Lein’s eyes snapped open to a world that wasn’t supposed to exist. A cold wind cut across his skin like a serrated blade. The scent of wet soil, rotting leaves, and distant monster breath filled his lungs. Something slimy crawled beneath him, worms, dozens of them writhing under his bare back. His vision flickered, trying to adjust to the dim morning light filtering through a canopy of black, twisted trees.This wasn’t a hospital. This wasn’t the gaming lounge he collapsed in. And this definitely wasn’t the afterlife he imagined. He knew this place. He knew it too well. “No… impossible.”His voice cracked, barely audible. His throat felt raw, as if sand had been stuffed down it. He pushed himself up, but a sharp sting shot through every bone. His arms trembled from the simple effort of rising. His body was thin… too thin. Starved. Weak. Pathetic. He forced himself to look at his hands, and the world fell apart.They were tiny. Bony. Almost childlike. Covered in grime and ash. The f

Lein forced himself upright, lungs trembling as though each breath scraped against sand. The blinding white grid around him, this strange respawn room, pulsed as if it were alive. The System’s mechanical voice echoed inside his skull, cold and commanding.[INITIALIZATION COMPLETE][WELCOME, PLAYER: LEIN ARCADION][WORLD: MALIVIC REALM – IRON PATH DIFFICULTY][STATUS: UNRANKED • WORTHLESS • WEAK]He flinched at that last word. ‘Worthless.’He had heard that before. From his boss. From his former teammates. From the rich clients who spat on him when he failed to meet their insane demands.From the same client who pushed him to death. The System merely repeated what life had carved into him.But hearing it here, in a world that killed him once, twisted his insides like a slow, deliberate knife. “Worthless, huh?” Lein whispered, jaw tightening. “Let’s see how long that lasts.”A deep rumble vibrated through the chamber. Runes lit up on the floor, forming a circular pattern under his feet

Lein felt his consciousness drift between worlds, as if a giant hand had lifted him from reality itself. The golden sigil wrapped around him like threads of living fire, humming with impossible power. It pulled him through the collapsing cavern, through the Abyssal Hunter’s killing strike, through time itself, then dropped him. Hard.Lein hit the ground with a painful thud, rolling across cold stone until his back slammed against something solid. He groaned, dizzy, the aftershock of teleportation still pulsing through his limbs. His vision adjusted slowly.He wasn’t in the underground ruins anymore. He was in a chamber of carved obsidian walls, illuminated by floating white crystals that hovered silently in the air. Strange glyphs moved along the walls like flowing water, alive with magic. A sanctum. A hidden one.One that didn’t exist in the early game. “It can’t be…” Lein whispered, pushing himself upright.The air shifted. His breath caught. A figure stepped out from the center

Lein froze on the fractured platform, his chest heaving as violet energy crackled in the void around him. The floating figure’s weapon gleamed like a shard of the void itself, radiating an intensity that made the Abyssal Hunter hesitate mid-leap. For the first time, Lein noticed subtle movements: a faint aura, almost transparent, surrounding the figure, a protective shimmer that distorted the air.The hunter snarled, rage erupting in a deafening roar. Its tendrils lashed violently, striking pieces of floating rock that disintegrated into dust. The void trembled with the force. Lein felt the vibrations through every nerve. The abyss beneath him heaved, threatening to swallow him whole.The figure raised their weapon, a sleek polearm of silver and violet, and swung it in a wide arc. The energy cut through the tendrils like a knife through silk, forcing the hunter to recoil. Sparks of violet and gold collided midair. Lein’s heart skipped. He’d never seen anything move with such prec