The wind howled through the skeletal trees as someone trudged forward, his boots sinking into the damp earth. Three weeks!! Three weeks of following this damned map through cursed forests and rivers that shimmered with unnatural light.
The boy was wandering through a forsaken wilderness on a dark, moonless night.
"I have been following this map for so long, and there is still no sign of anything." He said, while his fingers tightened around the parchment, now frayed at the edges.
There has to be something here,"he muttered with a heavy breath, fogging in the chill air. His orange bow—"Dawn's Whisper," a rare-tier weapon he'd won in a dungeon raid—felt heavier than usual on his back. The regal armor he wore, polished to a silver sheen, was now scuffed and dull from the journey.
The following week-
Following the map, he finally discovered an ancient temple. It shouldn't have been visible. Not in this darkness. Yet the structure glowed faintly, its sapphire stones pulsing like a heartbeat beneath the overgrowth of vines. At its entrance stood a small red lion statue, jaws parted in a silent roar.
"I believe this is the location that the map indicates. This is undoubtedly an easter egg that leads to hidden quests or items." He said to himself.
He gave the door a powerful shove, but it didn't even budge.
"Think," he growled at himself, running a hand through his matted hair. Sleep deprivation gnawed at his mind—he hadn't logged out in days.
In an attempt to find something, he looked through everything close to the door, but it was in vain. He contemplated something while gazing at the statue of the lion.
He placed the map in the lion's jaws, and it immediately snapped shut as he had anticipated.
The ground trembled as the temple door groaned and sank into the earth, revealing an altar bathed in eerie blue light.
---------------------------------
Cold. That was the first thing Montu felt. His eyes flew open.
He scrambled upright—and froze.
He looked around himself to find where he was.
It took him a few moments to understand what was actually going on, and when he did, he was startled and perplexed to discover that he had been brought back to life in the VR game he had formerly played.
It was unbelievable for him that he would be murdered, and an even greater shock that he will be reincarnated.
He just couldn't get his mind straight, he tried to recall what happened to him before he came here; he was killed in the real world by a few people for a mythic item he discovered in the game...
A loud voice rang in his head while he was holding the last string of his life.
"Do you want another chance to live?" it asked.
'What type of joke is this?' But he still replied "Yes", clinging onto a hope to survive.
And the next thing he knew, he was in "DESTINY," the most popular virtual reality game in the year 2437.
"Since I have been given this second chance, I will live it without complaining"
'They will regret even being born, and I will make them pay for it.' He thought in his mind.
"Synchronization complete," chimed a soft voice in his skull.
He recognised it right away as the anticipated system.
"So all those novels and comics weren't lying when they say you get a system upon reincarnation"
Montu summoned the system, and a blue interface materialized in front of his eyes.
He looked at his character information, stunned, and rubbed his eyes a few times, but what he saw remained.
MONTU〔NPC〕
RACE = Undead(zombie)
Level=1
Strength=2
Speed = 1
Endurance=6
Intelligence=5
Mind=0
Mana=0
HP=35/35
Stat Points =0
Evolution Points:(N/A)
Exclusive skills = God's eye, EVOLUTION
Skills= Regenerate[lv 1]
Montu's laugh came out as a rasp. "A zombie. They made me a fucking zombie."
He snarled, "what am I supposed to do with a zombie character?"
"Dead, dumb, and weak," he muttered. "Great start."
He also noticed NPC written beside his name, indicating that he was a game inhabitant rather than a player from Earth.
He also checked his skills and remembered that 'God's eye' was the item for which he was killed, and it had a limited number of uses when it was an item, but now that it is a skill, he has unlimited uses of God's eye.
This ability displays all information about the enemy and other players.
And his other ability, 'Regenerate,' allows him to regrow his limbs and all other body parts unless he is destroyed completely.
And he noticed a notification that appeared, '30 DAYS UNTIL RELEASE"
"Hasn't it already been 4 years since the game was released," does that mean I was sent back 4 years in the past, "this is even more amazing, many players who started playing early formed guilds and monopolised many resources"
Montu's rotting lips curled into a smile.
"Early access, huh?
"I have 30 days until the players arrive, so I should level up as much as possible."
He flexed his skeletal fingers. The players would come. The guilds would rise. And he?
He'd be waiting.