Chapter 8: Eternal Heaven (3)

Light slowly faded from Leon’s vision, and the first thing he noticed was the smell. The air carried the unmistakable smell of damp earth, wood smoke, freshly baked bread, and something roasting over an open fire.

Leon blinked several times before finally opening his eyes completely. He was standing in the middle of a medieval-looking village.

Stone and wooden houses lined both sides of a wide dirt road, their roofs covered with dark tiles and patches of moss. Wooden signs hung above small shops, while lanterns had been mounted along the streets despite the bright sunlight overhead. A large stone fountain stood near the center of the village, surrounded by several benches and flowerbeds.

Yet the most shocking sight was not the village itself. It was the people — thousands of humans had appeared throughout the streets and open spaces at almost exactly the same time.

Leon quietly observed the chaos.

People were wearing everything from modern clothing to strange futuristic outfits that clearly came from Nexus’s more technologically advanced regions. There were office workers, students, soldiers, elderly people, children who looked old enough to have been selected, and countless others.

For a brief moment, the entire village sounded like a marketplace that had been struck by an earthquake. Then the sky trembled.

A vast translucent screen appeared above the village, visible to everyone regardless of where they stood, and the countless conversations immediately died down.

A familiar ethereal voice echoed through the settlement.

[Welcome to Novice Village #0048.]

Leon narrowed his eyes. So this was where they had been sent.

The screen changed, and several lines of information appeared beneath the first message.

[Novice Village #0048 is a designated Safe Zone.]

[Combat between players is prohibited within the boundaries of the Safe Zone.]

[Hostile actions against other players will be suppressed.]

[Monsters cannot enter the Safe Zone.]

[Players cannot deliberately harm other players within the Safe Zone.]

[Upon entering a designated Safe Zone, all players will receive notification of its protected status.]

A wave of relieved voices immediately spread through the crowd. Leon could understand why.

With millions of people suddenly thrown into an unknown world where death was permanent, the ability to murder someone the moment they arrived would have turned the situation into complete chaos.

At least there was somewhere people could breathe. Another message appeared.

[Novice Villages serve as the initial settlements for selected candidates.]

[NPCs residing within the village may provide information, services, opportunities, and quests.]

[Speaking with NPCs may reveal available quests.]

[Completing quests and eliminating monsters are the primary methods of acquiring EXP.]

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"NPCs, huh?"

A young man standing nearby glanced toward him.

"You heard that too?"

Leon looked at him and shrugged.

"Unless the village has somehow developed a system where only I can hear the giant voice in the sky, I’m assuming everyone heard it."

The young man stared at him for a second before laughing nervously.

"Right. Sorry. I’m just... trying to process all of this."

Leon understood the feeling. He had been dead less than a day ago.

Now he was standing in a medieval village inside a world where monsters, levels, abilities, and eternal life apparently existed. Honestly, his standards for a normal day had collapsed rather quickly.

The system continued.

[Players are advised to familiarize themselves with the rules and mechanics of Eternal Heaven before leaving the Safe Zone.]

[Survival will not be guaranteed by the protection of a Novice Village.]

That final sentence caused the crowd to quiet again. The screen changed, and the next information was considerably more serious.

[Eternal Heaven operates according to Elimination Cycles.]

[Current Elimination Cycle: Cycle One.]

[Time Remaining: 100 Days.]

[At the conclusion of each Elimination Cycle, a predetermined number of players will be eliminated.]

[Elimination is permanent.]

[Players who are eliminated will die.]

A heavy silence descended upon the village. Nobody laughed anymore, and nobody looked relieved. Even those who had been whispering excitedly moments earlier were now staring at the floating screen with expressions of disbelief.

Then the next message appeared.

[Elimination Priority is determined by Rank.]

[Players belonging to the lowest Rank will be eliminated first.]

[Players belonging to higher Ranks will be considered only after the lower Rank has been sufficiently reduced.]

Leon slowly exhaled. There it was, the real rule: the Safe Zone protected them from monsters and other players, but it did not protect them from Eternal Heaven itself.

A hundred days. That was the amount of time they had before the first judgment.

The screen displayed the ranking system.

[Power Ranks]

Initiate → Adept → Steadfast → Resolute → Unshaken → Profound → Sovereign → Peerless → Supreme → Transcendent → Eternal Life

Leon stared at the final words: Eternal Life.

[Rank Requirements:]

[Initiate — Below Level 30]

[Adept — Level 30 or higher]

[Steadfast — Level 100 or higher]

[Resolute — Level 200 or higher]

[Unshaken — Level 450 or higher]

[Profound — Level 1,000 or higher]

[Sovereign — Level 2,500 or higher]

[Peerless — Level 5,000 or higher]

[Supreme — Level 10,000 or higher]

[Transcendent — Level 25,000 or higher]

[Eternal Life — at Level 50,000.]

Level 50,000, huh? So that’s the current limit. But with my Infinite Growth talent, I can keep going long after I pass Level 50,000! Leon thought.

The crowd erupted.

"Level twenty-five thousand?!"

"That’s impossible!"

"We haven’t even reached level one!"

"What happens if we don’t reach level thirty?"

"Are they seriously going to kill everyone below thirty?!"

"How are we supposed to gain that much EXP in a hundred days?"

Leon remained silent. His eyes stayed fixed on the ranking system.

The requirements were absurd. At least, they were absurd to someone who had only just entered Eternal Heaven.

Level thirty was already a mountain for ordinary people. Level one hundred was another world entirely, and the distance between Initiate and Transcendent was so enormous that it almost seemed deliberately cruel.

A middle-aged man suddenly shouted toward the sky.

"You said a predetermined number would be eliminated! How many?!"

The village became quiet. Everyone looked upward.

For several seconds, there was no answer. Then the system responded.

[The number of eliminations will be announced before the conclusion of each Elimination Cycle.]

The man clenched his fists.

"So you expect us to spend a hundred days wondering whether we’re going to die?!"

[Correct.]

The answer was so emotionless that several people visibly paled.

Another player shouted.

"What happens if everyone reaches the required Rank?!"

The system responded immediately.

[Then no player belonging to that Rank will be eliminated.]

That statement changed the atmosphere. Leon slowly narrowed his eyes.

So the elimination wasn’t necessarily a fixed slaughter. The system was forcing them to become stronger.

If everyone reached the required threshold, perhaps everyone could survive the cycle. But with millions of people competing for limited resources, quests, monsters, treasures, and opportunities, that was easier said than done.

Another message appeared.

[Strength is the foundation of survival.]

[Strength allows players to defeat monsters.]

[Strength allows players to acquire greater resources.]

[Strength allows players to survive Elimination Cycles.]

[Strength allows players to advance toward Eternal Life.]

[Those who refuse to become stronger will eventually be eliminated.]