the “unobtainable heroine” that no one could conquer.

A mid-boss harder than the final boss.

A scenario where she sacrifices herself to awaken the protagonist’s party.

An appearance that rivals any other heroine in the game, coupled with voice acting praised as pouring her soul into it.

Countless gamers who purchased the game tried their best to conquer this character, but over the past year, no one managed to do so.

Achievement 99.99%. No one could fill in that remaining 0.01%, until the Young Man completed the last piece.

The Young Man checked his game records via a smartphone app.

[‘Blue Heavens’ ]

[Achievement Unlocked!]

[Achievement Updated…. 100%! Platinum Trophy Obtained!]

“Kuhuhu, huhuhu.”

After confirming the alarm in the upper right corner, the Young Man couldn’t stop laughing as he imagined the explosive reaction the community would have.

Successfully obtaining the final 0.1% achievement was proof that he had conquered Blazing Phoenix.

“Hasn’t the selling post gone up yet?”

The Young Man checked a bookmarked site on his smartphone.

Among foreign gaming community sites, there was a post titled ‘I will buy a 100% clear save file of Blue Heavens’ by a Middle Eastern prince obsessed with games, who offered a ridiculous amount of money to fill in that 0.1% gap. The amount was approximately two trillion won.

“Huhuhu. Two trillion. Puhuhu.”

While the world buzzed about someone spending two trillion won just to clear a game, his obsession with not completing the 100% clear rate seemed to go beyond common sense.

And even more so because this was a 19+ VR open-world dating sim RPG that unofficially reached the Game of the Year (GOTY) level.

“The developers are cruel bastards. They designed it so no one can enter the route when trying to find the Phoenix route.”

The developers twisted the game so that the more you tried to access the Phoenix route, the more the entry flag would be broken.

“Let’s see. The article I wrote before on the community forum….”

The Young Man searched domestic communities to check the article he had written previously.

* * *

[Title: I think I’ve entered the Phoenix route.]

[Picture]

[Screenshot visible? Anyone seen this CG before?]

[Reply: Yes, next troll.]

[Reply: We all know you made this with Custom Her.]

[Reply: Haha, is there still someone faking entering the Phoenix route? Send me your save file if you want recognition haha.]

[Reply: Wow, Phoenix-sama looks beautiful. Is this second-creation or real? Surely not real, right?]

* * *

“Kick.”

It had been over a week since he posted this, and all the replies were from people denying that he had entered the Phoenix route.

That’s because, both domestically and internationally, there were easily tens of thousands of gamers claiming falsely that they had entered the Phoenix route.

‘If there’s no proof of conquest, being labeled as a troll is basic.’

Even now, as the game approaches its one-year anniversary, users trolling about entering the route are still active.

‘But now we have proof?’

And now, with the achievement updated, gamers worldwide have learned that one user has fully cleared the game.

The Young Man opened the community again. As expected from a community full of hardcore gamers, the news spread incredibly fast.

* * *

[???? Damn it, what the hell is this guy??]

[Death Dinass Fully Cleared Player Appears]

[Whoa damn, 2 trillion wonddd. Jackpot hit properly.]

[Hey, what country is this guy from?]

[I remember someone claiming they entered the Phoenix route a while ago…]

* * *

“I need to verify.”

They dismissed the CG screenshots I uploaded as fake edits, so cautiously, the Young Man didn’t share any information about the strategy until clearing it.

Click.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, he deleted his account nickname, took pictures of the trophy information, and captured the data rate of the in-game memory room.

“Ah… right. This needs to be uploaded too.”

The Young Man selected and photographed one of the memory scenes from the memory room’s CG data that he genuinely admired.

On the rooftop, arms outstretched, turning around with a gentle smile—a blue maiden. The contrasting blue against the sunset glow looked like a celestial being even upon another viewing.

Though in-game screenshots were blocked, taking pictures with a phone camera was sufficient to prove that the Young Man had indeed entered the Phoenix route.

* * *

[Title: Just broke the Phoenix route]

[Picture] [Picture] [Picture] [Picture]

[Would this convince you?]

* * *

“If you don’t acknowledge, what will you do? Uhhuhu.”

The creators of Blue Heavens established a Hall of Fame on their official website for “fully cleared gamers.”

For over a year, no user had ascended to the Hall, earning the title “user disgrace,” but now, a single nickname hangs there.

[BlueBird.]

The Young Man marveled at the unique nickname hanging in the Hall of Fame—the alias of his avatar.

“Kruuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.”

Part of the nickname was appropriately blurred, so the full name wasn’t visible, but the fact that a name hung in the otherwise empty Hall itself certified that the Young Man had witnessed the ending.

Refresh after refresh, and replies started appearing under the post the Young Man had written.

* * *

[Reply: Yo, immediately upload the save file.]

[Reply: Sorry for not believing a week ago. Please give some hints…]

[Reply: First time seeing Phoenix smiling.]

[Reply: Developers: There is no unobtainable heroine (actual statement)]

[Reply: Are you hitting the rice cakes with Phoenix?!?!?!?!?!?]

* * *

“Making nonsense.”

The Young Man frowned at the last reply.

‘I’m curious about that too!’

Of course, it’s a 19+ game, and there are plenty of steamy scenes with various heroines, but the story with Blazing Phoenix was far too noble and beautiful to think about carnal desires.

“…Uh, hold on.”

The Young Man quickly checked the official website’s notice section.

A notification about releasing a DLC featuring an “H-scene” for a heroine as part of the one-year anniversary celebration.

Since Blazing Phoenix was branded as practically unobtainable among gamers, it was anticipated that the H-scene would be added for the character who ranked first in the recent popularity vote.

“This can’t be.”

However, the hints given for the target of the H-scene weren’t specific enough to point to anyone. The three keyword clues didn’t refer to any heroine.

“Wow, jackpot.”

But the Young Man, who had fully immersed himself in the Blazing Phoenix route, instinctively knew that this H-scene DLC belonged to Phoenix.

Glug.

Unconsciously, the Young Man swallowed hard.

There definitely was a moment when such a scene could have happened. However, there was no separate ‘scene’ implemented for that situation. All that happened was a passage of time followed by greeting the sunrise together the next day.

If he retrieved his cleared data and re-entered the route after downloading this DLC—

“……Hehehehehehehe.”

Laughter wouldn’t stop.

This VR-linked simulation game, boasting excellent gameplay as an RPG alone, surpassed all current-gen games. If asked to pick the pinnacle of this game, it would undoubtedly be the ‘H-scenes.’

To view the ‘scenes’ with the heroines, naturally, one had to follow each heroine’s route.

Thanks to the existence of these scenes with a claimed immersion rate of 99%, this game became known as a “game played for compensation.”

As the Young Man chuckled while observing the runaway comments refreshing every time, his eyes stopped at one particular comment.

* * *

[Reply: Finally, a fully cleared player has emerged! Congratulations! I just sent you a 1:1 message via the device; please confirm it.]

* * *

“From the developer?”

Amidst the already bustling atmosphere, the direct intervention of the developer caused the speed of reply postings to skyrocket.

The Young Man put back the VR device he had discarded and operated the motion controller to check the message.

“It actually arrived.”

The message was sent right after receiving the trophy. It seems he missed it while watching the ending on the monitor.

[Congratulations! We sincerely appreciate and thank you for being the first fully cleared gamer of our ‘Blue Heavens’.]

“…What should I respond?”

While hesitating momentarily, another message arrived.

[We truly congratulate you! However, forgive the impertinence, but are you planning to publicly disclose or sell your fully cleared save file…?]

“Aha, so that’s why you contacted immediately.”

The reason ‘Blue Heavens’ maintained its throne for a year was undoubtedly due to the hidden feature concerning Blazing Phoenix.

If revealed by the Young Man, it would certainly deal a blow to the developers.

[We would consider any monetary requests, but honestly, we can’t offer more than two trillion won… T_T]

“That’s understandable.”

It was a game created by a company on the brink of bankruptcy, putting everything they had into it. Even combining all the game and content sales revenue might exceed hundreds of billions, but it’s impossible for them to have that much cash on hand. And how could they trust the Young Man enough to pay more than two trillion won and sign a confidentiality agreement?

Had it not been a message from the developer, the Young Man might have sold the information for two trillion won after enjoying the aftermath.

[Therefore, our team has a request for BlueBird.]

[Not to disclose any information about entering the route, please?]

When the Young Man sent his thoughts via message, an immediate response came back.

[Nooooo!!!!]

“……Haa.”

The Young Man fell into a dilemma.

Selling the fully cleared save file would bring in two trillion won in cash.

If the Young Man disclosed the conditions for entering the Phoenix route, the development company might suffer significant damage.

The backlash could affect the upcoming DLC and the sequel production.

Could another company invest the entire two trillion yen in development funds and create a game like Death Dinass?

Or, did he even need to worry about that? What if the game company sues him?

As the Young Man’s contemplation deepened, another message arrived.

[Ah, it’s not something we can force BlueBird to choose, but instead of selling the fully cleared file or keeping silent about the route entry information, would receiving a special ‘DLC’ now be alright?]

“DLC?”

Suddenly, the Young Man’s ears perked up.

[DLC, you mean the anniversary H-scene you mentioned?]

[Yes! As you might have guessed, the planned DLC includes an event of sexual relations with Phoenix!]

“…Included?”

Subtle differences in nuance made the Young Man tilt his head. The following message from the developer left him parched.

[Actually, besides the DLC we announced for the one-year anniversary, we also intended to release an ‘expanded edition’~ An extremely!!! Special!!! Expanded edition available only to those who fully cleared the game!]

[Could it possibly be?]

[Yes! Just considering playtime alone, it’ll be larger than the main volume! Let me confidentially tell you, it was originally supposed to be part of the main story, but it was cut due to budget constraints… T_T But thanks to the game’s success and resolving budget issues, we managed to include everything as we wished! Essentially, it’s the complete version!]

“Overwhelming.”

The Young Man was astonished.

From a development company renowned as masters of cutting games to the bone regarding quality, adding back content abandoned due to budget constraints—it was making an already perfect game even more perfect.

‘This is enough, and yet, a complete version?’

Excluding the 50 hours spent clearing the Phoenix route, the playtime exceeded 1900 hours, yet it boasts even greater volume.

[Actually, we planned to slowly drop hints about entering the Phoenix route during the one-year event and release this complete edition… Oh! Sorry! Absolutely not blaming you! We just didn’t expect anyone to really log in and enter the route…]

[It’s okay. I understand.]

Indeed, they must have set quite crazy flags. The Young Man couldn’t help but chuckle at the developer’s long explanation.

[Ahhh, thank you for understanding. Otherwise, I’d be writing a report… My salary would be cut, I’d be kicked out of the company, and end up living indefinitely as a swan…]

While reading the somewhat self-deprecating message from the developer, the Young Man stretched briefly.

Ding!

[You have received a file from Sir. Would you like to accept it?]

“Yes.”

The Young Man straightened up as he downloaded the file sent from the development side.

Indeed, the volume issue wasn’t exaggerated; the amount of data being downloaded was close to that of the main game.

[Please enjoy it thoroughly~ Once the download finishes, a new world will unfold for you! Then, thank you for playing our ‘(Corp) Cthulhu’ game! Please continue to ‘enjoy’ it haha ha ha ha]

“What an energetic person.”

Closing the enthusiastic message from the other side, the Young Man confirmed the completion of the download and quietly closed his eyes.

Pssshh~

With the blue light emitted from the VR device, the consciousness of the Young Man was sucked into the device.

.

Having noticed the addition of another phrase after the title he had played dozens of times, the Young Man smiled.

“Wow. Looks like you can select characters other than the protagonist, huh?”

Although unclear at the moment, he believed he’d learn more once inside the game. With excitement, the Young Man clicked the ‘Start’ button, and his consciousness sank into the game.

And when he opened his eyes, he was inside magma.

“……?”