He had saved the Princess in record time, but in a world built on the grind, he was now the only monster left.

The Princess didn’t thank him. She stood still, her programmed eyes staring at the space where a hero should have been. Zero’s character froze, then slowly dissolved into the gray void of the "Kicked from Server" screen.

Ogres, skeletons, and shadow-dragons didn't even have time to spawn before they were deleted by the script’s . Levels flashed across Zero’s screen like a malfunctioning slot machine: Level 50... 100... 500. The Infinite Tower

The digital sky of turned a bruised purple as the "Kill Monsters to Save Princess" server hit peak capacity. Most players were grinding slimes in the Forest Zone, but for one player named Zero_Bit , the game was about to break.