In a dark room lit by a dim red light and a computer screen on the opposite side of the room was a young Caucasian man with black hair and eyes who had just finished animating a live stream in Japanese on Twitch.
He turned off the software to manage his live and when he was about to turn off his computer to go to sleep he saw on his mailbox a message with the title "sponsorship", with the email address of the game company Genm Corporation.
He opened the email and found a request to do a sponsored live event in collaboration with the online game he regularly plays live. He read the email in detail and the attached contract and sent an email to accept the proposal before finally turning off his computer and going to bed.
The next day, in the early afternoon, the young man arrived inside a room used for a launch party for a game. Once he arrived, he joined a crowd of people in front of a stage, while staying a few meters back.
On the stage was a Japanese man in a black suit with a purple tie looking at the audience.
"Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting." Said the man getting everyone's attention. "Today, the legendary game... Mighty Action X is finally finished!"
As the man said this, the title of the game and its main character was projected on the wall behind him as the room was filled with a thunderous applause.
A few minutes passed and the public had dispersed to go to the various booths, whether it was the booth where you could try the game, or those selling goodies. The young man just went to the goodies stand and enjoyed the party.
When suddenly, something happened. A child started to scream and then was changed into a kind of giant orange mass made of a strange orange material.
Everyone panicked and left the scene. The young man quickly went to his car before turning around and hearing the sound of a struggle. He could see a man in a kind of large black and white suit with several pink plastic locks in his hair. At the waist of this person was a green and pink belt.
The fight had fascinated him. It looked like a platform game fight. However, this was too much for him and he got into his car to go home.
A few weeks passed and the young man received a new email from Genm Corporation, containing a code to download and play an offline version of the collaboration. All he had to do was download it, install it and log in to play with his character, which he did.
But, when he connected, a kind of orange dust emanated from the screen as the young man lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he found himself in the room where the attack had occurred, still with the rest of the stands still present during the attack. He tried with difficulty to get up before he saw a hand stretched out to help him get up.
He grabbed it and thanked the person who helped him before finally looking at this person.
She was a young woman with ears and a cat tail with light brown skin, brown facial markings, pale white eyes and white hair with two front braids tied with rings. She was wearing a black dress with gray fur and high-heeled boots.
"Are you okay?" Asked the young woman.
"I think so. Thank you. And you?" Said the young man, surprised by the appearance of the young woman. "Damn, her cosplay is well done, it really looks like real ear and tail cat girl." He thought.
"I think. Who are you?" Said the young woman.
"My name is Hayden, Hayden Armani. Who are you?" Hayden replied.
"Y'shtola Rhul." Answered Y'shtola.
"Wow, she plays the game even at a time like this." Thought Hayden.
Once the introductions were made, they began to search the various booths to see if there were any clues as to how they got there, and why they were there in particular.
When they lifted a grid used to display goodies, they found a large black briefcase. They opened it and found that it contained a strange and imposing object of green and pink color with a little silver and on the pink part, the letter "GC" written in white on it. Next to it was a strange black object reminiscent of a video game cartridge with a label representing a knight wielding a sword that seemed to emanate power with "Taddle Quest" written above it, all in black and white. The two objects were surrounded by foam that filled the space of the attaché case.
"What is it?" Asked Y'shtola.
"I don't know. But it looks familiar." Answered Hayden, taking the two objects.
"It took you a long time to wake up." Said a serious voice coming from behind them.
They turned to see who was speaking to them.
The voice belonged to a man wearing a black coat with one green and one black sleeve, and a leather glove that stopped halfway down his forearm.
"What do you want?" Asked Hayden, defensively.
"Just doing a little experiment." Answered the man as he pulled out a pad with a gun with two barrels, a blade reminiscent of a chainsaw with an A button and a B button.
"Bio..." He said before placing the pad and a voice sounded as his body was transformed into a pixelated form.
Infection! Let's Game! Bad Game! Dead Game! What's your name?! The Bugster!
The human body of the man was replaced by that of a draconian humanoid monster with a double-bladed sword, one on top and one on the bottom of the handle, made of bone.
"Let's see if once you get up to size, you'll be able to use this belt." Said the monster before charging at Hayden who moved aside.
At that moment, without realizing it, Hayden placed the green and pink object at his waist. This made a black strap appear and attach the object to his waist.
Y'shtola made appear in a slight flash of light, a black wooden staff with a purple orb on the top topped by the same black box that seemed to have a dragon shape with a pair of grayish butterfly wings.
"Not if I stop you." She said.
"I don't think that will be necessary." Said the monster as he looked at the object at Hayden's waist. "So, what are you waiting for... activate the Gashat and insert it into this driver."
Hayden didn't understand what the monster meant until he looked at the strange black cartridge he was still holding. Noticing the button on the top of the object he pressed it so a blue light illuminated the transparent part for a few seconds as a voice emanated from it.
Taddle Quest!
A short medieval melody played as various wooden chests appeared on the scene.
Looking at two slots on the top of the object at his waist he randomly inserted the one closest to the center of the belt. The voice rang out again.
Gashat!
Gashat! Let's Game! Metcha Game! Mutcha Game! What's your name?! I'm a Kamen Rider!
As the jingle sounded Hayden saw various character icons spinning around him. He quickly decided to touch the one representing a knight in black and white. Once he had done this his body was covered in armor making him look like a chibi knight with a head identical to the one of the icon he selected. In his hand was a knight's sword.
"Level 1. We'll see if you can fight." Said the monster before Y'shtola joined Hayden's side.
"He won't be alone." Said she.
"Are you sure?" Asked Hayden a little unsettled by his current appearance that he finds ridiculous.
"I'm not going to stand by while a monster tries to prey on innocent people." Answered Y'shtola turning her gaze to Hayden.
After that, the fight began. Despite his gruff appearance, Hayden could move with amazing agility and flexibility. While he attacked the monster with his sword and blocked its attacks with his small shield, Y'shtola helped him by attacking him with spells. This surprised Hayden greatly.
"What is this...?" He asked surprised before he had to dodge an attack from the monster.
"Magic... interesting." Said the monster.
The fight continued, with the monster concentrating its defense on Y'shtola to block his magical attacks while it concentrated its attacks on Hayden, breaking his sword, before finally sending him back several meters with a single kick.
"It was entertaining, but even the best things come to an end." Said the monster as his weapon began to emit red lightning. "Dragon Fang of Rage!"
He drew a cross in the air, then threw it at Hayden. Hayden felt his end coming, feeling too weak to dodge the blow.
When suddenly Y'shtola stood between him and the blow and with the scepter in front, generated a shield that blocked the attack with difficulty until it ended.
"You have a strong ally, Asmodée. I understand why you were chosen." Said the impressed monster.
Y'shtola's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Hayden whose strange bar on his chest that had been several colors was now practically black with just a little bit of red visible as he removed the object he had put in his belt.
Gashun!
Once the object was out of the belt, the armor Hayden had disappeared.
"Who are you?" Asked Hayden as he struggled to his feet, which made Graphite smile.
"I Graphite." Introduced himself before turning his head towards the exit of the building. "I'll see you next time." He said before disappearing.
At that moment two men in white coats with some kind of high tech stethoscope around their necks accompanied by a woman in a nurse's outfit arrived and helped Y'shtola and Hayden to their feet.
"You're okay." Asked one of the doctors with concern to Hayden who nodded his head.
"The intern, look." Said the second doctor in a cold tone as he looked at the size of the young man, more precisely the belt that allowed him to transform.
"A Gamer Driver..." Said the nurse with surprise as she held Y'shtola who was struggling to stand because of Graphite's attack.
The latter looked at Hayden still surprised.
"You are Asmodée..." She whispered.
