THE GILDED LEGEND (Enternity Online)

Chapter 2 Gilded Choice

The deeper he sank into the darkness, Axel felt his body being forcibly pulled through a narrow needle eye, sending an incredibly real wave of nausea to the pit of his stomach. Before him, the rows of statistics he had always been proud of began to shatter like broken shards of glass.

[LEVEL 250 ... LEVEL 200 ... LEVEL 150]

The numbers plummeted sharply. Axel tried to breathe, but his lungs felt heavy, as if the digital air around him had turned into a viscous liquid. Axel cried out in pain as fresh blood began to seep from his nose and mouth. He was close to losing consciousness. This was no ordinary account reset. The 90 percent integration the system had warned about was beginning to take effect. The nerves in his arms throbbed painfully as his Soulbound Blademaster gear disintegrated into particles of light and flew away.

Arghhh!

“Years of hard work, gone in seconds,” he muttered, staring at his now trembling hands, “insane... I really threw everything away for this pain!”

"Data deconstruction process underway!" The holographic voice echoed directionlessly, sounding far more authoritative and cold than a typical assistance AI. "Player Steele, are you aware that this step is irreversible? You will permanently lose your 'Ghostwalker' status within the public ecosystem.”

"Just proceed!" Axel snarled, roughly wiping the blood from his face. He tried to swallow the pain that was piercing his spine, “I’m sick of that title that felt like a cage!”

"Courage is a rare variable. Sacrificing perfection for potential is the foundation of the Gilded system," the voice continued, "deleting database memory... resetting simulation synapses... preparing the Gilded vessel."

Suddenly, his vision turned pitch black. Axel felt himself falling from an infinite height. He wanted to scream, but his voice was choked off. The final number before him flashed red before dying completely.

[LEVEL 1]

CRASH!

Axel landed hard. Not on the smooth marble floor of a plaza, but on a damp, foul-smelling surface. Pain slammed into his entire body. He groaned, his face buried in the incredibly cold mud. He could smell the stench of stagnant water and rotting moss.

Arghhh!

“This is insane,” he thought, “smell? I can smell things inside the game?” he continued, as if disbelieving.

Axel got up with great difficulty. His body felt incredibly heavy. He no longer possessed the agility attributes that allowed him to run on water or leap between enemy attacks. He felt like a fragile, ordinary human. The starter clothes he wore were soaked, clinging to his skin in a deeply uncomfortable way.

"Welcome to the Foul Mire, Gilded One!” The system voice returned, this time through a minimalist interface in the corner of his vision, “the first stage of your evolution is survival in a place that rejects life."

"Survival?" Axel spat, clearing the remaining mud from his mouth, “this place is a kill zone for players below Level 50. You threw a Level 1 in here?”

"You are no ordinary player!” The System replied flatly, “check your new status.”

Axel quickly called up his status window. His heart pounded as he saw the screen that was once filled with thousands of numbers now looking sparse.

[Name: Axel (Unranked), Level: 1]

[Health: 100/100]

[Mana: 50/50]

[Stamina: 100/100]

However, beneath those basic stats, a new category shone with the luxurious color of liquid gold.

[GILDED SYSTEM: CONNECTED]

[Gilded Points (GP) Available: 1]

[Maximum Attribute Potential: 500 percent]

"Gilded Points?" Axel touched the text, “what can I do with this one point?”

"Gilded Points allow you to gild basic attributes, granting effects that transcend the mathematical logic of this game. But remember, Gilded Points have side effects if overused. They will destroy you. So... use them wisely, because your first enemy is already approaching!”

Axel’s ears caught the sound of splashing water from the thorny bushes ahead of him. His sharp eyes, despite his low stats, were still the eyes of a veteran. He saw a large shadow moving behind the thick fog of the Foul Mire. A Fen Wraith—a Level 45 predatory monster—began to reveal its poison-coated fangs.

Normally, Axel could wipe out a hundred such creatures with a flick of his finger. But now? One attack from that creature would kill him instantly. Cold sweat began to trickle down the back of his neck. This was the sensation of true fear. The sensation he had been searching for all these years.

"One point for survival,” Axel muttered, staring at the Wraith as it began to leap toward him, "speed, I need absurd speed!"

His fingertip immediately pressed the Agility attribute and invested his single Gilded Point into it.

That very second, Axel felt as if his legs were burning with a pure electrical current. The world around him slowed dramatically. The water droplets from the Wraith’s leap froze in the air, and the monster’s growl turned into a slow, low hum.

"Here we go...." Axel grinned, a wild expression he hadn't shown in a long time. "The Gilded choice has been made!"

Something dark at the bottom of the swamp suddenly trembled violently as the foreign power activated. Not only did the monster before him respond, but it seemed the entire data core of the zone began to scream as Axel’s golden code forcibly hacked the digital reality around him.