PROLOGUE:

  The holographic notification hovered in Sersei's vision, pulsing with a soft blue glow against the backdrop of her bedroom ceiling.

  【SYSTEM NOTICE】 Character Registration Complete Class: Ranger (Level 1) Starting Zone: Safehaven All base attributes allocated according to selected distribution Safe travels, Adventurer

  "Finally," Sersei whispered, swiping the notification away with an impatient flick. She'd rehearsed that gesture a hundred times, mimicking the casual confidence of top PVP adventurers.

  The past six months had been nothing but preparation, reading guides, watching combat replays, memorizing optimal skill rotations. Her room was plastered with hand-drawn maps of South Eonia's starter zones, flowcharts of leveling routes, and stat optimization tables. Definitely not your average teenager's den.

  Her parents had watched her obsession grow with increasing concern. After all, normal seventeen-year-olds in Safehaven didn't choose to become adventurers. They became merchants like their parents, or blacksmiths, or alchemists, professions where your worst daily risk was haggling with a difficult customer, not having your organs rearranged by a cave troll.

  Professions where death wasn't an occupational hazard.

  She flopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling where she'd pinned her ultimate goal, a crudely drawn but meticulously detailed vision board of the Level 70 PvP championship podium with her name at the top.

  Because that was the thing, Sersei wasn't shooting for "decent adventurer" or "respectable guildmate." Why be a footnote when you could be a legend? The highest level. The most optimized build. The PvP champion whose strategies would be copied by every wannabe Ranger from Safehaven to The Spire.

  Sersei swung her legs off the bed and opened her GOD-INTERFACE with a practiced gesture. The ethereal menu materialized in front of her, tabs glowing with untouched potential:

  【STATS】【INVENTORY】【SKILLS】【QUEST LOG】【MAP】【CHAT】【SYSTEM】

  She tapped 【STATS】first, and allocated her points with quick movements :

  Strength: 3 Dexterity: 14 Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 2 Luck: 7

  Not the distribution most new Rangers went with. Most favored a balanced stat spread which was a Classic noob trap.

  "Sersei! Breakfast!" Her mother's voice carried up the stairs, slicing through her concentration.

  "Coming!" she called back, quickly equipping her starter gear through the interface. The Pathfinder Armor materialized around her body, replacing her sleep clothes in a shimmer of blue light. The weight felt strange, heavier than expected but oddly balanced. A Maple Shortbow appeared on her back, and an Iron Shortsword at her hip.

  It was only starting gear but it felt good.

  She caught her reflection in the mirror and barely recognized herself. The girl with the long black hair and intense eyes staring back wasn't Merchant Adwen's daughter anymore. She was Sersei, Ranger, Level 1.

  The title even hovered her head, in small holographic letters.

  Her father was already at the table when she came downstairs, his merchant's tabard half-buttoned as he sipped his morning tea. He nearly choked on it at the sight of her.

  "By the GameMaster's source code," he spluttered, "you're really doing this."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Her mother turned from the stove, wooden spatula frozen mid-flip. The sizzling eggs were starting to burn at the edges. "Oh, Sersei..."

  "We talked about this," Sersei said, keeping her voice level. "For months. I submitted my registration forms last week."

  "Forms can be canceled," her father countered, slamming his cup down so hard tea created a tiny tsunami across the tablecloth. "The merchant's guild has an apprenticeship with your name on it! Good pay, zero chance of having your face removed by a troll, and a 401k!"

  "Adwen," her mother cut in softly. "We agreed."

  Her father's shoulders slumped. He looked suddenly older, the crow's feet around his eyes deepening. "At least take someone for the few first levels. Jormund from the guard owes me, "

  "Dad, I've mapped every square inch of the Tumbling Meadows. I know the spawn points, patrol patterns, and attack ranges of every monster from here to Whispering Woods." Sersei pulled a folded paper from her interface and spread it on the table. "Look, I'm not starting with the standard newbie questline. That's for people who don't prep. I'll head straight to the Crystal Cascades waterfall cave, grind slimes until I hit level 3, then, "

  Her father sighed, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. "Listen, I know you'll ignore ninety percent of what we say. That's fine. But at least take this."

  He flicked open his interface and initiated a trade. A small blue crystal materialized on the table between them.

  "A teleport stone?" Sersei's eyebrows shot up. Those weren't cheap, merchants, like her parents, charged a small fortune for them.

  "Emergency only," he said firmly. "If things go sideways, you activate it. Instantly transports you back to this house. No questions asked, no lectures about wasted money."

  Sersei hesitated, then accepted the trade through her interface. The stone vanished, appearing in her inventory list. Her throat tightened unexpectedly.

  "And these," her mother added, placing two small vials of crimson liquid beside her plate. "Health potions. Major ones"

  Sersei accepted those too, blinking rapidly at the sudden burning behind her eyes. "Thanks. They're too much for my actual health bar though "

  "One more thing," her father said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small, silver hairpin shaped like an arrow. Not a system item, a physical object, no stats or enhancements. Just... metal and craftsmanship. "From both of us."

  Sersei took it, feeling the cool weight of reality against her fingertips. She slid it into her hair, securing her bangs away from her eyes.

  "I'll make you proud," she said, her voice smaller than she'd intended.

  Her father laughed, but he was tearing up too. "Just stay alive, kiddo. Wouldn't want to pay a fortune for a guild to recover you."

  After breakfast, they walked her to the edge of Safehaven, where the cobblestone streets gave way to the dirt paths of the Tumbling Meadows. The invisible boundary between Safehaven controlled safe zones and the wild zones felt almost tangible, like static electricity raising the hair on her arms.

  Adventurers of various levels passed by, some returning blood-spattered and limping, others heading out with the same nervous excitement Sersei was trying to conceal. A group of warriors argued loudly about tank rotations while a solo mage meticulously sorted her inventory at the roadside.

  "We'll check in through chat," her mother said, embracing her tightly. "Every day. If you don't respond within twelve hours, we'll post a retrieving quest."

  "Mom... Permadeath isn't even a thing in the starting zones. At least wait until I've reached Petalburg"

  "Non-negotiable."

  Sersei sighed. "Fine."

  Her father's hug was briefer but just as fierce. "Remember: the first rule of survival isn't about having the highest DPS or the perfect rotation."

  "Yeah yeah. Got it if I'm ever in danger I'll run but you know that you can't exit a dungeon once started right dad ?" Sersei finished for him.

  With one last wave, she stepped beyond the boundary. A subtle chime sounded in her ear, and a new notification appeared:

  【SYSTEM NOTICE】 You have entered: Tumbling Meadows Recommended Level: 1-5 Area (PvP Disabled) Death Consequences: Respawn.

  Sersei dismissed the notification and it shimmered away with a satisfying pop.

  She drew shortbow. The weight felt perfect in her hands as she nocked her first arrow. Ahead, she could already see the bobbing forms of Meadow Hoppers, rabbit-like creatures with absurdly large ears and vicious teeth, unfortunate cannon fodders for all beginners.

  She'd calculated that she needed exactly 47 kills to reach level 2. With her optimized attribute spread and pre-planned skill selection, she could probably take on three at once.

  As she drew back her bowstring, feeling the tension in the wood and the perfect alignment of her stance, Sersei thought that this was it.

  The moment she waited all her life.