Korean Branch - Erebus Online Monitoring Room
The air was thick with confusion and caffeine. Rows of holo-screens lined the dark control room, each one streaming live metrics: server load, player distribution, data stability. But one screen, in the center of the room, glowed red.
[ALERT: ANOMALY DETECTED.]
SUBJECT: Player ZeroGod [KR-Server / Node 01]
Event: Floor Guardian Abyss Warden Defeated (Solo).
Elapsed Time Since Launch: 00:43:27
"43 minutes..."
Someone whispered. A young operator adjusted his glasses, staring at the data feed.
"Sir, the average player level is 10. Even with the minimum recommended level, You'll barely defeat the warden."
Across the room, the department head, Director Han Jae-sung, leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"Replay his combat feed."
A holographic projection flickered to life: Hyun-jin, dancing around the Abyss Warden like a blur, twin daggers flashing, no system skills registered for the first half of the fight.
Another operator pointed.
"Look, skill log shows zero activations before timestamp 26:14. He fought purely with manual control."
"That's impossible..."
Jae-sung muttered.
"The AI difficulty scales based on reaction latency. He shouldn't even be able to parry those attack intervals at that sync rate."
The room fell silent. Only the hum of the servers filled the air. Then someone added, voice trembling.
"S- Sir... the observation AI increased his danger rating to Tier-6."
Jae-sung froze. "Tier-6?"
Tier-6 wasn't for players. That classification was reserved for anomalies. Things that could destabilize Erebus's world logic.
He rubbed his temple, staring at the looping replay: Zero laughing as he plunged his daggers into the Warden's core.
"Find out who this guy is. Real name, neuro-sync profile, everything. And activate silent trace. I want to know what he does next."
The assistant hesitated.
"Should we flag him for system moderation?"
Jae-sung watched Zero's grin freeze on screen. That same grin right before the boss shattered.
"No. Let's watch. If he's breaking the game, I want to see how far he goes."
Inside Erebus - First Floor.
[Zone: Ruins of Ashvale - Novice Area]
Recommended Level: 10 - 15
The scene shifted. The real world vanished, replaced again by the echo of wind and fire.
Zero stood among the ruins. Stone pillars, cracked walls, the remains of what was once a city. The air shimmered with faint embers.
He crouched, carving through a group of Lava Serpents, his twin daggers moving faster than their eyes could track. Each strike was silent, efficient, pure rhythm and instinct.
[EXP +120]
[EXP +130]
[Chain Bonus: +10%]
His HP bar barely flickered. Every dodge was a hair's breadth from death but it was controlled chaos, just the way he liked it.
He exhaled slowly, the faint glow of Shadow Step fading around him.
"The second floor can wait... I still need to test somethings."
He pulled up his menu, checking his stats again.
[Status Screen]
Name: ZeroGod
Class: Assassin
Level: 11
Title: None
HP: 150 / 150 | MP: 70 / 70
Stamina: 100 / 100
STR: 5
DEX: 15
AGI: 26
VIT: 1
INT: 1
LCK: 3
Skill Points Available: 5
Skills
Shadow Step Lv.1
Dagger Mastery Lv.1
Silent Movement Lv.1
Phantom Reaver Lv.1 (Hidden)
He hovered over Phantom Reaver.
Its description read:
A technique born from pure intent.
Unregistered in the current Skill System Database.
Hyun-jin's grin widened.
"Unregistered, huh? So even the game didn't see that coming."
He crouched again, watching the distant silhouette of another Field Boss stalking the far end of the ruins, a hulking lizard coated in molten rock.
"Good."
He said softly, rolling his shoulders.
"Let's see how much I can break before they start patching me."
His daggers gleamed under the dim red sky.
As he charged forward once again, the world seemed to hesitate. The ambient sound glitching for half a second, as though the system itself couldn't keep up with him.
Far above the sky, unseen, the observation AI recalculated his probability of death.
And failed.
[Error: Prediction Unstable.]
[Subject: Player ZeroGod - Outcome: Undefined.]
The ruins trembled. Lava pooled in cracks across the broken streets, lighting the night in flickers of red and gold.
[FIELD BOSS: Lava Lizard - LV. 18]
Recommended Party: 8
Hyun-jin exhaled through a grin.
"Alright, salamander. Let's dance."
The beast roared, spewing a wave of molten fire. Zero dove sideways, the ground behind him hissing into glass. His boots hit the wall of a crumbled tower, rebounding him back toward the monster.
Twin daggers flashed, the metal already dull from earlier hunts. He didn't care.
[18 Damage]
[21 Damage]
The numbers were small, but his rhythm wasn't.
He moved through the inferno like he could hear the creature breathe, dodging each swing by instinct, each burst of fire by half a heartbeat.
"You telegraph too much."
He muttered.
A sudden tail whip cracked across his ribs. Pain flared, his HP dropped to a quarter. He coughed and laughed.
"That's better."
He rolled, stabbing deep into the Lizard's underbelly where the plates were thin. Magma spattered the ground like sparks.
[Skill: Shadow Step]
He vanished, reappearing above the creature's head, daggers reversed in his grip. He drove them both down into its glowing spine.
The Lizard screamed, body convulsing as fissures of light split across its shell.
"Break."
Zero whispered.
With one final thrust, he twisted the blades apart. A shockwave of heat blasted outward.
The monster erupted into shards of molten crystal that cooled mid-air and rained down as black ash.
[FIELD BOSS DEFEATED]
[EXP +2300]
[Level Up: 11 > 13]
[Item Drop Acquired: Twin Blades of Cinders]
Two curved daggers floated before him, their edges glowing faintly orange, heat rippling off them. Zero glanced at their effects.
[Twin Blades of Cinders]
Item Effect: Damage dealt scales with DEX and AGI.
Extra Effect: 5% chance to inflict Abnormal Status: Burn.
He caught them by the hilts. They pulsed once, heavy, alive. He spun them experimentally causing the air to shimmer.
"Now these feel right."
He opened his Inventory and unequipped the old daggers, He quickly equipped the new ones. The faint smell of ash clung to him, the ruins reflecting the firelight off his new weapons. The system pulsed with a new notification.
[Equipment Skill: Flame Edge Lv. 1 has been added so Skill List.]
Flame Edge Lv.1 - Increases Critical Hit Rate by 5% but VIT will decrease by 5% for a certain amount of time.
"So a skill is tied to these... I guess when I unequip them, The skill goes too."
He looked at the next stretch of wasteland rising beyond the ruins, an open desert filled with molten fissures.
"If a lizard's the field boss here... I wonder what the second floor has in store."
He started walking, blades glinting in the heat haze, footsteps echoing through the burning ruins. Above him, the system flickered once again, uncertain, unprepared.
[Observation Note: Player ZeroGod continues to defy probability.]
[Next data point: Unpredictable.]
Hyun-jin laughed softly without slowing down.
"Keep guessing, system. I'll make sure you never catch up."
The Town of Beginnings
Warm light, market chatter, the sound of boots on cobblestone, it was the same as when he first logged in, but the air felt different.
Whispers rippled through the plaza.
"That's him."
"ZeroGod... the guy who soloed Direfang."
"No way, that boss one-shots a full party!"
Every head turned as he walked past, his new daggers glowing faintly like cooled lava. Notifications blinked across the public feed:
[Global Announcement: Player ZeroGod has defeated Field Boss: Direfang (Solo).]
[New Record Established.]
[Global Announcement: Player ZeroGod has defeated Floor Guardian: Abyss Warden (Solo).]
[New Record Established.]
[Global Announcement: Player ZeroGod has defeated Field Boss: Lava Lizard (Solo).]
[New Record Established.]
A group of low-level players stared openly, half in awe, half in disbelief. Zero didn't even glance at them. His focus was already on the Equipment District, the rows of smiths and vendors built beneath stone arches.
He stopped at the first blacksmith stall. The burly NPC looked up from his forge, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Those blades... forged from a Field Boss core, eh? You've been busy."
Hyun-jin placed a pouch of coins on the counter.
"Armor. Light. No enchantments."
The smith chuckled.
"Everyone wants defense these days. You sure about-"
"Speed is my priority, Defense isnt a necessity."
Zero cut in. A serious tone in his voice
"If I get hit, I've already messed up"
The NPC nodded, rummaging through racks before pulling out a set of Ashweave Leathers, a flexible black armor laced with faint red trim.
"Made from Lava Serpent scales. Extremely flexible."
Hyun-jin equipped it without ceremony; the stats flickered across his vision.
[Stat Boost: DEX +35 | AGI +20]
[Item Effect: Grants a +5% Fire Resistance to the Wearer.]
He moved next door to the potion vendor, buying a handful of recovery potions and smoke bombs.
The vendor's dialogue triggered automatically, congratulating him on "being the pride of The Town of Beginnings for defeating the Warden of Darkness." He skipped every line with a flick of his finger.
"Pride, huh..."
He muttered, pocketing the supplies.
"It's just the first floor."
As he stepped back into the main street, players were still following at a distance, whispering.
"Is he recruiting?"
"Maybe he's a dev plant."
"No way, look at those weapons!"
Zero paused only long enough to open his status window.
[Status Screen]
Name: ZeroGod
Class: Assassin
Level: 13
Title: None
HP: 170 / 170 | MP: 90 / 90
Stamina: 100 / 100
STR: 5
DEX: 15 (+35)
AGI: 31 (+20)
VIT: 1
INT: 1
LCK: 3
Skill Points Available: 0
Skills
Shadow Step Lv.1
Dagger Mastery Lv.1
Silent Movement Lv.1
Phantom Reaver Lv.1 (Hidden Skill)
Flame Edge Lv.1 (Equipment Skill)
He closed the window, smirking.
"Still too slow. I have to find something worth dying too."
Then, without another word, he walked toward the teleport gate that led out of the city. The crowd parted instinctively, murmurs trailing behind him like an echo.
He stepped into the light of the teleport gate, his figure dissolving as the portal closed.
Somewhere in the monitoring room far above, alarms began to blink again.
[Subject: Player ZeroGod - Progression Rate: Abnormal.]
And back in the city square, the rumors kept spreading, stories of the unhinged Korean player who smiled in the face of every impossible fight.