A man drenched in blood stood on top of a corpse of a gigantic, horned humanoid, gasping for breath. His armor and weaponry on the verge of shattering. He slowly raised his sword up above, a gesture of victory. Truly a heroic sight.
DING!
'CONGRATULATIONS!!'
You are the first to clear Hell Mode: Stage 99 (Solo)!
You can now exceed the maximum level cap by 1
LEVEL UP!
Obtained Title: World Ender
The man breath a sigh of relief as he finally cleared the last stage of 'Tartarus Online', an up-and-coming VRMMORPG game with millions of players all around the world. Blinding lights spiraled around him as he leveled up, exceeding the Level 100 cap. A satisfied look on his bloodied face. It took him months of trial and error and to finally clear the last stage of the game. Its difficulty truly surpassed all of the various VR games he had played.
Tartarus Online--Cleared! The very first person at that! Laughing uproariously with his hands on his waist, his appearance depicted a hero who has saved the day, basking in glory. Feeling very pleased with himself.
After a long while, he finally broke out of his imaginations and jumped down the floor. Air whistled and his cape wildly swayed as he descended. He landed with a loud boom, creating a cloud-like dust, small debris flying about.
With the majestic light of the 'Congratulations' notif yet to disappear up above, it accentuated the surroundings with dim light. Highlighting the shadow of a man within the cloud of dust, it created a menacing, or maybe an awe-inspiring sight.
Seemingly pleased with himself, he walked towards the loots with a joyful hum.
He organized the loots and skimmed through the rewards with sparkling eyes.
Then his gaze froze upon reading an unfamiliar reward.
"World Ender? Did Tartarus ever mention a title like this ?"
Curiosity filled the mind of the man. He immediately inspected the title.
World Ender:
???
Grants access to Floor 100
Can only wear the title once. Can be shared with one person.
Shock and disbelief. Tartarus only has 99 Floors, but now it has Floor 100? And the title World Ender, can only be used once? What's with the '???' description? Is it bugged? What absurdity is this?
The man stood still and apparently in a daze. Then he shuddered as an idea entered his thoughts.
"A special event triggered upon clearing the game, huh?" the man chuckled.
A smile hung on his lips. Excitement blazed deep within his eyes as he immediately wore the World Ender title.
DING!
Successfully equipped the World Ender title. It will disappear once the conditions have been met.
Blinding light spiraled around him, slowly enveloping his whole being. A few moments later, he vanished without a trace.
DING!
You have entered Floor 100.
The man slowly opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. A world of white nothingness. The first thing that caught his attention was the huge, circular symbol on the floor. Aside from the huge symbol on the floor, there's nothing else can be seen, even his own shadow! Upon finishing his inspection, his thoughts ran wild.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"I'm about to meet a god of some sort! Haha! I might even be granted new powers, an overpowered item, or maybe.."
The man's dreams and delusions got aroused as he excitedly turned his head from left to right, looking for the 'God' he expected to see.
DING!
His long-awaited system notification finally rang out behind him. He turned around excitedly.
If you are given an option to reincarnate, will you accept it? Are you willing to abandon everything for the sake of it?
Countdown: 60 seconds
[ACCEPT]
The man was scared silly by the strange message. There is only the [ACCEPT] button. He blinked and widened his eyes to read it again. Rubbed his eyes, to read it again. He can't believe what he's seeing at the moment. Cold sweat ran down his spine. His forehead sweating profusely. Out of panic, he madly yelled "system!" , but to no avail.
He hurriedly tried to use in-game commands, such as friend list, contact game managers, etc, but to no avail.
He's been disconnected from the game, but he's obviously still inside it!
"No...it can't be.. this isn't real! B-but what if..but I'm not ready yet! And it's not even an 'option'! You're forcing me into this! What if I got reincarnated as an animal, a monster, a slave, or a slime?! What am I supposed to do by then?!"
Complaints and cries of unwillingness echoed within the white world of nothingness. With tears and snots, he stood up and howled at the top of his lungs,
"Damn you Tartarus Corp. I'm going to screenshot this and report you!"
He powerlessly fell on his knees, sobbing. He looked at the system pop-up, only 3 seconds remains before the system automatically accepts the prompt.
He clenched his teeth, his hand turned to fists, and his eyes bloodshot.
"I won't accept this!!" his unwilling roar reverberated across the white world as the system automatically accepted the prompt.
**
Within small room lay a huge-capsule like metallic object, a hissing sound is coming out from it. Beeping sound madly rang out, a sign that the machine is overheating. A very hot temperature pervaded the air.
Soon, the capsule-like metallic object slowly split apart, releasing a gust of steam. A man came out of it, grasping a deep breath. This man has the appearance of a handsome middle-aged man. His body drenched of sweat because of heat, outlining his lean, streamlined, explosive muscles.
He jumped out of the machine with 360 degrees flip mid-air and landed on the floor with a thud.
He scanned his surroundings nervously. It's 7 'o clock in the morning with a nice weather. After confirming that everything around him is safe, he unplugged the noisy, overheating machine.
"Tartarus Corp. You bastards...!"
He was scared silly because of the system prompt that couldn't be refused moments ago! He thought he will be reincarnated against his will!
Just the mere thought of it gave him chills!
As he started cursing about the corporation behind Tartarus Online, his cellphone madly rung and vibrated.
With himself yet to calm down, he didn't bother to look at the caller's name and answered barbarically.
"The hell do you want?!" he angrily said.
After a brief pause, he later realized that he stepped on a landmine.
A cold, sinister chuckle can be heard on the phone. Upon hearing it, the man perspired profusely more than ever, greater than when he was inside the piping hot VR machine.
"Astra...my dear husband, what did you just say? I couldn't quite hear you~"
A voice of a woman can be heard. Her voice is mature, alluring, intoxicating and pleasing to the ears, like a voice of an angel tempting a mortal. But when the man named Astra heard it, cold sweat ran down his spine.
"N-no, uhh. What can I do for you, my sweet, beautiful wife?" Astra replied nervously.
"Hmph. I know damn well that I'm sweet and beautiful. Anyway, we don't have much time. We received an emergency order. Report to the Main HQ immediately." said the woman on the phone sternly.
Astra's eyes turned sharp and his expression serious the moment he heard the order. He is still in the middle of his precious vacation!
He clenched his teeth and his fists shaking in fury.
'Every single one of them keeps on forcing me to accept this and that..!'
In the end, he could only sigh and resign himself to his fate. He swiftly wore a new clothing as he left the room. Later, the booming sound of a motorcycle engine reverberated across the whole neighborhood.
***
It is 8 'o clock in the morning and the sunshine feels nice. In this world, the U.S Military Main HQ is the heart of the country. Without it, they won't have the rights to dominate the world stage. That being said, the Main HQ was majestically created, with 'Plants and Nature' as its main theme. As if showing off the country's wealth with this delicate and awe-inspiring zone. Truly, it earned the respect of the world, as it is titled -- The Land of God.
The roadway towards the main HQ is surrounded with tall, green trees. The booming sound of a motorcycle engine startled the animals around the area. With the happening of the commotion, the Main HQ's "Gate: Always Secure! Squad" (G:ASS for short) were alerted. They immediately worked in their zone to identify the noisy intruder.
"This is 'Ice' reporting. The intruder has been identified!" a woman reported via their intercommunications.
"Ooh! As fast as ever!" said the woman sitting on an armchair. She's the head of G:ASS.
The members of the G:ASS was satisfied with the speedy report.
"So, who's the noisy intruder?" she said coldly as she sat on her armchair like a boss, her knuckles on her cheek.
"I-it's. it's Sir Andromeda of the Strike Force!" said the woman in a rather trembling voice.
The head of the G:ASS was surprised a little by the identity of the intruder. With a smile on her face, she stood up from her chair.
"Open the gates! Contact the Main HQ and inform them that Sir Andromeda has arrived. I will receive him myself!"
***