"Character template construction in progress... Construction complete."
"Monster template construction in progress... Construction complete."
"Player template construction in progress... Construction complete."
"Class system construction in progress..."
"Quest system construction in progress..."
"Game rules injection..."
"World data initialization beginning..."
"Current progress: 1%, 2%, 3%...5%...21%...34%...57%...82%..."
"..."
...
In a haze.
Lucas seemed to hear a distant voice echoing in his mind.
Then, he woke up.
As if being born anew, or just waking from a deep slumber, Lucas, still in a dazed state, looked around at his surroundings in bewilderment.
It was a wilderness.
The sky was overcast and gloomy, shrouded in a misty haze; the land was desolate and barren, devoid of any signs of life.
As far as the eye could see, all he could make out were vast stretches of ruins and countless bones scattered across the desolate earth.
Even himself...
Looking down instinctively, Lucas saw only a pile of bleached bones!
"Have I become a skeleton?"
Feeling everything before him, Lucas's heart was filled with confusion, unsure of his current situation.
At that moment, the distant voice echoed in his mind once again.
"World data initialization complete."
Ethereal.
Mechanical.
Devoid of any emotion.
Hearing this voice again, Lucas was startled. The confusion and doubt in his heart vanished, leaving only astonishment.
"Is this... the system notification sound?"
"Have I crossed over into 'The Second World'?"
The distant voice was not unfamiliar to Lucas.
Or rather, every player of 'The Second World' was extremely familiar with this voice.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
'The Second World' was a game.
From the moment one entered this game, this ethereal, mechanical, and emotionless voice would accompany each player for life!
Because...
This was the system notification sound of 'The Second World'!
"'The Second World'..."
"Perhaps..."
A thought struck him, and Lucas silently called out in his heart: "Status panel?"
The next moment.
A semi-transparent status panel appeared in his field of vision!
[Name]: Lucas
[Race]: Undead - Skeleton
[Level]: Level 1 (0/100)
[Status]: Health 8, Mana 15
[Attributes]: Strength 0.7, Agility 1.2, Constitution 0.8, Spirit 1.5
[Talent]: Erosion (Unique Talent)
[Skills]: None
...
Apart from one being a player template and the other a monster template, the status panel before Lucas was not much different from the one he had once owned.
Coupled with the system notification sound that had accompanied him for a long time, Lucas finally accepted the fact that he had crossed over into the game world.
"No."
"Perhaps it's not crossing over..."
"But rebirth!"
His gaze moved downward.
Scanning through his current attributes line by line, Lucas's eyes finally rested on the very bottom of the status panel.
There was a string of numbers.
Open Beta Countdown: 90 days 13 hours 24 minutes.
"So, I've been reborn from ten years in the future to the present, before 'The Second World' has even started, and from being a player in the real world, I've become a skeleton in the game world?"
When he reached this conclusion, Lucas didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Organizing the information in his mind, Lucas came to several conclusions:
1. He had changed from a player to a monster, naturally losing the player's ability to respawn indefinitely. 'The Second World' was a real world; once he died, he would truly be dead.
2. With the monster template, he was inherently in an antagonistic faction with the players. And the players, known as the "Fourth Calamity"... even if faced with a god! As long as they dared to show a health bar, they would dare to kill it!
3. There were still three months until the open beta, meaning he had three months to grow before the players officially arrived.
4. Having returned from ten years in the future, 'The Second World' had not yet officially started, which meant the gods had not awakened, the game had not invaded, and the real world... had not yet been destroyed!
Yes.
Destruction.
Before Lucas was reborn, the real world had already been destroyed.
Players changed the game, and the game also eroded reality.
Ten years later.
When the game's erosion of reality reached a certain level, the slumbering gods awakened.
Worlds connected, and the extraordinary descended.
Even with ten years of growth, the players were still no match for the gods.
When the gods, who stood above all living beings, descended into the real world, even the combined efforts of numerous legendary players... could not stop even a single god!
The world was torn apart, reduced to ruins!
The beings of the real world, those who believed in the gods, were taken to the gods' domains; the powerful fled to other planes; and the majority... were annihilated in the moment the world was destroyed, turned into undead wandering and drifting in this shattered world.
And Lucas...
Even as a level 76 legendary sword saint, when that moment came, all he could do was flee into the game world! While seeking revenge against the gods' faction, he also endured their endless pursuit!
Open beta countdown?
Hah!
Looking at the string of numbers at the bottom of his status panel, Lucas couldn't help but sneer.
Rather than an open beta countdown, it was more like a countdown to the destruction of the world!
With his past life's experiences, Lucas knew better than anyone the terror of the gods.
Not to mention now, even if the peak strength of the players from his past life were increased tenfold or a hundredfold, they would still be no match for the gods!
The destruction of the real world was unavoidable.
It could be said.
When the countdown to the open beta of 'The Second World' began...
The real world also began its countdown to destruction!
