Ding.

  Sora exhaled slowly.

  I finally leveled up.

  It had taken longer than he expected. Not because the fights were difficult, but because quests were scarce. Too scarce. Most of the early objectives had already been cleared, leaving him to wander between fragments of opportunity.

  Some quests were just talking to different NPCs and others were collecting fire wood. Nothing that was really fun.

  The STATUS WINDOW opened automatically.

  STR (Strength) — 1

  AGI (Agility) — 1

  VIT (Vitality) — 1

  DEX (Dexterity) — 1

  UNUSED STAT POINTS: 3

  Sora stared at the numbers for a moment, then swiped the window away.

  I still don't know the impact of spending them, he thought. And I don't know if I can undo it.

  Guessing felt too reckless. He would decide later.

  Sora returned to the training grounds.

  This time, he didn't swing mindlessly. He positioned himself carefully, feet planted, shoulders aligned. He raised the sword, closed his eyes, and focused on the motion alone. Not strength, not speed, but intent.

  The blade moved.

  The training dummy split cleanly in two.

  A new entry appeared in his peripheral vision.

  Vertical Slash

  No notification sound. No explanation. It had simply appeared. Earned through repetition and practise rather than classes and skill points like in normal games.

  The skill was nothing flashy but it felt stronger.

  He checked the skill details.

  No mana cost. No visible resource drain.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  That bothered him.

  Maybe it's just a standard skill, he reasoned. Or maybe mana unlocks later.

  Either way, it didn't matter right now.

  He couldn't change it anyway.

  —

  The dungeon entrance loomed ahead, a cave carved into stone near the edge of the starting zone. The group he'd joined was already there.

  They were friendly enough.

  Too friendly.

  They talked like they'd known each other for years. Laughing at jokes Sora didn't understand, reminiscing about early quests that had already been picked clean.

  He walked with them, but slightly apart.

  "Dying wasn't that bad," the katana user said casually.

  "I honestly thought getting stabbed would hurt more," he added.

  The others laughed.

  "You should've seen your face," one of them said. "At least you respawned quickly. We didn't have to wait."

  Sora heard their names when they introduced themselves.

  He didn't remember them.

  It hadn't seemed necessary. He just wanted to test out what a dungeon was like.

  Inside the cave, the fights were straightforward. Tight corridors. Predictable enemies. A few close calls, but nothing alarming. The group joked as they moved, barely paying attention.

  Then the air changed.

  The wind shifted deeper inside the cave. The smell grew heavier, metallic and sharp. Sora's vision wavered for just a fraction of a second, as if the world had snapped into focus a degree too far.

  He paused but no one else reacted.

  So he dismissed it.

  If no one else noticed, it must be my imagination.

  They continued.

  They were almost done. Enough leather. Enough ore. It was finally time to head back.

  That's when it happened.

  One of them misstepped.

  A blade drove into his side.

  The scream that followed wasn't exaggerated.

  It felt real.

  "Stop messing around," someone said, laughing. "You're too predictable."

  The injured player tried to speak. Tears welled in his eyes. Terror crossed his face for a single, unguarded second.

  Then he died.

  "What a crazy bastard," someone said. "Let's not split the loot with him when we get back. He owes us drinks."

  Everyone agreed.

  They left the cave.

  Back in the city, someone finally asked, "Did he log off?"

  "No way," another replied. "He's probably flirting with some NPC. Just DM him."

  Silence.

  "I can't find him," the quiet one said. "He's not online. Not offline either."

  They checked again. And again.

  Nothing.

  The quiet one said after a moment of silence. "I'll call him in real life."

  "Then we will get the quest rewards," The others commented.

  She left.

  A few seconds later, her voice came through party chat.

  "How do I log out again?"

  Laughter erupted.

  They opened their menus.

  The laughter stopped.

  The logout option wasn't disabled.

  It wasn't greyed out.

  It wasn't there.

  Sora checked his own interface instinctively.

  The settings tab was gone entirely.

  "It has to be a server problem," Sora said, more to himself than anyone else. "Too many logins. Probably an overload."

  No one argued.

  After collecting the rewards, they tried again.

  Still nothing.

  Around them, voices rose. Other groups comparing menus. Asking the same questions. Waiting near respawn points that stayed empty.

  Sora listened.

  He ran through explanations. Server issues. Emergency maintenance. Temporary restrictions.

  None of them fit.

  The world felt sharper than it had before. More precise. Less forgiving.

  And for the first time since he logged in, Sora felt something cold settle in his chest. Not panic, not fear, not yet at least.

  Death still looked like a game mechanic.

  What followed it did not.