Gloria shuddered, a gust of cool wind wrapping around her freezing body. She blinked, eyes fluttering open slowly. The darkness in front of her gave way to dull gray static. Then, the world came into view only it wasn't the world she knew. Everything was different.
"Haaaaaah!" She screamed, sitting up straight. She regretted it instantly, her back and hips aching all over. Gloria looked down and was relieved to see she'd lost her ghostly complexion. Then it hit her, she couldn't really see out of the corner of her eyes. The edges were tinged black, almost like that of a first-person shooter where the world was everything directly in front of a video game character.
"Weird. Maybe my Aunt called 911 and I'm in the hospital instead of the morgue?" That hope died as quickly as it sprung up in Gloria's still naked chest. Her room was anything but a hospital room, with only a dingy floor length mirror and a door greeting her. The mirror looked oddly antique, it's ornate wooden frame gaudy in its decadence. Come to think of it, Gloria thought as she scanned the odd room with disdain, everything in her new room looked vaguely old-fashioned and hideously decorated.
"Hmph. Looks like something out of the Demon King's kingdom..." Now that Gloria really thought about it, the room resembled the first screen her avatar woke up in during the last campaign in-game. If she remembered correctly, the main mission was to infiltrate the Demon King's ranks and take him down before his attack on the Angelic Realm succeeded. Gloria sighed, reminiscing about how excited she was to hear her 2D crush invite her to join him underneath the Demon King. Gloria snorted. Even in death [REALM] was the only thing she could think about it seemed.
"Well, I guess it's a little better than being greeted by pitchforks and burning brimstone, though I'd prefer to be in heaven filled with a harem of pretty boys instead." Thrusting her feet off the side of the bed, Gloria got to her feet and screamed. Looking downward, she realized she wasn't wearing any clothes at all now, not even her towel and matching slippers!
Gloria desperately searched for something to cover up in that wasn't a bedsheet, but all the furniture wouldn't budge. It was like the drawers couldn't open. And, to her horror, every time she tried to open something, a message would pop up telling her it couldn't be opened.
On the verge of tears, she allowed her bruised forehead to rest on the cool glass of the mirror. That's when she noticed an inscription carved into the wood.
"Property of..." Gloria's mouth flew open as she shouted the last bit of legible text, "Demon King Arthonious Falcon III! What the hell? Is this a joke?"
If this really was the room of the last campaign, that meant Gloria was trapped in his realm! And, if that was the case she thought with a shudder of fear, she'd have to face his mechanized hordes of henchman with nothing more than a white sheet and bad breath from late-night snacking.
"Holy shit! This cannot be happening to me!" Gloria yanked at her thick black curls, screaming so loud she made her own ears ring. That's when the door to her bedroom flew open.
"Do not invoke the power of the Angelic Class unless you want to spend time in the lower dungeons, {player name}." Two pint-sized goblin maids entered, speaking in the same voice, wearing matching French-style uniforms, their green skin and thick ivory-colored horns the same color. The only thing distinguishing them was their eyes, one pair ruby red to the other's emerald green.
"Ahhh!" Even as she backed away in terror, Gloria recognized the duo. They were informants, at least they were informants inside of the game. Ophelia and Charlotte, twin goblins whose loose lips allowed her avatar to find a secret passageway into the King's private chambers.
"It's best if you remain silent, {player name}. And, get to work. New recruits must prove themselves worthy or risk being cast out," Ophelia stated, busying herself with sweeping up cobwebs Gloria hadn't noticed on the floor.
"The King hates when his subjects get too noisy, my dear. Now, chop-chop! Use your mojo if you must, but do get to work! Oh, and please put on some clothing. Your uniform is on the bed," Charlotte said as she wiped down decaying brick walls before hoping on her sister's shoulders to get to the top of the dresser.
Gloria just gawked at them, the twins totally unfazed by her naked body or the fact she didn't look like a demon.
"Oh, shit! I forgot..." During the last campaign, Gloria remembered the Angel of Infinite Mercy disguised players as demons for a limited amount of time.
Craning her head all the way over, Gloria saw there was, in fact, a uniform on the bed. She snapped her fingers hesitantly and a selection menu came into view.
At least the controls are the same as the virtual reality edition, Gloria mused as she selected {wear}. She looked around again before selecting Ophelia by poking the air. She froze and stared, her sister still hard at work. Three options appeared beside her: {request a broom}, {refuse to work}, and {insult her appearance}.
Well, that's a no-brainer, Gloria mused, hitting {request a broom}. I must be playing on easy mode or something...
"Ah! Yes, my apologies {player name}. Your broom is right there." Like magic, a broom was sitting in the doorway. Thanking Ophelia, Gloria crept over to it.
Sweeping backward out of the door and down the corridor until she was out of earshot, Gloria tried to find her way out of the dungeon as fast as she could. However, she very quickly became overwhelmed by the labyrinthine halls. She slumped against another cobweb-infested archway, her feet aching from her too-tight black shoes she'd slipped on conveniently placed on top of her uniform. It was annoying enough to lose her peripheral vision. Gloria couldn't bring herself to imagine losing her feet to amputation, even if she was living in an elaborate delusion. Giving up, she started walking aimlessly, ignoring the moans of agony, screeching bats, and other stock creepy dungeon sound effects echoing around her.
Snapping her fingers twice, Gloria groaned at her empty inventory, depleting health bar, and insanely low XP. If she was playing the game on easy mode, it was because she's been reset to a class lower than [COMMONER] which was as low as a player could get. Hopelessness settled in her gut. It took weeks of grinding in real life to escape and kill the Demon King when she was a [GRAND] level player.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with a broom and a good cook craft skill, huh!!?" She shouted, her voice reverberating back so hard it made her ears ring. Sniffling, Gloria just wanted to curl up and die for a second time. If she was going to be reborn inside [REALM] in the first place, the least the computer gods could do was make her a beautiful princess with a harem full of hotties!
"What's this?" Suddenly, the hallway was filled with a bright pink and dark blue mist. Covering her mouth, Gloria stumbled forward, unsure of what was going on. And that's when she saw him, hunched over his work station inside of his chamber, his head full of wavy black curls bopping up and down with each frenzied movement of his body. He froze as Gloria entered his room.
"Ah, you must be {player name}! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You're a beauty, but lazy, for a servant of the great Demon King shouldn't shirk their responsibilities wench! I am the Grand Alchemist Zoran Lazarectus! I will personally teach you how to serve our King until you are fit to be in his presence." The same crooked grin that the doll had on its face appeared. Only this time he was a flesh and blood man who towered over her, the scars on his face pulling where stitches barely held on. Gloria took a deep breath, began to speak, then fainted again before she could get a word in.