Prologue
“Welcome, everyone, to the world of BGKL — Boardgame Killer.”
“This is a realm of virtual board games. Anyone who sets foot here stands a chance to win a grand prize of up to $111,111,111. And of course… there will be only one sole survivor to walk away with it.”
“Before I dive into the core rules of this world, allow me a brief introduction. You may call me BGM — the Boardgame Master — or simply Master. Should you have any questions, you may summon me at any time.”
“Now that introductions are out of the way, let us proceed to the three ironclad rules of this realm.”
“Rule number one: win by any means necessary.”
“Rule number two: there is no time limit. You may remain here for as long as your heart desires.”
“And rule number three: in games that carry penalties, players are strictly forbidden from disobeying orders.”
“Those are the ironclad rules of this world. From here on, I will—”
Smack!
Out of nowhere, a hand came crashing down hard on my right shoulder, nearly scaring the soul right out of my body. The ominous, echoing voice in my head vanished in an instant.
“Jesus! You scared me! Don’t sneak up on people like that!”
I spun around, snapping at my prankster of a friend. Jessica was the undisputed IT-girl of our group—blessed with sharp, modelesque Asian features and sky‑high confidence. She was a total social butterfly, effortless with everyone, especially foreign guys.
“You were so glued to your screen, looking deadly serious. I thought you were secretly texting some guy.” Jessica stepped up beside me, pulling out her compact to check her flawless makeup, as she always did.
“I’m not you, you know.”
With a sigh, I dropped my gaze back to my phone. The promotional video kept playing, the narrator’s voice spilling from the speakers.
‘…Now accepting a massive wave of players. If you’re interested, fill out your details on the registration page. Sign up now to receive a free character gacha pull from XXXX…’
“Whoa, that’s so cute! I’m actually watching that anime right now. How do I get it?” The little troublemaker shoved her face right next to mine, her eyes sparkling. Her slender finger slid across my screen, checking out the featured characters.
“Just download the game. Once it’s done, register and customize your character however you like. As for the free gacha, you have to claim it from your in-game mail first so it links to your account.”
“Ugh, what a hassle… but for the hot guys in XXXX, I’ll survive!” With that dramatic declaration, Jessica strutted back to her seat, whipped out her own phone, and began tapping away exactly as I’d instructed.
“It’s good that you’re downloading it. At least I’ll have someone to play with. This game has tons of fun stages.”
“Hey… I’m only downloading it for the gacha, you idiot. Who’d want to play some brain‑melting strategy game?”
“What a shame…” I drew out my words on purpose, trailing off teasingly. “I saw in the promo that the deeper you progress through the stages, the higher your chances of winning an invite to an overseas event for XXXX. Plus, there’s a shot at getting a super‑premium plushie. There are only ten of them in the entire world, you know.”
I snuck a glance at Jessica. Her eyes instantly lit up the moment she caught the word “exclusive.”
“For real?! I want it… but I know zero about board games. The most I’ve ever played is Uno and Monopoly.” Her beautiful face fell in a pout.
“It’s not that hard. The game has a tutorial before every real match. If you get stuck, you can just ask me.”
“Oh, right! I totally forgot you’re the reigning queen of online board games.”
“You’re exaggerating,” I chuckled softly.
“Wait! Is it already one‑thirty? Classical Chinese class! We’ve gotta hurry or the professor’s going to lock us out again!”
We both jolted, bolting to our feet. We sprinted full speed toward Building B at the end of the corridor, completely losing ourselves to the panic. Time to run our lungs out and burn some serious calories again.
. . .
11:00 p.m.
Ding! Please update to the latest patch: Version 4.0.2
“Huh… a major update? This is going to take forever, isn’t it?”
I flopped down spread‑eagle on my soft bed, hugging a plush pillow while staring at my screen. The download bar for BGKL was currently crawling at a miserable 10%.
The longer I stared, the heavier my eyelids became. I’d probably fried my brain cells cranking out that Classical Chinese report earlier this evening.
“I’ll just close my eyes for a bit…”
I let my eyelids flutter shut. Right then, the percentage on the screen suddenly began to climb at an abnormal, dizzying speed… leaping from 10% to 99% in a split second. A flash of piercing blue light burst from the phone, so blinding it cut right through my closed eyes.
Ding!
‘Patch update complete. Welcome, Player ID 4298, to the world of BGKL…’
That was the last sentence I heard before my consciousness was swallowed whole by the darkness.
