Chapter 1: The Beginning At The End

The Primordial One, Or Better Known To Most Of Us As God.

He created countless things, countless worlds, maybe somewhere there would be a world where fantasy, magic, and powers reside.

But he also created <The Void>, the nightmarish, depressing world.

A world where hope is minimal, while pain is prominent.

It was a hopeless, painful world.

He created this world out of anger towards humanity, or if you want to hear the truth, out of boredom.

This world had monsters.

Nightmarish monsters that could effortlessly consume you.

Tear you apart with just a finger.

It was a world of an Abyssal Void.

Yet, he sent us there, humans, from our comfy air-conditioned homes to this place as his toys, his entertainment.

He sent us here to fight, in this hell.

He gave us a bunch of powers.

But not every power was fair.

A weak power was an instant death sentence.

But to live in the world, you needed to defeat the monsters.

It was an ambassador of pain.

It was horrible.

"So, we finally reached this point," a coarse, dry, and deep voice spoke. His voice was screaming dehydration and fatigue.

The voice came from a purple-haired man, who wore a pair of round metal-rimmed glasses. His eyes were amethyst-like, with a light beauty mark under his mouth, and he wore a dark blue robe with a belt at his waist, complementing his perfect body.

He held his golden, lightning like spear as a walking stick, it didn't need an genius to tell he was tired.

He was Rey Laverden.

"So, we have finally reached it, the end of our journey," a feminine voice spoke out, soothing, enchanting, but tired.

She had silver hair, waist length, ocean blue eyes, wearing a pair of Ruby earrings, and a long lightly stained silver-white cloak without any patterns. She kept her hood on, giving her the mysterious vibe of a mage.

Anyone who saw her would agree on her beauty.

She held a book that rivaled the length of a Bible while holding a tall wooden stick which was her staff, but used as a pole for support.

She was Elena Frenda.

"Of course we have reached it! Can't you see the huge tower? We reached the Plains Of God!" an energetic voice shouted, trying to sound enthusiastic, but one could easily tell he was breathless, hungry, and weak already.

It came from a flamboyant green-haired man. His hair color was ivy green. He had leaf-green eyes and looked as tired as everyone, with dark circles under his eyes. He stood trying to be energized, wearing a light red scarf and golden-silver knight armor. He looked like a prince straight from a fantasy story, a prince charming.

His attempt at trying to sound energized would have been more convincing if it was not that he could not even stand without his legs trembling like crazy, barely keeping upright with the help of his sword he used as a cane.

He was Eri Everstone.

And next to all the eccentric three was me.

"So what's up there?" I spoke, wearing a lifeless and depressing tone, looking up at the white marbled tower that rivaled the height of a skyscraper in front of me. It looked out of place compared to the ruins. The surroundings were gray and covered with debris.

We had not slept in days to get to the tower.

"Let me take a seat first." I spoke, immediately resting, fatigue rushed in.

My black-colored cloak gave little protection from the ruthless wind of this horrible place. The cold wind gave me goosebumps and left me shivering.

I stared at the Contaminated Water next to me, and a familiar face stared back at me.

Ebony hair, gray, lifeless eyes that reflected gray silk and a mole under his left eye, wearing a dark black cloak that had no patterns whatsoever and a tunic under the cloak.

Well, that was me.

"Let's take a break then." Rey said, knowing that no one could convince to move unless I was ready.

Sitting in a small circle, he took his seat and started surveying his precious spear.

I stared at my twin daggers that were seriously worn out from all the battling this week.

And seeing that we had to fight God himself, our chances were looking bleak.

"Hey, spare me some coins will you, Rey, you are the richest." I said to him, I desperately needed some coins to repair this weapon of mine that could no longer withstand another hit.

Look, I was not about to waste the Mythic item I risked my life for.

I still remember, fighting <Fragment Of The Fallen Star>, crazy boss, nearly took my life.

"I am almost out too, but I guess our weapons really need some repairing huh?" He said, sighing at the same time. Our weapons were in terrible condition, and fixing weapons wasn't a cheap function from the system, especially since all our items were Legendary or above items.

"System." I said bleakly, hoping to sell a bunch of useless equipment for money to keep my main weapon living.

**<System Window>**

Name: Lucius Aureal

Coins: 350

Level: 100 <MAX >

Class: Assassin Of The Abyss<Epic > <Max Class Ascension>

Traits: <Click To See>

Title: Child Of Light +27

Rune: Rune Of The Death God

Main Quest: Confront God <Final Quest>

Skills: <Click To Expand>

Inventory:

- Black Cloak Of Thanatos <Equipped >

- Daggers Of The Fallen Stars <Equipped >

- Earrings Of The First Dawn <Equipped >

- Necklace Of The Sun <Equipped >

- Bracelet Of The Primordial <Equipped >

I tried to swipe further, but to no avail. I reached the end of my inventory.

"I have 350 coins, what about you guys? Definitely not enough for my repairs, and I have no extra equipment left." I said, definitely sounding a little too grim.

"Well, I got 3000 coins left, and considering we need 2500 to repair one piece of equipment and our armor is on the verge of giving up, I believe each of us gotta sacrifice a bunch of equipment not to repair." Rey, the guy who did all those sub quests for more coins, was as broke as us.

But still richer than me, the durability assassin items were as strong as a thin piece of glass.

They were fragile and needed repairs constantly, but they were super powerful.

"And I got like 1300 coins left. I mean I can sell <Tears Of God>, it is not like we are going into the Seven Sins Dungeon again. But it is not fetching a good price since the auction doesn't work anymore." Elena said out, and once again reminded us that we were the only ones of humanity left.

What's the point of the auction if only the four of you are left? Sell it among ourselves?

"Hahah! I got the most! I have 7500 coins left!" Eri exclaimed loudly. Of course, Paladin armor had crazy durability.

"I believe it is not the best time to make a joke, considering our situation." I grimly replied, pulling him back to the hard cold reality that was upon us.

"Hehe, I was just trying to lift the mood!" He said, wearing a goofy ass smile, but I knew about him well enough to know that he was worried deep down too.

"Well let's stop the grim mood, let's split the coins and repair the important equipment." Elena said, shooting a look at Eri, signaling him to pass all his coins over, knowing he needed no repairs.

Eri gave a sheepish smile and attempted to make a funny joke, but quickly stopped and passed his coins over after her face went dark.

The total came to an ordinary 12150 coins, and adding another 1500 coins from selling the tears, we came to a grand total of 13650 coins, which seemed marginal compared to Rey's original balance, but that was all in the past now.

*P.S., the tears were worth 100,000 coins on auction.*

"But what's after we defeat god?" Eri asked, genuinely curious while we were busy waiting for our fixed equipment from the system.

No one answered; no one knew. No one knew anything. Not even if we would win.

"Hey, hey! Stop spreading depression like Lucius, can you? Let's just rest and eat the last of our rations; otherwise, it will be our last days here." Rey, the born leader, spoke again, trying to stop the depressing atmosphere.

Yet -Last days here- was indeed true; if we won, we could leave this place back to Earth that may or may not have a single soul, or we would just die in battle.

But what was the point of going back if there was already no one left?

He took out our rations from his inventory, and let's just say we were eating well today.

We deserved it after eating grass and tree barks for days.

"My equipment is fixed." I said, taking out the dagger that nearly cost my life to obtain. Its condition was as good as new.

My eyes set on my dagger, admiring it.

"Mine is too." Elena spoke back, showing the two nearly brand-new equipment, her book and her staff.

"Mine is finished, and our last coin reserves have gone down the drain." Rey said, clearly sad, remembering the hardship he went through to obtain his old grand total.

"Well, well, I gave the most money; why do you look like that money was yours!" Eri demanded jokingly, and seeing the cold reception from us, he realized he made a 'joke' at a wrong time again, seriously, he should stop making jokes.

But damn, sometimes it was indeed funny.

"Sigh, let's just eat our last meals in this hellhole." Rey said, trying to be cheerful, but anyone could hear his borderline depression.

What he took out was a bunch of lamb meat we hunted last year, potatoes that we got from some abandoned farm we found on our adventures at the <Plains Of Abyss>, leek from God knows where, and some good-old dark pepper and salt.

"Where did you get so many ingredients?" Eri asked, we were curious too, when did Rey collect so many ingredients that were already 'extinct'.

"Heh. I started saving since we first entered the game." Rey said, clearly proud of himself for the fact that he had gathered enough ingredients for a decent meal. It was no small feat.

"You really hoard everything huh. Not complaining though." I said out loud; it was the truth that he was a hoarder. In the past, his inventory was full, and we had to help him carry some items since he did not want to throw any of them.

The good-old days, where we weren't on the last quest.

Elena wore a light smile as she lit the twigs and sticks she gathered from somewhere and set up a campfire, and as always, she used her alchemy cauldron as the pot.

Dumping in some clean water that she had cleansed with magic, she brought it to a boil.

Ahh, drinking water, it's been a long time.

She began arranging the lamb pieces meticulously, preparing the foundation for a flavorful lamb stock.

Just the sight of that delectable lamb was enough to make all of us drool.

I was no big fan of stew, but it had been too long since I had another meal.

"We finally got another meal from the esteemed chef Elena huh!" Eri said enthusiastically, we nodded vigorously, she was indeed a good cook, or at least miles better than Rey.

"One thing I learnt from our trip was to never let Rey cook." I said jokingly, which got us laughing and Rey embarrassed, his cooking was horrendous.

I remember that one time he was cooking an egg and nearly ended our journey early.

And his failure at cooking an egg also made us say goodbye to the convenient portable gas stove.

He made the gas stove explode right at his face, dealing enough damage to get him checked by the Native Healer, causing us a pretty penny to get him fixed up and ready for another battle.

Elena laughed while putting in salt and pepper, the gold of the void. Come on, it's been too long since I have seen or tasted them.

As the water was brought to a boil and the stew was flavorful, she added in the sack of potatoes, presumably to thicken the stew.

Lamb stew, mhhhhhh.

The stew had a divine smell, or perhaps we had been starving for way too long.

"Is it done? Is it done?" Eri blurted out loudly; he was clearly way too enthusiastic to have a good meal. Not that we weren't.

"Shush, Eri. You better not get the Midnight Wolves to our spot here; they are blind but always attracted to your bloody voice." Rey said the truth out; it was always a mystery why the wolves are especially attracted to his voice.

"Hey, at least better than when you accidentally dropped your spear in the Dungeon and got us into a direct battle with Sloth." Eri retaliated, bringing back yet another embarrassing memory for our good leader, Rey, dropping his spear led us to some unpleasant encounters with Sloth, especially me.

Rey yet again was flustered by his past failures; can't blame him though, those were some embarrassing memories.

Nearly being killed by a frying pan for some reason.

Nearly killed by the explosion of the gas stove.

And many other bad encounters.

But above all, Culinary really hated him.

But it indeed was what shaped my memories, fond memories indeed.

I laughed out softly, but it must have been too loud, and clearly, offended them both.

"You aren't any better!" They shouted, this time miraculously in sync; somehow when facing me, they became the best buddies in the world.

"Halfway through the dungeon you were giving up on our life because your dagger broke! And don't remind me of the time you were too lazy to move while fighting the boss monster! I don't know how many times I have saved you!" Eri said out loudly, while Rey nodded in approval.

I was in denial as I pointed my finger at Elena, "She isn't any better! That time her book caught on fire, she had an emotional breakdown and nearly got us all offed!"

She shot me a deadly glare, as if telling me, stop or I will kill you right now.

"Well, well, it seems like you boys don't want the stew anymore, then I will keep it in my inventory" she said threateningly.

That was the most effective threat to use on a bunch of starving men.

"Sorry, Elena." I said, I was not taking my chances with stew.

Smiling again, she started distributing the heavenly potato lamb stew.

It consisted of tender lamb pieces and hearty potatoes, carefully seasoned with salt and pepper, enhancing the rich taste.

A long time since these good meals have been graced upon me.

We gave our thanks to the cook of our party and started digging into our meal.

The first full meal in months was more than enough to make it the tastiest thing ever that my taste buds have ever tasted.

It was divine.

Salty, a hint of lamb and the thickness of the all-doing potatoes, they have compelled perfectly to make a thick, salty, umami-packed peppery soup.

The lamb had a tender, melt in mouth texture, the potatoes were incorporated in the stew, giving the stew a unique thickness and creaminess. The pepper worked wonders, adding a hint of spice to this already amazing soup.

Sometimes you gotta thank the inventory for preserving items.

Or perhaps we were just starving for just about anything.

Devouring the stew, it was no mystery why the stew reached its bottom in just twenty minutes.

You know with four mouths to feed and each starving, twenty minutes to finish the meal was high time.

That was only because the stew was blazing hot.

"Ahhh. Such a good meal. How long has it been!" Eri cried out, clearly overjoyed. Who wouldn't be after surviving those months without any actual meals.

Rey nodded in sync, agreeing to the words of Eri.

"I wonder if we can have more meals like that back on Earth if we defeated God." Eri said, but this time there was no reaction; he touched a taboo topic.

Earth, are there other survivors other than us?

Will we even go back to Earth?

Will we be stuck here for an eternity?

Are there only us left in the world?

If it was so, then what was the point of victory?

Eri was not an idiot, he clearly knew that he touched another taboo topic, and this was enough for a whole thirty minutes of silence before a brave soul dared speak again in such an awkward atmosphere.

"Well, let's just sleep already, we will fight it tomorrow. Whatever happens, we'll face it together." Rey said softly, he looked worried, scared and uncertain, but he tried to cover his uncertainty.

A leader can never falter in front of his team.

He was true to his quote, it was his belief.

Nodding, we agreed to his words.

Elena, with her silver hair dancing in the cold breeze, wearing a slight smile, spoke softly, "We've come so far. Let's believe in ourselves. Let's complete the final quest."

Her optimism was questionable, but in times like this, I have always been told that I needed to believe.

So I shall believe, just this once.

This one single time, I shall believe.

Eri, always the bundle of optimism, spoke, "Come on, guys! We've got the best team here. No god can beat the four of us!"

But that begs the question again, can we really win?

"Can we really defeat god?" I said, dampening the cheerful and hopeful atmosphere, the question had always loomed their mind, yet they tried to appear optimistic.

I know I said I tried to optimistic, but we needed realism, not needless fantasies.

There was a long silence before Rey hushed us to sleep.

I never got the answer, perhaps we all knew we were gonna be fighting a losing battle.

Lying on the makeshift pillow I made from a bunch of cotton and cloth I gathered two years ago, when I was farming, I pondered over tomorrow.

Whatever, death it shall be, if we lose that is.

-End Of Chapter One: Starting At The End