Ash leaned back in his chair, headset snug over his ears, thumbs hovering over the familiar buttons. Another MMO launch, another "revolutionary" world promising challenge, drama, and epic loot. He'd played them all. He'd breezed through them all. Meh.Same old, same old. Probably won't even last an hour before I'm bored again.
He typed in his lifelong gamertag, Ashfall, a nostalgic nod to his first character — a fire mage that had burned bright for a week and then fizzled into forgettable history. He grinned at himself. Some things never changed.
The usual cutscene began: kingdoms broken by war, giants and orcs tearing through cities, the hell-realm tearing the last threads of the world apart. Demons spilled through the cracks, consuming everything. Ash's eyes glazed. He'd seen this story a dozen times.
Then the world flickered. The narration stuttered. The air shimmered. The cutscene warped into a splintered kaleidoscope, and suddenly Ash was somewhere else.
He found himself standing at the edge of a village, alone. Everything looked normal at first glance, but the air felt heavier, the light sharper, the textures more tactile than any VR system had rendered before.
He blinked at the world around him. The sun hung low, streaking red across the sky. Smoke drifted from the chimneys of small cottages, merchants and guardsmen could be seen on the streets. Everything looked normal till he noticed his reflection in a puddle. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. His character — his carefully designed warrior — was gone.
In its place was a lithe figure, translucent skin with pale, glowing lines tracing across his arms and torso. His hands flickered with faint energy. What the hell… he muttered.
He opened his Stats. Level 1. The class slot… blank. A single word blinked at him in place of the Mage he had painstakingly chosen: Classless.
Stats:
Strength: 5
Vitality: 6
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 7
Charisma: 4
Below the stats, his Experience Bar glowed faintly but was completely empty.
Ash scrolled further. His abilities list was minimal — the basic starter abilities every new character had:
Strike – Basic melee attack
Dodge – Simple evasive movement
Block – Reduces incoming damage
Focus – Concentrates energy to enhance next action
Minor Heal – Recovers a small amount of vitality
Nothing flashy. No magic spells, no class skills, no AoE fireballs — nothing he had expected from his Mage. Just bare essentials.
Well, this is different, he thought, a flicker of interest sparking in his chest. He had played enough games to know the thrill of mastering a world — but this? He didn't know what to expect. And maybe that was the point.
Ash stepped forward cautiously. The village outskirts stretched wide, cobbled paths winding past abandoned carts and low walls. Small monsters patrolled the hills beyond: humanoid, weak-looking. Normally, he'd farm these for easy experience.
Rustling underbrush caught his attention. A small goblin-like creature lunged, claws raking across his forearm. Sharp pain shot up his arm, his muscles tensing. He countered with Strike, dodged, blocked a retaliatory swipe, each movement leaving residual ache. Focus sharpened his next attack, and a Minor Heal mended a scratch on his arm. Within moments, the creature lay motionless on the dirt, teeth bared and frozen in mid-snarl.
Victory felt satisfying — until he checked his Stats again.
Level: 1
Experience: 0%
Wait. Nothing? Ash frowned, scanning the body. Loot appeared — a small coin pouch, a scrap of meat — but no XP.
He tried another patrol monster, then another. Each fell quickly under his attacks, each corpse yielded items, yet the XP bar remained stubbornly empty.
Ash crouched, staring at the Stats interface. He tested abilities, experimented with combos. Strike, Dodge, Block, Focus, Minor Heal — all functioned normally, but nothing filled the Experience bar.
So this isn't normal. There's something I'm missing.
He moved through the forest deliberately, analyzing spawn patterns and patrol routes. Small creatures roamed in predictable loops. Terrain offered some advantage if approached carefully. He even noted a few hollow logs and shallow ditches that could be used defensively. Still, XP remained locked.
He tested more creatures, noting spawn patterns and terrain advantages. Logs, shallow ditches, and ridges became part of his strategy. Every strike, every movement, every miss left him acutely aware of his body. Even after victory, he rubbed a tender shoulder, muscles sore, breathing shallow. The XP bar remained stubbornly empty. Victory without reward felt hollow, yet the pain was real, grounding him in this strange world.
Hours passed. Ash leaned against a tree, rubbing his ribs, shoulder, and forearms. Sweat cooled on his skin. The forest whispered in the wind, distant cries of predators echoing faintly. His body ached, but his mind buzzed with excitement.
Then he spotted a hulking creature at the edge of the forest. Its fur bristled like smoldering embers, claws clicking against the rocks, eyes glinting a deep, unidentifiable color. He squinted at his Stats. No level. Just question marks.
Finally a challenge. Ash grinned as he eyed the creature.
Then he lunged at the hulking predator.
It moved faster than expected. Its jaws clamped down, catching his shoulder mid-swing. Pain shot through his arm — sharper than any VR simulation he'd felt before. He rolled, barely avoiding another strike. Heart hammering, he attacked again. Then another swipe, faster than he could anticipate.
And then… darkness.
Ash's senses faded. The forest, the cliffs, the distant smoke of the village — gone. His body felt weightless, untethered.
Moments later, the world snapped back. He was standing on the outskirts of the village again. Sun low in the sky, smoke curling lazily from chimneys. The same thicket. The same clearing. But he was alive.
A thrill ran through him. Confusion, curiosity, and just a hint of fear. Death would be easy here — that much was obvious — but learning to fight in a form he didn't recognize? That would be a real challenge.