I logged out for exactly ten minutes.
In the real world, I tore off my VR headset, scrambled to my banking app, and initiated the transfer.
MythBorn allowed direct currency conversion. 70 Gold vanished from my inventory.
$700 USD appeared in my bank account.
I paid the rent. $500 gone.
I paid the overdue electricity bill. $80 gone.
I ordered a large pepperoni pizza. $25 gone.
I sat there for a moment in my dimly lit, messy apartment, staring at the ceiling. My heart was still racing. For the first time in months, the crushing weight of poverty lifted just enough for me to breathe.
"Okay," I whispered, wiping sweat from my forehead. "Survival mode is over. Now it's revenge mode."
I pulled the headset back on. The world dissolved into pixels.
Welcome Back to MythBorn.
Location: Sootheel Village.
I materialized back at the fountain. My inventory was lighter, but my mood was darker.
I had 2 Gold left. Just enough for travel expenses.
I checked the map.
Capital City: Aethelgard.
Distance: 400 Kilometers North.
Normally, a player would take the Teleport Gate.
I walked over to the glowing blue archway at the village exit. A bored NPC guard blocked the path.
"Halt," the guard droned. "Capital Gate is restricted to Level 10 and above. You are Level 1. Go kill some boars, scrub."
"I see," I said. "Classist."
I turned away.
Walking would take three days. And the zones between here and the Capital were filled with Level 20+ mobs. I'd be eaten by a wolf, then a bear, then a bigger bear.
I needed to fly.
But flight mounts cost 5,000 Gold.
I walked over to the alchemy station. I had a theory.
In physics engines, "Explosions" are calculated in two parts:
Damage (The part that hurts).
Knockback (The part that moves you).
Usually, these are linked. Big boom = big ouch + big push.
But if I was a Formula Master, I could decouple them.
I checked the Auction House. I needed ingredients that were volatile but stable.
I bought:
Blast Toad Sacs (x3) – 5 Silver.
Slime Gel (x1) – 2 Copper.
Feather of a Dodo (x1) – 10 Copper.
Total cost: Pocket change.
I stood at the brewing stand.
I opened Formula Slot I and Formula Slot II.
Slot 1: [Base: Blast_Toad_Sac]
This provided the explosive force.
Slot 2: [Modifier: Slime_Gel]
This added "Elasticity." I didn't want to explode; I wanted to bounce.
Then, I opened the Skill View to edit the reaction.
[Reaction: Combustion]
[Damage_Value: 500]
[Knockback_Value: 10]
I highlighted the Damage_Value.
I couldn't delete it completely (the system required a minimum value for combustion), but I could redirect it.
I changed the formula:
[Damage_Value] -> [Convert to Audio_Volume]
[Knockback_Value] -> [Multiply by 500%]
Essentially, this potion wouldn't hurt me. But it would be extremely loud, and it would kick like a mule.
I added the feather at the end to apply a Gravity_Dampener to the user, ensuring I didn't turn into a pancake when I landed.
The cauldron shook. Violet sparks flew. The liquid turned a violent, glowing orange.
[Item Created: Potion of Ballistic Yeet]
[Quality: Glitched]
[Effect: Applies Massive Knockback. Warning: Ear protection recommended.]
"Perfect."
The Whispering Canyon
I walked to the edge of the zone.
Between the Noob Village and the wider world lay the Whispering Canyon. A massive gorge with a broken stone bridge.
Dozens of players were stuck here.
"LFG! Need help crossing!"
"Harpies keep killing me!"
"Can a high level carry me?"
The canyon was guarded by Wind Harpies (Level 15). If you tried to cross the bridge, they swooped down and knocked you into the abyss.
I walked past a group of huddled Level 5s.
"Excuse me," I said. "Coming through."
"You can't cross, man," a Ranger warned me. "The Harpies will grab you. You need a full party to suppress them."
I looked at the bridge. It was about 200 meters long.
I looked at my potion.
"I'm not using the bridge," I said.
I stepped up to the very edge of the cliff.
I uncorked the orange bottle. I didn't drink it.
I poured it on the ground directly behind my heels.
[Status: Volatile Liquid Detected]
I crouched down, like a sprinter in the starting blocks.
"Three... two... one..."
I lit a match and dropped it into the puddle behind me.
BOOM.
The sound was indescribable. It wasn't just an explosion; it was a server-shaking CRACK that sounded like God snapping a dry twig. Every player within a mile probably lost their hearing for ten seconds.
The Damage -> Audio conversion worked perfectly. I took 0 HP damage.
But the Knockback?
Physics took over.
My character was launched.
I didn't run. I was fired out of a cannon.
"WEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
I hit 0-to-200 km/h in a fraction of a second. The G-force would have liquefied a human, but thankfully, avatars don't have internal organs.
I soared over the canyon.
I was moving so fast the wind roared in my ears like a jet engine.
A Wind Harpy shrieked and dove at me, claws extended.
I flew past it before its AI could even finish the attack animation.
It swiped at empty air, looking confused.
I was a blur. A missile of unadulterated stupid.
Below me, the canyon blurred into a brown smear. The players on the bridge were just dots.
I cleared the 200-meter gap in roughly four seconds.
But there was a problem.
I wasn't stopping.
"Uh oh," I muttered.
I had multiplied the knockback by 500%.
I wasn't just crossing the canyon. I was crossing the entire zone.
I sailed over the forest beyond the canyon.
I sailed over a confused Hill Giant.
I punched through a cloud layer.
[Zone Change: Plains of Aethelgard]
[Zone Change: Outskirts of Capital]
I saw the city in the distance. Aethelgard.
White stone walls. towering spires. A massive magical barrier shimmering in the sun.
And I was hurtling toward it at terminal velocity.
"Okay," I yelled over the wind. "Landing strategy! Think!"
If I hit the ground at this speed, the Gravity_Dampener wouldn't save me. I'd splatter.
I needed to break my fall.
I looked at my Formula Slots. They were on cooldown.
I checked my inventory.
[Very Slightly Itchy Bomb].
[Bucket of Water].
Water bucket clutch? Classic Minecraft strat.
But MythBorn physics were different. Water at high speed is like concrete.
Wait.
The City Barrier.
It was a magical dome designed to stop enemy projectiles.
It acted like a solid wall to attacks, but allowed friendly players to pass through slowly.
If I hit it fast, it would act like a solid.
If I hit it slow, I'd pass through.
I needed to hit it angled. Like skipping a stone on a lake.
I twisted my body in mid-air, aiming for the top curve of the barrier.
I braced myself.
THWACK.
I hit the magical dome at a shallow angle.
Instead of splatting, I bounced.
The barrier rippled blue light. My velocity bled off instantly as I skidded across the surface of the magical dome like a surfer wiping out on a wave.
I slid down the side of the dome, friction burning my pants, and tumbled off the edge.
I fell the last thirty feet into the city proper.
I crashed through a market stall awning (Fabric = Soft).
I bounced off a fruit cart (Cabbages = Cushion).
And I landed face-first in a pile of hay.
-50 HP (Fall Damage).
I lay there for a second, groaning.
My HP was at 10/60.
[System Achievement: Frequent Flyer]
[You have traveled 5km in under 10 seconds.]
[Reward: Title 'Human Cannonball' (+5 Agility)]
I spat out a piece of straw and sat up.
"Success."
I climbed out of the hay.
I was in the Market District of Aethelgard.
It was huge. Cobblestone streets, marble buildings, and hundreds of players.
High-level players.
Level 50 Knights in shining armor. Level 60 Mages with glowing staffs.
I was a shirtless, level 1 dirt-hobo who smelled like burnt gunpowder.
People stared.
"Did that guy just fall from the sky?"
"Is that an event NPC?"
I ignored them and looked up.
In the center of the city, piercing the clouds, was the Royal Spire.
A massive tower of obsidian and gold. The home of the Guilds. The home of the top 1%.
And somewhere in that tower was Warlock_Zero.
I dusted off my pants.
"Knock knock," I whispered.
I started walking toward the tower.
But first, I needed better clothes. I couldn't crash a high-society party looking like a level 1 rat catcher.
I checked my wallet. 2 Gold.
Not enough for fancy armor.
But I didn't need stats. I just needed style.
And I was a Formula Master.
I could turn a burlap sack into a tuxedo if I just tweaked the texture ID variable.
"Time to suit up."