Warm. Metallic. Thick.
It poured from his abdomen as the sword was pulled out slowly, cruelly.
Rayn Valtara collapsed to his knees, his vision fading.
Standing before him was a man he had trusted for years — his closest companion, his sworn brother.
The 4th strongest kingdom owner in the world.
"You're too dangerous, Rayn. I can't play second forever."
Those were his final words before plunging the blade into Rayn's heart.
Rayn, once one of the Top 3 Kingdom Owners in the world's most dominant virtual reality game — Eternum Realms — fell to betrayal, not war.
Eternum Realms wasn't just a game.
Not anymore.
After five years of its global launch, it had stopped being virtual.
Kingdoms. Classes. Powers. Skills. Magic. Heroes. Troops. All of it became reality.
People had started awakening abilities from the game in the real world.
Some — the lucky, the brilliant, the chosen — awakened after just 2 to 3 years by fulfilling unique requirements: rare items, hidden quests, perfect achievements.
The rest awakened only after Year 5, when the line between the real world and Eternum Realms collapsed.
Rayn was among the strongest of them.
He ruled over a legendary kingdom.
He forged alliances, led armies, and walked the thin line between digital and divine.
And yet, in the end… he was killed by a friend.
His body collapsed.
His consciousness faded.
But destiny was not done with him.
A breath.
Sharp. Deep. Awake.
Rayn opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling — his bedroom in the Valtara Estate.
The scent of leather-bound books and floral candles hung in the air.
The world felt strange. His body… light.
He rushed to the mirror.
A 15-year-old stared back at him.
It couldn't be.
He had died at 26.
Rayn stumbled toward the glass window, slamming the digital panel beside it.
The date flickered into view.
[ 23rd January, 2099 ]
He remembered this day.
Exactly 30 days before the launch of Eternum Realms.
He had been sent back — with his memories intact.
His fingers trembled.
But not from fear.
From resolve.
In his last life, he started as an ordinary gamer, even though his father, Kane Valtara, was the richest businessman on the planet.
His father had only bought the NeoLink Chamber — the world's first Virtual Reality Transfer Capsule — as a novelty, a toy to relieve stress after work.
Rayn used it to escape.
Without family support inside the game, he had clawed his way up on his own — gathering resources, building alliances, defending against monster hordes, fending off assassins.
Through sheer will, he made it into the Top 3.
And he would've gone further…
If not for betrayal.
This time, he had knowledge.
He had time.
He had power.
And one more thing…
He checked his wristband. The VR link system blinked: NeoLink System – Device Registered.
He had installed it already.
Eternum Realms was more than a game.
It was a full-dive virtual world. Players entered with their consciousness.
They could feel, smell, taste, and experience everything.
It was a Kingdom-Building Game, but far more complex.
Players gathered resources — wood, stone, mana crystals, metal — from designated fields and transported them to build structures.
Structures required time, or Speed Scrolls, to complete faster.
They could explore, form alliances, trade with NPC nations, fight monsters, or wage war.
Each player had to earn their place.
And there was one rule:
The first three players to log in on Launch Day would be rewarded.
1st: God-Tier Skill
2nd: S-Rank Skill
3rd: A-Rank Skill
Everyone else: random or ordinary skills tied to kingdom roles or combat classes.
Rayn remembered the chaos on Day 1.
Everyone wanted that first login.
But no one had skipped the tutorial phase — a mandatory 3-week intro segment teaching game mechanics.
No one… except him.
Rayn smirked.
He had already cleared the tutorial in his first life.
Which meant this time, the system would let him skip it.
A hidden mechanic — known only to those who had finished it before.
And those who entered the main server directly before launch?
They received an additional hidden reward.
A second God-Tier Skill.
And something even more terrifying:
A secret system override… granting Ownership of the game.
Even the developers wouldn't know who received it.
Even the mysterious original creator — whose identity had never been revealed — would lose access.
But that original creator?
Rayn would soon meet him again… and they would become master and servant.
Rayn's eyes narrowed as flashes of future knowledge swam in his mind.
There was a class.
One that never appeared publicly in his past life.
A class so broken that it was hidden deep behind hundreds of requirements:
Divine Undead Monarch
A dual-natured sovereign of life and death.
Master of Holy and Demonic aura.
Commander of both living armies and undead legions.
No one had ever unlocked it before.
But Rayn would.
He knew every condition, every quest chain, every artifact needed.
He stared out at the glowing city from his window.
The world was still normal.
Still grounded in physics, laws, and corporate chains.
But in 5 years, all of that would shatter.
People would begin awakening powers linked to their in-game selves — classes, skills, even levels.
Some would awaken early — within 2–3 years — if they fulfilled specific milestones in-game.
But most would awaken only after the game merged completely with reality in Year 5.
Rayn didn't need to wait that long.
He would enter the game 3 weeks before anyone else.
No tutorial.
No restrictions.
Just pure advantage.
By the time the world caught up, he would have already claimed 5% of the world map, built mega-walls, and recruited elite troops.
An impossible feat for a starting player…
But not for someone who had lived it once before.
He placed his hand on the cool window.
"This time, I won't be betrayed."
"This time, I won't climb to third."
"I will reign at the top."
Forever.