THE GILDED LEGEND (Enternity Online)

Chapter 3 Rebirth in the Rotten Swamp

The Fen Wraith seemed frozen in the air, caught in a web of time woven by the Gilded power. Axel inhaled, feeling his lungs work with terrifying precision.

"One point for breaking the limit," Axel whispered. His lips moved at a normal speed, while the monster's body was still struggling to complete its jump.

"Let's see how far you can take me, Gilded System!" the Wraith sneered.

"Warning! Load on the physical nervous system has increased by four hundred ninety-nine percent. This is extremely dangerous! Ensure your biological body remains in a stable position in the real world." The system voice warned.

"I'm used to the load, AI," Axel replied, stepping aside.

His movement was no longer just a step. Axel's body seemed wrapped in a faint, violently trembling silhouette of golden light. By the time the Fen Wraith's sharp claws should have ripped through his neck, Axel had already shifted position to stand behind the creature. With just one minimal shift, he surpassed any Agility statistic he had ever possessed at Level 250.

"Base stats are truly pathetic," he muttered, staring at the rusted iron sword he had found in his beginner bag, "but at this speed, even one scratch can be fatal!"

Axel swung his sword confidently. He thought it would be easy to destroy the Wraith. But his assumption was wrong—the monster moved incredibly fast, striking back at Axel with its sharp claws, leaving Axel's arm and chest wounded.

Arghhh!

"Damn it!" Axel cursed.

"Hahahaha!" The Wraith laughed smugly. "This is the end of the line for you!" The Level 45 monster intended to finish Axel off.

"It won't be that easy to finish me!" Using the last of his energy, Axel immediately slashed his sword toward the Wraith.

"Wha—" The Wraith only managed to let out a strange yelp.

Not one slash, but ten. To any observer, Axel's hand would have looked like a static flash. The tip of the rusted sword plunged into the weak points in the monster's misty joints. Because time felt slowed down for Axel, he had the opportunity to aim for the smallest gaps beneath the Level 45 creature's transparent skin.

"Why are you so slow?" Axel asked the frozen monster.

Critical. Critical. Critical.

A barrage of red text appeared rapidly in his vision panel. Although the damage was low due to his untouched Strength status, the impossible frequency of his attacks began to chip away at the swamp predator's HP.

"GRRAAAAAAAA!" The Wraith exploded into black particles before its feet could touch the ground again.

"You have defeated Fen Wraith (Level 45). Experience gain increased due to extreme level difference."

[LEVEL UP. LEVEL UP. LEVEL UP.]

Axel took a deep breath, and instantly, the world's speed returned to normal. The loud gurgling of the swamp water and the foul smell of sulfur hit his senses with full force. Axel immediately felt nauseous and vomited blood. His body staggered, his heart pounding so fiercely in his chest that he could feel it through the VR pod.

"Insane!" Axel gave a short laugh, despite his body aching and covered in wounds. His hand, still holding the iron sword, seemed to smoke slightly from air friction. "Level 1 against Level 45, and I won? The logic of this game is completely broken!"

"Is this integration safe for me?" he asked loudly into the empty air.

"The process of evolution requires pressure, First Candidate." The system voice replied, "the balance between data corruption and biological potential is a narrow path. Use your next GP to stabilize yourself."

"Later. I need to get out of this mud first." Axel wiped the sweat mixed with swamp water from his forehead. His body was still weak.

A few hours later, Axel traversed the territory of The Weeping Woods. His beginner clothes were now tattered, ripped here and there from the fight with the Level 45 monster. Although his condition was poor, Axel's movements remained calm. He had even killed at least twenty mid-level monsters on his way to the border, forcing him to adapt to a new playstyle that relied purely on reflexes over raw stats.

Suddenly, the sound of clanging metal and shouted instructions came from the mist ahead.

"Damn it! Hold the formation! Wizard, unleash Frost Nova right now!"

"We can't, Captain! He's too aggressive! My Defense stat isn't enough!"

Axel stopped behind a withered willow tree. He saw a group of players—at least six members with fairly solid Blue-grade gear—surrounded by a pack of Blight Crawlers. For players in the Level 40 range, that group of monsters was a death sentence.

"Need help?" Axel stepped out from behind the tree.

The team captain, a large warrior with a cracked silver shield, turned with wide eyes. He looked at Axel, then at the Level bar above his head.

"Huh? Level 10? Kid, get out of here if you don't want to die!" the man yelled frantically. "This isn't a zone for casual leveling! Are you crazy?!"

"Stay away, kid! That Crawler has nerve poison!" added a female Archer who was busy drawing her bowstring.

Axel just smiled faintly. "Too late! They've locked onto a new target."

A Blight Crawler leaped from a tree branch, straight toward Axel's face. The players in the group closed their eyes, certain that the low-level player in front of them would instantly be sent back to town as data dust.

"Don't look with ordinary eyes," Axel whispered.

[Gilded System: Agility Boost manually activated.]

Swish!

In an instant, Axel vanished. The Archer only saw a puff of smoke where Axel had just stood. In the next second, she heard the sound of rapid slashes in the air followed by the screams of instantly killed monsters.

"Where did he go?!" The Captain shouted in confusion. He spun around, searching for Axel's whereabouts.

"I'm here!" Axel's voice came from the middle of the monster crowd.

Golden light shimmered amidst the black mist. Every time a Blight Crawler tried to attack, Axel moved one millisecond faster, as if he already knew where the monster would bite before they even opened their mouths. He danced in the midst of death with a speed that offended the laws of the game's physics.

One by one, the Blight Crawlers collapsed without managing to touch the fabric of his worn clothes. The Captain and his team members could only stand frozen, petrified with gaping mouths, watching the efficient slaughter.