On the day of the first global event, each starting town across the world surged with activity as one hundred players gathered at their designated locations. In the town of Stellar, the players were divided and stationed outside the northern, eastern, and western gates, over thirty players at each front.

  Townsfolk living near the gates had already been evacuated to the inner district, while a handful of hired mercenaries held position at key choke points, ready to defend. Behind the player formations, the Starlace Order held their position, not as frontline fighters this time, but as emergency reinforcements, ready to intercept if monsters pushed too close to the town walls.

  Atop the fortified ramparts, the command structure had already taken form. Glacia coordinated the eastern front. Yuki oversaw the western gate. And Iori, the strongest member of the Order and its rising star, commanded the northern side.

  The remaining two Legendary-ranked members, Chika and Nia, remained within the estate alongside Lyra and Roxy, prepared to support the town core if it came to that.

  As for why Iori, the most powerful and well-known among them, had taken the northern gate?

  It was simple.

  That was where Frostina and Cryssa were.

  Hovering in her ghostly form, Cryssa drifted along the back lines, her eyes scanning the gathered players.

  (“The system said he’s on this side…”)

  She was referring to the NPC System, a special interface granted to her after the last catastrophe. It gave her full administrative access to the Stelluna territories.

  With it, she could:

  Post quests for players or parties and write her own quest freely,

  Manually adjust player favorability rankings,

  And review basic internal data like Stelluna’s finances, land condition, and resident info, townsfolk, mercenaries, even logged-in players.

  She hadn’t used the more game-like features yet, but today, she finally activated the database scan.

  Frostina responded telepathically, her thoughts calm and sharp as she walked between the player formations, her cloak brushing lightly against the grass.

  “He’s online, right?”

  (“Yeah. His location is near here… oh! There he is!”)

  Cryssa pointed ahead, and Frostina followed her line of sight.

  There, at the front center of the formation, stood a player who radiated menace without saying a word.

  (“Whoa… He definitely stands out.”)

  Frostina narrowed her eyes.

  The player had spiked crimson-red hair that almost looked like it was ablaze in the afternoon light. His full suit of armor gleamed in the same vivid red, from shoulder plates to boots, custom-crafted and polished to a mirror shine. Even his sword, massive and wickedly sharp, had a red hilt engraved with gold accents.

  Above his head floated his player ID in crisp white text: [FireFlame]

  When most melee players were still clad in mass-produced Common-rank leather armor and wielding unremarkable weapons, he already boasted a full set of Rare-rank equipment, obviously custom-made.

  Frostina studied the details.

  His equipment wasn’t anything that could be bought from shops. That meant he’d likely hired one of the town’s blacksmiths directly, probably with real-world currency converted into in-game gold. A top-up player. Someone who didn’t just grind, but bought an advantage.

  While FireFlame’s red armor made him stand out, Frostina’s appearance wasn’t so different in quality, at least not to those who knew what they were looking at.

  She wore a simple white robe. Plain, unadorned, even a little austere.

  From the perspective of most players, it looked like Common-rank equipment, just a recolored version of the usual dark gray robes most players wore. In comparison, many mages and priests around her wore mass-produced robes lined with shimmering threads, and their staves gleamed with embedded glowing orbs.

  But Frostina’s robe? Just flat white cloth and a hood.

  No player would guess that her robe was Rare-rank, custom-made equipment, funded directly by Stelluna’s money.

  Cryssa glanced between FireFlame and Frostina, floating beside her with arms crossed as she muttered.

  (“You’d stand out more than him if you used a fancier design.”)

  Frostina smirked.

  “Nah. The cheaper I look, the more humiliating it’ll be for him when he loses.”

  Her robe was crafted from Cerberus hide, but commissioned specifically from a local apprentice blacksmith, not one of the well-known names. As a result, the system only graded it as Rare, with unimpressive stats. A bit of magic defense, a small resistance to fire and higher resistance to ice as she requested.

  She didn’t care about fire resistance or magic defense, she wasn’t planning on getting hit, after all. The ice resistance, though, was crucial. This world was real, and just because she used ice magic didn’t mean she was immune to the cold it created. Her fingers had gone numb more than once from the backlash of her own spells.

  Still, she was satisfied, not because of the stats, but because her request had helped a new blacksmith improve their skill.

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  ? Lux Robe ?

  ? Rank: Rare ?

  ? A white robe crafted from the preserved hide of a Cerberus. ?

  ? Though plain in appearance, the material offers natural insulation, shielding the wearer from cold and heat. ?

  Attributes:

  +5 Magic Defense

  +1% Fire Resistance

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

  +50% Ice Resistance

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  Cryssa glanced down at the book in Frostina’s hand.

  (“And what’s with that book? You might be the only person crazy enough to use a book as a staff.”)

  Frostina raised the tome slightly, turning it in her hand.

  “This? I just like books.”

  Gone was the mass-produced wooden staff she’d been using earlier in the week. In its place wasn’t even a staff but a white-covered tome, its pages still blank, but dense with hidden power.

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  ? Frostbinder’s Grimoire ?

  ? Rank: Rare ?

  ? A white-bound tome stitched with threads of Cerberus hide and reinforced with powdered Rock Golem core. ?

  ? Venoconda venom was used in its binding, allowing the book to channel deadly arcane precision. ?

  Attributes:

  +3 Magic Attack

  +1% Ice Magic Damage

  +1% Freeze Chance

  Unique Effect: 5% chance to instantly kill enemies on a critical ice-based attack. Absorbs data from defeated enemies to increase instant death chances against recorded targets.

  Unique Skill: Frost Sentence — 50% chance to instantly kill an enemy on a critical ice-based attack. (Cooldown: 168H)

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  “Still… That apprentice is amazing. I’ve never even heard of a blacksmith like that.”

  Instant death effects didn’t typically appear until Legendary-rank weapons, and even then, they were rare and unreliable. For a Rare-rank tome to have one, especially with such an absurdly high 50% chance on critical hit, even with a long cooldown, was nearly unheard of.

  The system clearly downgraded the weapon’s overall rating because of its weak base attributes. In raw stats, it was even lower than many Common-rank staves. It was clear the blacksmith had poured everything into the instant death effect, sacrificing everything else.

  Cryssa half-wondered aloud.

  (“Maybe they survived the mass blacksmith recruitment last month.”)

  Frostina replied firmly.

  “Then I need to meet them later.”

  It had been Glacia who arranged the order, saying Frostina shouldn’t waste her grind time at the smithy. She’d mentioned that the craftsman was still an apprentice, just as Frostina requested, and seemed highly motivated to try crafting a new type of weapon.

  Initially, Frostina only cared about the plain appearance. She hadn’t expected anything powerful. All she wanted was something clean and thematic, a plain robe and a simple book. Something that matched her ice magic motif, even if it wasn’t flashy. She was confident her spell damage would be more than enough for the first world event regardless of the equipment.

  So she told Glacia to let any apprentice handle it.

  But it turned out...

  She might’ve just hit the jackpot.

  As Frostina and Cryssa discussed her equipment, a massive, glowing countdown window suddenly materialized in the sky above the northern gate, its text pulsing with ominous urgency.

  ? Monsters will invade the world in 00:04:59 ?

  The atmosphere shifted immediately.

  Players stiffened. Hands tightened around weapons. Casual banter stopped mid-sentence.

  At the front of the formation, FireFlame spun around with theatrical flair, raising his voice over the murmurs.

  “Listen up!”

  His sharp eyes swept across the group, locking onto the only three priests nearby.

  “You three! Buff me as soon as the timer hits zero, alright? Hit me with everything you’ve got. After that, just keep me alive.”

  He didn’t wait for a response.

  Next, he turned to the swordsmen and tanks behind him, giving a lazy wave of his hand.

  “You guys, spread out. Don’t crowd me. I’m trying to rack up kills here.”

  Then to the mages, nine in total, some already shifting nervously.

  “Mages, don’t steal my last hits unless you have to, got it?”

  He smirked as if the outcome was already decided.

  “I’ll throw some bonus gold your way once this is over.”

  It was clear he had already hired or bought out all of the players here, either with promises or real-world currency. They offered no argument, some nodding, others simply averting their gaze.

  Then his eyes landed on Frostina.

  He squinted, clearly puzzled by her presence. His eyes flicked to her plain white robe and the book she held in place of a staff. He tilted his head, then let out a low laugh.

  “You. Haven’t seen you around before. What’s with the book? Couldn’t afford a proper staff or something?”

  He gave a mocking chuckle, then jabbed a thumb toward himself.

  “Stay outta my way, and I’ll toss you some gold after the event. Maybe then you can grab gear that doesn’t look like you fished it out of a dumpster.”

  Frostina didn’t respond.

  She simply gave him a small, neutral nod.

  He clearly didn’t recognize her, likely because she’d hidden her ID on purpose. If he had seen the name Frostina, he might have acted differently, perhaps even tried to recruit her, or at least talk down to her more thoroughly.

  That was fine.

  It would make what came next so much sweeter.

  Cryssa furrowed her brows, muttering in a dry tone.

  (“He really acts like one of those arrogant noble sons in the dramas.”)

  Frostina’s lips curled slightly in amusement, barely suppressing a chuckle.

  She didn’t care what FireFlame had planned.

  Let him bark orders and pose for attention.

  It was bound to fail anyway.

  Because…

  At the three-minute mark, a synchronized voice rang out from the top of each town wall, firm, commanding, and impossible to ignore.

  At the northern gate, Iori's voice cut through the tension like a storm.

  To the west, Yuki raised her staff, her calm gaze cutting through the chaos with quiet resolve.

  And from the east, Glacia’s tone hit with icy precision.

  “Heroes from another world, listen well!”

  Every player turned their head skyward, attention drawn to the three commanders silhouetted against the morning sky.

  The crowd fell silent. Tension crackled in the air.

  “This is no ordinary battle.”

  The countdown ticked steadily overhead, but no one looked away.

  “This is your first true war.”

  Weapons were gripped tighter. Spines straightened. Casual stances vanished.

  “The brave will not go unnoticed.”

  A ripple of motion moved through the frontlines. Players straightened, glancing sideways at one another.

  “Those who rise above will be rewarded.”

  Eyes sharpened. Brows furrowed. Even the hesitant began to focus.

  “We, the Starlace Order, will judge with our own eyes.”

  Gasps followed. The name Starlace Order carried weight. And now, it came with a challenge.

  Then their voices surged together, echoing across the field like rolling thunder.

  “Only your teamwork, skill, and courage.”

  The countdown hit 00:00:30.

  “What you do here will be remembered.”

  00:00:20

  “This is your only chance.”

  Muscles tensed. Fingers curled around hilts and staves.

  “Prove your worth.”

  The commanders' last cry rang out in perfect unison, loud and thunderous.

  “Now, heroes from another world—”

  Then, a flash of blue light burst from Cryssa’s hand as she triggered the final command.

  “It’s time to earn your legend!”

  Ting!

  ? Exclusive Quest Unlocked! ?

  ? Prove Your Worth! ?

  ? Rank: Event ?

  ? Rewards: ??? ?

  ? The Starlace Order is watching you. ?

  ? Prove yourself in the defense of Stellar. ?

  ? Special rewards will be given based on performance. ?

  ? Penalty: ?

  ? ? Failure to impress will disqualify you from all future Starlace Order exclusive quests. ?

  And just as the fire sparked in their hearts and the tension rose from the penalty they read—

  ? Monsters will invade the world in 00:00:02 ?

  ? Monsters will invade the world in 00:00:01 ?

  ? Monsters invading! ?

  The competition had begun.