Speedrunning the Apocalypse
By @john1208
Tivosh wakes up in a coffin during a dreary, rain-soaked funeral in the cursed realm of Khrebet. Annoyed by what he assumes is an 'unskippable cutscene' in his new VR MMO, he sneezes - accidentally obliterating a century-long magical storm and terrifying the local mourners. Convinced he is playing a hyper-realistic sandbox game with a maxed-out, glitchy character, Tivosh treats this blood-soaked, grimdark reality like his personal playground. He aggressively speedruns deadly dungeons, claims a gothic fortress as his 'player housing', and beats Morzak, the realm's apex demon lord, into becoming his trembling, tea-serving butler.
But Khrebet is no game. Its arrogant rulers, the Gospodar gods, are losing their minds trying to exterminate this invincible, maniacal anomaly who treats their divine judgments as minor lag. Meanwhile, Vranja, a ruthless inquisitor acting as a double agent for a mortal rebellion, tries to manipulate him, only to find herself slowly falling for his unhinged charm. As Tivosh gleefully ignores the red warning screens in his vision - thinking they are achievement pop-ups - the fabric of reality begins to tear. What happens when his 'server expansion countdown' reaches zero, and he realizes he misunderstood the rules, and 'Game Over' means the cosmic erasure of everyone he has come to love?
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