Martial Online.

Ambrose sat down on the podium and looked at the screen in front of him with five different choices presented for him.

'Prisoner is no-go.'

He then looked at the peasant, and it looked like its starting point was probably the best one out of the five. However, the lack of talent and bad starting stats made it undesirable.

The lack of talent alone would hinder his progress a lot, even though he doubted he would play this game ever again after trying it this time.

He just wanted to decide, using his own logic, what he would do.

Beggar was also a powerful choice, and good stealth skills were always a valuable asset to have in any situation. However, he would have lots of enemies.

That wasn't any different from his current situation in Martial Online, but he knew he needed to carefully weigh the pros and cons before making a decision.

Criminal Noble was quite similar to Prisoner, but he would have great moneymaking skills that could make him a wealthy man if he chose to pursue that path.

However, he would have to escape the prison, but at least he had some strength to rely on.

Murder Victim was the most intriguing one for him. It wouldn't be too hard for him to hide his identity.

The talent would also be decent, with average starting stats. It was quite perfect for starting the game.

'Hmm, I am sure Prisoner has the greatest potential if one successfully escapes the hanging, but I don't care about that.

'I'll choose Murder Victim.'

Ambrose raised his hand and chose the last and final option—Murder Victim.

At that moment, the dungeon vanished from sight.

…

"Ah!"

He jolted up awake and greedily gasped for air as if he hadn't used his lungs in a long time.

Bang.

At that moment, Ambrose banged his elbows against something solid, and he started touching the place around him as it was too dark for him to see anything.

He felt a square-shaped box around him with a sturdy surface.

"Oh, are you fucking kidding me?"

He realized that he was currently trapped inside a coffin.

'I forgot one crucial thing. I became a dead person, and of course a dead person has been buried!'

Ambrose touched his hair and felt something sticky at the back of his head. It was covered in dried blood, and his skin was pale and cold to the touch.

"I guess they didn't bother to clean me up before burying me," Ambrose whispered to himself. 'I thought this guy was some philanthropist or something.'

He then formed a fist and punched the coffin lid, banging it against the hard earth above him.

"Break!"

Ambrose raised his legs, kicked the lid, and ended up breaking it enough for the soil to start trickling in.

"Oh, shit."

He quickly moved to his side and allowed the soil to slowly fill the coffin. He then started elbowing the rest of the lid to bits.

The lid finally gave way, and the earth above him collapsed in.

Above the ground, the graveyard was silent, still with fog hanging heavily in the air.

The tombstones stood tall and weathered, surrounded by overgrown grass and wildflowers.

It was silent, but then a few faint sounds of horse hooves echoed from the distance.

And then the moon appeared from above the thick fog and cast its light down to the mortal world.

At that moment, a hand punched through the ground, and Ambrose emerged from the earth, wearing a tattered cloak with a dirty shirt and brownish trousers.

He shook the dirt off his hair and tried to open his interface, but it didn't strangely open.

'This game doesn't have an interface?'

Ambrose thought strangely, but then realized that this game must be trying to be quite different from Martial Online.

Ba-Da!

He heard a sound in his ears, and then the same blood-red-colored interface opened up in front of him.

[Welcome to 'All-Online']

[You've taken the identity of 'Falco Arundell']

[The first mission will be your test of whether you are worthy enough to join the New World!]

[Find your killer!]

'New World…'

"You there!"

Ambrose turned around to the source of the voice and saw a man in a dark cloak standing with a rusty spade in hand.

The man had a sour expression on his face and altered his gaze between the pale-faced man and the hole in the ground. Its expression changed to shock.

"Y-you, you're supposed to be dead, you monster!"

"Shit…" Ambrose muttered under his breath, as he didn't expect to get caught this soon.

"S-stay there; I'll call the City Guard!" The gravekeeper shouted.

"I can't let you do that."

Ambrose picked up a rock from the ground and walked silently in the direction of the gravekeeper.

"S-stay back!" The gravekeeper shouted and backed off a single step, but after seeing that Ambrose had no intention to stop, he gritted his teeth and smacked the spade down.

Ambrose bent his knees down and blocked the spade with the rock that he had picked up earlier.

He then shoved the gravekeeper down to the ground, raised his rock above his head, and brought it down towards the gravekeeper's skull.

Crack!

The gravekeeper fell lifelessly to the ground, and his fingers around the spade slackened.

Ba-bop!

[-15 Karma]

[You killed the gravekeeper!]

[Current Karma: 9567]

'Damn, that karma is insane. So, this game cares about the karma system, and doing bad deeds lessens my karma, but good deeds increase it.

'This, Falco, guy must've been a freaking saint. Well, I don't really have to worry about the karma, I suppose.'

Ambrose waited for more messages to come, but nothing else came, not even experience points.

'How can I increase my strength and level then?'

Gallop, gallop!

He then heard the sound of hooves sounding from near the graveyard. It seemed like the graveyard was in the middle of some kind of city, as he could see some buildings beyond the fog.

'Fine, let's try to find out who my killer is.'

Ambrose rolled up his sleeves and ripped open the rusty gate that guarded the entrance to the graveyard.

He then walked out of the graveyard and covered the lower half of his mouth with the ripped fabric from his sleeves.

At that moment, he saw the fog clear enough for him to see where he was.

He stopped in his tracks, still surrounded by a few of the tombstones with the names of the long-deceased etched into them.

Metallic gates encircled it, and beyond that were the foggy streets.

Ambrose looked to the distance and saw Victorian-era buildings with elaborate architectural details and elegant facades.

Pitched roofs adorned with intricate spires and chimneys let out blackish smoke into the night sky with clear stars and a round grayish moon.

Beyond the fog, some horse-drawn carriages moved along the night streets with armored guards on high alert with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

[Welcome to the Great City!]

'So, this is the Great City…'

Ambrose thought to himself, taking in the grandeur and bustling activity. He felt slightly excited to explore this unknown place, as he loved adventuring.

That's why he planned to travel around the world someday.

'Very well, Falco Arundell, I'll find your killer.'contemporary romance

Ambrose looked at the cobblestone pavement and saw a cigarette butt lying on the ground.

He picked it up and put it between his lips without caring about all the germs and dirt that might be on it.

'This feels like a city where good men die young and the wicked thrive. That's what happened to Falco Arundell. He tried to change the city but failed.

'I am not as nice as him.

'I'll get your revenge; I know you want to, Falco.'

done.co