CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: EXTRACTING CLASS AND TALENT TO THE REAL WORLD, BACK TO REALITY

It took Stark about fifteen minutes of walking through broken streets and toppled ruins before he finally reached the entrance he had been searching for.

The path here was quiet, eerily quiet, considering this part of the [Ruined City] was already close to its halfway point.

Normally, monsters roamed in groups the deeper you went, each more aggressive than the last.

But oddly enough, Stark hadn’t come across a single one on the way.

The silence felt unnatural, but he wasn’t about to complain.

His eyes stopped on a building that looked no different from the others around it: cracked walls, shattered windows, vines curling around stone that had long since lost its strength.

Yet, at the base of this ruined shell was something that did not belong: a stone door.

It wasn’t sealed shut. It stood wide open.

Beyond it was a veil of shadows that seemed to swallow the world beyond.

And Stark knew exactly what that meant.

A zone entrance.

"Finally." He exhaled softly, almost in relief, but his eyes narrowed as he stared into that darkness.

He had never set foot in this particular zone before.

All he knew were stories from other players.

But here it was, right before him.

He clenched his fists.

He would take whatever this place could offer, no matter the danger.

Even if the rewards were only temporary boosts useful up to level 20, they were still precious.

In [Eternal Soul], every step mattered.

Every scrap of advantage counted.

Still... Stark slowly stepped back, pulling himself away from the door.

’Not yet,’ he thought.

The moment a player crossed that threshold, the system would recognize them as being inside a "combat" zone.

That meant no logging out until the run was finished, or until death.

But if he left the game, he could return at any time and start right from this very spot.

Convenient... but also dangerous.

It was advantageous to pick up where you left off, but it might be a problem if a horde of monsters were close.

"Still..." Stark’s lips curved into a wide smile.

[Lives: 826]

The number floated clearly before his eyes, and even though it was large by most players’ standards, Stark knew the truth.

For what was to come, 826 wasn’t enough.

But for now, it was manageable.

Enough to make progress.

He raised his hand, calling up the translucent blue panel that he had been waiting to use.

---

[1. Extract Class and Talent]

[2. Extract Level]

[3. Extract Skills]

[4. Extract Equipment]

[5. Extract Bloodline (Not available)]

[6. Extract ??? (Not available)]

---

The panel flickered patiently before him.

Six options, but only four could be touched at this point.

[Bloodline] and the mysterious [???] were still locked.

For now, Stark only had reason to focus on the first four.

His decision was already made.

Without hesitation, he tapped the first line.

Ding!

[Do you wish to use 300 Lives to extract your "Mage of Oblivion" class to the real world?]

"Yes."

Ding!

[Do you wish to use 300 Lives to extract your "Infinite Evolution" talent to the real world?]

"Yes."

Confirmation echoed in the air.

Ding!

[You have consumed 600 Lives.]

[You have extracted your "Mage of Oblivion" class to the real world.]

[You have extracted your "Infinite Evolution" talent to the real world.]

A shiver ran through him.

Even though nothing physically changed in that moment, he felt something click.

A shift between the world inside the game and the one outside of it.

From this moment forward, he could check his [Status Window] in reality itself.

His combat strength would remain locked inside the game until he chose to transfer equipment, skills, and levels.

But that was far too expensive for now.

He would need 50 lives to transfer his [Revenant Staff].

And as for his spells...

[Magic Barrier], [Corrosive Crystal] and [Vine Cataclysm] needed 500 Lives each.

[Annihilating Fireball] and [Hand of Avarice] needed 750 Lives.

And [Curse Flower] needed 1,000 lives.

As one might notice, just like equipments, skills had ranks, and their extraction cost matched their rank.

Elite demanded 500. Epic, 750. Legendary, 1,000.

And there was an extra catch.

If Stark extracted a skill now and evolved it later inside the game, he would need to consume the difference.

An epic spell turned legendary would demand another 250 lives to "update" in reality.

It was a system that made sense, perfectly designed to force players into constant grinding.

For most, this was simply a burden.

For Stark, it was both a curse and a necessity.

His [Infinite Evolution] talent meant his skills would never stop advancing.

The stronger they became, the more costly it would be to drag them into the real world.

Grinding lives wasn’t an option for him.

Still, for now, he could live with this progress.

"Time to head out."

Ding!

[Do you wish to leave "Eternal Soul"?]

[Yes] [No]

He confirmed.

His body dissolved, blue motes of light scattering into nothing.

Fwish!

[You are leaving "Eternal Soul".]

...

Ding!

A blink later, he opened his eyes.

The familiar ceiling of his bedroom greeted him.

His body shifted as he sat up.

Through the window, a faint orange glow marked the rising sun.

He had entered [Eternal Soul] at exactly midnight after all, and it had been only a few hours since his entry.

And the first thing he did after that...

"Status window," he said aloud.

Ding!

The panel appeared.

---

[ID: Oblivion]

[Class: Mage of Oblivion (Tier-1)]

[Talent: Infinite Evolution (SSS)]

[Level: 0]

[Lives: 226]

[Constitution: 10]

[Strength: 10]

[Agility: 10]

[Spirit: 10]

[Skills: None.]

---

Extracting your [Class] and [Talent] would allow you to see your status window in the real world.

And with that, Stark could see just how empty it was compared to the one in the game.

His levels, attributes, equipment, and skills, all stripped away.

Only the most basic foundation remained.

The sole thing that had transferred cleanly was his lives.

That was how the system worked.

Reach level three inside [Eternal Soul], and those lives would carry over into reality.

Right now, Earth’s [Lives Loss Rate] was only 1.

That also meant though that no matter what right now, if you had enough lives, you simply couldn’t die.

This was one of the big reason Stark couldn’t simply kill Max and Seren, even though he was itching to do it.

And in the real world, there was no [Hide Face] function either.

Stark knew that wouldn’t last.

Once the [First Calamity] arrived, that number would climb.

Death would grow heavier, crueler.

But until then, immortality was semi-real.

"I need to move faster," Stark muttered.

He raided the fridge for leftovers, eating quickly, not caring for taste.

Real food was bland compared to the flavors of the game.

"I’m really eager to taste the food of the game again... that’s probably the only good thing it brought to our world."

He sighed.

"But if I want to enjoy that again, then I have to get stronger."

Just as he prepared to dive back into the game, a notification chimed.

Ding!

[Player "Starfall" has sent you a private message!]

"Oh, right..." Stark muttered, smirking slightly.

Since the game had fused with the real world, all its systems carried over.

Messaging was included.

[Starfall: I didn’t expect to be able to contact friends from the game... but I guess it does mean this eternal game or whatever is taking over our world, isn’t it? (๑˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥)]

[Oblivion: Are you sad about that?]

He typed the words, curious about her reaction.

[Starfall: Not at all (≧▽≦), I’m kind of excited for that actually!]

He blinked.

Stark didn’t know Grace much from his past life, but seeing her so lively strenghtened his resolve.

[Oblivion: Good, then simply try to get stronger.]

[Starfall: Alright, see you soon ღゝ◡╹ )ノ♡]

The chat ended, but her cheerfulness left Stark oddly grounded.

He turned on his phone.

The news, social media, and global alerts were overflowing.

Everyone was talking about [Eternal Soul].

Confirmations, speculation, panic.

No one could ignore it anymore.

There was little mention of the [Eternal Continent], though.

The players who had entered it hadn’t returned yet, still busy fighting to grow.

But one name kept appearing.

"Do you think Oblivion is online right now?"

"Of course. He probably went to the [Eternal Continent]."

"I’m still two levels short from unlocking it, damn it."

"Go grind dumbass, it’s better than to sit around and do nothing!"

"How are you replying to him while giving this advice, hypocrite!"

The chaos of the internet made Stark chuckle.

’Twenty-nine days left,’ he thought grimly.

He closed his eyes, steadying himself. Then the system prompt appeared.

Ding!

[Do you wish to enter "Eternal Soul"?]

[Yes] [No]

"Yes."

His body shimmered into blue light once more.

And Stark returned to the game.