[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl":3,"chapter-started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-1":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Started with a 10,000x Multiplier in a Game World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":12,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1136154,1466,"Chapter 1: The End of Aethelgard","started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-1",1,"\u003Cp>[Ding!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Server Announcement: The Final Boss, Malakor the Voidborn, has been slain!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Congratulations to the Vanguard Guild for clearing the Aethelgard Realm!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The game world ’Aethelgard’ will begin its shutdown sequence in 24 hours. Survivors, prepare for the next Zenith Protocol cycle.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante collapsed heavily onto his knees. His heavy broadsword clattered loudly against the cracked floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was completely out of breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His in-game armor was completely shredded to pieces, and his stamina bar was blinking a dangerous red. Worse, his HP was sitting at a miserable two percent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he was alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The colossal and twisted corpse of Malakor the Voidborn was currently dissolving into a mountain of digital ash right in front of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air smelled strongly of blood and victory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We actually did it,\" Dante muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wiped a mixture of sweat and grime from his forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had taken three brutal months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three months of sleeping in the mud, fighting nightmarish monsters, and watching good people die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Zenith Protocol, death wasn’t just a simple respawn screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cosmic system had hijacked humanity’s fate back in 2290 on Veridia, forcing people into hyper-realistic and high-stakes game worlds using their physical bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If your HP hit zero in the game, the capsule housing your real body back on Veridia scrambled your brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Game over meant real death!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they had survived. The Aethelgard cycle was finally over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, a glowing sphere of golden light emerged from the pile of Malakor’s ashes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It floated gently toward Dante and hovered right in front of his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Ding!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Supreme Artifact Looted: Aegis Blueprint]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Description: A world-tier artifact schematic. Items of this tier bypass the Zenith Protocol’s reset rules and can be carried over into the next game world.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante reached out and grabbed the glowing blueprint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment his fingers closed around it, the golden light solidified into a heavily sealed metallic scroll.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abilities and levels reset with every new game world. Everyone went back to being Level 1 nobodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Supreme Artifacts? Are carried over to each games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoever held this blueprint would effectively rule the early stages of whatever hellish world the Zenith Protocol threw at them next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Footsteps echoed loudly from behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Man, you look like absolute garbage,\" a voice called out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante let out a tired laugh without turning around. It was Silas. ID: Gilded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His blood-brother, his vice-guild master, and the guy who had watched his back since day one of this nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You didn’t do much better against that third phase, man,\" Dante said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slowly stood up and turned around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I saw you hiding behind the pillars when Malakor started spamming the AoE voids.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas walked up. His silver armor was remarkably clean compared to Dante’s wrecked gear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him stood six other core members of the Vanguard Guild. They were all completely silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, well, surviving is a skill,\" Silas said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stopped a few feet away, and his eyes locked onto the metallic scroll in Dante’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is that it? The Supreme drop?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Aegis Blueprint,\" Dante nodded. He tossed it lightly in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is our ticket, Silas. Next world, we won’t have to scrounge for scraps. We can set up a real safe zone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our ticket,\" Silas repeated. The corner of his mouth twitched upward into a small and tight smile. \"Right. About that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Dante could even register the shift in tone, a cold and sharp pain exploded in his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking down, he saw the jagged tip of a high-tier assassin’s dagger protruding from the center of his breastplate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blade had pierced straight through his back and out his front, right where his heart was located.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Critical Hit!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[HP: 0.1%]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante coughed loudly. A thick spray of blood splattered across the obsidian floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His knees buckled, and he dropped hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The [Aegis Blueprint] rolled out of his grip, clanking against the stone floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up, and his vision started blurring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas stood over him, holding the blood-stained hilt of the dagger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other six guildmates didn’t even flinch. They just watched with indifferent expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you kidding me right now?\" Dante spat. His voice was a wet rasp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas chuckled. He reached down and scooped up the Aegis Blueprint. He dusted it off like it was a cheap trinket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing personal, Vanguard. You’re just too heavy to carry into the next cycle.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I carried you,\" Dante gritted his teeth. He fought the paralysis debuff creeping up his spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, and it made me look like a sidekick. I hate playing sidekick,\" Silas said and stepped back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You always have to be the hero. The noble leader saving the day. It is exhausting. And honestly? The sponsors back on Veridia pay better when you’re a solo act.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You spineless piece of trash,\" Dante choked out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Save the dramatic final words, man,\" Silas sighed and rolled his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re bleeding out. Brain death in the real world is going to kick in any second now. Just close your eyes. It will be quicker.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante looked at the faces of his guildmates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People he had shared rations with. People he had taken hits for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They looked away and checked their system menus. They looked incredibly bored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The anger hit him like a physical shockwave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t going to just lie here and die so Silas could play king in the next world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a shaky and blood-soaked hand, Dante forced his inventory menu open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bypassed his potions and standard gear, scrolling straight down to a banned item he had looted from a hidden dungeon two months ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Item Selected: Unstable Void-Core]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Warning: Activation will deal 50,000 fixed explosive damage to the user and all entities within a 20-meter radius. Cannot be blocked by standard defenses.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey, Silas,\" Dante coughed. A manic grin spread across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas paused and narrowed his eyes at Dante’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A glowing and dark-purple sphere had materialized in Dante’s palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was vibrating violently, emitting a high-pitched whine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The color completely drained from Silas’s face. \"Are you insane?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I’m going, you’re all coming with me,\" Dante said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He crushed the sphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Pop the scroll! Now!\" Silas screamed loudly and scrambled backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the guildmates instantly shattered a golden crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An [Aether Scroll].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A massive barrier of absolute invulnerability slammed down around Silas. It encased him in a dome of untouchable light just a fraction of a second before the Void-Core detonated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The explosion was completely silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A wave of purple energy devoured the entire room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It vaporized the six guildmates instantly, turning them to dust before they could even scream!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The energy crashed into Silas’s golden barrier. It cracked it and bent it, but it completely failed to break it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas stood inside, completely unharmed. He clutched the Aegis Blueprint and laughed hysterically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante didn’t hear the laughter. The purple energy consumed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pain was absolute. It tore his digital body apart at the molecular level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[HP: 0]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Deceased]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His vision snapped to black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feeling of falling consumed him, accompanied by a deafening and static roar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was it. The system was severing the connection. His real brain was about to get fried by his capsule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He waited for the final and permanent dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gah!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante violently sat up. His head slammed hard into a curved sheet of plexiglass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gasped for air like a drowning man breaking the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His lungs burned as he inhaled the stale and recycled oxygen of his apartment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pushed the heavy lid of the VR capsule open and tumbled out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hit the cheap linoleum floor of his bedroom with a heavy thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lay there for a second. His heart hammered against his ribs at a million miles an hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m alive?\" he whispered. His voice was hoarse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grabbed his chest, fully expecting to feel a gaping hole where Silas’s dagger had pierced him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just his sweat-soaked t-shirt and the steady and rapid thumping of his own heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked around the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was exactly as he had left it three months ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cramped and dingy studio apartment in Oakhaven, one of the lower-tier mega-cities on Veridia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neon light flickered through the dirty blinds from the mag-train rails outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The desk was still littered with empty instant noodle cups and energy drink cans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was 2290. He was actually back in the real world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante sat up and leaned against the side of the cooling VR capsule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind was racing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Zenith Protocol didn’t make mistakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you died in the game, the capsule overloaded your neural link.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You died. Period.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had watched a dozen people get dragged out of their apartments in body bags over the last year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So why was he breathing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sudden and intense burning sensation flared against his collarbone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante winced and reached into his shirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled out a small cord necklace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hanging from it was a jagged and dull piece of crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the pendant Lillian had given him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two years ago, his girlfriend Lillian had vanished without a trace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No note, no message.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just her apartment cleared out and this broken and seemingly useless crystal pendant left on his kitchen counter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had worn it every day since, mostly out of stubborn sentimentality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now, the crystal was glowing with a faint and violet light, rapidly cracking into dust!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before his eyes, a familiar blue holographic interface flickered into existence in the real world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It projected directly into his vision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Ding!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[System Notice: Fatal neural shock averted.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Anomaly Detected.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>┏━━━━━━[ Item Profile ]━━━━━━┓\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>│ Name: Tear of the Forgotten\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>│ Grade: Mythic (Broken)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>│ Effect: Binds to the user’s soul. Negates one instance of True Death across all Zenith Protocol realms by absorbing the neural overload.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>│ Status: Depleted. Item destroyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante stared at the floating blue text.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crystal pendant crumbled into fine gray ash. It slipped through his fingers and drifted onto the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lillian’s pendant was an actual Mythic-tier Zenith Protocol item.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat there for a long time. The hum of the city traffic outside was the only sound in the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t understand how Lillian had possessed an item like that before the Zenith Protocol even officially launched on Veridia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t understand where she had gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the initial shock faded, the memory of the boss room rushed back in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas’s smug face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dagger twisting in his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The theft of the Aegis Blueprint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante climbed to his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked over to the small and cracked mirror hanging above his sink and looked at himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked exhausted, pale from three months in the capsule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his eyes were completely clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t scream. He didn’t smash anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rage was a useless emotion if it wasn’t focused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas had just stolen his loot, murdered their guildmates, and tried to permanently end his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bastard was probably sitting in his own high-end penthouse right now, popping champagne and getting ready to cash in on the Vanguard Guild’s fame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas thought Dante was dead. Silas thought he had won.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante turned on the faucet and splashed freezing water onto his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next game cycle was starting soon. The Zenith Protocol never stopped for long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dried his face with a towel, his mind already turning cold and calculating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed resources. He needed a new ID. And he needed to find out exactly what the hell Lillian was involved in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silas wanted to play the king of the new world?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante was going to burn his entire empire to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>",1950,"2026-06-03T12:02:18.787Z","2026-06-03T12:02:25.060Z","novelbin.me","5f5008465d87a05faa45ebc72f5eaf87b836d1c525cc28bfdc327c6eb2d1624f","started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-2","started-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-chapter-109",109,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarted-with-a-10-000x-multiplier-in-a-game-worl-cover.jpg"]