Just as the lobby atmosphere had fallen into stunned silence, a voice echoed throughout the white space.
The voice was slightly human… but more of something else. Deep, resonant, layered with an unnatural reverb that made the air itself feel colder, like a whisper from the bottom of a grave.
"Hi guys. What do you think about my outfit? Is it good?"
Gulp.
Gulp.
Glk…
Hearing this voice, every player inside the lobby swallowed hard. Throats tightened. Hearts hammered against ribs. The sound wasn't just heard—it was felt, crawling under the skin.
Slowly, Yash forced words out, voice cracking.
"Ankit… you are really…"
He couldn't finish. The sight alone was too much.
Then Raistar spoke, trying to sound casual but failing—his tone thin with fear.
"Ankit, I hadn't known you preferred this type of outfit… even I'm a little scared, bro."
Other friends chimed in, voices overlapping in nervous, shaky comments.
"Bro… what the hell is that?"
"Dude… you look like you crawled out of hell."
"Is that really you? That eye… can you even watch us?"
"I feel like if I stare too long, my mind's gonna break."
They tried to laugh it off. They failed.
Yash finally managed another question, voice trembling.
"Ankit, when did you create your character? Because the game had just been updated. And you weren't online when I updated it. So how?"
Ether Clone—Ankit—replied calmly, the voice still carrying that demonic undertone, yet somehow still recognizably his.
"The developers gave me early access."
Even though his voice sounded like it belonged to a devil, they tried to familiarize themselves with it. They nodded slowly, clinging to the familiarity of his tone beneath the distortion.
Amit forced a weak grin.
"Wow… previous top player perks."
Then Gyan spoke up, voice hesitant but curious.
"Hey Ankit, if you've already played the game, you should know all the new things. Tell us."
Ether Clone stood motionless, the eye on his head slowly rotating to face Gyan, then sweeping across the group.
"Well… you've already explored the majority of details. Let me tell you some hidden things."
He paused, letting the silence press in.
"First, you saw three modes, right? They all have similar but separate ranks."
"They are:
- Beginner Player
- Intermediate Player
- High Player
- Expert Player
- Master Player
- Grandmaster Player
- Zenith Player
All three modes have these rankings, but they are completely separate.
If you're a Zenith Player in Battle Royale Ranked Mode, it doesn't mean you'll be the same in Team Combat or Training Spectrum. You have to grind each one individually.
And there are no levels anymore. No numbers. Only these seven ranks. And I heard there will be more ranks after Zenith."
Hearing this ranking system, the friends understood something fundamental had shifted.
From now on, they would be recognized by their ranks—not levels.
Not skins.
Not collections.
Then Ankit dropped another bomb, voice still carrying that unnatural echo.
"And there is also a thing: the season of ranks will not change. Means if you achieve Zenith Player rank, your rank will not go down when an update or anything comes. But if you do not increase your rank for more than one month, your rank will slowly decrease."
He paused, letting it sink in.
"For reaching Beginner rank, you will need to get 100 points in that mode. But there is a catch: if you win a match, you receive 2 points. If you lose, you lose 1 point."
"And next rank will need 500 points.
Then 1000 points.
2000 points.
5000 points.
10,000 points.
20,000 points."
When the friends heard this, they couldn't help but speak up, voices overlapping in disbelief.
"So we need to win at least 50 matches consecutively to reach Beginner rank in the shortest time possible."
"And this is just Beginner rank. There are more."
"Well… the game just got more interesting. Can't wait to play."
Suddenly Ankit spoke again.
"Yeah, one more thing. The server is connected to the whole world. Any nation's player can join our game. And there is also an AI translation tool that will enable us to understand their languages easily."
Rajesh, one of the friends, widened his eyes.
"Wow, it's like that now? This means we can talk with people around the world. That's amazing. Ankit, is there anything more?"
The other friends perked up their ears, leaning in, wondering if there were more changes.
Ankit nodded his head—his single white cloud eye rotating slowly as he did.
"I should also tell you: currently, the place you are in is Yash's player lobby. If he wants, he can kick you out of here. And you can do the same in your own lobby."
"You can also customize your own lobby with items from the store."
"And same as the player lobby, there is also a sect lobby where sect members can gather. Both lobbies have no limit on the number of people you can invite. But the sect lobby only accommodates sect members. Sect leaders and elders can customize the sect lobby."