> Zone: Forest of Mists — Eastern Depths
The sun barely penetrated the digital clouds, but beneath the thick canopy, I moved like liquid shadow. Like a predator born for this world.
Hakaijin, level 4, had just carved through the last Crystal Crow blocking access to a strange clearing. My blade still vibrated with residual energy, hungry for more blood.
> [Side Quest Completed: The Blade and the Echo]
> Reward: +180 EXP | Elixir of Concentration | Fragment of Memory
I wiped sweat from my forehead. Even with the constant artificial temperature, my body was responding like this was real. Like every fight mattered.
I smiled, and it felt dangerous.
"This world is... perfect."
**FLASHBACK: A few hours earlier**
I had chosen the name myself: Hakaijin — "Destroyer." Strange choice for someone so polite in real life, so perfectly controlled. But here, in Genesis, I could let the beast out of its cage. Break the shackles of my too-perfect existence. I wasn't Ren Daiki anymore—heir to a Japanese-Korean dynasty, trapped between ceremonies, reputation, and suffocating silence.
> Base Class: Warrior — Broken Blade School
> Style: Direct Strike, Surgical Precision, Reflexive Parry
> Active Skills:
> - Swing Strike (AOE)
> - Martial Focus (+ Accuracy)
> - Reflexive Counter
I'd abandoned downtown Erasthia almost immediately. Too many people, too many distractions, too much noise. I'd found an old hermit NPC at the edge of a ravine—a weathered man with eyes like ancient storms. He'd tested me, pushed me, then guided me to this hidden clearing where the fauna wasn't just digital... it was memory. Each monster carried a story, a fragment of something deeper.
**Back to the present.**
A crystalline pillar stood in the center of the clearing, surrounded by glyphs that moved like living things. They pulsed with light that made my chest tight with anticipation.
I placed my hand on the cold stone. A voice echoed directly in my head, bypassing my ears entirely.
> "Do you wish to seal a wish?"
"Yes."
The word came out like a prayer. I thought of freedom. Of my mother's disappointed face. Of the constant pressure to always be "the example," the perfect son, the flawless heir.
> "Wish recorded: Break one's chains."
The stone pulsed with light that felt like fire. A digital tattoo etched itself into my left arm, burning like a brand.
> "ORIAS System: Wish Mark granted. Passive effects unknown."
I stood frozen, staring at the mark. It was beautiful. Terrifying.
"This game... is much more than what it claims to be."
Then...
> [Fluctuating signal detected — Distant interference picked up by the ORIAS AI]
> Origin: Unknown | Signature: Unlisted
I frowned, hand instinctively moving to my sword hilt.
"Tch... strange. A network anomaly?"
But deep in my gut, I knew it wasn't an anomaly. It was something else. Someone else.
"Another hunter...? Interesting."
The forest seemed to hold its breath. Somewhere out there, another player was making waves. Another soul seeking escape, seeking power, seeking truth.
I couldn't wait to meet them.
**✦ End of Chapter 6**
*Next: Z3RO vs. the Steel Wolves — Discovery of an unstable portal...*