I have lived for so long that I sometime wondered what I should once I kill the Otsutsuki King. I think I should be more than 100 by now; my wife had died as she had aged naturally while I remained forever young.

I guess that was the curse of power that I had been told, my yang energy was large so I aged slowly and I believed I could have lived for thousands of years.

Guess I was lucky that I died in a fight or else I would have to contemplate how to die in an honorable manner. I know my children wouldn't allow me to die; they are quite attached even though they are so old.

It made me happy but sad as well since they were too reliant on me, always looking to me for solutions. I was worried if everything would fall apart once left, luckily I died earlier before such a mindset had become the norm for the world.

I really find it funny that I have been put in game that my grandchildren used to play. The researchers really had time on their hand to create a world where even the weak little humans could experience what I had as I allowed them to analyze my body, it was kind of amusing and I did play the game but I got bored quickly as they were just strong but unskillful as ever.

Skill takes time and I had trained longer than anyone in the world through the use of clones but it only bored me and my only challenge was the King. But in the end he was also not a challenge when the day came so he sacrificed his people for power which was the norm for them, I could have stopped it from happening but this feeling inside stopped me and I let it happen.

Do you think I am bad person Hilda? Should I have interfered?

Naruto sat on the throne as he spoke to his companion, he believed by talking she might wake up or gain understanding. He felt a strong connection to her so he didn't want a silent companion but someone who can interact with him.

"That was how I ended up here but what happened to you. It seems you have yet to attain understanding, let's see if leveling you up helps. But for now I should probably train my skills, luckily I am a master of weapons as I played around when I was bored but for mana I guess I can only experiment." Naruto muttered as he got up and stood in the center of the room

He was an undead so he felt no fatigue, he could go on forever just like he used to in his original body which knew not what fatigue was as the regeneration rate was extreme once he surpassed a certain limit.

"Let's start with magic since I can only do it for a limited time and wait for it to recover while I train the other skills." Naruto muttered as he thrust the great sword into the ground

Naruto extended his hand and concentrated on the energy inside as he commanded it to form a ball on the tip of his finger. It formed slowly and then Naruto had it cover his armored fist.

Naruto punched the ground with his right fist which was without mana and then did with his left which had mana coating it.

"The mana coated fist did the same damage so it doesn't work like chakra but it seems to provide a bit more defense as the fist doesn't have any scratches." Naruto concluded and stood straight, moving to the next step

"I can cover my blade with mana for a stronger attack so let's see if I can do a long range attack with it." Naruto said as he picked up the blade and coated it with mana, and slashed towards the door with the intention of a flying slash just like when he used it a wind slash

Just like he imagined the attack happened but once he checked the mana gauge he realized it wasn't a good move since 5% of his mana had been eaten away.

'Mana Slash LV 1'

"Doesn't matter, can't always be lucky to have a body with large reserves." Naruto muttered calmly as he thrust the sword into the ground again

He once again concentrated on his hand and shaped a small arrow, which he commanded to fly at one of the skeletons.

'Mana arrow LV 1'

'Mana Manipulation: Beginner LV 2'

"Guess the experience with controlling chakra does work but I can't copy majority of my actual skills. I will need a mage to help me and luckily I have one at my disposal. That kid will return soon, with such an arrogant personality he will never let this go." Naruto said as he remembered the human mage who was using fire magic

"I have attack magic but I need something to defend and distract others or give me some time."

Naruto concentrated in front of his extended right hand as the mana poured out taking shape into hexagonal translucent shield which was made form smaller hexagons and was double layered and was the size of a small cat.

'Mana Shield LV 1'

Naruto didn't let it disappear but instead he punched it with his right hand as the shield was floating in front of him. The punch packed power and caused cracks in the shield along with causing a large burden on his mana reserve.

Naruto punched to the other side while imagining the shield blocking it and the shield was there for the attack.

"Good"

Following that Naruto decided on the something to tie up his opponents, he imagined a sturdy rope and with a command it tied the legs of one of the skeletons. Naruto commanded the skeleton to resist and it broke them after some struggle.

'Mana rope LV 1'

Naruto was satisfied with the results and picked up his word to practice while he used the remaining mana to make small mana balls which floated around him; these were going to be used as distractions during a battle.

Naruto continued to practice through the day with his sword and stopped once he hit the intermediate stage as the progress became slow.

'Sword Mastery: Intermediate LV 1'

'Heavy Armor Mastery Beginner LV 4'

These were the fruits of his effort and past experience, the armor was heavy but even then Naruto was a lot faster than his previous form.

Naruto decided to teach Hilda so he took the spear from one of the skeletons and went through the motions slowly while commanding Hilda to copy his moves. Naruto talked about random topics while he practiced to bring some liveliness to the dreary place.

Time passed by as Naruto trained and made changes in the boss room. Just as he expected the mage returned with a bigger party and waltzed into the boss room but unlucky for them the room unlike before was completely dark as Naruto didn't need the light to see.

The dark was one thing that brought fear to mankind and this game was truly realistic that it played on their fear. The humans shouted and attacked randomly.

To further play on their fear, skeletal paws scratched at them from under their feet and the members were shot down by Naruto with relative ease.

The battle couldn't even be called a challenge as these so called players were really inexperienced but Naruto knew the next time someone strong might come. He wasn't worried as in the end it didn't matter; Naruto also looked at it like a game so life or death didn't matter to him.

'LV 75'

"I had expected you to actually be more careful but you really let me down." Naruto muttered as he pushed the mage down on the ground and put his foot on the mage's back

"How can this be? The room wasn't dark last time and how did the boss get an archery attack." The mage was muttering in disbelief as he hadn't faced any of the dungeons which acted like real person yet as those were in the higher ranks

"I am talking to you kid." Naruto muttered as he applied pressure on the back casing the mage to realize the situation

"I want to know about magic that you command and I will let you go alive. I am sure you don't want to experience the death penalty again." Naruto said as he placed his great sword near the mage's neck

'I should have been careful of a named boss but this looks so damn realistic. I haven't heard of bosses that could be like this, he acts like the npcs in the town. This game is looking to be real hard if the bosses can also think like us and change. For now I will let the thing have what it wants, I can't waste more days again while that bastard Emiya gets stronger.' Shinji Matou thought as he felt the weight of the foot on his back

'I will definitely kill this bastard many times once I have gained enough strength but first I will let him suffer through other's hand. I already got the reward for the first being the first one the clear the dungeon so it doesn't matter.'

Shinji stayed in the dungeon for an hour explaining the details and showing the magic, he was a cowardly child so he didn't try his luck as he didn't see any hope in winning.

"I guess I will know if I can die permanently or not." Naruto muttered with a chuckle as he patted his mount, which was a giant bear that he had killed.

"Let's see what the rate of progress of the expansion is." Naruto said as he walked behind the throne where there was hole in the wall which was the result of the skeletons digging. The throne room only had 10 skeletons so Naruto had killed animals outside had brought them as undead to help as he couldn't summon undead more than 10.

Just imagine a noble, elegant and picturesque life in poverty that you might find nowhere else but in a soap opera. No matter how poor you are, it does not discourage you from showing unconditional love for strangers, and even a piece of bread is there to be shared with a warm smile.

If anyone claimed that such an illusion existed in reality, Lee Hyun would beat him to a pulp, and strike once more to finish him off.

Life was too cruel for the poor. The Labor Welfare Law revised by Parliament made all jobs unavailable to minors. Illegal though it was, Lee Hyun had worked in every kind of trade imaginable.

From the age of 14 he took to sewing stitches in a factory. The salary could only be called meager, but he was able to eat for free.

However, underground with only 2 ventilation fans running, his health extremely deteriorated. Thanks to his damaged lungs, he gained heavy medical bills.

Then it was a job at a gas station and occasionally he even went around pulling a handcart collecting and selling recyclables.

But no matter how hard he had worked, the money left in his pocket was chump change.

As a minor, he was forced to get a job illegally. This fact was used by his employers to mercilessly work him to the bone.

He lived this life of exploitation until 20 years of age. Thanks to it, Lee Hyun knew very well the value of money. However, things would be different now. Finally an adult, and with it came an ID card that would allow him to legally work.

Inserting the ID card in his wallet Lee Hyun mumbled.

"I have to work until my body practically breaks down. I should be able to deal with 3 jobs a day."

When he was a kid, his parents died, his family now consisted of only his grandma and sister.

"Alright. From now on we'll be rich."

Lee Hyun pledged to do so and returned home.

"Did you come just now?"

His grandma was lying down snuggling in a blanket. After falling down the stairs a few days ago, she got a dislocated hip rendering her unable to go to work.

Although taking medicine, with the household struggling she could not go to the hospital to receive proper treatment and thus could only rest at home.

Not receiving treatment, every night she could only groaned painfully.

Whenever Lee Hyun entered the house, he felt his chest suffocating. It was a lifeless home with an aloof little sister and an old grandma. Even if he didn't know it, it was probably why he disliked coming home even more.

"Hye Yeon?"

"I have no idea. She went out and didn't return. She might be hanging around with the bad crowd again, not sure."

Lee Hye Yeon was his little sister. He had not seen her face very often recently.

"It's going to be okay. What could happen?"

"You are her one and only brother. A brother should protect his little sister."

"Yes."

Lee Hyun smiled wryly and went to his room. Even if he was forced into physical labor or driving a taxi, he wanted to send his little sister to college.

For a while now she had been drifting off the rails, but she was bright and intelligent, unlike Lee Hyun. He believed that in college she would meet a good husband and be able to live well. He also wanted to repay his old and ailing grandma for all she sacrificed to raise Lee Hyun and Lee Hye Yeon.

"Right, look for work tomorrow. There will probably be an employment test as well…."

Muttering, Lee Hyun turned on the computer. The old computer buzzed to life. As soon as it connected to the internet, as routine, he accessed a game. That game was Continent of Magic. A classic game released 20 years ago. An online game that once created a frenzy of gamers in the Republic of Korea.

That game remained at the pinnacle until just 3 years ago. Lee Hyun's antiquated computer assembled by combining parts from here and there was not capable of handling most games. Nothing but Continent of Magic ran smoothly.

It was the first game he'd ever played, but only during the game could he have a feeling of enjoyment.

Lee Hyun's playing style was very peculiar. He did not associate with the people around him and instead hunted all day long. After killing monsters and raising his level, he headed to harder hunting grounds. He did not participate in sieges or guild wars at all.

He found pleasure in the game by gradually improving his character's abilities and upgrading equipment. He once hunted for 200 hours straight without catching a wink of sleep. It wasn't unusual for him to struggle for a month to raise one level or catch a single monster.

Some might question what kind of fun he was looking for, but for him it was fun watching his character grow stronger and when he was able to defeat monsters he was previously unable to, he was thoroughly delighted.

In a short period of time, Lee Hyun had reached the highest level. He had attained the ultimate state where levels no longer rose.

In the decades of Continent of Magic, it was the first and last record in history. When Lee Hyun looked around back, he found none who could rival his character in supremacy. In hunting grounds where others struggled as a party, he singlehandedly wiped out all the monsters.

After climbing to the highest level, he alone hunted all the ultimate monsters, including Dragons.

Though, for Lee Hyun, he had lost all interest. Nowadays with the technological advances, the ultimate goal of every game was to equip itself with the virtual reality system.

A truly splendid game named Royal Road, referred to as the standard for virtual reality. Beginning with a fully implemented world, the game contained tens of thousands of races and users. Over tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of skills.

You could enjoy adventure as you desire or even go sea fishing with friends for days, as long you don't encounter whimsical typhoons of course.

The massive scale of freedom was amazing, but best above all was the wondrous game's system. Royal Road had the reputation of inducing the ultimate fun a human could enjoy in a game.

"Well for me, that's all just a pie in the sky."

What could Lee Hyun expect from a computer slowed down by a slightly more complex web page?

Popular as it was, to install the equipment that realized virtual reality would cost over 10,000 USD. If he had that kind of money, under any circumstances, his grandma's medical bills, otherwise it would go to his little sister's college tuition. And now to diligently earn money, the game had to end.

Lee Hyun decided that he was going to delete the account but then he thought that he could sell it as he remembered such things happening from some newspapers he had read. His character had the best equipment and stood at the top but Lee Hyun didn't know its value and was afraid no one would pay anything higher so he put the starting price as 50USD and set the limit for auction to last a single day.

While he went to sleep, the online world was lit on fire as they heard about the auction and at lightning speed the value increased and final price was 3905936 USD.

Lee Hyun learned about it and was shocked speechless, he was overjoyed as his problems were finally going to be solved but misfortune was hid old friend as loan sharks came to him in his happiest time and took away most of his money to pay the debt he inherited from his parents.

Lee Hyun used the remaining money to pay for the house while the rest he invested for a game.

Using part of the remaining money, Lee Hyun registered in martial arts halls such as aikido, kendo and taekwondo. He placed himself on a rigorous schedule traversing to as many as 6 places a day. As his body broke down at the various gyms, he mastered martial arts.

The instructors there called him Wild Beast. Building his stamina, he swung his sword all day long enough for blood to flow from his hands.

Virtual reality game!

A place where a person moves their body means you can act like in real life. Then learning martial arts and studying about the game system a little more, would it not be helpful?

Of course, those that learned martial arts would not be completely advantageous. But to be stronger even at level 1, it was better to learn martial arts.

Imagine being at least 10% stronger throughout the game, the tremendous effects it would bring. Because of that, Lee Hyun in the morning and daytime learned martial arts, and in the evening studied about virtual reality games. Which game had the most users, and how the game system worked was thoroughly analyzed.

For every profession, city and skill Lee Hyun made analysis tables and pinned them onto the walls of his room. The paper records bombarded Lee Hyun's room.

1 year. Lee Hyun learned martial arts and studied virtual reality games. The time of 1 year wasn't just a preparation period; it was also used to closely observe the development of Royal Road.

The virtual reality game at the end was as expected, Royal Road and like its name walked the path of the emperor with serenity. Possessing more than 75% of the world's game market share, more than 90% of Korean gamers played this game. It could practically be called a scheduled sequence.

Especially during wars of kings, it came to a point where overwhelmed the viewership of all other networks. The only game in the world where anybody could obtain fame, power and money. Royal Road was the result of an ingenious system interlocking with virtual reality.

"Great. All according to plan."

Lee Hyun's cold eyes stared at the monitor.

That day he purchased a capsule used to connect to Royal Road for 10,000,000 won. It was expensive enough that tears seeped out, but he constantly reminded himself it was a necessary investment. All preparations finished. It was the beginning of the game. He felt like a soldier heading into the battlefield.

Connect to Royal Road

Yes | No

When the message came, Lee Hyun shouted without any hesitation.

"Yes!"

In a library located in the capital city of the Rosenheim Kingdom called Serabourg City, one young individual could be seen going through countless books.

He was a player well known in the Kingdom by the residents and known by the players, many hated him and may liked him for his personality but all this didn't matter to him as he did what he liked.

'Secrets of the night'

'Would you like to accept this quest? It is a onetime quest which cannot be dropped after acceptance so please choose carefully.' Shiro Emiya a Magic Swordsman looked at the prompt he received as he finished reading a vague account of a legend about a dragon slayer

'Looks interesting and the reward should be big for such a rank.' Shiro considered for awhile and accepted the quest as it was a quest that he got from using the reputation he had in the kingdom and accessing secret books

"Shiro, I hope I didn't make you wait for too long." Shiro heard a feminine voice and turned around to see his friend Sakura Matou

"I don't mind waiting as I know you are quite busy." Shiro replied with a smile as he got up

"Is Rin not here yet?" Sakura asked curiously

"She is busy so she might not be able to join us today."

"Is that so?" Sakura said with a sly smile

"I hope you don't mind the extra work since she isn't here." Shiro said as he walked beside her as they had group mission to finish

"I don't mind as it might be better this way as the last mission was quite a bore." Sakura replied as the trio was a team of professional gamers so most missions in the start of the game were not really that challenging for them

"I believe this one might be fun." Shiro said with a chuckle

A.N Hope you enjoyed and comment