Nyxaris—formerly Leo—exhaled, though he had no lungs to speak of. The world around him had settled, the golden glow of the Veilborn Arbiter fading into nothingness.
But the sensation of power lingering within him… that was real.
It wasn't just a stat boost. The name he had received changed something fundamental within him.
He flexed—or rather, he tried to. His slime-like body rippled in response, a constant reminder that he wasn't human in this world. This wasn't just a game on a screen. He wasn't sitting at a computer, clicking a mouse or tapping keys.
No—he was here.
The moment he had put on the Evolvera Online Neural Immersion Headset, the world had shifted. His senses were completely synchronized with the game, down to the very air brushing against his form. Every movement felt as natural as breathing, every sensation crisp and lifelike.
It was terrifying.
It was exhilarating.
And now, with the trial complete, he finally had a moment to check his status.
[Opening Player Status: Nyxaris]
A translucent blue system panel materialized before him, hovering midair. It was sleek, simple, and far more detailed than anything he had expected.
[Player Name: Nyxaris]
Race: Veilborn Slime (Evolving)
Level: 5 (Trial Completion Bonus Applied)
Title: The First Named (World Announcement Achieved)
Status: Stable
Wealth: 0 Gold / 0 Credits (Trade System Locked Until Next Quest)
[Core Attributes]
Vitality: 320
Strength: 50
Agility: 90
Magic: 140
Resistance: 200
Adaptation Rate: ??? (Influenced by Abyssal Adaptation)
[Skills]
Abyssal Adaptation (Passive – Growth Type)
Enables gradual development of resistances and minor enhancements based on experiences. Unpredictable evolution potential.
Fluid Morphology (Passive – Racial)
Allows body manipulation for movement, squeezing through tight spaces, and reducing impact damage.
Predatory Absorption (Basic – Racial)
Can absorb and analyze certain materials or weak creatures, gaining minor properties or traits.
Ethereal Sense (Basic – ???)
Can detect distortions in reality and minor presences unseen by normal perception.
[Inventory]
Ancient Shard of Remembrance (Quest Item – Untradeable)
Veilborn Sigil (Key Item – Mysterious Use)
[Game System Notes]
The Trade System is Active: Players can sell materials, relics, and high-value items for real-world currency or in-game gold.
Market Rates Vary by Discovery: First-time discoveries sell for more. Rare items may trigger world events.
Named Players May Attract Attention: Being the first Named has placed a global marker on Nyxaris. NPCs and players alike may take interest.
Nyxaris stared at his stats, absorbing everything.
He wasn't strong—not in the traditional sense. His Strength stat was pitiful, meaning he'd have to rely on technique, magic, and adaptability rather than brute force.
But his Vitality and Resistance were high, making him far tankier than a normal Level 5 player.
Most interesting, though, was Abyssal Adaptation.
It didn't have concrete numbers. It was a wildcard. A skill that changed over time, based on what he experienced. That meant he had no ceiling—but also no guarantees.
And then, there was his Inventory.
The Ancient Shard of Remembrance was clearly tied to the trial, but the Veilborn Sigil was different. It had appeared after he was Named. Its mysterious use made him uneasy.
But one thing was certain—he was rare.
A quick glance at the Game System Notes confirmed it. Named Players were special. And special things in MMOs were either highly rewarded… or hunted.
"Great," he muttered. "I just painted a target on my back."
Even worse—he had nothing to sell.
With no money, no gear, and no weapons, his only choice was to continue forward.
As if sensing his resolve, the system prompted a new screen.
The environment around him blurred slightly, and in its place, a holographic map unfolded in the air.
[System Prompt: Choose Your Path]
With your Naming complete, new paths have opened to you. Select a destination.
Several unknown territories flickered before him, each with only vague descriptions:
The Hollow Expanse (??? Difficulty) – A land where the stars do not shine. Few return from its depths.
The Black Bastion (Intermediate – High Danger) – A ruined fortress, lost to time, now home to spectral horrors.
The Viridian Abyss (??? Difficulty) – A twisting labyrinth of ancient flora, where nature is both guardian and executioner.
The Sunken Catacombs (Hard Difficulty) – A submerged underworld where the past whispers secrets… and death.
The Shattered Veil (??? Difficulty) – A realm between realms, where reality bends and the forgotten wander.
There were no level requirements. No recommended stats. Just vague warnings and uncertainty.
Nyxaris felt a flicker of hesitation.
He knew how games worked. Safer options were always available. The Black Bastion seemed like the logical pick—high danger, but still on the "Intermediate" side.
And yet—
Before his brain could catch up, his hand moved.
Click.
[Selected: The Shattered Veil]
A system chime rang out.
[Warning: Unknown Territory Selected]
The Shattered Veil is a high-risk domain where the laws of reality are unstable. Unexpected encounters, anomalies, and unknown threats await. Rewards are equally unpredictable.
Confirm Entry?
[YES] – [NO]
Nyxaris froze.
This was probably a bad idea. He had no clue what he was walking into.
But something about it called to him.
Maybe it was his new Name. Maybe it was the Veilborn Sigil in his inventory. Maybe it was just pure, reckless curiosity.
He took a deep breath—not that he had lungs—and selected [YES].
The world around him broke apart.
Not like teleportation. Not like a loading screen.
Like existence itself was unraveling.
The ground beneath him vanished. Gravity twisted. His body warped, stretching and bending through something that wasn't quite space and wasn't quite time.
Then—he was falling.
An endless abyss stretched below. Floating islands of cracked stone and shattered ruins drifted in a sky filled with swirling, unnatural light. Strange echoes—voices, whispers, something ancient—filled the air.
A new notification appeared.
[New Quest: Through the Shattered Veil]
Objective: ???
Survive.
Nyxaris gritted his metaphorical teeth as he plummeted downward.
This was going to be fun.
Nyxaris twisted mid-air as he plummeted through the abyss.
The air around him wasn't normal—it crackled and shimmered like a fractured mirror, distorting reality itself. The floating ruins below weren't fixed in place; they shifted, rearranging themselves as if guided by an unseen force.
It was like the world itself was a glitching game file, struggling to keep its geometry intact.
Survive.
That was his only objective.
But how?
His slime-like body was durable, sure, but he didn't know if fall damage existed in Evolvera Online. And if this place was anything like it seemed, he doubted it played by normal rules.
The ground—if it could even be called that—was getting closer.
He had to act now.
Nyxaris focused, calling on his Fluid Morphology skill. His body stretched, shifting into a flatter shape, increasing his surface area. He spread himself out as wide as possible—like a parachute made of living slime.
It worked… sort of.
His fall slowed just enough for him to crash-land onto a floating platform without instantly dying. His form rippled from the impact, the force dispersing through his amorphous body.
"Ugh… that was awful."
He reformed himself into a more stable shape, scanning his surroundings. The floating platform he landed on was part of an ancient structure—massive, broken stone pillars jutted out at odd angles, defying gravity.
The sky above was wrong. It wasn't just dark—it was filled with shifting voids, where space seemed to bend in on itself. Occasionally, flickers of distant landscapes appeared, as if other parts of the world were bleeding into this one.
The place felt abandoned… yet something was watching him.
[System Prompt: Anomaly Detected]
A new system notification appeared, pulsing with an eerie glow.
[Zone Effect: Reality Flux]
Time and space behave unpredictably.
Encounters may not follow standard rules.
Escape conditions: ???
Nyxaris narrowed his eyes.
So this wasn't just an ordinary dungeon. This entire zone was unstable.
Which meant—
He wasn't alone.
A distant whisper drifted through the air, unintelligible but undeniably real.
Nyxaris turned sharply, scanning the ruins. Something was approaching.
And it wasn't friendly.
A formless shadow flickered at the edges of his vision. One moment it was there—then gone—then somewhere else entirely.
Then, suddenly—it attacked.
A clawed appendage shot toward him, slicing through the air like a blade.
Nyxaris barely dodged, shifting his body to the side, but even then, the force of the attack distorted the space around him. It wasn't just a physical strike—it was warping reality itself.
Status Effect Applied: Distorted Essence (Minor).
Nyxaris flinched. His body felt… unstable. The edges of his form flickered, as if parts of him were phasing out of sync with the world.
"Great. First real fight and the universe itself wants me dead."
He had no weapon. No armor. His stats weren't built for direct combat.
But he had skills.
And more importantly—he had a brain.
If this thing was using distortion-based attacks, then it might be vulnerable to something solid.
Which meant—
Nyxaris focused on Predatory Absorption, reaching out toward the stone beneath him.
Absorb material. Reinforce body.
His form shifted, patches of his slime hardened into something more solid—like obsidian. His flexibility was reduced, but in exchange, he had better resistance.
The shadow lunged again.
This time, Nyxaris stood his ground.
The attack landed—but instead of phasing through him like before, it clashed against his reinforced body. A dull shockwave rippled outward, but he remained intact.
A plan formed.
He twisted his body, using his fluid nature to stretch and snap forward like a whip.
The shadow reeled back, its form flickering.
Nyxaris didn't let up.
Using Ethereal Sense, he could feel where the distortion was weakest. He lunged, striking at the point where the entity was most unstable.
It shrieked—not in sound, but in pure vibration, a ripple through reality itself. Its form wavered, flickered—then collapsed inward, imploding into a burst of shattered void.
The moment it disappeared, the world around him stabilized slightly.
A notification appeared.
[Enemy Defeated: Veil-Touched Wraith]
XP Gained: +120
Adaptive Growth Triggered – Abyssal Adaptation Progressing…
Nyxaris let out a breath—not that he had lungs.
He had won.
Barely.
And from the way his body felt slightly different, he could tell—his skill was already evolving.
Just as he was about to relax, the ruins shuddered.
A section of the platform collapsed, revealing a hidden staircase spiraling downward into the void.
And there—floating just above the first step—was a glowing sigil.
Another system prompt appeared.
[New Quest Update]
You have defeated a Veil-Touched Wraith and stabilized this fragment of reality. The path forward is now open.
Objective Update: Descend into the Abyssal Vault.
Nyxaris stared at the new path.
The first trial had nearly killed him.
And this was just the beginning.
He took a moment to steady himself—then moved forward, descending into the unknown.