In a dimly lit room reeking of sweat and energy drinks, a man in his mid-20s sat hunched over his glowing monitor, eyes bloodshot and unblinking. Fingers flew across the keyboard as his mouse darted with surgical precision.
"Miserable fuck trying to take me down even on his final phase... Joke's on you—I've got a spare potion. You're already dead."
Click. Click. Drag. Slam.
His grin widened as his screen flooded with victory prompts and loot notifications. One last boss down. One final achievement unlocked, flashing before his eyes.
[The Pinnacle of Damnation]
Raising both of his arms, Thomas roared out of excitement and pure adrenaline before raising a middle finger on the screen.
"Take that you fuckass Devs!"
After letting that rage out, Thomas slumped back to his chair.
The flashing achievement, [The Pinnacle of Damnation], lingered longer than it should have. The screen didn't fade at all, it was frozen.
Knocking on the screen itself wondering if his computer gave out already. Thomas squinted, confused. "Uh... bug?"
And from the looks of it, it wasn't even going away making him click his tongue out of frustration before cursing under his breath.
"This is what I get for buying off-brand fans. Knew this Frankenstein build would crap out eventually. Not to mention paired with this unoptimized piece of shit game."
Moving to the side to look at the fans of his case with RGB lighting, there seemed to be nothing wrong as the fans were still working.
Then how come this thing is still stuck on that achievement screen? He's already finished the game, he should've been on the menu checking his 100% completion of the game but it doesn't budge at all.
Now confirming that his computer wasn't the problem, Thomas slid back in front of his monitor.
"Man, can't let this shit pass, the forums will go hogwild over this this shitty bug."
He pressed Shift and Alt + Tab expecting to switch back to his browser—but it remained.
"What the fuck?"
A sharp crackle echoed from the speakers—like a mic being plugged into hell making Thomas gulp for a bit now getting uncomfortable with this creepy situation.
He reached for the power button, but his hand froze midair—not by choice. Thomas could hear a constant ringing in his head and what sounded like TV noise.
He wanted to scream but it was impossible.
Until something flashed before his very eyes.
[Synchronization: 100% Complete.]
[Welcome, Player Mephistopheles.]
His monitor suddenly exploded inward causing multiple shards of glass to shoot past by his face but none even grazed him.
They were suspended in air for a moment before everything fell into absolute darkness.
Thomas couldn't speak.
It was as if he's drifting between life and death itself. The purgatory.
Thomas was floating—weightless, like he wasn't even real—but every nerve in his body felt like it was getting stabbed by a thousand tiny needles. He couldn't breathe. His lungs burned. His chest felt like it was about to burst, but there was no heartbeat.
Then came the cold.
Not just the usual kind of cold. This one felt wrong, like something old and wet was crawling over his skin, dragging him deeper into whatever the hell this was.
Some weird humming started echoing through the dark—deep, low, like a church bell underwater. It made his skull rattle.
He tried to scream, but nothing came out. No sound. No breath.
Just more silence then the sudden drop.
It was like Thomas fell down from the sky without getting hurt.
Thomas found himself awake sitting in what looked like a strange structure, destroyed with vines crawling and rubbles scattered everywhere.
"... Jesus fucking christ? What is this?"
His fingers wanted to tremble but it seems that his body wasn't accustomed to such feeling since all he felt was nothing but clarity.
A mind transitioning into a state like this should've been confused but he was different, everything felt oddly natural.
But he actually looked at his fingers—which rendered him more speechless because of their appearance.
Instead of the frail and sickly fingers, they were big and clawed atleast 10 times the size of his original hands.
Thomas should've realized it sooner as well, that the place he's in looked like the chapel from his first raid—the Chapel of Benediction, the most laggy places of the game he's playing.
"Bullshit!"
Even his voice sounded distorted and odd frustrating him even more as he slammed his fists on the arm chair.
He must be dreaming.
That's right, that's the explanation for it.
Thomas should've been dreaming since he's played so much and probably passed out. Nothing like this happens in the real world.
"It'll be a miracle if I still wake up tomorrow with those cans of energy drink."
He smirked, still displeased with the way he sounded like a monster.
Though even that peace didn't last long as Thomas was shaken awake by the sound of a chime playing in his head and the sudden appearance of what appeared to be a class window.
[Player Information]
Name: Mephistopheles
Race: Draconian
Level: 1
EXP: 0/500
Title(s): The Pinnacle of Damnation
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Class: Exarch of Dragons
Subclass: (Locked)
HP: 800 / 800
MP: 1300 / 1500
Stamina: 150/150
Strength: 120
Agility: 70
Intelligence: 570
Dexterity: 100
Charisma: 280
Special Traits:
[Unholy One Lv.1]
The ability to command lower-tier demons and drakes. Ones that wouldn't follow your command will get affliction within a 100 mile radius.
[Engine of Darkness]
Gain an overall increase in stats by 1% per accumulated 100 accumulated souls. (Souls collected: 0, current increase: 0%)
[Epitome of Damnation (obtained via The Pinnacle of Damnation)]
Immunity against mental attacks and attacks imbued with darkness. Attacks you deal against light-based classes is increased by 2x and light-based attacks deal 2x damage against you.
Skills:
[Summon: Sephyra the Duchess of Hell Lv.1]
Mana Cost: 150, Sustain Cost per day: 50
[Summon: Black Knight of Undeath Lv.1]
Mana Cost: 200, Sustain Cost per day: 100
[Offense: Dragonic Flames, Passive]
[Offense: Dragonic Grasp, Passive]
???
???
???
???
Thomas stared at the glowing panel in silence.
This wasn't just a mere a dream.
This was the stat page of his current character. But how come and how did he open this panel?
He could feel these unnatural changes, the sudden size shift in him and the sudden insane boost in his strength like the feeling of being able to crush bones seemed validated right now.
But in truth, Thomas couldn't process everything at all.
This was just too much and too sudden, not even a second to think what was left behind in the old world.
But even that seemed like a nice luxury compared to what's to come.
[Warning! Dungeon is being raided!]