Liam was focused on kiting the Red-Eyed Hares when a commotion broke out nearby.
"Look at that guy! He's cleared an entire spawn point by himself!"
"Wait, look at his damage. He was hitting for 8 a minute ago, now it's over 30?!"
"Is he cheating? Report him!"
A group of new players gathered at a distance, pointing and whispering. Liam frowned but ignored them. He knew these low-level zones would soon be swarmed; every second was a resource he couldn't waste.
Suddenly, a golden system notification streaked across the sky of the entire server:
[World Announcement: Congratulations to player "Snow Emperor" for being the first to complete the Starter Outpost hidden achievement: "The Vow of Ten Thousand Eyes"!] [Rewards: Special Passive Skill: Eagle's Gaze, 1,000 Credits, and 1x Rare Equipment Chest!]
The zone erupted.
"What? Ten Thousand Eyes? I didn't even know that was a quest!"
"Is he a beta tester? That's insane!"
"Rare gear on day one? The game just launched!"
Liam remained calm. This was a secret he had stumbled upon in his past life—turning in 10,000 Red Eyes instead of the standard 100 triggered a hidden achievement. In his previous timeline, an EU player hadn't discovered this until three months after launch. By then, Liam had long since missed the boat.
He opened his inventory and claimed the rewards.
Eagle's Gaze (Passive, 1-Star) Effect: Increases basic attack range by 5%. Proficiency: 0/5,000 (Note: Can be leveled up. Max rank grants +50% attack range.)
"Perfect," Liam murmured. Combined with the infinite scaling of Hand of Divine Retribution, long-range suppression would be his core strategy.
Next, he cracked open the Rare Chest.
[Ding! You have obtained: Hunter's Greaves (Rare).]
+8 Movement Speed
+2% Attack Speed
Special Effect: Movement Speed +5% for 5 seconds after a kill.
While the stats weren't world-shaking, for a Level 1 player, they were god-tier. Liam equipped them immediately. His Movement Speed jumped from 3.1 to 3.9, and his attack rhythm felt noticeably smoother.
Just as he was about to move to a higher-level zone, his comm-unit vibrated violently. It was Marcus Vance, the leader of the Dreamchaser Guildhouse.
"Liam, are you still in-game?" Marcus's voice was frantic. "The company just called. We have a problem."
Liam's heart sank. "What happened?"
"You took a leave of absence to take Willow for her check-up today, remember? Well, Human Resources did a spot check. You weren't at home, and there's no record of you at the Medical Center... They've marked you as AWOL. HR is initiating the termination process right now!"
Liam froze. He had forgotten. In his rush to rewrite his fate in the Nexus, he had ignored the harsh reality of 2032.
In the real world, he was just a low-level data entry clerk for Stellar Logistics Corp, earning a meager 3,000 credits a month. It was the only income he and Willow had. If he were fired now, he wouldn't even be able to pay next month's rent, let alone the surgery.
"Dammit..." Liam hissed, clenching his jaw.
"Marcus, stall them for one day. I'm going to handle this from inside," Liam said, his voice dropping an octave.
"Handle it from inside? Liam, what are you talking about? You can't fake a medical record with a video game!"
Liam's eyes flashed with resolve. "I'm going to use the Nexus to overwrite my reality."
He remembered a mechanic from his past life: The Genesis Trial. It was a limited-time event on launch day. The first 100 players to pass would gain a "Real-World Credit Anchor"—a legal status protected by the Galactic Federation that allowed in-game achievements to be converted into high-tier social credit and real currency.
"Chubby!" Liam messaged Ben. "Find the coordinates for the Genesis Trial entrance!"
"What? That's a myth! They say it's at the Void Altar in Astralis Prime, the central hub city. But nobody knows how to trigger it!"
"I know how," Liam interrupted. "You use the Vow of Ten Thousand Eyes badge."
It was a tip he'd seen in a discarded forum post years ago. At the time, no one believed it. Now, it was his only gamble.
"You're crazy! Astralis Prime is a high-level hub! You're Level 2—you won't survive the trip!"
"Watch me," Liam said, looking toward the horizon.
He pulled up his map, locking his sights on a shortcut marked as the Death Chasm. This route was designed for Level 30 players due to the density of Elite mobs. But Liam was different. His HP had already stacked to 420—triple that of a normal player—and his True Damage ignored armor.
"If my micro is perfect, I can make it."
He left Ben with one instruction: "Watch Willow's room. Alert me the second anything changes."
Three hours later.
While most players were still struggling to kill hares, a blood-soaked Liam stood before the Void Altar in the heart of Astralis Prime. His HP was down to 17, but his eyes were like daggers.
He placed the achievement badge onto the altar. A pillar of radiant light erupted, piercing the digital sky!
[System Notification: Unique Achievement Holder "Snow Emperor" detected. Genesis Trial activated.] [Countdown: 23:59:59...]
Meanwhile, in the real world, an HR supervisor at Stellar Logistics was about to hit "Submit" on Liam's termination papers. Suddenly, his terminal flashed red with an alert from the Galactic Credit Authority:
[EMERGENCY NOTICE: Employee ID #7342-Liam Stormrider has been granted "Real-World Credit Anchor (Tier-1)". Personal credit rating temporarily elevated to S-Rank.] [Recommendation: Suspend all adverse personnel actions until the Anchor Period concludes.]
The supervisor stared at the screen, his jaw dropping. "S-Rank credit? That's... that's reserved for High Councilors and Senior AI Engineers."
With trembling hands, he deleted the termination file.
Inside the trial entrance, Liam stood alone in the dark, whispering to the void.
"Willow, wait for me. This time, I'm not just saving you. I'm going to make the whole galaxy remember the name Snow Emperor."