Akumi woke up in darkness. The pain from her wounds was gone. She tried to stand, but she was chained to what felt like a stone chair. She could hear groaning and murmuring all around her.

'Hello?'

She heard Emma's voice beside her. 'Akumi? Is that you?'

'Yeah. Is that you, Emma?'

'Uh huh. Are you alright?'

'Sure. Just a little disorientated. Where are we?'

'That's what I'd like to know. Sounds like the other Players are here with us, though. Guess we all got our asses kicked.'

'Don't count us out yet. I'll transform into a Ghost Girl Scout and phase through these chains.' Akumi tried to transform, but nothing happened. 'Huh?'

'No, Ability, huh? Same here. Guess we're captives.'

Akumi sighed. 'At least they healed our wounds....'

A spotlight lit up a stage in front of them. Akumi saw that they were in a theatre, with the other Players chained to stone chairs all around them. Michelle and Jane were groaning beside them, while Saeko, Lee, and Chu were murmuring in the row behind them.

General Mantis stepped through the red curtain. The 100-foot-tall praying mantis looked irritated. 'As the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild, I apologise for your treatment, Players. My Adventurers overstepped their authority in restraining you so forcefully. The United Worlds has had a...complicated history with your kind. The Dungeon Stone chairs you're sitting in will keep you from using your Abilities for now. I realise all this must be confusing, so I've prepared a film to explain everything.'

General Mantis walked off the stage. The curtains opened to reveal a cinema screen. General Mantis' Californian accent sounded as images played.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

'This is the history of the Multiverse. 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang gave birth to an immense universe called the Omniverse. The most powerful beings in the Omniverse were the Titans: Gaia, the Titan of Organic Life, Deep Think, the Titan of Mechanical Life, and Cthulu, the Titan of Eldritch Life. After discovering one other, the Titans waged a cataclysmic war over what type of life form should rule the Omniverse. The sheer destruction of this War in Heaven caused the Omniverse to split into an infinite number of universes in an event known as the Big Rip. The space between these universes became the Dungeon Universe, an open wound in the fabric of reality, made of psychic energy from every being in the Multiverse, which acts as our collective subconscious, a means of interdimensional travel, and an afterlife for souls forsaken by their Gods.'

'Outraged by the destruction their parents had caused, Odin, a God of Organic Life, Deep Blue, a God of Mechanical Life, and Yahweh, a God of Eldritch Life, made an alliance and agreed to execute a coup d'etat. They overthrew the Titans and trapped them in the Dungeon Universe with the help of a mysterious Dungeon Universe entity called the Dungeon Master. For aeons after, there was peace in the Multiverse. Then 60 years ago, an immensely powerful group called the Overlords suddenly took over half the Dungeon Universe from the Titans, again with help from the mysterious Dungeon Master, dividing it up into the Overlords' Colonised Dungeon Universe and the Titans' Wild Dungeon Universe. From there, the Overlords used their new monopoly on interdimensional travel to form an multidimensional empire within the Multiverse. The Overlords were strange and cruel rulers, and so their subjects, led by a group of turncoat Overlords called the Heroes, overthrew them in an event known as the Big Rebellion. Once the Overlords were defeated, the Heroes vanished, and their subjects formed the United Worlds, an interdimensional intergovernmental organisation dedicated to peace and security throughout the Multiverse. However, tensions between demihumans and monsters from before the Overlords' rule persisted. The monsters seceded from the United Worlds and formed the League of Monsters, leading to the War for the Worlds we're still fighting today.'

The cinema screen went black. General Mantis walked back onto the stage. 'Any questions?'

Akumi had a bad feeling. 'What were the names of the Overlords?'

General Mantis nodded to someone out of sight. 'Venus.'

The cinema screen changed to a list of 100 profiles.

1. Rocket Girl. Queen of the Overlords and Ruler of the Known Multiverse.

2. The Monster King. Supreme Commander of the Overlords and Governor of the High Fantasy Universe.

3. Dwelf. Party Leader of the Heroes and Founder of the Big Rebellion.

Akumi gasped. These are old VRMMO world champions! This is the Missing Generation!

General Mantis nodded his head. 'By the expressions on your faces, I can see you recognise them as Players from your universe. I assume you're all here for the same reason. You're here to find...the Easter Egg.'