Zephyr—no, the entity that was once Zephyr—hovered in the silence of the ruin.
He didn't panic. Panic was a debuff that reduced cognitive processing speed by 15%. He didn't have a brain anymore, but the habit of emotional suppression remained.
"Status," he commanded mentally.
The blue window flickered, stabilizing against the gloom of the shrine.
[Name: Zephyr]
[Race: Divine Spirit (Incomplete)]
[Rank: 0 (Unsanctified)]
[Faith Points (FP): 0 / 100]
[Divine Power (DP): 0]
[Believers: 0]
[Territory: Ruined Shrine of the Nameless (Degraded)]
[Condition: Fading]
Your existence is untethered. Consuming 1 Existence Integrity Unit per hour. Estimated time until dissipation: 71 hours, 58 minutes.
"Seventy-two hours," Zephyr noted. "A hardcore survival start. Classic."
He mentally tapped the [Territory] tab. A wireframe map of the immediate area projected into his mind. It was a 3D grid, identical to the *Theos* map editor.
The shrine was a small 10x10 meter structure. Walls: Stone (Durability 12%). Roof: Collapsed (Coverage 40%).
Beyond the walls, the map was black. Fog of War.
"Okay. Let's look for the starter kit. Theos always gives a Novice Package."
He navigated to the [Inventory].
[Empty]
He checked [Mailbox].
[Empty]
He checked [Quests].
[Main Quest: Survive]*
Goal: Acquire 1 True Believer.
Reward: Divine Spark Stabilization, +100 FP.
Failure: Perma-death.
"Stingy," Zephyr muttered. "No tutorial NPC? No starter weapon? This isn't the standard build."
He floated—a sensation like swimming without water—towards the shattered altar in the center of the room. In the game, altars were 'Storage Nodes' or 'Respawn Points'.
He focused his intent on it. A tooltip popped up.
[Desecrated Altar of a Forgotten God]
Status: Inactive
Repair Cost: 50 FP
Salvage: Possible
"Salvage?"
Zephyr paused. In the game, salvaging a divine structure usually returned stone or gold. But he didn't need materials. He needed energy.
"System query," he projected. "If I salvage this altar, what is the return type?"
[System Analysis: Salavaging divine structures returns residual Essence.]
"Essence. Not Faith?"
Zephyr dug through his memory of the game. Essence was raw magical matter. Faith was processed belief. Essence could be converted to Faith, but the exchange rate was terrible—usually 10 to 1.
But he had zero. Zero meant he couldn't even cast a basic 'Spark' to get attention.
"If I stay here, I die in three days. If I salvage the only furniture I own, I might get enough juice to cast a skill."
It was a risk. A newbie would keep the altar, hoping to repair it later. A pro knew that asset liqidation was key to early-game momentum.
"Salvage," he commanded.
[Confirm destruction of 'Desecrated Altar'? This action is irreversible.]
"Do it."
The stone slab in the center of the room didn't explode. It simply... unspooled. The cracks glowed white, and the stone dissolved into particles of light that flowed into Zephyr's floating consciousness.
[System Alert: Altar Salvaged.]
[Received: 5 Faith Points (Converted from Essence)]
[Received: 1 x Crumbling Stone Tablet (Junk)]
"Five points," Zephyr scoffed. "Inflation is a bitch."
But 5 FP was better than zero. It extended his life timer, or... allowed him to access the [Skills] menu.
He opened it. A massive skill tree unfurled, thousands of icons grayed out.
Thunderbolt (Cost: 500 FP) - Locked.
Divine Heal (Cost: 200 FP) - Locked.
Avatar Manifestation (Cost: 10,000 DP) - Locked.
He scrolled down to the bottom tier. The 'Cantrips'—the parlour tricks used by players to spam emotes.
[Minor Illusion]
Cost: 2 FP
Effect: Create a visual/auditory illusion within a 5m radius. Duration: 1 min.
[Spark]
Cost: 1 FP
Effect: Create a small flash of light.
[Whisper]
Cost: 3 FP
Effect: Project voice to a specific target within territory.
Zephyr analyzed the list.
"I have 5 FP. I can cast *Whisper* once and Illusion once. Or Spark five times."
He needed a strategy. He floated to the gap in the wall, looking out into the night.
The fog of war obscured distinct features, but he could hear sounds. Crickets. Wind in the trees.
And something else.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Footsteps. Heavy ones.
Zephyr's sensory range was limited to the shrine, but the sound was getting closer.
A potential believer? Or a threat?
He checked the Territory Status.
[Intruder Detected: Biological Entity. Threat Level: Unknown.]
Zephyr hovered near the entrance, his nonexistent heart tightening. In the game, a Level 1 slime could kill a Level 0 God if the God had no automated defenses.
"If it's a monster, I'm dead," Zephyr deduced. "If it's a human... I have one shot to convince them I'm not a ghost."
He looked at his FP counter.
5/100.
"Time to put on a show."
He positioned himself directly above the spot where the altar used to be. The empty space was now covered in dust, except for the *Crumbling Stone Tablet* he had looted.
He focused on the tablet.
"System, display Item Description."
[Tablet of the Old Era]
Text is illegible.
"Perfect," Zephyr thought. "Mystery is a selling point."
The footsteps stopped at the entrance.
A shadow fell across the moonlight.
Zephyr held his breath—metaphorically—and prepared his trigger finger on the **[Minor Illusion]** button.
The game had begun.