Silence reigned in the room. Only at occasional times the gentle breathing of the tired lady sleeping could be heard, apart from the ticking of the clock that somehow felt comfortable to hear.
The young lady slept sideways with her legs tucked in, holding in comfort the warm blanket with her hands. A very thin line of drool fell from her lips into the pillow that had somehow gone under her head during the night.
As her ears reacted to the sound the birds outside made whenever one of them rested near the windows, her eyes blinked even if closed.
Cho Jae-Hwa's index fingers and thumbs twitched in rhythm with the pecking of the little birds, soon after followed by her eyes that slowly opened with a grunt.
She tried to open them slowly to get used to the light that did not exist yet. Looking outside, there was a brighter shade of blue emerging slowly in the sky, which apart from that, however, it was clear how nightly it still was.
She grunted in protest, knowing that most likely it is still very early in the day or very late in the night, but even then she raised her head... As slow as it was.
With her hair still spread wildly on top of the sheets, she glanced over to the clock on top of the wall.
"I have to be dreaming... Damnit."
Six in the morning (6:00). A time she never thought possible for one to wake up, and yet, here she was, wide awake and impossible to return to sleep. For Jae-Hwa, once she awakes, no matter how much times she tries, she can never go back to sleep unless her brain knows a full day has passed.
At home she would procrastinate until it was one or less hours left to go to work, but here there is no need for such thing, since there isn't much to procrastinate with besides looking at the ceiling.
She fixed her posture and stretched her arms high in the air, feeling uncomfortable by the weight her equipment had.
"I guess it's better than nothing." She says as her clothes change to the basic attire that she got when she first arrived to the dungeon, excluding the shoes. Jae-Hwa left the bed touching the wooden planks of the floor with the tip of her toes, feeling every bit of grain and rough sides of the texture.
She walked to the windows on the left side of the room, opening them with a quick regret of how cold the outside air was.
On the cobblestone streets there were some tall poles made of metal that produced enough light for an entire area. That much was enough to amuse her with a beautiful scenery.
"Marni..." Her mind wandered off as she enjoyed seeing the street lights.
"In this world, or whatever this is, I have no need for baths, no necessity for food or water and definitely no desire to go to the bathroom— It's so strange how much this world has changed me."
Jae-Hwa looked behind, analyzing what her room had with proper care. Near her bedside table, she glances upon a little hand mirror, which she takes and uses it to look at herself.
Her white straight hair looked bland and dirty to her, despite it being cleaned during the night recovery, not to mention her green eyes being devoid of happiness, as if there was none to even have.
"Right, Marni. All of this is because of her."
She recognized the root of her problems, biting her lower lip as she continued glancing at her own eyes. Even then, her vision was aimless, seeing only the memories in her mind, not what was in front of her.
She is innocent, so there is no need for me to blame her for something completely out of her control... My heart hurts knowing that what I did was worthless, but it's as the system said— there is no going back now. Even if I go back, she will not remember me, I was sure of it when the video showed her new life.
"There is no use in becoming depressed because of it now, especially after all that I went through... Let's move forward, Cho Jae-Hwa."
She gives two stern slaps to her cheeks, breathing in deeply, then breathing out the worry that clouded her mind. It certainly wasn't easy for her to take such rushed decision, but any second passing would be one more second that could drown her in depression.
She took out her plain white socks and shoes, putting each of them on the old fashioned way without the aid of the system.
After making sure that she has nothing of importance left lying around, Jae-Hwa fixes her messy bed and then leaves the room, locking the door with the key that was given.
Coming down the stairs was the same silence, no person or attendant to be seen, all of the lights turned off, but surprisingly the door that led outside was still open.
Now in the eastern street, she feels the cold air brush her skin, even making her tremble and sneeze with the new sensation after so long.
"I guess it's too cold to go around with these clothes... It was December, after all, must be something similar here too."
With the current decision set, the young lady heads down to the western side of the city, noticing how very few houses and inns along the way have their lights on, clearly due to how early it was, but the fact she was not alone at this hour made her feel better.
Just as she reached the central crossroads, her eyes were nearly blinded by the street lamps and the many stores in front of her. Apparently, after asking around, no matter if it was night or day, the western section of Carsenia was always open and bursting with life, being open everyday for 24 hours.
As she roamed some stores window-shopping, many sold plain clothes that you could find anywhere, while others were too extravagant and only sold dresses and similar expensive clothing.
Eventually she happened to find a small boutique hidden from the rest, catered to "Forgotten Ones" with big and small wallets on them.
After around fifteen minutes of experimenting clothes, she ended choosing a beige woolen sweater that she wore on top of her white shirt and blue jeans, costing her ten credits in total for some moderate warmth.
"There goes ten more credits..." She weeps for her system wallet while walking down south.
After some time, Jae-Hwa reaches the only temple in the south section of Carsenia, something giant and romanesque. A piece of art built with white stone resembling marble and three pairs of columns perfectly preserved over time.
In front of the entrance are also three pairs of statues, each pair having a different face sculpted on them.
"Are you perhaps interested, Forgotten One?"
A priest clad in white approaches her, holding a book and a very wide smile. Without even needing her answer, the man starts rambling away.
"You see, each pair of these statues represent a deity that you can try to get the blessing from. Starting from the closest—"
The priest points to a pair of statues that presented a human figure with no mouth or nose, holding a mask on one hand and a gun on the other, pointing to the ground at Jae-Hwa while it grinned creepily.
"—Is the statue of Eclipsion, the God of Lunacy. He is too much of a jester that he likes to change His gender out of convenience. In short, whatever is best to mess with a random innocent."
He then points to the statues in the middle that showed two figures, perhaps lovers, although they looked more like twins. The figures were hugging each other as they cut their thighs with a sharp knife.
"Next is the Twin Gods of Love, Celestaphrenia. Their motto is 'Love has no Limitations' and due to that it is said They practice incest... Anyways, They are recognized as each represents one side of love, where Celesta, the youngest, is the sadistic side and Phrenia is the masochistic side... Still, be careful with Their worshipers."
"Sure..."
Finally, the priest presents the last pair of statues, presenting a lonely woman with her face covered in a veil and a pained or perhaps sad expression. Her long hair covered the rest of her nude body as she wielded a scythe with a blade of her own body's size that seemed to emanate a strange aura from its despite being just a sculpture... Not to mention her eyes that seemed extremely captivating.
Something about her feels familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it... Why is it bothering me so much?
While lost in her thoughts, the priest continues his explanation.
"Lastly is the Goddess of Fear, Phantasmagoria. She is rumored to be a widow and once a mother that lost her children due to betraying the trust of the Ruler Deity, the all-powerfull Demina.
Apparently she sunk into despair and found some kind of motherly obssession that fills her followers with fear."
Tired from listening the man speak, Jae-Hwa moves the subject forward as direct as she can be.
"I see, thank you very much... Do you know where I can get a blesssing?"
"Right inside, there is a door different from the others. Enter and you will find if you are worthy or not."
"Thanks."
Walking as fast as she can to escape the priest, she enters the temple, which just as the outside, looks as grandiose and clean as one can imagine.
Tiles made of dark wood, a proper reception with a counter made of the same stone as the building, it felt completely different.
"Would you care for a donation? It's only twenty credits!"
Another priest dressed in white comes to her side as she walks to the door, stopping right in front of Jae-Hwa, to which she promptly refuses and moves on.
I have barely any credits, but twenty!? That's stealing!
Still engulfed in her own thoughts, her movement comes to a halt as she finally has the door in front of her. It is completely black, even the hinges, but contains some root-like gray texture. This was clearly it.
As Jae-Hwa places her fingertips on the surface of the door, it clicks and becomes unlocked, opening by itself slowly with a creak.
As she enters, the door behind her closes, locked from both the inside and the outside. Her surroundings are merely void, an empty that cannot be filled but is still somehow illuminated by a spotlight in what seems to be the center of the room.
From far away, a feminine voice echoes.
"I see you trusted me."
"Was there any reason not to? If you were being stopped from communicating with me, then I am sure they would also stop you from killing me." Jae-Hwa answers, looking around for the source of the voice.
Moments after, accompanied by a giggle, a curtain of smoke appears out of thin air, a being emerging from the ground as it created a pair of dark red eyes made of energy despite it's faceless appearance.
"So you are Phantom. I figured you weren't human, nor monster, but a deity? That's fresh."
The ghostly smoke closes its eyes, speaking with noticeable calm in its voice.
"If I had told you, it would maybe be harder for you to believe me."
"Maybe that is true, but do you need to be this ball of smoke? With all due respect, I've seen what you can do, so if you want me to trust you, we should have a more intimate conversation."
"Like this?" Phantom questions just before the smoke starts revolving around itself, forming a small tornado of gentle wind.
Starting from the bottom, it dissipates, letting the silhouette of a matured woman appear under the spotlight.
With a tight grip of her fist, Jae-Hwa's rage builds up upon seeing her own mother being brought to her through illusions.
"Never do that again." She stated with as much rage she could make present in her calm voice. "I meant your real form, not my mother."
With her eyes still closed, Phantom begins to shift her form. This time, an eerie figure appears on the spotlight.
Barefoot, dressed in a very thin black nightgown that barely covered her skin due to how ragged it was. In her head, a black veil of ash covered her eyes that glowed their share of blood in the dark and her lips that had since long dried.
With a fair skin and dark long hair, the deity somehow felt less alive than a ghost and yet more miserable than a human as Jae-Hwa saw a stream of tears leave the corners of the ghastly woman's eyes non-stop.
"As I am but a lesser deity, I do not have the authority to present you my true form. Instead, I hope you do not mind if I represent it into something more... Human-like."
Still struck with awe, Jae-Hwa returns to her senses and resumes the conversation.
"No, it's all right... Now, I know why you need my help, but why me in particular?"
"That is because you have the most hatred for those behind the system. We share a similar goal, that's why."
That excuse did not seem enough for the spear user, but even after questioning further, the deity could only answer the same thing over and over.
"I cannot reveal that yet. It's not safe enough."
"Then, when will you do? If I don't know the details, how do you expect me to help!?" Jae-Hwa retorts with frustration.
"I will tell you more in the next temple you enconter. They are in other domains where higher ranked deities rest, but due to their power, it also becomes easier to not be noticed."
The air around the voided room becomes colder and infested with more smoke. Phantom, ignoring her surroundings, keeps going with her talk, hoping that she will be heard unconditionally.
"As I told you in your dream, my husband was killed by the system."
"Yes, you did mention that... And then they went for your children..."
"Correct, but I never said why, did I? At least this much I can tell you...
One day, in a domain exclusive to us deities, we were having our
The young lady sits on the ground with her legs crossed, listening with attention to the deity that soon notices it, replying with a gentle smile and kneeling down to the girl's level.
"Some could choose while others were given their
"So that's when..?" Jae-Hwa asked, almost whispering in reaction. Somehow Phantom was able to hear her.
"Not quite. First, she promised to do something about it, then after three days and three nights she chose to call my whole family.
She placed my husband, the God of Energy, in a pedestal and made me beg for her forgiveness.
Naturally, I did not understand what she meant and seconds later she chopped his head like it was made of papyrus."
Tears return to the weeping deity, or rather, they start pouring with more intensity as they fall to the cold floor and slowly flood it and create a small lake around the women. Ripples formed in the teary water as it reacted to Phantom's voice..
"It took me too much time to understand what was happening, only when Demina took my eldest son to the pedestal did I start crying and pleading for their lives... Even then, it was not enough.
One by one, she beheaded the heads of my three sons and one daughter, always repeating the same words: If there is defiance, the reason shall be dealt with."
A loud thud echoes, causing the weeping deity to flinch and look to something other than the lake she had made. In front of her was Jae-Hwa also crying rivers to her story, hitting the floor violently with her fist.
"Why did she not stop!? You did everything she wanted, so why...!?"
The girl's heart was starting to ache for the unknown being that was in front of her. Her voice was faultering, imagining the situation happening to her instead.
"You are right." Phantom continued. "She did not stop, but I also did nothing. I believe it were my sins that caused all of this, but I still could not forgive her.
When she finished her executions, she forced me to accept the
Demina said: You are now the Goddess of Fear, the woman who shall not find love nor happiness anymore, Phantasmagoria."
Phantasmagoria. The pieces in Jae-Hwa's mind had been completed and the puzzle was done. The reason for her to feel so bothered listening to the priest's story was revealed in her conversation.
"So the reason for you to be known as the Eternal Widow was Demina..." Cho Jae-Hwa states, cleaning the tears off her eyes.
"In essence, yes. What I wanted to be was the Goddess of Compassion, but instead I obtained this
Tell me, Cho Jae-Hwa, would you help this hopeless woman?"
Phantasmagoria extends her hand, a veil of falling ash covering it like a snake. Slowly, the spear user moves forward, doubting her mind but trusting her instincts with confident eyes.
"Maybe I should consider this better, but what I know is that you genuinely wish for help. No vile creature would make me cry for them, that much I know."
With a gentle heartwarming smile, the deity grabs hold of the girl's hand and a system panel appears in front of her, asking if she wants to accept Phantasmagoria's blessing.
Before that, however, the ghostly goddess asks her one more request.
"Once you accept or refuse it, you will be expelled from this room by the system, so before that, I was hoping you could listen to one more of my selfish requests."
"What is it?"
"There is but one more woman who has suffered similar to me... If you happen to find that poor fox, please let her rest. That is the only thing that I can tell you."
Jae-Hwa wondered about what she meant, but from the way her words sounded, it didn't seem like a problem she would need to care about for quite some time.
"Understood... My Goddess. I accept your blessing." She smiled internally upon saying these words, thinking about how embarrassing it is but quickly dismissed the feelings since it was something she always wanted to say.
"Now, close your eyes."
Following the deity's orders, Jae-Hwa's eyes close and a strange surge of energy fills her body. Moments after, Phantasmagoria's voice becomes but a whisper and the door loudly closes in front of her.
—BLESSING—————————————
The Eternal Widow has graced you with her presence.
She who was betrayed and left alone seeks your warmth.
Relish in her aura of fear and resent those who betrayed her.
Phantasmagoria has blessed you.
———————————————————
—STATUS WAS UPDATED———————
DAMAGE: +10
ENERGY: -5
WEAPON: LOCKED
SKILL: LOCKED
OBTAINED: Immunity to
———————————————————
Cho Jae-Hwa looks at her own hands gripping it tightly as if to feel her new strength.
"The minus five energy is a bummer but it compensates having this much more damage and fear immunity. If I combine it with my skills, I will do a lot more damage too. Not to mention those two locked things... I wonder how I unlock them."
Taking a few steps to the outside, it was quickly becoming night, with the sunset barely being seen anymore.
Jae-Hwa turns to Phantasmagoria's statue, closing her eyes in a prayer that she was still trying to create.
Don't worry, Phantasmagoria... I promise I will help you.
As soon as she turned away, the young woman stretched her body, thinking about what to do next.
"Having some more defense would be good... The slimes could barely hit me because of how their body was but I am almost sure that there we won't be much of them in the next domain."
With deep breathing, she marches to the room she is currently occupying.
"Alright, time to stop thinking negative and move forward! No matter the problem, sulking will do nothing!"
—CURRENT STATS——————————
PLAYER NAME: CHO JAE-HWA // LEVEL: 4 <0/135 EXP>
BLESSING: Phantasmagoria
TITLE: Giant Slayer
HEALTH: 140/140
DAMAGE: 30 (+17) // DEFENSE: 24 (+6) // ENERGY: 35/35
WEAPON: Ceremonial Metal Spear
ARMOR: Hunter's Garb
SKILLS:
CREDITS: 25