. . .

Bang! bang! The deafening crack of his shotgun broke the silence, and the nearby zombies surged toward him with terrifying speed. 

They ignored the players in front of them, their cold, lifeless eyes locked on the man in the long black cloak, as if nothing else mattered but him.

His number-one ranking meant that he had likely annihilated a whole generation of zombies. So whenever they recognized his in-game skin, they all targeted him. 

Perhaps it was one of the features that the developer implemented in the game, because even if another player imitates the way BloodReign_666 dresses, the zombies wouldn't form a huge group and immediately try to eat him alive. 

"EVE" is an open-world zombie multiplayer game, besides killing zombies, you can cook all sorts of food, make potions, trade weapons and armor, and defeat king level zombies.

"BloodReign_666" is a well known name to the "EVE" community and even to the developer of the game, to be coding the zombies to recognize him only, meant that even the developer recognizes his efforts.

In fact, he was infamous for being aloof and unfriendly.....

Once, a female player approached him and politely asked to be his friend. Her level and his were like galaxies apart—like an ant asking a queen bee to carry her through a warzone.

Upon hearing her request, BloodReign_666 killed her with a single slash of his sword, leaving nothing but yellow particles floating to the sky, signalling that a player had died.

The female player left a message in the world chat,

<[ MoonShot ] : "Why!?!"

<{ [ BloodReign_666 ] } : "Trying to take advantage of me? Your level is too low, you'd only bring me down."

Since the confrontation happened in the world chat, the spectating players went wild, some condemned him, others cheered him on like he was some kind of dark legend.

<[ donkeychasingbmw ] : "Yeah!! That's our dark horse, [ BloodReign_666 ]! Your level is too low [ MoonShot ] !! Stop trying to hug a golden thigh!!!

<[ CrabRoe_istoodelicious ] : "Our Goddess [ MoonShot ] is the queen! Even if you're the top one, how could you be so rude! Repent before the [ MoonShot ] lover army destroys you!! (@BloodReign_666) (@BloodReign_666) !!

<[ OnlyBloodWins ] : "Pffft--- you think you can win in a fight against [ BloodReign_666 ] ??? Even your puny army can be obliterated within 3 seconds.

<[ CrabRoe_istoodelicious ] : "What!! How dare you! If you're really that strong, fight me 1v1 now! If I win you have to gift me an iron chestplate.... And make a world announcement that [ BloodReign_666 ] is just a weakling;!!!!

<[ OnlyBloodWins ] : "And if I win? You have to announce to the world that [ MoonShot ] is just a scheming green tea b*tch! it's on!!"

Real life BloodReign just shrugged. It wasn't worth worrying about what other people thought about you, when you were already at the top. He was only concerned about the current situation, which was to eliminate the zombies in front of him.

BloodReign_666 reloaded his shotgun before executing another round of blasting zombie's faces.

Everytime he pulled the trigger, a horrifying scene would take place, as he shot 3 zombies in the head, their faces would explode like balloons, but instead of helium, blood would burst out in large amounts, and their necks would bleed profusely. 

In the game's rated age section, the game was suitable for ages sixteen and above, but he had already started playing when he was only twelve years old.

The game had a pre-beta testing program before releasing it to the public and until now, it had been in operation for seven years.

BloodReign had been playing since the early stages of the game, even applying for the beta testing program when he was still in highschool, but being rejected due to the requirement which was to present an adult ID.

He dropped his head, "Hmph, nothing scares me in this game anymore." He snorted, taking another sip of his energy drink, which he treated like water.

In reality, the man behind BloodReign_666 was a 175cm tall, 19-year old Edge lord. 

Lucien Hayes was the type of person who looked like he stepped out of a forgotten anime, the brooding side character who always sat in the back row, closest to the window. 

His room was plastered with the walking dead posters, floors cluttered with energy drinks, and a few survival books were found on his shelf. 

In terms of appearance, his jet-black hair fell just past his eyes, always a little messy, but it seemed to frame his face in just the right way. 

His pale skin contrasted sharply with the dark band tee draped over his lean frame, and a silver cross hung around his neck twinkling ever so slightly, like the stars in the night sky. 

Clashing with his fatal frame appearance, his eyes carried a mesmerizing amber colour, balancing the darkness of his features with a soft, comforting ambience.

But he never relaxed his eyes to it's natural state, his face always had an air of impatience, only his parents had the chance to see the true charm he carried within those eyes.

Ever since he was a child, Lucien was a scaredy cat. 

A rat? He would cry, a cockroach? He would run to his parents right away. 

It was not until he turned 14 that this pattern stopped, he watched a single episode of an anime where the protagonist was a nonchalant and arrogant teenager. 

At day, the protagonist would attend highschool like a normal student, but his classmates wouldn't talk nor sit next to him.

During lunch, he would eat sitting at the rooftop, when his bullies came and threatened him to give up all his money, he dropped his head, his bangs covered his face and a small glint flashed in his eyes, then he would overpower the bullies and leave with the words,

"Don't underestimate me again — you will meet your demise." And he calmly walked down the stairs.

After school, his path home would be blocked by gangsters, but because of his main character halo, he beat up the local gangsters with ease, spit some cringey but threatening lines, then impress some girls that happened to watch the scene, and they would secretly have a crush on him. 

This made the 14-year-old Lucien think that being detached meant you're "cool" and that showing empathy and feelings meant you were "weak".

From then on, he developed "Edge Lord syndrome" and to really feel this persona even more, he posted all sorts of comments under different social media platforms about controversial and shocking topics to seem even cooler than he actually was. 

[ withbloodytears6 ] : "Tell me again how your petty problems matter in the vast void of space."

He didn't stop at just this and changed his whole wardrobe up, he changed every piece of clothing that he owns to the color black. He stocked up on lace and spiked chokers, bought a pair of black boots and spider web designed finger gloves. As a finishing touch, sunglasses, to cover his "weak" eyes.

They weren't actually weak, he just believed that darker eyes would make him appear more "menacing."

After 30 minutes, BloodReign_666 finally wiped out the horde of zombies. Everytime he eradicated a whole town of zombies, the game would freeze for a few minutes due to the huge disappearance of entities, giving the devs just enough time to recover them again.

During this time, Lucien would grab his cheap pocket knife he got online, practicing for the day he needs to “defend the last remnants of humanity.”

Judging by the games he plays, he's obviously got to be really into the apocalyptic theme.

He swore to himself that he would never rely on anyone except himself if that time ever comes.

And so, like a ritual, he started his first move in defending against the zombies, which was a swift neck slash. 

He repeated the words he chanted like a spell,

“You call that a death rattle? Pathetic.”

As he slashed his pocket knife to the imaginary zombie, his hair flipped with the momentum, making him feel even cooler.

Next was his spinning heel kick to the chest.

At first, his spinning heel kick barely left the ground, His foot would swing wide, lacking power and precision. But like a drill, he repeated this action until he was able to do a spinning heel kick in his sleep.

"Kneel. Or I’ll make you."

And for his finishing move, "Moonlight's Nightingale Pierce" he intended to use this move to plunge into zombies from a high place.

He closes his eyes, then sharply opening them, he spoke with sincere passion, delivering the most e̶d̶g̶i̶e̶s̶t̶ powerful quote.

“I am the blade between dimensions, forged in heartbreak, tempered in solitude, and sharpened by betrayal. Be grateful I let you die at my feet.”

As he says this, he jumped down from his gaming chair and charged at the floor like it was a zombie.

Ding ding! The game sounded like the freeze period was over, and Lucien quickly hopped back on the game, leaving his pocket knife still stuck on the floor.