Reforged Chapter 1: Rebirth Starts with Running to One's Corpse

You know what they say, a life without color is a life in black and white.

So, what is this, when even the world itself appears in black and white?

Duke glanced down at his semi-transparent chest, listening to the faint whispers that seemed like a mixture of wind and soulful murmurs in his ears. He couldn't handle it anymore.

No, it was more accurate to say that he didn't even know if he was still human, or if this entire thing was just a cruel joke!!

Oh--no--why did I wake up dead!?

Duke clutched his head with both hands, completely unable to accept this reality.

Ah, I swear by my 10 terabytes of adult videos, I was just a struggling young man attending a third-rate university, never even having held a girl's hand, and now I'm just dead like this! Dear heavens! This is so unfair!

Duke raged, Duke wailed.

Yet, it seemed like his outburst had some effect, as suddenly, an electronic voice rang out beside him.

"Congratulations, host. You have successfully traversed countless light-years and space barriers to arrive in Azeroth, the world of balance within the universe. As a one-in-a-billion successful traveler, you have been granted technical support from the [Supreme King's Assistant System]."

"Uh, what the heck?" Duke blurted out instinctively, only to realize that he was speaking in an incomprehensible language, yet the voice's owner seemed to understand him.

"Would you like to name the system spirit 'Uh, what the heck?'"

Although he really didn't want to nitpick, Duke instantly confirmed that this system's intelligence was limited! However, the system spirit mentioned a word that caught Duke's attention: 'Azeroth.'

"No, we'll deal with naming later. Am I really in the world of Azeroth? Warcraft?"

"Host's memories have been detected of a game very similar to this world... Analyzing... Preliminary detection indicates that this world has an 80% overlap with Azeroth from the game [World of Warcraft] found in your memories. Please explore further for more information."

Well, at least now he had a basic idea of his situation.

Damn it, this was a high-risk world! World wars happening one after another.

"But most importantly... I'm dead! I just arrived and I'm already dead! People who travel to other worlds usually get to be nobility or some kind of chosen one, like a dragon-slaying hero! Why am I just a ghost as soon as I arrive!?" Duke couldn't help but roar.

"I'm sorry, but you were killed by a raging boar when you first arrived here."

A cold wind blew, and Duke felt as if his young and kind heart had suffered a hundred thousand points of critical damage.

Eerie echoes resonated in his chest.

I was killed by a boar...

Killed by a boar...

A boar...

The system spirit's voice sounded again: "You are currently in a graveyard. Do you wish to resurrect here or move your soul to retrieve your corpse and resurrect there?"

"Damn! Resurrection is possible?! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You didn't ask." The system sprite tried to sound offended, but its monotone mechanical voice made it sound odd.

"Well, of course, I would… wait a minute!" Duke was about to choose to resurrect on the spot, but he suddenly remembered that in the game, running back to retrieve his corpse and equipment would only result in a 10% durability loss, whereas resurrecting at the graveyard would cause a 25% durability loss and 10 minutes of weakness with reduced attributes.

Duke immediately asked, "What's the difference between resurrecting at my corpse and resurrecting on the spot?"

"Beep… Host soul missing detected… Death hazard assessment in progress… Comparing data before and after the host's death, it can be determined that death causes the host to lose 'humanity' and 'memory.' A single ordinary death results in a 10% loss of humanity and memory. Even if you resurrect at your corpse, you'll permanently lose 1% of your humanity and memory; if you resurrect at the graveyard, you'll permanently lose 20% of both."

Damn!

If Duke could break out in a cold sweat, he would be soaked in it right now. The system sprite's warning made him realize something was wrong. He had a dog that he raised from a pup, and it lived for a full 16 years before it passed away. At this moment, he couldn't remember his beloved pet's name.

This was troublesome!

But it wasn't over yet. The system sprite delivered a devastating blow to Duke.

"After calculations, if the host loses more than 40% of their humanity, most creatures in this world will be unwilling to interact with the host. If the host loses over 90%, it's predicted that the host will become a low-level ghoul, wandering this world forever until their body and soul are completely destroyed."

A chilling shiver spread throughout Duke's entire soul. He didn't make any decisions right away; he wanted to assess the situation first.

Using the faint connection between his body and soul, Duke began to run. The distance from the chaotic graveyard where he originally was to his corpse was not far, about 300 meters. It didn't take him long to get there.

As soon as he entered the area, Duke was prompted by the system sprite, "Do you wish to resurrect here?"

Duke didn't make a choice right away.

He was observing.

Because he had traversed into this world, he was no longer the player sitting in front of a computer with a small 19-inch monitor, using the W, A, S, and D keys and a mouse to control his character. He was now truly in this world.

Duke couldn't tell where he was in the timeline. All he knew was that Azeroth was dangerous, with epic wars between various races in the past, and the Lich King Arthas, who carelessly spread plague and polluted the environment, as well as a bunch of Old Gods causing chaos in the future.

If he didn't make something of himself, dying 10 times, 100 times, or even 10,000 times would be a piece of cake.

Not to mention the distant threats, just seeing the boar with tusks like long knives and a back ridge as tall as a grown man, Duke knew this world was tough.

Duke didn't resurrect immediately.

A boar with a body larger than an adult rhinoceros was definitely a top-tier threat to Duke.

In this day and age, not many young gamers had exceptional physical fitness. Looking at the dense woods and rugged terrain around him, Duke knew that if he were to resurrect care lessly, he would probably only be able to run a short distance before being killed again.

"Patience! Stay calm!" Duke kept telling himself.

After waiting for ten minutes, Duke grew frustrated.

Because that damned boar refused to leave. Although it showed no interest in Duke's disemboweled corpse, it stubbornly stayed nearby, using its long tusks to dig in the dirt, unwilling to leave.

Just as Duke was at a loss for what to do, a beautiful and agile elf entered his field of vision.

Even though her appearance slightly differed from her in-game counterpart, Duke recognized her at once – Alleria Windrunner, the most famous high elf ranger-general in the World of Warcraft!