[23 Years Ago...]
11-year-old Nico sat in the corner of his room, his face buried in his knees, while his tears fell on his thighs.
He would occasionally raise his head to look at the game console and the TV his grandfather bought him as a Christmas present, contemplating whether he should play the pain away or continue sulking.
His heart ached as he heard other kids his age playing and laughing gleefully right outside.
He could be there with them in this moment, but he wasn't.
That's when he heard a knock on his door. As it turns out, a tall elderly man with a slightly muscular build stood on Nico's doorway.
His smile was softer than a cloud, and his eyes were as gentle as a parent of a newborn baby.
His hands, however, were covered in scars from old battles and were coarse from all the work he had to do in his youth.
The scars were a badge of honour and pride, hence why, despite everyone else's opinion in the family, Nico adored the scars his grandfather had.
"Come in," Nico said softly.
His grandfather groaned as he sat beside Nico. "What's wrong, Orsetto?" he inquired, his voice raspy with a rich Italian accent.
Nico sniffled. "... Why am I a weak man, Gramps?"
Antonio, his grandfather, chuckled. "You're not a man yet, young one. But even as young as you are, you aren't weak."
"Then why do I let the other kids push me around?"
"Choosing when to act isn't the same as not acting. You're a smart kid, and you know you'll hurt them if you do fight back.
"I taught you everything I know so that you'd defend yourself only when necessary. Kids your age aren't a threat."
"Still... I might wanna..."
Antonio smiled and pulled Nico's cheeks apart, causing Nico to tear up. "Ow! That hurts, old man!"
"True strength lies in choosing the right battles to fight. That's why the strongest only fights when everyone else beneath him has lost."
Nico raised an eyebrow. "So I'm basically the strongest...?"
Antonio nodded. "That's right. Now come on. Boot up a fighting game and show me what you've got!"
[Present Day...]
Nico continued staring at his reflection, but not a single question stayed longer than a few seconds; the more he did.
The storm clouds hung above him, casting shadows, leaving his eyes glowing in the reflection of the puddle.
Thunder roared once again, spooking him as he finally realised he was still uncovered from the rain.
He glanced at his hands—coarse with scars he had never had in his entire life. This body wasn't his, and it sure as hell felt like it.
"Okay... Try to calm down, short stack... Take it easy..."
That's when he finally noticed the holographic screens right next to him that had been floating aimlessly.
Some of them had messages claiming that he had received "coins" for joining the game, but one that stood out to him was the one labelled "status."
"Status?" he read it out loud, trying to remember which cliche series he'd heard this from, but whatever it was caused an additional holographic screen to appear.
[Achievement Unlocked: What's My Status?
— Access your system screen
— Reward: æ100]
「PLAYER STATUS – [V777 (Vortex_7)]」
◆ Level: 1
◆ Race: Phoenix
◆ Class: [Locked] (Lvl. 30 Required)
◆ HP: 50 / 100
◆ MP: 150 / 150
◆ Aestrol Coins: 100
— ATTRIBUTES —
◆ Strength (STR): 10
◆ Endurance (END): 10
◆ Dexterity (DEX): 10
◆ Luck (LUK): ★☆☆☆☆ [Fate Hates You]
— RANKINGS —
◆ Overall Value: 1,579th Place
◆ Location: Pyrros
◆ Allies: None
— ABILITIES —
None Unlocked
— INVENTORY —
0 / 30 Used
Ignoring the dumb achievement he got, Nico began browsing the screen and scowled with each row he read.
"I'm in the Boreas Fin, that makes a lot of sense. And it's Pyrros, the hell of Paradox of the Olympian Gods..."
Various locations were scattered in the video game world, but Pyrros was the last place any player wanted to spawn for their first time arriving in the game, whether it's in the real world or New Olympus.
This also brought Nico to his luck stat...
[★☆☆☆☆ – Fate Hates You
> Even the gods laugh at your misfortune. Enemies land more crits, loot is trash, and escape attempts always seem to fail at the worst moment.]
He looked at his arm, where bite marks were left behind by whatever decided to chew on his skin when he was in the dumpster.
"Even little things like this can happen to me... Be it a slight inconvenience or—"
*ACK!*
Suddenly, the air around Nico tightened as he felt his heart pounding faster and faster.
His hands trembled against his neck as he clawed at it desperately. 'I... I can't breathe!'
[You have suddenly forgotten how to breathe!
Effect: 7 seconds]
'Are you shitting me?! This is how deep the rabbit hole goes?!'
Finally, after what seemed like an endless loop of hell, Nico could finally breathe again, his chest sore and eye sockets soaked with salty tears from before.
He coughed roughly and rubbed his throat again. "So, I've gotta watch out for that as well... This is some grade-A bullshit."
He then noticed that all his stats were at 10 points, explaining why he was so weak and distorted after the jumping.
'My healing factor also seems to be terrible since this bite mark is still here...'
That became the least of his worries, though, when he noticed his value. He didn't know what that meant.
Much like the luck rating, his value rating wasn't in the original game, so he assumed it was a gimmick installed by whatever forces pulled him into this world.
"Standing around here won't get me answers, though. I've gotta find a Guild Centre and get my bearings from there."
The closest Guild was only 15 minutes away from him. And so, he began walking, specifically choosing to go through the alley to avoid any unnecessary attention.
But whenever he did walk, he would randomly trip or his feet would go numb, causing him to stop once in a while just to recover.
On his journey, though, he ended up unfolding the truth behind Pyrros' grim atmosphere.
The mortals.
In this world, multiple races exist, from dwarves to elves and even demons and cyclops. And amongst those races, only the strong controlled the weak, just like in the real world.
Nico also noticed that he wasn't the only person who was transmigrated into this world.
Some of the people he watched from the shadows had abnormally fancy gear and clothes with faces fresher than the rain in New Olympus.
Their manner of speaking was abnormally modern compared to the "poorer" people around them, quickly making Nico realise that they're from his world as well.
He could've asked for help, but after seeing an entire group of 5 men forcing themselves on a single woman, he knew that he was alone in this world.
Drugs, extortion, gang violence.
People died as Nico hid himself from the carnage. His heart broke with each diabolical act he witnessed, his stomach twisting with every second he saw something terrible happen.
But he understood his weakness and wouldn't interfere. Not when he couldn't even defend himself at the moment.
'I'm getting closer... Finally... I can get started on investigating!'
As he thought that, he heard a group of players talking nearby and decided to hide. But as he turned his back against the wall, he stepped on a can and made a sound.
"Huh?" One of them turned his head, his body larger than Nico had ever seen before in real life.
"What's wrong?" a woman inquired as she tilted her head.
"We're not alone," he responded. "I heard something over there."
Nico froze up and tried to stay as still as possible, only for him to see a mouse nearby rubbing its nose and getting eerily closer to him.
He remembered the bite mark and felt his skin tingle. 'No, get away!'
The mouse got closer and closer, but so did the man who heard the sound.
Then, the mouse pounced, and Nico ducked, causing the mouse to run out of the alley and slightly catch the man off guard.
He sighed. "False alarm."
"Seriously? You've gotta take it easy, dude."
The man left with his group, and Nico sighed in relief. 'I'm safe...'
Or so he thought.
"Wh-Whatcha doing, pretty boy...?" a man said with a low, grungy voice, forcing Nico to smile softly and slowly turn his head towards the source.
He saw a man standing a few feet away from him, his clothes ragged and reeking of piss and sewerage.
Nico slowly got up and,d as he did, noticed the knife the man was holding in his hands.
"... I don't want any trouble..."
[Player synchronisation initiated...]
The homeless man scratched his cheek almost obsessively. "Then cough up the coins, or I'll fucking gut ya...!"
[Player ssuccessfully syncedwith original character]
Nico nodded slowly. "How... do I do that?"
You're playing with me, you little shit! I said give me your coins!"
[Downloading Vortex_7 files...]
"I'm sorry, man! I don't know how this thing works! Besides, I only have like a hundred on me!" Nico confessed with his arms raised.
"Are you fucking with me...?! That's not nearly enough for 120 milligrams of Stardust...!" the man crowed as he hit his head with the handle of the knife. "Oh, you're dead!"
[Files successfully loaded]
The man charged towards Nico fast, but almost instinctively and robotically, armed with knowledge of his past and someone else's, he evaded almost seamlessly.
The man clicked his tongue and hit Nico with his elbow, only for him to get blocked before being pushed away by Nico.
Nico took a deep breath and took a boxer's stance, shifting his centre of gravity to prepare for a party or block, remembering what his grandfather taught him.
"You! You're a liar! Just like Abigail!"
The man charged once more, faster, but more reckless. He swung his knife aimlessly while Nico narrowly evaded and jabbed him twice in one second.
'It's crazy... I forgot I placed third in a local boxing tournament back at home when I was in my 20s...'
With one final scream, the man lunged at Nic,o and blood followed afterwards.
They both stood frozen. Nico's eyes widened as he lowered his head to match the man's gaze, who was smiling wildly.
Then, the man coughed up blood and fell on his knees, his eyes watering with a broken smile on his face.
"Finally..." Nico swore he heard the man utter as his body continued to stand on its knees.
Nico stared at his hands, the blood slowly being washed away by the rain, while his nose twitched.
His stomach bubbled and tied a knot while his throat stung with an otherworldly taste that numbed his tongue.
Then, he got on his knees and threw up all his lunch, coughing as he stared at the man who died on his knees.
「+1 Value Added!
+500 Aestrol Coins
(Bonus Coins: æ500) – First Kill」
「Old Value: #1,579th Place
New Value: #1,578th Place」
「Level Up!
+3 system points earned!」
「WELCOME TO: PARADOX OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS
You are not special. You are a statistic.
The gods grow tired of filth clogging their world.
Humanity is diseased, plagued. You are the scalpel, the anti-virus ;)
Eliminate players. Increase your Value. Rise—or rot.
■ Bonus rewards scale with carnage.
■ Mercy is weakness. Weakness is death.
Try and stay human :D
— System」