Time passed.
Five minutes were over.
A notification appeared before his eyes.
[Teleporting players to the map – Land of Ruins]
He blinked at it and tilted his head.
"Land of Ruins, huh… looks like the game has more maps than I remember. I can't recall this one. Might be more interesting."
The void space around him began to fade.
Black nothingness peeled away, leaving behind a wash of glowing green particles, almost like a loading screen in a game.
The colors shifted, merged, and then finally settled.
A new world formed in front of his eyes.
He stood there, stunned. The place looked real—too real. Not just another game illusion.
The world around him looked exactly like Earth. Same style of houses. Same kind of roads. Same structures.
But it felt like the aftermath of a huge disaster.
The buildings were collapsed. Walls broken. Windows shattered. Streets cracked and littered with rubble.
It looked like some apocalypse had swept through, leaving everything dead and abandoned.
Before he could take it all in, something heavy dropped into his hand.
A sword.
He looked at it, then at his hand gripping the hilt, then at the rest of his body. His eyes widened.
"This… this technology… it's overpowered," he whispered.
It didn't feel like holding a game avatar. It felt like his own body had been replaced. He had become the avatar.
He flexed his fingers on the hilt, staring at the details of the blade. Then he turned again to look at his surroundings.
"Standing here won't be good," he muttered. "These students are mostly long-ranged types. They'll just hide in the buildings and hunt me down."
He started walking, careful on the cracked ground. His boots pressed against dust and broken stone.
Not far ahead, he heard noises. Metal clashing. A grunt. The sharp twang of a bowstring.
He peeked through the ruins and saw two players fighting.
A grin tugged at his lips.
"Guess I found my practice dummies."
As he watched, glowing system tags popped up above the fighters.
[Avatar Name: Volt – Thunder Spear]
Name: Zoe Parker
[Avatar Name: Sylph – Wind Ranger]
Name: Harper Lawson
Jax leaned against the broken porch of a ruined house, folding his arms. He sat down on the cracked steps, eyes locked on the duel.
The boy, Harper, raised his bow and spoke.
"You can run away, lady. I won't harm you."
Jax coughed and shook his head.
"What's this? A simp? And how is he so confident? He picked a character that's weakest against her—Volt hard counters Sylph. What a joke."
Zoe's laugh echoed across the empty street.
"You think you can win? Don't make me laugh."
Her mocking tone only fueled Harper's anger. He pulled his bowstring tight, eyes blazing.
"Piercing Shot!"
The arrow ripped through the air toward her.
But Zoe didn't even flinch. She lifted her spear, then hurled it.
Whsssh!
The spear tore through the flying arrow, slicing the blade in half, then cutting the wooden shaft cleanly. The momentum carried it further—straight into Harper's hand.
Clench.
Harper screamed as the weapon grazed him.
Above his head, his HP bar dropped sharply.
100 left.
Jax raised an eyebrow.
"That much damage from one throw… If that was me, I'd be done for."
Zoe tilted her head and smiled.
"See? That's where you stand. Now, where's your confidence? Show me what other joker tricks you've got."
Harper growled, pulling at his hair in frustration.
His bow glowed again as he aimed at the sky.
"Storm Volley!"
Three arrows appeared out of thin air, crackling with wind energy. He fired them upward. Then another batch followed. Then more.
Within seconds, the sky filled with arrows.
Too many to count.
In ten seconds flat, over a hundred arrows hovered in the air, their tips aimed downward like a rain of death.
Harper sneered, "Let's see you dodge this!"
The arrows shot down like a storm.
Zoe still didn't move.
Her eyes stayed calm.
"Lightning Dash."
In the blink of an eye, her body vanished in a flash of blue light. She reappeared several meters away, right behind Harper.
His face drained of color. His knees shook.
She stepped forward slowly, almost casually.
"It's over."
She raised her hand to the sky.
"Thunder Strike!"
Crack!
A bolt of lightning tore through the clouds and smashed into Harper. His HP dropped to zero instantly.
His body flickered, pixelated, and then vanished.
At the same moment, Zoe's MP bar—which had dropped to 300 after using her skills—shot back up to full. Her HP also filled.
"Eliminating restores both health and mana," Jax muttered. "Figures."
He wasn't surprised by the outcome. It had been obvious. Volt against Sylph was no contest.
He was still watching when Zoe suddenly turned her head toward him.
Her voice cut the silence.
"Will you just watch, or join too… coward?"
Jax froze for a moment. Then a slow grin spread across his face.
"So, you saw me."
He stood, pressing down on his sword for support. His eyes narrowed, smile turning devilish.
Zoe smirked back. A tag popped up above him as she read it.
[Avatar Name: Eryndor]
Name: Jax Rayne
Her lips curled.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Jax. It'll be a great honor for me to beat a noble player. Male or female doesn't matter—a win is a win."
Jax tilted his head.
"Are you sure you'll win? Because what I'm seeing here… is my first elimination."
Zoe burst out laughing.
"Psshh—don't make me laugh."
She pointed her spear at him.
"Look at you. You picked Eryndor. That character is just a showcase to prove the game has male avatars too. Weak stats. Weak skills. Nothing else.
"First, that strike skill of yours—you have to close in. Impossible.
"Second, your so-called heal. Two percent HP every three minutes? Even if you survive by some miracle, two percent is useless.
"And last, your so-called signature skill. Boosts attack and speed when HP is under thirty percent. But you'll never reach that stage. One attack and you'll vanish."
Her eyes gleamed with arrogance.
"All useless. Just like you males."
Jax listened quietly, then chuckled.
"Heh. Wouldn't it be bad… after I beat you here? A male beating a female. To be precise, mocking a female."
Zoe's lips curled.
"Are you serious?"
Her laugh was sharp, but it cut short when she saw his face. His expression carried pure confidence.
She hissed.
"You're delusional!"
She charged, lightning crackling around her spear. With a roar, she hurled it straight at him.
Jax lifted his longsword, bracing for impact.
Crash!
The spear smashed into his guard, throwing him back. His body slid across broken stone. Pain pricked his nerves, electricity buzzing along his arm.
His HP dropped to 300.
But instead of fear, a smile spread on his face.
The lightning on the spear faded. The weapon flew back toward Zoe, pulled by its recall tech.
Everyone thought it was her strength. Never leaving the user weaponless.
But Jax had other thoughts.
His eyes glinted. His grip tightened.
At the last second, his hand shot out and clenched the shaft of the spear.
The recall pulled hard, dragging him through the air, pulling him straight toward Zoe.
He was inches above the ground, gliding fast. Wind whipped across his face.
In mid-air, he let go with one hand. His other hand drew the longsword from the scabbard at his waist.
Zoe's eyes went wide.
"No way—"
The spear's pull was unstoppable. The recall dragged him closer and closer.
Zoe's mind screamed. She couldn't cancel it. Couldn't control it. For once, her tech betrayed her.
And Jax… was coming straight at her, sword drawn, riding the recall like a deadly arrow.
She panicked, steps faltering, thoughts racing.
What should she do?
The distance closed.
Jax's devilish smile never faded.
He was on a deadly ride.