The first thought that escaped Katherine's mind, was the fact that she was ranked, the number two player. Didn't that mean that there was someone else logged into the game?
But that string of thought could wait for later, to Katherine, she felt it was necessary to sort out her own problem first, before worrying over another player.
'It could well just be another prisoner.' she concluded at the back of her mind, waving off that thought.
The screen before her eyes flashed a different message which the android voice read aloud.{Game data fully downloaded. Would player 0002 wish to (A) View Player's Stats Or (B) View Story Lore}
Katherine stared at both options critically, yes she was curious to know what sort of abilities in her arsenal, but then again, she wanted as much information on the game as possible. Hence, she opted for the second choice.
"Option two." She tapped on View story Lore, and in an instant, the scene of a damp cave was swiftly replaced by an empty white space, still and quiet. Kathrine looked underneath her feet, to see she was floating in the air.
Seconds after being transported to this white room, a desk appeared from nowhere, and behind it sat a blue haired woman with black eyes and wires connected from the table to each of her hands and limbs.
"Welcome player 0002 to Diabolical Quest." The woman's voice matched the identical android like voice that rang in her head, hence, Katherine concluded she must be a sort of guide or system.
"If there are any questions you have for me, you are permitted to ask before I begin the Lore."
Katherine pinched her chin, there were quite a lot of questions she had in mind, but at the top of her list sat one in particular.
"That thing that attacked me earlier, what was it?" She asked, referring to the bony worm like creature that nearly tore her to shreds.
"You are referring to a Reaper, type D-Level threat." It replied, and Kathrine noticed that the woman…android hadn't blinked once, neither was it speaking from it's mouth, rather, she could hear his voice in her head.
"A Reaper?" Kathrine wasn't familiar with the word, but then, this was a game, and she hadn't played much of survival games in the past.
"Reaper: A Creature from the underworld that replenishes it's hunger by devouring all living beings. They come in various forms and sizes and are ranked in accordance to their strength, abilities, intelligence and overall level of threat. Ranked from E class up to SS class, Reapers are Underlings of the Dark Warlock who reigns over the underworld."
Katherine shuddered, 'That thing was merely a D rank?!' She nearly fainted when she thought about what an SS rank Reaper would look like.
"Are there any other questions player 0002 would like to ask?" The android's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
She knew that she would not get another chance like this to learn about the game Unbothered. But at the same time, she was more interested in hearing the Lore, hence she shook her head.
The android woman in response closed her eyes and began to speak in a controlled tone.
"Three centuries ago, the continent of DragonMoon was in a state of tranquility and prosperity…" As she spoke, the white room evolved into a beautiful scenery, with children, elves, cat people and other mystical beings, frolicking around a medow.
"On the night of the annual banquet, an attack was launched from underground, and leading it was an exiled holy priest, who had dabbled in forbidden arts. His army, consisted of battalions of Reapers, bloodthirsty and ruthless."
In seconds, Katherine was throne in the middle of a chaotic scene, where children, woman and men were on the run. There were fires on every end, and blood ran across the beautiful plains. She gasped at the brutality of the Reapers, who did not even spare children in their attack.
In the background, the guide's voice continued the Lore, "For five years, the exiled holy priest, now known as the Dark Warlock, reigned over the entire continent, spreading fear and death across more than seventy percent of it. But this terror did not last long, for at the fifth year of his uninterrupted reign, a warrior emerged who challenged the ruthless ruler. That warrior was known, as the Grand Master."
The scene shifted from a frightful execution, to a heroic looking man, wielding a long sword, draped in armour. Kathrine couldn't see the man's face, because he was clad in bright light, but a sense of relief washed over her.
"The Grand Master was a warrior who had mastered his manabilities and was a firm believer of the order of truth. He engaged the Dark Warlock in battle for three days on end. And on the final day, he was able to slay the Dark Warlock and annihilate the Reapers. With the help of the remaining Holy priests, the portal linking the underworld to the living was sealed off."
The scene changed to one with corpses laying across what looked like the aftermath of an intense battlefield, with the grandmaster standing at the apex of it all.
Katherine believed that the story should've ended there, but sadly, she knew that wasn't the case. If the Grandmaster's job was complete, she wouldn't have been attacked by that thing from earlier, that reaper.
Something must have happened.
"About three centuries after the defeat of the Dark Warlock, on the night of King Aleric's birthday ball, the High Saint, leader of the Holy priests saw a prophecy." The background morphed into a lavish birthday banquet, filled with merriment and cheer.
Katherine sat next to the king on the vacant throne meant for the queen, apparently she was invisible to everyone else.
'Where is the queen?' she thought at the back of her mind, wondering if she had probably died or something of the sort. With curios eyes, she watched as the banquet was crashed by an elven man draped in a white robe. Behind him were six other men dressed in similar, but not as majestic robes.
The man, she presumed was the High Saint, bowed his head to the king, then began to ramble something, she couldn't hear. Thankfully, the guide's voice sounded in the background and gave a summary of his prophecy.
"He came baring the news, that the King's younger sister, Duchess Ophelia, was in labor and about to give birth. The news of course delighted the king, but when he heard the rest of it, he grew angry and sent for her to be brought before him immediately."
Katherine furrowed her brows, "But wasn't she in labor? What happened to the child?"
The narrating guide didn't answer her question, because it was programmed into story telling mode and couldn't register anything else.
The story fast-forwarded to the scene of a red haired woman, dragged by two hefty knights and tossed before the King's feet. She was lifted by her hair, and forced onto her knees, like a slave.
However, unlike most slaves, the fire in her eyes did not burn out her brown eyes held much rage as she gazed at the emotionless king. Katherine was reminded of herself through the duchess, and instantly felt empathy for her.
"The duchess was brought to the king and accused of practicing the forbidden arts to save her child. According to the High Saint, the child in Duchess' Ophelia's womb had died for months. But, the desperate Duchess turned to the forbidden arts to keep the child alive. It was then revealed that night, the secret prohecy passed down from High Saint to High Saint. The secret that three centuries ago, the Dark Warlock was not fully destroyed and retained a fragment of his life energy. And it was destined, that in the near distant future, he would possess the body of a chosen host and reawaken the portal linking the underworld to the living world."
Out of habit, kathrine asked, "Where is the child now?" It was obvious the duchess was no longer pregnant. Had she already given birth?
"King Aleric demanded for the child, but the duchess refused to say give him an answer. That night, the king dispatched the nine knights of Vanquish to tear down her castle and bring forth her cursed son. But all his efforts yielded nothing, the child was gone and Duchess Ophelia would not say another word."
A silence followed, and the scene changed for the last time. To the execution ground of the duchess, where she was hanged like a witch, and shot to death by flamming arrows.
"In the end, the evil Duchess was executed and a search was placed for her child. Now known as the cursed Duke in hiding. Due to this, a number of brave warriors and adventurers have risen, climbing up the ranks to become the next Grandmaster and destroy the cursed Duke before he can awaken fully and destroy the continent."
The scene morphed back into the white room where they had initially started from, the android woman opened her eyes and asked Katherine.
"Player 0002, would you like to proceed to view your rank and abilities? (A) Yes or (B) No."