[System Synchronization: 98%...]
Before the Tower, before the blood, and before the title of Sword Saint, there was just... the Grey.
The memory hit Elian as he walked away from Luna's stall. It wasn't a memory of the game, but of the world outside it.
The year was 2145. Earth wasn't a wasteland, but it wasn't a paradise either. It was a suffocating, metallic sprawl of megacities where the sun rarely pierced the smog.
Elian remembered his real room. It was a "coffin apartment"—two meters by one meter. Just enough space to lie down.
He had no family. No job. No future. In the real world, Elian was a "Zero-Class Citizen," surviving on government nutrient paste that tasted like wet cardboard.
Then came the announcement that changed humanity forever.
"AETHERIA ONLINE: THE INFINITE TOWER."
It wasn't just a game. It was a second reality.
Developed by the mysterious "Omni-Corp," Aetheria utilized Hyper-Neural Dive technology. It promised 100% sensory immersion. You could taste food. You could feel the wind. You could feel pain.
But that wasn't why it became the most popular thing in human history. It wasn't why 4 billion people logged in on launch day.
They logged in because of the Exchange Rate.
1 Gold Coin in Aetheria = 1,000 Credits in the real world, $5=100credits.
The game promised a way out. It promised that if you were strong enough, brave enough, and ruthless enough, you could climb the Tower and become a King in the real world.
"I spent my life savings on that headset," Elian whispered, his hand instinctively touching the back of his neck where the neural link used to be.
He remembered the day he logged in. He was hungry. He was lonely. He wanted to be someone else.
He thought he was playing for money. But as the years inside the game dragged on—years that felt longer due to the time dilation—he forgot about the money. He forgot about the coffin apartment.
The Tower became his only reality. The struggle to survive became his only purpose.
He played because, in the Grey World, he was nothing. But in Aetheria, he was the protagonist.
[Flashback Ends.]
Elian blinked. The smog of 2145 vanished, replaced by the bright, artificial sunlight of the Starter Town. The smell of roasting meat from a nearby stall replaced the taste of nutrient paste.
He looked at his hands—young, unscarred hands.
"I didn't come back for the money," Elian muttered, gripping his rusty dagger. "I came back because this is the only place I exist."
He turned a corner, leaving the bustling market square behind. The noise of the crowd faded.
"And this time," he added, his eyes cold, "I'm going to own the game that owned me."