Martial Online.



[You are dead!]

[Do you want to revive?]

[Yes/No]

'God damn it!' Ambrose shouted inside his mind angrily.

When he pulled the trigger, he heard a loud sound in his ear before everything went dark.

There was only one thing that could've happened.

He lost the Russian Roulette.

'So unlucky.' Ambrose groaned as he floated aimlessly in the dark expanse of space.

The hologram floated in front of him, asking whether he wanted to return to the game or not.

However, it was getting late.

Therefore, he pressed "no" and left the game with regrets filling his heart.

...

After opening his eyes, Jesse removed the headset and sat up on the bed.

He opened the drawer of his bedside desk and took out a few snack bars to quench his hunger.

As he bit into the first bar, he couldn't help but replay the events of the game over and over in his mind.

'What a fruitless day.' He thought. 'I didn't get a single kill and even got my acquired XP halved. Then, I also lost silvers because of the entrance fee to the race.

'Maybe it was a mistake to join the Death Race.'

Jesse finished the snack bar and wondered what item he had lost. He wished it wasn't the Orc Whistle or Black Sword.

After getting off the bed, he went to the bathroom to do his business and then sat down on the gaming chair in front of his PC.

'What should I do tomorrow.' Jesse wondered while he opened the PC.

Since the day was getting late, he decided to browse the internet for a while before going to bed to do his meditation session.

He settled comfortably on the PC and nonchalantly checked the forums before moving to ForeverStream.

One of his favorite past times recently has been watching streamers with fewer than ten viewers.

They were always doing their own adventures and providing a more intimate and interactive experience for their small but dedicated audience.

While stuck in the Dojo Temple, Jesse wanted to keep up with the happenings of the world around him.

He hoped that those streams would increase his knowledge about the Martial Online world.

As he almost finished browsing the not-so-popular streams, he soon found one that seemed interesting.

The streamer was on a sailboat coursing through Dark Waters.

...

The sailboat calmly glided through the mist, navigating through the calm waters with ease.

The wind was scarce, causing the sailboat to move at a leisurely pace. 

"..." The streamer that went with the name of Atlantis stood at the front of the sailboat, looking at the mist-covered waters with a sense of tread and anticipation.

As the floating camera appeared in front of his face, Atlantis looked at the lens and said. "I hope we won't be seeing Wild Hunt today."

He chuckled nervously while his few viewers stayed quiet on the chat.

Most of his viewers were friends of his who had stopped playing for today and, before going to sleep, wanted to watch their friend sailing through the treacherous waters.

The Wild Hunt had become very infamous, but after that day, they had never appeared again.

It made many wonder whether they were the source of mass hallucinations, but the fame of Wild Hunt had become a worldwide phenomenon that even parents of children who play have heard of.

At that moment, a message appeared in his chat, which attracted his attention.

"Hmm, a message from Ambrose..." Atlantis was not aware of such a name in his chat before, so he smiled and said. "Welcome to my stream, and where am I going, you ask? Well, I don't know!"

He laughed and explained. "At first, I was planning to go to one of the nearby islands that had already been discovered by players, but then I encountered a small storm!

"The storm pushed me away from my route, and now I am just going with the flow, hoping to find an island soon!"

Atlantis then sat down and pointed the floating camera to the front to show the sailboat moving through the calm waters. 

"It's been a few hours, and I haven't seen a single island anywhere." He scratched his head. "It's also getting late, so I am hoping to find something.

"If I put temporary spawn on the boat and log off, when I come back in the morning, this sailboat might be on the bottom of the ocean or washed up on a random shore.

"I would be completely lost!"

The chat remained empty after that.

Atlantis then moved the camera to capture the whole sailboat as it cut through the waves.

The eerie mist that enveloped the surroundings covered the sailboat as it continued to sail into Dark Waters. The sound of crashing waves echoed in the distance.

The crimson crescent moon hung high in the air, giving the surroundings a dark vibe.

The Night of the Crescent Moon...

...

"Yawnnn..." Jesse yawned while watching the stream.

It was calming to watch the stream for the first thirty minutes, but because the time was late, the calmness caused his eyelids to grow heavy.

Jesse shook his head and left the stream.

"I wonder what will happen to him, but it's getting far too late." Jesse thought and was about to leave the ForeverStream.

Then he noticed a thumbnail of a person sitting on some kind of minecart going deep into darkness.

His expression fell.

"No way..."

He quickly pressed on the stream and saw that there were only two viewers, one of whom was most likely the streamer.

...

The clean-shaven player groaned. "We have been on this minecart for two fucking hours!"

His friend in front of him turned around and said. "I think I am seeing light!"

The clean-shaven player frowned and turned to the front.

Just like his friend said, a small light came from the end of the route.

The minecart suddenly put the brakes on and started decelerating rapidly.

From several hundreds of km/h, the speed came to a quick stop as the minecart soon left the tunnel and crashed into the stoppage wall.

"Ugh..." The clean-shaven player fell from the minecart and stood up with an uncomfortable expression. "W-where the hell are we?"

They looked around and saw nothing but dimly lit alleyways with buildings that did not have lights on.

A stagnant air filled with the smell of smoke, stale garbage, and a hint of decay entered their noses, causing them to bend over and cough.

"I-Is this... Warhaven?" The clean-shaven player looked amazed and laughed. "Hahaha, we found it!"

His friend also cracked a smile and touched the nearby wall that belonged to a shabby-looking dwelling. 

...

Jesse looked silently at the stream and covered his mouth.

'They found it...' He looked at the chat, where a message appeared.

[Bormund: You guys really found it—I have to inform my dojo master!]

'Dojo master...' Jesse groaned and leaned against the backrest. "So, now more players will come to Warhaven."

As the streamer and his friend celebrated their discovery, Jesse looked conflicted.

"If news about Warhaven comes out, thousands, maybe even millions of players will want to come check it out.

"Warhaven isn't a playground. It's a very dark place." Jesse sighed and closed the PC. "Well, I'll tell Emma not to go anywhere near this place. It's not suitable for innocent souls like her.

"From tomorrow on, things will get more chaotic in Warhaven..."