First Instance (7)

*>System message:*

*>A player has reached level 10. A system update has been scheduled. The servers will shut down for maintenance in 10 minutes. Please save your progress and log out in a safe area. Servers will resume operation in 18 natural hours.*

Whether a player was in the Northeast, Southeast, Central, Southwest... This system message was delivered to every Synergy player across Etmos.

*Ah, there was something like that, wasn't there?*

Occasionally, when a player hit a milestone, the system would undergo various updates. Usually, with each update, the "realism" of the game would turn up a notch.

A major concept would be introduced that would change players' perception of the game, and with each of these major concepts introduced, the tops of the leaderboards and the groups in power of various areas would always be volatile.

In other words, chaos would ensue.

*This first update was definitely shocking.*

Jisha recalled the first time a player hit level 10 in her previous life. When she logged back in the next day and saw the change, she was flabbergasted.

*"Why would anyone enable this?"... is what I thought. Everyone was so naïve back then...*

She quickly collected the pieces of loot off the ground. After inspecting them, none of them seemed interesting... besides one.

*These other things will sell for some cash, but this one...*

*>Name: Jade Charm*

*>Type: Accessory, Necklace*

*>Description: A good luck charm to protect you from harm!*

*>Rating: Level 5, Epic*

*>Ability:*

*>Lacquer: Invulnerability to all attacks below level 15 for 1 second. Cooldown: 13 minutes, 2 seconds.*

*... it'll be a nice gift for Syn.*

It was the protective item that Castle used in his confrontation with Asunder. Though Jisha didn't know this, she could tell it had obviously been used as it was on cooldown.

She knew Syn's favorite color was green, so the jade, along with the magic dagger, would send her over the moon.

Jisha wanted to imagine her best friend's face light up at these gifts, but now wasn't the time.

*...*

As was seen, or rather, not seen, earlier, she'd never received a clear notification for the dungeon. And right now, she could tell something was off.

The forest was lush. The clearing was green. The light breeze brushed her cheek. The sun warmly shone down. The sky was a crystal blue.

On the surface, nothing seemed out of place. But after playing Synergy for many years, Jisha's battle sense was unmatched in the current era. She paid as much attention as she possibly could to her surroundings.

*...*

10 seconds.

20 seconds.

30 seconds.

Nothing.

*If only my senses were a little sharper...*

Jisha sighed ruefully and checked her settings for an option that would not appear until after the update. But to her surprise...

*What?*

The setting was already there. She didn't know how this was possible, but she couldn't complain.

She immediately turned this setting to its max value.

When she did, her perception of the world increased by a significant margin.

Now, 1 minute had passed.

And she detected an anomalous movement in the cave behind her.

Slingshot in hand, she carefully approached the source of the suspicious movement.

When she moved forwards enough, she saw it clearly. It was simply standing in the shadows of the cave.

*... What is that?*

It wasn't anything she'd seen before. It wasn't like anything she'd seen before.

*Is my wish for a sense of wonder being granted already?*

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

This thing was undoubtedly a mob.

But... what kind of mob?

It looked like the silhouette of a player.

Mobs that imitated players weren't uncommon. However, every player had a class, and because of this, every player imitation had one as well.

However, this silhouette did not have one. It simply looked like a regular human.

Moreover, it wasn't an average silhouette. It was incredibly dark.

In a normal shadow, there would at least be some light that passed through it; if a shadow was cast on the ground, you could still see what was under it.

This silhouette reflected absolutely no light. It was so dark that it even seemed to be sucking in the light around it.

This, along with its androgynous shape, made it impossible to glean any information from its appearance.

Jisha attempted a basic appraisal...

*...?*

... and was hit by another surprise.

The appraisal revealed nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Usually, when an appraisal failed, it would show something like this:

*>Name: ???*

*>Level: ???*

But it never did absolutely nothing.

There was only one way to find out what this thing was capable of.

Jisha fired her Golden Slingshot at the "shadow demon", as she would now dub it.

Her shot was on point. The shadow demon didn't move. However...

*Are you kidding me...*

The pellet passed harmlessly through the demon.