"Welcome to Eternova Online. Prepare to forge your destiny."
The login message pulsed in brilliant blue across Kai Arclight's vision. He blinked behind his cheap neural-dive visor, the second-hand one he'd bought from a pawn shop, and rubbed his palms together.
"All right, let's just hope this time I don't end up as a cabbage farmer again."
He muttered this more to fate than the system. Every MMORPG he'd touched ended the same way—underwhelming classes, trash loot, and the kind of "luck" that got you hit by a fireball through a wall.
But Eternova Online was supposed to be different. Its selling point? A living world where "no two players would ever start the same."
---
[Initializing Character Creation…]
As the game loaded, swirling polygons danced around his body. A soft chime sounded, and the character creation interface appeared.
Name: Kai
Race: Human
Appearance: Default
Starting City: Aurelia
When it came to class, however, the screen didn't load correctly. A line of text blinked at the top:
> "Error: Class Initialization Sequence Broken. Applying Fallback Protocol..."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
Before he could click anything, the screen glitched. Symbols danced across it—fragments of code, developer tools, and corrupted text.
> Hidden Class Unlocked: [???]
Class Assigned: Codewalker
Description: NULL
> "...What the heck is a Codewalker?"
The interface flickered again, then reset.
> Class Selected: Novice (Common)
> "Huh? Wait—what?" Kai reached out to cancel, but the interface beeped and forced the final confirmation.
> Welcome, Novice. Begin your journey.
The glowing polygons spun around him once more—and everything went dark.
---
Boot Sequence Complete. You Have Entered: Aurelia, the City of Beginnings.
Kai awoke in a quiet town square filled with cobblestone streets, mossy rooftops, and soft wind. A banner flapped in the breeze:
> "Welcome to Eternova Online, Beta Phase 3."
The game had just launched for the public, but Kai was in early thanks to a lottery giveaway from a discount streaming app.
He looked at his interface. It showed basic Novice stats:
Class: Novice
Level: 1
HP: 100
MP: 50
STR: 4
AGI: 5
INT: 2
LUK: 1
Normal.
Until he blinked—and saw a flickering line of red text beneath.
> [Debug Console Accessed]
Admin Mode: READ/WRITE ACTIVE
Skill Unlocked: Code Slice, Variable Shift, Plot Armor
Kai's eyes widened. "...What is this?"
He opened the Skills tab. Nothing showed. But as he reached toward a curious patch of air near his hand, a hidden window appeared—one he'd never seen in any game before.
> Codewalker Interface – Experimental Tool
You may manipulate game code within visual range. Use with caution.
Logged Activity: Invisible to server logs.
---
Secret Hidden System: Undetected Glitch
Somewhere deep in the black-box labyrinth of Eternova's world engine, a misfired test node had randomly activated an old developer tool tied to the player creation system. But no logs were sent. No alarms were triggered. Even the developers didn't know it had reawakened.
To the world—and the database—Kai was just a level 1 Novice.
---
Back in Aurelia
Kai wandered toward the quest board. The first mission read:
> Quest: Eliminate 1 Forest Slime
Reward: 10 EXP, 1 Copper
Kai shrugged. "All right, baby steps."
As he passed an NPC merchant, his hand accidentally brushed against a basket of apples. A system window blinked.
> Item: Apple [1 Copper]
[Override Code Detected – Modify?]
Kai hesitated, then tapped the apple, selecting a hidden option.
> → Change Weight: 5kg → 0.1g
→ Change Item Quality: Common → Mythic
The apple glowed.
> [You have obtained: Apple of Eden (Mythic)]
Kai almost choked. "You've got to be kidding me."
He stuffed it in his bag, trying not to panic. "Okay. So I have access to some sort of debug menu… but no one else knows I have this."
He looked around—nobody was watching. No notifications in the sky. No system bans.
> "If I play this smart... I could get rich. Or banned. Or both."
---
Kai vs. The Slime
Out in the grassy field, a level 1 Forest Slime bounced happily.
Kai drew his rusty dagger. "Time to test this."
He tapped the air.
> Activate Skill: Code Slice
→ Target: [Forest Slime]
→ Command: Delete
The slime vanished in a burst of blue pixels.
> Slime Defeated. 10 EXP Gained.
> Item Drop: ???
Kai bent down and found… a shining greatsword twice the size of his body.
> Item: Blade of the Starfall King (Lv. 90, Mythic, Unique)
"Only one exists per server."
He stared. Then looked behind him. Still alone.
"No one saw that. Right?"
---
Back in Town – 20 Minutes Later
Kai opened a player shop window. He set up on the edge of the marketplace, away from the busy stalls.
> Shop Name: Fresh Drops Cheap!
1. Blade of the Starfall King – 15,000G
2. Apple of Eden – 500G (it heals all HP + grants XP buff)
Then, carefully, he disguised his gear as low-level junk using Variable Shift to change item appearance data. The sword now looked like a cheap iron blade. The apple? A basic food item.
> "As long as no one identifies them… I should be fine."
But Kai didn't notice that he was being watched.
From the shadows of a nearby building, a hooded player stared, eyes narrowed.
> [Lv. 92] GhostReign – Guild: Obsidian Order
"Who is this guy... and why is a novice selling items we haven't even seen in the northern raid zones?"
Chapter 2 guild offer
Kai's player-run stall was modest—just a wooden crate and a flickering hologram over his head that read:
> Lucky Finds: Cheap Deals, No Questions Asked
The items for sale looked like beginner trash to the casual observer, but under the disguise of low-tier models were weapons and artifacts worthy of world bosses. Kai had carefully hidden their true stats with his Codewalker skill, replacing their visual metadata with "Wooden Sword (+2)" and "Stale Apple."
In truth, the "wooden sword" was a Stormrazor Fangblade—a blade capable of cleaving through entire raid parties.
Kai leaned back against the crate, chewing on real-world toast in his VR chair. "Okay. Nobody suspects a thing. Time to turn one of these into grocery money."
Just then, a message pinged.
> [Private Message: Unknown] "You're either very clever… or very dangerous. We'd like to talk. – Black Sun Syndicate"
Kai frowned. "Black Sun? Aren't they the PvP maniacs?"
He tapped to ignore. Two seconds later, a shadow fell across his stall.
A towering figure in black, demonic-themed armor stepped forward. His nameplate pulsed with red flame:
> [Lv. 97] ReaperZion – Guildmaster, Black Sun Syndicate
"Oh crap," Kai muttered.
ReaperZion spoke in a voice that sounded like metal scraping stone. "You're new. And yet, someone is selling cloaked mythics under the devs' noses. That interests me."
Kai blinked innocently. "I'm just selling old stuff I found. A lot of slimes drop junk. I guess I got lucky?"
ReaperZion tilted his head. "Join us. Black Sun owns the PvP leaderboard. With your... luck, we could burn the whole game from the top down."
Kai forced a smile. "Tempting offer. But I'm not really into evil overlord stuff. I'm more of a… independent seller."
There was silence. The marketplace went quiet.
Then ReaperZion leaned forward. "You just made the dumbest decision of your digital life."
He turned and vanished into a black mist. A system ping followed:
> [System Notice: Black Sun Syndicate has marked you as "Kill-on-Sight" in PvP Zones.]
Kai groaned. "Great. I just made a guild war happen... and I haven't even hit level 10."
---
Later That Day – The Wildlands PvP Zone
Kai had ventured out of Aurelia, walking into the open-world zone called the Wildlands, hoping to hunt rare herbs to sell. Unfortunately, it was a PvP-enabled region—and Black Sun's minions were already hunting him.
> [Alert: You are being tracked.]
"Of course I am," Kai muttered.
Two assassins leapt from the treeline—high-level, glowing weapons, and custom guild capes. Kai, still officially a "Novice," looked helpless.
They grinned.
"You must be the guy who turned down our boss."
Kai reached into the air, activating the invisible Codewalker menu.
> Activate: Plot Armor (Low Intensity Mode)
→ Result: All enemy attacks in the next 30 seconds will 'miss' due to 'accidental terrain advantage'.
He didn't move.
As the assassins struck, one tripped on a tree root, falling into a pit. The other's blade ricocheted off a random rock, bounced up, and hit himself in the forehead. They both collapsed.
> [You have defeated: Black Sun Enforcer x2]
Loot Gained: Darksteel Daggers (Lv. 80), 2,000G
Kai whispered, "Cheating without looking like I'm cheating... is harder than I thought."
---
Elsewhere: The Arrival of a Star
In the city of Moonveil, far across the map, a player in brilliant silver-and-teal armor walked out of a teleport gate.
Her name was whispered across forums, livestreams, and the top 10 PvP lists:
> [Lv. 98] Aria_Mira – Guild: Valkyrion
Nicknamed "The Seraph Blade," Aria was known for her code-precision fighting style, unmatched speed, and refusal to ever join corrupt guilds.
She was also the only player known to have defeated ReaperZion in a 1v1—and she hated the Black Sun Syndicate.
She looked over a report from her sub-leader. A rising novice named "Kai" was being targeted by Black Sun. Items traced to him had unknown origin and unmatched stats.
Her eyes narrowed.
"A hidden source of god-tier gear? Either a hacker… or something new."
She opened her map and marked Aurelia.
"Time to see what this novice really is."
---
Back in Aurelia – Kai Meets a Star
Kai returned to town with his bag full of loot, hoping to lay low. But the moment he entered the square, a rush of whispers spread like wildfire.
Then he saw her.
Tall, graceful, and shining like the sun itself—Aria_Mira, the Seraph Blade, stepped through the crowd. She walked straight to him.
Kai blinked. "Um. Hello?"
Aria smiled gently. "Are you the one they call Lucky Guy?"
Kai scratched his neck. "I mean... I didn't pick the name, it just kinda stuck—"
"I've seen reports. You're selling cloaked mythics, survived multiple ambushes from Black Sun, and you're level one."
Kai looked around nervously. "I can explain?"
Aria tilted her head. "Don't worry. I don't work for them. I just wanted to meet the guy who's breaking every rule without technically breaking anything."
She held out her hand. "Aria. Guild: Valkyrion. We oppose the Syndicate. If you ever need a shield, I can be that."
Kai slowly shook her hand. "Kai. Class: …Just Novice."
Aria winked. "Sure you are."