Hamster Diary

Blurb: I'm a transmigrator, I have hamster syndrome, and I'm a hardworking, well-behaved space hamster. Like most players, I spend every day cursing DE, asking why they still haven't given me 75 OFF and why the damn network connection keeps timing out.

The only thing that sets me apart from other players isn't that I'm one of the few women playing this game. It's that one day, just as I was about to reach the exit after grinding through an absurdly long solo survival mission, I got disconnected.

Enough is enough. In a fit of anger, I glared, and then closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I'd gone from a player slamming my keyboard and cursing the developers to an artist standing on a street in some country of lighthouses. A child pointed at me and shouted, "Mom, is he cosplaying Ultraman?"

I stared up in a daze. A Stark Industries ad was playing on the giant screen ahead. With my left ear, I heard the child's mother wondering why Ultraman had a horn on his head. With my right, I heard the roar of Ordis, the delusional AI aboard the Orbiter that was supposed to exist only in the game.

"Operator! Operator! Communications are being restored!"

Well, would you look at that. I transmigrated!

Reader's Guide: 1. In theory, this is a bizarre transmigration story that doesn't make use of the original characters.

2. The protagonist is the cream of the crop among weirdos. The influence of her golden finger has warped both her worldview and her intelligence.

3. The game is Warframe, and the company is DE. It's known for its bizarre art style, costing an arm and a leg despite being free, and warping its players' aesthetic sensibilities. It's a late-game mowing-down-hordes game for hardcore grinders, a sci-fi FPS with the feel of Diablo III.

Theme: You can't live only in your own world. You have to face reality sooner or later.