"Welcome to Eternova Online. Prepare to forge your destiny."
The login message pulsed in brilliant blue across Kai Arclight's vision. He blinked behind his cheap neural-dive visor, the second-hand one he'd bought from a pawn shop, and rubbed his palms together.
"All right, let's just hope this time I don't end up as a cabbage farmer again."
He muttered this more to fate than the system. Every MMORPG he'd touched ended the same way—underwhelming classes, trash loot, and the kind of "luck" that got you hit by a fireball through a wall.
But Eternova Online was supposed to be different. Its selling point? A living world where "no two players would ever start the same."
---
[Initializing Character Creation…]
As the game loaded, swirling polygons danced around his body. A soft chime sounded, and the character creation interface appeared.
Name: Kai
Race: Human
Appearance: Default
Starting City: Aurelia
When it came to class, however, the screen didn't load correctly. A line of text blinked at the top:
> "Error: Class Initialization Sequence Broken. Applying Fallback Protocol..."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
Before he could click anything, the screen glitched. Symbols danced across it—fragments of code, developer tools, and corrupted text.
> Hidden Class Unlocked: [???]
Class Assigned: Codewalker
Description: NULL
> "...What the heck is a Codewalker?"
The interface flickered again, then reset.
> Class Selected: Novice (Common)
> "Huh? Wait—what?" Kai reached out to cancel, but the interface beeped and forced the final confirmation.
> Welcome, Novice. Begin your journey.
The glowing polygons spun around him once more—and everything went dark.
---
Boot Sequence Complete. You Have Entered: Aurelia, the City of Beginnings.
Kai awoke in a quiet town square filled with cobblestone streets, mossy rooftops, and soft wind. A banner flapped in the breeze:
> "Welcome to Eternova Online, Beta Phase 3."
The game had just launched for the public, but Kai was in early thanks to a lottery giveaway from a discount streaming app.
He looked at his interface. It showed basic Novice stats:
Class: Novice
Level: 1
HP: 100
MP: 50
STR: 4
AGI: 5
INT: 2
LUK: 1
Normal.
Until he blinked—and saw a flickering line of red text beneath.
> [Debug Console Accessed]
Admin Mode: READ/WRITE ACTIVE
Skill Unlocked: Code Slice, Variable Shift, Plot Armor
Kai's eyes widened. "...What is this?"
He opened the Skills tab. Nothing showed. But as he reached toward a curious patch of air near his hand, a hidden window appeared—one he'd never seen in any game before.
> Codewalker Interface – Experimental Tool
You may manipulate game code within visual range. Use with caution.
Logged Activity: Invisible to server logs.
---
Secret Hidden System: Undetected Glitch
Somewhere deep in the black-box labyrinth of Eternova's world engine, a misfired test node had randomly activated an old developer tool tied to the player creation system. But no logs were sent. No alarms were triggered. Even the developers didn't know it had reawakened.
To the world—and the database—Kai was just a level 1 Novice.
---
Back in Aurelia
Kai wandered toward the quest board. The first mission read:
> Quest: Eliminate 1 Forest Slime
Reward: 10 EXP, 1 Copper
Kai shrugged. "All right, baby steps."
As he passed an NPC merchant, his hand accidentally brushed against a basket of apples. A system window blinked.
> Item: Apple [1 Copper]
[Override Code Detected – Modify?]
Kai hesitated, then tapped the apple, selecting a hidden option.
> → Change Weight: 5kg → 0.1g
→ Change Item Quality: Common → Mythic
The apple glowed.
> [You have obtained: Apple of Eden (Mythic)]
Kai almost choked. "You've got to be kidding me."
He stuffed it in his bag, trying not to panic. "Okay. So I have access to some sort of debug menu… but no one else knows I have this."
He looked around—nobody was watching. No notifications in the sky. No system bans.
> "If I play this smart... I could get rich. Or banned. Or both."
---
Kai vs. The Slime
Out in the grassy field, a level 1 Forest Slime bounced happily.
Kai drew his rusty dagger. "Time to test this."
He tapped the air.
> Activate Skill: Code Slice
→ Target: [Forest Slime]
→ Command: Delete
The slime vanished in a burst of blue pixels.
> Slime Defeated. 10 EXP Gained.
> Item Drop: ???
Kai bent down and found… a shining greatsword twice the size of his body.
> Item: Blade of the Starfall King (Lv. 90, Mythic, Unique)
"Only one exists per server."
He stared. Then looked behind him. Still alone.
"No one saw that. Right?"
---
Back in Town – 20 Minutes Later
Kai opened a player shop window. He set up on the edge of the marketplace, away from the busy stalls.
> Shop Name: Fresh Drops Cheap!
1. Blade of the Starfall King – 15,000G
2. Apple of Eden – 500G (it heals all HP + grants XP buff)
Then, carefully, he disguised his gear as low-level junk using Variable Shift to change item appearance data. The sword now looked like a cheap iron blade. The apple? A basic food item.
> "As long as no one identifies them… I should be fine."
But Kai didn't notice that he was being watched.
From the shadows of a nearby building, a hooded player stared, eyes narrowed.
> [Lv. 92] GhostReign – Guild: Obsidian Order
"Who is this guy... and why is a novice selling items we haven't even seen in the northern raid zones?"