Chapter 44: Essence Online

The game was called Essence Online.

It had been created during the early days of the Alliance, back when humanity was still struggling to understand the true workings of essence.

At the time, a revolutionary form of technology had emerged, one that bridged essence and machinery.

The concept was simple, yet profound.

An essence avatar.

Using specialized systems, a digital avatar was created entirely from a martial artist’s essence. Anyone capable of controlling essence could manipulate this avatar freely.

However, the avatar could only exist within a digital environment, making it unsuitable for real combat.

But it had one crucial feature.

Whatever the avatar felt, pain, strain, pressure, was transmitted back as feedback to the martial artist who created it.

This made the avatars invaluable for training.

Initially, the technology was restricted to martial clans and high-ranking Alliance officials. Over time, as the technology stabilized, it was released to the wider martial population.

A shared network was soon established, giving birth to what became known as Essence Online.

Even then, access was far from cheap.

But that didn’t matter to Adam.

He wasn’t buying one.

He was only renting it for three hours.

Adam scanned the card he’d received at the counter against the pod’s scanner. With a soft mechanical hum, the pod opened. He stepped inside, settled into the seat, and the pod sealed shut around him.

At first, there was only darkness.

Then a notification materialized in the void before Adam.

[Do you want to create an avatar?]

“Yes,” Adam answered calmly.

The message vanished, replaced immediately by another.

[Please wait one minute while your essence avatar is being created.]

A countdown appeared.

1:00

0:59

0:58

As the timer ticked down, Adam felt a faint pull, his essence was being drawn away gently, and the amount was so small he barely felt it, despite his meager essence capacity.

As he waited, Adam found the process faintly amusing.

It even asks for permission before draining essence…

Of course, he understood the reasoning. The pod drained essence at a controlled, harmless rate, but if something like this were allowed to draw freely, it could be lethal. Consent was required, and more importantly, the flow could be stopped at any time.

After all, it was his essence.

And he was always in control of it.

The timer continued.

0:03

0:02

0:01

0:00

[Avatar Created]

Adam felt it immediately.

A subtle connection formed, like a smaller, distant extension of himself.

Another notification appeared.

[Connect to Avatar]

Adam didn’t need instructions.

He instinctively understood.

Exhaling slowly, he let his consciousness flow outward.

In one moment, he was lying inside the pod.

In the next, it felt as though he was moving at light speed.

It was only his consciousness traveling, his physical body remained in the pod. Older-generation pods didn’t offer the smoothest transition between physical and digital states, but the sensation passed quickly.

Then—

The world stabilized.

A final notification appeared before his eyes.

[Welcome to Essence Online]

The notification faded.

Adam’s vision cleared, revealing the space he now stood in.

It was a vast white expanse, no walls, no doors, no windows, and no visible light source. Yet it was brightly lit, cool, and perfectly ventilated. The air felt clean, almost natural.

This was his personal space.

A private staging area before entering the wider world of Essence Online.

Adam glanced around and let out a short breath, half amused.

“At this rate, my three hours will be up before I actually do anything.”

This space existed for setup purposes.

Here, a user could decide whether to appear anonymous or known.

Adam chose anonymous without hesitation.

He couldn’t alter the physical appearance of his avatar, but anonymity allowed concealment options, masks, cloaks, robes, and similar coverings. Adam selected a simple robe, letting it drape over his form.

Next came the username.

Adam didn’t overthink it. He entered one and moved on immediately.

Then the final choice appeared before him.

Select Mode

There were only two options in Essence Online:

Battle Mode & Extermination Mode.

Battle Mode focused on fighting human opponents, either AI-controlled combatants or real players.

Extermination Mode, on the other hand, dealt exclusively with monsters generated by the system’s AI.

The monsters followed patterns, and once those patterns were learned, they became predictable. Still, they were effective training tools.

Fighting real opponents was better in the long run, but only Battle Mode allowed that.

Adam barely hesitated.

He selected Extermination Mode.

Adam didn’t choose Extermination Mode just because he wanted to blow monsters’ heads apart.

…though that was definitely part of it.

The real reason was far more practical.

In three days, he would be entering Siren’s Swamp, facing monsters he had never encountered before.

Reading reports could only take him so far, no matter how detailed, paper descriptions couldn’t capture instinct, movement, or behavioral nuance.

If I’m going to fight them, I might as well understand how they move first.

Watching monsters act, how they hunted, how they reacted under pressure, how they coordinated, would give him far more than static information ever could.

He wanted to feel their rhythm before facing the real thing.

That was the true reason he’d come to the arcade.

The night stroll had been to clear his head, yes, but wasting three free days before an incursion was unacceptable.

Productivity had always been one of Adam’s ways of coping.

Even if the monsters here were driven by artificial intelligence, the difference wouldn’t be that large.

Monsters weren’t particularly intelligent to begin with.

Their habits were repetitive. Their instincts, crude. Copying those behaviors wouldn’t be difficult, certainly far easier than mimicking humans.

Adam wasn’t done yet.

Within Extermination Mode, he still had to choose the game type.

He selected Solo Hunt without hesitation.

Then came the monster selection.

Adam didn’t pause.

Sirens.

The moment he confirmed, the white expanse around him began to dissolve. The ground darkened, becoming soft and uneven. Moist air rolled in, heavy with the scent of decay.

Murky water pooled at his feet as twisted trees rose from the ground, their roots submerged in black sludge.

The swamp formed completely.

Just before full control was granted, one final notification flashed before his eyes:

[PtsDaddy has signed in.]

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