Nexus woke up in an unknown place. He was in a tent. Pulling open the tent flap, he stepped outside. His breath caught in his throat. A forest—an endless forest surrounded him in all directions, with thick trees reaching for the sky like giants. The moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting long, eerie shadows on the forest floor.
His heart began to race.
"This isn't right," he muttered, spinning in a circle, his eyes darting everywhere. His clothes caught his attention next. A leather tunic, fingerless gloves, and boots that looked like something straight out of a fantasy webtoon. His jaw dropped.He could swear he was in his room playing Altera's legend which is one of the most popular game right now but right now his is in the middle of a forest.
"No way… this can't be…" He stumbled toward a nearby river, his heart thudding with rising panic. Kneeling at the water's edge, he stared at his reflection. His hands trembled. His reflection…
It wasn't his face.
It was Rick's face.
Brown hair, sharp features, and piercing green eyes stared back at him. He touched his cheek, and the reflection mirrored him. He turned his head left, then right. No mistake. It was him. It was Rick.One of the most underrated character who has the power of wind .
"No, no, no, no, no—" he muttered, squeezing his head between his hands. "This is a dream, right? It's one of those weird lucid dreams. I'm gonna wake up. I'm gonna wake up!"
He slapped his face. It hurt.
This was no dream.
His eyes shot to the sky, and his blood ran cold. Two moons. Two pale, glowing orbs hung in the night sky, slowly moving toward each other.
His heart dropped into his stomach. "This… this is the game's world." His breathing grew faster. "No. No, no, no. I'm IN THE GAME!?"
His eyes widened in horror as he remembered something crucial from the story of Altera's Legend. When the two moons merged, demon worshippers attacked Rick.
TWANG!
An arrow zipped past him, embedding itself in the ground.
"OH, COME ON!" Nexus spun around, his eyes darting into the shadows. Shadows moved. Figures darted between the trees, fast and precise.
Demon worshippers.
He knew what he had to do: get to the cliff. It was part of the tutorial. It was a pain to clear, but he was the only player in the community who had mastered it. "Alright, if it's a tutorial, I can do it again."
He bolted. His legs pumped like pistons, dodging branches and leaping over roots. The figures chased him, fast and relentless. Arrows zipped past, narrowly missing him.
"Wind Blade!" he yelled, swiping his hand back. A sharp gust of air cut through the forest, forcing the enemies to scatter. He knew it wouldn't hurt them, but it would slow them down.
He reached the edge of the cliff, panting hard. The forest stretched endlessly below. Nowhere to run.
The demon worshippers surrounded him. Four of them, armed with daggers and bows. But Nexus knew better. The boss was hiding. He knew this part too well. The leader always teleported behind Rick for a sneak attack.
"Not today, buddy," Nexus muttered. He feigned fear, glancing behind him, then spun sharply. "Wind Blade!"
The wind slash blasted behind him, catching the hidden boss mid-teleport. The boss flew backward, arms flailing, and plunged off the cliff.
"Gotcha," Nexus grinned, breathing hard.
The four underlings froze, their eyes darting to the edge of the cliff where their boss had vanished. They were afraid. But they didn't retreat.
Two of them drew bows. The other two raised daggers.
After killing the boss by pushing him off the cliff, Nexus became overconfident and cast his Wind Blade magic again. His plan was to push them off the cliff one by one. But this wasn't a game where enemies attacked one at a time.
The assassins dodged the attack. Two archers fired arrows at him, while the other two rushed forward with daggers. Thanks to Rick's character's enhanced reflexes, Nexus managed to dodge the arrows and evade the first two assassins.
But then, another assassin appeared behind him and stabbed him.
In the game, Nexus would have been able to see the assassin from the 3rd person's viewpoint. Even if stabbed, his HP would have dropped only slightly and he wouldn't have felt any pain, allowing him to retaliate. But here, he was just a normal human.
The pain was unbearable. Nexus screamed, losing all rationality. Before he could recover, two arrows struck him in vital spots, and another assassin stabbed him again, pushing him off the cliff.
Gravity pulled him down. The world spun. Stars danced in his vision. As he fell, he saw the two moons merge. A brilliant light engulfed the world.
On the cliff, the assassins watched him fall for the last time before turning away. Their leader's body lay still in the river below.
But then, while falling to his death, Nexus saw something strange happen. Moonlight bathed the assassin leader's corpse, and it began to glow faintly.
Nexus's last words were, "Beautiful."
Then Nexus died.
---
The End?
For Nexus?
Yes.
But not for the person that will make a drastic change in this world ,This was nothing but a Beginning.
---
3:00 a.m.
The assassin group's leader, Dew, opened his eyes. But it wasn't him. It was Mark who woke up, floating in the water.
It felt as if the water was just muddy soil, but it wasn't. The water was clean, and the place where he was floating wasn't deep enough for someone to drown — it was just about arm-length deep.
While sitting on the water, Mark looked down and muttered, "Did I drink(take) the wrong Coke?"
He started looking in every direction. Then, he noticed an upsidedown dead body beside him.
With a calm, almost indifferent tone, Mark said, "Oh, a dead body."
He continued scanning his surroundings, but suddenly, chills ran down his spine. A sense of unease crept in, and his eyes slowly turned back toward the body.
He froze.
It was one of those moments where true fear and astonishment hit him all at once. With wide eyes and a face full of disbelief, he muttered, "GYATT DANG, BRO'S GOT A WHOLE BAKERY BEHIND HIM. DANG, IT'S JIGGLING 'CAUSE OF THE WIND."
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the main character of our story — Mark. And he is completely out of his mind(Insane).
Suddenly, Mark's face twisted with irritation. He glanced up as if staring straight at the reader.
"Who did you just call insane, huh?! You ugly-a#s, f@rt-a#s, no-job-havin', no-life-havin', grass-never-touchin' shi##y author!"!" he shouted, veins practically popping out of his forehead.
He stomped around in the water like a man throwing a tantrum. "Oi, I'm talkin' to you! What, cat got your tongue? No witty comeback, huh? Did that hit hard?"
Silence.
Mark's rage only grew. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "EMOTIONAL DAMAGE! EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!" He kept repeating it like it was a battle chant.
[
Nexus
Hobby: gaming
Job : gaming
Country: South Korea
Feature : Handsome
Mark
Hobby: No information
Country: Bangladesh
Feature:Ugly
Mark :OI AUTHOR!!!
[({Job:Serial killer
Personality: psychopath, maniac]})
]
[Episode One End]
To Be Continued...