USA.
The bustling streets of California.
At the heart of the city was HyperTech Industries.
It was a building with over eighty floors—so tall you'd think it could pierce the heavens.
People went about their daily lives.
They had no idea what was about to take place.
Amelia Croft sat in a limousine with her legs crossed and a phone against her ear.
She was the genius behind Elden Online.
She had short brown hair, brown eyes, well toned cheeks and a slightly flat nose.
The car came to a halt in front of the tower.
"Alright, I'll talk to you later…"
Amelia cut the call with a smile on her cherry lips.
She prepared to step out of her limousine.
However, in that fateful moment, the world was caught off guard as chaos took hold.
There was no time for preparation or respite!
No country, satellite or astronauts saw it coming.
It just happened…
BOOOOOOM!!
Out of nowhere, a massive comet shot through space like a wild beast breaking free from the darkest depths of the unknown.
It broke all the laws of the universe!
And now, it was racing toward its target.
The Neutral Network.
This giant machine was a web of connections linked to the minds of every player in the Elden Online server.
It was essential to the game's very existence.
Its lifeblood!
────BAA-TOOOOOOOM!!
With a deafening crash, the celestial comet slammed into the neural core.
The impact was devastating, taking the lives of hundreds who were inside or around the building.
The ground shook violently, and a massive crater formed where the comet hit.
A maelstrom of destruction followed.
The shockwave spread out forcefully, sending shards of broken glass and twisted metal flying like deadly confetti. Buildings couldn't withstand the relentless force and collapsed like hills of sand.
Sakura's limousine was mercilessly flung across the street like a rag doll.
"GAH──!!"
"Achk! My fucking head!"
Both she and her driver were slammed around against the walls of the car, and the pounding in their heads only grew worse.
BANG!!
It crashed.
"What's going on—!?"
"It's the apocalypse!"
"We're all gonna die!"
Everyone was scared of what would happen next.
The core that managed the virtual reality game's neural network went wild when the comet released its massive energy. That energy connected with the players' brain waves and consciousness, causing their souls to merge with the network itself. After that, the line between their real bodies and the virtual world basically disappeared, tying their very existence to the game.
Therefore, any harm inflicted on their in-game avatars would be communicated to their real bodies, resulting in death if their avatars died!
The clash and merging of different minds led to the birth of a brand-new world in a fresh dimension.
This new world has four dimensions: length, width, height, and time, much like our physical reality!
It changed everything!
━ ━ ━ ━
The players all across the world of Elden Online were waiting for the event to start.
Miyoloris Continent.
The players in the Eses starter town were all waiting in the central square as they looked at the white number in the sky that slowly counted down.
[00:10]
[00:09]
[00:08]
Helvick balled his fists.
"Man! I can't believe it's about to start…"
Ciel chuckled softly.
"Yeah, I'm also excited."
"Pu… (￣ω￣)"
June just nodded.
She was mostly always silent, however, it was obvious that she too was excited.
Aqua looked at Sebastian, he didn't show any sort of interest or excitement. He may have dedicated his time to the event, but she knew he was only doing it because they were heavily invested in playing Elden Online.
She dressed her blue hair bangs then raised a brow.
"Sebastian…?"
"Yeah?"
"You're not really excited about the event, are you…?"
She frowned a bit.
Sebastian shrugged. "It's okay, I guess."
Ciel smiled at him.
"You should really be excited, it'll be a fun ride."
But he was actually excited, just a bit too nonchalant.
"Sure…"
Sebastian gave a detached response.
[00:03]
[00:02]
[00:01]
[The Double-Tier Leveling Event has begun!]
The event commenced.
A loud uproar filled the virtual world, loud enough for every player in their VR experience to hear.
They were unaware and unprepared for what was about to happen…
Suddenly, the sky above them trembled.
CRAAAAACCCKK!!
It started to break apart and show thin cracks in what had been a smooth virtual world.
VWOOOOOOOO!!
A cold feeling ran down their spines as the pixels that made up their fake reality started to flicker, almost as if their insides were being torn apart by a system glitch.
Panic seized the hearts of the players.
"What's happening?!"
Helvick exclaimed.
His eyes darted from one horrified face to another.
Touching his chest in distress, Ciel doubled over in agony as his face contorted in pain.
"I… I can't breathe…"
He gasped and wheezed as if his lungs were squeezed by invisible hands.
Sebastian was on a knee as he grunted hard.
"It's… it's nothing major, but it still hurts…"
Placing a hand on his own chest, he winced quietly.
ACH────KKKKKKK!!
June's cough grew more violent.
She looked like she was just desperately hoping for the pain to end.
"Something… something's wrong…!"
June stammered as her voice trembled with fear.
By this time, Aqua was drained of all her strength as she fell to her knees and gripped her magic staff tight.
The pain was unbearable.
Cough! COUGH!!
With every cough, her aching body shook, as if she was burning from the inside.
In pain, her trembling hand reached out to Sebastian.
"Sebastian, please… help me…"
It wasn't as if he could take away all this pain, but she just wanted to hold onto something.
Sebastian quickly reached out to take Aqua's hand.
But just before they could touch, the ground beneath them suddenly shattered into pixels.
Everything was breaking down into pixels.
As if reality was getting deleted.
BRUUUUMMM──!!
A massive crack split open like a monster's mouth.
And just like that, Sebastian and Aqua were plunged straight into a deep, endless darkness.
Many others met the same fate as they disappeared into the menacing void that swallowed it all!
For five minutes, all 1M+ players… ceased to exist.
A blackout.
–
–
–
"SEBASTIAN!"
"SEBASTIAN!"
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP ALREADY!!"
Aqua kept shaking Sebastian, hopelessly trying hard to wake him up.
Finally, he groaned and opened his eyes.
When he looked at Aqua, he noticed her white robes were stained with blood.
"Aqua…? Hnn, what's wrong…?"
He asked with such a gentle, peaceful yawn.
Shock.
Aqua couldn't believe his nonchalant response.
With heavy frustration in her voice, she lashed out.
"Are you serious right now? How can you still be asleep when everything's falling apart—!?"
Aqua pointed behind them, showing the crazy scene that was happening.
Rubbing his eyes to wake up fully, Sebastian saw that they were trapped in a dark room.
It was a dungeon, and all he could smell was the sick stench of blood.
"Hm?"
That and the unsettling noises around them made him grasp how serious their situation was.
"We're being slaughtered here…!"
Aqua stressed urgently.
Taking a moment to take in his surroundings, Sebastian looked around the room.
They were on the last floor of the Sila Dungeon.
It had an eerie blue glow from torches on the walls.
The sticky ground was littered with headless, broken bodies, scattered arms and legs, and severed heads—some frozen in fear, others looking like their souls had already been drained away.
"Woah…"
Sebastian looked back and forth.
In the middle of all the chaos, he noticed one player that really stood out. The guy had bright blue hair and wore an outfit with matching blue accents.
He was an elf, and right now he was locked in a desperate fight against a huge black creature.
The boss of the final floor!
Even though his left hand was gone, he still gripped his blue crystal sword with everything he had.
His eyes burned with purpose to kill the monster.
Never would he back down!
"RaaAAaRRgggHH!!"
With unbelievable speed, he unleashed a supersonic slash combo at the boss.
But it was useless.
The fight ended almost instantly in a brutal defeat.
The monster was faster and far more ruthless.
Aqua didn't even catch the attack itself.
All she saw was the boss's sword surging with terrifying amounts of darkness. Then, in one swift motion that was completely impossible to follow, the blade cut clean through the elf and tore him in half.
His body was reduced to rags of flesh.
"SERIX──!!"
Aqua shouted his name.
Sebastian slowly stood up from where he was seated.
"Ho? Whatʼs that?"
He asked no one in particular.
It was the floor boss of the Sila Labyrinth.
A level 25 beast that butchered even level 50 players!
That earned it the name [Player Killer].
But its actual name was…
『Spectral Blade Demonic General • Xalgun!』
Its shapeless body constantly shifted and twisted, making it impossible to see its true form. From its core, many red tendrils emerged, pulsing with a dark energy, each ending in a sharp, black claw. Its eyes—if you could call them that—were swirling, ghostly whirlpools of deep violet.
Its formless body kept shifting and twisting, making it hard to tell what it really looked like. From its center, long red tendrils stretched out, glowing with dark energy as each one ended in a sharp black claw. Its eyes (if you could call them that) were ghostly, swirling pools of deep violet.
|| S T A T S ||
[Level: 25]
[Health Points (HP): 700]
[Mana Points (MP): 300]
[Attack Power: 100-105]
[Defense: 70]
[Magic Power: 50]