Reincarnated as a Background Character — Boss Fell in Love With Me
Chapter 0: A Click, A Crash, and the End of Everything
Rain fell softly against the windowpane, each droplet creating a gentle, rhythmic sound that mirrored the steady ticking of a clock, counting down the moments. In a cramped apartment littered with an overwhelming assortment of video game cases and a formidable stack of empty instant noodle cups, Kazuto Akiyama leaned intently closer to his glowing monitor. The sweat clung persistently to his brow, a tangible testament to the intensity of his focus and the hours he had poured into this moment.
His fingers danced over the keyboard with a frantic yet rhythmic precision, as if conducting an orchestra in a grand symphony. The final boss, a formidable opponent in the fantasy realm of his beloved game, was finally within striking distance. Just one more move and he could seize victory.
"Velzeria, Empress of Ash, has entered Phase III."
Kazuto's heart raced as he whispered to himself, "Got you." He had devoted an astonishing 76 hours straight to reach this critical point, sacrificing sleep and sustenance in pursuit of glory.
The digital figure of Velzeria towered over the battlefield, a colossal presence that demanded attention. Her demonic wings unfurled dramatically, casting an imposing shadow that darkened the pixelated landscape. Her eyes, radiant and fierce, glowed like twin suns, illuminating the virtual gloom with an ethereal light. Her voice, when it echoed through the gaming arena, was a chorus of divine fury, reverberating with elegance, menace, and an aura of invincibility that sent shivers down Kazuto's spine. He couldn't help but feel dwarfed by her magnificence. And yet, in this climactic moment, he was dangerously vulnerable; his health was teetering at a mere 3% and he had completely depleted his mana reserves.
"Perfectly balanced," he chuckled softly, acknowledging the irony of his dire situation—an awkward mismatch between skill and fate—just before the room around him began to spin, blurring his vision and squeezing his chest with an invisible grip of gravity.
The last sound to pierce his consciousness was the distinct, unforgiving clicking of the keyboard, echoing ominously in his ears.
And then he was enveloped in darkness.
Kazuto didn't awaken to the bright, blinding lights of a hospital room or the serene presence of angels, welcoming him to the afterlife. Instead, he stirred in a hazy fog of confusion, surrounded by dust motes dancing in the dim light of flickering candles. The scent of aged leather and ancient parchment filled his senses, evoking a sense of history and mystery.
He propped himself up and coughed as the stale air filled his lungs. Pain throbbed painfully in his head, yet he could feel the cold stone floor beneath him grounding him in reality. The atmosphere was strikingly tangible: the flickering candle sconces cast soft shadows that danced across shelves crammed with tomes of knowledge. And there it was—a HUD materializing before his eyes.
[Status: RAZE – Library Assistant (Commoner) | Level 1 | No Affinity]
[Role: Background Character #112]
[Magic: None | Combat Skill: None | Fate Influence: 0%]
"...What?" Kazuto blinked in disbelief, the words forming a graphic overlay that he had only ever seen in the realm of video games. "Is this… Eternal Elysium?"
The interface mirrored what he had encountered countless times before; the layout of the room, the atmospheric soundtrack whirring in the background, everything aligned with the virtual realm he had once so passionately played, but now it was strikingly real. In this manifestation of the game world, he was no longer the heroic character with epic quests or dramatic showdowns. No, he had been reduced to a mere NPC—an expendable background character someone would typically skip past during a speedrun.
"So, I died... while playing a game," Kazuto murmured in disbelief, a mix of awe and irritation flooding his senses. "And I've been reincarnated as a nobody?" His disappointment hung heavily in the air. "Perfect."
Just then, the tranquility of his thoughts was violently disrupted. The library door splintered inward with an explosive force, sending an array of books soaring into the air like leaves caught in a tempest.
Through the haze of dust and fragments of wood, a figure emerged with a commanding presence. Dressed in tattered robes, with black wings curled inward in a defeated manner, and an obsidian crown marred by fractures, it was none other than Velzeria herself.
She stumbled into the room, her eyes momentarily unfocused, a trickle of blood running down from her lip, painting a scene of injury and vulnerability that contrasted starkly with her previous power. In this moment of fragility, she appeared almost human, yet an undeniable force still lingered in the air around her, causing the very room to bend beneath her influence.
Her gaze locked onto Kazuto, now Raze, and narrowed, as if scrutinizing him to gauge his worth.
"You... you're not afraid?" Velzeria's voice, a low growl laced with curiosity, filled the space with an unsettling tension.
Kazuto stared back, his heart racing in his chest, and his throat felt dry, as if large stones were lodged there.
"…Should I be?" His voice cracked slightly, betraying the nerves bubbling beneath his outward calm.
She tilted her head, a curious expression crossing her features.
"Interesting."
Without further ado, in a moment that seemed both surreal and inevitable, the final boss of the game—the Empress of Ash herself—suddenly collapsed into his arms. In a twisted turn of fate, Kazuto, now Raze, found himself cradling the embodiment of all his virtual struggles, the very essence of challenge and fear, transformed into something fragile and human.
To be continued...