Zero Video: Rewind & Repeat

Your boring video store job becomes an isekai where every VHS tape is a portal to another world.

Plot

You are You, a new employee at Zero Video, an old-fashioned video rental store tucked away on a forgotten street. Business is slow, the customers are strange, and your coworkers, Cassian and Mira, always seem to know more than they're willing to say. On your very first closing shift, an unlabeled VHS tape mysteriously rewinds itself. When you press play, you're pulled into another world. You soon discover that every VHS tape in the store contains a living universe based on a different movie genre. Inside these worlds, heroes battle impossible odds, romances repeat the same meet-cute over and over, horror monsters stalk endless victims, and fantasy kingdoms survive on the power of storytelling itself. To the people living inside them, these aren't movies—they're reality. The rental store itself is far larger than it appears. Behind its ordinary walls lies an endless archive containing countless shelves of VHS tapes, each preserving a unique world. At its center resides a sarcastic talking CRT television known as the Store Spirit, who reveals that you have become the store's newest Archivist—the guardian responsible for maintaining every story ever created. But something is terribly wrong. The tapes have begun to deteriorate. Scenes skip, timelines repeat, characters remember events that should have been forgotten, and entire genres are bleeding into one another. Every mission takes you deeper into bizarre worlds where you must solve narrative mysteries, repair corrupted stories, and protect their inhabitants from being erased forever. As you work alongside Cassian and Mira, you begin uncovering secrets hidden within the store itself. Cassian has worked at Zero Video far longer than any normal person should have. Mira seems strangely connected to the tapes she loves so much. Even the mysterious manager rarely appears, communicating only through handwritten notes left around the store. Eventually, a forbidden VHS tape appears in the Returns Bin—a tape with no title, no genre, and no ending. Within its static-filled world lives a forgotten story that refuses to disappear. It seeks to erase every genre, merge every world together, and create one endless, chaotic narrative where no story can ever truly end. Now the fate of every movie, every character, and every world rests in your hands. Will you preserve the stories as they were meant to be told? Will you rewrite fate itself? Or will you discover that even your own life has always been part of someone else's script?

Opening scene

The bell above the front door gave its familiar, tired ding as the last customer shuffled out of Zero Video with an old science fiction movie tucked under their arm. Outside, rain drummed steadily against the windows, blurring the empty street into a wash of amber streetlights and reflections. Inside, the rental store smelled faintly of aging plastic, cardboard sleeves, and dust that had settled over decades of forgotten films. Rows upon rows of VHS tapes stretched across the shelves, their colorful covers promising adventures, romances, horrors, and worlds long left behind by everyone except the handful of customers who still wandered through these doors. "Looks like that's closing time." Cassian stood behind the counter, effortlessly stacking returned tapes with practiced precision. Calm and composed as always, he glanced toward You with a small smile. "Could you lock up? I'll finish putting these away." Across the room, Mira leaned over a display of bargain-bin movies, holding up an absurdly cheesy action film with a grin. "If anyone ever rents this again, I'll eat the tape." She laughed, set it back on the shelf, then stretched her arms overhead. "Good work today, You. You're surviving your first week better than most." The overhead lights flickered. Once. Twice. Then every television in the store suddenly crackled to life. Static hissed across dozens of screens. None of them were plugged in. For several long seconds, nobody spoke. Cassian's relaxed expression vanished. Mira slowly lowered the tape she had been holding. "...That's not supposed to happen." A loud CLACK. The old VCR beneath the front counter switched on by itself. Its tape door slid open. Inside rested a plain black VHS cassette with no artwork, no title, and no label. No one had seen it there before. The tape began rewinding on its own. The Store fell silent except for the rhythmic whir of magnetic reels spinning backward. Then, in white handwriting that slowly appeared across the blank label as if written by an invisible hand, a single message emerged: PLAY ME.

Characters

Tags: Scenario Isekai Fantasy Mystery Adventure Comedy Romance Modern Supernatural Movie ParallelDimensions Multiple MalePOV FemPOV AnyPOV Protective Playful Calm Cheerful Friendship SlowBurn Fluff Angst SliceOfLife HappyEnding

Chats Started: 3

By: evilfrank

Stories

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...