Situation in reality

It took Aelion nearly five minutes to steady his breath and calm the storm in his chest.

The last echoes of Kamish's voice still lingered in his ears—"Find the Church of the End."

He finally brought up the system panel that had been hovering silently at the edge of his vision.

The golden light crystallized into sharp, angular letters.

[Title Unlocked: Inheritor of the Church of the End (Peak)]

[Description]:

The Church of the End once stood as the mightiest force across the stars, devout in their worship of the Lord of the End.

They were feared, revered—and eventually betrayed.

With the disappearance of their god, their enemies descended, and their allies abandoned them.

Now, chosen by Kamish—the last servant of that forsaken deity—you inherit the remnants of their forgotten might.

[Effects:]

[Effect 1: All stats permanently increased by +50.]

[Effect 2: Unlocks hidden stat — [Adaptability].]

[Effect 3: Main Class set to .]

[Effect 4: Unlocks skill .]

[Effect 5: Gain 2 Subclass slots and 2 Profession slots.]

***

Aelion stood in stunned silence.

This wasn't just a title—it was a one-way ticket to greatness.

Even if he didn't yet understand the full scope of the real game that lay ahead, one thing was certain:

This changed everything.

In the system's rules, each player was normally limited to one main class, one subclass, and one profession. That structure formed the foundation of power progression across the world.

But this title… it had shattered those limits.

He now had two subclass slots. Two profession slots.

And his main class wasn't just rare—it was evolvable. It had the potential to become something even more powerful than the legendary-tier classes most players dreamed of.

Aelion's eyes narrowed as he processed the implications.

In the tutorial, players who managed to reach Master rank in both their main and sub-classes gained the ability to fuse them—unlocking a unique merged class, personalized to their playstyle and progress.

Those merged classes were powerful.

But an evolvable main class… that was on an entirely different level.

And now he had both.

[HP Hospital – VR Ward | Year 5348]

Despite the medical miracles of the age, not all diseases had cures. In fact, as many were eradicated, new, rarer, and far more insidious conditions began to surface—diseases that even cutting-edge nanotherapy and genetic reprogramming couldn't fix.

Aelion suffered from one of them.

He had been paralyzed at the age of 18, confined to a hospital bed with searing waves of pain that came without warning. The condition was classified as Neural Degenerative Burst Syndrome—a rare illness with no known cure.

It had shattered his life.

School was the first thing to go. He'd dropped out, unable to keep up or even leave the hospital. His parents had done everything they could to afford his treatment, working double shifts, begging medical boards, and scraping together funds just to keep him comfortable.

At his lowest, Aelion had reached out to friends.

No one answered.

The messages were read—and ignored.

Eventually, the doctors proposed an experimental solution: placing him in full-dive VR not as treatment, but as escape—to numb the pain and restore his agency in a digital world where he could still move, still fight, still dream.

He accepted.

Three years passed inside the virtual realms.

Aelion was now twenty-one.

And it was during those years—while he lay in silent hospitals and fought digital dragons—that the final blow fell.

An accident at his father's workplace.

A power surge, a malfunction. His mother had rushed to the scene.

Both of them died before he could say goodbye.

The company had provided some compensation. The insurance payout followed not long after.

It wasn't a fortune. Not enough to change lives. But for Aelion, it was more than just numbers on a statement.

It was hope.

Hope that his treatment could continue for at least seven more years. Hope that his sister's future wouldn't be shackled by the same chains fate had bound him with.

His sister, Celeste Darkshade, had always been bright, determined, and full of potential. Aelion still remembered the day she received her acceptance letter into the Ethel Foundation Academy, the second-ranked academy in the world. Her fingers trembled as she opened it. Her breath caught when she read it. And then—tears, laughter, disbelief.

She was going to make something of herself.

And he was going to make sure of it.

It had been a year since she left.

In that time, Aelion had poured everything he had—time, will, desperation—into Myth of Dungeons. The virtual world gave him something reality never could: freedom. There, he wasn't broken or pitied. He was feared. Respected. He rose through the ranks as a mercenary, independent and unrivaled. The strongest among them.

He kept his identity hidden. No one knew who he truly was.

And for a while, that anonymity kept him safe.

He made money. Enough to support himself. Enough to avoid being a burden.

But safety is fragile.

Everything shattered when an old college classmate discovered his true identity.

There was no empathy in that revelation. No reunion, no compassion. Just leverage.

They drafted a contract—unbreakable, airtight, cruel. It stated in clear terms:

Aelion would help them reach and clear the 100th floor.

Or suffer consequences he couldn't afford.

That was the real reason behind the venom in their voices before entering the boss room. The sly smiles, the veiled threats.

They didn't see him as a friend.

They saw him as a tool.

A disposable key to unlock glory.

But what they failed to realize was—

Even a tool can shatter chains.

Now, he was finally free of that damned contract— Not that anyone would care anymore.

With the true game about to begin, interest in the tutorial phase had plummeted. What once captivated the world now faded into obscurity, reduced to background noise. The spotlight had shifted, and so had the stakes.

Everyone was preparing for what came next.

The major families, the global corporations, and even black-market syndicates—all of them were sharpening their blades, assembling teams, and plotting how to carve out their share of this new digital frontier.

But perhaps the most intriguing development was this:

Even the Mythic Corporation, creators of Myth of Dungeons itself, had begun assembling a team of their own—for the true game.

Why would the developers participate in their own creation?

That question lingered in the minds of many.

But Aelion already had a suspicion.

There was something hidden beneath the surface of this game.

Something bigger.

Something real.

And he was already walking the path toward it.