Reborn As The Immortal Ice Tyrant

Welcome To the Broken World

An enormous creature stood before him, preparing to attack, he realized that surviving death did not mean he had escaped danger.

The creature’s red eyes burned through the darkness. Its body was covered in black scales, and its long claws dug into the ground. Black smoke poured from its mouth, spreading across the Silent Forest like a living shadow.

Ethan tried to move, but his body refused to respond immediately.

“System, show me my status!”

A familiar blue screen appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Ethan Blackwood]

[Class: Moonfall Archer]

[Level: 1]

[Current HP: 1/Maximum HP]

[Talent: Eternal Vitality]

[Special Ability: Death’s Refusal]

[Warning: The host is in a critical condition.]

[Warning: Death’s Refusal is unavailable for immediate reuse.]

Ethan stared at the last notification.

He had expected something like this, but seeing it confirmed made his situation even worse.

He could not rely on another resurrection.

If he died again, that might be the end of everything.

The creature opened its mouth.

“Target confirmed. World Ender has found the one who returned from death.”

Ethan forced his fingers to move toward Moonfall Bow.

“Then come and get me.”

The creature released a blast of black energy.

Ethan threw himself sideways.

The attack struck the ground where he had been standing. The earth exploded, sending broken stones and burning roots into the air.

He rolled behind a fallen tree, his body shaking from the effort.

A notification appeared.

[Warning: Spatial corruption detected.]

[Your current location is experiencing severe instability.]

The forest suddenly twisted.

The trees bent in impossible directions. The ground under Ethan’s feet cracked, revealing a glowing city street below it. He could see cars crushed beneath enormous roots, streetlights hanging upside down, and people running through the road.

For a moment, he thought he was seeing another vision.

Then he heard the screams.

A woman ran past a broken bus, carrying a little girl in her arms. Behind them, a monster with four legs and a mouth full of teeth leaped onto the vehicle.

The bus folded beneath its weight.

Ethan stared in disbelief. This was not a vision.

The Silent Forest had become part of Earth.

The game and reality were no longer separate worlds.

“Damn it!”

He pulled an arrow from his quiver and drew Moonfall Bow.

His arms trembled, but he forced himself to aim.

“Moonlight Shot!”

A pale arrow shot through the darkness and struck the creature’s head.

The monster roared.

The arrow had damaged it, but the wound closed almost immediately. Black energy spread across its scales, healing the injury.

Ethan’s expression changed.

Even with his powerful talent, he could not afford to fight a creature that could recover from his attacks while he remained at one HP.

He needed to understand what he was facing.

[Target: World Ender]

[Classification: Unknown]

[Level: Unknown]

[Health: Hidden]

[Special Trait: Boundary Corruption]

[Warning: Ordinary attacks may have limited effects.]

“Of course,” Ethan muttered. “Why would anything be simple?”

The World Ender turned its head toward him.

A black symbol appeared on its forehead.

The moment Ethan saw it, the ancient mark on his chest burned.

Pain spread through his body.

He dropped to one knee, gripping his shirt.

Images flashed through his mind.

A vast empire stood beneath a golden sky. Armies marched through burning cities while enormous creatures bowed before a man holding a black bow.

Then the vision changed.

The same city lay in ruins.

The man stood alone before a dark gate, surrounded by bodies.

A voice whispered inside Ethan’s head.

“The empire fell because its heir failed to protect the world.”

Ethan gritted his teeth.

“Who are you?”

The voice did not answer.

Instead, the World Ender suddenly turned away from him.

Its red eyes fixed on the people fleeing through the ruined street.

Ethan understood its intention immediately.

It was going after the civilians.He could not allow that to happen.

He pushed himself to his feet and raised his bow again.

“Look at me!” He fired three arrows in quick succession.

The first struck the creature’s shoulder. The second hit its neck. The third struck the black symbol on its forehead.

For a brief moment, the symbol flickered.

The World Ender stopped moving. A crack appeared across the mark.

Then the creature released a deafening roar that shook the entire forest.

Ethan used the moment to run.

He did not know whether he had wounded it seriously, but he had bought himself a few seconds.

He rushed through the broken trees, following the road toward the place where he had last seen Clara and Lucas.

He had to find them. He had already lost Ryan.

He refused to lose the others without even trying to save them.

As he ran, he saw the world in pieces.

A supermarket stood half buried under  the roots of an enormous tree. People fought over bottles of water outside a pharmacy. A man in torn office clothes swung a metal pipe at a small monster while a young player shouted instructions from behind a car.

Some people were using skills from the game.

Others had nothing but their bare hands and whatever weapons they could find.

The difference between them was becoming painfully clear.

Those who had awakened abilities could defend themselves, but ordinary people were almost helpless against creatures from the game.

Ethan passed a woman trying to pull her injured husband from beneath a collapsed wall.

“Please!” she screamed. “Somebody help me!”

Ethan stopped.

His first instinct was to keep moving. Clara and Lucas might be dying, and every second mattered.

But he could not ignore the woman.

He placed his bow against his back and rushed to the wall.

“Move away. I’ll help you.” Together, they dragged the injured man free.

The woman looked at Ethan with tears in her eyes.

“Thank you. I thought nobody was coming.”

Ethan did not know what to say.

He had spent his first life watching people die because he was too weak to help them. He had promised himself that he would never become that helpless again.

Yet he had just died while trying to stop the disaster.

He could not save everyone. But he could still save someone.

“Find shelter,” he told the woman. “Stay away from the forest.”

He continued down the road. A few minutes later, he heard shouting ahead.

“Get back! Don’t let them surround us!”

Ethan moved toward the sound.

Beyond a collapsed road sign, a group of survivors had been trapped between several damaged vehicles. There were seven of them, including two children. Three adults held makeshift weapons while another man tried to shield a wounded woman.

Four creatures circled them.

They looked like wolves, but their bodies were covered in thin black armor. Their eyes glowed red, and their claws left dark marks wherever they touched the ground.

One of the survivors raised a wooden shield.

“Defensive Stance!” A faint light appeared around him.

The nearest creature attacked.

Its claws passed through the shield as though the skill did not exist. The man screamed when the creature struck his chest and threw him against a car.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

These were the creatures described in the system warning.

They could ignore ordinary defensive skills.

The remaining survivors began to panic.

“Help us!” Ethan drew Moonfall Bow.

“Everyone, get down!” He released an arrow.

“Moonlight Shot!”

The arrow struck the first creature in the eye. Before it could recover, Ethan fired again and hit its throat.

The creature fell.

His normal attacks had become stronger through his talent, but he could not afford to waste time testing how much damage each shot caused.

He moved between the abandoned vehicles, using them as cover while the creatures turned toward him.

One lunged. Ethan stepped aside and fired at its exposed side.

The arrow pierced its body.

Another creature leaped onto the roof of a car, preparing to attack him from above.

Ethan saw its shadow move across the ground.

He ducked.

The creature sailed over his head and landed among the survivors.

A little girl screamed.

Ethan spun around. He had no time to aim carefully.

He fired.

The arrow struck the creature’s neck, forcing it backward. The wounded man beside the car grabbed a broken metal rod and struck its head.

“Now!” Ethan shouted. The survivors attacked together.

The creature fell beneath their combined blows.

The final wolf tried to escape, but Ethan’s next arrow struck its leg. It stumbled, giving him enough time to finish it with a shot through the head.

The forest became quiet.

Ethan lowered his bow and took a slow breath.

[You have defeated a Boundary Stalker.]

[Experience gained.]

[Maximum HP permanently increased through Eternal Vitality.]

[Current HP remains critical.]

He looked at the notification. Even now, his talent continued to grow.

But growth meant little if he could not survive long enough to use it.

The survivors slowly gathered around him.

The wounded man who had been thrown against the car struggled to his feet.

“You saved us,” he said. “I thought we were all going to die.”

Ethan nodded.

“Can any of you walk?”

“Most of us can,” the man answered. “But we have someone with a broken leg.”

“We need to move before more monsters arrive.”

A middle aged man stepped forward.

He had been unusually quiet throughout the fight. His clothes were dirty, and blood covered one side of his face. When he looked at Ethan, however, his expression suddenly changed.

His eyes dropped to Ethan’s chest.

The ancient symbol was glowing faintly beneath the torn fabric of his shirt.

The man went pale.

“No,” he whispered. Ethan noticed his reaction.

“What is it?” The man fell to his knees.

Several survivors stared at him in confusion.

“You are carrying the mark of the Eastern Empire.”