Countless individuals laid out across the battlefield. Beaten weary and overall tired. The ground was unrecognizable from all the destructive spells and devasting explosions that took place.
The Users Endless Abyss, Burning Requiem, Killing Softly, and Burp Burp stared in awe, as the last of the enemy burned away. The large amount of experience was then shifted around to the various leaders.
One Leader, in particular, changed the Experience Share to the "Partyless People" at one point. It was only 30% overall. Enough to make it more than worthwhile for them. Coupled with the title "Coach Thy Enemy," the other Users received a multiplier of 3x.
He stared at the title for a bit. It was so odd to have received it for a quest reward at the time. But then, when he came across those he fought with just moments before during the quest, it made sense.
The Individuals turned from "Yellow Ring" and "Green Ring" to "Red Ring" and attacked. Killing them was not what the User wanted back then. But he would not let them have their way. After a gruesome fight, he took the first chance he could to run away.
"Tch!" Dismissing the memory, he focused back on the here and now.
The sky slowly changed from the view of a Starry Night, towards a more normal one. The sun in the distance glowing dimly. The Party, Bountiful Frontier had defended the "Sun" the best they could.
From the reports during the battle, they lost 87% of their forces.
"Haaa, what a beautiful image. Despite the blood and guts everywhere of course." He looked around at everyone trying to recover just in case another battle started.
The Users had fought valiantly to end the last Event of the Game Dimensional Odyessy. The Destructive Wave targeted the "Sun" and would end all life in the Galaxy if they didn't stop it. An almost Dark like substance that consumed everything in its path.
*Spread!* A large Clear wave of magical energies engulfed the area. It touched each User before bouncing to each Nuc. (Non-User Character)
The wave restored them to peak conditions but also put them under a new status. Not unheard of in the late game really. It was called the Blessing of Fate. Not bonuses to stats or skills just a Full Restore. Most kept on going since everytime it was used, a Curse they were afflicted with disappeared.
If they allowed it to anyway. Some had gotten use to the benefits of said Curse. Mostly the Villians and those in the Inbetween.
(Event: Complete Status Lock. All effected must remain in place for 30 hours.)
Several Users "Warped" out of the area forcefully. Losing experience and the gear was not that bad compared to dying. The penalty was to high this late in the game. A large amount of the Nucs did the same thing. Those who stayed to the 30-hour mark, however, received a prompt.
Some just couldn't wait for 30 hours to watch something play out or an event to start. The notice had caught the attention of the ones who remained, however.
A new game plus mode it said. The idea of starting over with a new character was enticing, but the "Web News" suggested the game was getting shut down in five more years. That was not worth it to most people.
Especially if your life partially revolved around the activity done through the game. Such as trading and hanging out for future social events. A lot of the Entertainment Industry was regulated through this. As well as the Medical Community.
Several forcefully logged off to think about it. The remaining 5 Villains, 5 Heroes & Heroines, and 10 of the Inbetween remained. A small discussion about the future of the game was had before tempers flared up.
One of the heroines became fed up and clicked yes. One of the five villains did the same. Bathe in light, the two disappeared.
Slowly the two saw images of their game time play in front of them. From the present all the way to the beginning over the years. The countless hours and game time spent on quests and missions laid out in a way that would make a decent movie. If it did not play backward of course.
"You.. really didn't cause the Outbreak on Genyasi Island." The heroine looked at the villain. Her eyes conveyed her grief but that didn't matter. "I persecuted you like all the others... I am sorry."
"Save it." The villain waved his hand in annoyance. His eyes trained on the visions around them. He was trying his best to not miss a thing. Especially when the Event of "Black Waterfall" played. The heroine was there. Due to her help, he now knew a Nuc friend of his lived. "I abide by the Truce, whatever happened before, is water under the bridge as the old saying goes."
The heroine nodded after some time. She then focused on viewing his playtime. 'This cannot be right. He is labeled wrongfully as a villain. Just the result of fools and circumstance.' The playtime of a certain Event drew her attention. "Ragna-rok... you played that Event!"
Before she could focus on it, the next image showed another Hero come from the shadows. But since it was in reverse, he was going back into the shadows. Watching as the dagger moved from the Villain's spine to the front of the stomach. She gripped her hands tight in agitation. The memory of what happen next played in her mind.
"You did not fight back. Why?" Around them, the scenes played faster and faster. 'The quest was so troublesome. I remember doing the same with my team. He should have had several other people with him. The "Ritual Quest" will not play correctly if you don't. But then, how did he even get in that room?'
"The quest said I needed to remain still for 5 hours to receive the Inheritance. Getting killed ruined it and lead to a key of "Ragna-rok" turning. But your Party knows all about that. Since it was.." The villain stopped talking when he saw a bit of playtime with her. His sole focus on the User next to her. 'Lira, my friend how I missed you. I can not believe you knew her. But then again. She is not as bad as the others.'
His eyes looked at her for a brief instance. Taking in that her sad look resembled Lira for a moment. But the differences in eye color broke him from confusing the two.
"Why did you go quiet?" The Heroine turned from him to late. She missed the sight of the people in the party that were with him. She would have known that it was several of her own party members currently actually. Specifically two of the top Hero party members. "Ughh, this is making me dizzy."
*Shine!* A bright light encompassed the room. Blinded, the two shielded their eyes trying to reduce the pain. The energy in their bodies leaving along with a slight dinging notifying them of a vast decrease in levels.
(Playthrough compressed. Change in both Users' brain patterns. Changing "script" now... Villain set back on correct route of Hero.)
(Heroine set back on Inbetween Route. Error detected. New information in Heroine. The emotional state shows a great deal of Rage and Sadness. Adjusting to new Villainess Route.)
Both Users would be suprised on waking up. One, from the weird sensations. And two, the fact they had both had been sent through time somehow.
Both would find out the game they played had several changes for the Milky Andromeda Galaxy. Also, the game they played was only partially a game. It had Galactic changes that affected several Dimensions.
.
-20 years ago-
.
A young man just got off of work. Placing his shoes by the door, he went over to the "Game Pod" that had been installed. After two years of savings, he was glad to finally have done the upgrade. The odd thing was the email he received while at work about it.
"Still cannot believe I received the free De (Downloadable Event) from work. Guess HR got it over here for me since reporting the safety violation saved them some money."
The young man went over and put the code in. It would take an hour to download. Enough time for him to clean up and eat before enjoying his vacation.
Getting the necessities of cleaning out of the way, he changed and entered the pod to start playing. A painful sensation ran through his fingers as he lifted the hatch up. Thinking it nothing but problems from over work, he just continued. He stared at the hatch but felt it connected going down his spine.
*Bzzt!* A small stream of energy passed through him.
"Owww! What the hell was that?!" Looking around and doing a quick maintenance check showed no errors. To be on the safe side, he rebooted the pod. "Year 2220, and we still can not fix the issue from overworked muscles and still can't stop static cling. Maybe it is time I stop working on the Rig out there? I am still young at 30, but if I keep this up, I will not make it to see a 150. Haa, thoughts for later. Should have become a Scientist instead of a Fuel Designer."
Under his flesh, small bits of energy moved about. In another city, the same was happening to a young woman. The energy preparing the body for the "Connection" that would take place.
Ignoring the lingering sensation, he continued on. He didn't even have to announce the activation method. WHich should have given him another clue something odd was happening.
(User accepted. Commencing Synchro now.)
"What the hell?!" Immediately flooded with information, the User fainted.