Lucien Nightfall's eyes snapped open.
For a moment, he lay still, staring at the ceiling above him. The room around him felt strangely familiar—too familiar. The old desk by the window, the faded curtains, the quiet hum of the ceiling fan.
His heartbeat suddenly quickened.
"Where is this? Wasn't it already overrun by monsters?"
His breathing grew uneven as confusion surged through his mind.
"Wait!"
A cold chill ran down his spine.
"Didn't I die? Did I not die in the monster tide?"
The memory was vivid—terrifyingly vivid. Endless monsters pouring through the streets like a living ocean of destruction. Screams. Blood. The sky burning red.
He had fought until the very last moment.
And then… darkness.
"What is going on now?"
His voice sounded hoarse, almost unreal to his own ears.
Slowly, Lucien raised his right arm. His gaze locked onto it immediately.
It was empty.
Completely empty.
The mysterious mark that allowed entry into the game "Battle Online" was nowhere to be seen.
His pupils shrank slightly.
Turning his head, he grabbed the phone beside him and checked the time.
February 1, 2080.
The moment he saw the date, Lucien's body froze.
"Did I reincarnate? Have I returned to five years ago, the day before my birthday?"
Shock, disbelief, and a faint trace of excitement surged through his chest.
Five years ago, a mysterious online game called "BATTLE ONLINE" had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
No company announced it.
No developer claimed it.
No government could explain it.
It simply appeared.
Yet every adult in the world had a mysterious mark appear on their right arm.
And this mark became the only credential required to enter the game Battle Online.
What made it even more unbelievable was one terrifying truth.
Everything obtained in the game could be brought into reality.
But while humanity was busy celebrating the possibilities of becoming stronger, something far more horrifying followed.
The monsters from the game began appearing in the real world.
Ten years after the game began, monsters above level 60 suddenly manifested in reality.
At that time, the strongest player in the entire world had only reached level 59.
The result was inevitable.
Humanity was crushed.
Under the siege of level-60 monsters, cities collapsed like sandcastles before a rising tide.
Millions died.
Entire regions vanished overnight.
Originally, under normal circumstances, humanity should not have suffered such a devastating defeat.
Even with a few levels of difference, the gap should not have been so overwhelming.
But the real reason for humanity's fall was far darker.
Those powerful players from large factions—guilds that possessed enormous strength—refused to fight.
Using the excuse of "preserving humanity's spark", they chose to hide instead of participating in the war.
But that was not the worst part.
Later, rumors surfaced.
Those same factions had secretly been assassinating players with talents above S-Rank.
At the time, very few believed it.
Even Lucien himself had dismissed it as nonsense.
He simply could not believe anyone could be so evil.
Talented players were humanity's future.
Their existence was hope.
How could anyone willingly destroy that hope?
But what those factions did later shattered Lucien's naive belief.
Those people were willing to do anything to maintain their power.
Anything.
Lucien eventually learned the truth behind another suspicious event.
One year later, everyone had been required to register their talents and game IDs in reality.
At the time, it had been announced as a system for maintaining social order.
But now Lucien understood the real reason.
People with extraordinary talents posed a threat to those powerful factions.
And threats… needed to be eliminated.
Lucien slowly exhaled and shook his head.
There was no point dwelling on the past.
Those memories belonged to a life that had already ended.
Now, he had been given another chance.
Silently, he stared at the clock on his phone.
Only one minute remained until midnight.
One minute until he officially became an adult.
One minute until he could enter the game.
His heartbeat gradually accelerated as the seconds ticked away.
59…
45…
30…
Then suddenly
A faint warmth spread across his right arm.
A mysterious mark slowly appeared on his skin, glowing softly with an otherworldly light.
Lucien's eyes sharpened.
It had arrived.
Without hesitation, he pressed the mark.
In the next instant
His body vanished from reality.
A flash of light filled his vision.
Lucien appeared inside the game creation interface.
A magnificent promotional video was currently playing before him—showing epic battles, powerful heroes, towering cities, and magical landscapes.
But Lucien didn't even glance at it.
He skipped it immediately.
In his previous life, he had already watched this introduction countless times.
Soon, he arrived at the character creation hall.
A calm mechanical voice echoed around him.
"Ding, this is your first time entering the game. Would you like to change your appearance?"
A figure appeared before Lucien.
It looked exactly like him.
This was the character customization system.
Players could either keep their real appearance or modify it however they wished.
Many players found customization troublesome and simply used their real faces.
But Lucien knew better.
Considering the things those powerful factions would do in the future, wandering through the game with his real appearance would be nothing short of suicidal.
If he ever obtained some powerful divine artifact, those factions would track him down within three days.
And once captured…
They would make him "voluntarily" hand everything over.
Lucien immediately began adjusting the character.
Moments later, the appearance of the figure changed drastically.
The man now standing before him looked far more handsome and refined.
Although the game had no attribute labeled Charm, experience had taught players something important.
Handsome and beautiful people were far more likely to gain favor from NPCs.
Even more importantly, no one who knew Lucien in real life would recognize this face.
"Ding, would you like to draw a talent?"
Lucien's expression became serious.
Talent determined a player's future path.
Those with strength talents usually chose the warrior class.
Those with healing abilities could become support players.
Talents varied endlessly.
Some were powerful.
Some were nearly useless.
Everything depended on luck.
Fortunately, special Talent Stones existed in the game that could upgrade talents.
Even someone with a weak talent could eventually change their fate—if they were lucky enough.
Still…
The initial talent often determined one's starting advantage.
Lucien could not help feeling slightly nervous.
This moment would determine his future.
"Draw!"
A massive roulette wheel appeared five meters in front of him.
At the same time, a dart materialized in his hand.
The wheel was engraved with countless talents.
It was so densely packed that it looked almost endless.
Drawing a talent was absolutely fair.
Wherever the dart landed determined the result.
Luck alone decided everything.
At that moment, Lucien raised his hand.
As he did, the roulette wheel suddenly began spinning at incredible speed.
No one could predict what talent they would obtain.
Even someone with extraordinary eyesight would not be able to read the talents.
They flashed continuously.
Each talent appeared for only a millisecond before being replaced by another.
This system completely eliminated any possibility of cheating.
Taking a deep breath, Lucien threw the dart.
The dart shot forward.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then—
"Ding, congratulations, you have drawn an SSS-Rank Talent, Destiny!"
Lucien froze.
His mind went blank.
An SSS-Rank Talent?
He could hardly believe it.
In his previous life, he had only drawn an A-Rank Talent.
But this time…
He had obtained the highest possible rank.
Across the entire world, more than ten billion people had entered the world of Battle Online.
Yet only about twenty people had ever obtained an SSS-Rank Talent.
And among those twenty…
Only five had survived.
The remaining fifteen had mysteriously disappeared.
At that moment, Lucien silently thanked his past self.
Earlier, when customizing his appearance, he had completely changed his face.
Otherwise…
He might have become one of those who vanished.
Once players reached level 10, their talents would automatically appear on the Talent Leaderboard.
Anyone with an SSS-Rank Talent would immediately become a global target.
Lucien quickly opened the talent information.
Talent: Destiny
Grade: SSS-Rank Talent
Effect 1: Initial Luck is automatically set to the maximum value of 20 points.
Effect 2: Actively activate Destiny to increase Luck by ten times the initial Luck for one minute. Each use permanently increases Luck by +1. Cooldown: 168 hours.
Effect 3: Luck cannot be reduced.
Lucien's breathing quickened.
At first glance, the effects might seem ordinary.
But this was Luck.
Luck affected everything.
Item drop rates.
Enhancement success rates.
Hidden events.
Treasure discoveries.
Every probability-based outcome.
If Luck became high enough…
Anything was possible.
"Ding, attributes are being generated, please choose!"
The system voice sounded again.
"One, attributes are randomly distributed; each attribute can initially obtain a maximum of 20 points and a minimum of 1 point."
"Two, based on one's own physique, the maximum is a full value of 20 points."
"Three, average distribution; all attributes have an initial value of 10 points!"
Attributes were one of the most important foundations in the game.
However, Lucien knew something most new players didn't.
There was a huge trap hidden here.
Choosing carelessly could ruin a player's entire future development.
Among the three options, the safest was average distribution.
Both random allocation and physique-based allocation were filled with uncertainty.
And that uncertainty could drastically affect one's future growth.