the streamer [ 2 ]

Pirated content.

Almost five out of ten people in the world know exactly what I mean. Sometimes, you just can't afford to buy what you want, so you turn to cracked links offering the content you desire… but stolen, illegal.

But because these sources are unreliable, often filled with malware, and constantly harvesting your data… they're dangerous.

Or, well… most of them are.

Yet here I am… risking a virus… over something so trivial…

And even though I wouldn't be able to stream the game live—and had literally just ended my retirement stream a little while ago… and even though I'd decided long ago that this was my last broadcast… there was still this small pull inside me.

Sometimes… or maybe always… I tell myself it's a chance I have to take. Even when everything says I'll lose, I cling to the tiniest hope.

This is the life of ants… what do you know about it… we're too small to realize how big everything truly is, how insignificant we really are.

My problems, someone else's problems… they're nothing compared to the universe. So what's the point of what I'm doing? Why try… why keep saying tomorrow will be better than yesterday.

Why do I try even when it's pointless… why can't life just, for once… go along with my steps…

My thoughts drifted away completely after I calmed down, took a cold shower, dried off, got dressed, and left the bathroom. Then I went to my room, turned on the computer, and watched as the screen spun with swirling colors for half a minute before finally booting up.

I opened my email, copied the link, and pasted it into the browser. After a moment, a site loaded… a blue background, filled with faint ornate patterns.

I checked my VPN and antivirus—they didn't react at all, not even a blip.

[ Welcome to AndroLead—your hub for all your favorite games.

Exclusive…!

Exclusive!

Golden Age is now available in a near-reality version for a limited time. Hurry up and download! ]

There was a golden box that sparkled steadily with every passing second… the word 'Exclusive' written in bold, and beneath it, in large clear letters, 'Golden Age'… practically begging me to click.

I moved the mouse and double-clicked. Immediately, it opened another page on the same site, displaying the download method, features of the game, and an incredibly detailed explanation of every aspect of Golden Age.

Near the 'Direct Download' section, there was a field labeled [ Cheats ].

[ Dear user… welcome… we created this section because of the countless requests for cheat elements in the game. Because our site users are specially chosen, we offer you a free cheat file letting you pick legendary skills, outfits, and never-before-seen achievements | 🔗 | ]

[ Small Reminder: Choose wisely… even we can't guarantee your safety. ]

[ And because we care about your safety more than anything, you can also download a full guide revealing every secret, every hidden story, the fastest paths to victory, every strength and weakness, and the location of every item in the game in another file | 🔗⁦^⁠_⁠^⁩ | ]

{ But be warned… things might change… everything could turn into lies without you even knowing ⁩⁦:⁠-⁠)⁩ }

I rubbed my eyes as I read the words glowing on my bright screen...

What exactly does this mean? My mind froze for seconds, trying to grasp what was in front of me...

Seriously, guys, do you really believe yourselves? This makes no sense at all... I doubted for a while, but well, what's the harm in continuing the journey to the end?

Honestly, I don't want to regret not trying… I don't want to look back and wish I had.

I sighed slightly and clicked the cheat file—it looked simple enough that even I wasn't sure it was really a cheat file...

Then I glanced at the file next to it.

I thought for a moment: how could they know all this info? I'd have to memorize a huge amount of data I wouldn't even use… especially since this was a pirated game anyway.

I hesitated, then thought, why not? And after clicking the other file in the middle of the bar, suddenly my antivirus alarm rang loudly. I quickly stopped the download. The progress bar was at [60%].

I sighed, scared, and opened my antivirus program. I stared at the alert box and the notification...

-A suspicious file is being downloaded. Please verify it before proceeding to ensure your device's safety -

Alright… thank God it was just a warning…

I scrapped the idea of installing the other file and went back to the game file. After the download finished, I merged the cheat file with the game file. Then I noticed that part of the information file I had partially downloaded had somehow merged automatically with the game file as well.

After that, the game's icon appeared on my desktop.

I hesitated a bit before launching the game…

The thing about Golden Age was that it was a fully immersive VR game—so realistic it was almost indistinguishable from real life. But before entering the game, you had to create an account and a character. And to actually play, you needed to wear a helmet that looked like a motorcycle helmet… just to connect. That helmet was insanely expensive.

And of course, the game itself cost a fortune… there was no other option.

I had no idea how this would even run on my computer in the first place…

On the game's small start screen…

It had already launched—let's click. I didn't expect it to even open like this.

[ Let's create a character together ]

I'd seen this opening in thousands of videos, so I knew exactly what path to follow. First, you needed to create your character…

When I clicked on 'Create Character,' it asked me { Male / Female / Genderless Entity }.

Usually, if you picked the third option, you'd get access to strange creatures like skeletons, slimes, and more.

I clicked on 'Male'… and a list of races appeared… each with an image next to it when you hovered your mouse over it for a second.

[ Human ^ ]

[ Elf ^ ]

[ Vampire ^ ]

[ Dwarf ^ ]

[ Djinn ^ ]

[ Ancient Spirit 'Hidden' ]

[ Barbarian ^ ]

[ Sea Lord 'Hidden' ]

[ Royal Elf 'Hidden' ]

[ God-blessed Human ( Supreme ) 'Hidden' ]

[ Forest Lord 'Hidden' ]

[ Death Soldier 'Hidden' ]

I was shocked… all the hidden races that normally only appeared randomly… they were just there, unlocked.

This was impossible… as I kept scrolling through the list of available races, I didn't change my mind. Sure, this was just a pirated copy and I wouldn't benefit from it long-term, but… at least let me pick something good.

[ Supreme Elf ]

They said this race was one of the best in the late game. It had excellent understanding of magic techniques, a high chance of reaching level 99 in magic, and extremely high mana affinity.

So… it was a really good choice.

[ Supreme Elf race selected. Congratulations! ]

I skipped all the celebratory screens and went straight to the next page…

[ Choose Your Class ]

[ Warrior ^ ]

[ Mage ^ ]

[ Assassin ^ ]

[ Summoner ^ ]

[ Spearman ^ ]

[ Swordsman ^ ]

[ Samurai 'Hidden' ]

[ King 'Hidden' ]

[ Prince 'Hidden' ]

[ Duke 'Hidden' ]

[ Dragon Slayer 'Hidden' ]

[ Royal Mage 'Special - Hidden' ]

[ Gamer King 'Hidden' ]

[ Martial Artist ^ ]

[ Singer ^ ]

[ Archmage 'Legendary' ]

[ Assassination King 'Legendary' ]

[ Butcher ^ ]

[ Weapon King 'Special' ]

[ Void Mage 'Unknown - Class requires special conditions' ]

As I stared at the seemingly endless list of classes, I finally understood why a game like Golden Age cost so much…

In the YouTube videos I'd watched, users sometimes got strange or unknown classes, but I'd never realized there were hundreds of them…

This… was on a whole other level.

As I scanned the list twice, there were just too many classes… more than I ever imagined.

Plenty of them stood out, but the best class for Supreme Elf was undoubtedly a magic-based one… so I immediately ruled out anything that didn't rely on mana, like Warrior, Swordsman, Assassin, or Healer…

I jumped on YouTube and scoured forums for hidden class guides…

After half an hour of searching, there was a consensus: the best hidden magic class was Archmage—only four elite players in the entire world had ever gotten it.

But when I thought about it… what's the point of picking something everyone already knows? Why not choose a class that covers the typical weaknesses of elves and mages…?

So I decided on…

[ Weapon Master 'Special' ]

Weapon Master was really strong… maybe not quite as broken as Archmage, but comparable… and honestly, the idea of pairing a Supreme Elf—typically seen as fragile magic specialists—with a class that focused on physical weapon skills… it was fascinating.

But wait…

Normally, in the game, after you picked your class, there'd be X marks over the rest—and only your chosen one would be marked with a check.

But when I tried clicking on another class… a check appeared there, too.

Oh… my god… this cheat was insane…

Let me pick something else… this is just crazy.

[ Archmage: You have indescribable talent in magic… near-perfect control over magical particles… ]

[ Domain Master: You are the king of your own domain… you can control everything within two meters of yourself… ]

After thinking a bit, it didn't feel fun to be overwhelmingly powerful from the start. So I deleted the Archmage class and filled my traits with purely warrior-based ones… all about physical combat.

Then I clicked to continue, customizing my body, hair, look, clothes, long ears, and charming elf appearance.

Now the name…

[ Alean Hoven ]

Perfect.

After five minutes spent finishing the character biography, I noticed something—my character, with all those stacked skills, was looking seriously OP.

So, I went back to the weakness list… and added:

[ Heart Problems ]

[ Weak Mindset ]

[ Severe Laziness ]

And in between, I added another one:

[ Pheromone Curse: The longer you fight, the higher the chance of suffering shortness of breath ]

Perfect.

Now, with everything ready, it was time to register and see what happens next.

Wait… what is this...

A sharp, annoying buzzing filled my headphones, and moments later the screen turned a deep blue...

My body began to scatter, breaking down into tiny particles of light, flowing through the screen...

I guess this was somewhat expected.