"Uuuahh," Aster groaned.
A bright light pulled him out of his drowsy stupor. He wanted so desperately to keep sleeping, but it seemed the world was ready for him to wake up.
Can't someone turn off this damn light? I feel like I haven't slept in days…
Wait… light?
Aster's eyes shot open.
The floor beneath him was hard, white marble, yet uncannily warm to the touch. Blindingly bright white light rained down from above. He blinked against it, his mind grinding almost to a halt.
When his vision finally adjusted, he made out a long table in front of him, draped in a white tablecloth and decorated with finer tableware than he'd ever seen.
Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. His bones ached at the movement, but his body seemed functional enough.
Staring down at the table, he tried to work out exactly where he was.
"I was being chased… then I dove for the hole and…" Aster scratched his head. "Am I in heaven? Or a cave?"
"Neither, actually," came a heavy, formal voice from behind.
Aster lurched forward, instinctively putting distance between himself and the surprise guest.
It was… what was it? Despite being dressed in a formal black three-piece suit, this figure was anything but human. At the end of each sleeve, grayish-black, worm-like tentacles flowed out, writhing together as if a hundred smaller creatures moved as one.
The suit itself seemed to pulsate, as though the worms might burst free of their confinement at any moment.
Thankfully, the creature's head wasn't made of worms but of a grayish-black exoskeleton shaped like a skull. Where its eyes should have been, two orange pupils floated in a pitch-black void, staring down at him from an eight-foot stature.
It watched him with a palpable disdain. Aster's skin crawled, yet he held his ground. Despite the loathing in the creature's eyes, it didn't seem poised to attack.
If it wanted to kill me, I'd probably already be dead.
Aster had a million questions tumbling through his mind, but the creature just stood there, silently staring, as if waiting for him to choose one.
"What… are you?" He regretted it as soon as the words left his lips. "I mean—"
"I am ██████, the most faithful servant of █████, and the chosen delegator of His great inheritance." The creature's regal tone dripped with disdain as it looked down at Aster in apparent boredom.
Then there was the issue of the name—Aster simply couldn't understand it. The sound slipped from his mind as soon as he heard it.
Seeing Aster's confusion, the creature clarified, "As humans cannot comprehend the language of the gods, you may call me Bellchet."
"My name is Aster. It's… nice to meet you. Feels good to finally talk to someone after weeks of walking alone." Aster said awkwardly, trying to break the icy tension, though he struggled to maintain eye contact.
"It has been 592 solar years since I last met and spoke to a human here. Too few for my liking," Bellchet replied flatly.
Aster tried not to take the jab personally, but it stung all the same. He figured keeping it lighthearted might be wise.
"Speaking of this place… where exactly are we? The last thing I remember is diving into a crater in the middle of a massive tundra."
"This is an isolated dimension created by my master," Bellchet said without a trace of sarcasm. Aster decided to take it at face value.
"So… how did I get here? Was there some sort of portal within the crater's center?"
"No, you are still in the center of the crater."
That didn't make any sense to him.
"If this dimension is inside the crater, then it's not really isolated, nor is it a different dimension… right?" Aster asked aloud, trying to make sense of it.
Bellchet exhaled in a strange, alien sigh.
"No. Your physical body remains in the real world. This dimension is crafted from mana, allowing your spirit to traverse it as if it were real."
Aster's eyes widened. Bellchet's tone was casual, but Aster sensed this was no ordinary feat. He might actually be dealing with a god… and realized he'd probably been speaking far too casually.
He wasn't great at handling tension and tended to speak on friendly terms, even with strangers. But this was…
Wait, if my body is still in the crater, doesn't that mean I'm in danger of—
"Your body is safe. For now," Bellchet interrupted, as if reading his mind.
Aster wanted to ask about that, but figured it was better to focus on one thing at a time. There was one more question of importance.
"Why did you bring me here?" he asked.
"I didn't bring you anywhere; you came here of your own accord. I simply oversee this place."
"Oversee what, exactly?"
"Trials. To find a suitable candidate for my master's inheritance."
Each of Bellchet's answers grew shorter, his patience visibly thinning.
"What kind of trials?" Aster felt uneasy about asking so many questions but had no choice.
"That is not for you to know unless you accept."
"Do I have to accept? Can I leave of my own free will?" he asked cautiously.
"You are running out of questions, human." Bellchet's voice had turned sharper.
"Choose." He stated.
Before Aster, a familiar prompt appeared.
> [NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]
- Name: `██████'s Trials (Hidden)`
- Difficulty: `Impossible`
Maximum Party Size: `One`
- Description: `Unknown`
- Clear Requirements: `Unknown`
- Clear Reward: `Unknown`
- Failure Penalty: `Death`
[ACCEPT] [DECLINE]
Aster gaped at the prompt. He almost laughed.
This is supposed to help me decide?
Bellchet's expression turned slightly sadistic, relishing Aster's dilemma.
Yet, he couldn't decide, not without one last question.
"If I decline, will I return to the world in the same state I was in just before coming here?"
"Yes."
That was the last question Bellchet would tolerate. Aster could feel it.
He thought about the outside world. He was starving, injured, surrounded, and many days away from any sign of civilization.
Certain death.
He had cheated death just enough times to know that going back was a death sentence.
Impossible, huh... Aster suspected that word was there specifically to mock him. He wasn't sure how the system worked, but it was almost as if Bellchet had put it there himself, waiting for Aster's despair.
Still, something didn't add up. Why would the system offer him an impossible quest? It made no sense. Quests had requirements, so why offer this one if it was truly impossible?
His heart began to pound, his mind racing. A grin crept onto his face.
The quest seemed to be taunting him, daring him to prove it wrong. He lacked just about everything he'd likely need to survive these trials. It was sure to end in his death… and yet he couldn't ignore the pull.
Why do I feel so excited?
[QUEST ACCEPTED]
"Oh, you foolish, foolish little human. I will return in twelve hours to begin the trials. Go ahead and savor what little time you have left." Bellchet's voice dripped with malice, abandoning all pretenses.
Before Aster could respond, Bellchet vanished.
In his place, Aster noticed a new smell wafting through the room. He turned, catching the scent.
Something smells… delicious.
The bare white table was now covered in every kind of food imaginable.
Aster grinned from ear to ear.
Maybe these trials won't be so bad after all.
He hoped he wouldn't regret those thoughts.