Pale Lights - Chapter 38

“That monster’s prefix is two hundred meters long?!”“It’s back. Who can stop it?”Isaac never planned for Celestia: The Eternal Realms to change his life. The game promised 100% immersion, a completely realistic world powered by quantum brainwave interfaces. But the moment he entered the game, Isaac was thrown into an entirely new world, no longer the player, but the played. His character, a “Lesser Hyena-Wolf,” came with the dreaded “Weak” prefix, reducing his stats by 20%.Isaac quickly realized that this wasn’t a game he could simply log out of. It was his new life, and there was no escape. To survive, he had to evolve, to fight, and ultimately, to conquer. He knew the game inside and out, but this wasn’t the same reality he’d logged into. This time, he would have to become the monster, instead of fearing it.Every step he took, Isaac grew stronger. He realized that monsters weren’t bound by the same rules that governed the players. He could evolve, gaining new powers and unlocking Monster Reputation. With every kill, every victory, he unlocked a new level of power. The prefixes that marked his growth—Normal, Strong, Especially Strong—were a testament to his evolution. And the players began to whisper.

During one of our arguments, my younger brother taunted me, claiming that I only knew how to depend on guys to get me through MMOs. In a fit of anger, I was spurred on by his words and decided to defeat my brother without depending on anyone else. By some coincidence, a new game called “Second Life” was about to go on the market and thus I started from scratch as a player. What’s more, I was the first person ever to log onto the game. The beautiful GM told me that I could have one wish granted… Humph! I. Want. To. Become. A. Guy!Shit, I accidentally became too super-ultra-incredibly handsome, now there’s a beautiful GM with designs on my virtue, waaaaah…!… OH MY GOD! A girl wants to make me her trophy husband!Heavens, what a hottie… Wait, what? He’s actually GAY and he’s hitting on me?! Go to hell! When I’m a girl you’re not interested, so why the hell do you want me now? With an incredibly hilarious main character, incredibly bizarre companions, and an incredible journey of growing up and self-discovery, how will things pan out? Even God is playing a guessing game…

[Character Deleted.]I deleted the character I had been raising for over 5 years.To finally defeat the final boss of Demon Fantasy—the one I could never quite beat.For the sake of defeating ‘Baal’.“…I can just start over. I can do it.”And then…[Special reward has been granted!]“What? A mythic-tier trait?”The perfect opportunity had arrived.“This time, for sure!”I’ll raise the strongest mage and take down Baal!At least, that’s what I thought when—[Welcome to Demon Fantasy.]I found myself inside a world teeming with 666 kinds of demons.And I had the ‘special reward’ I just received!“…Fine. Let’s see who wins this.”I was confident.After all, I’ve been a veteran of this game for 10 years.

When Ares wakes up, he finds himself in a familiar world but in an unfamiliar body. It was a world he'd read about in a novel he discovered among the belongings of his late girlfriend.

But when he ended up in a novel that he had just finished reading before dying, his life changed for the better or the worse.

Why are all women crazy about me? Why are they pursuing me while ignoring the main character?

Join Ares on his journey through the novel to solve the mystery of his death and learn the truth about the world he ended up in.