The #1 Player Falls
Blood dripped from my lips as I staggered backward, my health bar flashing red.
"Why...?" I growled, gripping my sword as my so-called allies surrounded me.
Celestia, why?" Aiden's voice cracked, his breath ragged. "I built this guild for us. For you."
She sighed, but there was no regret in her eyes. "You don't get it, Aiden. You became too powerful, too unpredictable. The devs want balance, and we want to survive. Sacrificing you was the easiest way."
Aiden's heart pounded. His fingers twitched. So that was it. Not loyalty. Not friendship. Just convenience.
"Why?" The voice came from Celestia, the guild leader, standing before me with a smirk. Her icy blue armor shimmered, her blade still dripping with my blood. "Because you were in the way, Aiden."
Aiden—that was my name in Eternal Dominion, the most immersive VR MMORPG in existence. And I was its strongest player. Until now.
"Don't take it personally," chuckled Darius, my right-hand man. "You should've known better than to trust anyone in a game like this."
A system notification appeared.
> [Warning: Betrayal detected. You are outnumbered 7 to 1.]
I clenched my teeth. Seven of my closest allies, my most trusted guildmates, had stabbed me in the back.
My stats were dropping. I had been hit by a debuff, my strength cut in half. My mana drained, my healing potions disabled.
"This wasn't part of the plan," I snarled, raising my sword. Even weakened, I wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Oh, but it was," Celestia cooed, stepping closer. "See, you became too powerful. Too dangerous. And the developers? They don't like unbalanced players."
My grip tightened. "Developers?"
"You really thought this was just a game?" She laughed. "Wake up. The top players, the ones like us? We're assets. But you... You were a liability."
Before I could react, her sword plunged into my chest.
His body turned to pixels, pain dulling into nothingness. As the darkness swallowed him, a thought surfaced.
Not like this.
Not as a stepping stone. Not as a mistake to be erased.
If I return… I'll show them what true terror looks like.
I gasped as my health hit zero.
> [You have died.]
Everything went black.
Rebirth in the Shadows
Aiden awoke, his body light, unfamiliar. His hand trembled—smaller, weaker. He checked his status. Level 1. Weak. Worthless.
They erased me. As if he had never existed. As if he were nothing.
A sharp breath. His fingers curled into a fist. No. They will remember me.
A slow grin formed, dark and hungry. He would kill them all.
When I opened my eyes, I expected the logout screen. Or maybe a respawn timer.
Instead… I saw stone walls, damp and cracked. Chains hanging from the ceiling. A dungeon.
I sat up, my body aching. My hands were different—rough, bare, weaker.
A system window popped up.
> [You have been reincarnated as an NPC.]
My blood ran cold.
An NPC? That wasn't possible. Players could die, respawn, or lose their accounts, but no one had ever been turned into an NPC.
A sharp laugh echoed nearby.
"Hey, look at this! A fresh spawn!"
I turned to see three players approaching. Low-level, clad in basic armor, grinning like hyenas.
One of them checked my stats. His smirk widened.
"Just a Level 1 mob. What a joke."
I glanced at my own status window.
> [Name: ???]
[Race: NPC]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 100/100]
I was nothing.
A fucking NPC.
The first player raised his sword.
"Let's farm this loser for EXP."
The blade came down.
Pain exploded through my chest. I hit the ground, my vision fading.
> [You have been killed.]
> [Unique Skill Activated: Infinite Resurrection.]
> [Each death makes you stronger.]
My body reformed. My hands, my limbs, my strength—it all returned.
But something felt... different.
I looked at my stats.
> [Level: 5]
[Health: 500/500]
[Strength: +5]
[New Ability Gained: Adaptive Evolution]
A slow grin spread across my lips.
"Let's see who's the real prey now."
The Hunt Begins
I clenched my fists, feeling the surge of newfound power coursing through me. My body no longer felt weak. Each breath felt sharper, my senses more attuned.
The three players hadn't even noticed that I had resurrected.
"Easy XP," the first one chuckled, wiping his blade clean. "Let's move to the next room and—"
I moved.
Faster than I should've been able to.
Before he could react, my fingers wrapped around his throat.
"Wh—?" His eyes went wide as I lifted him off the ground.
> [Predation Effect Activated: Stealing Target's Strength.]
My muscles tightened, his strength flowing into me. He flailed, his hands clawing at mine, but his resistance was pathetic.
I squeezed.
A sickening crack. His health bar plummeted to zero.
> [You have slain Player: Rook13.]
[Stats absorbed: +3 Strength, +2 Agility.]
[New Ability Acquired: Basic Swordsmanship.]
His body crumbled into light, his gear dropping to the ground.
The other two players staggered back.
"Holy shit—"
"He—he's a bug!"
They turned to run.
"Too late."
I kicked off the ground, my speed tripled from before. I was in front of them in an instant.
One of them, a rogue, lunged with a dagger.
I didn't dodge.
I didn't need to.
The blade sank into my chest—but the pain was nothing. No health bar, no system warnings. I was beyond that now.
His face paled.
"What the—?"
I grabbed his wrist and twisted.
A scream tore from his lips as his bone snapped. His weapon clattered to the floor.
The last player, a mage, tried to cast a fireball. I closed the distance in one step, yanking him forward by the collar.
"No. More. Fireballs."
I slammed his skull into the stone wall.
His health hit zero instantly.
> [You have slain Player: MagusWrath.]
[Stats absorbed: +4 Intelligence, +2 Mana Regeneration.]
[New Ability Acquired: Minor Fire Magic.]
The rogue was still crawling away, clutching his broken wrist.
"P-please…" he stammered, tears welling in his eyes. "I d-didn't know you were real… I thought you were just some NPC…"
I knelt beside him, watching him tremble in terror.
"You killed me first," I whispered.
"N-no, wait—"
I plunged the stolen dagger into his throat.
> [You have slain Player: ShadowDancer.]
[Stats absorbed: +5 Agility, +2 Dexterity.]
[New Ability Acquired: Stealth.]
I stood up, feeling more powerful than ever.
I stared down at my reflection in a pool of blood.
Gone was the nameless NPC.
I was something… more.
The players of this world? They thought they could use me, farm me, discard me like trash.
But now?
I was going to hunt them.
I was going to make them suffer.
I turned toward the dungeon's depths. A new hunger burned in my chest.