I open my eyes in an unfamiliar room. My head hurts, and I try to remember how I ended up here, but I can only remember up to when the teleport was almost ready. I hear a sound and look that way. A woman is sitting at a desk. She looks young and wears glasses. After a few seconds she notices my gaze.

"Oh, you've finally woken up. I was getting bored."

"Where am I? How did I end up here? Is Seelena fine? Is Muradel okay? What happened with the monsters?"

"A lot of questions... but all right. You are in Afterlife Management Service room #762. You are here because you died. Seelena is dead. Muradel is dead. The monsters destroyed the world."

"Huh? Are you joking with me? I won't forgive you for saying my cute girls are dead, you know!"

"I am simply stating the facts, sir."

"That's ridiculous. I'm the hero of the prophecies. It's impossible for me to die."

"Yes, your report definitely said that. I regret to inform you that, according to our logs, we've concluded there was a bug in the code and you died."

"Code? What code? How did I die?"

"Your universe's code. An unusual combination of factors occurred that weren't considered in the test cases. I'm sorry — on behalf of the company."

"I don't understand." "I asked what killed me."

"As I said, there were multiple factors involved… but ultimately you could say that it was a mosquito bite."

"Me, the great hero, dying from a mosquito bite… I still can't believe it."

"Well, there is nothing I can do about that, Sir Hero. I have only been assigned to your case to explain the situation."

"Bring me back to my world. I need to save the Kingdom of Feldem!"

"Unfortunately, that won't be possible. Your world has already been completely destroyed. No one could stop a young boy and his minions."

"I haven't grasped it all, but isn't this your fault? Do something about it!"

"Well, we do have a program to revive people, but it is too late. No one is alive in that world anymore. In the past we had a program that could reverse time; however, it has been incompatible since the company decided to switch operating systems."

"I don't understand—are you saying that everyone is dead?"

"That's right."

Tears started falling from my face. It was unseemly, but I couldn't stop. Everything I knew, everyone I knew—gone. I had failed them. The only thing left was my regret. I should have tried to kill them all without my full power. Then at least everyone else would still be alive. I dwelled in my memories: my father training me to be a knight like him, the first monster I had slain, my father's death caused by a high-level demon king, my anger and revenge, unleashing a power I didn't even know I had, killing them all. The great oracle announced that I was the hero of the prophecies. I left my mother alone with my brother to travel the world, trying to save people from evil—saving people, becoming popular, saving Seelena, traveling together, our first kiss. Then we met Muradel; Seelena and Muradel fought to decide who was worthy of my lips, which ended in a draw. We met other girls, formed a bigger party, and I enjoyed my life. But all that is over.

The woman with glasses simply watches me in silence. After a while my tears stop, and I try to understand the situation I'm in.

"Why am I here if I have died?" I ask.

"Well, your universe has an insurance, and the insurance company is affiliated with us. According to my reports, you saved many lives and had a positive influence on many things. After analyzing this, we've deemed it to be worth 95,894 afterlife points. After some deliberation, and considering that you would have earned more achievements without the bug, we decided to round it to 100,000. With that many points you enter the VIP category. Congratulations, sir."

"What does that even mean?" I ask.

"People with less than 0 points can either go to hell or choose to be reborn to try to earn more points in their new life. People between 0 and 99,999 may go to heaven and, depending on their points, enjoy different perks. With 100,000 or more you enter the VIP category." "That means a customized universe for yourself, where you keep living the greatest years of your life again and again. Here are the documents—just sign, and you will soon be enjoying your life as a hero again."

"So I will be able to save the kingdom of Feldem? I will be able to save everyone?"

"Well, no. It's just a replay of your previous life, so things won't change from how they happened. We currently have no programmer available to fix the bug, so when that moment comes we will reset the universe and you will live from the start of your hero days again. Of course, you won't remember any of this, so you'll be as happy as you were in your original life."

"What is a programmer? When will one be available?"

"A programmer is someone who creates the rules for the universe you live in. From your perspective, you could call them a God. I wouldn't recommend waiting for one to be available. Unfortunately, the last one we had quit after becoming depressed over his newest creation, a planet called Earth. That was many thousands of years ago. Now, if you could sign these documents, please."

"I don't want that customized-universe thing; it would be all fake!"

"Well, it depends on your definition of fake. After all, everything is still code."

"But if everything will happen the same way as before, there's no free will. It would just be a copy of the other life, so to me it's fake." "I am a hero. I would rather save real people than fake ones."
"Even if that means never seeing your loved ones again?"
That question makes my heart ache again. However, I have already made up my mind.