"Again?" Vance lay in bed. And looked up at the ceiling that was unfamiliar to him. "No, not again…. This place is…." Vance frowned. He had no idea where he was. But the same familiar hud was visible, which indicated he was in Alantina Online, a game that was all the rage. He was the top sword mage who had hit the demi god realm, but now…. Looking at his level in the upper right corner and the fact that his given name was ever so present just above the health bar made Vance frown even more.

"How am I level 1? And why is my name in my hud instead of my player name, Slayer Bastard?" Vance sat up and looked around. From what he could tell, he was laying in a bed with a mattress made of straw in a rustic wooden room. These kinds of beds and walls could be found in poor villages throughout all of Alantina Online. He held his head, feeling a bit of a headache coming on. The last thing he remembered was doing his best to solo the last boss of the game, the High Goddess Saris.

He had died so many times he had lost count. But he, as the greatest sword mage, was determined. He wanted to show the world that it was possible to solo the entire game if you were a god like him. But sadly, he never reached the god realm. He had not found the last item needed for his evolution. Alantina was a game based on evolution. One started off as a mortal and then slowly raised through the ranks.

Leveling up by completing quests and killing monsters, or so most people thought. In truth, to become the most powerful player, you needed to be lucky. There were certain items in the game that would boost players' stats, allowing them to level up quicker. As long as your stats were higher than the monsters you were fighting, you could easily level up quickly without issue by fighting even higher-level monsters. But even without too much of a hard grind, there was still one hurdle that everyone had to overcome when they reached a certain point in leveling.

And that was the moment of evolution. In order to evolve, one needed certain items to evolve. Without these items, you would not be able to advance any further. The item he needed to become a god just so happened to be rumored to drop from the High Goddess herself. So other than fame, he had also wanted to get the item without needing to roll for it. But every time he faced the High Goddess, he was instantly wiped out. He had spent an entire week trying to figure out a way to do it, but….. Without a raid of at least a thousand people, it really seemed impossible, even if his stats were all god like, to begin with.

He had spent so many years searching for stat boosts and soloing things that he had made a name for himself. But now…. "Why the hell am I level 1!?"

"Vance, if you are awake, get your ass out here and help with the firewood!" A voice came from outside the door to the room he was in. Vance raised an eyebrow but ignored the voice and opened up his settings menu instead. "Hmmm…. Where is the logout button?"

It was not just the logout button that was missing, but all the settings for the sleep timer and other alerts to wake a player up from deep dive mode were missing. He had an inventory, basic stats window, and equipment screen that he could access as well as the skills menu, but there was no player interaction except for the team window…. Vance began to wonder if he was dreaming. He did not understand any of this. He looked up at the clock on the side that showed the in game time as well as real world time, and he froze. "Why is the date here six days before the release of the game?"

"No, more importantly, how the hell do I logout!?" Vance started to panic. He had rent to pay. If he did not go to work, how was he going to keep playing games in his free time? But now…. He reached over and pinched his arm. "Shit, ouch! This pain…."

This was real pain, not pain one would receive if they were playing the game which was dulled by hundreds of times, but this was true pain, something that he would only feel in the real world. He looked at his inventory to see a starter knife and five health potions. He took the knife out and equipped it. He had looked at the knife and felt the weight in his hands, and then he looked at his arm. He raised the knife and was about to stab it down when the door to the room burst open, and a plump woman walked in and screamed: "Vance, what are you doing!? Put that knife down right now!"

Vance did not even have time to react before he was tackled to the floor by the woman. He could only stare at her dumbfounded as he looked at the lady. He had no clue who she was! But he knew one thing, and that was that he could not let go of his knife! He would need it if he wanted to gain any levels. And because of this, a struggle ensued.

But this only lasted a few minutes when a roar of a gruff voice entered the room. "What the hell is going on!? Maybel get off the boy!"

"Ricky! This damn boy was about to stab himself!" Maybel yelled out as she slowly crawled up to the floor. Vance took this chance to unequip his knife and store it away.

"With what!? The kids bare handed!? Are you seeing things, you damn woman!?" Ricky marched into the room. He looked around and saw nothing but a ratty old bed and a broken stand. "I swear, you need to let off the ale in the morning."

"Ricky, I haven't touched any ale today! But… I could swear there was a knife!" Maybel ran over and began looking around. She saw nothing. There was no knife. She was confused. The knife was so big! How could it have vanished!?

"I think you are still drunk from yesterday. Anyway, Vance, get off your ass and get to chopping wood! So old, yet you laze around every day. This house can not support slackers! I did not give birth to a lazy son!" Ricky yelled out before glaring at Maybel and then stomping out of the room.

Vance sat up in a daze. "Just now….."

"Vance, hurry up and do as your father said…." Maybel was still trying to figure out what had just happened. She turned and walked out of the room after leaving these words.

Vance slowly got up and re-equipped his knife. He then ran it across his arm. A sharp pain made him cringe slightly as he watched a line of red blood begin to form. In the top corner, he saw his health drop by two points. He touched the blood, and it felt warm and wet. His eyes opened in shock.

"It's real….." Vance took out a potion and drank it. His arm quickly healed, and his health returned to full. But now he felt fear for the first time. He was only level one which was strange for someone his age. He had seen little kid NPCs that were level five or higher. So for him to be level one and at least in his high teens, maybe even his real age of twenty, then he would be considered very weak! "Status menu!"

[Name]: Vance

[Age]: 20

[Level]: 1

[Race]: Human

[Evolution]: N/A

[HP]: 50/50

[MP]: 20/20

[Attack Power]: 30

[Magic Power]: 20

[Status Points]: 0

[Strength]: 3

[Vitality]: 5

[Intelligence]: 2

[Mind]: 2

[Agility]: 2

[Skill Points]: 0

[Skills]

Vance looked at his stats and clenched his fists. His almost one million health was nothing more than a mere fifty health. And all his stats were so weak that he felt like crying…. "This is worse than having to start off as a mage to become a sword mage later on…."

Just thinking about the hard times he had when he first started leveling up made Vance want to die. But he was currently afraid of dying! He did not know, with his current circumstances, if he would actually be able to respawn. Such a thought scared him. He had no idea what was going on, but it seemed he was stuck in the game and as a weak NPC at that!

Vance took a few deep breaths before thinking of something. "If I work hard and try to gain a few levels plus grab the items needed to gain stats before the game's opening. Then maybe I can figure something out once other players enter the game…. That is if the clock and this world are the same as before…."

Vance had so many questions and no answers. He could only try to calmly look at his current situation and try to survive and grow stronger for the time being. "Vance, don't make me come in there and drag your ass out here. Quickly get out here and chop this wood, or no food for you for a week!"

Ricky yelled into the house from outside. Vance snapped out of his thoughts and decided to do what he needed to do for the time being. He had six days, according to the clock, before the game opened. He had to do what he could to prepare. Because once players join, if they do join…. He would need to be strong enough so that he could deal with any unforeseen events. Because in this game, even NPCs were not safe from players. Players could freely rob and kill NPCs if they were strong enough….