"Am I really dead?"

Earlier, after returning from work, I immediately went to my PC and started playing the MMORPG game 'Monsterland.'

But suddenly, my vision went dark. I didn't know what was happening, and my body felt immobile.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"

"DAMN, THERE'S SO MUCH I HAVEN'T DONE IN THE REAL WORLD YET!"

My body started falling to the floor quite hard, but it didn't hurt because it seemed like my consciousness was fading, and my limbs couldn't move.

I could only keep screaming inside me, "I don't want to die."

"No..."

"I'm dead?"

Those were my last words before my consciousness disappeared. A tremendous regret indeed. I had devoted so much of my time to work and gaming, not leaving much time for other things like finding a partner or spending time with family.

I hadn't even seen my little sister yet, and I still had a promise to get her something.

"Darn it!"

There's no point in anger right now; it's too late, and I have regrets.

"Everything's over."

My vision is still dark right now, and I can't even move my other body parts, but I don't feel any pain.

Painless death is something to be thankful for. It reminds me of soldiers instantly dying when hit by bullets in war.

"Hm?"

I suddenly feel like my body is lying on a very soft and comfortable bed - like a luxurious bed. I never remembered having such a comfortable bed before; it's truly extraordinary.

It's like I want to sleep forever, but I decide not to; there's something important I have to do now.

In a hurry, I lift my body and manage to get up from the bed. I raise both of my hands in front of my eyes and look at them for a moment.

"Is this the afterlife?"

The afterlife – it's a thought that crosses my mind for now. My hands look pale white like a corpse, further convincing me.

"What is this?"

Strands of hair are falling onto the bed, and I see a mirror nearby. I immediately go to the mirror to see my appearance.

Something that makes me wonder, 'If this is the afterlife, why is there such a comfortable bed here?'

The afterlife shouldn't provide any sensations to its inhabitants, including comfort and softness; that's what I read in a book from someone who had a near-death experience. This isn't the afterlife, then what is it?

"Hm!?"

"HMMMMMM!!!????"

"WHAT!!!??"

I see my reflection in the mirror, and I'm extremely shocked, truly shocked. My heart is beating faster, and my breath is slightly heavy from the surprise.

"Alice Vasilissa!?"

Long hair as white as snow, and eyes like ruby stones. A reasonably ideal body, tall enough, and a sinister face.

Wearing clothes that resemble a ruler's attire, all in black with many ancient patterns in yellow and a standing collar.

On each of my fingers, there are rings, each with various functions, one of which is to buff my stats, and several other rings have different effects.

Then, on the lower part of my body, there are black pants and shoes that seem to blend with my pants. This is the casual attire of Alice Vasilissa, the custom character I created in the MMORPG game Monsterland.

The confusion and astonishment right now merge into one, making my face appear quite pale, and I can see my pale face in the mirror. I've read some fantasy novels, and those who are reincarnated or sent to another world often seem quite delighted.

Unlike them, I'm genuinely still confused and very surprised. I even keep imagining my family on Earth and my little sister.

At the very least, I wanted to see them one last time before dying in that world, but I couldn't.

"Damn!"

I then shook my head and stared at the mirror. If this is my second life, I must not have any regrets.

Absolutely no regrets! I have to live my life to the fullest and do what I love well.

Suddenly, a question popped into my head.

"If this is really Alice Vasilissa, can I use magic and skills?"

The room is quite dark at the moment, illuminated only by candlelight, but I can see very clearly, as if I'm seeing everything in broad daylight.

This is my private room inside my private base. Typically, every player in Monsterland is required to create a private base with functions for storing materials, treasures, weapons, cooking, resting, and more.

Players can customize their bases as they wish. It's one of the interesting features of Monsterland, and private bases have different levels.

Anyway, I should at least try to use magic if I've truly become Alice Vasilissa.

"[Small Light]"

From my index finger, a small light appears, indicating that I've successfully cast a spell. Because my vision is unaffected by darkness, Small Light is useless to me.

However, this spell would be very useful for new players in Monsterland because the nights in the game are very dark, especially if you're underground, in a dungeon, or in a cave. So, illumination spells are essential for novice players.

After successfully casting the spell, I smiled. I'm becoming more certain that I've reincarnated as Alice Vasilissa, the custom character I truly cherish. Not in a romantic sense, but Alice Vasilissa is the best custom character I've created.

I gaze at the mirror once again.

"Thank you for accompanying me throughout my time in Monsterland. I'm sorry for becoming you for now, but our journey begins now."

I bid farewell because I've become Alice Vasilissa at this moment.

"[Teleport]"

My body instantly disappears, leaving only a gust of wind in my room. I teleport to the roof of my private base, which resembles a quite tall tower.

Upon arrival, I immediately see an incredibly beautiful night scene, truly breathtaking to the point where I appear motionless, filled with awe.

"This..."

Countless stars sprinkle the sky like grains of sand, making the night sky appear brighter. The moon, quite large, is also clearly visible.

The beauty is so profound that I feel like shedding tears; it's a world truly free from pollution!

My body trembles in response to this beauty.

The sounds of forest insects are also heard very clearly, preventing the atmosphere from being completely silent. I kneel down and can't believe I'm seeing a sky this beautiful.

Compared to my previous world, it's like comparing the beauty of a crow to that of a peacock. I couldn't even see the moon in my previous world because it was obscured by pollution from numerous industries, factories, and vehicles.

"It's incredibly beautiful, like a gem, even more beautiful."

Alice unconsciously gazed at the night sky for quite some time, captivated by its beauty. She had only seen a sky this beautiful in video games or movies and had never witnessed it firsthand.

After satisfyingly admiring the night sky, Alice stood up and redirected her gaze around. She saw an expansive forest that seemed endless.

Although Alice could use magic, skills, or buffs to see farther, she hesitated to do so. The atmosphere of the forest filled with the sounds of nocturnal animals and insects, combined with the night sky.

"This location is truly perfect for refreshing the mind after a challenging day," Alice smiled faintly. At least it was a great opportunity to preserve nature in this world from pollution.

A question resurfaced in Alice's mind.

"Is this a pre-industrial world, or medieval, or far from the medieval era?"

She wanted to try a few things to determine the era of this world, but first, she needed to find human civilization. Alice and her base were now deep in the forest, far from any human settlement.

The strong breeze continued to batter Alice's body, even causing her long hair to form a horizontal pattern. However, Alice didn't feel the cold at all, which made her wonder.

Upon a moment's reflection, that was normal considering Alice was a very powerful character in the game Monsterland, ranking 15th among players with very high stats.

"Am I no longer human?"

Alice glanced at her hands, which had pale, almost corpse-like skin.

"Never mind, at least I'm alive again, even in a different world."

Suddenly, Alice remembered that in the game Monsterland, she had Servants and Pets. Servants were a feature in Monsterland where players could create other characters to assist the main character in fighting giant monsters, and the number of Servants was unlimited. However, leveling up Servants, providing them with magic and skills, took a very long time.

Pets were also a feature in Monsterland, often used for transportation and assisting in defeating regular or giant monsters. So far, Alice had 12 Servants but could only summon one at a time. This, of course, was to balance the game.

"So... how do I summon my Servants and Pets?"

Alice thought for a moment, and finally, she recalled the process of summoning Servants. It was different now since she used to do it on her personal computer, but now she had to summon them directly.

"Summon: Servant"

As Alice responded to the command for her Servant, she remembered one of her Servants, which was highly versatile, capable of being a Tanker or Support.

From Alice's feet, ancient writings with straight patterns towards the front appeared, forming a circle filled with ancient letters. Each of the ancient letters glowed purple, including those that composed the writing.

After that, a bright light appeared, and a woman emerged wearing white attire like a princess, with long brown hair and a purple gem of the Pure Amethyst type in the center of her outfit.

Judging by her body shape, the woman appeared to be around 24 years old.

After briefly looking at Alice, the woman immediately kneeled and bowed her head. This, of course, surprised Alice because in the game Monsterland, there was no feature for a Servant to kneel and bow when meeting the main character or player.

"......"

Alice couldn't utter a single word because she was so surprised, and her expression was genuinely shocked. She then calmed herself down because maintaining a shocked expression for too long was not a good idea.

(Calm down, calm down...)

"Thank you for entrusting me to serve you, Alice-sama,"

Alice's calmness instantly vanished like a small flame being extinguished by a wave of water.

(HAHHHHHHH!!!!!?????)

She desperately tried not to scream because she was so shocked after hearing her Servant's words.

In Monsterland, Servants couldn't speak and could only communicate through text. Even when speaking to a Servant, they would continue to output the same text. Servants would also automatically follow the player and attack enemies, be they monsters or other players considered as foes.

"Fi..ne... Lift your head, Arina Sirius."

(Darn it! I'm even stuttering!)

Arina Sirius was the name of the Servant Alice was summoning, and she was also Alice's first Servant. She played the roles of Tanker and Support in battles, making her quite flexible in PvP or against monsters.

"Understood!" Arina replied softly.

Arina looked at Alice with deep respect, as if a servant were gazing at a king. Naturally, Alice felt uncomfortable being looked at this way.

Alice shifted her gaze to the side, becoming more convinced that this was indeed another world and not a game world. Arina was strong evidence of that.

"Arina, may I issue a command?"

To ensure that she could give commands to her Servant, Alice decided to ask, and Arina's response would determine whether she could or not.

"Of course, Alice-Sama!"

Arina's voice sounded very gentle and enthusiastic. If Alice were still in her previous form before reincarnation, she would have immediately been captivated by Arina's soft voice and beauty.

It can be said that Alice is quite meticulous when it comes to creating a character's appearance, always paying attention to the smallest details, whether it's for humanoid or non-humanoid characters.

"In that case... Arina, investigate the surrounding area and report if there are any humans or monsters," Alice commanded.

"Understood!"

Arina immediately stood up and vanished from Alice's sight.

"It turns out Servants can be given orders; this is fascinating and surprising,"

"Seeing my created character move, of course, I want to scream with joy, but earlier, I was truly shocked,"

Suddenly, Alice's mood took a turn for the worse. She didn't know the reason, but her instincts told her to be alert.

"Base System, Activated"

A keyboard instantly appeared in front of Alice, and she immediately activated all the defenses of her personal base.

Typically, a personal base would be very vulnerable to attacks from monsters or other players, so activating base defenses was crucial. In the game Monsterland, personal bases were usually located in safe zones and couldn't be attacked by players or monsters, so defense was optional and not mandatory.

However, Alice's base was currently in an unknown location, and because this was another world, the possibility of a safe zone didn't exist, so it was essential to activate base defenses.

Alice typed letter by letter on the virtual keyboard in front of her.

"Base Alert I, activate,"

"Base Alert II, activate,"

"Base Alert III, activate,"

"Base Alert IV, activate,"

After that, four bubble-shaped shields appeared, protecting Alice's base. Alice's base was named the Tower of Azaroth, a relatively tall tower.

Alice immediately teleported outside the base area and was currently on top of a tree about 200 meters from her tower.

"Hmmm?"

Alice sensed many mana flows, and natural energies began to converge massively in one area.

"Isn't this?"

Instantly, Alice became alert, and a dimensional portal appeared beside her. Alice wanted to prepare for something because she knew something bad was about to happen.

[Telepath]

"Arina, quickly teleport to my position right now and use all your combat equipment, including your weapons and strongest items; we're going to fight,"

"Understood, Alice-Sama,"

After contacting Arina, Alice's expression became very serious as she continued to monitor the increasing concentration of mana in one area.

"This is truly very dangerous,"

After preparing for a few minutes, Alice is currently wearing full armor that covers her entire body from neck to toe. She also wears a helmet that completely conceals her face, except for a horizontal line right in front of her eyes.

In dangerous situations, Alice won't leave any openings in her armor, as she is a cautious fighter. On her right arm, she has a golden armguard, so her right arm is protected by two layers of armor.

The golden armor is a God Item called God's Judgment. Its function is to reflect any attack, including the opponent's God Item, as long as the attack hits Alice's right arm. It can be said that Alice is currently wearing two God Items, with one of them located elsewhere on her body.

"I didn't expect a Mythical Monster to appear near my base; it's very dangerous, and I must defeat it quickly without causing significant damage."

Behind her helmet, Alice's face is completely serious because the appearance of a Mythical Monster near the base is a highly dangerous situation. This is because Mythical Monsters are the second most powerful type of giant monsters after World Monsters.

In the game Monsterland, defeating a Mythical Monster is highly recommended to be done in a group of at least 10 players with level 150 or higher, each equipped with tier A weaponry and gear.

"The attack from the Mythical Monster could potentially destroy my base."

"It's also my fault for being too focused on collecting materials, items, and hunting monsters, and forgetting to upgrade the Tower into a Castle."

Alice grips her hand tighter, indicating that she will be very serious in facing the Mythical Monster. It can be said that Alice is one of the top players who can defeat a Mythical Monster alone without the assistance of other players in Monsterland.

Of course, this is due to Alice's excellent weapons, items, and gear. Alice has been lucky several times in gacha to obtain such great equipment.

"Hopefully, this isn't the strongest Mythical Monster, because I won't be able to face it alone."

Alice swallows hard, hoping that the Mythical Monster that will appear isn't the strongest one. Mythical Monsters in Monsterland are ranked from 1 to 50, with Alice being able to face Mythical Monsters alone if they are ranked 15 or higher.

If the Mythical Monster that appears is below rank 15, Alice will have to flee for her own safety and use her most valuable item to relocate her base to a random location.

"Black?"

The mana that's gathering slowly starts to turn black, indicating that the Mythical Monster that will appear has the dark element.

Instantly, Alice breathes a slight sigh of relief, as she won't be facing a high-ranking Mythical Monster, since high-ranking ones don't possess the dark element, except for the 12th ranked Mythical Monster.

However, Alice couldn't let her guard down at this moment. She was also simultaneously thinking about what steps she would take to defeat the Mythical Monster quickly before it destroyed the shield protecting her base.

Alice held her chin while contemplating.

"If I use the usual technique I use when facing Mythical Monsters, it will take too long, and my base will be destroyed,"

"Perhaps I should use burst magic to significantly reduce its HP,"

"All right, I'll use Burst Magic,"

Burst Magic is a type of magic that typically inflicts very high damage in a very short amount of time and is well-suited for annihilating something.

Alice snapped her fingers, and instantly, many light blue magic circles appeared around her, indicating her preparation to unleash one of her most powerful Magic Tier S+ spells.

"Oh, this works,"

Previously, Alice had only imagined what spell she would cast, and now it worked. Alice also didn't expect that casting magic would be relatively easy, especially considering she had only used a mouse and keyboard to cast spells in the game before.

"Casting magic directly is not as difficult as I imagined,"

"I'm greatly assisted by various fantasy novels I've read, hahaha,"

Alice chuckled briefly, then grew serious again.

The process of casting a Tier S+ spell took quite some time, so Alice planned to prepare it in advance. When the Mythical Monster appeared, she would activate her spell immediately.

However, the preparation time for a Tier S+ spell could be reduced with certain special items that could be purchased in the game. Tier S+ spells were not very effective when used against players or in player-versus-player combat, so Alice rarely used them.

Furthermore, Tier S+ spells drained a significant amount of mana. However, given the current situation requiring Burst-type magic, Alice had to use a Tier S+ spell.

Before long, a black portal appeared near Alice, and Arina emerged from it, fully armored and wielding an axe.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for quite a while. I had to put on four layers of armor to withstand massive damage and protect you, Alice-sama,"

Alice glanced to the side.

"It's not a problem; we'll face the Mythical Monster,"

Alice pointed towards the gathering of mana. The wind was blowing stronger, but Alice didn't feel the cold, and some trees were almost lifted off the ground.

"Well... in that case, I should provide a lot of buffs for Alice-sama,"

"Thank you, Arina,"

Arina, clad in a mix of black and platinum armor, then extended her hand towards Alice, beginning to bestow buffs from her skills and spells onto Alice.

Spells and skills typically required their users to speak their names to activate them. However, if used without uttering their names, the mana consumption would be higher.

"Samara Warrior"

"Physical Boost"

"Magic Boost"

"Bless of Tartarus,"

"Protection of True Darkness,"

"Stamina Boost"

"Energy Boost"

"Anti Low Nightmare,"

"Anti Middle Nightmare,"

"Anti High Nightmare,"

Since Arina had the primary role of a Tanker and a secondary role as Support, she could only provide limited buffs to Alice. The most potent buffs she could give were [Samara Warrior] and [Bless of Tartarus].

[Samara Warrior] was an Ultimate Skill that could be given to oneself or others. It could increase damage by up to 80% for a duration of 2 hours and boost attack accuracy by 40%.

This was perfect since Alice would play the role of dealing the most damage to the current enemy.

"Thank you, Arina,"

"It's no problem, Alice-sama,"

Arina smiled from behind her helmet. Even though Alice couldn't see it, she could sense Arina's smile because her voice became softer and gentler.

"It seems I can only provide limited buffs for myself right now because Tier S+ spells can consume over 60% of my mana,"

"I need to conserve mana since the enemy might appear after I'm exhausted from fighting this darn Mythical Monster,"

Alice gritted her teeth quite strongly because she was truly frustrated by the Mythical Monster's appearance near her base.