A strange sensation.
In a silent, blindingly bright room.
Natz opened his eyes, and right in front of him was a projected screen with light blue edges.
Whoa... This is so different from MOBA games.
On that screen, a UI displayed Character Customization. Natz scrolled through the UI for a long time, trying to find something that truly suited him.
Hm... Not bad. My creation is... a guy with slightly eccentric hair, a short-sleeved shirt, and shorts. Crazy!
Next... Whoa... Job selection? Even though there were only a few available, the names were incredibly cool. Natz found 11 existing Jobs.
And... his eyes were drawn to one of them.
'Sovereign?' Sand manipulation? High mobility but fragile defense? Wah... If this were a MOBA, it would be a Mid Utility type.
Natz chose that Job.
Wait, what's this UI? Name entry? Perhaps... N0thing, the same name as his Nova account.
Hm... Stat Points? Shouldn't these... be inside the game menu? Not during character creation. Moreover... I've been given 10 stat points.
Okay... maybe I'll allocate these points into 5 Agi, 3 Luck, 1 MG, and 1 Dex.
Finally, it was done.
Wait... No starting coins? And... a Tutorial? Hm... I think I'll skip it.
Skip —
N0thing has just entered the world of Terminus Horizon.
The announcement echoed across the server.
...
"Long ago, time marched alongside time. Crossing from one world to another."
Is this what they call a Prologue?
"Time created life. Created civilizations. And created a world that could be inhabited."
"Living creatures were formed by something ancient. With the help of time... life was born... Journeys to the stars. Forming a cycle of life that keeps spinning."
.....
"This life —— Skip. Legacy —— Skip. Behold the New Civilization."
Yeah... too much talking isn't good either.
Natz felt something very coarse against his feet. As he opened his eyes... the sunlight was blinding.
Adaptation. That was the first word that crossed Natz's mind. Because... this body felt vastly different from his real-world self.
As he looked around, he found himself in a dense forest. Hm... Why did I spawn in a forest?
But Natz didn't dwell on it. He opened his Personal Menu, and a very detailed UI appeared.
Name: N0thing
LV: 1
Job: Sovereign
HP: 10
Mana: 20
Stamina: 15
STR: 5
DEX: 25
AGI: 35
MG (Magic): 25
LUCK: 30
Hm... Fairly balanced. But why does a Sovereign have such low STR?
Natz read the explanation for the Sovereign in the guidebook. Oh... It turns out the Sovereign's main damage is Magic.
Natz opened his UI again. He scrolled... and found the options:
Skills:
Charge
Horse
Equipment:
Weapon: Beginner's Spear
Head: None
Torso: Short-sleeved shirt and shorts
Feet: None
Accessories: None
Currency: 0.00
Natz closed the UI and began to walk. He strolled casually until, by chance... he encountered a pack of green creatures with small bodies and ugly faces.
Is this what they call a Goblin?
Natz readied his spear.
When the goblins spotted Natz, they immediately lunged at him with messy, uncoordinated attacks. Natz easily dodged them. Finally, he ended the goblins' lives using Charge.
Phew... That was easy.
Natz opened a map, which displayed all the cities in the Southern Continent... Wait... the Southern Continent?
He scanned the map for the city closest to him. A marker was placed on one: Onlia.
A horse was summoned. Natz mounted the horse and headed toward Onlia.
The forest was safe and peaceful. But for some reason, it felt too safe. No disturbances.
Just as Natz spotted the entrance gate of Onlia... he was halted by a massive beast.
At that moment, the monster's name appeared clearly.
Night Wolf Rare Boss
Fortunately, it was asleep. But... as day turned to night, the boss awakened and spotted Natz at the edge of the forest.
Without warning, the monster sprinted and leaped toward Natz.
Natz instinctively jumped off his horse, sacrificing his mount. The battle was unavoidable.
The monster attacked Natz blindly. Natz could only parry repeatedly. After the twelfth strike, the monster retreated.
Natz began to understand the boss's concept. Without hesitation, Natz charged the monster.
Slash.
One hit landed.
Natz continued to attack in that pattern: parry, then strike.
However...
The monster did something it hadn't done before. A long-range claw attack. It hit Natz.
It applied a Bleed effect, reducing 1 HP every 10 seconds. This meant Natz logically had 1 minute and 40 seconds to defeat the enemy. But because the claw attack itself had already reduced 3 HP, Natz's time was cut down to just 1 minute and 10 seconds.
Natz racked his brain and finally found the monster's weakness: blind spots and light.
Natz ran beneath the moonlight. This caused him to become invisible to the monster's eyes. Because... the Night Wolf's eyes worked by detecting light; if a player hid within the moonlight's direct path, its eyes would only see a void.
Finally, Natz reached the monster's rear. But... the monster sensed Natz's presence because he was no longer under the moonlight.
Natz parried the monster's tail swipe and jumped onto its back before it could turn around. He struggled to stay on the monster's back.
One, two, three attacks were launched, but he couldn't pierce the monster's defense.
Remaining time... only 30 seconds.
The monster leaped, throwing Natz into the air. While he was airborne, the Night Wolf's jaws were ready to devour him.
But...
Natz aimed his spear at the Night Wolf's eye and threw it, blinding the beast.
At that moment, Natz pulled the spear out and plunged it back into the Night Wolf's head, killing the Rare Boss.
Finally, the boss was defeated. It dropped items, but Natz didn't give them a thought; he ran toward the city as fast as he could. But... alas, he died on the way.
When he respawned, he was back in the forest.
Before walking to the city again, he checked the drops. It turned out he had obtained a Rare Rune for the Sovereign job: Shifting Sands.
But Natz only wore an annoyed expression... because that Rune was useless to him.
With a frustrated face, Natz began walking toward the city once more.