Chapter 1 Rael Voss

Chapter 1 Rael Voss

He blinked once, then twice. His eyes strained to process his brand-new surroundings. Instead of the familiar sight of his cramped, messy apartment, he woke up in a vast, unfamiliar expanse. As his gaze swept across the scenery, his breath caught in his throat. Hovering in the distance were massive, monolithic stones, floating serenely in the open air.

He turned his head sharply to the left and right, his heart hammering violently against his ribs. Near the center of the massive floating arena stood a grand, empty throne.

Realization hit him like a physical blow, leaving his head ringing.

"Impossible," he muttered, his voice trembling with deep doubt.

This place... it looked exactly like a colossal arena floating in the sky, right on the boundary where the deep blue atmosphere met the endless darkness of outer space. Without a doubt, this was the Zenith of the Void, the final raid boss arena of the legendary MMORPG, Echoes Of Eternity. It was the home of Nul’Azareth, the god who ended ages. This was the exact place where he had soloed the boss and gained the prestigious, ultra-rare title The One Man Army.

It was a unique title awarded directly by the developers themselves. At that time, the game had already shut down its official online servers, transitioning into a stagnant, offline single-player mode. The development team had long moved on to launch their highly anticipated, graphically superior sequel, Boundless Zenith.

But he had refused to migrate. He had invested far too much time, sacrificed too much money, and most importantly, the new sequel completely omitted his favorite class; the Summoner. Luckily, the developers didn't completely delete the old game's data, though they were too lazy to re-balance the boss mechanics for offline solo players. Every boss remained a massive raid boss designed for a coordinated 40-man party, where multiple high-tier guilds usually had to form alliances just to defeat one. Soloing them wasn't just difficult; it was a statistical nightmare.

Yet, he didn't complain. He was just grateful the game still existed. Left entirely alone after his friends and guildmates deserted the dying world for the shiny new sequel, he began to adapt. Since Echoes of Eternity had no level cap, he took a massive gamble. He picked up a secondary class, Battlemage, which drastically slowed down his leveling speed.

He spent countless, grueling hours grinding his character level and his summons. Eventually, his secondary class evolved from Battlemage into a supreme Battle Archmage. As for his Summoner class, he thought he had already reached the absolute peak, but he discovered a hidden evolution pathway: progressing from Sovereign Summoner into a Primordial Summoner after successfully strengthening his beasts into primordial grade.

Even a single primordial-grade summon wasn't enough to dent the final boss. So, he ground the levels again and created seven primordial-grade summons in total, the absolute maximum capacity his body could maintain to summon it to fight since summoner can only summon six summon but can save many summons.

It had been a grueling, lonely cycle. Wake up, go to work, play the game, sleep, and repeat. At thirty years old, he was a lonely man. He had no family, no lover, and worked a dead-end job with wages just enough to support his meager lifestyle. Of course, deep down, he longed for a relationship. But he was brutally self-aware; in this harsh economy, he knew starting a romance would only end badly for both him and his partner. So, he chose isolation, hiding a faint glimmer of hope deep within his chest.

But then, everything changed.

When he finally defeated Nul'Azareth completely solo and posted the victory video online, the internet exploded. Nostalgic veterans flooded his posts with likes and emotional comments. The viral phenomenon eventually caught the attention of the game's original developers, who officially granted his character the game's most broken, legendary title:

[The One Man Army]

Effect: Allows the user to call summons infinitely without any mana cost or cooldown.

Seizing the viral momentum, he quickly launched his own YouTube channel. Fame and many subs landed on his lap instantly. For the first time in his gray, miserable life, he felt the winds of change. He truly thought his reality was finally turning around.

But fate had other plans.

Recalling his past life, a sudden surge of anger rushed through him. He fiercely smashed the ground with both of his hands. The impact was massive, leaving large, deep cracks in the stone floor, accompanied by a deafening boom.

Shocked by his own power, he looked down at his hands. His fingernails were slightly elongated and pitch-black. As he scanned himself from head to toe, he instantly recognized his attire,this was his in-game gear, a sleek set of light armor completely covered by a flowing dark cloak.

Still locked in disbelief, he began walking toward the center of the arena to double-check the surroundings. He noticed the piles of grayish-black ash the residue left behind after defeating the final raid boss. He wanted to confirm his suspicions, because up until now, he had only seen this arena on a flat computer screen. It was hard to tell for sure, but the floating monoliths matched the game perfectly.

He focused entirely on the throne. From a distance, it had looked small, but up close, it was a truly massive, intimidating structure. Walking up the grand steps, he found the seat covered in a thick pile of ash, and buried within that pile was a colossal skull with a large legendary sword embedded deep inside it. An inscription was engraved directly onto the blade. He gasped at what he saw:

[Dedicated to Rael Voss, The One Man Army who defied the void.]

“Okay then... this confirms it. This is my in-game nickname, without a doubt,” he said, his voice heavy with a strange sense of acceptance.

As he stepped down from the platform, his eyes caught a glimpse of his reflection on the polished obsidian surface of the throne. He leaned closer to inspect himself. "Is this... my character's avatar?"

Of course it was. It was the exact avatar he had meticulously customized years ago.

He had shiny black hair, striking gold eyes with a sharp vertical slit and a glowing orange ring around the pupils, and slightly elongated, sharp fangs. Most noticeably, a pair of pitch-black, sharp obsidian horns protruded from his head. He touched them gently, feeling a strange, tickling sensation at the base of his scalp, a feeling he had never experienced before. His skin was light, incredibly smooth, yet warm to the touch. Lastly, he looked behind him and spotted a tail. He tried to wiggle it experimentally. "Oh boy..." The neurological sensation of having an extra limb was completely mind-boggling.

Piecing the clues together, he concluded that after uploading his monumental milestone video to YouTube, he must have fallen asleep before his morning shift. By some absolute miracle, he had been transported directly into Echoes Of Eternity, the MMORPG that had accompanied him through eight years of absolute loneliness.

Taking a deep breath, Rael uttered the system command aloud. "[Status]."

Instantly, a glowing blue status screen materialized in his vision:

--------------------------------------------

Rael Voss

*The One Man Army*

Main class: Primordial summoner

Sub class: Battle Archmage

Level 5129 Draconic [zephyr *MAX]

STR: 2,552,567

AGI: 859,897

INT: 7,478,987

CON: 1,782,273

WIS: 4,128,854

MAN: 32,892,774

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Feeling the crisp air of the upper atmosphere and the steady, powerful heartbeat in his chest, it was still incredibly hard to believe this was reality. As a last resort, he decided to strike his own face with his bare hand as hard as he could.

Smack!

The moment his hand connected with his cheek, the sheer force of the impact caused a mini-sonic boom, sending a violent gust of wind blowing across the arena. Weirdly enough, it didn't really hurt due to his monstrously high defense stats, but the visual and auditory effect of a single, casual punch was utterly terrifying. "What in the hell..."

This was definitively not a dream. But how? Was he a chosen one? Or had something supernatural occurred in his apartment while he slept? He was thoroughly confused by the mechanics of his transmigration, but at the same time, a wave of profound acceptance washed over him. This was the game he loved. He was finally free from the crushing responsibilities of corporate work, free from the repetitive, gray life of a modern office slave. Though there was a little sting because his life on Earth had just been about to change for the better, he shook his head. 'What the hell, there's no use crying over spilled milk.'

He forced himself to look at the positive side. For the first time in his life, he had been granted a permanent vacation. Looking up at the sky, he marveled at the sight. "When was the last time I actually took a break to notice something like this?" The sky was a pristine, brilliant blue, and the wind felt entirely natural. There was no pollution, no looming deadlines, no corporate responsibilities. Just freedom. He let out a soft chuckle, which quickly dissolved into a loud, booming laugh of pure liberation.

Growing excited, he decided he wanted to test his abilities by summoning one of his companions.

Because his Summoner class had reached its absolute peak evolution, his mental library contained thousands of contractible creatures, ranging from high-tier monsters to legendary beasts. But of course, the most powerful among them were his six primordial-grade summons.

Biting his lower lip with anticipation, he decided to test the invocation mechanics. He chose his absolute favorite summon—an entity that had single-handedly fixed almost every high-level party crisis during his gaming days. "Hmm..."

But a sudden realization gave him pause. He had played the game using a keyboard and mouse; he had never actually cast a spell or manipulated real mana in his life.

Suddenly, a massive surge of ancient knowledge flooded directly into his brain. Words of a forgotten, powerful language materialized in his mind, feeling completely natural, as if he had spoken them millions of times before. A strange, heavy energy surged from the depths of his stomach, traveling up through his chest, into his throat, and pooling heavily into his hands.

'Is this... mana?' he recognized instantly.

Guided by pure muscle memory, an ancient, rumbling language flowed from his lips, concluding with the true name of the entity. "....I summon thee, Dark Lord of the Undead, Vhal'Zar!"

Instantly, the stone ground around the summoning circle dissolved into a pool of bubbling, pitch-black liquid. The dark ether gathered at a single point, rising upward as a towering skeleton clad in dark obsidian armor materialized from the abyss. He held an ornate, dark staff in his left hand, a massive black greatsword imbued with a pulsing crimson-blood aura strapped to his back, and a jagged crown resting proudly upon his bone skull.

This was Vhal'Zar, the Primordial Undead King. He was one of Rael's absolute favorites. To evolve him to the primordial grade, Rael had to gather massive amounts of a rare item called Liquid Black Flame, which only had a microscopic drop-rate from the Lich King raid boss. Rael had to solo-farm that raid hundreds of times until the requirements were met. Vhal'Zar was his oldest companion, having journeyed with him from a basic, fragile skeleton all the way to a world-ending primordial deity.

In the game mechanics, the black liquid he generated inflicted massive terrain debuffs on enemies, and he possessed an array of highly efficient crowd-control skills. But truth be told, the main reason Rael loved him so much was simply because his character design looked incredibly cool and magnificent.

Vhal'Zar dropped heavily to one knee before his creator, his voice echoing from the depths of his hollow chest like a rumbling earthquake. "Oh, Master... I greet you with the deepest respect. Command whatever you desire."

Rael’s chest swelled with immense, overwhelming joy, but he forcefully maintained a stoic exterior. Seeing his legendary summon manifested in full, three-dimensional reality rather than a flat computer screen was a breathtaking experience. The sheer detail of the armor up close was magnificent.

After standing there in silent admiration for a long moment, the silence became slightly awkward. Rael cleared his throat. "Ahem. Raise your head, Vhal'Zar."

The Undead King immediately obeyed, standing tall. "Yes, Master."

Now, Rael faced a brand-new problem. Now that he had summoned him, he realized he didn't actually know what to order him to do. After another long, silent pause, Vhal'Zar tilted his head slightly, asking with profound reverence, "Is something the matter, my Master?"

Rael blinked, utterly shocked. In the game, a summon could never speak back or initiate dialogue, even if the player left their character idle for hours. Summons were just lines of code that executed basic combat algorithms. But this entity before him possessed actual consciousness-it was a living, breathing reality, not a limited game system.

Wanting to confirm the boundaries of this new world, Rael asked a crucial question. "Do you possess free will, Vhal'Zar?" This was an incredibly vital piece of information, as it would determine whether his summons were bound by absolute loyalty or if they could potentially turn against him. Since the original game lacked a relationship or affinity system, he had to be absolutely sure.

Shifting his staff to his left hand, Vhal'Zar instantly dropped back down to one knee. He placed his massive gauntleted right hand over his chest armor, answering with fierce intensity. "My free will belongs entirely to you, Master. Every time I succeed in executing your bidding, my soul is filled with overwhelming joy and pride. If I were to commit an error or fail to satisfy your desires, my very existence would be rendered utterly meaningless and useless."

Rael rested his knuckles against his chin, his gamer curiosity thoroughly piqued. He wanted to test the absolute limits of this programming. "Is that so? Then... kill yourself."

It was a command he could never issue in the game; the UI only provided a basic 'Dismiss' option, which simply unsummoned the unit. It was completely different from suicide.

Without a single millisecond of hesitation, Vhal'Zar stood up, dropped his staff to the floor, and reached back to unsheath his massive crimson greatsword. Raising the heavy blade with absolute precision, he prepared to plunge the weapon directly through his own chest core.

Seeing that the giant was genuinely going through with it, Rael panicked. "Stop!!!"

The tip of the greatsword frozen instantly, having already cracked the surface of Vhal'Zar’s thick obsidian breastplate. There was no room left for doubt, his loyalty was absolute, transcending the boundaries of life and death.

Lowering the blade, Vhal'Zar knelt once more, his hollow voice filled with deep sorrow. "Master... is my service no longer satisfactory to you? Or do you perhaps wish to end my pathetic life with your own grand hands instead?" He turned the greatsword around, holding it horizontally with both hands as he respectfully offered the hilt to Rael.

A heavy wave of guilt washed over Rael. He let out a long sigh, looking down at his loyal knight. "I am sorry, Vhal'Zar..."

Vhal'Zar flinched, standing up abruptly as immense panic and disappointment in himself took over. "Master, no! If anything is wrong, the blame lies entirely on my incompetence, not you! This lowly servant shall gladly end his own existence to rectify whatever mistake I have committed-"

"I said, STOP!" Rael roared, his voice booming across the arena. He felt incredibly embarrassed and guilty for ordering such a foolish thing from his favorite companion just for a test. "It's not that I'm unsatisfied with you, it's just..." He trailed off, clearing his throat. "Anyway, just drop the subject."

Vhal'Zar lowered his head respectfully. "Then what do you desire, my liege?"

Rael realized that if he didn't give the Undead King a proper, constructive task, the giant would remain consumed by existential dread. Thinking quickly, a great practical idea came to mind.

"Vhal'Zar, I want to test my current physical strength and get used to coordinating this body in a real fight. Summon your weakest minions."

Hearing a concrete command, Vhal'Zar’s aura stabilized. "As you command, Master."

Once again, the obsidian ground liquefied into darkness. Rows of massive, heavily armored skeletons wielding towering shields and broadswords rose steadily from the abyss. These were Death Knights the lowest around level 500, most basic tier of infantry in Vhal'Zar's undead legion.

"Yeah... now it's time to practice," Rael muttered, a thrill of excitement shooting through his veins.

He flexed his legs and leaped into the air, instantly gasping in shock as he soared hundreds of feet above the arena. "Woooh! Hohoho!"

Descending from the stratosphere, he balled his fist, executing a powerful downward smash to trigger a massive area-of-effect shockwave. Upon impact, the sheer kinetic force caused dozens of Death Knights to instantly crumble into fine white dust. Without pausing, Rael blurred into motion, dashing through the remaining ranks. His punches turned the heavily armored monsters into literal sandbags, shattering them into oblivion one after another. He channeled all his accumulated real-world stress, anxiety, and frustration into every single blow.

For the first time in over a decade, he felt an exhilarating rush of youth. In fact, his body was genuinely young again. No more chronic back pain, no more stiff joint aches—he was wild, young, and completely free.

"HAHAHAHA!" Rael laughed out loud, enjoying every single second of the raw power surging through his limbs.

Watching from the sidelines, Vhal'Zar clapped his gauntlets together in pure admiration, cheering him on. "Magnificent, Master! Those are truly spectacular movements!"

After a while, once the summoned ranks were entirely depleted, Rael finally came to a halt. His chest heaved with heavy breaths, but he didn't feel exhausted at all; instead, his entire system was buzzing with pure adrenaline. He had never imagined a reality where he could be this profoundly strong and free at the exact same time.

Vhal'Zar walked over to him, bowing his head respectfully. "As expected of the Sovereign. Your combat prowess is as absolute and terrifying as ever, Master."

Rael looked at his loyal companion and flashed a genuine, bright smile. Seeing that expression of satisfaction on his master's face, Vhal'Zar felt a profound sense of peace.

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