Eldritch Guidance - Intermission VIII

John Browning, a former underworld assassin, went to attend his friend Angele’s wedding party but ended up meeting his former colleagues. Before he could think that the whole wedding ceremony was a setup to catch him, he felt dizzy all of a sudden!

At that moment, he knew that his lifelong friend had already betrayed him and sold him out. John was humiliated in front of hundreds of peoples and was forced to kneel in front of Thomas, the underworld assassin organization leader.

Within a few minutes, they beat him brutally, dragged him to some underground basement, and then locked him in a gloomy room.

John felt bitter when thinking about his friend’s betrayal. He laid on the cold floor for two days and died miserably. But his story didn’t end there.

…

In a world filled with magic and mystic powers, John Browning woke up in an 18-year-old boy’s body. Before he could open his eyes and see his current situation, he felt someone was dragging his body.

'How am I still alive?' He got puzzled inside.

But after a few seconds, John learned from the young boy’s remanent memories that he was transmigrated to a mystical fantasy game-like world filled with magic and mystic powers!

I was reborn into a chaebol family.Into a time with no cryptocurrency, no internet, and nothing else.

Within the virtual world of “Avalon Online”, Finn, or otherwise known as “Echo” within the game, was one of its greatest players. After logging off from a long session, however, he notices something awry outside of his apartment.The streets were flooded with chaos, screams echo through the night, and hell is loot loose. Monsters from Avalon Online are running through the streets, wrecking havoc. In the midst of this hellish awakening, Finn is greeted with the one gift bestowed to humanity in this dark hour:[...Assessing life experience…][Assessment Complete][Name: Finn Thorne][Age: 20][Designated Class: Assassin][Starting Level: 5][A [Legacy System] has been bestowed to you for your accomplishments within Avalon.][Assimilation System Awakened.]In this twisted turn, as the world as it was once known is gone with the arrival of magic and monsters, the remnants of humanity must level up if they wish to survive.Finn is left in this dark, hopeless apocalypse, using his own experience from Avalon Online to best survive what seems to be an impossible task.

...[Inside an underground basement]“You are going to die for nothing, hahahaha,” the old man's voice thundered through the room, sending chills down my spine.Step.With a swift and ruthless motion, he lunged forward, his sword slicing through the air and slashing my throat, crimson droplets staining the darkness.“We'll see,” I whispered defiantly, my final words escaping as a mere breath against the impending darkness.Slowly, inexorably, my consciousness slipped away, and I descended into a deep, unfathomable slumber.“Huh!?” My eyes fluttered open, and I found myself seated in a bustling tavern, the air thick with laughter and the clinking of glasses.In front of me stood a captivating lady, her beauty juxtaposed with an angry furrow upon her brow, threatening to shatter the harmony of the jovial scene.“Don't follow me around!” Her words pierced the air like shards of ice, the intensity of her emotions palpable as she cast a resentful glare in my direction, before swiftly departing from the tavern....Am I trapped within the confines of a game? The fragments of my shattered common sense scattered before me, leaving me to question the very fabric of my reality.