The world of romance games, aka dating sims or otome games, was a massive, crazy-popular scene! Kinda wild when you think about it, since half the characters had the personality of a wet napkin, but hey, they were hits!

And that, luckily, or unluckily, meant the job market was always hungry for new programmers. And bam! That was his jam!

Now, Rowan wasn't what you'd call unlucky. No way! The guy found cash on the sidewalk and always snagged the last seat on the train. He had his charms! But man, the universe was totally ghosting him this Friday. He was stuck debugging his company's latest "masterpiece": "Welcome to Dryadia!"

Okay, don't get the wrong idea, he wasn't a total grump. It's just that the game was a major snoozefest! But for some reason, it was all the rage with the ladies and, well, a certain type of dude (simps, maybe?).

The plot? Get this: our hero/heroine loses their memory, wakes up in Fantasy-Nowhere-Land, bumps into their old mentor NPC, and goes on a quest to find their memories while collecting a harem of hot leads. So original, right? Never seen that one before. Haha... kill me now.

But despite its "totally unique" and "not-at-all-cliché" story, the game was a smash hit. And it was all because of one specific character who, in Rowan's professional opinion, was the absolute worst: the insufferable, petty, all-powerful Darius! Even his name sounded like a villain from a cheap soap opera, which pretty much summed up his personality, a big, fat zero!

Apparently, the big guy upstairs had it out for overworked programmers who just wanted to veg out and complain on a Friday night. Because Rowan was being forced to test-play the new route for that nightmare-fuel Darius before its official release. Pure. Hell.

So, who was this guy? Darius, the mystical demon heir and big boss of the demon kingdom of Zwarden, because of course he was. In a genre where characters are ridiculously overhyped, he took the cake. He had that classic "cold but devastatingly handsome" thing going on, a face carved by angels, and a body that looked like it spent more time in the gym than a fitness influencer. He was basically the poster boy for "Demon Emperor Chic." And his personality? A total trash fire! The kind of guy you'd cross dimensions to avoid. Which, reminder, Rowan was NOT allowed to do.

Darius was so petty and up himself that even when the protagonist saved his sorry behind, he couldn't even look her in the eye to say thanks!!!

Munching on his awesome chips and chugging his soda, Rowan decided to curse his boss's family for seven generations, but carefully, so it wouldn't backfire on his own family, since his ruthless boss was, you know… his big sister! Things could get awkward, but whatever! Fuming, he muttered a stream of quiet rage: "How can you take a cool, huge universe and fill it with this garbage?!?! Aren't you ashamed to show me this dumpster fire, man?! How can you even look at me and make me play this crap, you absolute clown?!"

Just as he was about to beat the level and peace out… he started choking. And, hang on, was he floating?! His vision got all spotty, and the last thing he saw was his computer screen glitching out. Then, words popped up: "Welcome to Dryadia, your favorite romance game!" with a super creepy, way-too-realistic Darius smirking in the background.

Then he heard a super cheerful voice shout:

"MASTER!"

The last thought that crossed Rowan's mind before everything went black was:

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me."