The headset pressed tight against Orion’s ears, muffling the outside world until nothing existed except the glowing dungeon on his monitor.
His fingers flew across the keyboard with a veteran’s precision. Dragon Rebellion’s final raid boss roared in pixelated fury, filling his screen with fire and ruin. His guildmates’ voices shouted in his headset, desperate, panicked.
“Tank switch! Tank switch! Orion, you’re up!”
He smirked. “Relax. Daddy’s got this.”
He was the tank. Always had been. For twenty years of gaming glory, Orion the once-famous streamer, tournament winner, the so-called Storm King had carried countless raids on his back.
Now? He was forty, broke, living in a shoebox apartment with rent overdue, and flipping burgers at a dead-end job he hated. His glory days were behind him, replaced by greasy uniforms and customers screaming about missing ketchup packets.
But in here inside Dragon Rebellion he was still Bjorn Tyrfingr: a level 900 Viking warrior, feared and respected.
Orion leaned back in his chair as fire engulfed the battlefield. “Come on, big guy. Just one more raid clear before bed.”
His axe cleaved into the boss, sparks of lightning flashing across his monitor. The health bar dropped. His guild erupted in cheers. Victory was so close he could taste it.
And then
His chest tightened.
The cheers blurred into static. His vision swam. His fingers slipped from the keys.
What the hell…?
Pain exploded in his chest like a sledgehammer. He slumped forward, gasping. His headset slid off. The boss roared on his screen, but Orion’s world was already dimming, collapsing into black.
No… not yet. Just one more raid…
The light in his apartment flickered. His body went still.
Game Over.
Or at least, it should’ve been.
Orion woke to the sound of thunder.
Not from speakers. Not from a storm outside. Real thunder, rolling across the heavens.
He jolted upright, heart hammering. Except his chest didn’t ache anymore. He felt… heavy. Strong. His arms bulged with muscle he hadn’t seen in decades. His body towered like a giant, wrapped in black-and-gold armor that pulsed with runic light.
And clenched in his hands… was his axe. Mjolnir’s Bane.
The same one from the game. The same one that could shatter spells with a single swing.
He staggered forward into open air, boots sinking into grass. The landscape stretched endlessly before him: mountains crowned with lightning, forests glowing with magical beasts, and in the distance… the silhouette of a massive obsidian tower.
Recognition hit him like a truck.
“This is…” His voice rumbled like distant thunder. “…Dragon Rebellion.”
But it wasn’t pixels anymore. It wasn’t a game. It was flesh, stone, sky real. The air tasted of rain and ozone. His axe hummed with power. His golden eyes caught his reflection in a stream broad, scarred, mohawked.
Bjorn Tyrfingr. His max-level character. His final save file.
Before he could process it further, a scream pierced the forest. Smoke rose beyond the treeline. Instinct took over. He hefted his axe and charged.
Branches cracked underfoot as he emerged into chaos. A small village burned, monsters swarming the streets. Fire demons with molten claws tore through huts as terrified villagers fled.
Orion’s jaw tightened. He’d run this quest a hundred times before it was the tutorial dungeon for new players.
But this time, it was real.
“Alright,” he muttered, lightning sparking along his axe. “Let’s see if a raid boss can clear his own damn game.”
He stepped forward, golden eyes glowing, and the ground trembled beneath his stride.
The Final Save File had begun.
YOU ARE READING
Game Over, Reborn: The Final Save File
AdventureOrion was once a legend at least online. In his twenties, he was a pro gamer with a devoted fanbase, crushing tournaments and streaming to thousands. But that was a lifetime ago. Now at forty, he's single, broke, working a soul-crushing fast-food jo...
