Jake swayed on his feet. Blood dripped from gashes on his arm and temple, mixing with sweat and grime. His armour was shredded, every breath a razor against his ribs. Seven days of hell against the monstrous boss had left the battlefield a graveyard under a sickly grey sky. 'Everyone gone,' he thought, scanning the corpses of Marcus, Lyra, the others. 'Just me and Zach left… after three years. Is this it?'
The boss towered ahead, wounded but lethal – obsidian scales, bone scythes for claws, eyes like pure void. It breathed raspily, black blood oozing from its hide. One last hit could end it. Gritting his teeth, Jake roared and charged. He ducked a feeble swipe and slammed his sword into the creature's neck.
The boss froze. Its eyes dimmed. Then, it collapsed, its corpse crashing into the ground
Then, blinding white light exploded from its corpse, blinding Jake. When it faded, a book lay where the beast had been. Bound in pitch-black leather that seemed to swallow light, engraved with pulsing platinum runes. Power hummed from it, vibrating Jake's bones. The Tome of Power.
He stumbled forward, hope flooding him, 'Finally! It can bring them back… Lyra, Marcus… everyone. End this nightmare.' His shaking hand reached out, fingers brushing the cool, vibrating cover. He clutched it to his chest. 'After all this time'
Suddenly, cold, sharp agony erupted through his back. The air vanished from his lungs in a gasp. He looked down, stunned. A sword tip, slick with fresh blood, jutted from just below his ribs. His brother's sword.
"Zach...?" Jake choked, the word thick with blood and disbelief. "Why...?"
His brother stood behind him. No grief, no hesitation. Just cold, calculating eyes fixed on the Tome in Jake's weakening grip. Zach twisted the blade.
White-hot agony tore through Jake. He screamed. The Tome slipped from his fingers, thudding onto the ground. He collapsed. His vision swam. The brother he'd grown up with had betrayed him.
Zach stepped over him, near Jake's head. He bent, picked up the Tome, his fingers tracing the leather with greed. He finally looked down, his expression neutral.
"For power, brother," Zach said, his voice flat, alien. "Obviously." He held the Tome higher, its light casting eerie shadows on his face. "Bringing people back? That's nothing. This?" He showed it to Jake. "This is the code to everything. With this..." A nasty smile touched his lips. "I won't save humanity, Jake. I'll replace it. With me as the only ruler"
Jake tried to speak, to dissuade him. Only a gurgle of blood came out. The cold sensation was spreading, faster, mixing with the pain. Zach didn't look back. He turned and walked away, clutching the Tome, its hum fading with each step.
The world faded to black.
***
Sitting up with a gasp, Jake thought 'Where am I? Shouldn't I be dead?' hurriedly checking his phone. The date was the 21st of July 2052 - the day before the release of the 100% realistic VRMMO, [Oblivion]
Jake knew that a year after the game released, people would gain the power they had inside the game, but that came with a cost. It wasn't a game anymore, it would become reality, complete with all the monsters, quests and areas.
'Last time, I gave everything for the whole of humanity, but this time, I will only protect those I care about' He thought 'Not Zach'
This time, he would know about all the secrets and events in [Oblivion] far before anyone else.
[Oblivion] was about to launch at midnight. It was currently 11:49PM
10 minutes later, Jake stepped into his immersion pod and logged in to Oblivion
[Welcome to Oblivion, player]
[Choose your ID]
'Asura'
Jake decided on this not long after his rebirth, to represent that he would be a demon towards those who harmed or betrayed him
[Would you like to log in?]
'Yes' he chose
Jake then appeared in a vast expanse, sky blue stretching as far as his eye could see.
Now, he would awaken his talent, the same as his previous life, the S-rank talent [Warrior's Perseverance]
[Awakening talent]
[S-rank talent awakened: Warrior's Perseverance]
[Error! Error!]
[Anomaly detected]
[Recalibrating]
Jake started to get worried 'Is this because I was reborn?'
[Successfully recalibrated]
[SSS-rank talent awakened: Sovereign of skills]
[Choose your class]
Suddenly, five statues appeared around him, the first depicting a man holding a large sword, with the word [Warrior] written in bold text. In similar fashion, the next one depicted a man with a staff, with the word [Mage] above it. The other three were [Healer], [Assassin] and [Archer]
Last time, he chose warrior, but while they were strong in the early stages, they were weaker than the others later on. The only reason Jake had survived that long was because of a hidden class that made him quite strong, but it was still only an S-rank class, but he knew of a way to obtain an SSS-rank mage hidden class, so he chose [Mage].
Soon after, he was teleported to a new location, the world briefly spinning as he arrived.