1 Chapter 1: Welcome to the Paradise Lost

Year 2024. Its been more than a year since I finished college.

"I'm gonna find a job as soon as I can huh?... "

I sighed.

I tried to doing so, but nothing worked out for me. I'm now trapped in a perpetual cycle of playing games all day.

I turned on my pc. I logged on to Sbeam™ and launched Paradise Lost.

"Paradise Lost... I played this game for 5 years now. Time sure flies. "

'Welcome to the Paradise Lost!'

I logged in to the game and saw some announcements.

• 'Siege of the Keep at the Abyss' expansion - June 22

• 'Deepwalker' equipment released - June 22

• 'Siege of the Keep at the Abyss' limited SSR partner cards - June 22

"There's nothing new huh? Whatever. I don't have anything better to do with my life anyway."

I selected a spawn point in the world map.

"But this seems very fishy... " I mused to myself.

I played this game, Paradise Lost for almost 5 years already. There is usually something big for it's anniversary and it's just around the corner.

"There's still no events for July 3? What are they trying to do? Hmm... "

I'm really curious about the anniversary event this year but there is still no info about it. I guess I'll go check the forums later.

I spwaned in the Capital of Iris Nationale, Parieze, one of the endgame fronts.

"There's a lot of people here today huh? I guess they're waiting for the launch of the abyss raid. "

I am a max level player, the event 'Siege of the Keep at the Abyss' is for lower levelled players. I could participate in the raids but the loot won't compare to my current endgame equipment.

I headed towards the Adventurer's Guild for my dalies.

I approached one of the npc's for a quest.

"I need you to help the Iris Nationale Guild Alliance in subduing this monster. Talk to the guild leaders for more information. They are currently holding a conference at the cathedral. "

Warning! This is a very difficult quest!

Accept?

'Yes' 'No'

'Yes'

I headed to Parieze Cathedral in order to meet the guild heads.

The cathedral can only be described as extravagant. Pure white and gold as far as the eye can see. A lot of statues and decorations can be seen around the place. As I entered the cathedral I was greeted by chandeliers, lighting the gold furnishes around the interior of the place.

"They really overdid this place. "

I entered one of the halls and saw an oval tables with many people sitted around.

"This must be the conference. "

I approached one of the NPC's around the table.

'Head of the Iron Rose Guild, Pierre Delacroix'

"Ah. You must be one of the highly recommended of the Adventurer's Guild. I am Pierre Delacroix, the head of the Allied Front for this raid. "

- Tell me more about the raid

"The target of this operation is the lone basilisk north of the capital. It is currently dormant but it has attacked a passing merchant 2 days ago " said the npc.

"A basilisk hunt huh?" I thought to myself.

A high level basilisk hits hard and has a ton of hp.

"This is truly an urgent matter as a basilisk can destroy towns with ease. We must keep the people of our country safe. Be careful in our battle against it " he continued.

"The raid will be composed of 4 strike forces with 12 members each. We are short of a few men due to the recent attack at the harbor. You may join any guild in this operation. "

Select strike force

'Iron Rose Guild'

'War Hammer Guild'

'Dragon Knights Guild'

'Seafarer Guild'

You selected:

'Iron Rose Guild'

Are you sure ?

'Yes' 'No'

'Yes'

"Excellent choice adventurer. " Pierre said.

"Head to the Iron Rose Guild hall for our preparation. Be acquainted with your fellow members of the strike team. Prepare you best equipment. "

I already have my best gear on so I headed towards their guild hall.

I was greeted by two attendants as I entered the hall.

I enetered the Guild Master's room and saw multiple people together with Pierre.

All of them were equipped with fancy white and gold equipment. They all look amazing but the girl standing beside Pierre caught my eye .

Huh? Isn't she the main NPC of the event Iron and Blood?

Amelia Favreau, a beautiful young woman who was at the center of a previous event's story.

She has sliky blonde hair and clear blue eyes. She's quite tall for her age and has the physique of a model.

Although beautiful women are prevalent among video games, Amelia is one of my favorites. She had well-written backstory and character development during the Iron and Blood event. She was also one of the npc's with great A.I., which is a shame because she's not available as a support partner outside of the event. (Note: She is Joshua's waifu) She would outperform most of the gacha support partners due to her skillset.

A large amount of players are requesting for her to be added even as a gala limited. She was voted as the Top 1 Female NPC, Top 1 Event NPC, and Top 1 Overall NPC during last years anniversary. She was also the number 1 at the 'Characters you want a summer version of' list. She is also.. Nevermind. I could do this all dat but one would want me to blabber around for a long time.

Point is, she is an extremely famous character from an event.

So I am wondering why is she here. Well, not that I'm complaining.

"It's been a while adventurer. " Amelia said.

She can recognize me?

Did the devs insert an easter egg for the players who completed the event? Well if that's the case then the devs can be nice once in a while.

But why is she here? Didn't she go to Britannia?

"I joined the guild a year ago. Mr. Lacroix and Ms. Oliviere recruited me when before I boarded the ship to Britannia."

D-did she just talk?

"They've been very kind to me everyday. I serve as the captain of the second division in order to repay my debts to them. "

Wait... Is there going to be another event soon? Or is this an easter egg by the devs?

Anyway, it's nice to see her again.

"We shall depart towards the basilisk soon. Are you ready adventurer? " Pierre asked me.

'Yes'

"Well then! To the basilisk! " said Pierre.

The elegant room faded and the loading screen flashed.

We were then teleported to the battlefield.

A lone basilisk is sleeping in the middle of the plains.

We approached the beast slowly, only for it to turn it's head towards us.