Project Nexus : Beyond Reality
Episode 15: The Aftermath of Ultimate Embarrassment
Renji lay on his bed, face buried in his pillow, his soul still recovering from the ultimate self-inflicted humiliation. His entire morning had been a disaster, and his pride was in shambles.
Then, his phone buzzed again.
He groaned, rolling over to check the screen.
[Leon]: So… you actually ran to school on a Saturday?
[Eve]: LMAOOO that's next-level commitment.
[Airi]: Did you at least get some exercise? Sounds like a great morning workout!
[Kai]: Bro, I feel for you. But also… HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Renji felt his dignity evaporate.
Slowly, he typed a reply.
[Renji]: I swear, if you guys keep talking about this, I'm deleting you all from my friends list.
A second later—
[Rael]: …wait, you RAN TO SCHOOL?
Renji's entire body tensed.
[Rael]: YOU ACTUALLY RAN? LIKE… FULL SPEED?
Renji slammed his phone onto the bed.
He knew where this was going.
Within seconds, his nanochip headset started ringing—an incoming call from the game chat.
"…Oh no."
He hesitated, but then reluctantly turn on the headset on and answered the call.
Immediately—
Laughter exploded in his ears.
"HAHAHAHA, OH MY GOD, RENJI, YOU REALLY DID IT!" Rael wheezed.
Kai was dying. "DUDE, HOW DID YOU NOT CHECK YOUR CALENDAR FIRST?!"
Airi tried to be supportive—but failed. "I mean, at least you were responsible?"
Leon, ever the strategist, sighed. "Renji, the fact that you didn't even THINK to check what day it was before going into a full-blown panic is… concerning."
Eve's voice was way too amused. "So, what was the best part? The realization? Or the walk of shame back home?"
Renji leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
"...I hate all of you."
Their laughter continued.
His suffering was officially immortalized.
Back in the Game: Trying to Move On
After a solid hour of being roasted, Renji logged back into the game, appearing in Hamlet, the town where they had last stopped.
He was immediately greeted by more teasing.
Rael smirked, resting a dagger on his shoulder. "So, boss, do we need to schedule our next dungeon raid around your school hours? Oh wait—"
Eve grinned. "Maybe we should call you 'Saturday Sprinter' from now on."
Leon chuckled. "Or 'Weekend Warrior'."
Kai joined in. "Nah, just 'Renji the Rushed.'"
Renji rubbed his temples.
"I logged in to forget my suffering, not relive it."
Airi patted his shoulder. "Cheer up. You've got a new title now."
Renji scowled. "I don't WANT a new title."
Rael snapped his fingers. "Wait, hold up."
He pulled up his game interface and started typing something.
A second later—
A notification appeared in the party chat.
[System Message: Renji's new guild title has been set to "Weekend Warrior" by Rael.]
Renji stared at the screen.
Then slowly turned to Rael.
Rael grinned. "Enjoy, boss."
Renji let out a deep sigh.
"…I'm going to kill you."
Rael laughed. "You'll have to catch me first."
And with that, he vanished into stealth mode.
Renji screamed internally.
New Quest: Salvaging His Reputation
After several more minutes of enduring his new nickname, Renji finally forced the team back on track.
"Alright, enough messing around. We're heading out to level up."
Kai nodded. "Yeah, we still need to hit level ten."
Leon checked their inventory. "We have enough potions, and our new weapons are ready. We should move toward the Wildlands."
Airi stretched. "Finally, something to distract us from Renji's terrible decision-making."
Renji glared at her.
"…I'm never letting you pick the loot first again."
Airi gasped dramatically. "You wouldn't dare."
Eve smirked. "Let's go before Renji dies from secondhand embarrassment."
Rael popped back out of stealth, still grinning. "Too late."
Renji let out another exhausted sigh.
This was going to haunt him forever.
But at least, for now—
They had a game to win.