When "Destiny Eternal" was released, it quickly became popular due to its insanely high-quality graphics and the fact that it felt very real to play, as if people were really in that game world.
In the year 2437, it was the ultimate escape—a second life where the gold-to-dollar ratio meant a single lucky raid could feed a family for an entire year. It was a world fifty-two times the size of Earth, filled with magic, martial arts, and a beauty so realistic it made the real world look like a faded photograph.
There were dozens of races—humans, demons, spirits, elves, monsters and what not, four years after launch, more than 3 billion players were active daily. Yet vast regions of the world still remained unexplored.
But for Montu, the beauty was gone. He was no longer a player looking through a high-end VR interface. He was in the rot.
He stared at his reflection in a puddle of rainwater. Nearly six feet tall, with mottled blue skin and patches of decay exposing the grey muscle of his chest. His fingers were skeletal, his nails cracked and black. Ragged dark hair fell over his face, save for a few startling streaks of crimson that seemed to pulse with a faint, ghostly light. He looked like something that should've been buried long ago.
He was an Undead. A creature usually relegated to the "trash mob" category. Zombies can't use magic, he thought, his mind racing through his veteran knowledge. They're slow. They're brawlers. Basic hand-to-hand only. Then He looked at his Mana stat: 0 , which indicated that he could use magic when the stat increases.
In Destiny, learning magic was a Herculean task even for humans. And.... For a zombie? It was supposedly impossible. And now, he was the zombie, a useless Undead monster, but he wasn't sad because he knew anything with a human mind could survive and grow strong.
Suddenly, a chime echoed in the silence of the woods.
[SIDE QUEST TRIGGERED]
Objective: Survive the encounter with the Wood Spirit.
Kill: Level Up
Escape (Unharmed): 300 Gold
Survive: 50 Gold
Failure (HP 0): Permanent Death
He was quickly alerted by the system quest, and as he looked around for the wood spirit, A rustle in the undergrowth behind him cut his thoughts short. A three-foot-tall creature emerged, its body composed of gnarled, brownish bark. A crown of vibrant green leaves sat atop its head, and long, thorny vines dangled from its back like living whips.
"God's Eye," Montu hissed.
The blue screen flickered, overlaying the creature:
Wood Spirit
Race= Spirit
LEVEL: 3
Strength: 7
Speed: 3
Endurance: 4
Mana: 10
Mind: 0
HP: 87/87
SKILLS: [Gale Leaves - Lv.2], [Vine Strike - Lv.3], [Bind - Lv.2]
Upon realizing that he was unable to overcome the wood spirit with his current skills and that even escaping was impossible given the spirit's superior speed by 2 points, he made the decision to face it head-on.
The Spirit didn't wait. It lashed out, four green vines whistling through the forest, cracking the air like a whip, hurled at him with great force.
Montu tried to pivot, but his zombie body felt like it was moving through molasses. And Despite his best efforts, he was unable to avoid or dodge the attack, and all four whips struck him with a resounding impact.
CRACK-THUD.
The vines slammed into his chest and forearms, the force hurling his hundred-and-eighty-pound frame backward. He hit the damp earth hard, but felt no fire in his nerves, no sharp agony—just a dull, heavy vibration. But the red bar of his health told the truth.
[HP: 22/35]
He didn't feel the pain cause his body is already dead, the only perk of being a zombie. "Shit, that was quicker than expected" he spat, rolling onto his knees. He was damn aware that if his HP reached zero, it would mean death for him in his second life as well.
Desperation sharpened his focus. He couldn't outrun a Speed 3 creature. He had to close the distance. He lunged forward, his movements jerky and uncoordinated, and swung a heavy, rotting fist.
Thump.
The punch landed squarely on the Spirit's bark-like chest. It flinched momentarily, its HP dipping slightly to 83. But the creature was a predator. It quickly regained the momentum and bashed into him, its wooden weight against his ribs.
The blow was devastating.
[HP: 19/35]
Montu growled, landing another punch, then another. He was relentless, a dead man fighting for a second chance. But the Spirit had seen enough. It backed away, its leaves beginning to glow with an ominous emerald light.
The air began to swirl.
"Gale Leaves!" Montu realized, recognizing the wind-up for the skill.
He tried to duck, but the barrage was a blur. Sharp, razor-edged leaves sliced through the air like shrapnel.
SQUELCH.
A particularly large leaf caught him at the joint. Montu watched, almost in slow motion, as his left arm was severed cleanly from the shoulder. It spun through the air and landed in the mud with a wet, heavy slap.
THWACK..
[HP: 11/35]
The system notification flashed a violent, pulsing red. The fear finally broke through his analytical mind. His hands—um...well, his hand—began to tremble. He had been a top-tier player, but here, in this rotting skin, even a Level 3 mob was a God of Death.
I'm going to die again, he thought, his vision blurring. And the worst part, killed by a mere wood spirit.
But as the Wood Spirit stepped closer, its vine-whips twitching for the final blow, Montu's veteran brain sparked.
He looked at the creature's hunger—the way it stared at his decaying flesh not with disgust, but with a predatory instinct.
Everything in "Destiny Eternal" has a purpose, he reminded himself, forcing his breathing to steady. Predators hunt for food. Spirits hunt for energy. If I can't win with strength... I have to win with the one thing a zombie isn't supposed to have- BRAIN.
His eyes shifted to his severed arm lying in the mud, then back to the Spirit. A gamble formed in his mind—a dark, desperate plan.