Ren sat at his desk, typing away at his work and grinning like an idiot. He’d been in the best mood since he woke up. Every time he thought about Mary, he felt like dancing. I’m on top of the world. Nothing could bring me down! Ding. His phone went off and he glanced at the notice. It was a message from Garif.

Garif: Hey, William told me what happened last night. Congrats. Sorry I was too busy with guild management to see the outcome. One other thing. I’m going to rip you a new one when you get back to Y.O.W tonight. How dare you complete an entire raid on your own! We talked about this before Knight! Now I have more paperwork and the Rockstars guild is breathing down my back. If I’d known that stupid ring was in a dungeon, I would have knocked you out and not let you go. Plus, you blew up a f*cking mountain, do you know how many penalties we’ll have to pay—

Ren set his phone down and ignored the rest of the message. He’d thought it was cool at first that Y.O.W had added a guild chat app for real life. However, the only time he used it was when Garif messaged him to nag him whenever he did something stupid. He could imagine that blowing up the mountain incurred massive costs to the guild's finances. Oh well, I’ll just try to sell that stuff I got from the dungeon raid to make up for it. I wonder how much that last loot was worth? Probably not a lot, considering how shitty that dungeon was. None of it matters though, Mary-chan said yes!

A goofy grin spread over his face again as he remembered her long paused before saying yes.

“Did something good happen, Yamato-senpai?” Nagasawa walked over to his desk holding an open can of coffee.

Why is this guy always drinking or eating something? Better yet, how is it he never seems to gain weight? Lucky little… He adverted his eyes instinctively and felt his back muscles tighten. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Well, you’ve been grinning all day. I was wondering if something good happened?” The young man sipped on his coffee.

Was I that obvious? Ren felt his face grow warm, and he fidgeted in his seat. It’s not like he could tell his coworker that he’d propose to an NPC. No, Mary-chan’s not an NPC, well she is, but ahgh.

“I-I, uh, w-well something nice ha-happened I-I guess,” he admitted.

Nagasawa eyed him and smirked. “Does it have anything to do with a woman?”

Ren flinched and his ears turned pink.

“Oh ho, is she cute?” Nagasawa leaned in and lowered his voice.

It’s not like he’ll ever know it’s Mary-chan. Ren checked that no one was listening to them before whispering, “V-very.”

The younger man slapped him on the back. “Congrats, senpai. Introduce her to me sometime.”

Ren didn’t reply. He kept his eyes on his keyboard and gave a fake smile, knowing that what his coworker was asking could never happen. His stomach growled and his eyes slid to the clock, telling him it was time for lunch.

“You want to come eat with us today, senpai?” Nagasawa offered.

“N-no, I brought my lu-lunch.” He held up a fast-food bag.

Nagasawa was already inching away. “Alright then, maybe next time.”

“Ri-right…” Ren watched his younger coworker head out with a group. He sighed and pulled out his burger. I wish I could eat with Mary-chan. He ate his burger and felt a little odd as he bit into it. The burger made him feel a little queasy. He paused and looked at it. Everything looked normal. He tried to take another bite, but felt nauseous and his stomach clenched. Ok, maybe I’ve had one too many of these lately. Ren put the burger back, unable to finish his lunch.

The rest of the day was a struggle. He tried to focus on work, but a persistent heart burn kept distracting him. By the time he finished work, it was long past sunset, and he was feeling exhausted. Once he finished his work, he headed for the train station and found himself a seat. He stared out the window mindlessly. A painful tightening in his chest made him flinch. Ow, what was that? He looked around at the people on the train, but they were minding their own business. Probably just more heart burn. Or growing pains. He almost chuckled at the last thought. The only growing he’d done since high school was growing the size of his gut. He ignored the pain. When he got off the train, he headed up the stairs to the outside of his apartment. At the top he found himself out of breath and a little dizzy. I need to exercise more.

He headed for his apartment and struggled to get his key out of his bag as his hands shook. When he opened the door, he stumbled at the entrance and threw up on the ground. What’s… happening?

An extreme pain ripped through his chest, and he cried out. He writhed on the floor until tears came out of his eyes. It was only then that he remembered when he was eating dinner alone with his adopted father and how his father had cried out at the dinner table that night. His father passed out on the floor and died within seconds. What is this? A heart attack? No! I don’t want to die. I don’t care if the real world is shitty. I’ll never see her again if I die. Mary-chan! He struggled to pull out his phone, but the pain was so intense he couldn’t see straight, and his hands trembled. He dropped the device. The screen cracked and went dark. No! At least let me see her one more time. Pushing himself off the floor, he managed to open the door to his special room. He could barely see as he reached for the FBM. Mary-chan! Another pain ripped through his chest and he slumped to the floor. His vision faded.

“Sir! Sir!” He could vaguely make out a young man’s panicked voice.

“Yamato-san!” An old lady shrieked.

No. I don’t want to die. Mary-chan…