Landen made his choice.
Sadness lingered in his chest as he thought about everything he had left behind. The life he had known, the goal he had chased for years, the version of himself that had once felt so certain was no more. However, beneath that sadness was something deeper, something he could no longer ignore.
Excitement.
This… was what he had always dreamed of.
Superheroes. Japanese anime. He had spent years collecting every comic and manga he could get his hands on, losing himself in stories of impossible power and boundless adventure. That was the real reason he played the game. In that world, he wasn't just another person—he was unstoppable.
On Earth, his goal had been simple: become the best gamer in the world.
But here… that goal felt small.
With this power, this new world laid out before him, he had the chance to become something more. Not just someone who controlled a character—but someone who was the character. Someone who could truly live out the fantasy he had spent his entire life chasing.
[ YOU HAVE SELECTED THE MOBA SYSTEM ]
Bob and Landen shared a smile—an unspoken agreement passing between them. But then Bob's expression shifted. His grin widened, stretching into something far more intense, almost predatory.
He slowly raised his hand.
A soft glow formed in his palm, faint at first, then rapidly intensified until it burned like a miniature star. The air around it trembled, distorting under the sheer energy it contained.
Before Landen could react—
Bob vanished, and in less than a heartbeat, he reappeared directly in front of him and drove his glowing hand straight into Landen's head.
Everything stopped.
Landen's body locked in place, unresponsive, as if time itself had been severed. Then, all at once, a blinding white light erupted from him—pouring out through his eyes, his mouth, his ears—like something inside him was being forcibly brought to the surface.
Bob hovered just above him, watching closely.
"As I said before, you have weaknesses that limit your true potential."
The light intensified, pulsing in waves.
"But don't worry, this will take care of that for you."
Gradually, the light began to fade, and then a familiar interface flickered to life.
DING!
[ WELCOME TO THE MOBA SYSTEM ]
Landen blinked as the interface appeared.
"…Okay, hold on." He looked around. "This is sick."
Bob crossed his arms. "I had a feeling you'd say that."
"This is literally a video game UI," Landen said, eyes lighting up. "I'm inside a video game."
"That was the intention," a calm voice replied.
Landen jolted. "Whoa—WHO SAID THAT?!"
It was a strange feeling. The voice wasn't heard through his ears. Instead, it resonated directly in his mind.
"That," Bod said, "is your system. She will be your guide from now on."
There was a brief pause, then the voice returned—gentle, composed, and inextinguishable to a human.
"Nice to meet you, Landen."
"An AI assistant and a full gaming interface…" He let out a short laugh. "That's actually pretty convenient."
He quickly dug into the details of the main menu. It provided the following information:
|| Name: Landen Thorne ||
|| Essence Grade: Civilian || [ Level Up +1 ]
|| STATS ||
|| HP: 2000 + (500% of Vitality) + (25% of Strength) ||
|| Total Energy: 0 ||
|| Physical Defense: 1 + (300% of Vitality) + (80% of Strength) ||
|| Evasion: 1 + (80% of Agility) ||
|| Magic Defense: 0 + (200% of Vitality) + (50% of Intelligence) ||
|| Physical Attack Power: 10 + (400% of Strength) + (100% of Agility) ||
|| Magic Power: 0 +(200% of Intelligence) ||
|| Attack Speed: 1 +(200% of Agility) ||
|| Movement Speed: 10 +(50% of Agility) ||
|| Precision: 50% ||
|| ATTRIBUTES ||
|| Strength: 1 ||
|| Agility: 1 ||
|| Intelligence: 0 ||
|| Vitality: 1 ||
Landen's face slowly fell. "…This is it?"
Bob raised an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"
"I thought I'd be, I don't know… stronger?" Landen said. "I look like a tutorial character."
"You are a tutorial character," Bob replied. "Congratulations."
"Wow. Incredible. Very encouraging."
Bob sighed. "Listen, the power resides within the MOBA System, but your current body can't handle it all at once. As you grow stronger, the system will gradually unlock that power for you. In fact, you've already gained your first level. Look next to your Essence Grade."
Next to his grade showed the option: [ Level Up +1 ]
Just reading the words and thinking about selecting it activated the option.
A pulse of light rippled through the interface, and a faint surge of energy coursed through his body, as if something inside him had just been unlocked.
Suddenly, a golden Pillar of Light shot upward from his feet towards the sky, while an ascending chime signaled the Level-Up Burst.
SHIIIIIIING!!!
A rush of power hit him, triggering a dopamine hit to the brain.
"I could get used to that," he said, eyes beaming.
Now looking, his stats had changed.
|| Essence Grade: Elementary 1 ||
His Essence Grade has leveled up from Civilian to Elementary 1, a level now comparable to the students at the academy.
More information began to populate the interface, lines of data forming in real time.
He now had an experience bar.
|| Experience points: 0/100 ||
Then something else caught his attention.
|| Attributes: || [ +10 points ]
"What's this '+10 points'?", he said.
"You've leveled up," Bob explained. "Each time you do, you'll be rewarded with ten attribute points. You can allocate them however you choose."
"Take note," Bob continued. "Each attribute affects your abilities in different ways—your strength, your speed, your endurance, and more. Choose wisely. The path you build now will shape how you grow."
Landen stared at the options, the weight of the decision settling in.
This wasn't just a game anymore.
Every choice mattered.
Landen looked deeper into how each attribute point affects his stats.
Investing points into Strength increased several stats—Physical Attack Power, and surprisingly, even HP and Physical Defense.
Agility, on the other hand, defensively increased Evasion and enhanced Attack Speed and Movement Speed as well as Physical Attack Power.
Then there was Intelligence, which raised Magic Power and Magic Defense—something he suspected would become important later.
Finally, Vitality focused on overall durability, increasing HP, Physical Defense, and Magic Defense.
Seeing that he didn't know what to expect of this new world, and he didn't actually need it at the moment, he decided not to allocate any points.
"I think I'll hold on to them for now," Landen said.
"Wise choice," Bob replied.
After reviewing all his stats, he noticed a series of additional tabs had appeared.
[ Abilities ] | [ Inventory ] | [ Ranking ] | [ Heroes ] | [ Training ]
The tab that he had been waiting for...
[ Abilities ]