NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: Silent Eclipse
The following morning, Luke woke with a stiff neck and the faint ache of too many hours hunched over his desk.
His notebook was still sprawled open, littered with scribbles, diagrams, and hastily drawn flowcharts. Words like "SP Goals", "Pod Maintenance Plan", and "Ranked Structure" were underlined three or four times.
He groaned, stretching his arms above his head before catching sight of the clock on his wall.
10:14 AM.
"…Guess I overslept." He muttered, shuffling into the shower before throwing on a hoodie and jeans.
Today was important.
He had already ordered his pod, but he couldn't just wait around until it arrived.
He needed to practice.
That was why he'd made up his mind last night: he would go to one of the public VR centers scattered across the city. They weren't ideal, but they'd let him dip into Silent Eclipse, the game that dominated the e-sports scene.
********
The walk was brisk, the city buzzing with its usual morning rush.
Students hurried with backpacks, office workers sipped coffee as they weaved between cars, and the chatter of vendors filled the air. Unlike the slum areas where he lived, the city seemed several times more lively and colorful.
Luke kept his hood low, slipping into the neon-lit entrance of 'VR Nexus Arcade', one of the larger public gaming centers he found.
Inside, rows upon rows of pods hummed softly, each one occupied by someone chasing either glory or escape. Screens on the walls broadcasted highlights from ongoing matches — quick flashes of energy blades, gunfire, and spells filling the displays.
Luke approached the reception desk.
"I'd like to rent a pod," he said, sliding some bills across the counter.
The attendant glanced at him, then at the cash. "Two hours or five?"
"…Five."
"Silent Eclipse?"
Luke nodded.
"Room 23. Pod should be ready. Don't break it."
********
The pod hissed open when Luke stepped inside, the padding surprisingly clean. He strapped himself in, heart pounding faintly in anticipation.
The screen blinked.
[Welcome to Silent Eclipse.]
<Please select your login method.>
Luke chose New Player.
The system scanned his vitals, adjusting parameters until a soft ding echoed.
Light engulfed his vision.
When his senses returned, he stood in a sleek metallic chamber with glowing lines etched along the walls. His body shimmered faintly, data reconstructing into an avatar.
He glanced down at his hands — human, but sleeker, more polished, as though molded from chrome and flesh.
"…Huh." He frowned. "Looks… fake."
Hunters & Dragons had felt real.
Every texture, every breath, every Dragon's roar shook him to his core. But here, despite the polish, there was a strange hollowness.
The air didn't feel heavy.
His footsteps didn't echo properly. The environment was too clean, too sterile.
Still, it was impressive. And this was the competitive frontier.
Luke shook off the thought and opened his beginner loadout menu. Basic weapons shimmered before him: a short energy blade, a plasma sidearm, and a handful of combat utilities.
"Alright. Time to grind."
**********
The next few days blurred together.
Luke poured hours into Silent Eclipse, renting pods for longer stretches and using every second to test his limits. At first, he fumbled — the physics felt off compared to Te'rah. There was no Essence, no raw pulse of nature pushing through his veins.
Instead, everything was calculated, simulated.
But it didn't take long for him to adjust.
That was also when he found an unexpected surprise: even in the game, he was superhuman!
Perhaps it was due to him being Level 15, or something that had to do with the System, or even his Synchronization Rate. Whatever the explanation was, he found himself excelling in the game despite being a newbie.
In addition, his processing speed was also absurd.
His combat experience, sharpened by Draco's constant battles, gave him reflexes far beyond ordinary players. He could read enemy movement patterns, predict attacks, and exploit weaknesses with terrifying precision.
His sense of timing, honed from fighting Dragons, translated seamlessly into the game's mechanics.
He leveled fast.
Faster than most newcomers had any right to.
Quests, missions, side objectives — he cleared them all with ruthless efficiency. His avatar evolved, unlocking stronger gear and sharper abilities until his loadout reflected a true competitor's arsenal.
By the end of the third day, Luke's character had reached the threshold.
He was eligible for ranked play.
Luke stared at the glowing prompt on his HUD, a faint grin tugging at his lips.
"Perfect."
************
The queue popped instantly.
Luke materialized inside a massive, dome-shaped arena — a mixture of sci-fi cityscape and fantastical ruins. Towers of neon-lit steel clashed against broken marble pillars, while holographic banners flickered above.
His team of five spawned together, their avatars materializing in a flash of light. Luke glanced around, noting their loadouts.
Two looked new, gear cheap and basic.
Another was slightly better equipped, though his posture screamed inexperience. The last had decent armor but wavered nervously, fidgeting with his blade.
"…This doesn't look good," Luke muttered.
The match countdown began.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
The battlefield roared to life.
BOOOOOM!
The first skirmish was brutal.
The opposing team moved like predators, coordinated and sharp. They surged forward with expert precision, targeting Luke's weakest teammates. Plasma fire and energy blades clashed in an explosion of sparks.
Within minutes, three of Luke's allies were gone, their avatars disintegrating into digital ash.
"Damn it!" Luke gritted his teeth, ducking beneath a barrage of energy bolts. His last teammate crumbled soon after, leaving him alone.
Five versus one.
Spectators flooded the chat feed, mocking and laughing.
"Match's over."
"Poor guy got matched with trash teammates."
"Just surrender, newbie."
But Luke wasn't listening.
His mind sharpened.
His senses slowed the battlefield. He wasn't seeing polygons and shaders — he was seeing movement, intent, weakness.
And he struck.
WHOOSH!
Like a storm unleashed, Luke darted forward.
His blade clashed against rifles, his plasma pistol fired with pinpoint accuracy. He weaved between attacks with flawless timing, dismantling the enemy formation piece by piece.
One fell. Then another.
Panic spread among the opponents.
"What the hell—?!" one of them shouted as Luke spun, carving through him with a clean slash.
Three down. Two left.
The fourth tried to snipe from afar, but Luke anticipated it, deflecting the shot before vaulting across the ruins to drive his blade through the man's chest.
That left one.
She was good.
Her movements were precise, her combos tight. Unlike the others, she didn't panic. She pressed forward, chaining strikes with perfect accuracy.
But Luke adapted.
He ducked, sidestepped, rolled. Every feint she made, he answered. Every assault she launched, he unraveled.
Their blades clashed in a flurry of sparks until, finally, Luke twisted behind her guard. His plasma blade hummed, cutting through her defenses as he drove the final blow into her core.
Her avatar staggered, pixels fracturing.
"W-what?!" she gasped, voice laced with disbelief.
And then she was gone.
"Haa… haaa…"
Silence fell.
Nothing but his heavy breaths could be heard for miles.
Luke stood alone in the ruins, his chest rising and falling steadily. Victory banners exploded across the arena, fanfare blaring. His HUD overflowed with rank points, achievements, and commendations.
But Luke wasn't smiling.
He was calm. Steady. This was only the beginning.
**********
Far away, in another city, a pod hissed open.
A young woman sat up sharply, her dark hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. Her wide eyes shimmered with disbelief as she ripped off her headset.
"No way…" she whispered. Her hands trembled.
Even though she had been using an Alternate Account, she was still a Ranker.
A veteran of dozens of tournaments. Someone who had clawed her way into the top two hundred on the ladder.
And yet, she had been crushed.
By a newcomer.
"…Who the hell was that guy?"