Ten years.
That's how long New Eden had existed.
Ten years of players attempting to defeat the final boss. Ten years of failure.
No one had ever succeeded in defeating the Demon King.
Isaac was about to try. Again.
His fingers moved over the keyboard with precision and mechanical efficiency. On the screen, his character—a black-haired swordsman wearing a tattered gray armor—dodged a massive claw strike by barely an inch.
The Demon King—a demon in a twisted human form—let out a terrifying roar that shook the entire arena.
His health bar, at the top of the screen, was a thin red line barely holding on.
[Demon King HP: 3%]
"Come on," Isaac muttered. "Just a little more."
He had been fighting for forty straight minutes without any breaks. The build he had chosen allowed no mistakes—he had focused all his points purely on attack power, having heard about the Demon King's terrifying defense.
One hit meant death.
And so far, Isaac had avoided every attack.
The Demon King slammed the ground with his massive fists. The arena cracked. Shockwaves rippled outward.
Isaac's character blurred—perfectly timed invincibility frames.
Counterattack. His sword flashed.
[Critical Hit!]
[Demon King HP: 1%]
Isaac's heart pounded.
This is it. I can actually do this.
The Demon King staggered. His health was about to run out.
Just one final strike.
Isaac moved to deliver the finishing blow—
—and the monster's eyes flared red.
[Warning: Rage Mode Activated]
"What?!"
The Demon King's speed doubled. His claw fell like a guillotine.
Isaac tried to dodge.
Too slow.
[Severe Damage Taken]
[HP: 0/1]
The screen went black.
[Game Over]
Isaac stared at the screen.
Silence.
Then he laughed.
Once.
Twice.
A bitter, exhausted laugh.
"Of course. Of course there's a hidden rage phase."
He leaned back in his chair, running his hand through his hair.
Forty minutes wasted.
Was this his fifteenth attempt this week? The fiftieth overall?
He had lost count.
"The Demon King is broken," he muttered. "No one can beat this thing with normal stats."
The Transcendent build was supposed to be the solution. High risk, high reward. Perfect execution required.
But even perfect execution wasn't enough.
The screen shuddered.
[Game Over]
Retry?
[Yes] [No]
Isaac's cursor hovered over [Yes].
He always pressed it.
Every failure, he tried again. That was what he did. What he had always done.
Speedruns. Challenges. Frame-perfect attempts.
Failure was not an option.
But his hand hesitated.
What's the point?
The thought crept in, unwelcome and cold.
I've tried fifty times. A hundred times. I know this fight frame by frame. And I still can't win.
The Demon King isn't just hard. He'simpossible.
Isaac clenched his jaw.
"No. There has to be a way."
He pressed [Yes].
The screen turned white.
Isaac blinked.
This… isn't normal.
The loading screen should have appeared. Respawn animations. Checkpoint.
But the white light intensified.
It filled his monitor, spilling into the room.
"What—"
The light burned him.
Isaac recoiled, shielding his eyes.
The keyboard fell to the floor.
Then—
Pain.
Blinding, scorching pain tore through his skull like a knife.
He tried to scream.
No sound came out.
His vision warped. The room folded in on itself. Reality twisted.
Then—
Nothing.
Silence.
Cold.
Darkness.
Isaac's eyes snapped open.
He gasped.
His chest heaved violently. His heart pounded hard against his ribs.
Wh… what just happened?
He sat up. Fast. His head spun.
Blink. Blink.
This wasn't his room.
Stone walls. Thin, lumpy bed. A cracked mirror hanging on the opposite wall.
"Okay. Okay. I'm dreaming. This is a dream."
He pinched himself.
Pain radiated in his arm.
"…Damn it."
He stood. His legs shook. He gripped the edge of the desk for support.
His body felt… different.
So light. So weak.
He looked at his hands.
Pale. Thin. Unfamiliar.
"These… aren't my hands."
Panic climbed to his chest.
He stumbled toward the mirror.
The face staring back wasn't his own.
Younger, maybe eighteen or nineteen. Sharp jaw. Messy dark hair falling over his forehead. Gray, lifeless eyes.
"No. No no no. This—"
He touched the reflection. It mimicked him perfectly.
His breathing quickened.
This is real.
A sound.
Ding. Faint, like a notification.
Isaac froze.
In the corner of his vision, something appeared.
A transparent blue window, floating in the air.
[System Message]
Welcome to New Eden Academy.
Current Status: Preparation Week (Day 0)
Entrance Ceremony: In 7 days
Please check your status window for more information.
Isaac stared at the message.
Then he began to laugh.
Quiet at first.
Then louder.
A trembling, half-hysterical laugh.
"I'm in the game. I'm actually in the game."
He ran his hands through his hair.
"This is insane. This—"
He stopped.
Wait.
He focused on the window, wanting it to expand.
It responded.
[Status Window]
Name: Isaac [Locked]
Age: 19
Rank: F
Stats:
Strength: 8
Speed: 12
Endurance: 7
Mana: 10
Blessing: [Transcendent]
Duration: 10 minutes (daily limit)
Effect: Absolute bodily mastery. All actions become frame-perfect. Body enters auto-pilot mode.
Location: New Eden Academy - Stone Hall, Room 49
Date: Year 1, Day 0 - Preparation Week
Isaac's eyes fixed on one line.
[Mana: 10]
"Only ten mana points?"
He sighed.
"But… at least it's enough to use some basic items."
In a world where everyone had hundreds of mana points… ten was nothing.
But it wasn't zero.
He scrolled down, hands trembling.
Please. Please tell me there's something.
And there it was.
[Blessing: Transcendent]
Isaac exhaled.
"Okay. Okay. I'm not completely doomed."
He activated the skill.
The description appeared.
Exactly as it was in the game. Word for word.
He read it, then nodded slowly.
"Just like in the game," he muttered.
He closed the window.
Isaac sat on the bed. His hands were still trembling.
He forced himself to take a deep breath.
Alright. Think. Assess the situation.
I'm in New Eden. The real world. Not the game.
I have a body. Stats. A blessing.
And… one week before the story officially begins.
He grabbed a pen and paper from the desk.
He wrote:
Priority List:
1. Acquire basic items
2. Avoid crossing paths with Johan and Arthur
3. Solve the mana problem
4. Test the blessing (carefully)
He stared at the list.
Then crossed out #4.
"No. Not yet. I don't know what I'm doing."
He stood.
"First, I need to see this place."
He grabbed a thin, worn coat—clearly used—and stepped into the corridor.
It was empty. Silent.
Midnight.
He walked slowly, his footsteps echoing on the stone floor.
He looked at the bare walls around him.
"Stone Hall."
He muttered to himself.
The lowest dormitory hall in the entire academy.
He knew the other halls from the game:
Amber Hall—decent, comfortable, for mid-rank students.
Opal Hall—luxurious, with personal training rooms, for elite high-rank students only.
And here, in Stone Hall?
The basics. Nothing more.
A cramped room. A broken bed. Bare stone walls.
Low-rank students. Those without money. Without power.
People like him.
Outside, the cold night air hit him like a slap.
He stopped.
The academy stretched before him.
Massive.
Towers pierced the sky. Glowing blue mana lamps lined the corridors. Gardens. Training grounds. Lecture halls.
All bathed in ethereal, unreal light.
"Oh my God."
He had seen this place a thousand times. Screenshots. Live streams. Wiki pages.
But standing here?
"It's… real."
His heart pounded.
Fear and awe mixed in his chest.
"I'm really here."
Isaac walked.
He mapped the layout in his mind.
The library. Eastern wing.
Training hall. Northern arena.
Administration building. Central hub.
He noted every detail. Patrol paths of the glowing golems. Blind spots in the mana detection barriers.
He stopped in front of the training hall.
The doors were locked. A sign read: "Open 6 AM – 10 PM"
It was 2 AM.
"Tomorrow, then."
He turned to return to the dorms.
But paused. He looked back at the academy. At this world.
"This is insane."
He looked at his hands.
The trembling had stopped.
Is this normal? Or is something actually changing?
He didn't know.
And that scared him more than anything.
"One week," he muttered. "I have one week to prepare."
He began walking.
"And then the real story begins."
An idea struck him. Cold. Calculated.
If this world works like the game…
Then I know the mechanics. I know the exploits. I know where the hidden items are.
I can survive this.
He clenched his jaw.
I must survive this.
No matter what it takes.
He only hoped…
…that he would remain himself when it was all over.