Sam sighed at the sight outside his window as he looked down ten stories below from inside his hotel room.
Thousands of people were walking the streets, most were on their way to work and slave away in a large company with hopes of ascending the social ladder.
Others were more simple, only thinking of the bare necessities they needed to survive the next day.
There were also those who had nothing, surviving in a world that had discarded them, they were given no future as they simply lived.
Then there were those of the one percent who had it all---money, influence and power, with no care in the world, acting as if they owned the heavens itself.
It was the same sight every day.
"The world might have progressed, but we as humans have stagnated..." Sam said to himself as he turned his head away from the window.
Staring into his hands, he thought of how strange he was.
Sure, he wasn't the first person to be disappointed in the truth of reality, but it was different for him in a way...
It was like he was disconnected from the world around him.
Shaking his head, Sam took his attention away from such things and picked up the helmet-like device beside him.
Sliding it on comfortably on his head, he made a small smile and fell into unconsciousness.
= 0 = 0 = 0 =
[Congratulations! You have vanquished the [Void Overlord] and his subordinates!]
[Level cap reached, Exp reward: 0]
[Title/s received: Overlord of the Void]
[Fame reward: - ]
[Money reward: - ]
[Skill/s received: - ]
[Items received: [Twilight God's Betrayer Set (Armor Set) (Divine)], [God's Error (Ring) (Divine)], [Corrupted Reality Shards (Misc) (???) ×13], [Pure Void Essence (Misc) (???) ×736], [Abyss Reaver (Scythe) (Divine)], [Alpha Construct (Multi Weapon) (???)], [Omega Construct (Multi Weapon) (???)]
[Class Upgrade Achieved! [Void Wanderer+++] has evolved to [Overlord of the Void+++]
[Thanks to your efforts of HhU@#22π÷÷9¶∆©°, you are gifted a special item! [Chance (Uy×π€¶¶∆) (38-$#$$)]
While looking through the continous barrage of screens showing the list of rewards he gained, Xero felt a little cheated.
Compared to the nightmare inducing level of difficulty with defeating what was undoubtedly the strongest boss in the game, the rewards were few and he didn't even get a skill!
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Though his eyebrow raised with curiosity as the system screens seemed to warp and glitch during the last part. 'It's the first time something like that happened.'
Moving through the items in his inventory, he tracked down the suspicious reward that caught his attention well enough to wash away the fatigue of his recent battle.
Xero scrolled down, and after a few seconds, a small black cube simply labeled [Chance] with a glitched description he couldn't make out, appeared in the very bottom of his inventory.
He spawned it and found himself holding the black cube. Upon his further inspection, several runes of unknown origin seemed to be carved into it.
'?'
Xero carefully traced his fingers over the runes and watched as it glowed bright red.
A strange feeling washed over him.
His senses flared into life in a way that wasn't possible in the game no matter how realistic it seemed, feeling almost as if the barrier between reality and fantasy was blurring.
'Would you like to be freed from this world?' A clear voice resounded in his head.
Somewhat aghast but mostly confused, Xero had his eyebrow raised because of the strange question.
He proceeded to look at the other parts of the cube but found nothing.
The voice repeated its question, 'would you like to be freed from this world?'
Xero felt as if the words were sharper this time around, almost as if the disembodied voice was being impatient.
In a short moment of silence that felt much longer than it was, Xero sighed and looked at his open hand, then looking up at the infinite blackness of the void.
He grinned.
"Yes," he answered.
= 0 = 0 = 0 =
Sam opened his eyes feeling like a freshly raised zombie summoned by a novice necromancer.
He lost consciousness somehow while inside the game, it happened the moment he answered the voice's question.
Although he really didn't know what to expect, most of him thought of the question as a joke with a tiny part of him hoping for something more..... exciting.
Now, he found himself; the somewhat scrawny human of average height and build, floating in a space of pure white.
In front of him was something like a deep black smoke in the vague form of a human, it's very presence seemed to warp the space around it, but Sam felt a strange connection to it deep inside himself.
Then a familiar voice---resembling neither male or female and somehat robotic in nature, echoed in the white realm of nothingness. "Hmm, you're an interesting one, I'm surprised at how a human could make such a complete soul, not to mention several dozens of them... Truly, you are unique..."
Sam's expression contorted in confusion. He seemed to have been feeling that a lot lately.
The voice spoke again and disrupted his thoughts. "Then without further ado, I shall now free you from the bond of this world..."
Without warning, Sam felt his presence tear away from his body and into the black figure formed out of smoke.
His vision went dark and his very being was engulfed in pain of the mind shattering sort.
Images and voices filled his head as multiple memories of someone else's swirled together with his own, nearly driving him to insanity.
Emotions he'd never experience before filled his depths as he felt his soul get ripped and torn, slowly eroding and reforming thousands of times spontaneously.
A person suddenly appeared in his vision---a handsome yet feminine-looking young man.
He had silky hair colored a bluish-white, reminiscent to freshly fallen snow. Heterochromatic eyes---one a calming deep blue while the other a fierce blood red, both with a slit iris. An oval face with delicate features that could be seen as feminine, completed by thin crimson lips, a sharp nose, and ghastly pale skin.
It was Xero---his avatar.
Just a little over six feet, with a thin physique that had tight developed muscles, he had the body of an athlete.
Even as he was literally being ripped apart from the inside out, Sam felt a slight embarrassment at seeing how made his avatar.
Then, he felt something shatter...
And the world turned black.
...
......
.........
'I've granted your wish... Do entertain me...'
A fading voice echoed in Xero's mind as he came to be.