The Supreme Will has spoken.
[You have all been stripped of your stats. Adapt or perish.]
A pause. Then, without warning—
[Randomizing stats.]
Lucas barely had time to register what was happening before his status board flickered violently. Numbers spun like a slot machine as it rolled at an insane speed, and then—
It stopped.
His face went pale.
『Of course… of fucking course.』
He got the worst stats possible.
In Ethereon Online, a player's strength was determined by fourteen core stats, making it one of the hardest and most complex games to level up in. With so many stats to manage, building a strong character was a nightmare. This was also why countless players lost their minds the moment they saw their randomized stat sheet… Lucas included.
[Name: Lucas Ellsworth]
[Race: Human]
[Gender: Male]
[Class: Hybrid (Subclass = Red Mage)]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 50/50]
[Strength: 0]
[Intelligence: 0]
[Stamina: 0]
[Dexterity: 0]
[Agility: 0]
[Constitution: 0]
[Wisdom: 0]
[Luck: 0]
[Charisma: 0]
[Perception: 0]
[Spirit: 0]
[Accuracy: 0]
[Endurance: 0]
[Skills: Stat Inflation (SSS+), Exploit Mechanics (SSS+)]
･･･
Lucas grabbed his hair so hard it felt like he was about to rip it off as his fingers dug into his scalp as he stared at his status board in pure disbelief. His entire body tensed as if he had been struck by lightning.
『My stats… they're a friggin' joke.』
No, they were beyond a joke.
They were an absolute nightmare.
His mind reeled.
『No… no, no, no… this can't be happening…!』
Hundreds of thousands of points—gone. Just like that.
It didn't even make sense.
Or, well… it did, but his mind refused to process it.
His hands trembled as he scrolled through his abysmally low stats as his breath came out in short gasps. He wasn't even sure how to react. He was no longer even close to the level he used to be. He wasn't weak—he was useless.
Despair gripped his throat like a bear trap.
His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
『No, no, no. This isn't real. This can't be real.』
Then, an even darker thought crept into his mind. He wasn't the lowest, right? He couldn't be. That would be impossible. He knew damn well what happened to players who ended up at the bottom.
His eyes darted frantically across the crowd, searching — praying — that someone, anyone, was suffering the same fate.
But then he saw it.
A golden status board.
The entire crowd was frozen as their amazed eyes locked on one person.
Among the sea of blue holo-boards, Cain's status board was golden──a glow of the divine.
A golden status board meant Level 90+!
No one below that rank could possibly have one.
Even Lucas had been grinding endlessly to reach that point, yet luck had spat in his face.
And Cain? The bastard had jumped from Level 58 all the way to 93. Just like that──!!
The reactions were instant.
"Cain! Dude, you're Level 93?! That's insane!"
"Holy shit! Let me join your party, please! I'm Level 46!"
"Bro, I'm Level 52! Let me in too!"
"I'm a Level 60 White Mage! Let me join… PLEASE! You'll need me for crucial dungeon raids!"
The crowd swarmed Cain like desperate hyenas as each player hopelessly shouted their levels, their classes, their worth, desperate to be on his team.
However, Cain remained unmoved as his calm eyes glued to his status board as he took in his absurdly high stats. He didn't gloat. He didn't boast. He just stood there, silently absorbing his newfound superiority.
Lucas stood frozen.
It was like watching the world fade away.
He could hear their cheers, their excitement.
But it all felt… distant.
All he could see was himself standing in a pit of utter darkness while the world celebrated without him.
His fingers clenched and his breathing shallow.
His vision blurred.
『No… this can't be happening. Not now. It's too early.』
A painful realization coiled around his frail mind.
The voice — the one that did this — knew exactly how to manipulate these players.
From the moment humans were born, they were equal. But as they grew, achievements divided them, creating an unshakable hierarchy. And now? Now, everything had been randomized. Achievements erased. Hard work nullified.
And yet…
Hierarchy still remained.
Because humans would always, instinctively, seek power.
The strong would be praised.
The weak would be discarded.
Lucas's legs wobbled. His fear burrowed deep into his flesh as his breath shuddered.
Then Cain looked at him.
Their eyes met, and for a moment, the world stopped.
Lucas knew those eyes.
He had seen them before—eyes filled with pure, effortless condescension. The look of someone who stood at the top to gaze down at a lowly ant.
"No…"
Lucas whispered.
"No, no, no, no… how dare you look at me like that…?!"
But Cain? Cain didn't even acknowledge his presence. His disinterested stare drifted past Lucas as if he wasn't even worth seeing. Then, with a single commanding word, he silenced the entire crowd.
"Enough."
Everyone obeyed instantly.
The once-chaotic crowd went deathly still.
Cain's voice was calm, almost lazy.
"First, let's figure out if this game is real or just a sick joke by the GMs, shall we?"
The players nodded eagerly.
It was a reasonable plan—but even more than that, they wanted to stay on his good side.
A trembling Level 5 player hesitantly raised his hand.
"B-, But… how do we—"
He never finished his sentence.
In an instant, Cain moved.
────SHIIIIIIING!!
A flash of silver, and the next moment, the player's head flew clean off his shoulders.
Blood sprayed in a scarlet arc.
THUD!
The lifeless body crumpled to the grass.
The players wanted to scream. Some even opened their mouths to do so—but they didn't. If they wanted a spot in Cain's party, they had to keep their mouths shut.
The body didn't disintegrate into pixels.
Nothing happened.
This newfound information was like a punch to the gut.
This was real.
Cain had just killed a man in cold blood—and it didn't shake him in the slightest. He flicked his sword through the air to shake off the blood, before turning back to the crowd with dead, indifferent eyes.
"Looks like we have our answer."
Silence.
Cain's gaze shifted to Lucas once more.
Lucas took an immediate step back. Then another.
His mind screamed—
『Is he going to kill me next?!』
His body shook so violently it felt like he was convulsing.
Cain ignored him.
Instead, he turned to the crowd.
"Attention, everyone. I'll make my intentions clear—I'm forming a seven-man party. Standard dungeon raid formation. I need two healers, four DPS. No one below Level 55. If you beg me for a spot, you're begging for death."
He narrowed his eyes at them.
"Understood?"
Most of the crowd instantly backed away in fear.
Only the strongest remained with unshaken confidence.
Then Cain glanced toward the approaching goblin army before looking back at Lucas.
His voice was calm, yet his words cut deep.
"The weak should comfort the weak while the strong celebrate with the strong."
Lucas's breath hitched.
He knew those words. He'd spoken them before.
Cain adjusted his high-grade armor, sheathed his sword, and left with his chosen party.
Tears rolled down Lucas's cheeks as he whispered—
"No… he said those words…"
More and more players were now making their way out of the village. No one wanted to stay and fight—not when they didn't even understand how this "game" worked.
Lucas's hands clenched into fists.
"I… I can't cast spells. I can't respawn. My endurance is zero. My level is shit…"
His breath quickened and his eyes widened with terror.
"I'm gonna die before this fucking game even starts!"
—
Heartvale Village was now a living nightmare.
Lucas barely had time to process what was happening before the village was thrown into utter chaos. The goblin horde had only just arrived, yet blood was already splattering across the dirt roads, screams tearing through the air like a chorus of despair. Both low-level players and NPCs fell one by one, their bodies carved apart by the small but ruthless creatures.
Lucas took another step back.
His entire body trembled like a leaf in the wind.
"I—I can't even fucking move fast! All my stats are in the zeroes! What the hell do they expect me to do?!"
His voice cracked between anger and frustration, but not a single soul was listening.
The weaker players who could still run had already bolted, abandoning any sense of pride or dignity.
Yet the goblins—they were like devils.
Their small, green bodies bounced through the village, setting fire to homes, driving their daggers into the spines of men and women alike. And worse, their wicked cackles echoed in the flames, as if they reveled in their own cruelty.
Women screamed as goblins pounced on them, their faces twisted in terror as their tears fell like rain. Their clothes were torn, their bodies violated by the lecherous tongues of the creatures that relished in their suffering.
The village was beyond saving.
This was no mere attack. It was a massacre.
Lucas could only stare as his breath shuddered.
His knees felt weak, threatening to buckle.
"No… what… what can I do…?"
His hands trembled violently, his body refusing to move.
"I'm fucked… I'm fucked… FUCK!!"
He was useless. Pathetic.
He was nothing but a dead man standing.
Then, out of nowhere—
[Initializing transfer…]
A voice echoed in his mind.
It wasn't a player. It wasn't a goblin. It was—
[Welcome, User! You've been granted the Stat-Padding System for the ultimate conquest of the game!]
Lucas blinked as his mind struggled to comprehend what the hell just happened.
"The… what?"
[Ding! You have awakened the SSS-ranked skill — Exploit Mechanics! You can now abuse stacking effects without diminishing returns!]
[Ding! You have awakened the SSS-ranked skill — Stat Inflation! Even the smallest achievements grant you excessive stat boosts!]
His heart pounded in his chest.
What the fuck was all this? None of it made sense!
He still couldn't move! He still felt weak!
Fear still had him by the throat—
Then, before he could even process anything, another player crashed into him.
"AAAHHH!"
The player screamed as they tumbled to the ground together and rolled across the bloodstained dirt.
Before Lucas could even react—
THUNK!
A spear flew like a bullet and mercilessly drove straight through the player's skull. Blood exploded from the wound and splattered across Lucas's face in a spray.
"Wh… what…?"
His eyes widened in horror, and then—
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
His scream ripped through the smoky air, raw, unhinged, purely child-like terror.
The player's body went limp as their lifeless corpse slumped against him and warm blood pooled beneath them.
— [Ding! You have successfully survived a collision with a random player! Endurance +0.01]
— [Exploit detected! Endurance multiplied by 100!]
— [Endurance +1]
Lucas barely even saw the notifications.
His mind was breaking.
He needed to run. He needed to get out of here!
"I have to get out—I have to get the fuck out of here! I'm not dying at the start of this nightmare! NO! N—!"
SHUNK!
A pickaxe suddenly buried itself into his foot.
Pain shot up his leg like wildfire, and when he snapped his gaze downward, he locked eyes with a goblin—its wide grin filled with yellow, rotting teeth, its tongue sliding over its lips as if savoring his suffering.
More goblins swarmed him from all directions.
"No—FUCK! GET AWAY!"
They didn't listen. They never would.
DAGGERS. PICKAXES. TEETH. STONES.
They tore into him mercilessly.
Daggers plunged into his arms and legs, teeth sank into his flesh, rocks smashed against his skull. His screams filled the nightmares of every child, but the goblins only cackled harder, as they reveled in his agony. More and more, they violated his body and tore him apart, bathing in the blood that spilled from his wounds.
[Ding! You have successfully survived a pickaxe strike from a goblin! Endurance +0.01]
[Ding! You have survived another pickaxe strike from a goblin! Endurance +0.01]
[Ding! Another one! Endurance +0.01]
[Ding! You unsuccessfully attempted to resist a goblin attack! Strength +0.01]
[You tried and failed again! Strength +0.01]
[Ding! You have successfully survived a head smash from a goblin! Endurance +0.01]
[You survived another! Endurance +0.01]
[And another! Endurance +0.01]
[Ding! You have somehow survived a fatal hit! Luck +0.01]
[Exploit detected! Multiplying all added stats by 100!]
[Ding! Endurance +15]
[Ding! Strength +6]
[Ding! Luck +5]
None of it mattered.
None of it meant anything as his consciousness faded.
Death… perhaps.