Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition - Chapter 681 - Story 681 The Devil’s Smile

Reborn as a sword, he lived for hundreds of years, and then he occupied the body of a 15-year-old prince.

Facing extinction, humanity seeks salvation in the Astral Verge, a dangerous dimension accessed via portals that threatened to wipe out the entire planet.Few years later, aspiring recruit Daniel Vance enters the Verge for his final assessment, hoping to Awaken a Talent and secure his future. While others gain common abilities, Daniel secretly Awakens the mythical SSS-Grade Talent: [Soul Assimilation]. This allows him to absorb essence, enhancing gear, gaining stats and EXP from slain creatures, and crucially, absorbing attributes and skills from fallen Awakened.Witnessing the swift death of the arrogant Jaxon Rex, Daniel makes a grim choice: he assimilates Jaxon, gaining his first skill, [Kinetic Pulse]. This sets his path: scavenging the aftermath of others’ battles. He enhances gear and, after achieving his first kill on an injured beast, waits patiently to assimilate two more fallen recruits, acquiring [Quick Step] and the invaluable passive [Aura Sense].Starting as average, Daniel rapidly gains power in secret, enhanced gear, multiple skills, and boosted stats , far exceeding his peers while remaining outwardly unremarkable. He navigates the lethal Verge alone, using its inherent dangers to fuel his growth, wrestling with the moral cost of his unique, overwhelming power.

“Please, I implore you to save the world.” This is what a goddess in white says to me in a pure-white space. Such is the standard line that suggests the game is about to begin. Please say this stirring line to boys and girls with sparkling eyes! It’s wrong to direct it to someone like me, who’s exhausted from job hunting! When I declined her politely, she flew into a fit of tears; when I agreed to assist her on small tasks out of reflex, she proclaimed: “it’ll be fine if you just help in the Starting-Village Arc. Please guide the Hero!” Then she tossed me into another world. No, this is a world modeled after a game that this gamer goddess likes…

“Welcome to Eclipse Online, the most lethal full-dive MMORPG on the planet, where there is only one life. Death is permanent, and each choice has a price the fragile world cannot afford. But for one of its players, the rules are about to be rewritten”.Following a fatal attack of the dungeon, he discovers a hidden room with a horrific inscription: he has been made the Eclipse Reaver, fated to tread the game world eternally.Each time he dies, he is resurrected, but at a horrific cost: shattered soul shards erase his memories, emotions, and abilities.As the game universe descends into chaos and its top players fall, he is forced to explore the dark conspiracy of Eclipse Online before he too is lost for good.With gory fights, shifting game mechanics, and a mystery thickening by the minute, never has the pressure been higher.Will he overcome the system, or lose himself in the void? Will he manage to retain his sanity, or be one of the many lost souls in the void?