Kael stayed put for another ten minutes, still wedged between rubble and fighting the pain and fatigue of his wounds. He could hear the man who had been leading the talmas toward the still-standing building talking in low tones as their footsteps moved away from him across the rubble.
Kael didn't move until he could no longer hear them. Slowly, he pushed himself up, and his limbs felt like they were made of lead. He somehow managed to sit up behind a large broken stone, even as each movement sent sharp pain through him. Gritting his teeth, he endured it.
A deep, shuddering breath left his lips. "A system… I have a system." He muttered, eyes flickering in thought.
It was the only logical explanation, right? He had died, yet he was here. And in every novel, game, or fantasy story, a system meant power—stats, skills, and probably a shop or quests.
"If I have a system, I should be able to see my stats," he whispered to himself, mind racing.
He paused, then spoke. "Status."
Nothing.
Frowning, he tried again. "Stats."
Still nothing.
Okay. Maybe there was a specific way to trigger it? He had read enough stories to know sometimes the system responded to different words.
"Character Sheet.""Profile.""Attributes.""System Panel."
Nothing.
His eye twitched. "Oh come on, just open already! Info! Data! Numbers! Window!"
Just as he was about to give up, a translucent screen flickered to life before his eyes.
[System Functions Unlocked: Status][Locked Functions: Shop]
His eyes widened.
"Oh, so it's one of those picky systems…" he muttered.
Kael focused on the second function. Shop. If he had a shop, that meant he could buy things, right? Maybe weapons, potions, or even—
[Function Locked]
"…Figures." He sighed.
He made a mental effort to reopen the shop but it did not respond to his focus and concentration.
After a few more valiant attempts he gave up, shoulders slumped, and he drifted away.
How the hell did I get myself into this mess?
One moment, he was just some average guy playing a game, and the next… death. Maybe not average since I had some blood on my hands but still he was far from being unique.
He still remembered that last moment—the sensation of fading away. And yet, here he was, with a system that felt eerily similar to that game.
It's almost the same. The layout, the status window… it's like someone copy-pasted it.
He exhaled sharply. He could sit here and keep questioning everything, but what would that change? Right now, he needed to survive.
"…Alright, let's see how bad I am."
He focused on the Status function, and another screen appeared before him.
----------
[Status]
Name: Kael
Level: 1
Class: None
HP: 9/20
MP: 2/10
Strength: 5
Agility: 4
Endurance: 6
Intelligence: 22
Perception: 3
Traits:
Indomitable Will– Your perseverance surpasses that of normal humans. Pain, fatigue, and despair will never break you, though your body may still fail. Grants resistance to mental attacks.
Active Skills:
Devour (F-)[Noviece] – Absorb the life force of a target, restoring HP and MP. Cannot steal skills or stats.
Sneak (F-)[Noviece] – Allows for quieter movement and reduced presence detection.
Passive Skills:
Critical Hit – Attacks have a small chance to deal double damage.
-------
Kael narrowed his eyes at the proficiency levels beside his skills.
"So there's a Mastery system—Novice, Adept, Expert, and Master. That means skills aren't just fixed abilities but can improve with use… or maybe some other condition."
His gaze lingered on Critical Hit. Unlike his other skills, he hadn't needed to activate it. It was passive, meaning it probably worked in the background.
"Passive skills are different. They usually need special conditions to level up, and those conditions are always hidden. So I can't just grind my way to improving them unless I figure it out."
His fingers clenched slightly. The more he looked at this system, the more certain he became.
"With this status window, I can half-confirm it—I really am inside the game I died playing. The layout, the mechanics… it's too similar to be a coincidence."
'But there was never a system like this in the game'
"Then either something changed, or I'm not just some regular player anymore."
The game was called "Eterna: Fractured Realms."
A role-playing game or RPG in short that changed the fabric of gaming itself. Eterna gave an absolute sense of freedom. Unlike typical RPGs that funneled players through pre-determined paths, a player could be a wandering swordsman, a beloved hero, a villainous tyrant, or maybe a farmer. There was never a necessity to follow the main quest. Of course there was a "Main Questline" that spanned the Eterna world—however engaging in a main storyline was optional.
This freedom, combined with its exceptional narrative, created a unique piece of art unlike any other. Gamers were not forced into one playstyle, or specific outcome. Even non-player characters had complex personalities, histories, and their own changing objectives—some would betray the player, while others formed strong bonds that altered the path of the game.
But what truly set Eterna apart was its living world.
Every kingdom had political structures, warring factions, and internal strife that continued whether the player was involved or not. Empires could rise or fall based on the player's influence—or lack thereof. A single decision could set off world-changing events, leading to a butterfly effect that made every playthrough completely unique.
The impressive breadth of character development was yet another reason that this game was universally recognized as a once-in-a-generation classic. NPCs were not merely faceless background model; they had goals and personalities that changed in response to decisions made by the player. Players could build relationships with the many NPCs, including friendship, rivalries, mentorships and potential romance. These relationships did not follow a specific script but were built in response to gameplay, and the results were often unpredictable, creating an opportunity for legit emotional investment on the part of the player.
In terms of visuals, Eterna was unparalleled. The world was stunningly gorgeous. The characters looked real, and the environments depicted would look as if they had been painted on a canvas. The world had it all, from the magnificent celestial cities in the sky to long-lost ancient ruins beneath the depths of the ocean. The detail was incredible. No two locations offered the same experience, and exploration rewarded players with unique hidden lore, rare artifacts, and power secrets that shaped their experience.
It was the most immersive, record-breaking RPG ever created—a game that felt real.
And now, Kael was inside it.
But there was a problem.
Even though this world mirrored the game he played before his death, there were things here that didn't exist in the original. His skill Devour and the trait Indomitable Girth had never been part of Eterna.
Which meant either something had changed…
Or he wasn't just a normal player anymore.
His heart pounded at the realization. If this world was truly the game, but he had abilities that never existed before…