Dexter saw thousands of glitchy lines and heard erratic sounds before a blinding light came, forcing his eyes shut.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a vast, heavenly land—endless clouds above him and perfectly still water below, reflecting the sky like a mirror.
'Oshiete...'
He was surrounded by countless pure-white humanoid figures, featureless and indistinct—hundreds, no, thousands, maybe even millions of them.
'What kind of weird dream is this?'
'Wait... I can think clearly? Is this lucid dreaming? Should I try to find a girl to fuck...? But I don't see any... What the heck!'
'Are they even human?'
Then, suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind—mechanical, like a system prompt from one of the games he often played.
[Welcome, Chosen Players from different Worlds and Timelines.]
'Now what the hell is this?'
[Before sending you to 'Ludiversum,' please select a Game for your Tutorial.]
'A whole game just for a tutorial? That's new... I hope I can continue this dream after waking up.'
[Keep in mind that the 'System' you will receive before entering 'Ludiversum' will be based on the game you choose. As a Tutorial Reward, you will obtain one random skill from your chosen profession—with the potential to earn additional reward based on your performance. Choose wisely.]
A holographic game-like monitor materialized before him.
[Name: N/A]
[System: N/A]
'Cool, sci-fi stuff! Is this like those VRMMORPGs from anime?'
'Damn it, if it's a full game for a tutorial, Eldor Ring is a hard pass... Playing as a Barbarian with a club got my death count past 10k.'
'Diabolica? Even worse... I don't wanna fight demons in first-person view.'
'PakMen? Nah... What kind of system would that even give me? 'Endless Pebble Eating'?'
Dexter spent over an hour agonizing over his choice. Some of the humanoid figures around him had already vanished—probably sent into their Tutorials.
'Ah, fuck it. It's just a dream. What could go wrong?'
[Name: YouMe69]
["Ert!" Name already taken. How about YouMe572?]
'What the fuck? Seriously?'
[Name: mRYUz]
["Ert!" Name already taken. How about mRYUz34?]
'Even my lifelong IGN is taken?!'
Frustrated, Dexter racked his brain for an available name, wasting even more time.
'Fuck! This! Stupid game!'
[Name: FlyHighLikeAButterfly]
[Welcome, FlyHighLikeAButterfly! Please select a game from the list.]
Then, a holographic list materialized before him, displaying countless games from different worlds. Some titles were written in bizarre, unreadable characters—symbols that didn't even resemble an alphabet—while others looked like tangled, weirdly shaped noodles.
Surprisingly, there was no search function.
'Oh my god, this endless scrolling... Where the hell is the letter E?!'
After thirty minutes of mindless swiping, he finally reached the alphabetical index—only to realize he still hadn't made it past the games starting with A.
'Keep calm, Dex... This is just psychological warfare. Think of it as trash talk. Don't let it get to you.'
With a sigh, he kept swiping until, at last, he reached E.
And there it was—the most balanced game he could think of.
[Game: 'Eldrion Online' – Y/N?]
The moment he selected Yes, his body dissolved into particles, hurling him toward the world of Eldrion Online.
From above, Dexter saw it all—the war-torn continent of the Warring Kingdoms and the vast, Uncharted Zone beyond.
[Initiating Main Quest Line...]
["Ert!" No Main Quest Available.]
[Generating Tutorial Completion Condition...]
[Generation Complete.]
[After 10 years, the Tutorial will be considered Complete.]
[Adjusting Time Flow...]
[10 years in the Tutorial = 6 hours in 'Server: Earth, Channel: 5632'.]
'Ten years?! That's almost a third of my life since quitting the Pro League!' he thought, stunned.
[Skip 'Eldrion Online' Tutorial? – Y/N]
'No point skipping this island. I need that free mount for fast travel—then straight to hunting that Mammoth. Its calf is the most valuable in the game.'
He chose No.
Instantly, his body plummeted onto a small island—the starting zone where he'd learn the ropes of Eldrion Online.
Eldrion Online was a true sandbox game—no quests, no hand-holding. Players shaped the world through crafting, building, and survival. They hunted mobs for leather to fashion armor, mined ore to forge swords and steel plates, chopped wood to construct homes, and gathered herbs and stones for alchemy and masonry. The possibilities were endless, with players dictating the game's very flow.
What Dexter loved most was its balance. There were no overpowered mobs—unless you ventured into Hardcore Adventure zones or challenged World Bosses solo.
Unlike traditional RPGs, Eldrion Online had no fixed classes like "Mage" or "Swordsman." Abilities were tied to gear: wield a sword, and you were a warrior; add a staff to your offhand, and suddenly, you were a Magic Swordsman. Skills came from every piece of equipment—boots, helmets, gauntlets—allowing players to mix and match for unique playstyles.
But there was a catch: full-loot PvP. The game encouraged theft, raids, and ambushes. Dying meant losing everything except your coins.
Traveling the vast continents required mounts. Ships were an option, but their fees scaled with inventory weight—rarely worth the cost. Teleportation existed, but only through death, forcing players to respawn at their Home or the last Safe Zone they visited—and, of course, stripping them of all gear.
Since players couldn't teleport while carrying items, many created alt accounts, infiltrating rival guilds as spies. These alts would then help ambush trade caravans in the Uncharted Zones or strike in the PK Zones of the Warring Kingdoms.
Now, experiencing Eldrion Online in first-person VR—instead of the RTS view he was used to—left Dexter awestruck. The world felt real.
'I gotta tell Fred about this when I see him.'
'if someone made a VRMMORPG like this, it'd be insane.'
'Too bad the servers shut down... Man, I miss the PvP chaos.'
'Maybe I'll find a similar game if I can ever afford the internet bills.'
He glanced down at his body—lean, muscular, athletic—then he sprinted to the shoreline to check his reflection. His breath hitched. Staring back at him was his early-twenties self, flawless and sharp-featured.
'Damn, I didn't know I could look this good. If I had this face in real life, I'd be famous.'
'Alright, time to brush up. It's been five years since the servers died—gotta relearn the ropes.'