MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Hey everyone, Aibek here! Sorry for disappearing for a while. I had my reasons, but that's all behind us now. I'm finally back.

Here's a quick summary of the entire Ancestral Realm arc so far to get everyone up to speed. If you already remember the story well, skip this and the next chapter.

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The Ancestral Realm is a fully self-sustained pocket dimension where time flows ten times faster than in the real world. Ten days inside equal just one day outside.

It opens to a large number of worlds every one hundred years for a decade, 'One real world year.'

Vast beyond measure, the realm is many times larger than even the Ancient World. It is home to billions of denizens, many empires, and diverse cultures.

Within it exist every kind of power system imaginable, elemental magic, spirit contracts, cultivation paths, and even advanced technology.

At its heart, however, the realm is a land of opportunity reserved for the chosen few permitted entry. These outsiders are known as Adventurers, and the realm itself is ruled by an enigmatic entity known only as the Realm Ruler.

Adventurers receive three main benefits. The first is the ten-to-one time difference.

The second is the Law Token, a miraculous treasure that not only grants the Adventurer immortality, every token represents one extra life, but also allows them to enter a heightened state of comprehension, enabling rapid growth and mastery.

The third benefit is the Ruler's Wish, a boon earned through realm games. As the name suggests, it allows the Adventurer to request something directly from the Realm Ruler.

Each Adventurer is granted only three Law Tokens upon entering. To survive their ten years within the realm, they must earn more by participating in the Realm Games or seizing them from other Adventurers.

The Realm Games are divided into two categories: Epocal Trials and Apex Conquests.

The Epocal Trials are compulsory for all Adventurers and offer Law Tokens and other great rewards. However, only 33% of participants will pass; the remaining 66% will incur a penalty, losing 25% of their current Law Tokens.

Each trial lasts a full year, commencing on the first day and concluding at the end of that year.

The Apex Conquests, in contrast, are selective, as only a limited number of Adventurers are chosen based on their performance, no more than three hundred per game, with no more than one hundred from the same world.

Each conquest has unique objectives, and the first group or individual to complete theirs is crowned champion, earning Law Tokens and other rewards.

The rest typically receive neither prize nor penalty.

Finally, there is the penalty of death. Adventurers cannot die permanently so long as they hold at least one Law Token, but if slain by another adventurer, they lose a Law Token along with 25% of their accumulated loot.

After entering the realm, Alex learned that it was ruled by three great powers: the Magi Empire, the Cultivator Domain, and the Empire of Iron. Each embodies a different path of strength, from arcane magic to cultivation to machines and technology.

Scattered across the realm were countless cities, functioning like any society.

The cities served as safe havens for all, including Adventurers. To prevent chaos, any death caused by a denizen of the realm carried no penalty for the victim. At the same time, the perpetrator faced punishment at the hands of the realm's rulers.

The adventurers were also prohibited from fighting with a cit,y and the only way Adventurers could fight one another was through official duels, where they could wager far more than a single Law Token.

Alex took full advantage of the opportunities before him, participating in challenges, collecting Law Tokens to strengthen himself, and learning about the vast realm and its trials.

The first two months passed without incident until he met a man named Zarach, a unique otherworlder. Zarach wished to challenge Alex, but instead of Law Tokens, he demanded Alex's legacy weapon, Umbris.

Though confident in his abilities, Alex was not foolish enough to wager his legacy weapon against someone he knew nothing about. But Zarach, ever prepared, revealed a blade that made Alex hesitate.

It was the very same sword Alex had seen in his dream, the weapon wielded by the strange, terrifying entity known as Dark.

Alex had always believed those dreams to be more than imagination. The being he saw, slaughtering cosmic existences as though they were ants, was the origin of the physique Alex carried and the source of many terrifying skills he now used himself.

Seeing that sword again stirred greed and temptation within him, but Alex restrained himself and asked to purchase it instead. Zarach refused, and their meeting ended there.

Later, Alex learned that Zarach controlled the Tesseract Collection, an ancient treasury of immeasurable artifacts.

At any given time, the Tesseract Collection could have only one owner, and to draw an artifact from it, one had to either offer something of equal value or leave the choice to its guardian spirit, Gula.

Those who left it to Gula's judgment had to serve her until she deemed their service sufficient payment for what they had taken.

Alex came to believe Zarach had struck a deal with Gula because how else would he have known about Alex, his sword, and exactly what to offer to lure him into a challenge?

Weeks of research later, Alex made the reckless decision to accept Zarach's duel, and in doing so, he lost his legacy weapon.

Worse still, he retained no memory of the battle itself. His attempts to recover it failed, for Zarach had used a Platinum-grade Ruler's Wish to seal Alex's memories and ensure that no one else could ever uncover the truth about him.

The fact that Zarach had somehow obtained not such a high-grade wish at such an early stage only deepened the mystery, making him all the more dangerous.

Months later, Alex was approached by the Information Ring, one of the realm's foremost organizations, for another bet against Zarach.

A duel where Alex would stake both his life and a sword of equal value to the one he had lost, in exchange for Umbris and the Dark sword.

The odds were against Alex, and he had yet to even discover what powers Zarach wielded, but still, Alex made a calculated gamble and accepted the challenge.

Now he had three years to acquire a sword worthy of the challenge and prepare for his enigmatic foe.

Alex traveled across all three empires to strengthen himself, completing his Epocal Trials.

A few weeks later, he entered his first Apex Conquest and emerged victorious. His reward was a Gold-grade Wish, which he used to uncover information about a sword powerful enough to fulfill the second condition of his bet with Zarach.

Using the wish he earned from winning the game, Alex learned of a city named Nocturna, ruled by the powerful Ninth Rank Elemental Ruler Vayken Zeld.

Beneath Vayken's palace lay a hidden pocket space, and within it rested the sword Alex needed.

Vayken, however, was a cruel tyrant, presiding over a city of criminals and depravity beyond the reach of any great power. To obtain the sword, Alex would either have to strike a deal with the Monarch or find a way to seize it without becoming entangled with him.

Fortunately, the Realm Ruler was feeling generous, and she revealed that Vayken had kidnapped the daughter of Elara Winterfell, Grand Arcanum of the Hrimvalkyer Cohort, the thirteenth regiment of the Magi Empire.

She also explained that entry into the pocket space required a key, which is shattered into eleven fragments scattered across the realm.

{"It became clear to us readers that the Realm Ruler's "generosity" had a deeper meaning. She recognized Alex from another time and even addressed him as Master."}

With one of his major objectives achieved, Alex dedicated himself to strengthening his foundation, growing his power, collecting the fragments of the key, reaching Elara Winterfell, and seeking intelligence on Zarach.

Shortly after gaining the intel on the sword, Alex used his Law Tokens to raise his comprehension of Chaos and Darkness Laws to 75%, fulfilling the final requirement for rank advancement.

Ascending to the Sixth Rank, he later focused on maximizing his stats and honing his skills, knowing three years would never be enough to reach the Seventh Rank and claim the title of Elemental Ruler.

He completed the last of his Epochal Trials and joined another Conquest Game, where he secured his second victory.

Later, Alex journeyed to the Starfall Sect in the Cultivator Domain to claim one of the key fragments. But the elder who possessed it refused to part with the shard unless Alex first fulfilled several conditions.

With no choice, Alex decided to remain in the sect for the time being, balancing his time between winning more games and seeking out the remaining fragments.

During this period, something unexpected occurred. Yue Xiuying, the Star Disciple, famed as the sect's Jade Fairy, proposed to him. He refused and did not think much of it.

Thus ended Alex's first year in the Ancestral Realm. As planned, he returned to the real world, taking a day of rest before continuing.

Meanwhile, his companions faced trials of their own.

Andrei was sent to the Primal Beast Lands, a savage minor domain far away from the three empires. It was currently embroiled in a brutal unification war.

There, Andrei began laying the foundations of a faction to challenge the tribal leaders.

Venedikt, by contrast, found himself thrust into the role of sect master of a dying order with only one disciple, his Epochal Trial tied to restoring the sect to its former peak.

Over the following months, Alex deepened his mastery of the Mystery of Abyssal Resonance, the third and final reward from the Domain Ruler Trials.

This spirit art allowed him to split his mind into independent soul wisps, fragments of consciousness that boosted his parallel thinking. More than that, the wisps could inhabit vessels, allowing Alex to create fully independent avatars.

But such vessels proved difficult to craft. Each needed at least sixty percent of his body's stats and elemental affinity to function properly.

Despite acquiring the Sanguine Avatar skill from the Realm Ruler, two months of practice yielded disappointing results, as his strongest avatar barely reached 34% of his original strength.

At that point, his teacher, Great Elder Kang Yijun, holder of a key shard, told him about the Selective Mass Assimilation Technique, which could create stronger clones and help individuals improve.

However, the technique was long considered a failure. It could not produce a stable result without succumbing to gene overloading and mutation.

Yet, according to Kang's intelligence, a rogue researcher from a major sect might have perfected it. Rumors spoke of stable mutants in the Dead Lands of the Iron Empire.

Alex distrusted Kang; after all, the old man had lied many times to make him spend time with Lady Yue, his disciple.

But the temptation was too great. If the technique worked, it could solve his greatest limitation, giving him the power to do the work of two, or even three, men.

Thus, Alex set out with Lady Yue for the techno-dominated Iron Empire. There, they soon encountered mutants born from the flawed technique. Using the Devourer skill, Alex tore memories directly from their minds, confirming that Kang's intel was true.

He discovered that while most experiments failed, subjects either died or mutated into hulking, broken monsters; only a handful of successes existed.

The Apothecary behind the experiments, backed by a great power, had begun recruiting not just criminals and thugs but also talented individuals, expanding his reach.

Determined to meet this Apothecary, Alex deliberately spared one mutant, staging its survival as an accident. Just a few days later, his bet paid off, and a representative arrived to recruit him and Yue.

At least that's what Alex had expected.

The emissaries were elders from the Immortal Phoenix Sect, one of the realm's most renowned sects. Alex assumed they had come for him, after all, he had displayed exceptional skill, but to his surprise, their true interest lay in Yue.

Elder Kang attempted to intervene but was restrained by another Phoenix Sect elder, leaving Alex and Yue no choice but to follow.

During the tense journey, Yue claimed she was also an Adventurer, but Alex believed she was lying, because to maintain the disguise of a realm native, she would have required dozens of Realm Ruler wishes, an impossibility for anyone.

Eventually, they were taken to the Apothecary's hidden laboratory, where they met a gaunt figure named Zareth, the man behind the madness.

There, Zareth unveiled a glass pod containing Lady Yue's unconscious body. Alex froze. The real Yue lay before him, while another stood at his side.

With cold amusement, Zareth explained that Yue Xiuying had been his captive for the last eight months, so without any shadow of doubt, the one with Alex was an imposter.

He demanded the imposter reveal her true identity.

Alex tried to negotiate but failed, and with no other choice, the imposter Yue revealed her identity.

She was Zahra, the half-elven lady Alex had aided in the Kanut Wasteland. In return for the key to the Ancestral Realm, Alex helped Zahra take vengeance for her father.

(Side note: After Alex foiled Ahrimon's plan, stopping the demon invasion, he was cast to the far side of the world alongside Leviathan, the Sin Duke of Envy.

The Duke erased many of his skills, sealed those he could not erase, and placed a death curse upon him before abandoning him in the Kanut Wasteland to die.

Alex had been forced to seek entry into the Ancestral Realm to escape. Its gate, guarded by a raging elemental storm, required a key bound to Zahra. With no choice, he aided her in her vengeance in exchange for that key.)