Chapter One: Sword Art Online

“Damn it, this is the end,” Li Ren thought to himself as the skeletal monster before him raised a massive axe, bringing it down toward his head with terrifying speed and force. The sheer power radiating from the axe made it clear that his short sword was utterly incapable of blocking such a blow—not that he had the strength to parry an axe that seemed to howl through the air. The moment sword met axe, his weapon was flung aside by an overwhelming force, and the axe crashed heavily into Li Ren’s body, spilling a torrent of hot, crimson blood. In the final seconds before his consciousness faded completely, Li Ren cursed this accursed game a few more times, and then he knew nothing more.

This was the final boss on the ninety-third floor of the great floating city of Aincrad. As a lone swordsman, he had relied upon unmatched skill, sharp awareness, and a touch of elusive luck to reach this threshold—so close to the pinnacle, so near to escaping the game. Yet here, he met his end. The boss was monstrously powerful, but what unsettled him most was that it didn’t feel like a mere boss anymore; there was something about it, something he couldn’t quite grasp or explain.

He was trapped in a game world more terrifying than reality itself. Li Ren had been drawn into this brutal world—Sword Art Online—by sheer accident. Upon entering, the system promptly informed him that death in the game meant real death in the waking world. He’d considered his state-of-the-art gaming pod—one he’d purchased himself—certain it couldn’t be faulty. At first, he scoffed at the system’s warning, but the system seemed to anticipate his skepticism.

"Here is the list of players who have died in this world and the corresponding news from reality." Without exception, all those listed had died from sudden, inexplicable brain failure in the past two days. What chilled him further was that every victim had been found in their gaming pods, with no warning signs at all—and among them was someone he’d met at the very start of the game.

Li Ren compared the names one by one, growing ever more alarmed. Who could have guessed that this damned game was the cause of their demise?

Upon learning this, he tried desperately to log out, only to find that the option no longer existed in this immersive world. There was no way to escape, even knowing his body lay inert in the pod. He was trapped. Yet, this was also an advantage of such a device: it let you truly experience another world.

Damn it!

In the real world, Li Ren’s gaming pod remained motionless. A handsome young man lay quietly inside. His home was sparsely furnished, the pod itself dominating the space. All basic necessities were present, but the place was so large that it felt oppressively empty.

He recalled only fragments of his childhood—the kindly old butler who had raised him, a man he saw as a grandfather. When the gentle old man passed away, Li Ren was left alone.

He knew nothing of his parents, only that he possessed a sizable inheritance. As he grew older, the mystery of his parents faded from his heart. Life became monotonous and meaningless. After his grandfather’s passing, his only solace was the latest, most advanced gaming pod.

Suddenly, the stillness of the pod was broken by a faint tremor. Blue sparks crackled across its surface, twisting and writhing in the air until they formed the visage of a terrifying human face. The eyes, composed of electricity, flickered as if contemplating something.

Moments later, this monstrous face plunged straight into the pod, merging with Li Ren’s body in a flash and a wisp of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Li Ren was gone.

“System rebooting. Self-diagnostics initiated. Unknown energy detected. Scanning… in accordance with Classified Protocol 10025480, docking complete. Preparing for login…” An inhuman, mechanical voice echoed in the darkness. In an instant, the scene shifted. Now, it was a vast mountain range—immense and foreboding. The vision soon swept to a particular peak, where countless skeletons wandered aimlessly, upright and unceasing.

A bolt of lightning suddenly split the sky, striking one hapless skeleton. The energy was intense; the poor creature was blasted to the ground, smoke curling from its bones, unable to rise. It lay sprawled and motionless, while the other skeletons continued their meandering, oblivious to the incident. At least none stepped on him—a small mercy.

When Li Ren regained consciousness, this was his predicament. His body ached with numbness, as if he had been struck by lightning. Well, he actually knew what that felt like—he had an incident as a child.

He had been playing with water during a bath, flinging droplets everywhere. Spotting an electrical outlet, he splashed water toward it for fun. The outlet had a protective cover, but dissatisfied, he opened it and flicked water inside. Instantly, a jolt of electricity shot through his hand, and he collapsed, stunned. That fleeting sensation had stayed with him ever since.

“Damn, was I struck by lightning again?” Li Ren wondered. But the more he pieced things together, the less sense it made. His mind, groggy at first, slowly recalled the events: he should have been killed by the skeletal boss in Sword Art Online. Why the lightning? Did that boss have an electric attribute?

He opened his eyes and looked around. “Holy hell! Why are there so many skeleton monsters?!” He jerked upright in panic, only to discover something even more unsettling.

“My legs—my hands—ah! What the hell is this?!” His startled shout drew the attention of every skeleton on the mountaintop, their cold, red-lit eyes snuffing out his cry before it could fully form. When silence returned, the skeletons resumed their restless wandering.

Li Ren looked at his hands and feet, then touched his skull. He understood: he had become a skeleton soldier himself.

“This is too much—wait, something’s not right.” Sitting on the ground, he summoned the familiar game menu. To his confusion, it showed quite plainly that he was no longer in the world of Sword Art Online, but in a new realm called the Land of the Gods.

He found this strange, but considering he should have been dead, he was oddly relieved. Becoming a skeleton wasn’t the worst outcome, after all.

But what the hell was with these attributes?! Li Ren clenched his fists—surprisingly smoothly—and pounded the ground in frustration. With a clatter, his fist broke off, sending him into a panic. He quickly retrieved the lost bone and reattached it, finding that, thankfully, it snapped back into place.

Fortunately, skeletons couldn’t cry. Otherwise, his tears might have flooded the entire mountain, though he had no idea whether skeletons feared water.

Character Name: None
Race: Skeleton
Attributes: HP 100/100, MP 100/100, Strength (1), Intelligence (1), Constitution (1), Agility (1), Bone Structure (999), Luck (-10)
Class: Skeleton Grunt
Hidden Attributes: Free Advancement, Absorption (Level 0), ???

“For heaven’s sake, I’m a skeleton and all my stats are ones! That boss who killed me had monstrous attributes and skills—how am I supposed to kill anything with this pathetic body?” Li Ren sighed. Normal human characters started with attributes near ten; anything lower was rare, and all ones were beyond pitiful.

And the bone structure—999—well, of course! As a skeleton, his entire body was nothing but bones, flexible and interchangeable. As for the negative ten luck, a footnote read: "This species is accursed." The hidden attributes were shrouded in question marks, offering no further explanation—something to be discovered, perhaps.

“Well, I might as well take a look around. We’re all skeletons here; no one’s going to bully me.” With that, Li Ren stood, shaking his frame and marveling at the crisp, light feeling of being all bone. “Maybe being a skeleton isn’t so bad.”

He hadn’t walked far before the ground beneath his left foot suddenly gave way. He tumbled forward, landing face-first. Twisting around, he saw his left foot sunk deep into a fresh pit. He hurriedly reattached it, muttering curses. Clearly, the other skeletons had no trouble passing, but as soon as he walked by, disaster struck. His negative luck was working overtime.

Damn negative ten! He wasn’t a lancer—why was he so unlucky?

At least a lancer got an E ranking; he was in the negatives! Was there anyone worse off?

No matter how much he grumbled, his luck remained at minus ten. With a heavy sigh, he collected his scattered bones and trudged onward, facing an uncertain future.