I hit a traffic jam in the tunnel on my way home from work. Sure, it's usually pretty busy around here, but traffic never just stops like this—someone must've gotten into an accident. If it were construction, there would've been signs. But there weren't any.
I just sat there, waiting for the backup to clear.
Gaming was my one and only hobby.
With a demanding work schedule, it was just way easier to enjoy my hobbies than to carve out time for a relationship. I'd built up such a negative view of marriage that even in my mid-thirties, I still had to put up with my mom nagging me to give her grandkids already. But honestly? I was perfectly happy with my life the way it was.
Still, though, how long was this gonna be backed up?
I needed to get home and finally play Medieval Knight, the game I'd picked up not too long ago. Medieval Knight is a game where you actually become a knight yourself and live out the Middle Ages. It was basically a dream game: a mashup of simulation, action, RPG freedom, estate and family management, and an open world set across all of Europe.
On top of that, a Crusades DLC was dropping in a month.
I was so pumped and excited that I honestly couldn't even remember if I'd done any real work that day.
So there I was, gripping the steering wheel with a big dumb smile on my face, when suddenly, there was this massive boom. I glanced at my rearview mirror to see what was going on, and that's when I spotted a huge truck barreling forward, absolutely flattening everything in its path.
I was so shocked I had no idea what to do, and then the truck slammed right into my car.
CRASH!
The impact hit me like a freight train. After that, I have no idea what happened. The world went dark, and my memory just… cut out.
So that's what dying feels like, huh? I can't wrap my head around it. It was like watching myself from a third-person perspective.
But then a warm light washed over me, and before I knew it, my eyes opened.
"…What?"
It didn't take long to figure it out. I had woken up as the protagonist character I'd created in Medieval Knight's character customization.