Adrian sat upright, his red eyes fixed on the large city gates.
With his arms folded, he remained there for a good while, feeling the soothing breeze brush against his skin.
'I see... so that is how it is.'
When he had awakened from his short slumber, he assumed he had landed in heaven or something like that.
But seeing the notification before him, that thought quickly vanished.
[Welcome to Eternal Throne Online.]
[All senses have been linked to the game.]
[Your character has been registered.]
[A new map has been downloaded.]
[The town of Ejico.]
[Would you like to access the main menu?]
Adrian kept his gaze on the screen for a while longer.
'So I really am somehow in the game right now.'
Certain Throne Online was the first of its kind.
A game that launched from nowhere and took the entire world by storm. It was an RPG with intense mechanics and graphics, so much so that rumors of the game being haunted by human souls began to spread all around.
However, that was just a tiny part of what made the game as famous as it was. Famous enough to make billions of people log in.
When the game launched, an announcement was made to the players who were interested in trying it.
{If you are able to make it to the 100th floor and claim the Eternal Throne, then you will receive 600,000,000 dollars.}
Many people took the chance almost immediately, and Adrian was no exception.
Because just like the billions of people that logged into the game, he too wanted to win the prize money. Adrian spent the rest of his days grinding the game, pouring every waking hour into clearing floor after floor.
Then it happened.
When he got to the 99th floor, ready to cross the 100th with the key he had received, the game suddenly shut down. Many people reported not being able to log back in after that.
Adrian tilted his head to the side with his eyes closed.
'I should be more freaked out about this. I mean, I am inside the game, that much is certain. I even recognize this map. It is the starter town when you first log in.'
He paused, and something his brain pushed to the surface almost instantly made him stop breathing for a moment.
'If this is the starter town Ejico, does that mean...'
Adrian slowly stood to his feet, his eyes drifting towards the side where he could already feel the earth rumbling.
Yes, he remembered fully well.
There was no doubt in his mind that he had somehow ended up inside the game Eternal Throne Online.
After all, one of the main events that would happen immediately after you arrived at any of the starter towns was something the game called the Great Purge.
[Notice: Get to the safe zone for safety.]
Seeing the system notification, Adrian quickly gulped down his saliva.
He knew all too well what was about to happen.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Run! Hurry, grab your children!"
Not even a second after the system sent the warning, Adrian noticed a huge number of people running down from the horizon.
Each of them seemed to have a system notification hovering above their heads. The type of notification you would see floating at the top of a fellow player's display.
But then, his eyes drifted towards the expressions on their faces.
They were scared. Genuinely, unmistakably scared.
Obviously running from something, and Adrian, well, he had a grim idea of what that something could be.
'Shit. I need to get to the safe zone as well.'
The city itself was the safe zone. According to what he remembered, the moment you stepped into a starter zone, it was impossible to die, unless through other means.
For what was coming, he needed to be inside that city as soon as possible.
However, just as he was about to run along with the crowd heading towards the city, he suddenly felt something grab him by the leg.
Adrian froze with fear, feeling something sharp sink into his flesh.
Just as he turned to check what it could be, he noticed a green monster slowly crawling its way out of a hole in the ground and using his foot as a hold.
'Fuck!'
Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he stood there, frozen in place.
The monster before him was known as an underground goblin. Though they had a remarkable resemblance to the regular goblins, these creatures were able to dig their way into the ground and stay buried for a long period of time, waiting beneath the surface until something wandered close enough to grab.
In this case, it would seem the monsters everyone was running from were these goblins.
And unfortunately for him, one of them had gotten a hold of him.
'Fuck! Fuck!'
The longer he waited, the deeper the claws of the monster sank into his skin.
He thought about kicking the monster on the head, but their skulls were known to be ridiculously dense, which was why no one would ever dare to fight one without some sort of weapon.
Then, out of nowhere, a man riding atop a fast horse closed the distance and with a single swing of his blade, sliced the underground goblin clean in half.
The sudden act caused Adrian to stumble forward, his eyes wide with shock.
He did not bother to look at who had saved him. Instead, he immediately began to charge towards the city gates.
At the very least, he knew the person who had come to his rescue was riding on a horse, which meant they had a far higher chance of getting to the city before he did.
There was no need for him to waste any time. Not in that moment.
Looking to the left, he could see dozens of other people also sprinting towards the city gates, and behind them, the monsters giving chase with nothing but bloodlust in their hollow eyes.
It was not only that, though.
There were more people on horseback scattered across the field. From the way they were dressed, one could guess they were knights of some sort.
Either way, they seemed to be protecting as many people as they could.
However, that could only go so far. Some people were quick to become victims of the goblins' brutality, dragged down before they could even scream.
Seeing this, Adrian was only more motivated to make sure that whatever happened, he made it through those gates.
And thus, he did.