Fallen Lightbringers' Return

As Lee Dojin found his reason to live in this world, somewhere, in a military bunker stationed in the United States, something else was occurring, though it was not entirely unrelated to him.

[A new Warrior has entered joined The Mirage! Please welcome that person.]

Charlie awoke out his sleep, as a message popped up in front of him. He glanced at the clock next to his monitor and realized it was 2 am.

"Hmm, going by that time, someone in Asia?" Charlie yawned. These days, these messages kept appearing in his mind, destroying his sleep cycle. He could not wait for the Trailer to end. Normally, he could have just closed the notification, but there was a reason he could not. As the bookkeeper charged to maintain the records of all new Warriors in the mirage, it was literally his job to record any changes within The Mirage. "Well, unless it was someone random, I doubt many people would activate the trailer in the night." Oh, how tired he was.

However, he was not mad. No, in reality, he was incredibly thankful for this opportunity. He was only an ordinary man with little accommodations to his name. He joined the military right after school, hoping it could carry his financial burdens—ever since then, he never really left. While his friends retired one by one, he remained drafted. He missed out on a social life, he missed out on a girlfriend. He hadn't even been out of the country before. The last 10 years, he spent fighting. Yet, he had been given the chance to witness the beginning of a new era.

"God Bless America," Charlie placed his hand on his chest and muttered solemnly.

He looked at his own rank within the trailer.

[Rank 2631/6023]

It was rather high, percentage wise. But the lower ranks were always the easiest to climb. As he was reminded of the harsh difficulty associated with the Trailer quest, he was sure that half of the people had died. Even he himself would have been a just cold body now, if not for the ample support he had received. When the shadows first appeared, he turned deathly pale, and his eyes bulged out from the sheer shock. Even now, thinking back on it, his Adams Apple kept bobbing up and down as he tried to swallow futilely. Ever since then, he had gone through the Trailer two more times. And he swore he'd never do so again. He'd rather be shot for insubordination than walk the plank again.

He was sure, at this moment, the new player would feel the same way. Thinking that, his eyes turned weary, and he prepared himself to go sleep.

However, something happened, making his drowsiness disappear completely.

[Valiant Soldier, Charlie White

Affinity: Bullet (C~D)

Skills: Cannon Charge (D)

Rank 2632/6023]

His Status Window was incredibly simple, thus he noticed the error immediately.

"I sunk a rank? That cannot be!" He waved the mouse to turn the monitor on. His mind raced, thinking about the possibilities. Did someone in the Upper Ranks die? No, that would make him rise a rank instead! Or was there someone close to his ranks who challenged the Trailer once again? Both had a rather low chance of occurring. He opened the ranking list and compared the names one by one. He felt a strain in his eyes as he sifted through old papers. He felt a sense of urgency as he compared the thousands of ranks, one by one, manually. The monitor helped him sort through the names, but in the end, he had to write down everything himself. It was a rather tedious job.

"Found it," he said, and stood up from the long table. "Christ Almighty." He opened his mouth and had a hard time closing it. The dim, electronic, light shone upon one paper. There was only one difference, and he noted it down with bold strokes.

Rank 989. Inheritor of the Universe.

That was a new title, one he had never seen before. That could only mean one thing. It was the new player that had joined just before. However, that could not be it either. Rank 989; A direct antithesis to that theory. It was physically impossible for a person to jump from last place, right towards the triple digits. Again, rising ranks would be harder the higher one was. He himself knew, even if he went to fight the shadows every day, and somehow survived, he would not be confident in reaching 1000. Yet, the facts spoke for themselves. That was why he was scared. An unknown variable had appeared out of nowhere. One that could decide the fate of the world.

He dug into his pockets and took out a small round pill. They gave it to him in case he could not handle the solitude. it was wrapped in red, like those little candies he'd gotten as a kid. It was probably to make the pill seem more harmless than it was. He didn't care about the appearance. He swallowed it, and the fear that crept upon him steadily diminished.

"I need to contact my boss," he muttered and searched for his phone within the disorderly table.

He went up and walked to the door. The blue light of his monitor shone upon his back as he left.

A freezing gust of wind, followed by fine sand, barraged his face as he walked outside. He stood alone in the blank desert, only the full moon gently shining on him. The desolate state, mixed with the unobstructed cold, made him feel like he stood alone in the world.

He dialed on the numbers, and it rang twice. A man with a Husky voice picked up. "Soldier, report."

"Sir..."

—-

"What! I sank in rank? That's impossible!" Somewhere in Saudi Arabia, a young prince exclaimed loudly. Hassan stared at his screen in confusion, but the words did not change.

He had woken up because of a message from The Mirage. A new Warrior had joined. As he rather liked seeing the many titles the system conjured, he was rather excited to check out who the person was. It wasn't that hard to find after all, since every person that joined would start with the lowest rank. There, he read the title 'Inheritor of the Universe', and laughed loudly.

He was sure the person choosing that affinity—whatever it was—had been a fool. After being enlightened by the soon-to-be new world around 2 weeks ago, he'd spent all his allowance in finding out more about the system. Even New Year, which he always looked forward to celebrating, Hassan had skipped in favor of learning more about The Mirage. After extensive studies, he realized one thing: The stronger the title sounded, the weaker it would be. Time and time again, it had proven itself through his test subjects and the change in rankings. The system loved to be mischievous like that. What a foul-hearted spirit. he laughed again.

Hassan then saw the name disappear. "Oh, did that guy die, or did they rise in ranks I wonder? Either way, that was fast." He scrolled from the bottom and slowly made his way to the top. However, as he kept scrolling upward, the laughter in his voice faded away.

With the amount of time invested into understanding the system, he had come to understand the ranking instead. He knew, over one-third of the names in the rankings had already perished, but the systems did not remove their entry for some reason. Through that, one could reason that exactly 6023 people had entered The Mirage, whether now dead or alive. However, when one died, no matter, what rank they were before, they would sink below the weakest person that was alive. In essence, the ranking was split in two, one for the dead, and one for those alive. How morbid.

Technically, Hassan could artificially raise a persons rank and then kill them, to see how many Warriors were currently within the system. Maybe his brothers would do something like that, but he didn't. He valued his subjects.

But that did not matter currently.

"Rank 989! On his first try! What a monster!" Hassan shouted out. He could not believe it. The Inheritor of the Universe... what was the meaning behind this Title?

—-

In an unknown location, a new sect made its roots. They had started only a few weeks ago, but they were unlike any other, for they believed not in ascension, but only on survival. Soon, an unknown power will take over the world, and they had no chance of stopping it. There were only two choices: adapt or perish. The sect built its foundations on that dogma, and it grew strong, finding suitable individuals who supported their cause.

"Your most honorable! Your most honorable!" A woman wearing nothing but a white towel walked forward and bowed in front of an old man. Her shoulders shook in fear. "The rankings-"

The old man stroked his beard. "I've seen." He looked grave, with his wrinkled face crunched together. "Who could he have been? We need to get him on our side, if not," his eyes turned sharp, "eliminate him."

—-

Many more of these reactions occurred, hidden from the real world. They all had one burning question:

Who was the Inheritor of the Universe?

—-

"That brat, he's late," Lee Seunhee, Lee Dojins mother, complained to herself. At the same time, while wearing a pink apron, she stared at the charred coal in the metal pot. "Geez, who knew making soup was so hard," she grumbled with her hands on her hips.