A sudden white flash consumed everything.

  For a brief moment, Luna felt as if the world itself had been erased. Sound vanished. Space twisted. A sharp ringing filled her ears, followed by a crushing pressure that made her chest tighten. The air tasted metallic, like biting her tongue.

  Then reality returned.

  Cold air brushed against her skin.

  The scent of damp earth filled her nose.

  The faint bitterness of forest air settled on her tongue.

  Luna stumbled forward.

  She was standing alone in a dense forest.

  Towering trees surrounded her on all sides, their thick trunks stretching endlessly toward a canopy of tangled branches. Only thin beams of sunlight pierced through the leaves, casting long shadows across the ground. The air smelled rich with pine resin, wet bark, and decaying leaves. Each breath tasted slightly bitter, like rainwater mixed with soil.

  She looked around in disbelief.

  “Where… am I?”

  Her voice sounded small in the vast wilderness.

  No mall.

  No people.

  No screams.

  Only the distant chirping of insects and the whisper of wind through leaves.

  Her heart pounded violently as she tried to collect her thoughts. The memories came flooding back — the mall, the portal, the goblins, the blue screen.

  Her hand tightened around the cube she still held.

  Right.

  Player Registration.

  Taking a slow breath to steady herself, she rolled the cube on the ground.

  The cube bounced once against the dirt.

  27.

  A glowing message appeared.

  Archer.

  Luna blinked in surprise but quickly rolled again.

  The cube struck a small rock and spun.

  41.

  Mystic.

  Her Job Class was officially Archer/Mystic.

  A strange excitement stirred within her chest.

  Ding!

  "Please roll the Cube one last time."

  Luna swallowed nervously.

  She rolled the cube again.

  It struck the ground — but no number appeared.

  Instead, the cube went completely dark.

  Then—

  A violent burst of neon green energy exploded outward.

  The sudden force pushed against her face like a powerful gust of wind. The air hummed sharply, releasing a scent like burning electricity mixed with ozone. Luna staggered backward, raising her arm to shield her eyes as glowing particles spiraled into the air.

  The energy swirled slowly, gathering shape.

  She stepped forward cautiously, watching the luminous fragments twist and merge.

  The light began forming a symbol.

  A single letter.

  A.

  The cube had granted an A Rank Title.

  Ding!

  "Title Obtained."

  "Eclipse Archer."

  A blue system window appeared before her.

  Luna stared at it, her face filled with confusion and disbelief.

  “Let me process what just happened in the last fifteen minutes…”

  She pressed her fingers against her temples.

  “We were at the mall. Those goblin-looking monsters crawled out of a portal and started killing people. We were about to die. Then a floating box appeared…”

  She slowly turned, scanning the endless forest.

  “And now I’m standing alone in the middle of the woods, talking to a glowing screen telling me to complete Player Registration.”

  The forest answered with silence.

  A slow breath escaped her lips.

  “Well… to be honest, this beats being surrounded by thousands of panicking people.”

  She shrugged slightly.

  “And it definitely beats being stabbed to death.”

  A faint, nervous smile crossed her face.

  “Hopefully things are different here.”

  A new window appeared.

  Ding!

  Name: Luna Eclipse

  Level: 1

  Race: Human/Player

  Job Class: Archer/Mystic

  Title: Eclipse Archer

  Rank: A

  Stats:

  HP: 120

  MP: 100

  STR: 2

  DEF: 1

  SPD: 1

  INT: 2

  MND: 1

  Passive: Eclipse State

  Her confusion quickly shifted into curiosity.

  Her gamer instincts were awakening.

  “Stats… class… title… passive?”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Is there any way I can read more about my passive?”

  Ding!

  Passive: Eclipse State

  While in shadow, dusk, night, or low light:

  Increased range, critical chance, and armor penetration

  Arrows generate no sound on release

  A grin slowly spread across her face.

  “Ask and you shall receive.”

  She stretched her fingers, excitement replacing fear.

  “Oh yeah… that’s definitely useful.”

  The system window dissolved into glowing particles.

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  Suddenly, the forest felt much quieter.

  Too quiet.

  Exploration

  “Well, standing around won’t help.”

  Luna began walking.

  The ground beneath her boots was soft and damp, occasionally sinking slightly under her weight. The forest smelled overwhelmingly alive — rich vegetation, moist soil, and the faint sweetness of tree sap mixing with the sharp scent of moss. Every breath carried a cool taste, almost like drinking fresh rain.

  As she walked, something caught her attention.

  Black smoke.

  It rose in a thin column above the trees in the distance.

  Her instincts sharpened immediately.

  She moved cautiously toward it, carefully placing each step. Twigs snapped beneath her feet with sharp cracks that echoed loudly in the stillness.

  Soon she found the source.

  An abandoned camp.

  A fire still burned weakly, producing a dry smell of charred wood and ash. The air carried the lingering scent of cooked meat — greasy, stale, and slightly sour.

  Luna immediately hid behind a nearby tree.

  Her breathing slowed.

  Her senses sharpened.

  “Doesn’t look like anyone’s home…”

  She approached slowly, muscles tense, shoulders lowered, every movement deliberate.

  The silence pressed against her ears.

  She slipped inside one of the tents.

  The interior air was warm and stale, heavy with the smell of sweat, leather, and aged wood. Several wooden chests sat near the walls, and a large map covered a table in the center.

  “Man… if I could find a bow and some arrows, that would be perfect.”

  Her eyes suddenly widened.

  “Chests!?”

  Her gamer instincts completely took over.

  Looting

  She opened each chest carefully, hinges creaking softly. Dust filled the air, dry and bitter against her tongue. She placed everything she found onto the table — tools, supplies, unfamiliar materials.

  “There we go.”

  She smiled brightly.

  “What kind of gamer would I be if I walked into someone’s tent and didn’t loot everything?”

  “Now… do I have an inventory or something?”

  Ding!

  An inventory screen appeared.

  “Nice! Internal Inventory? What’s that?”

  Ding!

  Internal Inventory is personal storage that keeps items safe from other players.

  Upon death, stored items may be looted.

  “Interesting… so just don’t die.”

  She began storing everything inside.

  “I’ll organize later.”

  She grabbed the map and left the tent.

  After checking the surroundings, she entered another tent and collected more supplies.

  The third tent made her freeze.

  Weapons.

  Swords. Shields. Daggers.

  “Hah… jackpot.”

  She searched eagerly until she finally found a bow.

  “Finally. And it looks like the only one.”

  The wood felt rough and worn in her hands. The faint scent of treated leather lingered on the grip.

  “It doesn’t look great… but it’s better than nothing.”

  Ding!

  Basic Bow — Level 1, Rank F

  Durability: 70/100

  STR +12

  “No surprise… terrible stats.”

  She shrugged.

  “Still better than fighting barehanded.”

  She grabbed a bag containing sixteen arrows, strapped it over her shoulder, and exited the tent.

  She was about to organize her inventory when—

  Ding!

  There are monsters nearby. The Player must protect herself.

  Her body reacted instantly.

  She lowered her stance and scanned the surroundings.

  Nearby bushes rustled violently.

  She drew an arrow.

  The bowstring tightened against her fingers, vibrating softly. Her breathing slowed, vision narrowing.

  Ding!

  Eclipse State is Active

  A faint green glow wrapped around her arrow.

  Suddenly a goblin burst from the bushes, covered in blood and deep cuts.

  Ding!

  Goblin Lv.1 — HP 12/40 — Status: Bleeding

  Without hesitation—

  She released.

  The arrow flew silently through the air and pierced the goblin’s skull with a wet crack. The creature collapsed instantly, its body twitching before going still. The metallic smell of fresh blood spread across the air.

  Ding!

  Goblin defeated

  +100 XP

  Level Up — Level 2

  Luna lowered her bow slowly.

  “That was… way too easy.”

  She studied the corpse.

  “Why was it running? And why was its stomach cut open?”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Something else attacked it first.”

  A chill ran down her spine.

  Another presence.

  Something stronger.

  As she stood lost in thought, a shadow suddenly appeared beside the goblin’s body.

  Someone had arrived.