When Raine opened her eyes, she found herself floating in an endless black void. She let out a weary sigh. The beta test was over. Finally, her troubles would end. The curse, the absurd body, and the stupid skirt. With the end of the beta test, they would all disappear.
Her hand still clutched the simple silver flute. It was a common item that the bard guild handed out to newcomers. With one hand, she gently traced the surface of the flute. Faint echoes of the song she had played still resounded in her head.
A soft smile formed on her face. She had played whatever came to mind. As a result, her song had changed on the drop of a dime. Even she knew her song was somehow different than most. What would the people who heard her think? Briefly, she wondered if she had sounded like a simple child banging a drum.
Embarrassment tinged her cheeks. She hadn’t made a complete fool of herself, had she? She knew she was clueless when it came to music. When she had gone to the bard guild and played the flute, everyone had given her odd looks.
Raine tried to completely recall her song. It was no good. She couldn’t remember. Raine had lost herself in the music. She couldn’t even remember if she had managed to help anyone or not. Time passed by in a flash and before Raine knew it, she was here.
Her song was not the best piece ever played, but she felt like she did an okay job. All that really mattered to her was that she did not embarrass herself. That, and if she could draw the monsters aggro towards her.
“Still, who would have guessed that my failed attempt at climbing the clock tower would become my trump card,” Raine mused.
When she tried climbing the tower before, the wind was unnaturally strong. Even with sparse handholds, she should have been able to cling to the tower and climb to the top. Yet Raine was knocked down, not even a third of the way up. When she saw the roc suddenly split in half as it was circling the tower, a thought hit her.
“There must be either spirits or god level magic to prevent people from getting to the top of the clock tower through illegal means. That would explain why no one ever made it to the top without the quest item.”
The clock tower was related to a unique quest and a god’s domain after all. Trespassers would not be allowed to enter so easily.
Raine wasn’t entirely sure her plan would work. She had only her own thoughts and the roc’s death to go off of but, the fact that she was still here meant that she was correct. Still, Raine wondered, where was here? She had been in the black void for a few minutes but nothing had changed.
“Is it just me, or does this situation seem familiar from somewhere…” Raine muttered to herself.
“Are you so lonely without me that you started talking to yourself?”
A beautiful voice called out to Raine. Caught by surprise, Raine quickly turned to the newcomer. Her figure captivated Raine’s gaze. She was a gorgeous bombshell blonde. Her lips were curved into a mysterious smile and her long wavy hair was as brilliant as the sun. Raine shook her head and regained herself.
“You are…?”
“What, you forgot me already? How cruel.”
The pouting face of the woman did nothing to diminish her beauty. Instead, it brought a smile to Raine’s face. Try as she might, Raine could not guess who the blonde might be.
“Well, no matter. The other gods and goddesses were quite interested in you but I stole you away from their summons.”
“So you are a goddess…. Wait, summons?”
“The rest of the survivors were summoned to the gods’ great hall to be bestowed their rewards. A few of them will be offered unique arts or classes based off of how they did.”
The goddess easily explained the situation to her, but Raine could not quite ignore the bombshell that the goddess had so casually dropped.
“Wait, you stole me from the rest of the group? Away from the place the rewards will be handed out?”
“Well, wouldn’t it have been a problem if you appeared with the rest of them?”
“Send me back! My reward… My reward….”
Raine trailed off almost in tears. Even if she had not done much, she still deserved something for all her efforts. She had even tossed away her pride to wear a skirt and make sure the curse did not kill her. Now, this goddess was telling her that she not only wasted her time, she even set aside her dignity and yet she would not be rewarded!?
“Alright. Alright. Just say something if you want to return here so we can continue our conversation.”
The goddess gave in surprisingly easily. Before Raine could ponder her easy acceptance, the black void disappeared and she found herself in a great hall. A massive feast was laid out on the great table.
Behind her were several beautiful and handsome figures, which must have belonged to the gods and goddesses. Yet, Raine did not have much time to look at them. In front of her was…
“Found her!”
An excited voice called out. In unison, all 100+ players turned and looked at her.
“...Eh?”
A sound of surprise escaped from her mouth. Raine did not know how to handle all the passionate gazes upon her. If it was just the woman, she might have been okay but, men staring passionately at her as well? The expression on her face froze. She wanted to hide, but that would only make the situation worse. All at once, they exploded.
“Who are you!?”
“What is your name?”
“You saved me!”
“Thanks for the help!”
“Join our guild!”
“Be our mascot!”
“That song was amazing!”
“I am your fan!”
“Can I have your autograph!”
“I love you!”
“Marry me!”
As the force of their voices slammed into her, Raine flinched. She thought she heard something amazing in the last two but she quickly erased them from her mind. The players waited for an answer. What was she supposed to say? She felt like she was piece of juicy meat thrown before a pack of hungry beasts.
“...”
The gazes of the gods and goddesses on her back hurt. She could feel their pity and laughter. Only one of the gazes looked at her warmly. That warmth brought her a small margin of comfort.
The blonde goddess had said something important. Raine desperately tried to remember what it was. Meanwhile, the crowd got unruly. Perhaps not satisfied just to talk to her, one player slowly walked towards her.
Seeing his approach, the others moved forward as well trying to pass him. Soon, almost the entire group of players were sprinting directly at Raine. Only a handful of players held back with weary looks on their faces.
Raine brought her hand up as if to tell them to stop. Yet, no words came out of her throat. Having close to a hundred people charging directly at her with passionate gazes caused her words to die on her tongue.
In the midst of her crisis, she finally remembered what the blonde goddess told her. All she had to do was say something. With a smile of relief, she waved her hand at the incoming players.
“Goodbye.”
For some reason, they all came to an immediate halt with odd gazes. Especially the women. Their gazes were warm yet goosebumps broke out on Raine’s skin and her hair stood up on its end. Every fiber of her being told her to run away from those gazes. She had no time to ponder the contradiction though. The world disappeared and she found herself back in the endless black void with the blonde goddess.
“Did you get the reward you desired?”
The blonde asked Raine as her shoulders trembled slightly. Just as quickly as it started, the goddess’ trembling vanished without a trace.
“Urk!”
Raine couldn’t tell her that she had fled at the first sight of the players charging her. That she had wasted the goddess efforts and not gotten a reward out of it. Yet, it seemed she did not have to.
“If I had known all you wanted was to be smothered by all the other players, I wouldn’t drawn you here in the first place.”
So she saw what happened… Raine could not help but break out into a cold sweat. If she had appeared right next to them, what would have happened? If the goddess had not saved her…
“... Why were they all so half crazed? I hardly did anything in the special event.”
Right, she thought to herself, all I really did was play the flute on top of the clock tower. I didn’t fight the waves of enemies like they did. I mean I am only level one, at most I could have served as a small distraction.
The blonde goddess’ smile froze. Her shock was evident from her eyes. Incredulously, she asked Raine.
“Could it be you don’t know what you did?”
“What I did?”
Raine tilted her head in confusion as she echoed back the goddess’ words.
“You didn’t notice him?
“...No way! Did a player make it up to the clock tower and I completely ignored him? I didn’t think anyone would be able to make it up there except me.”
A look of horror appeared on Raine’s face. Was that why everyone was acting so weird around her? No wait, that didn’t make much sense...
“...”
“...”
“Hahaha.”
Beautiful laughter broke the silence. It was the first time she heard the goddess laugh. Raine wished she could hear it again.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Never mind. I am sure you will find out soon enough.”
Raine wanted to pursue the matter but gave up. The blonde did not look like she wanted to elaborate any further. Switching gears, she voiced her complaint.
“If you knew that was going to happen, why did you drop me in the middle of that war zone? I felt like a rabbit tossed before wolves.”
Raine shuddered just remembering. She had never had so many people staring so passionately at her before.
“I warned you didn’t I? That you would cause a commotion with the rest of the players. Yet you still wanted to go.”
“You could have stopped me!”
Raine’s anger was short lived. She had told the goddess to send her after all. The goddess answered her in a happy voice.
“Imagine my surprise when you insisted on going! Not only were the players there, but basically all of the gods would be in attendance. Naturally, this includes a certain time god.”
A thought hit Raine so hard, she felt like she had been punched in the stomach. All the gods? A look of horror appeared on Raine’s face. Fearfully, she asked the goddess.
“You said all the gods… By that, do you mean ALL the gods?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
The goddess replied in confusion.
“If all the gods were handing out rewards, that means they had to have watched the event itself unfold, right?”
“Pretty much.”
Raine hesitantly asked the one question she wanted to know the answer to.
“... Then… was Loki watching?”
“...”
The goddess averted her gaze. Her hands tightly grabbed her body as if to desperately suppress her shaking shoulders.
“Did Loki see me... Wearing a skirt?”
Raine was bright red to her ears. Her voice got quieter and quieter as she continued on.
“I am a guy. If he saw me, he is probably laughing his head off.”
“...”
The goddess desperately tried to suppress her trembling, but Raine’s words weren’t helping.
“I was jumping and running around in a very windy environment wearing a skirt. He didn’t see me, right?”
“...”
The goddess hunched over in pain. Her shoulders were violently trembling and a hand was clamped over her mouth. Raine she was too preoccupied with her fears to notice her odd behavior.
“No wait, he already saw them so it is okay... No what am I saying! It is definitely not okay!”
“...”
“Why do you remain silent! This is important! Did Loki see me or did he not!”
Finally noticing something was wrong, Raine raised her voice as she turned and looked at the goddess. Seeing her teary face, the goddess couldn’t contain it anymore.
“Hahahaha!”
The beautiful laughter rang out through the void once again. Dumbfounded, Raine did nothing but watch as the goddess laughed her eyes out. Something was amiss but Raine couldn’t quite tell what it was. Finally, the goddess caught her breath.
“You care about Loki that much, huh?”
“Wha!? No!”
“And here I thought you would be worried about Chronos. Nope, all you wanted to hear about was Loki.”
“Chronos...?”
A piece of the puzzle slowly fell into place. The feeling of something being off returned.
“Don’t worry. Loki was watching but he didn’t find your appearance or your performance unsightly.”
Another piece fell into place. Raine thought back to the goddess earlier words. ‘What, you forgot me already?’ The goddess continued on happily
“He quite enjoyed watching Chronos as the time god lavished praises on the very person he cursed, not knowing they were indeed the same person. A pity he only accepts male disciples.”
Raine had only met two gods, and one of them initially had a female form. It couldn’t be.
“Lok...i…?”
“Ah, you finally figured it out?”
Loki quickly returned to his normal appearance. Raine turned as white as a sheet.
“You!... You!”
Raine could not complete her sentence. What had she said to him again? She desperately tried to forget it. Her one fear and she had voiced it out in front of the person she didn’t want to hear it the most.
“I told you I would get back at you for your earlier deception! And besides, I never thought you would be idiotic enough to appear before the banquet of the gods.”
“Idiotic?”
“Surely you must know that competing in that final event would result in obtaining special rewards, right?”
“...”
Raine wasn’t sure where Loki was going with this. Nevertheless, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“So as you probably have figured out, Arts are tied to the body and not the soul. So, if one received a unique Art from the banquet, how would she keep it if her body disappeared?”
“... You can’t be saying…”
“Not only did you participate, you achieved one of the highest results possible. What were you thinking? No, let me correct that. You weren’t thinking.”
“No way…”
“I am not conceited enough to believe you did it to see me again. Nor do I believe you wanted to remain cursed or in a female body.”
“You are lying!”
“Congratulations on completing the event. Your body will carry over in the future, though your stats will be reset and your arts levels will be set to 1.”
“Its a lie!”
“Oh yes, the reward for your hard work. Since you didn’t want to claim one from the other gods, I guess it is up to me to hand out your reward. I see you have the deception art equipped so I will help you out. This is important. The first rule of deception: Never deceive yourself.”
“Nooooo!”
An anguished maidens scream echoed endlessly in the black void as the beta test for Evolution Arts came to an end.
----------
Two men stood alone in a dark room filled with bright monitors. One was the lead programmer for Evolution Arts while the other was the director.
“Director, are you sure this is okay? Not only have we not gotten permission from all the players yet, one of the most important ones agreed to it as well.”
“It is fine. Go ahead as planned. If anyone complains, we can say that in playing the beta test, they handed over their rights to be filmed. Besides...”
On the bright monitor in front of two men was the image of a girl sitting alone on top of the clock tower. In her hands, she held a simple silver flute.
“Any update on the analysis?”
“Yes, most of her equipment is fairly common but her tunic and skirt have no matches with our database.”
“...What do you mean? Did somebody craft them?”
“No. Every unique crafting recipe is stored in the database. They are items that should not exist in the game.”
That was not the only part that puzzled the staff of Evolution Arts. The girl herself was a huge mystery.
“Her character model?
“Again, no matches in the database.”
The two men shared a weary silence. The database should contain the character models for all the characters and npc’s created. Yet, the girl did not appear in it.
“Now how did she get on top of that clock tower? It should be a male only quest.”
“Although there is one player who got close to finishing the quest, nobody completed it and received the unique class.”
“And the records for that player?”
“This is where it gets confusing. We think he deleted his character after failing the quest. Shortly after, his name and unique identifier was taken by somebody else so at this point, it would be hard to find him.”
“How do you know it was somebody else? He could have just remade his character?”
“Well, the new character was female. She did appear in the finale of the beta test and managed to survive, but at level 1, she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish anything.”
“Female huh? True that would make it impossible to be the same person. Not only did we create the system to forbid it, when we tested it out in the alpha test, it was impossible.”
“Well, speaking of impossible, the fact that she was on top of the clock tower and her gear not being in the system is just as impossible.”
On another screen, a trailer for Evolution Arts began to play. An song by a complete beginner played out in tune with the trailer. Watching it, the lead programmer spoke up.
“The sound director is going to complain. He will probably say there are much better songs to pick from.”
“It does not matter. The song itself is a form of advertisement.”
“What should we call that song?”
“How about… Sylph’s Melody?”
“You went with that one after all... I feel sorry for her.”
With those parting words, the lead programmer left the director alone in the room. Looking again at the monitor of the silver haired girl, the director sighed.
“A player? Or a NPC? Well whatever. She will not be able to stay hidden for long. Not when the whole world is searching for her.”