Year 2355
Within Rioneed Game stood the greatest city in the Heptian domain. ..The City of the Great Ramsis.
It was the very city that every player of Heptian player was proud of and considered this the center of command and control for defense. A city comparable to ancient kingdoms in size, with towering walls surrounded by defensive towers with catapults. Guild flags from all over the domain were being raised in this very city.
Currently in this city, noisy warning sounds were ringing everywhere and chaos could be seen all over. This city experienced war every time since the Heptian domain was invaded by Solronian domain players. Yet, this city stood strong, sieges were unable to break down its walls. This time though, it was not your usual war, as the enemy was not the Solronian domain players this time.
"Make way for Guild Master 205" This command was accompanied by the appearance of a group of twenty players on the walls led by a middle-aged man with white hair and a very thin. His gazes were very intense.
"Scout report," He was standing on the walls as he ordered.
"It is very strange as we are being attacked by high-leveled monsters. They have an extraordinary ability to prevent the resurrection of any player after they were killed." One of the players answered.
The man in command was the legendary guild master whose in-game name is 205. His very guild handled the management of the city. Though they weren't the founder of the city, since they were one of the first players in the game, they had the opportunity to quickly take over the city. This guild master was well-known all over the domain for his contribution to the smooth management of the city.
"Anyone know why these monsters are attacking our city? Is there a new event?" 205 asked all the players around him. They were the upper echelon of his guild and the players that he trusted most in this game.
"I have seen some topics in various forums describing the same incident that is happening in their domain" one of the men replied to him.
"Are you sure Dante?" 205 looked at this young man as he asked.
"Yes sir, I've read 20 of such topics" Dante said while his eyes were fully focused before him. A lot of transparent panels were opened in front of Dante to follow up on the incident from several forums at the same time.
"That's strange. A global event like this without any game announcement" 205 muttered to himself as he thought deeply.205 had no doubts about Dante, as he was known for his obsession with following the forums.
Because of his brilliant mind and ideas, he was a much-respected player in the Heptian domain. 205 was also a worthy leader, even though he was helpless in front of this bizarre situation.He couldn't pick the appropriate explanation for this. After a few moments of thinking, he decided to let it go.
He still had a battle to command.He decided first to stop these monsters from advancing, and since a lot of players had been dispersed on various maps and dungeons, it would take time for them to return here.
"Ibro, bring your army with you and move out of the city. I want you to create a defense line a few kilometers away from the city. No bug should be allowed to cross you."He looked at one of the players with a big shield and a short sword and ordered.
Ibro moved down the walls to the ground at once, as he knew the severity of the situation.
When he landed, his 100 thousand men army assembled and marched directly to the front.
Ibro managed to see the huge shadows of the monsters in just half an hour from his exit from the town.
He remained in the middle of his army observing the approaching enemy. It was an odd mix of monsters that he never heard about.
"Get in formation and never let the monsters cross you. Hold the line and we'll be celebrating at night"through a strong tone, he commanded. Ibro was not a newbie as he had seen numerous battles and fought countless tough wars.
The long-range magicians and archers were the first to launch the attack. An overwhelming amount of spells and destructive arrows rained and poured into the creatures' hordes. Such assaults were effective because under the first wave of assault, tens of thousands creatures lost their lives. The second wave was swiftly followed.
Ibro looked with pride at his army and its assaults. He personally chose his men one by one at a time. He knew the strengths and weaknesses of everyone. This was one of the reasons why 205 relied on him at hard tasks like these. The fight didn't last for more than ten minutes and suddenly, every player was notified of something.
"Global Announcement: the Pnroian monsters have invaded every domain of the world. The game considers this as mission failure. Rioneed will withdraw now from this world."
As soon as the notification finished, every player in the world felt a shake in their bodies. It was as if something had left them. Their souls received a hard blow that caused them to lose concentration for a moment. Ibro was no exception and when he recovered, things have changed drastically all around him. Because of that sudden loss of concentration, they lost the upper hand that they had, and the monsters took this chance to push through.The monsters attacked relentlessly, crushing any player in their way.
Less than half of Ibro's army was remaining when the monsters reached Ibro's position. He gritted his teeth as he couldn't understand what was going on. He didn't fully understand what this announcement meant. He tried to call 205 but nothing happened, as there was no response at all from the game system. It was like there was no system at all.
Ibro stood his grounds and concentrated on the incoming monster. He still was feeling pain deep in his soul, but he endured it. To stop the assault of this monster, he leapt to his left. He scarcely succeeded in avoiding the monster's long lethal claws, and to his surprise, his agility was lower than usual.
He didn't have enough time to think about it because behind him came another attack from another monster. Ibro retreated just in time to prevent the assault. In his position, he could see five different attacks coming from five different directions. He tried to dodge them but failed as he had no space to move at all. He knew when he saw these assaults that he was doomed, as a nail-like spear pierced his neck. He felt terrible pain daunting all over his body.
He began to lose concentration and felt that his body was going numb. He realized that he was dying. At the same time, a peculiar ray of black light appeared out of his heart and shone all over the world.
His mind went blank and he died.
Ibro was dead, but somehow, his body reappeared in this unknown world. This world was coated with gray fog. Ibro's body was suspended within the mist, like a fish swimming in the sea. There was an eerie silence that made this world look so gloomy.
A white cloud seemed to float slowly and steadily towards his body from afar. The fog clustered around his body until it hit him, as though it were embracing him. A part of the fog shifted to create a hazy woman silhouette. She stared a long time before sighing through her white eyes at Ibro.
"This is your fourth loss in your trial. You know that the next time will be the final chance ever. If you fail, we'll all lose... I'll even lose my life.We all betted on your success, but… every time you retry, you fail. You lack motivation. You lack information. This…"The gentle voice of a lady emerged in this dark place like a beautiful song. A look of distress existed on her grim face. It was as though she was in a struggle and hesitating over a very important decision. After a long time of silence, she sighed.
"To send you any memories, I will need to use a part of my strength. And to do this, I'm going to give part of my soul to remain with you. This may be a bad idea, but then ..." She had gone quiet again. She wasn't hesitating at all this time, but she was nervous.
"Yes, this means I will be next to you and fight alongside you again." A cloud of fog detached from her and invaded his body.
"I'll try to retain as many memories as possible of the key details about your time in this game.I can't make you recall everything, but at least you're going to have your essential memories. The laws of your trial prohibit me from giving you much more on this." She lamented over her weakness towards his trial.
"I'll take over the role of this unknown player who created the big city of Ramsis. Instead of him, I'm going to play using my old name, Aya Darwish, and become your game motivation. As I have added my data in your memory, you will always feel like searching for me and fighting for me. Sadly, I will also lose my memories because a part of my soul will always be with you.I hope you will soon be able to find me. You have to crack the game rules as soon as possible and see the whole truth beforehand." Then she gently hugged him before she kissed his cheek.
"Remember my darling, this is our last shot. Don't ruin it. It's all on the line here, my little necromancer." Then she moved her hand and caught something.
From a distance, a strange-looking knife emerged as it was moving easily through the fog.It was like a tiny piece of iron attracted by a massive magnet. It got faster and faster every moment until it pierced Ibro's heart precisely. When this dagger entered his body, the cloud surrounding him had gone mad, almost like a boiling oil.
"Death Dao!"
In this world, a majestic deep voice spoke. It was like a divine edict. Everything in place stood momentarily as the whole time and space had frozen. Ibro's body started to shake before it miraculously disappeared just as it appeared. After that, everything returned to what it was like as if nothing had ever happened in this unknown gloomy world.