The transition from the cold, reinforced concrete of Warehouse 4 to the digital ether was instantaneous. The psychological whiplash was severe though.
One second, Sebastian was sitting in a dark, humid bunker in a dying world. His stomach cramping from a diet of military-grade sludge and adrenaline. His knuckles were bruised. His muscles stiff with lactic acid. The air smelled of wet rust and impending doom.
The next second, he was a god.
[Welcome to The Ethereal Plane.]
[Login Confirmed: Player 'Zero'.]
Sebastian opened his eyes. The air here was crisp. Charged with the electric tang of mana. He stood on the balcony of the safe house he'd rented in Ironhold. Looking out over the city of steam and gears. Below him, the streets were bustling with NPCs and players. Blissfully unaware that their real bodies were currently barricaded in bathrooms. Or dying in traffic jams.
He flexed his hand. The [Ring of Space] hummed on his finger. The [Shadowfang] dagger felt weightless at his hip. The weakness of his physical body was gone. Replaced by the limitless vigor of a Level 11 entity with glitched stats.
"Zero," Valerie's voice came from behind him.
She materialized a second later. In the real world, she was wearing dirty jeans and a leather jacket. Shivering from shock. Here she was the Mage Heiress. Clad in the [Robes of the Red Lotus]. Clutching her staff. She looked at her hands. Clenching and unclenching them.
"It feels... too real," she whispered. "I can still smell the burning rubber from the street."
"That's the phantom sense," Sebastian said. Turning to face her. His eyes, flecked with the gold of the [Eye of the Void God], scanned her status. She was shaken. Her mana pool was full though. "The Synchronization Rate is climbing. The line between the pilot and the avatar is blurring. That's why we're here."
"To hide?"
"To conquer," Sebastian corrected. He walked to the edge of the balcony. "The military is locking down the sectors in the real world. Tanks. Checkpoints. Kill-zones. We can survive the Tier 0 monsters in the warehouse. When the Tier 1s start spawning in mass numbers at dawn though, we need firepower. The only way to bring more power into reality is to own land here."
He pulled up the map interface. It was a sprawling continent of fog and danger.
"The System rewards authority," Sebastian explained. Pointing to a dark, jagged scar on the map north of the Wailing Woods. "If we establish a Guild Base—a Sanctuary—the System recognizes us as Lords. That boosts our Sync Rate. Allows us to manifest structures. Not just swords."
Valerie looked at the map. "The Valley of Cinders? That's a Level 40 zone. Even the top guilds aren't stepping foot in there. The environmental damage alone kills players in minutes."
"For them, it's suicide," Sebastian said. Checking his inventory. "For us, it's real estate."
He didn't wait for her to argue. He vaulted over the balcony railing. Activating [Sky Walk]. He landed softly on the cobblestone street three stories down. The impact absorbed by his mana reinforced legs. Valerie followed. Using a [Featherfall] spell. Landing clumsily but safely beside him.
They moved through the city. Ironhold was noisy. Filled with the clanking of dwarven machinery. The shouting of players trading loot. Sebastian moved with a singular, violent purpose though. He ignored the whispers of "It's him!" and "The Glitcher!" that followed him. Fame was a currency he didn't care to spend.
They reached the North Gate. Beyond it lay the wilderness.
"The journey is five miles," Sebastian said. "We don't stop for mobs. We don't stop for loot. We run."
He broke into a sprint.
Not a jog. With his Agility pushed to the limit, he moved like a blur. The wind whipped past his ears. A roaring tunnel of sound. He tore through the Wailing Woods. The trees passing in a smear of green and brown.
Occasionally a [Demon Wolf] or a [Forest Spider] would lunge from the underbrush. Sensing fresh meat.
They didn't stand a chance.
A spider, the size of a dinner table, dropped from the canopy directly in Sebastian's path. Its mandibles clicked. Dripping with paralytic venom.
Sebastian didn't break stride. Didn't draw his dagger. He simply extended his hand. Fingers curled into a claw.
"Space Distortion."
He didn't use a forbidden spell. Used a basic manipulation of his [Void Walk] ability. Applying it offensively. He phased his hand inside the spider's thorax as he ran past. Then solidified it for a microsecond before pulling it out.
SPLAT.
The spider exploded from the inside out. Viscera—green, sticky, smelling of rotten eggs—sprayed across the path. Sebastian was already twenty meters away before the creature's legs curled in death.
Valerie, trailing behind with a speed buff potion, gagged at the sight. Kept running though. She was learning. In this new world, hesitation was the true enemy.
They left the woods. Entered the foothills. The temperature began to rise. The lush green of the forest gave way to blackened rock. Dead, petrified trees that looked like clawing hands reaching for the sky. The air grew thick with sulfur and ash.
"We're close," Sebastian warned. "Masks up."
He equipped a [Filter Mask] he'd bought from the auction house. It covered the lower half of his face. Filtering out the toxic particulates.
Ahead of them, the path narrowed into a choke point between two massive cliffs of obsidian. A natural ambush spot.
"Halt," Sebastian skidded to a stop. His boots leaving black streaks on the rock.
"What is it?" Valerie asked. Breathing hard. "Monsters?"
"No," Sebastian said. His eyes narrowing as the [Eye of the Void God] highlighted heat signatures hiding in the rocks above. "Players. The 'Iron Covenant'. They must be scouting for the Dragon."
"General Iron's guild?" Valerie gripped her staff. "They are disciplined. They won't route like the Golden Lion."
"Discipline just means they die in formation," Sebastian murmured.
An arrow struck the ground at Sebastian's feet. A warning shot.
"Turn back, 'Zero'," a voice echoed from the cliffs. A soldier in heavy grey plate armor stood up on the ridge. "General Iron has declared this sector a restricted zone for the upcoming Dragon Raid. No independent players allowed."
Sebastian looked up. He didn't shout. He projected his voice with mana.
"I am not independent. I am an Institution."
"Fire!" the officer commanded.
A dozen archers rose from the rocks. They didn't fire warning shots this time. They aimed for the kill. The arrows whistled down. Tipped with armor-piercing steel.
Sebastian stepped forward. He didn't dodge. Didn't cast a shield.
He stomped his foot.
[Skill: Gravity Well (Localized)]
The air around him warped. The arrows hit an invisible wall of pressure ten feet above his head. The wood groaned. Then shattered. The steel tips were crushed into flat discs of metal. Falling harmlessly to the ground like hail.
The archers on the ridge stared. Dumbfounded.
"My turn," Sebastian whispered.
He pointed a finger at the cliff face itself. Right below where the archers were standing.
[Skill: Earth Spike (Overcharged)]
He dumped 500 Skill Points into the Tier 1 spell instantly.
[Evolution: Tectonic Lance]
RUMBLE.
The ground didn't just shake. It screamed. A massive spear of stone, five meters thick and sharp as a needle, erupted from the cliff face. It didn't just hit the ledge. It shattered the structural integrity of the rock.
The ledge collapsed.
Twelve players screamed as the ground beneath them disintegrated. They fell fifty feet. Crashing onto the hard obsidian path below.
CRUNCH. SNAP.
It was a messy fall. Legs broke with the wet sound of snapping celery. Armor crumpled into chests. Puncturing lungs. They writhed in the dust. Their health bars flashing red. Moaning in agony.
Sebastian walked past them. He didn't finish them off. Didn't need to. The ash in the air would clog their lungs before they could heal.
"Let's go," he said to a horrified Valerie. "The Valley waits for no one."