The stale scent of lukewarm instant noodles and dust hung heavy in Ethan's small room. Outside, the late afternoon sun cast long shadows, but inside, only the glow of his monitor illuminated the clutter – discarded snack wrappers, tangled cables, a textbook lying accusingly unopened. A notification pinged softly on his phone – another missed call from his mom. He winced, silencing it without looking. Useless. The word echoed in the hollow space behind his ribs, a familiar, unwelcome tenant. School felt pointless, part-time jobs were soul-crushing cycles of incompetence, and his social life… well, that was a barren wasteland.
But today held a spark, a manufactured glimmer of hope he clung to desperately: the global launch of Genesis: Echoes of Creation. Advertised as the pinnacle of full-dive virtual reality, a world of breathtaking beauty, epic adventure, and, most importantly for Ethan, a chance to be someone else. Someone strong. Someone useful. Someone… significant.
He'd saved for months, sacrificing even the meager comforts he allowed himself, to afford the sleek neuro-link headset and basic haptic gloves. Now, they sat polished and ready on his desk. With a deep breath, scrubbing the self-pity from his face, Ethan carefully fitted the headset over his eyes, the cool padding a welcome sensation. The gloves slid on, humming faintly to life.
"Link start," he murmured, the command phrase feeling both momentous and slightly silly.
Darkness enveloped him, absolute and silent. Then, a kaleidoscope of light exploded inwards, coalescing into the stylized logo of Genesis: Echoes of Creation.
Ethereal music swelled, promising grandeur. A prompt appeared:
Connecting to Server Cluster: Gaia-7... Connection Established. Welcome, Traveler.
Character Creation. Ethan didn't linger on aesthetics. He slapped together a generic male avatar with slightly unruly brown hair – not too different from his real self, but leaner, sharper-featured. He spent more time hovering over the name input. He wanted something that felt… right. Not his own name, definitely not. He typed: Kael. Simple, a little bit fantasy, good enough. Name Available.
"Congratulations! Due to detected extreme unluckiness, a random skill has been assigned! (Seriously, how did you mess this up?)"
"No other player will receive a Starting Skill. Just you. Good luck, you'll need it!"
The swirling vortex of cosmic energy sputtered, almost like it was laughing at him.
Ethan – no, Kael – tentatively reached his gloved hand towards the swirling energy. His virtual fingers touched the vortex, and a jolt, surprisingly tactile, shot up his arm. The vortex flared blindingly bright, then collapsed inwards, leaving behind a single, pulsing icon radiating a deep, hungry purple light.
Unique Skill Acquired: Absolute Assimilation
Kael blinked, tapping the icon.
A description unfurled:
Absolute Assimilation (Unique, Passive)
Effect 1: Gluttonous Transmutation: All acquired items (equipment, materials, consumables) and currency (Gold) are instantly and irrevocably transmuted into Character Experience Points (EXP). The value and rarity of the item determine the EXP gained.
Effect 2: Accelerated Growth: All EXP gained from any source (combat, quest completion, transmutation) is multiplied by three (3x).
Effect 3: Enhanced Potential: Stat points gained per Level Up are multiplied by three (3x), granting 15 points per level instead of the standard 5. (Note: This multiplier increases significantly at higher level thresholds.)
Utility: Veil of the Novice: You may choose to display a Level lower than your actual Level to other players.
Kael stared. Then he read it again. And again.
Transmuted? All items? All currency? Into EXP?
His heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage. 3x EXP gain was insane. 15 stat points per level? That was game-breaking! He could level faster than anyone, become incredibly powerful incredibly quickly…
But… no items? Ever? No swords, no armor, no potions, no gold? How could you even play like that? Every MMO revolved around loot, gear progression, and the economy. This skill… it was monstrously powerful, yet cripplingly restrictive. A double-edged sword forged in the heart of a paradox.
Character Finalized. Proceeding to Starting Zone: Whispering Glade.
Before Kael could fully process the implications, the world dissolved and reformed.
Sunlight streamed through the canopy of ancient, emerald-leafed trees. Wildflowers dotted the lush grass, and the air hummed with the gentle buzz of unseen insects and distant birdsong. It was beautiful, impossibly vibrant. He felt a light breeze on his virtual skin, smelled the faint scent of damp earth and pollen.
Kael took a moment, letting his senses adjust to the overwhelming virtual reality. Instinctively, like any gamer entering a new world, he called up his status window. It shimmered into existence before him:
Name: Kael
Level: 1
Class: Novice
HP: 100/100
MP: 20/20
Stats:
Strength (STR): 10
Dexterity (DEX): 10
Vitality (VIT): 10
Intelligence (INT): 10
Wisdom (WIS): 10
Stat Points Available: 0
A perfectly average baseline. Every player started here, a blank slate upon which to build their legend. Or, in Kael's case, a baseline that was about to become irrelevant very, very quickly.
He looked down at himself. He was wearing simple, coarse-spun trousers, a basic linen tunic, and flimsy sandals – standard starting gear. In his hand, a short, crudely made wooden staff had appeared. Inventory check. Yes, the clothes and the staff were listed.
Bzzzzzt.
A faint purple light enveloped his entire body for a split second. He felt a strange sensation, like warmth flowing inwards. Simultaneously, system messages flooded his vision:
[System]: Starter Tunic detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +50 EXP!
[System]: Starter Trousers detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +45 EXP!
[System]: Starter Sandals detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +30 EXP!
[System]: Crude Wooden Staff detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +75 EXP!
[System]: Total EXP Gain from Transmutation: 200 EXP.
Applying 3x Multiplier... +600 EXP!
[System]: Congratulations! You have reached Level 2! +15 Stat Points available. Health and Mana fully restored.
[System]: Congratulations! You have reached Level 3! +15 Stat Points available. Health and Mana fully restored.
Kael stood there, blinking in the dappled sunlight. He was barefoot and clad only in the game's default grey undergarments. His inventory was completely empty.
But his EXP bar, previously empty at Level 1, was now sitting healthily filled at Level 3. Thirty stat points blinked, waiting for allocation. The instant level-ups had fully healed whatever minor transition strain he might have felt, topping off his now slightly larger HP and MP pools.
He stared at his empty hands, then back towards the serene glade. A tiny, low-level creature, something like a large, iridescent beetle, scuttled out from under a bush nearby. Instinctively, Kael took a step back. He had no weapon. No armor. Nothing.
Other players were starting to appear now, spawning into the glade with confused or excited expressions, checking their own starter gear and likely their own identical starting stats. A few glanced his way, did a double-take at his near-naked state, and quickly looked away, some with muffled snickers.
Useless. The word tried to surface again, but this time, something else pushed back. The sheer rush of gaining two levels in seconds, the tangible feeling of potential represented by those 30 stat points… it was intoxicating.
He was vulnerable, yes. Ridiculously so. He couldn't trade, couldn't pick up loot, couldn't even complete the most basic "collect 5 wolf pelts" quest. He was destined to be perpetually poor and gearless in a world built on acquiring both.
But he would be powerful. His stats would skyrocket. His level would outpace everyone. He just needed to figure out how to survive long enough to leverage it.
Kael clenched his empty fists, the faint haptic feedback grounding him. This wasn't reality. This was Genesis. And here, maybe, just maybe, being an EXP Glutton wasn't useless at all. It was a challenge. A brutal, solitary path, but his path.
He looked at the iridescent beetle again. It had stopped, waving its antennae curiously. Kael took a deep breath and focused. He had 30 stat points. Hand-to-hand combat, the concept said. He dumped all 30 points straight into Strength. His STR value instantly jumped from the base 10 to 40 on his status screen.
Time to see what raw power, stripped bare, could really do. His journey had begun.