I Will Save Her!

I can't believe the world would become so absurd and chaotic like this.

I also can't believe Ayane and the other players are trapped inside Abyss Code Online.

I can't believe all this!

It has to be a dream!

I decided to run away.

I ran through Tokyo Plaza as buildings around me collapsed.

Debris fell from above, crushing people as they fled for their lives.

“If this is just a nightmare… I should be waking up now…”

As that thought crossed my mind, I tripped over something and fell hard, rolling onto the pavement.

“What the hell…?” I looked back to see what I'd stumbled over.

And froze.

It was a police officer—what was left of him.
His upper body was still visible, but the rest of him had been crushed beneath the rubble.

A wave of nausea hit me like a punch to the chest.
The sight was horrifying. Too real.

He was still conscious, just barely. His eyes met mine.

“RUN!!”

That was all he could manage.

A moment later, another massive piece of debris crashed down, completely burying him.

Blood splattered onto my clothes... my face…

I was speechless.

Frozen.

Someone had just died—brutally—right in front of me.

The pain from falling earlier still throbbed in my arms and knees. My hands were trembling.

“This… This is real… All of it…”

I looked down at my hands, at the blood soaking into my sleeves.

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

I screamed and bolted, running as fast as I could through the wreckage and chaos.

All around me, people were screaming and crying. It was like the end of the world.

After running for nearly a kilometer, I finally reached an area that hadn’t been affected by the destruction.

Police, firefighters, and soldiers had already been deployed to respond to the unknown disaster. I collapsed onto the curb, shaking, watching medics rush around treating the wounded.

Sirens wailed everywhere.

Emergency alarms echoed through the air.

“This is insane… This can’t be happening…”

I was still in shock.

Children cried loudly and were hugged by their parents.

Teenagers answered frantic calls from home.

Adults sobbed as they assured their loved ones they were okay.

Everyone was reaching out to someone.

Everyone… except me.

I checked my phone—no messages, no calls.

No one worried about me.

No one even knew I was here.

My family was already gone.

I was utterly alone.

My parents died when I was just a baby. My uncles and aunts passed away not long after. I grew up with my grandpa… until he died three years ago.

Since then, I’ve been on my own. In this city. In this world.

…..

I remembered my grandpa’s final words—words that kept me going through the darkest days:

“You’ve suffered enough, Kyo... Now go find your happiness.”

Those words… they gave me the strength to live.

I graduated high school. Got into Tokyo University. I’ve been trying—really trying—to find happiness now that I’m nineteen.

But I never did. Not truly.

Until one day, I came across a trailer for a new game.

A VRMMORPG called Abyss Code Online (ACO).

I don’t know why, but something about it pulled me in. Maybe… maybe I thought I could find happiness there.

I bought the game—and the console that came with it: the Soul-Link Capsule.

Both were made by the same company: Meta World Company.

The Soul-Link was the world’s first full-dive capsule system. It was expensive. I used the inheritance my grandfather left me.

I remember climbing into the capsule for the first time.

It felt… peaceful.

As the capsule sealed shut, I closed my eyes—and digital lights began to flicker behind my eyelids.

The system synced directly with my brain using cutting-edge neuro-link technology.

It was called a High-Neuron Virtual Reality Game.

“Virtual login,” I said aloud.

With that, the system booted up.

[Installation Complete]

[High Neuron Scan Complete]

[Body Scan Complete]

[Initiating Soul-Scan…]

[Soul Verification Key Created]

I remember thinking: Soul scan? What’s that supposed to mean?

Why was it called Soul-Link, anyway?

According to the developers, "Soul Scan" was the process of connecting a player’s mind to the game server using advanced Theta-Gamma brainwave syncing.

The Soul-Link Capsule transferred your entire consciousness into the simulation—a full-dive system that made the world feel completely real.

The Soul Verification Key was a high-level biometric ID created from your DNA and emotional profile on your first login. It became your permanent, unhackable identity.

[Please create your avatar.]

I created my character. Hit confirm.

[Final process…30%....]

[50%....]

[70%....]

[90%....]

[100%...Completed!]

[Welcome to Abyss Code Online!]

…

Playing the game was everything I hoped it would be.

For the first time in years, I felt… free.

No expectations. No loneliness. Just me, my avatar, and the vast world of Abyss Code Online.

At first, I spent my time exploring its massive landscapes—towering cities, eerie ruins, glowing forests untouched by time.

I fought monsters.

I grinded levels.

I lost myself in the game, letting it numb the emptiness that had taken root in me.

It was a distraction—

Until the moment I logged back in after a short break, and everything changed.

That’s when I met her.

Ayane.

The top-ranked player in the entire game.

Feared, admired, untouchable.

And yet…

She reached out to help me, a nobody.

Just a low-level player struggling against a boss far beyond my reach.

She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t mock me.

She saved me.

From that moment, something shifted inside me.

We started playing together—more and more each day.

We hunted rare monsters side by side, shared loot, faced initial floor bosses together.

I began looking forward to logging in—not for the game, but for her.

The way she laughed during battles.

The calm in her voice when things got tense.

Her dazzling emerald eyes, her flowing crimson hair, the warmth behind her every gesture.

With her, time passed differently.

Faster…
Lighter…
Brighter.

I hadn’t felt like this in years.

I hadn’t felt alive in years.

And then it hit me:

I was happy again.

Truly, genuinely happy.

Ayane had become something more than just a teammate.

She was the light that shattered the shadow I’d been living under.

She reminded me what it meant to feel, to care, to hope.

She gave my life color again.

But now… she’s gone.

Trapped in a death game that we never saw coming.

And just like that… I lost someone important again.

Someone who mattered.

At first, I felt that same crushing emptiness creeping back in.

But then, like an echo from the past, I remembered my grandpa’s final words:

“Find your happiness.”

And suddenly, that faint ember in my heart—the one I thought had burned out long ago—It sparked again.

I stood up amidst the chaos and fear.

Tightened my fists.

Took a step forward. Then another.

And then I ran.

Faster and faster, until doubt couldn’t catch me. Until hesitation was left behind.

Because I’d made my choice.

I won’t lose her.

Not this time.

Not again.

I won’t let fate decide who I get to keep or who I have to mourn.

I won’t let her light fade from my life.

I’ll fight through whatever this world throws at me.

I will save her.

I will save Ayane!

…

..

.