"Argh…" A muffled groan escaped as Zain's eyes slowly opened.
Light hit his face, and he squinted. It took him a few moments to process what had happened. Clear blue skies stretched out before him, birds flew gracefully, and a cool wind blew, instantly relaxing him.
His legs were crossed as he lay on a patch of grass, a familiar sweet taste of a blade of grass lingering between his lips.
"Is this… paradise?" Zain muttered with comfort.
"Agahssg!" Just then, a beast's roar shattered his moment of peace. Zain's eyes widened as dozens of small foxes with dark patches on their fur lunged at him.
One of the stronger early mobs… yet even though these foxes were less than seventy centimeters tall, attacking him relentlessly, he barely felt a thing.
His eyes involuntarily flicked to the pop-up stats from the system.
His peaceful vibe shattered, his face twitching slightly.
"Fucked-up talent…" Zain muttered, slowly closing his eyes again.
Actually, Zain wasn't on Earth at least not the Earth he knew. As a modern man, he had lived an average life: watching movies, going to work, eating, reading interesting mangas, and endlessly scrolling the internet but everything changed when he fell asleep and woke up here.
This was a game-like world called "Oris."
Humans logged into it as players, while the real world had been corrupted by something and it's slowly dying. To survive, humans had to grow stronger here and fight back. At certain levels, they gained the ability to purify the planet, prolonging humanity's survival.
Oris was dangerous, filled with terrifying creatures, prominent races with long lineages, and humans sitting at the bottom of the pyramid.
Once a being logged in, they randomly received a talent that determined how high and strong they could grow.
Known talent ranks ranged from F to SSS, but Zain, a transmigrator, gained a terrifying God-Level talent, two tiers above the usual SSS level.
Talent: Absolute Defense (God-Level)
99.9% of all damage is nullified.
Only 0.1% of attacks can harm the user.
The talent seemed incredible, and Zain thought he had hit the jackpot. Who knew this "amazing" talent came with a terrible catch? His attack power was zero… no, worse.... it was negative.
Stats:
Host: Zain
Level: 0
Attack Power: -1
Reaction Ability: 1
Defense: 99.9%
Skills: None
Title: Walking Turtle
"I have the worst luck among transmigrators… I should die," Zain muttered, his eyes red as he sighed. He had been in this world for three days and had already learned a few things.
Players could only return to the real world every five days. The stronger a player was, the longer they could stay in Oris.
Curious, Zain wondered what had corrupted the real world. Nuclear war? Some global catastrophe? Or an unknown mystery?
He had picked up snippets from the chat channel. For first-timers, hunger and fatigue weren't immediate issues, but subsequent logins required preparation. Zain had to get stronger but with this talent? He cursed his luck. He wished he had received an attack-type talent at SSS rank. At least then he could be praised, earn coins, and prepare for the real world.
Instead, he had a God-Level defensive talent useless for offense and it had trapped him at level 0, stuck in the novice village forever.
"Eh… maybe I'll be an antique, teaching new players… not bad," Zain muttered, forcing a shrug.
He couldn't be sad for long. After all, he had been given a second chance at life. He had died unknowingly in his previous life and now woke up in this world everyone dreamed of entering.
A lot to be grateful for… yet anger bubbled inside him.
"Ahhhh!" Zain shouted, sitting up, rage evident on his face.
The foxes froze, then whimpered and scattered. These monsters had been attacking him for hours, but he remained unharmed. Over time, fear had rooted itself in their minds. Zain's sudden outburst sent them fleeing.
Zain glanced at his tattered clothes. His shirt was full of holes, his trousers torn, and he was barefoot. He had no decent clothes, no equipment, and had yet to kill a single monster. No drops, no coins. Nothing.
"It seems I've come to the end… at just the start," he lamented, opening the one thing keeping him sane these past days: the chat channel.
Thousands of messages flooded the regional feed:
"What was written in the books is true, the world of Oris is magical! I've reached the level 2. My strength, my movement… I feel as light and powerful as a higher being. I wonder how strong those big bosses in the novice village are ."
"Oh yes, I'm part of a small guild, all level 5. We're challenging a dungeon today!"
"Is this really a game-like world? Everything feels so realistic."
"It's been three days, and I still can't believe this is a game-like world. It feels no different from reality."
"Our novice village is huge. How many are we really? The inns are always full, and I've been sleeping on the ground for three days."
"Well, idiot, of course it's crowded! Even as the 54th novice village, there are billions of humans squeezed into less than a thousand villages."
"Can someone help? Even this level-one slime is tough to farm, and experience gains are low."
Zain gave a cursory glance at the chat channel, his heart still slightly shaken, but he couldn't deny the thrill of leveling up, killing monsters, and exploring.
Maybe he was cursed to forever be the Unkillable Level-Zero player.
[Ding! System has been successfully installed.]
[Congratulations! Host has awakened the Death Copy System.]
[Every time the host dies, he gains the skill that killed him and a small buff to prevent dying too quickly from that same attack. Essentially, the host evolves with each death.]
[Newbie gifts have been given. Does the host wish to open them?]
"Fuck!!! Finally… I got a real golden finger!" Zain shouted with his eyes reddened and tears threatening to fall.