I tried to shout. I tried to swear. I tried to stand. None of it worked. So I stayed, trapped in the darkness of my false deities making. I refused to submit to her even if she was some kind of goddess. I hadn’t chosen this, at least not intentionally.
“Hmm, you are an interesting little worm, aren’t you Joe?” She whispered in my ear. “I guess you need a little more persuading. Not to worry, I am a patient goddess.”
The darkness she had created vanished along with her. I frowned as I stood, searching for her presence but finding nothing at all.
I ran my fingers through my hair as I turned about and slowly made my way back toward the window I’d climbed through.
“That can’t be it,” I muttered to myself.
It had been too easy. Nothing in this place was ever easy anymore. I had to be missing something. But no matter how I looked about, nothing stood out. There didn’t seem to be any quests here or any unique or interesting items. Just mountains and mountains of books, most of which I couldn’t even get to.
I reached the window and jumped through. My feet wobbled as they hit something insubstantial. I stumbled, clutching at the building behind me as I steadied my feet. The world had changed. I was no longer standing beneath the branches of a tree in the outer suburbs of Perth, no, now I was standing beside an ivory statue of a rearing horse. The sunlit streets had disappeared, replaced by swirling wisps of smoke and black splotches of deeper shadow. The entire place was lit by twin moons high in the sky, both of them a different shadow of purple.
Words flashed up in front of my face, the golden light of them almost painful in comparison to the dim purple hue of the shadow world.
Legendary-level challenge dungeon discovered!
Dungeons can be found throughout the new world in the unlikeliest of places. Like all dungeons, these offer terrible danger and difficult trials but also, handsome rewards! Once entered, there is only one way out. Find the exit before death finds you.
Requirements for entry: Only those blessed by the Goddess can enter her realm. You must be one of three disciples: Shadow Wraith, Nox Warrior, or Daughter of Umbra.
This place was very different from the Sewer Hag’s den I’d stumbled into last time. In that place, aside from being inside an unrealistic sewer, it had felt like part of the real world. This place though, was entirely different. I felt as though I’d been ripped from Earth and tossed into the cosmos where I’d landed on this odd planet. The two moons in the sky supported my feeling.
The notification faded away. Before it did I wondered which of the three disciples I was. I could rule out Daughter of Umbra but not the other two. I wasn’t technically a warrior but who knows whether this place abided by the game-like rules Melumek had created. This Goddess would be Melumek’s equal, not a being forced to play by his rules. If that was true though, then why was t his place called a dungeon?
“Welcome to my realm Joe,” the Goddess’ voice spoke to me from all around. “Here you will meet others of your ilk but only one of you will be crowned my Chosen One and gifted my blessing. You had best hurry though. If more than one of you lives when the timer runs out, then none of you will survive.
Hurry little one, I can see something buried deep inside you. I wish to see what it is. Do not disappoint me.”
Her ringing voice faded as a small golden timer lit up the corner of my field of vision. I gulped when I saw it. I had five months, twenty-nine days, and fifty-nine minutes to somehow be the last one standing in a cosmic battle royale.
This is some profound bullshit, I thought to myself as I took another unsteady step forward.
The ground felt like a sponge beneath my feet, making it very difficult to move gracefully. I eyed the ivory statue. It was the only thing I could see that was not black or purple. I turned, looking back at the building I’d climbed through but all that was there now was a dull, crumbling brick wall. There was no window for me to climb through.
Well, I guess there was no turning back. That made sense given the rules of challenge dungeons.
I hit the tattoo on my inner wrist and checked my inventory. I still had all my belongings. That was a small relief. I opened my quest menu but all it shows was an enlarged countdown timer and the description of the dungeon in large golden text. I guess quests were not a thing inside this dungeon. Probably because they were Melumek’s creations.
There was one other thing displayed on that screen. One that sent a shiver down my spine and bile rising into my throat when I read.
Remaining disciples: 1,005
For me to live, one thousand and four others needed to die.
The flickering in my peripheral vision happened again sending me into a quick crouch in the deeper shadows away from the statue and the wall. Flickering meant the other players were near and no doubt there would be no teaming up in a place like this.
A wave of intense sadness swept over me as I realized my friends would be long gone by the time I returned to our world. If I returned to our world. Six months was a ridiculously long time. Half a year of hunting and being hunted.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
As I huddled in the gloom I realized my notification bell was flashing away. I focused on it and read the notices that were displayed in front of me.
New Skill Unlocked: Rift
Feel the fabric of the world at your fingertips and tear it asunder. Pass through the rift to a new location within a predetermined range. Range determined by player’s available magicka and perception level.
Warning: Rift is a skill only available in the Shadow Realm. Once you exit the realm the skill will be turned inactive in your skills menu.
New Skill Unlocked: Void Vortex
When surrounded by two or more foes summon the black soul winds to blast your opponents away. Possibility to stun on strike. Duration and intensity of the Void Vortex is determined by the player’s agility and perception abilities.
Warning: Void Vortex is a skill only available in the Shadow Realm. Once you exit the realm the skill will be turned inactive in your skills menu.
New Skill Unlocked: Phantom Whispers
Passive skill. The phantoms in the deepest shadows whisper in your ear warning you of nearby danger.
Warning: Phantom Whispers is a skill only available in the Shadow Realm. Once you exit the realm the skill will be turned inactive in your skills menu.
New Skill Unlocked: Flicker
Snap your fingers and focus on heat to light a small flame. It is not strong enough to use as a weapon but it will offer some light and with enough magicka can be used to light tinder. Strength and duration of Flicker is determined by player magic and intelligence abilities.
Warning: Flicker is a skill only available in the Shadow Realm. Once you exit the realm the skill will be turned inactive in your skills menu.
Despite the futility of my situation my mouth practically watered at the skills I’d been gifted for this game inside a game. They appeared to be powerful and unbelievably useful. I felt my upper lip turn up as my eye lifted to the flying creature overhead.
It was an odd creature. It had a humanoid body but its toenails were long, thick, and curled like the talons of an eagle. Its arms were elongated and covered in feathers that kept the creature airborne. Its head was mostly human aside from the enormous sharp beak jutting forward where its nose and mouth should have been. I didn’t need a name to flash up to know what they were, I’d read enough books and played enough games in my life to know they were harpies.
The creatures flocked and squeaked and dove from the sky far away from me and when they did a number briefly flashed up in front of me.
1,004
Harpies were little more than vultures preying on the fallen corpses of unfortunate players. I didn’t think the creatures had killed the player themselves which meant the others were already making a play for the title of Chosen One.
I’d barely been here for a quarter of an hour and someone was already dead. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and carefully shifted through the shadows, not relying on my eyesight so much as every other sense I possessed.
Despite the overwhelming haze of misery that swarmed my body and mind, some part of me wanted to fight. That part was the only reason I hadn’t curled into a ball and just waited for my number to be snuffed out.
What did I need to survive for six months? Shelter. Weapons. Traps. Knowledge of the landscape. I still wasn’t hungry, thirsty, or sleepy so I didn’t think I needed to make provisions for that.
My fingers alighted on the rough bark of what I could only assume was a tree. I used my hands to scope out the shape of it before carefully climbing up into the branches. I was grateful again that perception and agility were my strongest abilities. They, along with my high health, would be what carried me through this survival game.
That’s what it felt like anyway; a survival game. I’d not spent a lot of time playing battle-royale-style games, favoring RPGs and regular old platformers over anything else. I guess there was no faster way to learn but to dive right into it. Learning by doing had been Gordon’s favorite method of teaching on the farm. I just had to apply those same skills here.
I found a stable spot among the bare branches and pulled out my sketching notebook and a piece of charcoal. In the center of a double-spread page, I drew a crude depiction of the ivory horse statue. As the only unique item within viewing distance, it would be my very first landmark. Any others I found would spread out around it until I could make some semblance of a map.
Lowering my notebook I scanned the open world, looking for anything useful. Overhead the harpies flapped by, one came close but flew off when it realized I was not dead. It did confirm that my ghost-like transparency did not work the same way as it did on Earth. Here I was just like I had been before my Enhanced Shadow Rush skill had betrayed me. The only difference was now I looked like an actor on an old-timey tv show. All grey, black, and white; no color.
In the distance, little flashes of light kept sparking into existence before quickly vanishing. I watched them as they moved in semi-predictable lines. It would seem I was not the only player who had been gifted the new Flicker skill.
1,003
I flinched as the number flashed up unexpectedly in front of my face. The hard jerk almost unseated me from my precarious spot in the high branches of the tree. Another player down and we weren’t even two hours in yet.
I shuddered and shoved my notebook and charcoal stick back in my bum bag. There was something important I needed to try so I wouldn’t be surprised when I had to use it later.
I took a deep breath and lifted off my backside as I closed my eyes and focused on the air around me. For a long time, I felt nothing at all but then, like a change in the pressure of the atmosphere, I felt it. I lifted my hands and grabbed at the thickened area yanking it apart like I was opening a pair of stubborn curtains. A loud hum filled the air and deep purple light flooded me, lighting me up like a spotlight. It didn’t matter though, the moment I stepped into the swirling purple fog I was yanked away from my tree.
I was weightless for little more than a second before the air split again and I was unceremoniously tossed out of the rift. I stumbled on the spongy ground but remained upright as I reoriented myself.
In the distance, I could see the ivory horse statue. It was much, much further away but still there like a beacon showing the way. With such poor visibility, I could only estimate the strength of my Rift skill. In one second I’d jumped about one hundred meters and almost entirely drained my magicka pool. Not bad. A little more cumbersome than my Shadow Rush skill but still pretty useful.
I did worry that the amount of concentration I’d needed to find the ‘fabric of the world’ would make it next to useless. It’s not easy to focus when your life is on the line.
I hadn’t finished defining the Rift skill inside my own head when a deep voice whispered in my ear making me gasp and leap about wildly.
A Nox Warrior approaches. Run from the steed.