Welcome, Player

Kilian's eyes snapped open, a choked gasp escaping his lips. 

His heart hammered against his ribs, sweat chilling his skin. 

The opulent ceiling of the Noxhaven royal castle stared back at him, unfamiliar and vast. 

He was no longer Ethan. He was Kilian. 

But the phantom chill of betrayal, the burning ache of powerlessness, and the overwhelming grief from the nightmare lingered, a raw, fresh wound.

Kilian's eyes snapped open, a choked gasp escaping his lips. 

His heart hammered against his ribs, sweat chilling his skin. 

The opulent ceiling of the Noxhaven royal castle stared back at him, unfamiliar and vast. 

He lay there for a moment, letting the lingering terror of the dream dissipate, replaced by the cool reality of his surroundings. 

It was morning.

As he pushed himself up, a sudden, almost imperceptible shimmer caught his eye. 

Floating in the air directly in front of him, perfectly transparent with a subtle purple hue, was a screen. 

On its surface, glowing faintly, words appeared:

------------------System--------------------

Download 0----------100% complete

Update 0--------------100% complete

Transfer 0-------------100% complete

------------------------------------------------

Before he could even process the words, that screen flickered and dissolved, immediately replaced by another. 

This one was larger, bolder, and bathed in the same ethereal purple light, displaying a single, impactful message: 

"Welcome, Player to the world of Aethelgard."

The sunlight, a gentle, golden glow, was already streaming through the high windows, painting stripes across the rich tapestries

Kilian's eyes, still wide from the nightmare's aftershocks, fixated on the glowing purple screen.

"What? What the hell?" he muttered, his voice barely a whisper, a mix of disbelief and dawning realization.

"A system notification?"

He instinctively leaned closer, his mind racing.

The screen, transparent and ethereal, looked identical to the system notifications he remembered from the game, Aethelgard Online.

"But why? And why now?"

A frown creased his brow.

"Aren't you a whole day late already?" he questioned the empty air, his voice tinged with incredulity.

He had already accepted the fact that this was the real Aethelgard, not some virtual reality.

And so, a system that typically showed up to help a person that was sent to another world, which hadn't appeared when he woke up yesterday, meant he would never get one.

He had come to terms with that.

His gaze dropped to the previous notification, now gone but imprinted on his mind.

He read the words aloud, trying to make sense of them.

"'System, download, update, transfer'?" He tilted his head, a new thought forming.

"Did it take a whole day to do all these things?"

"Oh well," he sighed, a faint, wry smile touching his lips, "better late than never, I suppose."

"Okay, let's see what you have to offer, system," Kilian mumbled, extending a tentative hand towards the ethereal display.

As if the system understood his unspoken command, the "Welcome, Player" message shimmered and dissolved, instantly replaced by a new, more intricate interface.

It was the System Menu List, laid out before him in crisp, glowing purple text presenting it's primary functions.

---------------------------------------

System Menu List

-Player Status

-Missions

-Inventory

-Aethelstore

-Stats Management

-Skills Tree Management

-Spells Tree Management

-Achievements

-Unclaimed Rewards (5)

-Codex Database

-Companion Management

-Reputation Categories

---------------------------------------

Kilian's eyes widened, a gasp escaping his lips.

"It... it listened!" he exclaimed, a fresh wave of shock washing over him.

The system truly felt alive, responding to his very thoughts.

His gaze swept over the pristine purple list, a flicker of recognition crossing his features.

"It mostly looks the same as the menu in the game..." he murmured, a strange mix of familiarity and disbelief warring within him.

Curiosity overriding caution, Kilian decided to test the boundaries of this seemingly sentient interface.

"Show Player Status," he thought, focusing intently on the first option in the list.

His brow furrowed in concentration, a slight hopeful tilt to his lips.

The transparent menu shimmered, then instantly dissolved, replaced by a detailed screen bathed in the same soft, purple glow.

His own information was laid out before him, clear and concise:

Player Status

Name: Kilian Onyx Noxhaven Lv. 1

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: Prince of Noxhaven Kingdom

Job: None

Reputation: Chaotic Evil (-880)

Aethel Coins: 0

Stats

Strength (STR): 7

Agility (AGI): 4

Vitality (VIT): 5

Intelligence (INT): 8

Resolve (RES): 3

Charisma (CHA): 12

Criticals (CRT): 0

Luck (LCK): 2

Kilian's eyes meticulously scanned each line.

His name, level one, his race, human.

His title, "Prince of Noxhaven Kingdom," he read aloud, a wry, almost bitter, twist to his mouth.

"Job: None... well, that's accurate for the old me as well."

His gaze dropped to the Reputation.

His eyes widened slightly, a ghost of a wince flashing across his face as he took in the stark classification: "Chaotic Evil (-880)."

He swallowed hard, the weight of the past Kilian's actions settling heavily on his shoulders.

That was a harsh truth, but undeniable given what he'd seen and heard.

Then he moved to the stats.

His initial reaction was a shrug at the average numbers, but his eyes snagged on two in particular.

His lips pressed into a thin line.

"Criticals: 0 and Luck: 2," he read, a sigh escaping him.

A knowing, defeated expression crossed his face.

"Figures."

It was a reflection of the endless, frustrating misfortune that had plagued his life, even before the transmigration.

The abysmal critical hit rate felt like a cruel joke from fate itself.

Kilian's fingers, which had been idly tracing the ethereal numbers on the screen, curled into a loose fist.

His gaze lingered on the '0' for Criticals and the '2' for Luck, a grim understanding settling in his chest.

It wasn't just a game anymore; these numbers were his reality, a stark reflection of a life that seemed cursed from the start.

The bitter taste of resignation, a familiar companion, threatened to creep back.

But then, a flicker of something new ignited within him, a spark that had been dormant for too long.

The System is the real deal and it's here for him.

This wasn't just some vague, terrifying existence anymore. It was quantifiable, with rules, and a means to improve.

His eyes drifted back to his Job: None entry, then to the unappealingly low physical stats.

He was weak, unlucky, and fundamentally broken, but the System offered a path forward.

A slow, deliberate breath filled his lungs.

He was Kilian Onyx Noxhaven, Prince of Noxhaven Kingdom, with a reputation of Chaotic Evil, stuck in a game world.

He might be starting from rock bottom in many ways, but for the first time in what felt like forever, there was a visible ladder.

Kilian's gaze, which had lingered grimly on his reputation, drifted higher on the Player Status screen.

His eyes snagged on a particular line: Unclaimed Rewards (5)

"Unclaimed rewards?" he muttered, a slow, disbelieving smile spreading across his face.

A spark of genuine hope, untainted by bitterness, ignited in his eyes.

Without hesitation, he commanded, his voice firm, "Show it, system!"

The Player Status screen dissolved instantly, replaced by a cascade of shimmering purple notifications.

Several popped into existence at once, layering over each other, he started to read all of them one by one.

Notification:

Transmigration as a Background Character

Description:

Successfully transmigrated into the world of Aethelgard in the body of an unknown background character from the game.

Rewards:

>Title: Background Character

+50 Stealth

Description:

Background Characters are neglected, forgotten and unseen from the eyes of the others.

Effect:

When equipped, the player can successfully blend in crowded places or backgrounds without being noticed by people's eyes or skills weaker than the player's stealth.

>Stat Point +1

>Aethel Coins +1000

Kilian's eyes widened, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his features as he read.

"So I am an unknown background character in the game," he murmured, the words laced with a strange mix of vindication and disbelief.

"I knew it!"

"No way in hell I wouldn't know such a character after playing for seven years, especially if it's the heir prince of Noxhaven Kingdom!"

Kilian's surprise at being classified as an "unknown background character" despite being the prince, still rippled through him.

His gaze then shifted to the effects the title, "+50 stealth? Able to blend in crowded places or backgrounds?"

"Wait, titles are a thing but for players that is, for characters its not. Is it a thing now?"

"Woah the system also gives me stat points to allocate in my status?"

"And also Aethel Coins?!"

"I thought this thing is the coins I used already in the marketplace earlier. Is it different?"

He was about to voice his incredulity, perhaps to the System itself, when the ethereal purple screen shimmered again, the previous notification sliding away to reveal another.

This one was equally prominent, drawing his gaze with an immediate sense of familiarity.

He knew exactly what this one was about.

***

/I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If its alright, please drop a comment or a powerstone to help me keep making this world bigger!