When "Destiny" was released, it quickly became popular due to its insanely high-quality graphics and the fact that it felt very real to play, as if people were really in that game world.
The immersive gameplay made it feel less like playing—and more like living in another world.
It wasn't just a game. It was a second life.
It was played by people of all ages, and another reason for its popularity was that you could earn money by playing it. Game gold could be exchanged at a 100:1 ratio—100 gold for 1 dollar. And if you were rich in real life, you could pump money into the game too, at a 1:10 ratio. The economy of Destiny blurred the lines between fantasy and reality.
There were dozens of races—humans, demons, spirits, elves, monsters—and the world of Destiny itself was 52 times the size of Earth. Four years after launch, more than 3 billion players were active daily. Yet vast regions of the world still remained unexplored.
It was a world where magic existed, martial arts thrived, and various occupations and fighting skills were available.
Montu stood quietly in this universe, newly reborn. And now, undead.
Then Montu realised, "Zombies cannot use magic; they can only use hand combat skills, which were also very basic, but he had a mana stat that was currently 0; this means he can use magic skills when his mana increased."
But having mana isn't enough; learning new skills in 'Destiny' was difficult. And he lacked magical abilities, which were the most difficult to learn.
He was a zombie, a useless Undead monster, but he wasn't sad because he knew anything with a human mind could survive and grow strong.
Montu glanced down at his body—blue skin, mottled and bruised, patches of rot around his elbows and chest. His fingers were half skeletal, nails cracked. Black hair fell in ragged strands, with streaks of red glinting under the dim sky. Nearly 6 feet tall, he looked like something that should've been buried long ago.
Montu was deep in thought when the system abruptly said
[Side Quest Triggered]
Survive the fight with the wood Spirit.
Rewards:
Kill=lvl up
Escape without injuries=300 gold
Manage to survive=50 gold
Die =Permanent Death
He was quickly alerted by the system quest, and as he looked around for the wood spirit, he heard something rustling in the bushes behind him. After a few seconds, a 3 ft tall brownish-looking monster emerged, with leaves on its head and vines tingling from its back.
Montu activates 'God's eye' quickly.
Wood Spirit
Race=Spirit
Level=3
Strength=7
Speed=3
Endurance=4
Mana=10
Mind=0
HP=87/87
Skills=Gale leaves[Lvl 2]
Vine strike[Lvl 3]
Bind [Lvl 2]
Upon realizing that he was unable to overcome the wood spirit with his current skills and that even escaping was impossible given the spirit's superior speed of 2 points, he made the decision to face it head-on. As he pondered his next move, the wood spirit suddenly launched an attack with its vine strike - four long, green whips hurtled towards him with great force.
Despite his best efforts, Montu was unable to avoid or dodge the attack, and all four whips struck him with a resounding impact.
They slammed into his chest and arms, hurling him back. He hit the dirt hard, but felt no pain. Not physically. But his health bar told the real story.
He did not feel any physical pain due to his status as a zombie, his HP suffered a significant reduction from the attack.
HP = 22/35
'Shit. That was fast.'
Montu was acutely aware that if his HP reached zero, it would mean death for him in his second life as well.
Despite the dire stakes, he didn't falter and closed the gap between him and the wood spirit to prevent it from utilizing its deadly vines.
Montu landed a punch squarely on the wood spirit, causing it to flinch momentarily. However, the spirit quickly regained its bearings and retaliated by bashing Montu with its body. The blow was devastating, causing Montu's HP to drop even further to 19 out of 35.
Undeterred, Montu pressed on, landing another punch on the wood spirit and skillfully evading its bash.His punches weren't strong, but they were relentless.
It's HP decreased slightly to 83 out of 87. But just as he thought he had the upper hand, the wood spirit unleashed its powerful gale leaves strike.
Wind swirled, leaves glowing green.
Montu tried to move, to duck—but the barrage came too fast. Sharp, slicing leaves cut through the air. He turned at the last second but too slow.
THWACK.
His left arm tore from his shoulder, flying through the air and landing with a wet slap.
Despite the injury, Montu remained resolute, knowing that he must continue to fight with all his might to survive.
HP = 11/35
When the system told him about his health points which were nearly finished, his resoluteness turned into fear.
As fear crept in, his hands trembled. He'd underestimated this monster. Level 3 wasn't supposed to be terrifying—but, it was. And now, death loomed again.
He had previously believed that he could easily overcome it, but now he knew that he was mistaken. The situation was dire, and if he didn't act fast, he would soon perish.
But Montu was not one to give up easily. In a moment of inspiration, he reasoned that every creature attacks others for a specific purpose, and in most cases, that purpose is food. Perhaps, he thought, there was a way to use this knowledge to his advantage