At the same time, in a different place—
Deep underground, inside a colossal research facility, countless advanced machines buzzed quietly. Strange symbols hovered mid-air, sustained by some mysterious form of arcane technology.
The place resembled a research station from an alien civilization—far beyond anything mankind could have built.
Suddenly, a technician jolted upright, staring at the screen in front of him. "Unusual login detected—extremely high energy levels!" he shouted.
A middle-aged man in a black cloak, arms crossed at the center of the room, turned his head sharply. His face was framed by a thick beard and a pair of sharp, calculating eyes.
"Put it on the main screen," he commanded.
"Yes, sir!" the technician responded immediately.
In the next moment, a glowing red dot appeared on the massive central display—its brilliance intensifying by the second.
As the man watched the dot grow brighter, his previously calm demeanor evaporated.
"Team A!" he barked. "Begin energy level analysis on that login!"
"We're on it!" A squad of specialists rushed to their terminals, fingers flying across complex interfaces.
"Energy spike rising rapidly… Rank D… Rank C… Rank B… Rank A… still climbing—!"
The man's expression darkened. "Team B, track the location of the login signal."
"Team C, identify the player ID—lock it down."
"Team D, record every bit of data!"
"This is bad!" a technician shouted, visibly panicked. "The energy's still increasing… Rank S… Rank SS… It's already exceeded SS!"
The man tensed, now fully alert. "Faster! Have you located the source yet?!"
"Not yet, sir. The login doesn't have a fixed ID. It's… some kind of strange magical string, not tied to any account in the system."
"What?!" The captain rushed over to the nearest console, typing furiously to manually scan for the missing identity.
"Rank SSS… Sir, it's still rising."
"Damn it!" he roared. "Find that ID and its location—now! I don't care what it takes!"
But then, the blinding red dot on the screen began to flicker… and dim.
"It's fading!" one of the technicians called out in alarm. "Sir, the login signature is vanishing!"
Just as he finished speaking, the dot disappeared completely—without a trace.
The man clenched his jaw. "Were we able to pinpoint the location?"
"We only managed to narrow it down to Tenyo City," the technician replied. "The window was too short for precise triangulation."
The man held his forehead, clearly frustrated by the report.
"What about the energy readings? Did we at least record the data?" he asked with a heavy sigh.
"Sir, the… the energy level from that login…" the technician stammered.
The man's brow twitched. "Speak!"
"Ah! Yes, sir…" The technician snapped to attention and blurted, "The energy level… it exceeded even Rank SSS. It's comparable to a World-End Class Catastrophe."
The man's eyes widened in disbelief. His expression turned grim with worry. Furrowing his brows, he issued the command:
"Create a file for that login. Classification level… Divine."
...
Meanwhile, back with Rover—
He stared at the floating status screen in front of him, still confused by the name of his new class: Abyss Arbiter.
"What kind of class is this? Is it… ack—!"
Before he could finish, his body was suddenly yanked away—as if by an invisible hand—and hurled through the void.
Rover gritted his teeth, struggling against the crushing force pressing down on his body.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless streaks of light tore past him at unimaginable speed. He couldn't resist, couldn't slow down—he could only endure the chaos.
Then, from the far distance, a blinding light surged toward him—closer, closer—until it engulfed him entirely.
His consciousness dimmed. Everything vanished.
...
THUD!
"ACK!" Rover slammed into the ground with a harsh grunt, pain jolting through every part of his body.
His fingers gripped the soil—it was soft, thankfully—and thick grass cushioned some of the impact. It could've been much worse.
He clenched his jaw and slowly pushed himself up, groaning. "What the hell was that? Am I going to drop like this every time I log in?"
Exhaling hard, he looked around. "Where… am I?"
He surveyed the surroundings—a small, rustic village. The buildings were simple, constructed from wood and large leaves.
But more importantly… the villagers were staring at him.
Yes—everyone was staring.
Their expressions were a mix of confusion, joy… and wariness.
Caught in their silent gazes, Rover suddenly felt incredibly awkward. He forced a nervous smile and raised one hand in greeting.
"Uh… hi! I… I just arrived. Is this… is this the newbie village?"
No one replied. No one moved. They just kept staring.
Silence.
So silent that Rover could hear the distant wind carrying the scent of the forest.
He stood there, frozen. The tension and awkwardness were unbearable.
He had no idea what to do next.
'Oy! Say something at least, will you?' Rover grumbled internally. 'Why is everyone so quiet? Don't tell me… I landed in the wrong place.'
He looked around again. There were no other players in sight—just villagers.
'Damn it!' he cursed in his mind. 'Did I really end up in the wrong location?'
"This, uh…" Rover scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry, I think I came to the wrong place. Could someone tell me how to get to the beginner village?"
Silence.
Still, not a single response. That's when it hit him—these people were probably just NPCs. If he said anything outside of their preset dialogues, they wouldn't react.
He sighed. "Do I have to find the damn village on my own?"
Muttering to himself, he turned to leave.
But then—an aged voice called out, "Wait!"
"Huh?" Rover blinked and turned around.
An old man, about the same age as his grandma, had spoken. His voice was slightly shaky, as if he still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Young man… how… how did you end up here?" the elder asked, eyes trembling.
"Ah, I…" Rover started to explain, but stopped himself. No point trying to reason with an NPC. Instead, he gave a polite smile. "Sorry. Wrong place. I'll be on my way."
"No!" the elder interrupted, this time more animated. His eyes lit up with something like hope, the deep wrinkles on his face trembling with emotion.
"Wait—just stay right there," the old man insisted, then turned toward the villagers.
"Hold your position!" he shouted as he motioned them to back away from Rover.
Rover found the whole scene odd, but decided to wait.
"Oy! He's here." The old man whispered to the group.
There were only about seven villagers. They gathered around him, heads bowed low, voices hushed.
"Oy, Goron, are you sure he's the one we're looking for?"
"Yeah, maybe he really did just get lost. He looks kinda dumb—how could he be the one the Almighty Prophet mentioned?"
Bonk! Bonk!
"OW! What the hell?!"
"Damn, that hurt!"
Both speakers winced and clutched their heads where the old man, Goron, had just smacked them with his cane.
"Are you idiots?" Goron snapped, his face full of scorn and irritation. "If he wasn't the Chosen One, how the hell did he end up here?"
"Uh…" One of them scratched his head. "You're… probably right."
"Wait! I don't think we should trust him so easily."
Goron turned toward the voice. "What do you suggest, Velvet?"
The speaker was a girl with blood-red hair cascading down her back. Her beauty rivaled that of Lyria, but her aura radiated arrogance and a chilling, predatory bloodlust.
"I'll observe him and evaluate his behavior. If he doesn't meet the standard… I'll take care of it." Velvet didn't finish her sentence. She simply drew her thumb across her throat.
"Velvet's right," another man chimed in, holding a vegetable knife like it was a dagger. "If he's the one from the prophecy, he'll show it. If not… better to kill him now."
Goron groaned, rubbing his forehead. "You people… Fine. But we're sticking to the plan we practiced. Understood?"
"Uhm!"
"Got it!"
"Hehehe…"
From afar, Rover watched the villagers huddled together in a secretive circle, whispering amongst themselves.
Now and then, one would glance at him with curiosity. Others looked at him with outright bloodlust.
Rover scratched his head, clearly confused.
Just then, Goron stepped forward with a wide, overly friendly grin.
"Hahaha… Welcome to Abyss Village—ah no, I mean Abisa Village! Hahaha…"
"My name is Goron, village chief of Abisa! Hahaha…"
Rover: "…"
Goron: "…"
Silence.
Rover didn't know what to make of it. In his past life, he never logged into the game, so he had no idea if this weird intro was normal.
"Uh… you…" Rover finally broke the awkward silence. "Do you have any quests or… advice for me?"
"Ah! Hahahaha…" Goron suddenly burst into laughter. "Young man, would you like to become an Abyss Lord?"
Rover: "…"
"Huh?!"