MMORPG: REBORN MARK ADVENTURE IN ONLINE GAME

The night air in Viles Town felt suffocating.

The usual buzz of the marketplace—the chatter of players bartering, the clinking of coins, the distant sound of weapons being sharpened—faded into an eerie silence as K closed the distance to Alex.

The world seemed to narrow.

All that existed in this moment was K's burning rage and Alex's rising terror.

Each step K took was heavy, deliberate, sending a clear message.

There was no running.

No hiding.

Alex's breath quickened as K stopped just inches away, towering over him like a shadow of impending doom.

Then—

A hand shot out.

Fistful of collar.

Lift. Slam.

Alex's back collided against the cold stone wall, the impact jarring his entire body. His bag nearly slipped from his grip, but he clutched it desperately.

Inside was the ledger.

The very thing that could spell his doom if K found out.

K's grip was iron, his knuckles pale with the sheer force of his hold.

For a long, agonizing moment, he simply stared.

His eyes—once sharp and calculating—were now voids of raw, simmering fury.

A predator sizing up his prey.

A storm ready to unleash destruction.

Then, in a voice so low and lethal that it sent a chill down Alex's spine—

"Where is he?"

Alex's throat went dry.

He knew who K was asking about.

He didn't need to say the name.

It was written in the rage tightening around Alex's throat.

But Alex's mind still scrambled for a way out.

If he said the wrong thing—if he so much as hinted at knowing something—K would rip him apart right here in the streets.

His mouth opened—no words came out.

K's grip tightened.

"Where is Garrett?"

The name hit Alex like a dagger to the chest.

His vision blurred for a second, his mind screaming at him to think. To survive.

But K didn't have patience for silence.

BAM!

A fist to the gut—raw force, pure anger.

Air fled Alex's lungs, his body instinctively curling inward as a sharp, sickening pain erupted in his stomach.

His knees nearly buckled, but K held him up, refusing to let him collapse.

Alex coughed violently, his fingers clawing at K's arm, trying to pry himself free—but K's strength was absolute.

"Try again."

His voice was cold.

Deadly.

Alex gasped, struggling to breathe, his mind spinning.

"I—I didn't do anything!" he choked out, his voice barely above a whisper. "I swear! I—"

BAM!

Another fist.

This time to his side, hitting just under his ribs.

Sharp. Crushing.

Alex let out a strangled gasp, his vision blurring as the pain exploded through his body. His hands trembled, his grip on the bag loosening for just a second.

K noticed.

His eyes flicked downward.

The bag.

K yanked it off Alex's shoulder.

Alex panicked.

NO.

His hands shot out, grabbing onto it desperately.

If K opened that bag—

If he saw the ledger inside—

Alex would be dead.

K's eyes narrowed.

The moment Alex resisted, the slightest bit of fight flickering in his eyes—

K snapped.

With a single, brutal motion, he threw Alex to the ground.

The impact sent Alex skidding across the cobblestone, his hands scraping against the rough surface, the bag slipping from his grasp.

He scrambled to reach it.

But K was already there.

A heavy boot pressed down on the bag, pinning it to the ground.

Alex's heart plummeted.

K bent down slowly, his fingers curling around the bag's strap.

This is it.

He's going to see it.

Alex's mind screamed in panic, his body frozen as he watched K begin to open it—

From the Shadows: Frost Eye Watches

Above them, unseen, Frost Eye smirked.

Alex was drowning in panic.

K was consumed by rage.

And in mere seconds, the town was about to erupt into chaos.

Frost Eye tilted his head slightly, calculating his next move.

He could let this play out.

Let K discover the ledger, realize that Alex had been carrying a fortune in trade secrets, and watch as he decided whether to gut him on the spot or use him for more answers.

Or—

He could intervene, twist the game in a way only he knew how.

Either way…

This was going to be fun.

Just as K was about to fully open the bag—

SWISH!

A thin, precise blade sliced through the air.

Alex barely registered the movement before—

SLASH!

A sharp pain tore through his hand.

"AAAH!"

His fingers instinctively released the bag as he stumbled backward, clutching his bleeding hand.

The bag fell, hitting the cobblestone with a dull thud—its contents spilling out.

And then—

The ledger slid across the ground… stopping right at K's feet.

Silence.

For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.

K's eyes locked onto the ledger.

His rage—already simmering—boiled over.

His fingers twitched, his breathing deepened, and his entire posture stiffened.

Then, slowly, his gaze shifted—back to Alex.

A different kind of fury burned in his eyes now.

Not just anger.

Hatred.

Alex, still gasping in pain, saw the shift and froze.

K bent down, picking up the ledger with careful precision, as if touching something sacred.

His fingers traced over the cover… and then his eyes landed on something else.

Something that made his blood run cold.

As K's fingers closed around the ledger, his fury was already reaching its peak.

Then his gaze shifted—and froze.

There, on Alex's shoulder, barely noticeable beneath his armor—

An emblem.

Not an NPC faction's mark. Not a merchant seal.

But a player guild emblem.

Dark Solution.

K's mind snapped into clarity.

This wasn't just some random merchant ledger.

This wasn't just a mistake made by some clueless player.

This ledger… belonged to Dark Solution.

A player guild.

Which meant—

Alex wasn't some helpless fool caught in the crossfire.

He was part of something bigger.

Something rotten.

K's grip tightened on the ledger, his knuckles going white.

He didn't just see Alex anymore.

He saw a pawn.

A piece of the very guild that might have played a role in his brother's death.

Alex's Desperate Panic

Alex saw the way K's entire body stiffened.

He saw the way his eyes darkened.

And in that instant—he knew.

K wasn't just angry anymore.

He wanted to kill him.

"N-No, wait—!" Alex stammered, stepping back, cradling his bleeding hand. "It's not— I-I was just—"

BAM!

A boot slammed into his chest.

Alex was sent flying backward, his body skidding across the rough stone, his lungs screaming for air.

He barely had time to recover before K was already striding toward him.

The ledger was still in his grip.

And Alex could tell—K wasn't planning to return it.

He was planning to break him.

Alex's fingers trembled as he scrolled through his inventory, his breathing ragged. The Silver Alchemy Furnace was still there.

Relief flooded through him.

K had beaten him. Humiliated him. Stolen the ledger.

But at least he was alive.

And as long as he still had something valuable, Sophie wouldn't kill him.

Maybe he could still—

The Phantom Appears

A whisper of movement.

Too fast. Too silent.

Before Alex could react—

A cold blade pressed against his neck.

His entire body locked up.

His breath hitched.

His instincts screamed at him—RUN.

But he was frozen in place.

Who?!

No footsteps. No warning.

Just a presence.

Then—

A voice.

Low. Calm. Merciless.

"You look relieved, Alex."

Alex's stomach twisted into knots.

This wasn't K.

This wasn't Sophie.

This was someone else.

His hands shook as he tried to turn his head, but the blade at his throat didn't move.

A player?

Someone after the furnace?

His lips parted—but before he could beg, scream, or run—

SHHHNK.

Phantom Strike.

The blade drove straight through his heart.

A perfect, instant kill.

Alex gasped. His eyes widened in horror.

His vision blurred.

His fingers twitched—his mind desperately clinging to reality—

Then—

Darkness.

As his body collapsed, the last thing he saw was a name above the attacker's head.

[Frost Eye]

[YOU HAVE DIED.]