Ethan experienced a sensation of weightlessness, as if he were drifting aimlessly. A gentle, cool presence enveloped him, soothing away his burdensome emotions.

The world around him dissolved into an abyss of darkness, yet he yearned for this tranquility to persist.

Suddenly, a blinding light pierced through the void, playing a mischievous game with his senses. Squinting his eyes, Ethan gradually adjusted to the radiance. With cautious reluctance, he opened his eyes.

Before him lay a woman of breathtaking beauty, peacefully slumbering. Her vibrant green hairs cascaded upon the pillow, framing her captivating face. Her night attire, revealing a bountiful cleavage, held no allure for Ethan in his present state. Though a strange sense of familiarity lingered, confusing him.

Complicated emotions swirled within Ethan—confusion, shock, and a profound sadness. He closed his eyes, releasing a heavy sigh.

Ethan had to figure out where he was and make a decision about what to do next. It was clear that he had died. He was stabbed by... Sasha?

His brow furrowed, and he muttered to himself, "Think objectively, Ethan."

That person with his sister's face must be someone else, using her appearance. There were aliens who could change their bodies and faces like that. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

Ethan observed that his body had no sword energy. He decided to stand up and take a look around. More importantly, he wanted to be alone.

As he moved into a sitting position, the blanket slipped off, revealing his nakedness.

Silence filled the air.

It was evident what had happened between the previous owner of this body and the woman beside him. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and surveyed his surroundings. It resembled the rooms of a medieval castle, but of a grander and more luxuriously furnished kind.

Just then he saw a translucent blue hologram floating in front of him. It had a “Loading…” in its center.

He looked around to find a hologram projector but didn’t see any. His frown deepened. This was getting even more confusing.

Suddenly, a woman's voice reached his ears. It carried a mix of drowsiness, curiosity, and a hint of seduction.

"Lionel, why are you lost in thought?" she asked.

The screen in front of him disappeared on its own.

As Ethan turned, he found himself face to face with the stunning beauty, her cleavage even more alluring than before. Involuntarily, he held his breath, witnessing a slight frown on her face as her gentle hand brushed his forehead.

With concern in her voice, she uttered, "Son, what's the matter?"

Silence enveloped Ethan as his mind exploded. 'Son?!'

Observing his silence, the woman bit her lip and sighed. "I understand if you're angry with me. I was too forceful yesterday."

Without words, Ethan averted his gaze, attempting to maintain composure. "I... I don't want to talk about it."

He didn’t know anything so better not talk. His decision made sense but then…

"Why?" Her voice turned gentle. "Is it because you don't have his memories?"

‘...What?’

A sense of survival within Ethan began to stir. He sensed danger emanating from her. Yet, an invisible force seemed to hold him captive, preventing him from moving.

Her tender fingers gently guided his face towards her. It felt as though he was trapped within a deadly cage.

Once again, Ethan found himself face-to-face with her. In stark contrast to her previous gentle expression, her countenance now appeared cold, devoid of any emotion.

Her purple eyes locked onto his as she spoke, "I am not Lionel's mother. His soul suddenly vanished, and another soul entered his body. I wanted to check whether you possessed his memories or not. Clearly, you do not."

Ethan's face remained rigid.

"Tell me, who are you?" she asked. With her question, the invisible pressure dissipated, and Ethan could move freely once more. Gasping for breath, he stared at her with widened eyes.

His senses told him that he couldn’t mess with this woman. In moments of uncertainty and confusion, he had always relied on his intuition.

So he started speaking, "I don't know how I ended up here. I died in battle, and then suddenly I was here."

"What battle?" she inquired.

"It was on a strange planet. The creatures there were unlike anything described in the reports."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The woman's brow furrowed, and she mumbled softly, "So you're an otherworldly demon."

Ethan's lips twitched, and after a brief silence, he cautiously asked, "What now?"

A captivating smile graced the woman's face, dispelling the coldness around her. She reassured him, "Don't worry, I won't harm you. Since you've been so cooperative, I'll reveal where you are. This place is called Eternia."

Rising from the bed, she adjusted her loose robe and introduced herself, saying, "My name is Avelyn Prestcote."

Ethan was stunned as realization washed over him. No wonder she seemed so familiar.

Somehow, he had entered Eternia—a virtual game world!

But how was that even possible?!

• • •

Later, Ethan sat on the bed, lost in thought. After introducing herself, Avelyn had casually told him to wait for her to return.

The book shelf that was in front him had opened, revealing a cave. Avelyn entered it and the entrance closed itself. Ethan had already checked, he was locked inside this room.

Currently, it didn’t matter much how he came here. Point was that he was Lionel Maximus Stoneheart from the game Legends of Eternia.

It was a game that got immensely popular back when he was around fourteen years old. It had a vast cultivation world with soul cultivation dominating the many other paths of cultivation.

It was a unique interesting game where on ‘death’ the players would have to start as a new character. A dead character wouldn’t be able to come back unless some forbidden techniques were used.

But then players in real life started to die due to unknown reasons. The game and its company were shut down, its creators facing many lawsuits.

Back then, Ethan used to play it regularly with his sister. There were a total nine stages and he had reached the bottleneck of the fifth one, Soul Harmonization, on his first try. (Name subject to change.)

As such, he knew many things about Eternia. But still there was a mystery that was pretty famous in the game. Only high level players were able to find out the truth but they had chosen not to talk about it.

And that mystery was… Avelyn Prestcote, the sect leader of the Dark Phoenix Sect.

Ethan subconsciously rubbed his middle finger with his thumb in a circular motion, a habit of his when he was in serious thought.

Avelyn Prestcote was a predominant antagonist that had played key roles in some important events in the game. The mystery was her backstory—how she became a cruel villain.

The only thing known about her past was that after killing someone she started to show her evil nature.

And that someone was Lionel Maximus Stoneheart.

“That person is me now.” Ethan mumbled.

Basically in the future, Avelyn would kill Lionel for some reason. Now that Ethan had somehow entered his body, he became her target.

It might not make that much sense, because technically speaking Lionel was dead. But in the game, Avelyn was one of the famous NPC not only for her sexy appearance but also because of her crazy, unpredictable actions.

He was given a second chance to live, it didn't matter if it was a virtual world. But now that he was here, he would try his best to survive. Survive and try to find a way to get out of this world and meet his family again.

He had many questions. Like what exactly happened between Lionel and Avelyn? What was this otherworldly demon Avelyn mentioned? There was no such concept in the game.

He also didn’t have much information about Lionel. Just the fact that he was a lecherous, spoiled prince of the Stoneheart kingdom.

He was really talented in soul cultivation though, which got him into the prestigious Dark Phoenix Sect of the Empire of Austin as an inner disciple. But in the end that didn’t matter as he was killed by Avelyn in the game storyline.

Ethan shook his head. He didn’t have much time to think about the questions. First he had to decide his future course of actions.

He had a few choices.

First was to run away. But that was difficult. Avelyn should be at minimum fourth cultivation, the Soul Fusion stage. And there were other sect members too.

Other than that, Ethan didn’t know Lionel’s mantra. To tap on the soul power, the cultivators had their own unique mantra. Through which they would enter the nexus where their soul resided. That was the first step of the cultivation.

Second was to find the reason why Avelyn killed him in the game and prevent it from happening. This was also difficult but Ethan thought that he had more chances to succeed here.

Ethan's thoughts were simple. Instead of showing his back to that venomous, manipulative woman, it was much better to face her head on. Not like he would be able to escape with such a power gap.

Third was to change his body. In this world, there were techniques where souls of the cultivators could leave their body and possess another one. Of course it had its shortcomings and body-soul compatibility was crucial.

This option was also really difficult. How the hell would he be able to find such a technique or a compatible body? And even if he did, like Avelyn would let him change body so easily.

Fourth was to assassinate Avelyn. Now that was close to impossible. If he could get a sword and somehow get close to Avelyn without her noticing, then his chances of killing her would be 30-40%. Ethan was confident in his sword skills even without sword energy but still…

Ethan shook his head and mumbled. “Fifth should be… should be what?” He tilted his head.

“Ah! Yes, what was that hologram screen that had appeared before?”

As he said that, the screen appeared in front of him again. This time after the “Loading…”, there was a “(50% complete)”.

Considering that this was a game world then this screen should help him in some way. Ethan had to wait for the loading to complete though.

Ethan then thought about not seeing the screen and it disappeared.

“So… second choice is it then.” Ethan decided and got up.

Just as he did, he heard a shifting sound. The bookshelf in front of him opened, revealing the cave again.

Ethan waited but didn’t see Avelyn. A frown appeared on his face.

“Avelyn?” He called out her name but no one was there.

He breathed in deeply and cautiously entered the cave.

But then his instincts warned him that something was amiss. His brows furrowed in concern.

All of a sudden, he leapt backward into the room, swiftly rolling to the side. His decision proved right as a powerful explosion rocked the cave. The cave wall crumbled, and a brilliant light engulfed everything momentarily. Surprisingly, the room only trembled slightly before tranquility returned.

It was an eerie calm before the impending storm. Ethan held his breath, stunned by what he saw near the collapsed entrance.

There lay the lifeless body of a woman, her abdomen torn open. Her mangled guts spilled out in a grotesque mess. Most horrifying of all, her lifeless eyes, purple in color, stared directly at him.

It was none other than... Avelyn Prestcote.