Raine was breathing heavily by the time he reached the nearest gym. A few of the regulars gave him snide looks as he walked through the front doors. He headed to the automated receptionist and let it scan his retina before accepting a month's membership.

  His first workout was brutal. Within minutes, he was puking in the nearest trash bin. He picked himself up after a short rest and kept at it until he made it all the way through the six-hundred reps of his basic, full-body routine.

  He dragged himself to the shower, then changed into his last set of clothes before buying a protein nutrient blend from a vending machine. It was a top of the line product packed full of everything classic science knew was required for optimal fitness, and it was also well outside his current price range. Worse, it still wasn’t going to be enough for what he planned to put himself through.

  If I can get my hands on some ReGen, I’ll be able to make huge strides with my fitness. I wonder where Soulgen is in their development pipeline.

  A quick search brought him to their website where they listed their up-and-coming first product that was still going through clinical trials.

  They haven’t even developed the first serum yet. Once the first content patch goes live and attributes are directly correlated with real-world physical fitness, ReGen will become the most highly sought-after product on the market.

  How am I supposed to get my hands on some if they haven't even finished testing, let alone started ramping the product line? Guess I’ll have to settle for something more mundane. Not like I mind recovering my fitness the old fashioned way. Gaining strength step by step is so damn satisfying.

  It took him an hour to limp back to the apartment where he threw his sweaty clothes in the wash before immediately heading back out again. Thoughts and plans swirled in his head as he took a robotaxi to the nearest mall. He vaguely remembered the layout of the building. It only took a few minutes to find the hardtech store that sold the new thetadrive headsets that ZionLine required. He knew exactly which model he wanted and grabbed one off the shelf. It was a bulky thing with terrible battery life, and it would certainly never be comfortable, but at least it was within his price range.

  He let a nearby kiosk scan for payment. On his way out, he couldn't help but overhear some obnoxious teenagers laughing at him, “Another idiot bought one of those scam headsets! What a joke. Any VR game that can’t be played on a LinQ is a scam. That game won’t last a month.”

  How long has it been since I heard someone refer to ZL as a game? A decade? Two? Anything that can kill you in reality if you push it too far can’t be called a game. Turning regular people into earth-shattering martials isn’t a joke, it's a reset of the entire world order and it’s going to cause the deaths of millions when governments start getting overthrown.

  Besides, an early gen LinQ isn’t nearly powerful enough to handle the kind of experience ZL offers. It's not lifelike, it's indistinguishable from life. At least after the third patch. Besides, the current LinQs can't tap into theta brainwaves to trigger the time dilation. Then again, by the time they can, they can also cause extreme pain, even death, with little more than a thought from our glorious overseers: The slave collar of the future.

  They’ll all learn eventually. By then, the price of these headsets will be forty thousand and not the twelve I just dished out. ZL launches at midnight tomorrow. One more day. Just enough time to get this thing attuned to my brainwaves.

  Back at his apartment, Raine pulled out the new headset and plugged it in before placing it on his head to begin the lengthy adaptation process. He punched in the cafe’s hypernet password. Mel often joked about it in the office; one time, she even tried to change theirs to match: yellpenisandilltellyou.

  He chuckled to himself, which apparently was enough to convince Morty he wanted to talk, “Master, I am detecting elevations in several of your fleshy hormone receptacles. Did you perform anabolic stimulating activities? I cannot fathom that you found a mate willing to copulate. My only functional postulation is that you ran from a herd of stampeding elephants. Surely, there is nothing else in this world that would motivate you to exercise.”

  “Nice one, cripple,” Raine flipped him off, smirking as Morty fumed, unable to return the gesture, “Nope, just went to a gym and lifted a bit. Can you please wake me up at four AM?”

  “Certainly, my unusually motivated underling, ahem. Master.”

  Raine chuckled again. He arranged a pillow just right. Once comfortable, he focused on an intermediate breathing exercise and passed out in seconds.

  The next day flew by. Raine ordered enough fruits and vegetables to last him a week as well as a blender and some top-shelf protein. He finished the day by hitting the gym again before going to sleep early to be ready for the midnight launch of ZionLine.

  He was fully awake by eleven-fifty and prepared to login. Suddenly, he remembered to call his brother. Richtor answered after half a ring, his face floating in the air due to the AR display.

  "Hey little brother, long time. I take it you're all set to log in?" Raine asked, his eyes glowing and a ready smile on his lips.

  "Long time? We talked last week! Yeah man, I'm so bricked I can hardly stand it. My guild's ready to meet up the minute we start. I'm surprised you remembered, when did you take an interest in ZionLine?"

  Raine shrugged, coyly glancing to the side, "I heard a rumor about skipping aspects in the tutorial to get better ones from quests. Got me interested so I'm checking it out."

  "No you didn't, you liar. There hasn't been a single leak about the game. Not one. All we've seen are unbelievably realistic advertisements. Nobody even knows what character creation is going to be like, let alone anything about any of the quests!"

  Raine smirked, "Okay, fine. I'll tell you the truth but it's even less believable.” His brother rolled his eyes but spun his finger in a ‘hurry up’ gesture.

  "I was at a cafe and overheard a party there celebrating lunch. Turns out, they were developers for the game. Dropped that the aspects you can find later are loads better and the items needed to delete your initial aspect aren’t purchasable until a higher level."

  Richtor’s jaw fell open as he ate Raine’s lie like he was breaking a week long fast, "No way man, that's crazy! The guild is going to freak out when I tell them. You're right, I would have never believed that."

  You just did…

  "Hey, why don't you join my guild? We haven’t played a game together since we were kids."

  Raine shook his head, "No can do, little bro. I don't want to be controlled by anyone."

  A ding resounded in both their ears and Richtor spoke so fast his words were a jumble, "Games launching, brother. Thanks for the tip and see you inside!” The call ended before Raine had a chance to respond.

  ZL's world is nearly five times larger than Earth. Even starting nearby, it might be some time before we meet. I'll look forward to it, little brother.

  The minute the clock hit midnight, Raine closed his eyes as the headset fully tapped into his brainwaves. He felt his consciousness lift to another realm through a bright tunnel. He fought off the initial vertigo with practiced ease and smashed the mental command to skip the intro cinematics explaining the backstory of the world: Vaateaire.

  Just a bunch of high-cost promotional movies that show off the life-like graphics without divulging anything important.

  Raine appeared as a disembodied, floating sprite in a white room with a character generator screen floating before him. Knowing that everyone’s avatar would eventually change to match their real life appearance, he selected auto-generate and spammed accept until he got to the portion that let him name his newly formed avatar.

  He entered KongRu, the username he used for the past ten years. His finger hesitated before the accept button, an urging deep in his consciousness unwilling to press it.

  This time is different. I won't have an I.D. I'll form my own guild, and before the corps realize how much the world is going to change, I'll crush them for what they did to me, to everyone. Especially CronGate. No, that’s not good enough. I’m not only going to destroy them, I’m going to take everything they’ve built and turn it against them.

  For this new life, I need a new name. A name that they will learn to fear.

  He only thought for a second before copying a character from a kids book that he had loved more than any other: Alaric.

  He sacked Rome at the height of its corruption and was arguably the most influential cause of its eventual downfall. That’s exactly what I aim to be for the corporations who destroyed my future.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The moment Raine hit accept, he was teleported to a grassy field. Several weapons were laid out in front of him. Each represented the path toward an eventual specialization. For now, not even the base classes could be acquired. These weapons were but a taste of what was to come.

  Raine grabbed the two straps of cloth which would allow him to begin accruing Attunement for the brawler class and wrapped one around each of his fists.

  [Fist weapons selected: Obtained 1% Attunement]

  With his selection made, a ten-second countdown started in the corner of his vision. Without hesitation, he scrambled to grab every single weapon and held them awkwardly in his arms with a wide grin.

  Thanks for the freebies!

  The countdown finished and the weapons vanished along with Raine. He appeared in a room so black that its walls were impossible to see. The only thing visible was a wooden door with the word, "Tutorial" written in bold, stylized letters. Without missing a beat, he turned and walked directly away from the door, further into the darkness.

  No way I'm wasting my time on the tutorial. By the time I started in the past, people had already figured out how to skip it so I’ve never actually done it. It might be fun to go through it for the first time, but the benefits don’t outweigh the couple hours it takes to finish.

  He found the invisible wall a hundred steps later and the moment his hand touched it, a message appeared.

  [Skip tutorial?]

  [Yes/No]

  [Warning!]

  [Tutorial cannot be accessed later. Aspect distribution will be skipped]

  A flicker of thought toggled ‘yes,’ and Raine vanished again. He appeared in a nostalgic town crammed with charming log cabins and plastered medieval-style buildings. Dozens of vaaterrans (natives of ZionLine) wandered the streets, talking and laughing like regular people. They seamlessly gave the small town a cozy and lively vibe. A series of system messages floated into Raine’s field of view and he swatted them aside with a flick of his eyes.

  [Welcome to ZionLine! This world—Vaateaire—awaits you, traveler. There are no limits here, only endless adventure and glory. Whether you be conqueror, explorer, hero, or villain, seek out your desires; grasp them with all your will as you strive along the martial path. May you live dangerously, seeker of adventure]

  [Status acquired!]

  [Inventory acquired!]

  [General Skill Shop unlocked!]

  Raine raised a fist in front of his face, slowly opening and closing it while an uncontrollable grin stretched his cheeks until they hurt. His eyes stung from the sun's brightness. He took a deep, fulfilling breath and its warmth entered his lungs.

  The beating of his real heart was in perfect sync with his avatar. The subtle internal sounds of his new body were spot on. The air pressure on his skin, the weight of his feet pressing into the ground, even the gentle breeze rustling his hair and blowing into his eyes all felt real. Though the world looked slightly off, if you squinted, it was close enough to trick the brain into full immersion.

  So this is how it felt in the beginning. It feels like my first time. I'm so weak, my avatar is barely responding to my thoughts. This… is going to be more fun than I thought.

  Muscle memory prompted him to flick his eyes to the minimap where he saw the expected name: Mirror Lake Town. Raine then glanced down at himself. The extra weapons had been stored in his inventory automatically, and all he wore was a light leather jerkin, leggings, and boots. None of his gear had bonus attributes, leaving him feeling both poor and excited for the loot to come.

  NAME: Alaric

  LEVEL: 0

  SUPERIORITY: 0/1,000 (Required To Increase Level)

  (HP) HEALTH POINTS: 50 (Death Occurs When This Reaches Zero)

  (AP) ATTACK POWER: 12 (Raw Physical Damage Dealt)

  (DEF) DEFENSE: 11 (Amount Deducted From Damage Received)

  (RES) RESISTANCE: 5 (Amount Deducted From Elemental/Celestial/Demonic Damage Received)

  (CR) CRITICAL RATE: 5% (Chance To Deal Double Damage)

  (EP) ELEMENTAL POWER: 10 (Energy Source For Elemental Abilities)

  (DP) DEMONIC POWER: 10 (Energy Source For Demonic Abilities)

  (CP) CELESTIAL POWER: 10 (Energy Source For Celestial Abilities)

  (DCP) DISCIPLINE: 10 (Energy Source For Physical Abilities)

  (AS) ATTACK SPEED: 3.5 (Maximum Attacks Per Second)

  (MS) MOVE SPEED: 2 (Maximum Movement In Meters Per Second)

  ATTRIBUTES:

  (PTC) POTENCY: 5 (Primary Physical Damage Attribute - Measures Physical Power, Heft, And Force)

  (FNS) FINESSE: 5 (Primary Movement Attribute - Measures Speed, Hand Eye Coordination, And Balance)

  (ACU) ACUITY: 5 (Primary Mental Attribute - Measures Speed Of Thought, Width Of Vision, And Dynamic Vision)

  (PHY) PHYSIQUE: 5 (Primary Health Attribute - Measures Physical Durability And Resistance To Negative Status Effects)

  (CNC) CONNECTION: 5 (Primary Energy Source Attribute - Measures The Brain’s Synchronization Factors)

  WEAPON ATTUNEMENTS:

  [Fist weapons - Novice 1%]

  CLASS ATTUNEMENTS:

  [Brawler - 1%]

  SKILLS:

  1 free general skill point available

  EQUIPMENT:

  [Basic leather jerkin - Dull Trash (Defense +2) (Durability 10/10)]

  [Basic leather leggings - Dull Trash (Defense +2) (Durability 10/10)]

  [Basic leather boots - Dull Trash (Defense +1) (Move Speed +1) (Durability 10/10)]

  [Novice fist wraps - Dull Trash (Attack Power +2) (Attack Speed +1.5) (Durability 10/10)]

  The first thing he did was customize his UI, (User Interface) to hide the unnecessary explanations for everything. He also toggled off Elemental, Demonic, and Celestial Power as those had nothing to do with his planned build. A few minor repositioning of window and cooldown displays later, and he was ready to choose his first skill in the shop submenu. There were over a hundred to choose from, but only one was worthy of being first.

  [Strike - Novice: Increase damage with blunt basic attacks by 20% (Cost: 1 discipline) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

  By far the best purchasable skill type before acquiring my class. Not only is it required for more powerful skills, it grows exponentially stronger as it evolves.

  He checked his inventory, instinctively grimacing at the twenty copper coins he started with. His frown morphed into a smirk when he saw the trove of dull trash-grade weapons within. With a thought, he withdrew a mace, a shield, and a dagger. He held the mace in one hand, the shield in the other, and the dagger’s hilt was clenched tightly in his mouth.

  Gaining attunement in several weapons at once will massively boost my stats early on.

  Confident he had everything he needed, Raine jogged out of town toward a nearby forest. The vaaterrans gave him odd looks that he ignored. Afterall, it wasn’t possible to remove weapons from his inventory in combat. To gain the most attunement in the shortest amount of time, this was the best way.

  I started playing right when the first content expansion went live so I never experienced the world in this state. To think the movement would feel this awkward. Maybe it's because I haven't had such low stats in years. Either way, I’m looking forward to leveling. Feels like I’m driving a forklift with chopsticks.

  After wading through tall grass that tickled his thighs, a soft rustling subtly unique from the shifting winds caught his attention. He sighted a ragged wolf that blended into its environment before it noticed him.

  How many times did these little critters kill me? A dozen? Two? Until people get used to the realistic fighting, even basic mobs like these are a death sentence.

  He stared hard with the intent to see it for what it was. Due to being below its level, and not having purchased the Identify skill, the information that appeared in his HUD was only partial.

  [Mangy Wolf - Level 1 - HP ??/??]

  Raine charged with his shield in front. The wolf growled, blood and viscera staining its fangs. It rushed at him, moving nearly twice his speed. Raine's heart thundered with anticipation for the kill. Only a meter away, it leaped for his throat. He shifted his weight to solidify his stance and angled his shield downward. When the beast's jaws impacted the barrier, its body was sent crashing face-first into the soft ground. Despite redirecting most of its force and damage, his arm stung from the impact, just as it would in reality. [-2]

  It was exactly this realism that caused ZionLine to upend the world order. Countries lived and died on resource allocations and land grabs, both of which were distributed via one-on-one duels between martials. With ZionLine’s dilation and non-stop, life and death battles, a regular person could quickly gain several years worth of priceless combat experience.

  A meaty thunk and whimper of pain resounded as Raine smashed his mace into the top of the wolf’s head. He then dropped the weapon and pummeled it twice with his wrapped fist. The hits were slow to his perception, limited by his underwhelming attributes. Both the mace and second punch activated Strike, costing him two points of Discipline. Damage numbers appeared above the beast's head with each hit [-8] [-7] [-8]

  Exactly as I remember, seventy-five HP and five defense. Six more should do it.

  The wolf wriggled out from under his shield and body weight by thrashing with fierce kicks. Once back on its feet, it lunged, jaws snapping at his neck once more. Raine unclenched his jaw and caught the falling knife as he repeated the same methodical sidestep and shield deflection. The short weapon flashed three times, sinking deep into fur and muscle.

  Low level beasts sure are predictable. No challenge at all. Now die!

  After the third round, the wolf kicked feebly one more time, then lay dead on the grass. Two messages flashed across Raine’s HUD.

  [Obtained 15 Superiority (50% bonus for defeating a monster 1 level above you)]

  A normal group of five will only get three SP per kill. And they need one thousand to reach level one. Leveling sure is brutal, even in the beginning.

  [Obtained 1.5% Attunement (50% bonus for defeating a monster 1 level above you)]

  Two copper coins appeared above the wolf’s corpse. They hovered vulnerably inside a ruddy-colored glowing ball. Raine instinctively snatched them by brushing his free hand against the orb while scanning his peripherals. Loot was first come first serve, regardless of who made the kill. Even worse, anything earned within the last two hours, be it quest rewards, equipment, or gold, would always drop upon death. Being wary of thieves and assassinations after a difficult battle had long ago been ingrained into Raine’s DNA.

  Currency rarely drops from these. Lucky me, I guess. No point standing around, there’s a nasty old witch who’s no doubt biting her nails in anticipation of my arrival. Aspect of the Werewolf, here I come!

  Raine scooped up his mace and dashed toward the dark woods, drawing closer to his destiny with each step.

  Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God - If you like where this is going and can't wait for more chapters, I highly recommend it!

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