The plain was quiet again. The dust had settled, the wind carried only silence and the faint shimmer of a defeated Field Boss fading into light.
Zero stood in the middle of it all, breathing heavily. Sweat rolled down his cheek, his heartbeat still pounding from the rush.
"Man..."
He muttered, looking at his hands.
"It's been a while since my body felt this alive."
He flexed his fingers. They ached. His arms were sore. His legs trembled. The game's pain feedback was too real but he wasn't complaining. With a smirk, he whispered.
"Status."
A semi-transparent window unfolded before him, flickering with data.
[Status Screen]
Name: ZeroGod
Class: Assassin
Level: 6
Title: None
HP: 110 / 110 | MP: 50 / 50
Stamina: 100 / 100
STR: 5
DEX: 15
AGI: 20
VIT: 1
INT: 1
LCK: 3
Skill Points Available: 6
Skills
None
Zero frowned.
"Still empty?"
He sighed, Then a new notification blinked at the bottom of the screen:
[Class Synchronization Complete]
[Basic Assassin Skills Unlocked]
The interface rippled, lines of data rewriting themselves.
Shadow Step Lv.1 - Instantly relocate in a new location the Player desires [Cooldown: 10s]
Dagger Mastery Lv.1 - Increases attack speed with daggers by 5%.
Silent Movement Lv.1 - Reduces footstep noise by 1.5%.
Zero blinked, then laughed quietly.
"So you were holding out on me, huh?"
He scrolled through the list, lips curling into a grin. The skills were basic, but the potential was obvious.
"Not bad for starter tools. Let's make them deadly."
He opened the stat menu again. Six unspent points gleamed at the bottom. Without hesitation, he dumped all of them into AGI.
[AGI: 20 > 26]
He immediately felt it, the lightness in his body, the subtle increase in balance and precision.
His hands itched to move.
"Yeah," he muttered, stepping forward and vanishing into a blur of speed for a split second, his body catching up a heartbeat later.
"This is it. This is how I'm meant to play."
A nearby party of beginners still hiding from the earlier fight peeked out, whispering.
"That's him... the level 1 who killed the Field Boss."
"He's already level 6... how?!"
"Look, even his username... ZeroGod. Who picks a name like that?"
Zero turned slightly, eyes meeting theirs.
They froze. He just grinned menacingly.
"Grind safely, Noobs~"
Then he vanished, his Shadow Step flickering once as he reappeared dozens of meters away. The field fell silent again.
Half an hour later, Zero stood before the colossal gate that marked Floor One's entrance.
Massive statues of armored guardians loomed on either side, and glowing runes stretched across the archway like veins of light.
A floating prompt appeared:
[Warning: Proceeding beyond this point will disable Teleport Gate and Safe Zone access.]
[Minimum Recommended Level: 20]
[Do you wish to enter?]
He cracked his neck, smirked, and tapped "Yes."
The gate thundered open. A low, ancient sound that shook the ground. Wind howled through, carrying whispers and the faint scent of blood.
Zero stepped forward, muttering to himself.
"If the beginner zone had something like Direfang... what's waiting inside must be fun."
The gate sealed shut behind him. The light dimmed. And for the first time, the system itself hesitated, as if the game was watching him.
[System Notice: Player 'ZeroGod' has entered Floor One prematurely.]
[Data anomaly detected.]
[Observation Mode: Active.]
Zero tilted his head.
"Observation mode?"
Then he laughed. Loud, sharp, unhinged.
"Good. Watch all you want... I'll make sure you don't blink."
The thunder of the gate's mechanisms faded behind him as Hyun-jin stepped through.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the light from the Twilight Plains disappeared.
Soon replaced by darkness so thick it felt like weight pressing on his chest.
[Warning: Floor Guardian is emerging.]
The gate behind him slammed shut.
He turned but the massive stone doors were already sealed, no seams, no exit. A low growl rippled through the air. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"...No way... They're making me fight already?"
The darkness around him pulsed and from within it, something began to move.
Chains rattled. The ground cracked.
Two enormous eyes snapped open, burning crimson in the dark.
[FLOOR GUARDIAN: Abyss Warden - Lv. 25]
Recommended Party: 12
Hyun-jin's grin widened.
"12 players? Guess I'll count as 12 players."
The Warden emerged. A towering, armored figure with a blade forged from black flame. Every step it took made the ground shudder.
Hyun-jin tightened his grip on his daggers, whispering under his breath,
"Alright, let's test these new skills."
The Warden moved first. Impossibly fast for its size. Its sword came down in a single vertical slash that split the air.
Zero leapt sideways, rolling over broken stone. The shockwave still clipped him, blasting his HP down by nearly half.
[HP: 110 > 56]
He coughed out a laugh.
"So that's how it feels to be cut in half. Nice."
He dashed forward, no hesitation. His body flickered.
[Skill: Shadow Step]
His skill activated, He reappeared behind the Warden and slashed at the gaps in its armor.
[23 Damage]
[19 Damage]
Sparks flew, metal screeched, the boss barely flinched.
"Tch. Too shallow."
The Warden spun, slamming its blade sideways. Zero ducked, just barely, feeling the blade slice the air above his head.
He darted under its guard, stabbing twice, rolling, stabbing again, like a blur of motion around the giant's legs.
"Come on, big guy! Move faster!"
Each dodge was instinct, not system timing, pure real-world reflex.
No cooldowns, no auto-targets, just Hyun-jin reading patterns and gambling everything on reaction speed.
The Warden's sword came down again, slamming the ground. A shockwave of black fire erupted outward.
He jumped back too slow. The fire grazed his arm, and pain seared through his nerves.
[HP: 56 > 14]
He fell to one knee, panting, vision flickering red.
"Damn... this game hurts like hell."
He smirked then laughed again, manic and breathless.
"Exactly what I wanted!"
He forced himself to stand, blood running down his arm or at least the simulation of it. He took a deep breath. Closed his eyes and sprinted forward again.
The Warden swung, he ducked low, slid beneath its blade, and Shadow Stepped directly into its shadow.
He came out the other side, behind it, dagger flashing upward in one clean, brutal strike.
[CRITICAL HIT! 512 Damage]
The boss roared, stumbling forward. Cracks split across its armor, glowing red-hot.
Zero didn't stop. He leapt onto its back, climbing up its armor as it thrashed violently.
He jammed his dagger deep into the glowing core, once, twice, over and over.
"Die and give me my EXP."
He muttered and slammed both daggers down into the Warden's core, laughing like a maniac. The creature froze... Then shattered.
Black shards exploded outward like glass under pressure, evaporating into ash.
[FLOOR GUARDIAN DEFEATED]
[EXP +4500]
[Level Up: 6 > 11]
[Hidden Skill Gained: Phantom Reaver Lv.1]
[Item Drop Aquired: Warden's Shadow Mantle]
[Item Effect: When standing in darkness, physical presence merges with the environment, reducing all incoming ranged damage by 40% and increasing melee evasion by 25%.]
Zero dropped to one knee, panting hard. His whole body trembled, part exhaustion, part adrenaline.
He looked at the cloak glowing before him, jet black, stitched with faint red runes. He grabbed it, swinging it over his shoulders. The fabric melted into his body, perfectly fitting his movements.
"Now this... is what a real game feels like."
He tightened his daggers and looked ahead where a staircase of light led upward, toward the Second Floor.
"Don't blink, Erebus. The fun's just getting started."