Chapter 1
A trash game.
A common term for games that are unenjoyable, have broken character balance, or are poorly managed.
But there's another scenario that falls into this category.
That is when a game has an absurd level of difficulty.
The virtual reality game [Gensokyoden] was exactly that.
For the year following its release, Japanese veteran gamers, who liked little girls, clung to it, attempting to conquer the game.
Sacrificing sleep and sustenance, they persevered every day of the year.
However, after three years, people came to a realization.
This game was impossible to clear.
It wasn't an exaggeration— it was the literal truth.
Take, for instance, the random spawn generator.
This meant that your character would randomly spawn anywhere on the map.
Anywhere means anywhere. On top of the tallest tree, in lava, half clipped into some random building.
Would it not have been more reasonable to at least allow some leniency?
Moreover, humans were the most common race you could get. Maybe in another hundred respawns you could at least become a fairy.
Not like being a fairy was any easier. Rape between racist fairy gang wars was a common practice.
This wasn't designed for fun— it was torture.
Or perhaps a scheme to spite the Argentinian government.
Consequently, the game failed.
Or more accurately, it 'almost' failed.
There were still a very small number of hardcore players challenging this hellish difficulty.
Included among them was…
A Peruvian youth named Contresh.
[You have survived for 3878 days, 9 hours, and 29 seconds!]
[Congratulations! You are the first to survive this long!]
"Is… Is this for real?"
A little over a decade in Gensokyo.
Contresh let out a sigh filled with a mix of freaky emotions.
It was merely torture for him.
He took on the impossible game with impure intentions.
And the sense of achievement from merely surviving for what felt like an eternity in hell.
From 17, when he first had the money to buy virtual reality games, until the age of 22 when he lost his virginity. (In vr)
A full 5 years had whirled past him like a revolving lantern.
"Ha. Maybe I should've streamed it to the server."
Although he only streamed to the Touhou Fanfiction server with one or two people watching his stream, he considered himself a streamer.
But Contresh immediately shook his head.
After all, someone might join just to kill him for fun.
No one was safe from him. Although Contresh has survived the longest, there were a few others who accomplished more than he did. Not like it mattered if they were dead in the ultimate permadeath game.
It was then.
Ding!
[We truly appreciate your patronage of our game thus far.]
[Reboot update is scheduled to occur in 12 hours, and we hope for your continued support.]
It was a message reserved for administrators.
Contresh thought they had given up on managing the game, as there had been no communication or management for 5 years.
'Surprising. And a reboot update, no less. What did they do, strike cheese in the mountains of Alaska?'
Logically, it made no sense to him.
The game had no profitability whatsoever…
'...Forget it. They must have their reasons.'
It had nothing to do with him anymore.
Reboot update or not, he had no intention of playing the game any further.
Besides, he was also planning to quit his career as a streamer after today.
There was no family to support, but at the age of 22, he couldn't keep living with just the bare minimum.
'I should tell the gym owner I'll need to take a break from training for a while.'
He had once been told he could aim to go pro in martial arts, but right now, money was more of a concern than training.
-ProbablyJoe: Hi Contresh-san
-Extraction Team Captain KoTR: HI CONTRESH-SAN
As soon as he started the broadcast, 2 regular viewers promptly joined and called him a funny nickname.
-explosionconnoisseur: Are we doing another group masturbation?
-Extraction Team Captain KoTR: Please no
Thanks to his small peanut gallery, he had been able to continue broadcasting.
Laughing and chatting with his viewers while reviewing shitty Steam games and cracking a dirty joke or two, dawn gradually approached.
'I'll have to announce that I'm quitting tomorrow on proper notice.'
He couldn't quite bring himself to say it out loud just then.
Yes.
He would speak of it tomorrow.
But…
Contresh himself didn't know yet.
When he opened his eyes, the world had already changed.