The air was thick with tension. Amidst the ruins of a destroyed city, two players stood, exhausted, their ragged breaths echoing through the debris. On one side, ZERO wielded his Eternal Swords, the twin blades that had accompanied him through countless battles, adopting an offensive stance. His eyes sparkled with exhilaration as he chanted his final attack:
—"MY POWER TEARS THE EARTH, RENDS THE SEAS, AND CLEARS THE SKIES! BLUE HEAVEN!"
On the other side, his opponent, known as NOX, lunged with deadly speed, his sword cutting through the air as he cast an incantation:
—"PROVE YOU ARE WORTHY OF THE SIXTH HEAVEN, RECEIVE THE BLESSING OF THE TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE! GREAT STORM!"
The clash was monumental. A burst of light and energy shook the city, making the ground beneath them tremble. For a moment, everything vanished: the buildings, the remnants of the battle, even the sound of the rain that had begun to fall. After a blinding flash, only one figure remained standing.
ZERO's name glowed golden above his avatar, the number one hovering at his feet. His enemy lay defeated, and the rain fell upon him. Exhausted, ZERO collapsed, breathing heavily.
"That last attack… if I had hesitated even a moment longer, I would have lost," he thought, a mix of pride and fatigue crossing his face. Finally, his eyes rested on his title: DEMIGOD. A smile spread across his lips before darkness enveloped him.
His screen went black, and suddenly, ZERO woke up in a vast plain. He slowly stood up, taking in the expansive landscape before him.
"Where am I…? This doesn't look like the central district," he thought, letting out a deep sigh. Without further hesitation, he assumed he had been transported to a random location.
"Maybe my HP dropped to zero after the battle… or perhaps the great storm left me with some status effect like poison…"
"Ah… right." He moved his hand, and his status screen appeared in the air. It displayed more information than he could quickly process:
ZERO – LVL 100Gender: MaleAge: 17
Below that, his titles appeared: DEMIGOD, NIGHT MONARCH, DRAGON SLAYER, among others he had earned over time in the game. His magical abilities were so numerous that they didn't even fit on the screen. His items, stored in his item box, were almost completely damaged.
"I should find a city and repair my armor," he thought, equipping a secondary set of armor in the meantime.
"Hmm?" He frowned as he noticed several items in his box were unrecognized, showing as ???. These included maps and artifacts that required activation in specific areas. Acting quickly, he activated his Area Recognition ability, sending waves outward across a great distance, but found nothing.
Worried, he tried to send a message to a GM, but the spell failed to activate. A chill ran through him: could it really be possible that he was no longer in Eternal Sword Online?
"It must be a bug," he muttered, though deep down he knew it wasn't possible. Eternal Sword Online was famous for its bug detection system, a dual-layered mechanism that executed actions while scanning for errors, automatically correcting them. No bug had ever been found in its history.
ZERO pondered the worsening situation. He tried to disconnect—but his face darkened when he realized the disconnect option had disappeared from his menu.
He took a deep breath and continued thinking:
"If this isn't Eternal Sword Online, then I've been transported to another world… but is that even possible? Either way, I need to find a city quickly. I don't know how powerful I am right now; if I encounter a high-level monster, defending myself might be difficult even with this secondary armor."
ZERO opened his item box in search of something useful, and a smile spread across his face when he found it: a Medium Summon Scroll.
He placed the scroll on the ground and shouted:
—"MEDIUM SUMMON TECHNIQUE: DRAGON LORD!"
From the scroll emerged a dragon—but not just any dragon: an oriental dragon, which soared into the skies. Moments later, it returned, bowing to ZERO. Without hesitation, he mounted the dragon, and together they headed north.
ZERO moved north, thinking that following the sun would be the best strategy to avoid nightfall. With a swift motion, he activated one of his high-level skills: "SEARCH TARGET: CITY." Immediately, a light resembling an aurora appeared before his eyes, showing him the path he needed to follow. Then, he used Shared Sense, transmitting the route to his beast. Without hesitation, the dragon quickened its pace, for the city was still far away.
Along the way, they encountered a few low-level wyverns. Upon sensing the dragon's presence, they fled in terror. ZERO didn't even consider them a threat; instead, he allowed himself to admire the vast landscape around him.
He hadn't gone much farther when his instinct—or rather, his perception skills—warned him of nearby enemies. He closed his eyes and activated Threat Detection, a skill that revealed those with hostility toward him. In the game, this technique was often used among PK players, who always had hunters trailing them. Though he didn't expect much, the ability worked: he detected several dragons following them, likely drawn by the roar of his earlier summoning.
Without hesitation, ZERO ordered his beast to dodge the attacks while he considered a counterattack. He soon identified the enemies: lesser dragons. They posed no real threat, so confident, he decided to use them as "warm-up targets." He quickly raised both hands and cast a spell: PYROCLASTIC DRAGON. From the earth, a fire dragon emerged, attacking and mercilessly annihilating the enemies behind ZERO. For a moment, he thought he might have overdone it, but he knew they would no longer pursue him.
Unnoticed, a greater dragon observed the scene. Its minions had fallen, and the wise creature realized that confronting this being would be unwise. It turned and flew away.
ZERO continued on his path and, without further incidents, finally reached the city. Carefully, he dismounted his dragon to avoid attracting attention, canceling the summoning, which vanished in a wisp of smoke. He removed his heavy armor and equipped an item called the Traveler's Cloak, a starter item that provided no bonuses but allowed him to move unnoticed among the crowd.
Thus, he approached the walled city, advancing until he reached the main gates, ready to enter.