I heard nothing but my vile scream echoing in a pit of endless darkness. Above me, out of my reach both in terms of my grasping, bleeding hands, but also the hope that drove me to enter this world, a light beat like a living heart. Below me the darkness wrenched its tendrils around my legs. It pulled, dragging me further down, beckoning that I stay with it. That I let the horror of my past life take me, coddle me, and rock me in its decrepit arms.

I refused to let myself sink back into that former terror. A life that was beyond me now. I reached forward, clutching to anything I could get my hands on. I couldn’t see the stonework of this pit, but I felt it in my grasp as I pulled my way up, up and out of the bleakness of the pit. That’s when I heard her voice. The Pale Woman.

When my vision came back to me, I was kneeling before the light of a burning hearth. A small, iron brazier crackling with fire. It was the fire I had seen when I first stepped into The Grand Daleum. It had a name above it that I had not seen before.

[THE HEARTHLIGHT]

A hand touched my shoulder as the whispers of The Pale Woman caressed my ear.

“You have failed to fell the Gods. But be not wary. For life is a gift but a gift given freely.” Her presence faded from me, and I was left alone once again on the stone walkway of the chapel. Before me the layered story of the stained-glass windows beckoned me to follow the same path as before.

Had I died? Had I been resurrected? I must have been because the memory of my death was fresh upon my mind, yet I was breathing in smoky air and feeling the amber glow of The Heart warming my skin. The event of my death was so incredibly vivid. My skull crushed by a giant copper bell. A demonic god, with ten arms, crawling toward me in its rust-colored robes and I crushing me like a bug. I could remember the pain, the fear, all of it. Maybe I was too hasty to jump into Gods Felled Online. Maybe I could logout and do more research before coming back. Yes, that was a good plan. I reached up and activated the glowing lines that hovered above my wrist. I could see my stats, inventory and other notable icons.

The first icon was that of a chest, but it was grayed out and when I attempted to touch it nothing happened. Next to that was an exclamation mark but again I was unable to do anything with it. The final icon besides my inventory and characters stats, was a cog which must have been settings. It was white and when I touched it a new menu appeared.

It was a main menu with options to click on character information, inventory, mail, news, quest log, friends and world map. All of the options were grayed out except for the character information and inventory, all except for my quest log. I opened my quest log to see if I had more information on Koushinon, The Bell Ringer. There was only one quest active and all it said was [Enter The Grand Daleum]. It provided no other information and help. I knew Gods Felled Online was supposed to be a tough game, but I was starting to think I had made a mistake.

I frantically exited the quest log and searched for any options I could select that would let me logout of the game. I couldn’t find anything. There was no exit. No option to return to the real world. I really hoped it wasn’t an option that would be unlocked after I left this cathedral and taken down Koushinon. I let the menu fade away and got another idea as I looked at the Hearthlight. I selected its name and was presented with a context menu of new options.

[REST]

[LEVEL UP]

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[CRAFT]

Again, no options for leaving the game but maybe I could find something useful here. I selected [REST] first but was told that I didn’t need any rest, which I made me realized that all my stats were back to normal. [HP] [SP] [MP] all maxed out again. Selecting [LEVEL UP] asked me to spend Ichor to increase my stats but unfortunately, I had no Ichor to spend. The last option, crafting, showed me that I could craft a few arrows, supplies for basic gathering like a wooden pick, stone axe, a torch, and iron spade. Nothing I could use to fight the God waiting for me.

With a huff I turned from the Hearthlight and searched my surroundings. First, I walked over to the edge of the stone walkway and peered down from my perched view. There was a sheer drop below me to crashing waves of a writhing black sea. There was no ledge for me land on and nothing to help lower myself down. If I fell, I would die again and end up right where I was.

The other side of the walkway was another story. There was still a long drop to a cobblestone corridor that cut between the outer wall of the cathedral and the main tower. However, there was a few outlining rafters that I could potentially land on making my way down into the corridor safer. If I did drop down from here, I doubt I could bypass the boss fight as one end of the corridor enter the courtyard where he had killed me.

The other end of the corridor curved far back and around the main building. There could be a way out to safety if I went that way, but it could lead me into a trap. Koushinon had crawled down from the upper levels of the main tower, this other path would take me farther into the cathedral itself.

I felt I had no other options and proceeded to climb up and onto the low wall of the walkway. About ten feet below was an outcropping of a wooden rafter I could land on. I had never been afraid of heights growing up but that had changed very recently. An old memory I would hope to forget. A past mistake that drove me to joining this game. I pushed the thought from my mind and dropped down. The armor I was wearing made my landing hard and loud. It sent a quake up my back and caused me to stumble forward and almost fall off. I was able to quickly fall to my knees before the impact drove me forward. It was insane how everything in this world felt so real, especially the pain.

I continued my descent by hopping to another rafter then finally landing on the cobblestone pathway. As my feet touched the ground, I heard the ringing of the bell somewhere high above me followed by the echoing cry of its ringer God. Without further hesitation I turned to my left and began running down to the far end of the corridor to find another way out. The tower above me groaned, and rattled as Koushinon began his descent. I couldn’t see him from my perspective, but I knew he was coming. I finally reached the corner and found myself faced with small wooden door. I opened it and ran inside.

The inner halls of the cathedral were dark, cold and smelled of festering mold. I could hardly see my hand in front of my face, and it made me regret not crafting the torch back at the Hearthlight. Though I doubt I would have been able to as I hadn’t gathered any materials to use. I stumbled forward into the heart of the giant stone building. Outside the cries of Koushinon continued to make the walls tremble and the high windows shatter. If there was a way out of this place I needed to hurry.

I quickened my pace as I pushed forward through the darkness until I came to another set of doors, larger and more impressive then the first. Opening it led into the grand hall of the cathedral. There were long rows of pews laid out on either side of the room. A line of giant chandelier’s dotting the ceiling, an altar directly in front of me, and rusted iron pipes that lead to an ornate organ gathering dust.

There was one other thing in the room. A glowing line that would have reached to my hip. I stepped up to see what it was. A golden flower sat alone behind the altar. If there was anything I knew about role-playing games is that glowing items meant something useful. I picked up the flower and received a notification as it faded from my grip and a small bag appeared on my belt.

[GOLDEN CARNATION]

I opened my inventory and found it had been automatically equipped to my character. Selecting it, its context menu popped open.

A flower grown from the golden blood of The Heart. Its petals are said to restore life and health to the dying and the sick. Restores itself in the light of hearths. (Permanent: Single Use).

I couldn’t help but smile. I think I found my way to defeat Koushinon.