[Several millennia ago]

Janus descends from above, his form flickering with pent up energy. He lands before Erebus, who remains seated, calmly drinking tea. A large, black panther lies at his feet, watching Janus with wary, glowing eyes.

Janus speaks, his voice trembling with anger, “Our heavenly realm has fallen.”

Erebus takes a slow sip of his tea. “I’m aware.”

Janus steps forward, brandishing his sword, eyes blazing with fury. He shouts at Erebus, “Have you no remorse!?”

Erebus places his drink down gently and stands, finally meeting Janus’s gaze. His expression is cold, unreadable, as he responds, “Even if I said I did, would you believe me?”

The sleek black panther stands in front of Erebus in a defensive stance, growling menacingly at Janus. In a swift motion, Janus slashes the panther aside and closes the distance between himself and Erebus.

“Your very existence stems from the misfortune of others. You forsake the heavens and now you mingle with demons.” He points his sword at the fallen creature. “You belong in the demonic realm with the rest of those vile beings.”

A hint of anger flashes in Erebus’s eyes as he draws his own sword and says, “The gods’ misfortunes are of their own making. If I played a part in their downfall, it was only because they deserved it.”

“How dare you… They were our family!” With a roar of anguish and rage, Janus lunges at Erebus, his sword aimed to strike.

The sunset casts a fiery glow against the two battling silhouettes. Their clash reverberates through the heavens, turning day into night and night into day, as storms rage and the earth trembles beneath their fury. Janus’s strikes reshape the land, each blow a testament to his relentless drive for revolution, while Erebus counters with decisive waves, each strike carrying the weight of justice.

The battle rages on for days, neither god willing to yield, until finally, Janus lands a fatal blow. Erebus falls to the ground, his form beginning to dissolve into the air, his essence scattering like ash on the wind.

The fallen feline, Erebus’s loyal companion, transforms into a shadowy human-like form, cradling the dissolving god with a grief-stricken gaze. 

“I regret to leave you before you could properly gain your form,” Erebus murmurs to the misshapen shadow. He reaches up weakly to touch its head, but halfway through, his strength fails him. The shadow tries to catch his falling hand, but Erebus fades away completely before it can.

Janus, bloodied and exhausted, drags himself to his fallen city’s temple. Each step is a testament to his dwindling strength. The temple, once a beacon of divine presence, now stands in silent ruin, its statues cold and lifeless. Dust motes dance in the fading light, offering no comfort. Kneeling before the statues, Janus feels the crushing weight of solitude.

I have avenged you all, he thinks, his heart heavy with sorrow as his physical form dissolves, but at what cost?

Surrounded by the familiar figures of his long-lost comrades, he finds no solace, only the cold reminder of their absence.

—

[Current day]

In a small cafe called Lotta Latte, a young man sweeps the floor as the cafe closes up for the day. 

The cafe owner finishes counting the money at the register and says to him, “Thanks for the good work again today, Emrys. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Emrys nods at her. “You too.”

After leaving, he stretches and decides to go buy some groceries before heading home.

As he’s exiting the grocery store, some students passing by are gossiping about the recent mysterious disappearances going on. Emrys doesn’t pay much attention to his surroundings, mostly wondering to himself when his rent is due and what to have for breakfast tomorrow.

Suddenly, a flowerpot falls on Emrys’s head and knocks him out. His tub of ice cream falls out of his grocery bag as he collapses. As he loses consciousness, he looks at his ice cream melting on the floor and vaguely thinks, Ah…What a waste….

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

In the fading background, startled passersby call for help.

Within his consciousness, a voice asks Emrys, ‘Do you want to live?’

Emrys thinks about it. Do I want to live? I’m not sure, really.

He doesn’t have any major wishes or future goals, nor is he discontent with anything in his life currently.

Well, I guess I didn't expect my life to end like this. It's a bit regrettable that it's so anticlimactic.

A game-like terminal appears in the darkness that envelops him.

New player registered. You are now entering the Abandoned World. Welcome!

When Emrys wakes up, he’s somewhere else entirely. It’s a fancy but narrow hotel-like room with several beds. On the other beds, other people wake up, expressions alert and at the ready. Emrys looks out the windows to see trees flashing by and realizes they’re on a large, moving train.

Suddenly, blue light panels pop up in front of everyone. Confused, Emrys also belatedly checks the terminal that appeared before him, staring blankly at the unfamiliar interface.

On the main screen reads, “Main task: Be the last to survive or reach the place where the gods reside.”

“Shit!” One of the strangers curses loudly.

“We’re all doomed,” someone else cries.

Everyone has similarly despairing reactions, ranging from a silently grave expression to curling up and crying.

Before Emrys can ask, a screen pops up in their cabin, displaying a smiling woman who speaks with a chipper voice. “Good morning, contenders! I hope you had a good rest. I am your host for the duration of this annual tribute. You can call me Hathli. We will be arriving at our destination soon, so we’ve specially prepared a delicious meal for all of you in the dining car. Please come out once you’re ready! You have about 10 minutes.”

Someone says, “Right. We should go to the dining car. There should be more players from other cabins meeting up there as well.”

Emrys follows the group out, where a train attendant awaits them and leads them to the dining car. When they arrive, there are already several other people sitting and eating.

As they’re filing into the dining car, they hear a girl breaking down crying and holding her head. “No! No! I don’t want to die! This isn’t fair!”

Someone in their group is confused and asks nervously, “What is it? Is this instance hard?”

A man with glasses responds, “More than hard. This is a well-known wipeout instance.”

As panic spreads through the group, Emrys seems to be the only one completely clueless. He turns to the person nearest him and asks, “What is an instance?”

At his words, the people around him look at him in disbelief.

The person next to him asks Emrys, “Are you a new player?”

Seeing his blank, uncomprehending stare, the man rephrases his question, “What do you last remember?”

Emrys says, “The last thing I recall, I was walking home, then I think something fell on my head and knocked me out. Did we all get kidnapped and brought here?”

“Damn, so you are a new player. You have the worst luck, getting a wipeout instance for your very first instance.”

“What is a wipeout instance?”

“It means we’re all doomed to die.” someone says flatly.

The man Emrys was addressing quickly clarifies, “Well, more often than not, no one survives with the exception of the occasional one or two players.”

An older woman finally loses the last of her patience with all the crying and complaining and gets up. “Well, I, for one, don’t plan to die. You can all stay here and die for all I care, but I’m gonna survive.”

She leaves the dining car. 

As the last of the players coming from other cabins finally make it into the dining car, they all settle down to eat and discuss.

Emrys takes this time to finally examine the terminal that pops up in front of him with a single thought. A small avatar bounces around the screen excitedly and introduces itself.

“Welcome, new player, to your first instance! I am your assistant, Coral! I’m here to help you navigate through our interface. Whether you want to make purchases from the system store, check your rank, status, or skill levels, or open your inventory, you can easily access each by asking me!” Coral points eagerly to different tabs as it speaks.

“As a new player, you are given a random starting ability to aid you in your first instance.” Coral opens his inventory, revealing a card in one equipped slot. It enlarges the description of this card: ‘Regeneration (lvl 1): Passive. Gradually heal from inflicted injuries over time.’

“At its current level, it allows you to fully heal from a shallow cut within a day,” Coral continues enthusiastically.

Emrys: “...”

Coral: “It may not seem like much right now, but as you complete instances, you will gain rewards and level up your skills, so please do your best!”

Emrys looks away from his terminal and observes the other players. He’s evidently the only new player present as no one else looks confused. Rather, they all wear varied levels of despair or solemn determination on their faces.

Nearby, a pair of sisters sit close together, the elder urging the younger to eat and keep up her strength. Seemingly experienced players are clustered together, all murmuring in serious discussion. Even the glasses guy who looked antisocial has allied up with several other players. A particularly loud group consisting mostly of muscular and intimidating people allows scrawnier players to join their group as lackeys. They eye other players like potential prey.

Turning back to the person he conversed with earlier, Emrys finds he has also joined up with the loud group as one of their lackeys.

Emrys: …Am I going to be okay?