I'm Athanasios, a virtual citizen of Elysium. I was born into this boring game world that everyone praises to be amazing and emulates paradise. How do they know it's a paradise? We've never been to the real world or any other world besides this one. Yeah, we've heard a few stories. The real world is a dangerous place filled with monsters, mayhem, and chaos. Others have said someone like me wouldn't last a day in the real world. I'd prove them wrong given the chance. Elysium feels like the same thing all the time, sure there are a few tweaks here and there, but nothing extraordinary."Oh man, I'm bored!" I snarl at Smeme, my best friend and colleague. He looks up at me from his task at hand and shrugs."Nothing on your mind?" I laugh, mocking him with another quick shrug."You're always bored," Smeme smiles.My job is basically that of working in a glorified arcade. Should be heavenly, right? Every day involves playing boring arcade games, but somehow this
And here it is, like a performer entering the stage. It's a sad creature from what I can see, some kind of abomination that must have escaped from the pits of the Evil Domains."A blood fiend,"Ambrosia says and takes the vanguard.At least I now know its name. The Threat Level 24 Blood Fiend is an enormous creature, reddish in color, and has a maw with several lines of razor-like fangs. It walks on all fours and its razor-sharp claws extend from each of its limbs."Anything specific I should be aware of?" I ask Ambrosia."These deadly creatures are known for their ferocity and tenacity. They even prey on other fiends. We should watch out for its Terror Gaze. Its effects are similar to the lich's Frightening Gaze that you experienced earlier, although it can only affect one target. If it affects you, then you will be an easy feast," she tells me, now back at her casual snobbish and carefree look."Fuck, there's something wrong with the difficu
What kind of world is this? I'm at a loss and unable to do anything now. Locked in place. I can't believe what I just witnessed. For our good luck, Ambrosia takes the initiative again and grabs Elektra and me by the wrist and forces us to follow her. The place is once again a perfect pandemonium of death, with the remaining adventurers trying to fight off the advancing undead, and our former leader gone mad.Behind the bone throne there's a door, but smaller in size. Ambrosia quickly opens it and throws me and Elektra across the other side. As she follows, she shuts the door behind her."That was close!" She exhales with her eyes closed.I must admit, it's one of these few times I've seen Ambrosia actually worrying.Tears stream down Elektra's eyes as she tries to get a grasp on what happened. I'm in a state of dismay as well. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest and my hands are
Cadmus was once considered one of the most prominent and brilliant wizards when he joined the Wizard Academy in Lycia. Working his way through the ranks, he joined the Adventurer's Guild at eighteen and began dungeon diving in as many ruins as he could. He even uncovered a city buried beneath the rubble of Podalia. It was there, where he uncovered sacred manuscripts that allowed him to unravel his unnatural talents to create constructs, golems, and other powerful inventions.Gradually, he gave up spell-casting for technology. Fusing magic, alchemy, and technology, he became known as a powerful artificer, upgrading his class and everything. The wizards that he had grown and trained with, envied and despised him for that, eventually leading to his seclusion from the outside world.His story was confided in me by Elektra in the Commander's Inn before our departure, but I paid no attention at the time. All I thought then was that it was some kind of backg
My entire body trembles, my eyes water, and my pupils dilate. I immediately feel the hotness of my body taking place, my heart racing, and my brain being on fire. The agony is so intense that sweat starts trickling down my neck and I'm about to explode. I cannot move, I'm frozen and terrified, nothing can make my tense body relax. This is what true fear is! I think that the creators of this world have gone a little overboard with realism. This is far from enjoyable and someone should tell them that there's a limit to how realistic a game should be.It seems that several other adventurers have fallen prey to the legendary action of our great opponent. It will be impossible at the current Threat Level I am to defeat this creature.My NCI informs me that Elektra, Alexander, Zoe, and the rest of the team have been affected and they are unable to move as well. I want to scream and shout and tell them to move, but it seems I'm unable to do so. Command as I might, this body-a
Leveraging the momentum, I cast my next Tier-1 spell called Thunderwave. A wave of thunder force shoots out from my hands and all the creatures are pushed ten feet away from me, while sustaining another 30 by 40% damage. Elektra doesn't waste any time and immediately rains down Fire Bolts, reducing my remaining opponents to ash. A surge of energy floods my body and I can see I've leveled up once more, reaching Threat Level 6 and HP 28."Yes!" I shout out, smiling at Elektra as she continues to rain fire down at the horde in front of us.Compared to before, Alexander and his team support me in the best possible way, burning down all the undead that attempt to support my flanks as I tank. We continue like this for what feels like an hour. Every time we gain some ground, the dungeon throws something new at us. Freakish mutations. Undead with two heads. Assassins with four arms. Twisted variations that are stronger, faster, but blend in with the regular undea
When I accepted this quest, I thought that we would have a carte blanche and we would be able to penetrate the underground as we deemed necessary. But all I've been doing is following orders which I must obey. I'm an adventurer, not a soldier. I'm not pleased and it seems my team isn't either. I can't say that I'm not happy with how the plot is developing though. In fact, it's interesting and soon everything will unravel. I can't help but feel excited. Standing at the front of death's door… in front of the complete unknown. I've never experienced this kind of looming anxiety before. Despite my worries, I'm thrilled to be down here.My goal for now is to gather as much information as possible and level up the faster. I'm sure this battle will make me stronger."We need to talk," I tell Alexander as I grab him by his wrist and bring him closer to me so that neither our leader nor the Black Knight will hear us.Alexander pulls his hand and releases his wrist
To my surprise, Ι quickly find out that the approaching duο is none other than the Black Knight and his sorcerer sidekick we met earlier in The Commander's Inn. Each has leveled up by one Threat Level, but their HP is down to 60%. For some reason, our great leader had decided that it would be an excellent idea to split our forces and have the strongest of adventurers invade from other entrances. I have no clue who decided this man was to be the commander of this expedition, but common sense says that you should have all your forces concentrated, instead of splitting them like sprinkles of light in the darkness, then have them invade such an enormous underground tunnel system."I thought we were the only people who survived," the Black Knight booms at us in a harsh, reverberating voice as he takes his enormous, two-handed sword from his shoulder and places it in front of him with the point of his blade touching the hard brick floor, penetrating it an inch or two.<
She's right and we quickly make our retreat, leaving the innumerable undead behind. Connecting with the others, I see that Zoe is still alive, though I'm not that thankful seeing Alexander right beside her and in full health. But I can't say the same for the rest of the adventurers. This battle has left us weakened and the damage we sustained is enormous. I don't have a clear view of our army, but I think we lost at least a third of our total forces. Half of what remains is barely holding. This mission is a failure and we'll be lucky if we get out with our lives.The rearguard has exchanged positions with us, so we can catch our breaths and retreat organized. But most of my fellow adventurers are in a panic, and I can hear their piercing screams from all over the place. Their faces are desperate and terrified. It seems all hope has abandoned us."Please, someone help me," a brunette girl holding one of our fellow adventurers pleads."Please, help me, I can't see
The two undead assassins give me a sinister smile as more of their kind gather behind them. Fighting two of them took all my wits tohold my ground. It will be impossible for me to fight five of them and I get the feeling that this will be game over for now. I'm ready to quit, thinking once more how broken the difficulty level of this game is. My body protests, telling me I should fight to the bitter end. Could it be that if someone dies in the real world, instead of respawning, all that awaits is oblivion? Terror gnaws at me, not wanting to believe that a game over is a permanent state here."Do not fret pet!" The voice of Ambrosia whispers to me from over my shoulder."I will protect you," sexy Elektra says as a Fire Bolt flies and hits an undead assassin in the torso, decreasing his HP by 10%.I'm relieved now that my seductive aides are by my side and battle-ready. We should finish them off quickly before they cut us off from the rest of the adventurers