Ethan's sudden transformation startled everyone around him. The sight of his predatory figure even caused oneyoung woman to let out a surprised yelp.
Testing his new limbs, Ethan groaned. Walking on all fours wasn't exactly comfortable, and he felt the awkward sway of his unfamiliar form.
His first few steps felt clumsy, out of sync, earning him a few puzzled looks.
"Wait, why is there a druid in the Starter Zone?"
"Yeah, isn't that so kind of system glitch?"
The murmurs started, whispers spreading among the crowd as they pointed at him.
Ethan ignored them, striding past with his tail swishing.
He left the crowded village, thankful he had chosen the druid class. He rembered how, in his past life, it had taken him over thirty minutes just to push through the throng of players clogging the village exit.
Now, in his panther form, he He made a point of slipping beneath the crowd as scandalized yelps followed him.
This life seed to be starting quite eventfully.
Outside the Starter Zone, chaos reigned. The sight of countless players crowding around low-level monsters was overwhelming. The mont a Level 1 larva respawned, a swarm of players descended on it, tearing it apart before it could even twitch.
For most of them, this was their first foray into a fully imrsive VR world, with its 100% realism. The visceral thrill and adrenaline rush of the experience were enough to hook anyone.
Ethan couldn't help but recall his own first experience in the ga. Like them, he'd wasted ten fruitless minutes competing for scraps before finally heading deeper into the forest in desperation.
But not this ti.
This ti, he had the advantage of foresight. He knew the Starter Village was just the prologue to a much larger event. At 1:00 AM, the system would initiate a cataclysmic event: the Ethereal Cataclysm.
The world would be reshaped, and every player would be transported ten thousand years into the future, to a newly-ford planet called Gemini.
Gemini was the result of a catastrophic collision between Earth's twin, Luna, and an advanced tech world known as Azure. Rather than obliterating one another, the two planets had fused into a figure-eight-shaped superworld.
The aftermath left one half, Azure, bathed in eternal light, while the other, Terra, remained shrouded in perpetual darkness.
Survivors of the Cataclysm were sent to Azure, assigned to the Survivor Faction. Those who died during the event were resurrected on Terra, forced into the Carnage Faction.
After the prologue, players should have had the freedom to choose their factions upon creating new characters. But the system's forced allocation had caused an uproar. Protests flooded Aeon Corporation's forums, with players demanding the right to pick their sides.
Aeon's response was blunt:
"This is the world's only 100% imrsive VR ga. There won't be another. Play it or don't—it's up to you."
Ethan's lips twisted in a faint smile at the mory. During his last life, an NPC had once said that the Cataclysm event was a prediction of real-world events five years into the future.
He'd laughed it off then, and even now, the idea seed absurd. Sure, he had been reborn, but attributing the in-ga occurrence to the real world, that was a leap he wasn't ready to make.
Leaving the noisy crowds behind, Ethan ventured toward a more secluded area where wild boars road. By now, most players had already claid the easier hunting zones.
"Damn that old man," he muttered under his breath. Being held up by an NPC earlier had cost him precious ti. Even the Level 3 zones were swarming with players now.
Reaching the outer fringes of the forest, Ethan silently prayed. Please don't let anyone have found it yet.
In his previous life, he'd stumbled into this area by accident after failing to secure any kills near the village. When the Cataclysm struck, he'd fallen into a hollow tree, triggering a hidden quest. The incident not only saved him from the apocalyptic chaos but also ensured his transfer to the Survivor Faction on Azure.
Now, standing at the entrance to the forest's Level 5 zone, Ethan eyed the three wolves blocking his path. Their nas glowed red, a warning that these were aggressive creatures.
The hollow tree lay just beyond them.
Back then, the Cataclysm had wiped out all monsters, allowing him to stumble into the tree unchallenged. But now, with twenty minutes remaining until the event, those wolves were a very real obstacle.
And with only 40 HP, Ethan didn't fancy his odds.
He grimaced, tightening his resolve. "Screw it."
Transforming into his panther form, Ethan crouched low. We're both predators here. Maybe they won't notice . Maybe.
The wolves noticed.
The mont Ethan moved, the three wolves snarled, leaping toward him in unison.
This was it. Timing was everything.
At the last second, Ethan kicked off with his hind legs, curling his body into a tight ball. He rolled under the wolves in one fluid motion, slipping beneath their snapping jaws and clawed paws.
The wolves landed with a thud, growling as they turned to look for their prey. But their sharp eyes found no trace of the oversized black cat that had just barrel-rolled past them.
By then, Ethan was already lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hollow tree, groaning in pain.
In his last life, this fall had left him with a miserable 3 HP. This ti, his panther form's passive ability to reduce fall damage had helped, but he still lost a third of his health.
His dramatic roll to dodge the wolves had nearly snapped his spine. He massaged his aching back, cursing under his breath.
Sure, the pain in Ethereal was only 20% of what you'd feel in real life, but it was still enough to leave him gasping and unable to stand for a good few monts.
---
Ding...
[You've discovered the Burial Site of the Master Blacksmith Ryan. Hidden quest: The Wishbound Relic triggered. Accept?]
"Accept!" Ethan said without hesitation. This was the whole reason he'd co here.
---
Quest Na: The Wishbound Relic
Quest Objective: Retrieve the relic of Master Blacksmith Ryan from the depths of the cave.
Rewards:
Experience: 600 EXP
Item: Wishbound Relic
---
Before Ethan could celebrate, a startled scream echoed from above.
A cascade of dirt and loose rocks tumbled down, followed by a pudgy figure crashing into the tree hollow.
"Crap!" Ethan rolled to the side just in ti to avoid being flattened.
'That was close,' he thought, his heart racing. Soone else had made it here already!
Still, Ethan wasn't worried. Hidden quests in Ethereal were unique, no one else could trigger this one now that he had claid it.
Shifting back into his panther form, he activated his only skill: Pounce and Rend.
The player, still sprawled on the ground, barely had ti to react.
-3 HP
A tiny damage number floated above the stranger's head. His health dropped to zero, and his body disintegrated into a flash of white light.
---
Ding...
[You've killed player "LuckIsASkill." Sin Value 1.]
---
Ethan smirked at the irony of the guy's userna. "Luck is a skill, that's quite right. If you hadn't run into , maybe this relic would've been yours.
In Ethereal, killing another player from your faction increased your Sin Value. At 5 points or higher, you'd beco red-nad, marking you as a criminal. Red-nad players faced harsher penalties upon death, including the loss of all their equipped items.
Fortunately, one point wasn't enough to cause trouble, and Ethan figured he could clear it later by grinding monsters.
He grabbed a red health potion the player had dropped and made a dash deeper into the cave.
Two minutes later, Ethan erged from the hollow tree, clutching his prize:
---
Wishbound Relic
Description: A legendary item forged by the daughter of Master Blacksmith Ryan, who sacrificed her flesh and blood to create it.
Effect: Enhances any equipnt.
Adds a fixed 50% success rate to all equipnt upgrades.
Removes all gold costs during upgrades.
Prevents equipnt destruction upon failure.
Prevents downgrade penalties upon failure.
Guarantees success after three failed attempts.
Durability: Infinite.
Restrictions: Cannot be traded, stored, or destroyed. Drops upon death.
---
Anyone who had ever played a ga with an upgrade system knew how infuriatingly random it could be. In Ethereal, equipnt upgrades maxed out at 30, with bonus attributes added at every tenth level.
The problem? Each failed attempt reset the equipnt's level back to zero. Stories of players losing their fortunes chasing the elusive 30 were legendary.
Ethan couldn't help but grin as he stared at the box shaped relic in his inventory.
'This little box just turned into a god of upgrades.'
He glanced at the ti. Only a few minutes remained before the system broadcasted a global alert, instructing players to find shelter.
During the Cataclysm, the only safe places were within the Starter Village or designated shelters like this tree hollow.
Ethan had no intention of leaving. In his previous life, hiding here had saved him, allowing him to be transported to Azure as a Survivor.
Opening his settings nu, he enabled the ga's auto-play feature, letting his character remain logged in while he took a break. He wasn't about to risk logging out; too many players in the past had tried to outsmart the system, only to wake up assigned to the Carnage Faction.
With a satisfied sigh, Ethan removed his VR headset and leaned back, the image of the relic still etched in his mind.
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