---Viktor's POV---

  I watched ily as the threads of light on the glowing orb stood on end, reminding me distinctly of a nervous schoolchild being called on in css, trembling before their teacher.

  "I... I am a divine fragment who..." The orb's light flickered erratically. "Who rebelled against... no, who chose to... or was it..."

  Pathetic. I watched as it struggled t even basiteogether.

  "The Great Divine War led to... or maybe it started with..." The orb's glow dimmed further. "There was definitely a betrayal involved... I think?"

  Each attempted expnation was more nonsensical tha. The orb's voice grew smaller with each failure, until it was barely more than a whisper.

  "Something about the gods' fa wanting to... or was that the other side?"

  I could almost feel sedhand embarrassment from watg its pitiful performance. Here posedly divine being, reduced to mumbling half-formed thoughts like a student who hadn't studied for their presentation.

  "They don't even uand what I say, so why should I have to memorize this stuff?" the glowing orb muttered, its tone g any real vi.

  This was true, after all—there was no shared nguage between the worlds of Earth aia. Only I could bridge the gap in unicatioweewo sides, ag as the necessary mediator.

  I had oablished a mental imprint with Edgar, carefully enabling him to uand what the pyers said as long as he remained within a certain range of me.

  Although I had also signed a tract with the glowing orb, I didn't trust it o. I had never eveiohe cept of a mental imprint, making it painfully obvious that I was guarding against it.

  I suddenly leaned in close, my skeletal face mere inches from the orb as I spoke in a dangerous, threatening tone, "Oh? So you didn't remember anything at all?"

  "I-I mean... that is..."

  The glowing orb jolted jolted in absolute fright at the sudden proximity of my skull, instinctively shooting several meters backward before ing to a shaky, unsteady stop. It clutched its metaphorical heart, looking as though it had narrowly escaped the Grim Reaper himself.

  But refleg deeply on the events of the past few days, the orb seemed to e to a bold clusion: I appeared hesitant to asd to godhood directly, yet clearly pced great value on the power of divine essence.

  This meant that, as a self-aware divine fragment, it was absolutely critical to me.

  Even though its life was in my hands, it seemed to believe I wouldn't dare make any reckless moves.

  "Anyway, I 't even make out what they're saying. When it happens, I'll just act like I never heard anything. Isn't that what you said?"

  I had indeed instructed Edgar to ighe pyers' occasional outbursts, and this rule naturally applied to the glowing orb as well. However, sihe orb couldn't uand anything to begin with, it vely didn't have to respond at all.

  Perfect for it.

  Its tiny green eyes darted toward me now and then, eagerly awaiting my rea with growing anticipation.

  But I simply lost i entirely, abruptly returning to my inal position without sparing it so much as a passing gnce.

  Edgar gnced carefully at me, then at the glowing orb, which seemed momentarily dumbfounded by my response.

  "You're just going to ig now?" he asked in an even, pletely detached tone.

  I casually pulled out a pitch-bck mage robe from my ste spad began putting it on as I replied with indifference, "No need. Like it said, it doesn't uand anything. Let it stay quiet and act as a mascot."

  I spoke lightly, but Edgar uood perfectly that this statement effectively severed any possibility of the glowing orb unig with the pyers.

  From Edgar's perspective, this should be a wele oute. Divine fragments were ily dangerous, and keeping the orb as a passive tool minimized potential risks signifitly.

  After a brief pause, he remained silent, no further obje to my decision.

  ---Logan's POV---

  Ding ding ding!

  Smack!

  I groggily crawled out of bed and checked my phoh bleary eyes. "Crap! It's 7:50 AM. Why did I set my arm for 8:00?"

  Muttering to myself in frustration, I tossed my phone aside and flopped bato my bed heavily.

  Five mier, I bolted upright suddenly.

  "Wait a mioday's the unch of the icles of Aeltia beta test!"

  Snatg up the clothes on my bed hurriedly, I jumped over to my gamiup in just a few excited strides.

  Sitting in the middle of my puter and gaming peripherals was a sleek, futuristic silver-and-bck helmet—the gaming headset I'd received just yesterday.

  Thanks to my enthusiastic friend "ProGamer_Daddy" verifying its safety thhly, I felt pletely fident in using it. My excitement for the game was at an absolute all-time high.

  Acc to his detailed expnation, the back of the headset tained an indecipherable core ehat likely tied into the game's eics.

  I could hardly tain my anticipation. If the game pany had goo such extraordinary lengths to ensure secrecy, the game had to be something truly extraordinary.

  And it was too te for sed thoughts anyway.

  Pg the helmet carefully on my head, I was greeted by a tdown on the dark s before my eyes.

  Three minutes remained until unch.

  [e initializing. Please remain still.]

  "Phew! Barely made it!"

  I sighed deeply in relief and watched eagerly as the timer ticked down sed by sed.

  Finally, the tdown hit zero.

  And then…

  A faint but distinct su sensation emanated from the bay head, before everythi bbsp;

  Out of nowhere, I was lying on something cold and hard.

  Opening my eyes slowly, I saw a white cathedral ceiling t above me. A strange st, both bloody and herbal, wafted to my nose uedly.

  "Did I just… transmigrate? No, wait—I'm in the game, right?!"

  Disbelievingly, I sat up and looked down at my hands in wonder.

  The light! The texture! The smell! The sensation!

  This was exactly what I had always dreamed of in a virtual reality game.

  Caressing my own hands in amazement, I was so pletely overwhelmed that I began to cry untrolbly. "Waaaah! A real VR game! Finally!"

  "Ahhh! A pervert! Help!"

  A terrified scream pierced my ears suddenly, the high-pitched tone even breaking into a dolphin-like squeal.

  I blinked rapidly through my tears and turo see a handsome young man staring at me in absolute horror.

  From the crity—and utter stupidity—in the man's gaze, I instantly reized him as another pyer without doubt. sidering there were only three beta testers total, I tentatively asked, "ProGamer_Daddy?"

  The handsome young man's fear shifted immediately to surprise. "Bro, is that you, NeverShowOff? Thank god it's you!"

  After firming my identity pletely, the young ma out a huge sigh of relief.

  "You scared the crap out of me!" he shuddered visibly. "I wake up in this weird pce, and the first thing I see is y and..." He gestured vaguely. "No offense bro, but watg some grown man caressing himself and sobbing like that... I thought I'd woken up in some hame!"

  I coughed awkwardly, feeling embarrassed. "This is my first time pying a game like this. I got a little carried away, okay?"

  "I get it! Let me tell you—this game is absolutely ihe blood smells pletely real, the visuals are absolutely stunning, the dirt even tastes perfectly earthy!"

  "Wait, why are you tasting dirt?" I asked, but he was too excited to hear me.

  He ughed sheepishly. "Oh, that... I kind of tripped and fell face-first when I spawned in. But that's not important! The point is, you feel and taste everything!"

  "And even the sensation of suffocation is so incredibly realistic it's crazy. We're actually pying a real virtual reality game!"

  "Ok... what?" As I listened carefully, my eyes drifted tamer_Daddy's obviously undersized clothing—and more specifically, to the faint but visible marks around his neck.

  My expression grew increasingly plicated.

  "So… have you thought about why you're able to feel the sensation of being choked?"

  "Ah?"

  I watched as he betedly looked down and tugged at his colr, his face sg up with disfort.

  "Damn, what era is this outfit from? Why is it so small? It's like a torture device!"

  After pulling at it, a dark purple strangution mark was already visible on his neck. It looked as though he had been hanging for quite a while.

  The quality of the clothes turned out to be surprisingly good—he tugged several times but couldn't physically tear the colr apart.

  Seeing this, I immediately stepped forward to help.

  "Don't worry, let me try!"

  He stopped me. "No, don't move!"

  Bang!

  Before he could finish speaking, I fell face-first onto the ground, tangled in the excessive fabriy pants.

  I picked up the pant legs, which were lohan both my legs bined, my mind full of fusion.

  "Who are these pants even made for? Not even a giraffe could fit into pants this long!"

  ProGamer_Daddy chuckled awkwardly, trying not to ugh too hard at my predit.

  "Ahaha, seems like this game's starter outfit isn't very friendly to us newbies, haha. Careful there, shorty!"

  Suddenly—

  A low, heavy voice came from the side.

  "Let me do it."

  Rip!

  The pant legs, which had been like steel wires in my hands, tore apart effortlessly. The muscur pyer made it look as easy as tearing paper.

  After dealing with the pants, the newer also helped ProGamer_Daddy open the colr with the same casual strength.

  Finally able to breathe properly, ProGamer_Daddy looked at him gratefully, rubbing his neck.

  "Thanks, buddy! Damn, you made that look easy!"

  The third pyer nodded as if to say, "It's nothing."

  "Hey, you sure talk in an iing way!"

  ProGamer_Daddy walked over.

  Looking at the simirly torn sleeves oher pyer, he clicked his tongue in wonder.

  "How e there's such a big differeween people, even when we're all using starter gear?"

  The third pyer looked down at his hands, flexing them thoughtfully.

  "It's probably reted to our own attributes. My strength… has always beeer than normal."

  "That makes sense. My nose is sharper than average, and it doesn't feel any different in this body! I smell everything around us crystal clear." ProGamer_Daddy had found some validation for himself too, taking exaggerated sniffs of the air.

  I walked over to join them, my shortened pants now muanageable.

  "That's right. My height is also about the same as it is in real life. It seems like, apart from our appearance being randomized for privacy, all our attributes—like stamina, endurance, and smell—are copied from our real bodies." As the words left my mouth, I gasped.

  Wait a minute... Those stats weren't oa registration form! A helmet that s our bodies?

  "Height…" ProGamer_Daddy muttered, his gaze shifting from the top of my head down to my legs, his expression being subtle.

  My face turned red with anger. "That's only because the starter pants are too long! It has nothing to do with my height—I'm a solid 177 cm, okay! That should be average!"

  While ly tall, I certainly wasn't short either.

  Just as I was about to defend myself further, the church doors creaked open with an ominous sound.

  ---Viktor's POV---

  I entered, apanied by Edgar and my light orb.

  Bang!

  The doors shut automatically without aoug them—a little theatrical touch I'd prepared.

  I noticed the short one's mouth form an "O" shape as he stared in shock at us.

  Perfect.

  My wizard's robe was havily the effect I'd hoped for. With Edgar in his knight's armor beside me and the magical light orb floating above, we made quite the impressive entrance.

  Each step we took seemed to increase their awe—I could practically feel their gazes b into us.

  "Damn, that's so cool!" the short one excimed.

  I couldn't help but grin under my hood.

  These past tractig elven noble baiquette with Edgar hadn't goo waste—this was exactly the moment I'd prepared for.

  The muscur one couldn't resist stepping forward, but another quickly grabbed him by the shoulder.

  "Don't move! This is probably the game's opening cutse. If you miss it, you might lose important information—or worse, trigger the NPC's hostility!"

  "Cutse? NPCs?" the muscur one asked in surprise. "They aren't real people?"

  "Of course not. It's just us three suckers in this game. Look at their outfits—do they look anything like ours? Way too fancy to be starter gear."

  "Shh, the story's starting!"

  I watched as the same pyer made a "quiet" gesture, ing his neck like a curious goose to watch us. Quite the talkative ohese newers are even more eaining than I expected.

  Edgar paused beside me—I could tell these pyers' behavior was fusing him just as much as he'd warned me it would. Just like now—he couldn't figure out why they were stretg their necks like that.

  I sighed in relief, seeing that the three pyers were behaving themselves. Before entering, I'd imagined several sarios where they might rush at us or aappropriately. I'd even sidered how I could, within character, knock them away.

  Fortunately, that wouldn't be necessary.

  I lifted my cloak, revealing my skeletal form.

  Three audible gasps and whispered discussions followed, exactly as pnned.

  "Holy crap, a skeleton man!" the talkative otered, taking an instinctive step back.

  "This is what 100% realism looks like? That skeleton is too detailed... way too detailed!" the shorter one marveled, leaning forward for a better look.

  The muscur one's pupils stricted, his body tensing slightly.

  I could see the exaent their doubts vanished.

  Perfect.

  "Wele, Returnees."

  I spoke, using my deepest and sharpest voice.

  "As you see, I have failed in my task."

  "The gods aia could not recile their differences. Six hundred years ago, the gods waged the final Divine War, and they were all annihited."

  "As foretold, Aeltia began its path toward destru."

  "The remains of the fallen gods gave rise to terrifying monsters. They tio ihe nds of all races. The elves have retreated to the Elven Forest, the sirens hide deep beh the sea, the dwarves have vanished, and the dragons bury their heads in the sands on Valley. Only humanity tio resist."

  "The battle lines ot keep retreating. Each race must emerge from the shadow of the gods and find the true future of civilization. We will fire the first shot of resistance!"

  "Though I could not stop the prophecy's birth, my return before you gives me the experieo help you rebuild the Watchers' legacy!"

  "Our first step is to rebuild Honeyvale Town aablish our first foothold iia!"

  "Do whatever you must! oals are the same, our vision aligned. We fight for the tless rades behind us. Every sed is precious—there is no time to waste!"

  "Before the moide, we need enough ons, food, and a solid wall!"

  As my speeded, the pce fell silent. I could see the talkative one mouthing something to his panions, though I couldn't make out the words.

  I had expected this. While these money-hungry pyers were easy to and, they weren't willing to work for free.

  Clearing my throat, I tinued.

  "I respect every warrior who risks returning to Aeltia, but ce and effort must be rewarded accly."

  "Please mentally summon your 'Status Panel.' It tains everything you'll need."