Yun Qing stepped out of the cramped apartment into the bustling beginner district of Eclipse Realm. The VR world felt impossibly real — warm sunlight on his skin, the chatter of hundreds of new players, the faint scent of street food stalls. His cheap starter clothes marked him instantly as a Level 1 nobody.
A group of loud players nearby laughed as they checked the public leaderboard.
"Look at that — still the same trash account from yesterday. 'Yun Qing'. All stats F-rank. Bet he dies to the first slime."
Yun Qing ignored them, his sharp eyes scanning the tutorial quests. In his past life, he had breezed through this zone in minutes. Now the system confirmed his weakness:
[Current Stats]
Strength: F
Agility: F
Perception: F
Class: Void Shadow (Hidden) — Locked until first combat.
He accepted the simplest quest: "Clear 10 Slimes in the Beginner Forest."
As he entered the lush forest edge, a group of five Level 3 players were already farming. One of them, a burly warrior-type, sneered when he saw Yun Qing.
"Hey noob, this spot's taken. Go find your own slimes or we'll PK you for fun."
Yun Qing's lips curved faintly. In his old life, people who talked like that usually ended up dead before they finished the sentence. Here, he had no weapons yet — just a dull starter dagger.
He moved anyway.
A green slime bounced toward him, its body jiggling. To the others, it looked like a weak, cartoonish enemy.
To Yun Qing, it was prey.
He sidestepped with unnatural smoothness — muscle memory from years of dodging real bullets kicking in. The slime's acid spit missed by inches. In one fluid motion, he drove the dagger into its core at the exact weak point he remembered from before.
Critical Hit!
The slime burst into pixels with a single strike.
[You have killed a Beginner Slime. EXP +10]
[Void Shadow passive activated: Shadow Step — brief invisibility in low light. Cooldown: 30 seconds]
The group of players froze.
"One hit? Lucky shot," the warrior scoffed, but his voice wavered.
Yun Qing didn't reply. He melted into the dappled shadows between trees, his form blurring for a split second. Another slime — then two more. Each kill was precise, almost elegant. No wasted movement. No panic. Just cold efficiency.
Within minutes, ten slimes lay dead. The quest completed with a soft chime.
[Quest Complete. Reward: 50 Copper, Basic Dagger Upgrade]
He equipped the slightly sharper blade, feeling the familiar weight in his hand. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
A notification popped up unexpectedly.
[System Side Mission: Eliminate the Hidden Elite Mob "Shadow Lurker" in the forest without alerting other players. Reward: Rare Skill Fragment + 500 EXP]
Yun Qing's eyes gleamed. This was the kind of hidden trigger only top players knew about in his previous life.
He slipped deeper into the woods, silent as a ghost.
Behind him, the warrior-type player whispered to his friends, "That guy… his movements were weird. Like he knew exactly where to strike. Should we follow him?"
They trailed at a distance.
Yun Qing found the Shadow Lurker — a larger, darker slime variant hiding in a shaded grove, far stronger than normal for beginners. Its level? 8. Deadly if swarmed.
He didn't hesitate.
Activating the brief Shadow Step, he vanished from sight and struck from behind with a perfect throat — or core — slice. The elite mob didn't even get a chance to scream before it shattered.
[Hidden Elite Defeated!]
[You gain 500 EXP. Level Up! You are now Level 3.]
[Void Shadow Fragment acquired: Shadow Burst (Active skill — short-range explosive shadow damage)]
The trailing players burst into the clearing just in time to see the elite's loot drop and Yun Qing calmly picking it up.
Their jaws dropped.
"No way… a noob just soloed that?"
Yun Qing turned, his fox-like eyes calm but carrying a dangerous glint. He pocketed the loot without a word and walked past them.
As he left the forest, a new notification appeared — this time from the global chat, visible only to high-ranking players who happened to be browsing beginner zones for fun.
[Player "Ice Emperor" has entered the Beginner Forest zone.]
Yun Qing paused. The name rang a bell even in his new life. The aloof captain of Frostbite, currently ranked #1 on the server leaderboard. A legend who rarely bothered with low-level areas.
Why was he here?
Before Yun Qing could think further, a tall figure in sleek silver-and-black gear stepped out from the trees ahead. Cold silver-gray eyes swept over the area, then landed directly on the slender black-haired rookie holding elite loot.
Ling Feng — the Ice Emperor — tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable.
"Interesting movements for a Level 3 noob."
His voice was low, calm, and carried natural authority.
Yun Qing met his gaze without flinching. Something electric passed between them — curiosity on one side, guarded wariness on the other.
For the first time since rebirth, Yun Qing felt a spark of genuine interest.
This man might actually be worth watching.