Reborn To Conquer The Malivic World

CHAPTER 3

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. His body stiffened as light wrapped around him and his vision distorted.

Teleportation commencing.

His stomach lurched. Darkness swallowed him whole. He materialized into hell. The crash of metal. The screams of the injured. The thick, brutal scent of blood.

Lein blinked hard. He stood at the edge of a battlefield. Not a grand war, this was a massacre.

A small village of wooden huts lay in ruins. Fires crawled up the walls. Smoke choked the sky. 

Men, women, and even children ran in all directions while armored raiders cut them down without mercy.

The Ironfang Rogues. Lein recognised them instantly. A low-level faction in the early stages of the game… But notorious for their cruelty. Infamous for their brutality.

And feared because their leader was a monster in human form. Lein’s heart pounded.

He wasn’t ready for a fight. He didn’t even know what abilities he had here. But the System, merciless as always, flashed a message in front of him.

[SYSTEM QUEST: SURVIVE]

Objective: Endure until the timer expires.

Time Remaining: 20:00

Reward: System Integration (Stage 1)

Penalty for Failure: Permanent Death

His breath hitched. Permanent death. “Is that even allowed? You’re kidding, right!?”

The System did not respond. A flaming arrow hissed past his cheek. He ducked instinctively.

Pain shot through his legs as he sprinted into the nearest alley between two burning huts.

“Those damn developers,” Lein spat, gritting his teeth. “Even in a world where I’m dead, you still want me suffering.”

One of the raiders turned sharply. A grin stretched across his scarred face. His spear gleamed, hungry for flesh. “Hey! Pathetic runt!” the man snarled. “Come here!”

Lein’s breath froze. Before, when this was just a game, he would’ve kited enemies, rolled perfectly, and executed flawless dodge patterns. 

But this wasn’t a controller. No button prompts. No auto-lock. Only pain if he failed.

The raider lunged. Lein jumped back, barely avoiding the spear tip. His shoulder slammed into a wall. The impact rattled his bones. “Shit!”

The raider laughed. “You move like a newborn boar. I’ll make this quick.”

The spear thrust forward again. Time slowed. Lein saw the attack pattern, straight, predictable, heavy on the right side. 

A basic spear combo he had seen a thousand times. His gamer instincts kicked in. He slid sideways.

The spear pierced the wooden wall behind him. Lein didn’t think. He grabbed a broken roof tile from the ground and smashed it into the raider’s face.

The man roared in pain. Lein ran. His lungs burned. His muscles screamed. Sweat stung his eyes. But none of it compared to the memories clawing at the edges of his mind.

The insults from his old guild mates. The mockery. The humiliation. The long nights. The endless grinding. The customers who called him a disposable tool.

He remembered collapsing at his gaming desk, breath shallow, vision fading, and the last thing he heard was his client shouting: “If you die, die properly. I paid for a result, not excuses.”

That bastard. Lein gritted his teeth until his jaw trembled. That man would pay. Not here. Not now. But someday.

For the first time since he arrived, Lein felt something other than fear. He felt rage. A shadow blocked his path.

Lein skidded to a stop. Standing before him was a boy around twelve, trembling, clutching an injured girl behind him. 

Blood stained his shirt. His arm hung at a wrong angle. “P-Please,” the boy stammered. “Don’t hurt us.”

Lein froze. They thought he was one of the raiders. “No,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “I’m not with them. I.“

“Behind you!”

Lein turned. Three raiders charged toward them. Shit. He grabbed the boy’s wrist. “Run!”

They sprinted into another alley, dodging debris and flames. Lein knew this early village, Elderoot Haven, well. He had died grinding here more times than he could count.

He led them into a narrow passage behind an overturned wagon. “Stay low,” Lein whispered.

The boy nodded, trembling. Lein peeked out. Three raiders spread out, searching.

One of them, tall, muscular, with a jagged red tattoo running across his chest, kicked the wagon aside with terrifying strength.

Lein’s blood ran cold. This wasn’t just an ordinary raider. This was, Graknor the Fang-Breaker.

Mini-boss.Level 15. Strong enough to crush him with one hit.

Graknor’s yellow eyes scanned the shadows. Lein’s pulse hammered.

[Time Remaining: 13:42]

He had to survive seven more minutes. Seven. More. Minutes. But Graknor was moving closer.

Step by step. Crushing the ground beneath his boots. Lein swallowed hard. He couldn’t outrun this one. He had to outsmart him.

He whispered to the boy, “When I move, take your sister and run to the well at the end of the main road. Hide inside the barrel next to it. Don’t look back.”

The boy hesitated, terrified. Lein placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll draw them away. Trust me.”

Graknor’s shadow loomed over the alley entrance. Lein exhaled sharply. Then, he grabbed a shard of broken glass, and threw it with all his strength.

It shattered loudly against a wooden post behind Graknor. Graknor’s head whipped toward the sound. Good.

Lein bolted in the opposite direction. The raiders bellowed and chased after him. Perfect.

He led them away from the children, weaving through the scorched village. An arrow embedded itself in the wall beside him.

Another grazed his shoulder. Pain flared, but he kept running.

Only 10 minutes left.

Lein reached the collapsed remains of the blacksmith forge. He vaulted over the fallen signboard and skidded behind the rubble.

The raiders stormed after him. Graknor pushed forward, sniffing like a predatory beast.

Lein grabbed the iron chain lying beside a broken anvil. The same chain that triggered one of the game’s early environmental traps. “If I pull this fast enough…”

Graknor’s footsteps grew louder. He stepped right under the unstable roof beam. Lein yanked the chain. Hard.

The rope released. The beam groaned. The roof collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Graknor roared as the debris buried him up to the waist. The smaller raiders jumped back in shock.

Lein didn’t waste a second. He grabbed a metal rod and smashed the first raider’s knee.

The man collapsed with a scream. Lein slammed the rod into the second raider’s temple.

He dropped. The third tried to run. Lein tackled him from behind, fury burning through him. “Did you enjoy chasing the helpless!?” he snarled.

Then he struck the raider again. And again. And again. Until the man stopped moving. Lein stood over him, breath ragged. “No one, ” he growled, “chases children in front of me.”

Graknor rose from the rubble. Slowly. Furious. Unharmed.

The giant ripped free from the debris, dust exploding around him. His eyes glowed with murderous hatred. “You little filth,” he snarled. “I’ll crush your skull.”

Lein's grip tightened on the metal rod. His arms shook. He was exhausted, bleeding, terrified. But he stood his ground.

[Time Remaining: 04:11]

He only needed to survive four minutes. Graknor charged. Lein barely dodged the first swing.

The shockwave cracked the ground. The second swing came faster. Lein rolled, but a shard of wood sliced into his thigh. Pain shot through him. He stumbled.

Graknor lifted his massive axe. This was it. Lein raised his weapon in a weak attempt to block.

But before the axe fell… The ground shook. A deafening roar echoed through the burning village. Both men froze.

Something emerged from the blazing smoke. A massive silhouette. A scaled body. Crimson eyes. Lein’s heart stopped. A Cave Serpent. Level 20.

An apex predator rarely seen in early chapters of the game. “What the hell is a Cave Serpent doing here!?” Lein shouted.

The creature lunged. Straight at Graknor. The mini-boss roared and swung his axe, but the serpent’s jaws clamped around him and slammed him into the ground.

The impact shook the earth. Lein was thrown backward by the shockwave. His vision blurred. He forced himself to crawl behind a boulder as Graknor battled the serpent.

[Time Remaining: 01:02]

He peeked out. Graknor fought fiercely, but the serpent was overwhelming him. Lein whispered, “Come on… just hold on a little more.”

The timer counted down. 30 seconds. 20. 10. 5. 4. 3. 2. 

The serpent’s tail whipped around and hurled Graknor’s body straight toward Lein.

Lein’s eyes widened. The massive corpse flew at him, like a boulder launched from a catapult.

He didn’t have time to breathe. Didn’t have time to scream. The body crashed into him, 

[QUEST COMPLETE]

[SYSTEM INTEGRATION – STAGE 1 UNLOCKED]

[NEW ABILITY ACQUIRED: REWIND MEMORY]

[NEW STAT PANEL UNLOCKED]

Lein gasped awake, vision swirling. He was no longer on the battlefield. He lay inside a small, glowing chamber, the Recovery Pod, deep beneath the village.

He sat up, chest heaving. “I… survived.”

His entire body shook. The last thing he remembered was Graknor’s body crushing him. “Did the serpent kill him too.?”

He wasn’t sure. But one thought cut through every other. He wasn’t the worthless loser everyone believed.

Not anymore. The System had acknowledged him. Given him power, and he would use it ruthlessly. Against every enemy in this world. And every enemy in the world he came from.

His fists clenched. His rage sharpened into purpose. Then a new message appeared.

[WARNING]

[PLAYER HAS BEEN LOCATED]

Lein’s breath froze. “Located? By who?”

A second message appeared.

[TARGET: KILL THE OUTSIDER]

The chamber door shattered. A shadow stepped inside. A figure cloaked in black armor. A glowing visor. A blade crackling with violet lightning.

Not a raider. Not a serpent. Not anything he had seen in this early stage of the game. This was,  An Abyssal Hunter.

A creature that shouldn’t appear until Chapter 90.

Lein’s heart pounded. “What… what the hell is going on with this world!?”

The Abyssal Hunter raised its blade. “You don’t belong here,” it growled. “Your existence must be erased.”

Lein stumbled back, panicked. “Wait, let me at least see my ability info first!”

The creature lunged.