1 1. Realm of immortals

Inside a grand plaza which was lit with neon lights, there was noisy chatter everywhere as people talked about the most trending topic nowadays, 'Realm of Immortals'.

"Yo, I just started playing and I managed to get to the Spirit intern level in one week!" A guy wearing a plain black hoodie said as he conversed with his friend.

"That's really great, Frey. You should at least have a spirit or heaven grade physique to do that." The blonde guy beside him said with a smile.

"Hehe. I have a heaven grade one." Frey smiled as he puffed his chest out in pride.

"I'm going to join a sect tomorrow, I'm so excited."

"Let's head home. We should complete some missions together."

"Yeah I'm down for that. It's winter so I don't have school anytime soon."

And so the two guys left the plaza, heading home to play the game which they loved.

A metre from where they stood, a young man with short, black-coloured hair stood. He had been listening to the guys conversation.

His beautiful purple eyes moved towards the counter and he slowly walked towards it.

He was wearing a long black coat while a thick white scarf hung on his neck, covering the lower half of his face.

'I've got a one week break from work. So I guess...' Silas thought as he got to the counter and then ordered the game.

...

It was the world's first full-dive MMO game. After countless trials, the game tech company finally created this game known as 'Realm of immortals' and the entire world changed.

People call it a second world. Everything is life-like, the feeling, the smell, taste, so many things has been said about it.

The game tech used for the full dive was so incomprehensible that other game tech companies tried to copy it and failed.

No one knows how the game was created, and the creators didn't share how they did it to anyone, it's still all a mystery.

...

Silas arrived at a tall building which had many windows and was painted white. He entered into it and navigated his way to the elevator. In his hand was a cube shaped box which contains the gaming device he bought.

He arrived at his room and entered into it. He lived in a small apartment with one room, a kitchen, a toilet and bathroom, and a living room.

It was comfy as it was only him who lived there.

...

Silas laid on his bed as he stared at the helmet for the full-dive and he had mixed feelings looking at it.

'A new world, extremely realistic. Maybe, I can somehow start a virtual life there. I would have no records with the government in there. I would be able to do normal things.' Silas thought with a sigh as he put on the helmet.

The reason he even bought it was because in the game, one can live a whole new life. Another world which is even better than earth.

A world away from crimes like his old one.

Silas tapped the button beside the helmet as per what was said in the tutorial and then he slowly started feeling unconscious and then he opened his eyes forcefully to see himself on a flat, black podium with nothing in the distance except black space and twinkling lights.

"Welcome player, to realm of immortals."

Silas looked back and then saw a small human with little glass like wings on her back which flapped at a great speed. Her hair was white and wavy and then her eyes was a light shade of blue which resembled an ocean.

"What are you?" He asked with a raised brow.

"I introduce players to this world. I'm a fairy guide, and you will now know about how the game works." She said and then began to explain.

____

[Player name: Silas]

[Physique: ???]

[Bloodline: Not awakened]

[Title(s): None]

[Cultivation level: None]

[Qi: 0/0]

[Hp: 10/10]

[Quests - None]

[Techniques - None]

"It's actually not very complicated." Silas nodded as he stared at the orange transparent virtual screen in front of him which showed his current record.

He smiled as he looked at the fairy and she looked at him with a raised brow.

"What?" He asked, looking at the fairy sternly.

"Other players always ask about other stats." She said and Silas looked at the screen with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, its my first time playing games. Is it important?" Silas asked and the fairy shook her head and he nodded as he looked back to the screen.

"Why is physique in question marks?" He asked and the fairy sighed tiredly.

"It could be that your physique would need some requirement to open or the system doesn't recognize it." The fairy said.

"I'm no expert but isn't the system supposed to know everything in this game?" Silas said with a confused expression, raising a brow.

"Yeah, there are some special circumstances whereby some stats would be in question marks. It'll open after you begin cultivating." The fairy explained.

"Here." She threw a small scroll at Silas and he caught it in his hand.

[You have acquired 'Basic Qi gathering technique.']

"So with that, you will be able to unlock your cultivation and embark on your great journey. But remember, this world only favours the strong. So get strong if you want something." The fairy said and then the surroundings began to dim and fade away and Silas smiled.

...

Silas appeared in a vast, open space between two sea of trees. In front of him was a straight road that lead to a massive wall that spread both sides. Silas couldn't see the end.

'Amazing. It feels just like the real world.' Silas said as he looked at himself. He was wearing an ordinary black top and trousers looking like a ninja and as for his face, he looked pretty much the same as back on earth.

'Realm of Immortals, it put every other game company out of business.' Silas thought while shaking his head.

With the sudden rise of the game, all other companies have tried to decipher the method used for the full-dive technology but they couldn't.

Silas sat in front of a tree as he looked at his hand and saw the technique the fairy gave to him.

[Basic qi gathering technique]

[Absorb 1 point of Qi every second.]

A screen appeared over the scroll and as soon as he opened it the screen vanished.

'What language is this?' Silas said as he looked at the foreign, mystical symbols on the scroll.

He began to look at each of the symbols, trying to understand them.

A while later he was surprised as the symbols were finally making sense. With each set he could visualize an image and a particular feeling would spark inside his body.

'This is amazing. First set is calm, second set is true to one's self, third set is focus.' Silas dropped the scroll as he crossed his legs and sat in a meditation position.

He breathed out as he began to focus around him. He saw little blue specks of light all around him while he closed his eyes and he smiled.

'Must be Qi. Now to absorb them...' Silas focused and then the speckles of light suddenly flew away from around him.

'What? What's going on?' Silas thought as he tried to absorb Qi again but the energy seemed to run away from him.

He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.

"Fairy. Fairy..." He called out but the fairy didn't show up.

"This isn't working, let me go to the..." Silas kept quiet as he heard struggling and growling from within the forest and he entered deeper and soon, he emerged into a small spacer to see three people wearing black stylish robes fighting a giant ape like creature.

The people wore robes with the symbol of a full moon behind them and Silas guessed that they were part of a school... Or police.

They were one boy and two girls. The boy held a long sword in his hand and the girl held a thinner sword.

The boy had long hair which was tied in a ponytail, his face was spotless and his dark coloured pupils and his cold face made him very cool. He held a long sword which had a black blade and the symbol of a moon on it's hilt.

The lady beside him has long hair with the same style as his but she had bangs in front of her face. Her clear blue eyes and beautiful face and body added to her beauty and Silas shook his head as they won't find a beauty like this in earth.

The boy and the girl dashed forward towards the ape. The girl behind them had short, curly brown hair and held a small, straight stick in her hand as her brown green eyes gazed at the monster with quite the seriousness.

The creature was a while ten feet tall. It's body looked to be made out of rocks and lines on it's body made it seem like it was filled with lava.

It emanated a pressuring aura that made it not easy to stand and Silas kneeled as he began sweating

'Such pressure!' Silas gritted his teeth.

The boy and the girl that wanted to charge forward looked at each other and nodded and a white aura surrounded their body making the air heavier for Silas and they charged forward.

The ape creature roared loudly as it leapt towards them.

It happened in the blink of an eye. The apes arms were like cyclones as they blurred, making him unable to discern it's movements and pattern.

'This is amazing!' Silas got excited as he watched the battle which he wasn't able to see.

The girl with a small stick seemed like she knew what she was doing as she stared at the battle going on.

The movement of her pupils stunned Silas and he was surprised as she could see everything.

She suddenly pointed her stick towards the ape which tried to hit the boy and the girl. They seemed to target it's back but the creature always block their attacks.

The brown haired girl suddenly started to wave the stick in the air, weaving symbols, lines, and everything came into a small circle which glowed white.

'She just drew lines out of thin air!!' Silas was surprised.

She waved her short stick and the circle appeared on the ground where a fight was taking place. The guy and the girl fighting noticed and jumped back, over the circle and the creature stepped on it as it chased them. The circle suddenly expanded widely, covering it and it froze before it could move another step.

All of a sudden, chains made out of a white light shot out of the circle and then it pinned the ape, forcing it to the ground.

Silas watched the group of people cut a white stone out of the creature's chest and he was shocked when the creature suddenly turned into a pile of hot rocks like the glue holding it together was removed.

"That's amazing." Silas mumbled with a smile and then he hopped out of the bush towards the individuals ahead.

"I'm taking the golem essence." The boy said with a gold tone.

"You can have the core Trisha, I need the parts to make an artifact." The girl with black hair said as she gave the brown haired girl a fist-sized golden stone.

"Hey, are you guys players?"

The trio turned around and then they looked at Silas from head to toe. The girl with black hair suddenly frowned.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked, quite angry at Silas' behavior.

"I'm... Seeing if we can go to the big city nearby, together." Silas said and in the blink of an eye he felt himself on the ground.

"What--"

"Bang!!*

Silas released a large amount of air from his mouth as he felt a terrifying and painful blow to his stomach and he suddenly felt a pain unlike any other as he was sent crashing into a tree.

But the tree didn't break.

"Tsk. You should know your place. Now bow properly." The girl said as she walked closer to Silas.

"W... Why would I... do that?" Silas struggled to talk and then he raised his head to look at the girl's face.

'I'll kill you for that.' Silas frowned.

*Pa!*

*Bang!!*

Silas recieved a slap at a quick speed and his head was half buried into the ground.

"Seems like you haven't learned your lesson." The girl raised her fist as she saw Silas remove his head from the ground.

"Veronika!! It's ok. We have to be back at the sect before nightfall." Trisha, the brown haired girl said and then Veronika stood up and gritted her teeth at Silas who was writhing in pain on the ground.

"You're lucky, mortal." Veronica said and then walked towards the main road.

The guy too looked at Kyle with a cold gaze before he and Trisha followed behind Veronika.

Trisha looked back to Silas and seeing him hurt for talking to them pains her and she had a sad face as she went back to the empire.

Silas soon recovered and he felt his body severely damaged.

[You have 2 hp left]

Silas looked at the screen in front of him and then he sighed tiredly.

"So this is how this game is." He gazed at the bright sky before he gritted his teeth. "I hate it."