The darkness closed in around Alex as his body seemed to dissolve into nothingness. For a moment, he felt like he was suspended in the void, weightless and disoriented. His heart pounded in his chest as panic crept in, but just as quickly, a bright light flooded his vision, and he found himself standing on solid ground once more.

The transition into **ALBEKO** had been instantaneous.

He blinked several times, adjusting to the overwhelming brightness. The world around him slowly came into focus, and what he saw took his breath away.

The sky above him was a brilliant, cloudless blue, unlike anything he had seen in the real world. The sun hung high, casting a warm, golden glow over the landscape. He stood in the middle of a vast meadow, the grass beneath his feet soft and lush, stretching out endlessly in every direction. The air was crisp, clean, and carried the faint scent of wildflowers, a stark contrast to the suffocating stench of decay in the real world.

It was perfect—too perfect.

A small screen flickered in front of his vision, filled with the familiar glowing text he had expected in a virtual world:

**“Welcome to ALBEKO: A Life Beyond Time.”**

It disappeared just as quickly as it had come, and Alex took a deep breath, his chest tightening. He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers. Everything felt real. Too real. This wasn’t like the other virtual reality systems he had heard of. This was something else—something more.

Before he could process it all, another screen popped up in front of him:

**“Please allocate your starting stats.”**

Alex’s stomach dropped. He knew this part. He had heard other players talk about it—the moment when you chose how to distribute your initial stats. Strength, agility, intelligence, stamina, and so on. It was the foundation of your character, the thing that would determine how strong or weak you were in the game.

But when he opened his stats window, his heart sank.

Everything was broken.

Where there should have been numbers, there was only static. Flickering, glitching symbols filled the screen, but no values. No points to distribute. Every stat was marked with a simple question mark: **?**. Alex stared at the window, his mind racing.

**What is this?**

He could feel his heart rate pick up, a familiar sense of unease washing over him. This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He had entered the game like everyone else—so why was his character broken? Why couldn’t he see his stats?

A soft chime rang in his ears, drawing his attention back to the screen. At the bottom, beneath the glitchy mess of symbols, a single line of text appeared:

**“+999 stats available to allocate.”**

Alex blinked, confused. **999?** That couldn’t be right. No new player started with that many points. He didn’t even know what to do with them if he could allocate them. But when he tried to click on the numbers, nothing happened. The system wouldn’t let him interact with it.

It was like it was locked.

Suddenly, a third message appeared, and this time it was clear:

**“ERROR: Unable to process stats. Proceed with default setup.”**

Alex swallowed hard, his hands shaking. The glitch had set in immediately. His stats were unreadable, and it seemed like the system didn’t know how to handle him. The numbers blinked out of existence, and all that remained was his **Level: 1**. Everything else was a mystery.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to move forward, despite the growing unease. Whatever had happened to his character, he couldn’t change it now. He would have to learn how to survive in this world on his own, without knowing how strong—or weak—he actually was.

---

The meadow stretched on, peaceful and serene, as Alex walked toward the distant silhouette of a city on the horizon. It was a sprawling metropolis, the kind of place he had only seen in fantasy stories, with towering spires and glittering walls.

For a moment, he forgot about his glitched stats and simply marveled at the beauty of it all. This world, at least on the surface, was a paradise. And for the first time in what felt like forever, Alex felt something like hope stir inside him. Maybe this was the escape he had been searching for. Maybe this world really could offer him a fresh start—a chance to be someone else, someone free from the burden of the clock.

As he walked, the faint sound of rustling grass caught his attention. He stopped, eyes scanning the field ahead of him. His heart raced as he noticed movement in the tall grass.

A small creature emerged, hopping into view. It was a rabbit—white, fluffy, with a pair of large red eyes that glowed unnaturally.

Alex froze, unsure of how to react. The creature seemed harmless at first glance, but something about its glowing eyes unnerved him. Before he could take a step back, the rabbit’s body tensed, and it launched itself at him with a speed that caught him completely off guard.

Its sharp teeth sunk into his leg, sending a wave of pain up his spine.

“Argh!” Alex yelped, stumbling backward.

The rabbit, small but vicious, clung to his leg, gnashing its teeth as it tore at his flesh. Panic set in as Alex tried to shake it off, but the creature wouldn’t budge.

Instinctively, he swung his leg and kicked the rabbit away. It sailed through the air and crashed into the ground several feet away, but to his horror, it got back up, its glowing eyes locked on him. It was ready to attack again.

Alex’s heart raced. **What is this thing?** He hadn’t even had time to process the fact that a rabbit had just attacked him, and now it was coming back for more. He reached out to pull up his stats window, desperate for any clue about how strong he was, but all he saw was the same flickering static.

**I don’t even know how strong I am...**

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Before he could brace himself for the rabbit’s second attack, the air around him shifted. A low, menacing growl echoed from the grass behind the rabbit, and Alex’s eyes widened in alarm.

From the underbrush emerged a massive wolf, its fur dark as night, its eyes glowing with a fierce yellow light. It was much larger than the rabbit, and its presence sent a shiver down Alex’s spine.

The wolf lunged at the rabbit with terrifying speed, sinking its fangs into the smaller creature. With one powerful shake, the rabbit’s body went limp, and the wolf tossed it aside like it was nothing.

Alex stood frozen in place, his eyes locked on the wolf as it turned its attention to him.

For a brief moment, their eyes met, and Alex’s instincts screamed at him to run. But before he could even move, the wolf lunged at him, its massive body soaring through the air.

Without thinking, Alex raised his arm in defense. His hand met the wolf mid-air, and to his shock, the force of his strike sent the creature flying back, crashing into the trees with a deafening thud.

The wolf disintegrated into a puff of light.

Alex stared down at his hand, his heart pounding in his chest. The wolf was gone, just like that, and he hadn’t even put much effort into the strike.

**What... was that?**

Another notification appeared in front of him, this one glowing softly.

**“Level Up: Level 1 → 5.”**

The numbers flickered, and Alex frowned. He had leveled up, but his stat window was still unreadable. Nothing made sense.

Before he could process what had happened, a voice broke the silence.

“Well, well, well,” a female voice called out, soft but curious. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

Alex turned sharply, his eyes landing on a figure standing in the shadows of a nearby tree. A woman stepped forward, her eyes glinting with a mixture of amusement and suspicion. Her bow was slung over her shoulder, and her sharp features gave her the appearance of someone who had been through this world’s trials for a long time.

She had been watching him.

“Who are you?” Alex asked, his voice cautious.

The woman smirked. “I’m Betsy. And you’re not like the others, are you?”

Alex stood frozen, his eyes locked on the woman before him. The remains of the wolf were already fading into the air, dissolving into shimmering particles, but the feeling of his overpowering strike still lingered in his hand. It was unreal—the way he had sent the wolf flying without even trying. He knew something was wrong, something more than the strange numbers and glitchy stats. He wasn't normal in this world. He could feel it in every inch of his body, an overwhelming sense of power pulsing just beneath the surface.

And this woman, Betsy, had seen it.

She stepped out from the shadows of the tree, her eyes narrowing as she sized him up. Tall, with long dark hair tied back in a practical ponytail, she wore leather armor that looked worn from use but well-maintained, as though she had been in this world long enough to know the dangers but not long enough to be consumed by them. Her bow rested casually across her shoulder, the quiver of arrows slung low on her back, but her fingers lightly tapped the hilt of a dagger at her side. She was ready—always ready. Her expression was hard to read—part amusement, part curiosity—but there was an edge of wariness, the kind of caution that came from experience.

"You fight like you don't belong here," Betsy said, her voice calm but sharp, probing for answers. "That wolf should've taken you out. But here you are—barely a scratch on you." She tilted her head, eyes scanning him with renewed interest, but there was no malice in her gaze. Just suspicion.

Alex blinked, trying to process her words. He glanced down at his hands again, the power from the strike still humming in his veins. He wasn't sure what to say. Should he admit that he didn't understand what was happening, that his stats were broken, unreadable beyond the constant **?** where numbers should be? But doing that could put a target on his back.

"Just lucky, I guess," Alex muttered, shrugging in an attempt to appear casual, though his mind raced. He forced a tight smile, his instincts telling him to stay silent, to not let too much slip. He was already walking a fine line between survival and exposure.

Betsy raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. She took a step closer, her eyes never leaving his. "No one's that lucky," she said, her voice soft but insistent. "Not in this world."

Alex swallowed, his throat dry. He didn't know how to respond. He didn't understand this world well enough to navigate conversations like this. For all he knew, standing out could get him killed—or worse. And yet, he couldn't deny that he didn't belong. His stats were glitched, leaving him with raw power he barely understood. He had to keep that a secret for as long as possible.

"What's your level?" Betsy asked, her question casual, but her eyes were sharp, studying him closely.

Alex hesitated, his mind scrambling for the right response. "Level 5," he finally said, keeping his voice steady. He wasn't sure if it was high or low for someone just starting, but it seemed safe enough.

Her eyes flicked to the empty space above his head, where every player's level and class were displayed. A slight frown crossed her face, though she quickly masked it. "No class yet?" she asked, her tone growing more curious than accusatory. "That's... strange. Most people pick a class as soon as they enter the game."

Alex forced himself to shrug again, trying to seem nonchalant. "Still figuring things out," he lied. "I want to make sure I choose the right one."

Betsy stared at him for a moment, her gaze lingering on his face as though she were trying to decipher the truth from his words. Then, without another word, she nodded. "Fair enough," she said. "But don't take too long. This world doesn't give second chances, and the weaker you seem, the quicker you'll find yourself at the bottom."

There was something in her voice—an edge of warning, perhaps even concern. She didn't trust him, but she didn't seem eager to turn on him either. For now, at least.

Before Alex could respond, a loud crashing noise echoed through the trees, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. He turned just in time to see a massive figure emerge from the underbrush—a man, towering and broad-shouldered, his armor clinking with every step. His blonde hair was wild, and his grin was wide, as though he hadn't a care in the world.

"Oi, Betsy!" the man called out, his voice booming. "You find another stray?"

Betsy rolled her eyes, though there was a hint of amusement on her lips. "Drax, meet Alex. Alex, meet Drax. He's... well, he's Drax."

The man—Drax—stomped forward, his grin widening as he sized Alex up. He slapped Alex on the shoulder with a force that nearly sent him stumbling. "Another newbie, eh?" Drax said with a hearty laugh. "Welcome to the party, mate! Don't worry, I'll show you the ropes. Betsy here's all about the tough love, but me? I'm all about the fun."

Alex winced at the force of the slap but managed a tight smile. "Thanks," he said, unsure of how to respond. Drax's energy was overwhelming, but there was something oddly comforting about his carefree attitude, like he was a man who had faced the dangers of this world and come out laughing.

"Don't listen to him," Betsy said, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's a walking disaster. I'm the one who keeps him from getting killed."

Drax chuckled, completely unfazed. "Aye, she's not wrong. But look at me! Still alive, aren't I?"

Betsy shook her head but didn't argue. "Anyway, Alex," she said, turning back to him. "If you're going to survive here, you need to get moving. This world doesn't wait for anyone. We're heading to the **Starter City**. You can tag along if you want."

Alex hesitated for a brief moment. He had no idea who these people were, and while they didn't seem like a threat, he wasn't sure how long he could keep his secret from them. But then again, he needed allies in this strange new world, and they seemed experienced enough to help him find his footing.

"Sure," Alex said, nodding. "I'll come with you."

"Good choice, mate!" Drax boomed, slapping him on the back again. "We're the best team you'll find on this floor!"

Alex's body tensed at the second slap, but he forced himself to relax. He had no choice but to play along for now.

---

As the three of them walked toward the city in the distance, Alex couldn't shake the growing feeling of unease. His stats were glitched. His power was beyond anything he had ever imagined, but it came at the cost of not knowing how to control it. Worse, he didn't know what had caused it—or if it could be fixed.

Betsy walked ahead, her eyes constantly scanning the horizon, her hand never straying far from the dagger at her side. Drax, on the other hand, was humming a cheerful tune as he marched alongside Alex, completely oblivious to the tension in the air.

"So, Alex," Drax said, breaking the silence. "What's your deal? Why'd you join **ALBEKO**?"

Alex tensed at the question, unsure how to answer. He didn't want to reveal too much, especially about his broken stats or the fact that he had barely survived in the real world. "Same as everyone else, I guess," Alex said carefully. "Looking for a way out."

Drax nodded sagely, as though that explained everything. "Aye, a lot of people come here for that. Freedom, adventure, gold—all that good stuff. Me? I just wanted to fight big monsters and get rich."

Betsy glanced over her shoulder, her expression unreadable. "And you're still broke."

Drax laughed, unfazed by the jab. "Details, details! Besides, I've got the best gear you'll find this side of the floor." He patted the hilt of the oversized sword strapped to his back. "This beauty's seen more action than half the players here."

Betsy shook her head, but a small smile tugged at her lips. "You've got a lot of bark, Drax, but not much bite."

Alex found himself smiling slightly, despite his unease. Drax's carefree attitude was infectious, and it was a welcome distraction from the weight of his own problems. He didn't know how long he could keep his secret, but for now, he could focus on surviving.

The distant silhouette of the **Starter City** loomed ahead, its towering walls casting long shadows over the landscape. From a distance, the city seemed grand, its walls gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, but as they drew closer, the reality of it began to set in. The walls were cracked and crumbling in

places, and the city itself was a chaotic jumble of adventurers, NPCs, and market stalls, all bustling with a strange energy that felt both alive and dangerous.

"This is **Starter City**," Betsy said as they reached the gates. "It's where most players start their journey. You'll find everything you need here—guilds, quests, shops, whatever. But don't get too comfortable. The guilds are always looking to recruit, and not all of them have good intentions."

"Right," Alex said, his eyes scanning the crowd as they entered the city. Everywhere he looked, there were players and NPCs going about their business, but there was a tension in the air that he couldn't quite place. It was as if everyone was waiting for something to happen.

Drax laughed, his voice booming through the narrow streets. "Stick with us, mate, and you'll be fine. We know how to handle ourselves in this place."

Betsy shot Drax a look but said nothing. Alex nodded, feeling a knot of uncertainty tighten in his chest. He had no idea how to navigate this world, but he knew one thing for sure—he couldn't afford to let anyone see how broken his stats were. Not yet.

---

As they moved deeper into the city, a loud chime rang through the air, drawing the attention of everyone in the streets. Alex looked up, following the sound to a massive screen hanging over one of the buildings. A glowing message appeared, the voice of the **ALBEKO** announcer booming across the city.

"**Attention, players. The gates to the Dungeon of Shadows have been unlocked. Prepare for battle, and may your courage guide you to glory.**"

Betsy glanced at Alex, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. "That's your first real test," she said. "Every player has to conquer a dungeon to level up. It's how the system weeds out the weak."

Alex's stomach churned. "Weed out the weak?" he echoed.

Drax grinned and slapped him on the back once again. "Don't worry, mate! We'll go in together. You'll be fine. Just... try not to die."

Alex forced a smile, though his mind was racing. He had no idea what awaited him in that dungeon, but he knew one thing for sure—he couldn't rely on his glitched stats to save him. Not here. Not yet.