Kairon put on his full-dive headset and lay flat on his bed. There were ten minutes left until the global synchronized launch of World of Eldrath.
The numbers on the screen ticked down slowly, finally settling on the final countdown: 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
"You've arrived, young one."
There was no opening animation as he'd expected, no character creation screen, no guide sprite.
An elderly man in a crisp black suit stood motionless in the void, a fully bloomed blood-red rose tucked into his breast pocket, swirling a goblet of dark red wine between his fingers. Every movement he made exuded an air of noble bearing.
Kairon frowned slightly. The scene before him was completely beyond anything he'd anticipated.
"You've passed the trial of your heart and mind, young one. You ought not to be so surprised." The old man took a slow sip of his wine, his voice gentle yet carrying an undeniable weight. "The 999 floors of the Ladder of the World Tree you conquered were the core of this trial. It also required a cumulative total of over one thousand deaths. And you are the only person to have ever completed the trial in the four years since the game's launch."
A jolt went through Kairon.
Before his rebirth, his death count had sat firmly at the top of the entire server leaderboard, a staggering 1389 deaths. The player in second place had a mere 287.
World of Eldrath simulates the terror and physical pain of death with 100% accuracy. No one could endure such repeated torment.
Back then, more than a few players had tried to grind death counts to climb the leaderboard, but not a single one had been able to stick it out. Even the player in second place had nearly driven himself insane with the torment.
"So that means no one else will ever be able to trigger this trial?"
He still could barely believe it. A video game had actually let him reverse time and be reborn in the real world.
"No one else will. I know you have a thousand questions swirling in your mind, but this is not the time for answers." The old man seemed to see straight through every one of his thoughts, set down his goblet, and went on. "As the only person to complete the trial, you will be rewarded with three god-tier talents. But there is one condition. You must choose Nature Mage as your in-game class."
"Nature Mage?" Kairon’s frown deepened.
In four years of his in-game career, he’d barely ever seen a single player unlock this class, yet he’d heard the rumors swirling around it.
It was a class that forged pacts with the living creatures of nature, centering its entire combat playstyle around summoning animals and plant life.
Among the player base, it was widely known as the most underwhelming rare class in the game. It seemed capable of everything on the surface, yet in reality, it was a master of none.
It could summon Ancient Tree Sentinels to soak damage, yet its defenses were nowhere near as consistent as a Warrior Tank's.
It could summon Shadowwood Panthers for burst ambushes, yet it lacked the flexibility and utility of a Rogue.
It could summon Moonfeather Owlbeasts for a wide AoE burst, yet it could not match a Mage's peak instant damage output.
It could summon Spirit Stags to heal and buff allies, yet it had none of a Cleric's emergency burst healing capabilities.
Every other base class had a starting growth rating of 12 stars. The Nature Mage's base growth was a mere 10 stars.
In four years since launch, no player had ever made this class work. Every single one had ended up switching to a gathering-focused life skill player, for World of Eldrath had no mechanic to delete a character and start over.
It was only natural that he felt resistant to the idea of giving up every known class advantage he had to pick a universally acknowledged trash class.
"Do not fret, young one." The old man spoke calmly. "As the sole completer of the trial, once you unlock the Nature Mage class, your character will receive a permanent +10 boost to all attribute growth."
He paused, his gaze suddenly turning grave. "There is one more thing you must engrave in your heart. World of Eldrath was never just a game. In five years, the apocalyptic cataclysm from the starter expansion will descend upon Earth for real. Everything in this world is the true reality of a civilization reborn ten thousand years after the cataclysm subsided."
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"I have said too much for you to understand now fully. You will learn the truth in time. Enter the game. And remember, you must choose the Nature Mage class."
Before Kairon could speak again, the old man vanished, and the void before him shattered in an instant.
The next second, the familiar login screen and melodic background music unfurled slowly before him.
Kairon stood before the screen, muttering under his breath. "Apocalyptic cataclysm?"
He was still debating whether to follow the old man's instructions when a System announcement rang in his ears.
Ding! Player has automatically unlocked the rare class: Nature Mage. Please customize your character ID.
The System announcement hit without warning. Kairon froze for a split second, then let out a bitter laugh. It had told him to choose, yet it had locked the class in for him automatically.
He thought for a moment, then typed in his ID: Kairon.
If that man was telling the truth, and the game would bleed into reality in the future, what difference did a username make?
Ding! Character creation successful. Now connecting to the Northern Frontier War Zone...
World of Eldrath assigns players to a war zone based on their real-world location at first login. In his past life, he had been placed in the Northern Frontier War Zone. He knew every hidden quest, every secret coordinate for a rare encounter, down to the smallest detail.
Ding! Congratulations, player. You have entered Novice Village No. 1314.
Kairon's eyes lit up in an instant.
This was it.
In his past life, it was right here in this novice village that he had triggered the one-of-a-kind hidden quest and obtained the divine item that had changed the entire course of his life, the Wishing Box.
This treasure had carried him all the way to the very top of the server leaderboard. It was also the reason he had been exposed, betrayed, and cast down into the abyss.
He had been worried only moments ago that he would be randomly assigned to a different novice village. Now it seemed the threads of fate had still converged here, just as they had before.
Ding! Trial completion record detected. Activating god-tier legacy: World Tree Sapling.
Legacy? What happened to the god-tier talents he'd been promised?
Kairon tamped down his confusion and opened his inventory first. Inside were only three basic starter items: a coarse linen tunic, straw sandals, and a long wooden staff.
He had held out a faint hope that if he received tradable god-tier talent cards, he could exchange them for some real-world living expenses. That hope was now dashed.
He equipped the coarse linen tunic and straw sandals, wrapped his hand around the long wooden staff with a mere 2 attack power, then opened his character stat panel.
---
[ID: Kairon]
Class: Nature Mage
Race: Human
Level: 1
Faction: Unselected
Legacy: World Tree Sapling (God-Tier · Unique)
Strength: 2 (Growth Rating: 20): Boosts Physical Attack Power
Intelligence: 2 (Growth Rating: 20): Boosts Magical Attack Power and Maximum Mana
Agility: 2 (Growth Rating: 20): Boosts Attack Speed, Movement Speed, and Energy Regeneration
Stamina: 2 (Growth Rating: 20): Boosts Physical Defense
Vitality: 2 (Growth Rating: 20): Boosts Maximum Health
Physical Attack Power: 2-6
Magical Attack Power: 2-4
Physical Defense: 2-4
Magical Defense: 2-4
Health: 40
Mana: 40
Experience: 0/100
Free Attribute Points: 0
General Skill: Basic Observe (Allows you to view the base attributes of targets no more than 5 levels above your own)
---
He immediately opened the legacy panel, something he had never laid eyes on in his past life, and the full details unfurled before him at once.
---
[Legacy: World Tree Sapling (God-Tier · Unique)]
Legacy Passive: +10 to all attribute growth. Perfectly compatible with all Nature-aligned skills and summons, with no limit on the number of active pacts.
Legacy Talents (Effects stack with talents acquired by the player through other means):
- [Symbiosis (God-Tier)]: Increases all skill effects by 50%. Shares health and resistances with your summons. 30% of damage taken by your summons is redirected to your main body. 20% of damage taken by your main body is split evenly across all active summons.
- [Rooted (God-Tier)]: Grants an additional 10 free attribute points with every level up. Permanently raises the growth cap of Nature-aligned spells and summons with no diminishing returns.
- [Endless Vitality (God-Tier)]: Increases experience gained from killing monsters and completing quests by 100%. Kills made by your summons trigger the full experience bonus. Increases Nature energy regeneration by 50%.
Description: The World Tree is the origin of this continent. From one tree springs ten thousand spirits; one tree upholds heaven and earth. Even a newly sprouted sapling holds the immense power to resonate with all living things.
---
As Kairon stared at the legacy panel, the shock in his heart was indescribable.
So the three god-tier talents the old man had spoken of were not individual activation at all. They were bound directly to this one-of-a-kind god-tier legacy.
Each of these three talents alone was enough to carry an ordinary player straight to the top of the server.
In his past life, the god-tier Cleric at the top of the server's level leaderboard had held the number one spot for four full years with nothing but a talent with a similar effect to Endless Vitality. He had pulled a full 20 levels ahead of the second-place player, and could crush his opponents with sheer level advantage in both solo PvP and war zone battles.
The Symbiosis talent directly fixed the Nature Mage's most fatal flaws. Its main body was fragile, and it had a hard cap on summons.
Rooted, meanwhile, maxed out his growth potential entirely. Paired with his 20-point growth rating across all attributes, no one would ever be able to keep up with him in the late game.
That was not even mentioning that these talents could stack with any others he acquired later on.
All of his previous resistance to the Nature Mage class vanished in that instant.
He steadied his breathing, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
His top priority right now was to trigger the hidden quest and get his hands on the Wishing Box. This time, he would never breathe a word of this secret to anyone. He would use the lessons of his past to climb to the top once more and make those who had betrayed him pay the price they deserved.
With a single thought, he activated the Nature Mage's starting skill, and his only summoning ability for now. Summon: Shadowwood Panther. Grants an innate 30% movement speed bonus and stealth ambush effects.
A flash of pale green nature light flared, and a sleek, jet-black panther appeared silently at his side, its amber eyes scanning the surroundings warily.
