Prologue

"Alright, what kind of character should I create this time...?" Ethan murmured, his fingers running through his messy hair as he sat in front of the computer. 

A few simple keystrokes on the keyboard brought up a familiar interface, its glow illuminating his face. 

After entering his ID and password, the words "WORLD ver. 3.0" flashed on the screen before disappearing. Two figures soon appeared. 

A young man, slouched and dozing off after chopping down a thick log, and a shooter with a glowing blue rifle. 

Near the young man lay a pair of slightly faded gauntlets, and above the rifle held by the shooter, a magical circle spun slowly. 

Ethan paused, putting down the mouse, and stared at the screen, his thoughts drifting between the young man and the warrior. 

These two characters moving on his screen were creations of his own—characters he had shaped and nurtured over time. 

WORLD, the game he was playing, was renowned for its expansive open world and constant updates that kept altering the game's landscape and timeline. 

Ethan had been deeply involved in the game, creating new characters with each update, each time trying to perfect his playstyle. 

He'd enjoyed the game thoroughly in versions 1.0 and 2.0, and now, with 3.0, it was time for some fresh characters. 

He thought for a moment, then swiftly grabbed the mouse and clicked the character creation button. 

In truth, he already had an idea in mind for his third character. 

He'd decided to focus on magic this time around. 

The thrill he experienced when playing his second character, Leo, the Musketeer, had ignited a fascination with magic. The dazzling magic circles, the overwhelming power, and the versatility that magic offered in the WORLD universe were qualities that other classes couldn't quite match. 

It had even reached the point where he, heavily invested in magic, found himself falling into what many players considered the "loser" category—a character whose magical power outshone their physical abilities. 

Through his gaming experience, Ethan had learned a valuable lesson: there was a fine line between being omnipotent and being utterly ineffective. This time, however, he was determined to craft a perfect wizard. 

By focusing all the character's talents on magic during the creation screen, at least he wouldn't end up with an ambiguous or half-baked character. 

"Let's get started," Ethan said to himself. 

With a decisive nod, he quickly set the character's appearance and age, moving on to the talent distribution window. He funneled every available point into magical abilities. 

"Mana reserves, controllability, computational ability... and don't forget mana sensitivity," he muttered. 

After distributing the points, the final character was something to behold. 

He resembled a walking corpse, his magical abilities surpassing 25-27 out of 30 points, while his physical stats barely scraped 3 or 4. 

It wasn't an illusion that the character, clad in what looked like a hospital gown, had a sickly pallor. 

But as he stared at the monitor, an expression of dissatisfaction crossed his face. After a moment's thought, he grabbed the mouse again. 

He scrolled down to the trait section of the stat window and clicked to open the list of available traits. 

Traits were abilities granted to characters, representing innate qualities or special skills. But adding these traits came at the cost of ability points. 

Most players only chose one or two useful traits, but Ethan wasn't like most players. 

He scrolled through the list, bypassing the beneficial traits like Mission Delay and Blue Blood, and instead focused on the ones written in bright red. 

These were the penalties—traits that harmed the character but would allow him to add additional talents or characteristics. 

Ethan grinned knowingly, having played the game long enough to understand the deeper mechanics. He started selecting the most detrimental traits with a thoughtful expression. 

"Scarecrows, insomnia, mana addiction, oversupply... and the dawn of dawn… lifespan doesn't matter." 

It was a strange decision—one that would handicap his character. Yet, with each penalty added, the points that he thought he had exhausted began to increase, little by little. 

This was the "Karma System," an in-game mechanic that allowed players to freely create their characters by accepting penalties in exchange for extra abilities. 

Though Ethan had never fully utilized the Karma System before, this time he was determined to push his character to its limits. 

By the time he was done, he had maxed out all magic-related stats to a full 30, using the extra points earned from the penalties. He clicked the "Create Character" button with a satisfied grin. 

His character was weak physically, plagued with insomnia, and addicted to magic. His lifespan had been halved, and every movement caused him pain. But that didn't matter. It was just a game character, after all. 

And with these abilities, he would experience magic like never before. 

"This will be fun," Ethan murmured to himself. 

He eagerly anticipated what magic he would learn first, already thrilled by the possibilities. 

After randomly setting a name and a backstory for the character, he finished editing and waited for the finalization screen. 

The loading screen appeared, turning the monitor black. 

"… … …" 

As he waited for the game to load, Ethan's eyes caught the corner of the screen, where a game tip usually appeared to pass the time. 

But this time, the tip was different: 

[The first is coincidence. The second is inevitability. The third is fate.] 

[All three updates were for this moment.] 

[Embrace your fate.] 

"What is this…?" Ethan muttered, his voice tinged with annoyance. 

Before he could process the strange message, a black light flashed across the room, swallowing everything in its path. 

The light consumed all traces of his life and swiftly faded away, leaving only dust in its wake.