Solus carefully inspected the remaining loot scattered around Ghorak's enormous corpse.
Most of the Chieftain's guaranteed drops were relatively ordinary—several Uncommon materials, a collection of Common crafting materials, and a few Minor Potions. They were useful, but nothing particularly exciting.
Then his eyes landed on the items he had been searching for.
His expression immediately brightened as he crouched down and collected them.
[High-Quality Blackroot Ore] ×5 — Rare Crafting Material
Exceptionally pure Blackroot Ore formed where the ancient roots absorbed minerals from the mine for decades. Used for high-quality weapons, armor, and forging catalysts.
Solus's eyes widened slightly.
"Rare crafting material..."
He placed the ore into his inventory before examining the second item.
[Blackroot Core] ×1 — Uncommon Material
A condensed core containing the residual energy of the Blackroots fused to Ghorak.
A satisfied smile appeared on Solus's face.
This was the quest item he will hand to Master Bromm. Whatever rewards awaited him for completing the quest, he could already consider the most important part of his objective accomplished.
With the loot secured, Solus prepared to leave the Hidden Dungeon. Before doing so, however, he remembered the other item he had obtained from Ghorak.
The cloak.
He took it from his inventory and examined it closely.
The fabric was almost completely black, with faint dark-violet patterns moving across its surface like shadows beneath water. Even through that it is a game, the item gave him an inexplicable feeling of danger.
Solus hesitated before equipping it.
The moment the cloak touched his body, it dissolved into countless dark particles and wrapped around him.
Ding!
System: [Veil of the Nameless] has been bound to Player Solus.
System: This item cannot be dropped upon death.
Solus blinked.
Before he could think further, another notification appeared.
System: Passive Effect Activated — [Nameless]
System: Player information has been concealed.
Solus immediately opened his status panel. His own information remained visible, but he quickly realized that another player attempting to inspect him would no longer be able to see his level, race, class, equipment, or other personal information.
Then another notification appeared.
System: Unique Effect Activated — [False Identity]
System: Please create a separate identity.
A new interface appeared before him.
[False Identity Creation]
Name:
Level:
Race:
Class:
Solus stared at the empty fields.
The cloak could apparently do more than conceal his information. It could provide him with an entirely separate identity.
That was extremely useful.
If he continued growing stronger at his current pace, revealing his real identity could eventually attract unwanted attention. Having another identity would give him a layer of protection that ordinary concealment could not provide.
Solus thought for a while before a single word came to mind.
Monarch.
He liked the sound of it. It was simple, powerful, and had no connection to his real identity.
He entered the name.
Name: Monarch
His eyes moved to the remaining fields.
Level:
Race:
Class:
He considered filling them in but eventually decided against it. If another player used an identification skill on him, there was no reason to provide even the smallest piece of information.
He left everything blank.
System: [False Identity] confirmed.
System: Registered Identity — Monarch.
The moment the confirmation appeared, the Veil of the Nameless reacted.
Dark-violet light suddenly spread across Solus's body before flowing inward and disappearing beneath his skin. A strange sensation followed, as though something had attached itself directly to his soul.
Solus froze.
He placed a hand against his chest.
For a moment, he could feel something there—something he couldn't see or explain. It wasn't painful, but it was disturbingly real.
He had experienced realistic sensations in Ascension Online before, but this felt different.
Far too real.
Solus frowned.
"Is this really just a game?"
The thought lingered for several seconds before he pushed it aside. Whatever the answer was, he had more immediate matters to deal with.
He turned toward the dungeon entrance and left the Secret Root Chamber.
Outside the Hidden Dungeon
The familiar sight of Mistveil Outpost appeared before him.
Players moved through the streets while NPCs went about their daily routines. The sounds of conversation, footsteps, and blacksmiths hammering metal filled the air.
Solus was about to head toward the Ironroot Forge when he suddenly stopped.
A troubling thought crossed his mind.
"Wait..."
He looked around.
"How the hell am I supposed to exit the game?"
There was no logout button.
No familiar menu.
Nothing.
Solus waved his hand.
"Logout."
Nothing happened.
"Log out."
Still nothing.
He tried opening different menus and even called out several commands, but the system gave him no response.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
He had entered Ascension Online without any conventional login process in the first place. There had been no headset, machine, or character-selection screen. He had simply found himself inside the game after his encounter with the unknown system.
Perhaps leaving required the same kind of connection.
Solus closed his eyes and focused on himself.
Instead of thinking about a command, he concentrated on the strange connection he had felt since entering this world.
I want to go back.
At first, nothing happened.
Then the air around him suddenly became still.
The sounds of Mistveil faded into the distance, and even the wind seemed to disappear.
Solus opened his eyes.
A thin crack had appeared in the air before him.
He stared at it in disbelief.
Another crack appeared beside it, followed by several more. Within seconds, the world around him began to fracture as though reality itself had become a gigantic mirror.
The buildings stretched and distorted while the sky twisted into swirling patterns of blue and white. The ground beneath his feet broke apart into countless fragments of light, and the voices of nearby players and NPCs became distorted echoes.
Solus tried to move, but his body had already become weightless.
Then an invisible force suddenly pulled him backward.
His surroundings vanished.
He felt as though his entire existence had been dragged through an endless tunnel between worlds. Light and darkness alternated around him while fragments of his experience in Ascension Online flashed through his mind—the Mistveil Outpost, the Ascendant Pillar, the Ironroot Forge, Master Bromm, the Blackroots, Ghorak, and finally the Veil of the Nameless.
Then everything became dark.
For a brief moment, Solus sensed something within that darkness.
He couldn't see its form or hear its voice, yet its presence was unmistakable. It felt strangely familiar, like the same unknown existence that had touched his soul when he equipped the Veil.
Before he could understand what it was, the darkness shattered.
Solus's body was suddenly thrown back into reality.
His eyes opened.
The familiar ceiling of his room appeared above him.
His bed, desk, curtains, and the rest of his surroundings were exactly as he remembered them.
He was back at the university.
For a brief moment, everything seemed normal.
Then an unbearable pain suddenly pierced through his skull.
"ARGHHHHHH!"
Solus grabbed his head as the pain intensified. It wasn't an ordinary headache; it felt as though his mind was being torn apart from within.
Memories and sensations from Ascension Online flooded into his consciousness all at once.
The smell of the Blackroots.
The weight of the spear in his hands.
Ghorak's roar.
The sensation of magic flowing through his body.
His stomach twisted.
Solus rolled onto his side and vomited onto the floor. His hands trembled as he struggled to breathe, while the room spun violently around him.
He reached for the edge of his bed, but his strength suddenly failed.
His body collapsed onto the floor.
His consciousness began to fade.
The last thing he saw was the familiar ceiling above him.
And just before darkness consumed his mind, one thought crossed his consciousness.
That wasn't a game.
Then he lost consciousness.