Wake Up, Player!

An overwhelming unyielding darkness loomed around Kai's gaze. He couldn't see beyond the pitch-black void that enveloped him.

All he had with him was the thick darkness and the heavy silence of the void, except for the faint, ruffled sounds that teased the edges of his awareness.

'Where am I? How did I get...?'

The question lingered unfinished as fragmented memories rushed in leaving a haunting image on his mind, which left him wishing he had never remembered it: his confrontation with the New God.

Kai would have winced in fear, but a chilling realization dawned upon him—he couldn't feel anything. It was as though his body no longer existed. It was as though he was just a part of the void.

'Is this hell or what?' he wondered bitterly.

'Damn. I really had my vote on reincarnation, not punishment for... well, everything.'

A grim chuckle echoed in his mind, with the dawning realization that this was how his time would now be spent.

' I Guess this is my eternity.'

Moments stretched into what felt like eternity, filled only with Kai's bleak thoughts and the unyielding darkness.

But then, a familiar chime sounded aloud, shattering the oppressive silence of the void—

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, player.]

[The first step is now complete.]

[The next step has begun!]

[Wake up, player!]

Kai's thoughts spiraled into disbelief as annoying thought got in his head.

'This nonsense again...it followed me into the afterlife? This really is hell. What better way to torment me for all of eternity than with the very power that failed me in my final moments?'

Yet amidst his scorn, the last notification glimmered in his mind.

[Wake up, Player!]

'Wake up? What—am I still—'

Before he could finish the thought, a sensation returned like a sudden surge of electricity, which attained his attention immediately.

His fingers twitched and following it, he felt his legs stir as well. And then, a rush of awareness flooded his senses until—

Gasp!

Kai bolted upright, a heavy gasp tearing from his throat as though he had surfaced from drowning.

He coughed violently, each convulsion wrenching through his chest. His hand shot up instinctively to cover his mouth. The coughing continued for quite a moment and then in due time, it seized.

Kai, gently taken took his hands down and that's when the truth struck him.

'what's this?...I'm alive?!'

The thought seared through his mind, disbelief mingling with awe. He had been certain of his death.

The New God's attack had left no room for survival, and with his final sensation back at the haunted house, he was sure he was done for—or so he had believed.

But then, his eyes caught sight of something else, which left in him dazed as he gazed with such disbelief—it was his left arm.

The very arm he had lost during the Worm Devil's attack now moved as if it had never been severed. It was Whole. Complete.

'How... How is this possible?' His gaze fixated on his hand, inspecting it with wide, disbelieving eyes.

'Only reptiles regrow limbs, right? So how did I...?'

He was was stunned by this that he hadn't even noticed the magnificently constructed room which he laid in, on a bed, so comfy to the eyes- something someone like him would never imagine himself in.

Right then, a new thought clawed its way to the surface.

If his arm was back, then perhaps—

Kai flung the blanket off his legs, his breath hitching at the sight beneath. His right leg, the one he'd also lost, was there. Whole. Perfectly normal. And his body was only covered by a nightwear gown.

'My leg too... Is back...I'm...I'm...whole again.' he marveled, testing the limb with a tentative jerk.

It obeyed without hesitation, moving effortlessly like any healthy limb. Even his head, where a grievous wound had been, felt flawless. His entire body hummed with vitality, better than it had in years.

Yet, Confusion thickened around him, along with the underlying question.

'How did all this happen? Was the entire haunted house incident simply a dream or what?'

"Pretty cool, right?"

The sudden voice jolted Kai. His head snapped to the right, and his eyes landed on a man with pointy elf ears, seated casually on an armchair.

Kai's breath caught.

The figure was no ordinary man. Towering at nearly seven feet, he exuded an aura of formidable strength despite his slightly frail appearance. Bald and beardless, his sharp features held an enigmatic charm and his well-toned physique was partially concealed by a black and white kimono adorned with a fire insignia on the left chest.

Kai's heart thudded violently.

'A fire insignia...he's...an Eternal?'

The man's relaxed demeanor contrasted sharply with the intense mana radiating from him. Brown eyes, calm yet piercing, locked onto Kai with unsettling ease.

"Umm... Is it not cool for you, or what?" the man asked, his tone light.

Kai blinked, thrown off by the casual question, which he had far from expected.

"Huh? What's not cool?" he stammered.

"Your limbs." the man clarified with a nonchalant smile.

"When we found you, you were half-dead and missing two of them. But now, here you are—good as new. That's gotta be cool right?"

Kai's chest tightened. Gratitude warred with apprehension.

There was a pyramid of in the world of sorcery, which Kai had to learn the hard way.

He had previously been beaten to a pulp once after encountering a high level seeker class sorcerer simply for failing to show proper respect.

And now—an Eternal? His eyes were laced with terror as he understood what exactly was coming coming next.

Without hesitation, Kai scrambled out of bed and bowed deeply before the man.

"I'm sorry! I should've acknowledged your presence sooner, but I had a lot on my mind! I swear I'll never make that mistake again!"

He braced himself, tightening his gut, expecting a blow—a harsh kick, a crushing punch, or at the very least, scornful words.

But instead—

"Huh?" The man's brows lifted in amusement.

"Acknowledge my presence? You've got a way with words. What are you, some kind of aristocrat? I think I should better write that down before I forget it, what do you say?"

Kai froze, lifting his head slowly in disbelief.

'He called me an aristocrat?' he echoed inwardly, bewildered.

'Is this guy an idiot?'

At this point, he would have doubted that the insignia on the man's breast was legit if he hadn't been suffocating from the sorcerer's intense aura.

You see, Eternals were meant to the best of the best in every category, which would only leave you thinking why this Eternal failed to recognize basic grammer.

'No... There's something about him—something I'm forgetting.'

As if triggered by that thought, fragmented memories resurfaced into Kai's mind, and in due time, it knitted itself into a startling realization.

Kai's breath hitched. His eyes widened as he raised his head to the man seated aboved him.

"What....Is there something on my face?" The man asked as he gently rubbed his hands around his face in search of the source of Kai's attention.

Kai, on the other hand, was left trembling with the realization of who the Eternal class sorcerer was.

'This man... he's not just any Eternal or sorcerer...He's...'