Not knowing when it happened, I found myself stranded in a boundless sea of darkness, of which there was no end in sight. Blindly searching around for any semblance of a light source, I asked myself “Where am I? And how did I get here?” Truly finding nothing but blinding darkness.
I recalled my last memory, “The last thing I remember was fighting alongside Odelia to escape the Dungeon…” though my memory seemed to heavily clouded after that, “But why can’t I remember what happened after that?”
Looking around one more time and seeing nothing, I decided to crouch down and try to feel for the ground; but strangely, I felt nothing there, as I simply reached below the point my feet met the supposed ‘ground’ it stood on. “Huh? What’s going on? What is this place?”
Trying to figure out if I was affected by some sort of weird Status Effect, I tried opening up my Character Menu to see, but nothing happened, not a single Menu would appear. “I can’t even open the Menus? Now I know something is wrong.” Openly talking to myself, oddly opposed to my usual thinking.
“Hello! Anybody out there!” I called out, desperately hoping to hear a response. “I’ll even take a monster if you can hear me!” My voice echoed in the nothingness. “Odelia, are you here? Can you hear me? Where are you!” But getting no response.
Wandering the boundless darkness for any signs of life, I continued to call out for anybody when a sudden loud and disembodied distorted voice echoed throughout the nothingness.
“Ooooh? What do we have here?” The voices sounded surprised, and I immediately looked around to see where it was coming from, but there was nothing around. “There seems to be a lot more commotion in Xull’s and Vas’ Dungeon this year, I wonder why?” Mentioning, “I better get a closer look to find out.”
“Hey, Voice! Can you hear me?” I fearlessly called out, needing some answers.
However, not acknowledging me at all, the Voice said “Huh? What is this? How is it possible for an ordinary elf to be affected by my Blessing?”
“Can you really not hear me? And wait, your Blessing? Does that mean you're Eicio, the God of Limbo?” Then it made all too much sense, “Oooohh, I must be in Limbo right now, that’s what this place is.” I concluded, “But if I’m the elf you’re talking about, then I must not be dead, right?” Though expectedly, the disembodied Voice didn’t respond to any of what I just said.
“Looks perfectly normal...No signs of any progressing Types of Monsterification…So did those two specifically remove their Blessing from him? And if so, how atrocious of an act did this elf commit against them? It must’ve been something majorly significant if they did remove their Blessing.”
“Hey! Wanna explain more? What Blessing? And what do you mean ‘Types of Monsterification’?” I openly inquired.
“Strange, the elf seems to be getting significantly stronger and fully recovering every couple of kills. Does he have some sort of Unique Skill that allows him to do so?” The Voice questioned, still ignoring me. “Well regardless, what a unique little elf I’ve found here tonight. It almost even makes me want to meet with him in person, hmmm...” Humming in contemplation
“Hey, if you’re watching me fighting but I’m here, who’s controlling my body then?” I reasonably questioned, “And what happened to my Dark Elf friend? Is she alright?”
The Voice then randomly shouted in frustration, “Gaaahhhh! I know we should always be role-playing and staying in character, but I’m literally just talking to myself like a crazy person! I’ve even grown a habit of it now! And I can't imagine what the others with even lonelier Characters feel like!”
“A Guide?! Well I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since the Goddesses were also Guides, but still...” Listening to him continue speaking.
“I mean even if I break character and these Npcs hear me, it’s not like they'll acknowledge me as anything other than Eicio or the God of Limbo!” Venting out his frustration.
“So you are Eicio!” Confirming my earlier question.
“And who the hell’s Player is this? The Level Cap should still be set to Lv.50 until later, so how is he already fighting against monsters in the Lv.60s and 70s on his own?” Eicio questioned.
“Wait, there’s a Level Cap? And why is it so low?” Slightly saddened to be capped at Lv.50
“Is he 1’s Player, or maybe 32’s? I know those two were really bragging earlier about how their best Players were gonna finish 1st and 2nd in the Level Rankings—except I don’t remember them mentioning Eye Thalion Ven’Thyl earlier, but that name seems familiar though...” After a quick pause, Eicio remembered “Ahhh! His name changed a little, but I think he was one of the Players who finished in the Top 10 in the Tutorial; now which Player belongs to which Guide again?”
“You’re a God and you can’t even remember 10 pairs of people?” Starting to question these Guides reliability.
“Oh, forget it. I’ll just check later at the Meeting.” Eicio stated, moving on, “But what’s with this guy? The Player starting Races are all affected by the Goddesses’ Blessing, meaning my Blessing shouldn’t be able to affect him unless they stripped away theirs first—which I doubt they did. Or if he somehow found a way to change into a Monstrous Race—which he clearly hasn’t. So am I missing something?”
“Did you just say we can change Races again? And to Mountrous one at that? There isn’t anything better than a Wood Elf, is there?” Only half-heartedly entertaining the thought of changing from a Wood Elf.
“Damnit, Nulla! I can’t even figure out how it’s happening because you restricted our powers so we could stick to role-playing our Characters!” Angrily shouting, “You hear me, you smug bastard! Don’t think you can tell me what to do just because you were chosen by the Creator to be the Admin!”
“Seems like you Guides have their own internal issues and problems with each other, you should really talk it out.” Listening to Eicio shout more.
“Hey, Nulla! Come down here and fight me for your Character! If you lose we switch, and if I lose...well I won’t lose!” Eicio loudly demanded.
Then all of a sudden a different echoing voice spoke, “100, you temperamental idiot. Stop talking and get back into character.”
“So, you actually decided to show yourself after all, Nulla!” Eicio sounded extremely thrilled by the fact, “And if you’re already calling me names, you must really wanna fight me, huh?”
“I didn’t come here to fight, you idiot. I came here to tell you to use your brain and remember what happens when an intelligent creature is affected by Eicio’s Blood Moon for the first time—because you clearly forgot something so important to your own creation, that you blatantly started spouting information you know you shouldn’t be revealing to Players.” Nulla sounded so done dealing with Eicio.
“Huh? What are you—”
“How the Creator ever chose you to become the God of Limbo I have no idea—maybe the Creator simply felt sorry for creating you last.” Nulla savagely stated.
“Okay, that's it, I’ve had it up to here with your high and mighty attitude—Wait! An intelligent creature affected for the first time!?” Eicio sounded absolutely shocked.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Ahhhh, so the idiot finally realized his own mistake.” Nulla smugly said.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I didn’t even consider the possibility that a Player could invoke themselves to be in my presence so early on, and already be in my Limbo waiting for my response!” Eicio worryingly mentioned.
“Well aside from simply looking inside your Limbo for once, you really should’ve realized it the moment you saw Eyes Thalion Ven’Thyl mindlessly being affected by your Blood Moon.” Eicio only hummed in response, knowing it was his fault. “But what’s done is done, and since I’m here anyway, why don’t we have a little chat with Eyes Thalion Ven’Thyl?”
“Why would we do that? Let’s just erase his memory and be done with it.” Eicio suggested.
“Well I did think about that after you were revealing too much, but then I thought, who else would remember how much of an idiot you are?”
“Hey!” Eicio took offense to that.
“So are you coming with me or not?” Nulla asked.
“Fine, but we’re fighting later.” Eicio agreed.
“Wait, they’re not really coming in here to erase my memory are they?” I worried that they actually were.
Quickly looking for a place to hide, I found nothing but more boundless darkness, as two figures made of pure light suddenly descended from the darkness above me. One appeared with the word ‘Nulla’ written across its nonexistent face, while the other appeared with the simple letter ‘C’ written in the center of its chest—also having a nonexistent face. And although they both emitted an illuminating light, I still couldn’t see a thing in here, including my hand reaching out to their light. Then as they approached me, I decided to avoid thinking to myself as much as possible here, for whatever reason it was, I knew I would just blurt whatever it is I’m thinking to them.
The figure with the ‘C’ on its chest looked over its body in surprise, “Hey, what gives, Nulla? Why do we look like this?”
“Oh, come on, 100, have some integrity.” Nulla replied, reasoning “Why would I ruin the great significance of his actual first meeting with our particular Characters?” stating, “Now with us looking like this, the spectacle and authenticity of the interaction will be maintained.”
“God, I hate you so much all the time.” 100 openly expressed, “And why are we even here? You can achieve the same result by erasing his memory, you know?
“Well, depending on how I feel after our conversation, I might just be inclined to do otherwise.” As I watched the word ‘Nulla’ on his face reform into a smile.
“I don’t really care what you’re planning, Nulla, but if the others find out you’re playing favourites and interfering again...well you know how we are.” 100 reminded Nulla.
“Hey, I have every right to participate like everybody else—why can’t I play?”
“Because you’re the Admin, stupid? How are you gonna justify the fairness in that?”
“Hmmm...I can’t, although that’s why you're gonna keep this little meeting a secret, right?” Nulla put a friendly hand on 100’s shoulder.
Though quickly shrugging the hand off, 100 said “You kept calling me an idiot earlier, why would I agree to that?”
“First of all, you are an idiot. And second, if you keep this meeting between us...I’ll allow you to revive any 1 already Dead Player of your choosing, regardless of their original Guide.” Adding, “Of course we would need to change some of the records to prevent the others from knowing, but how’s that sound for a deal?”
“Oooh, now that’s tempting...” 100 quickly pondered the idea, and said “You're lucky all my remaining Players are useless trash so far, so I guess I’ll take the deal—but only on the condition I can make two Egos for my Revived Player.”
“Two!? How is that any more fair than me participating?” Nulla exclaimed, “And didn’t you already create an Ego for one of your current Players like everybody else?”
“Actually, I didn’t. For none of my trash Players were good enough in the Tutorial to warrant me making them one.” Then reasoning, “But now that I can decide which Dead Player with the most potential I can revive, I thought I might as well make them their own Ego, plus one more for keeping my silence about this secret meeting of course.”
“Urgh, you’re unbelievable, 100.” Nulla shook his head at him, but reluctantly agreed anyway, “Fine. I agree to your terms. I’ll just have to deal with the others whining about a Player owning two Egos when they come across them.”
“Glad we came to an agreement.” While they shook their hands to seal the deal, even with a nonexistent face, I could tell 100 was happily grinning as he did so.
Then finally directing their attention to me, Nulla said “Now, Eyes Thalion Ven’Thyl, thank you for patiently waiting for us to finish our conversation. I know you must have a lot of questions after everything you just heard from us.”
“Maybe a few, but are you gonna answer any of them? Or are you just gonna erase my memory like 100 suggested?” I asked, being wary of this situation.
Nulla chuckled, “Like I said earlier, I might be convinced otherwise—though if it makes you feel better, how about I answer one of your questions now?”
“Any question?” Wanting confirmation.
“Maybe, although why don’t you ask one and find out?” The word ‘Nulla’ turned into a smile again.
“That means not any question.” And while I thought about possible questions, my thoughts verbally came out into words, “I doubt he’ll answer any questions about the Creator and the Guides, or why they brought us to this world, so maybe I should ask ‘how do I get out of here’?”
They chuckled in amusement at hearing my thoughts, and 100 apologized “Sorry about that; my Realm of Limbo is a place where thoughts cannot be kept hidden, and where the deepest of secrets will always reveal themselves to us—though I’m sure you’ll find out when we truly meet in person.”
I had no response to that, so Nulla asked “Was that question, ‘how do I get out here’?”
“Yeah. Wait, no! Maybe?” I panicked, unsure what I wanted to ask anymore.
Nulla chuckled in amusement again and then explained, “Well either way, since it is your first time experiencing Eicio’s Blood Moon and you invoked yourself to be in his presence, I believe you are stuck here until Eicio himself decides to confer with you, or until the Blood Moon ends.
“What!? How long is that gonna take?” I questioned in concern, “Isn’t my body still out there fighting? What if I die?”
“That would be tragic. But don’t worry, from what I’ve observed, you’ll definitely at least make it to midnight.” Nulla confidently assured me, “Although if you really are worried, you could always ask 100 here to let you go—a simple acknowledgement in his true form would suffice.”
Though before I could ask, 100 unexpectedly shouted “Ahhh, I think I know how you were affected by Blood Moon now! You’re 13’s Player, the one who received the Seer Subclass, yeah? Meaning you must've stolen some eyes affected by the Blood Moon, right?”
“Well yeah, that's all true, but can we talk about letting me out of here first?” I asked, tired of being unable to see anything but them.
“Now why would I do that when all of the Players are getting teleported back to the Hub at midnight anyway?” 100 immediately covered his own nonexistent mouth, “Ooooh, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Wait, what? We’re going back to the Waiting Hub?” Caught completely off guard by that reveal.
Nulla sighed, “You truly are an idiot, 100. How can you allow yourself to be affected by your own Limbo?”
“Okay, I'll take responsibility for revealing that one, but the earlier stuff was an accident, I promise.” 100 said, trying to excuse himself.
“We’ll see what the others think at the Meeting later.” Nulla mischievously smirked.
Interjecting, I said “Knowing I’ll be safe is great and all, but can we get back to letting me out of this place?” telling them, “I know you guys might not care, but I have a friend in the Dungeon I have to protect no matter what, because she might end up dying tonight.”
“A friend in the Dungeon? I didn’t see any one, did you Nulla?” 100 sounded unsure who I was referring to.
“I think he’s referring to the dead Dark Elf his body was instinctively trying to protect.” Nulla replied.
And hearing those words sent me in complete shock, “W-What...what do you mean dead?”
“Oh, that Dark Elf woman was your friend?” 100 asked, curiously.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN DEAD!” Demanding to know right now.
“Woah, calm down. I or Nulla didn’t do anything to her.” 100 surprisingly reacted calmly, “She was already dead on the ground when I arrived at the Dungeon.”
“Then how the hell is she dead!” I still angrily yelled out, “There’s no way I’d still be alive if something was strong enough to kill her! So tell me exactly how the FUCK she could ever end up dead while I’m still alive here standing!”
“I don’t know…” 100 sincerely replied.
“However, we are in the perfect place to find, now aren’t we 100?” Nulla gestured to the entire space.
“That we are.” 100 agreed, telling me “You’ve clearly already suppressed your memories of what happened, but my Realm of Limbo will always reveal one’s secrets.”
All of a sudden, the pure dark boundless nothingness began to distort and change, and the bloody crimson forest slowly appeared all around us. Then at that very moment, all the memories came rushing back into me, and before anything else was even shown to us, I already knew exactly what happened.
“I killed Odelia...”