MMORPG: REBORN MARK ADVENTURE IN ONLINE GAME

The Assassin's Reward

Alex's lifeless body crumpled onto the cold stone, his limbs twitching once before going completely still. His eyes, wide with shock, stared blankly at the cobbled ground beneath him.

Then—

A faint glow surrounded his corpse.

The game's loot system activated, processing the drop. A soft shimmer enveloped Alex's body as his inventory scattered into the air for a brief second—before the system decided what would remain and what would be lost.

Frost Eye didn't waste a second.

He crouched, fingers moving swiftly over Alex's remains, and initiated the loot sequence.

A system notification blinked in front of him.

[You have obtained: Silver Alchemy Furnace]

His lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

"Jackpot."

A rare crafting tool, highly valuable, especially with the chaos brewing in town.

A Pawn's Worthless End

Frost Eye glanced down at Alex's corpse, his cold, calculating eyes scanning the lifeless form sprawled on the ground.

A pawn.

A fool who thought he could escape the game's brutal reality.

He had looked so relieved moments before death. As if he had finally caught a break.

That made the kill even sweeter.

Frost Eye stood, flexing his fingers before tapping his inventory to confirm his prize.

A Silver Alchemy Furnace.

With this, he could sell it for profit or use it to fuel the upcoming chaos.

No Witnesses, No Traces

His gaze flickered to the alley's entrance. Still empty.

The town was bustling, but nobody had seen a thing.

No guards. No players.

No witnesses.

Just the way he liked it.

His mission was complete, his reward secured, and there was no reason to linger.

With one last glance at Alex's corpse, Frost Eye's smirk faded.

Then—

He vanished into the shadows, his new prize safely in his inventory, leaving behind nothing but a cool breeze and the silent body of a forgotten pawn.

Alex had betrayed him once.

Back in college, when trust actually meant something.

He had sold him out. For money.

And now?

Now, he had thrown away his own life for a fake sense of power.

Sophie had played him like a dog, and he had obeyed.

Frost Eye exhaled slowly, his gaze indifferent.

He had never expected to cross paths with Alex again.

But fate had given him a perfect chance.

And he had taken it—without a shred of hesitation.

Darkness.

A cold, suffocating void.

Then—

A sudden jolt.

Alex gasped as he was pulled back into existence, his body reassembling from shimmering fragments of light. His lungs burned as if he had been drowning, and his vision blurred before slowly sharpening.

He was lying on cold, uneven ground. A thick fog swirled around him, damp earth clinging to his hands.

A single notification hovered in front of him:

[You have respawned at the Graveyard.]

Alex's stomach twisted.

The Graveyard.

Not the town. Not the city's safe zone.

The game had thrown him into one of the worst respawn locations—a desolate field of crumbling tombstones, twisted trees, and distant, eerie wails.

His fingers dug into the damp soil as realization crashed down on him.

He was dead.

Killed.

By… who?

The last thing he remembered was—

Frost Eye.

A name he didn't recognize.

A shadow in the dark.

A blade that had pierced his heart before he could even react.

His breathing quickened. His body trembled.

He had lost everything. The Silver Alchemy Furnace. His progress.

And worse—

He had no idea why.

The Call of Judgment

Then, before he could even gather his thoughts—

Bzzt. Bzzt.

His friend list icon flashed red.

A call.

Sophie.

His blood ran cold.

His trembling fingers hovered over the interface, dread pooling in his stomach.

For a split second, he considered ignoring it.

Then—

Bzzt. Bzzt.

He swallowed hard and tapped the button.

Click.

Silence.

Then—

A voice.

Cold. Sharp. Dangerous.

"Where are you?"

Alex's heart nearly stopped.

His throat was dry. His hands shook.

She knew.

Somehow—she knew.

Alex sat hunched over in the fog-covered graveyard, his breathing shallow, his hands still trembling from the shock of his death. The cold, damp air clung to his skin, and the distant, eerie howls from beyond the tombstones sent a shiver down his spine.But none of that compared to the ice spreading through his veins as Sophie's voice rang in his ears."Where are you?"It wasn't a question. It was a demand.Alex swallowed hard.Everything in him screamed to lie, to stall, to find a way out.But he knew better.Sophie always knew when he was hiding something.So, with a dry throat and shaking voice, he forced the words out."I... I respawned at the graveyard."Silence.Not the kind of silence that meant she was thinking.The kind that meant she was furious.Then—A quiet, slow exhale.Not a sigh. Not a breath of relief.A sound of pure disappointment.Alex clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.He braced himself."Do you know how much you've cost me?"Sophie's voice was calm—too calm.Alex knew that tone.It was worse than if she had screamed at him.It meant she was already deciding what to do to him.His stomach twisted.His mouth opened, desperate to say something, anything—"S-Sophie, I—""Shut up."His jaw snapped shut.The fog around him felt heavier. The graveyard colder.Then—Her voice dropped, each word cutting into him like a knife."You have one chance to fix this, Alex."A chill ran down his spine.He didn't ask what would happen if he failed.Because he already knew.There was no way out.

Nowhere to Run

Alex sat frozen in the fog-covered graveyard, his breath shallow, his fingers twitching over his interface. He wanted to run, to log out, to pretend this wasn't happening. But the voice in his ear was inescapable.

Sophie.

Her words carried no warmth, no patience—just a quiet, simmering rage beneath the surface.

"Since you failed to keep the furnace, at least tell me you have the ledger."

It wasn't a request. It wasn't even a demand.

It was a trap.

Alex knew how this worked.

If he lied and she found out, the consequences would be worse than death.

If he told the truth, he was as good as dead anyway.

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. His mind raced, searching for an escape, an excuse—anything to soften the blow.

But there was nothing.

No more second chances. No more saving himself.

A lump formed in his throat, and when he finally forced out the words, his voice was barely a whisper.

"I… I lost it."

Silence.

A suffocating, heavy silence.

Alex's breathing quickened.

Sophie wasn't the type to scream right away. No, she let the fear sink in first—let the weight of the mistake crush you before she struck.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she spoke.

"Who has it?"

Her voice was low, controlled—but each word cut deeper than a blade.

Alex flinched.

No way out.

His stomach twisted violently, bile rising in his throat.

"K."

The name barely left his lips before he felt it.

Something shifted.

A sudden, sharp inhale from Sophie—almost imperceptible, but he knew her too well.

Her silence wasn't shock.

It was calculation.

She was deciding how much he was worth.

How much punishment he deserved.

The realization made his entire body go cold.

Then—

Click.

The call disconnected.

Alex felt like the ground beneath him had vanished.

His heart pounded so hard it hurt.

He stared at the floating interface for a second, hoping, praying he had imagined it.

But the screen was empty.

She was gone.

And that was worse than anything.

Sophie didn't waste time.

If she had hung up, it meant she was already moving.

Already coming for him.

Alex felt a horrible weight settle in his chest.

There was nowhere to run.

Back to the Nightmare

Alex's body screamed in pain as he lay sprawled on the cold floor of his apartment. Every breath felt like knives digging into his ribs. His vision swam, his head still ringing from Sophie's brutal kicks.

She had left—for now.

But her words echoed in his skull.

"You will fix this. No matter what it takes."

His fingers trembled as he reached for his VR headset.

He had no time to rest. No time to think.

If he hesitated, if he failed again…

Sophie would make sure he regretted it.

Alex gritted his teeth and forced the device over his head.

"Log in."

The world around him shifted.

A rush of colors and light blinded him before the familiar, suffocating weight of Mortal Online settled over his senses.

He was back.

Back in the graveyard.

Back in this nightmare.

The cold mist curled around his feet as he stood there, still shaken. His hands clenched at his sides.

He had one mission.

Find K. Get the ledger. Survive.

But even as he told himself that, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

A chill ran down his spine.

Somewhere, in the shadows of the town, someone was keeping an eye on him.

And he had no idea who.

Marked for Death

As Alex limped through the graveyard, his body still aching from Sophie's "lesson," a system-wide notification suddenly flashed before his eyes.

> [Global Bounty Alert!]

A bounty has been placed on the player Frost Eye.

Reward: 10,000 Credits

Issuer: Private Contractor

Alex's breath hitched.

It wasn't just a bounty—it was a death sentence.

10,000 credits.

That wasn't in-game gold.

That was real money.

Enough to make guilds, solo hunters, and even professional bounty players drop everything and go after Frost Eye like a pack of starving wolves.

Around him, the town erupted into chaos.

Players whispered in excitement. Some were already forming hunting parties. Others rushed to check the rankings, trying to figure out who this Frost Eye was.

Alex let out a shaky breath.

He knew who had placed the bounty.

Sophie.

And he knew why.

Frost Eye—the one who killed him.

The one who stole the Silver Alchemy Furnace.

Alex's hands curled into fists. He didn't care who Frost Eye really was.

All that mattered was that Sophie had found a new target for her wrath.

And this time, she wouldn't stop until Frost Eye was hunted down.