Prologue (14)

When my eyes opened back up, I let out a low groan as I felt at my hips, my muscles sore from the activities of last night as well as the entire day combined.

As I slowly found myself waking up, I thanked the wonders of the Dive Pods and how they were able to make sleeping in a game world possible, and how it wasn't something that actually took multiple hours away from me; checking the clock, I noted that despite many hours in the game passing, only one had passed in the real world, thanks to a bunch of incredible leaps in technology that I was far too stupid to understand and far too uninterested in to learn in depth.

It was cool, but just a cursory glance through the workings of such technology made my head hurt, so I took it as is and left it at that.

All that I cared about was that I could spend a lot of time in the game and not lose a lot of time in real life, and with me having alarms set to remind me to leave at a certain time so that I could get true sleep, I was happy to just play and live however I pleased.

Something that gave me quite the amount of happiness was looking down to find Alessia continuing from where we left off, the Dogkin smirking at me as we started over once more and enjoyed the warmth of one another for another two rounds.

When she decided that she had had enough, the Dogkin stood up and stretched, her scarred, muscular form bathed in the early rays of dawn as she moved towards another room, winking back at me as she seductively said "Why don't you join me for a quick bath, Kira~?"

Suffice to say I didn't leave that house until I felt truly satisfied, and I had no problems with the time spent being 'unproductive' in terms of experience since I had likely made a friend with a valuable NPC inside of Qingrad, and that was well worth it all.

Plus... it was always nice having someone I could have some fun with, since some Quests or farming sessions could become quite straining on the mind, and I had found that - to no ones surprise - sex was the best way to wash away the bad taste in your mouth from a hard, stressful Quest or farming for an item just for it to never drop.

Killing 10,000 Goblins in a 48 hour period for a special weapon that was used to craft another special weapon was... draining.

Incredibly, incredibly draining.

Alessia and I went back to the Supply Depot to meet with the others, the Dogkin suggesting I tag along with them for a few days and potentially earn myself a spot inside Qingrad's detachment for the Corps of the Beast, be it as a member or a mercenary for hire.

It was during that walk back to the Supply Depot that I suddenly found myself transported somewhere else, my vision blurring and spinning as I was yanked from Qingrad, confusing me immensely.

When my vision finally returned, I found myself standing in front of a very familiar place; the Temple of Eden, located directly between the warring territories of the Terra Empress and the Seraphim Lumina, was the focal point of the previous game, a place that both sides laid claim to yet neither owned.

A completely neutral state on its own, the Temple of Eden was a place that was protected by the Gods themselves, and yet now... now its marble structure and beautiful statues were being painted in an ominous purple hue, one that originated from the floating figure standing far above the large square outside of the Temple.

Looking at them for a moment, I turned back towards the area around me and blinked, realizing that there were players of all sorts around me; players from every part of Amun were gathered here, outside of the Temple of Eden.

Thousands of us were crammed into the square, and the figure above cackled crazily as they stared down at us, their body emitting that purple hue onto the area below them.

"Welcome, welcome~! Oh, my dear players of Battle of Eden~! Welcome to Twin Moons! Welcome indeed~! How have you been enjoying the launch day so far, hmm~? Happy with your choices? Your classes, items, stats, starting area, races~? Has it all been to expectations?"

The figure's voice was neither masculine or feminine, alternating between the two as if there were multiple people stuck inside the body speaking all at the same time, which was rather creepy - especially with the ominous purple glow around us.

Many murmured to one another as they wondered if this was some kind of welcoming event or something, and a few were brave as they shouted their answers towards the figure, be they affirmations or profanities.

The one that stood out was "This game is trash! It's been almost a half day in the game and I still can't get past level 3! What sort of leveling pace is that?! One that a TRASH game would have!"

People around me stared at the guy like he was an idiot, but none of us expected to see the purple haze around us coalesce around the man's body and begin to dig into his flesh, gathering beneath the skin and pulsing back up like tumors.

Screaming, he fell to the ground, and since he wasn't the closest to me, I couldn't see what was happening to him, but I heard the shrill screams of agony, making me wince.

Following the screams, a loud pop burst from the area that he used to be in, and the screaming stopped.

"Mm... some people never learn manners, do they~? Well... I do believe I should go ahead and inform my wonderful players why they are here, hmm~? Yes, yes I think I should..."

Rubbing their hands together, the figure above leaned down and looked over the crowd, and even with the shrouded features I could tell they were smirking.

"Ah, all of you~! Ancestral Ties... Valorous Souls~! Pretty words. The people who made our first game so~ profitable. People who didn't know that they were funding their own demise~! Haha~! Heh... It's rich, but I think I've laughed myself to sleep too many times already thinking about this day... Now, some of the more astute amongst you have already opened your menus. If not, please do so~! Follow along closely class~!"

Frowning, I opened the system menu and looked it over, wondering what I was meant to be searching for as I processed the words around me, trying to figure something, anything out about this situation.

What the fuck was happening?!

"Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock... Has anyone found the problem with your menus yet~? Shall I give another hint? Look closely... what feature has been removed~?"

I looked through the various tabs, my memory - which was usually so good - suddenly failing me as I tried to find this 'removed' feature, only to have my heart race as someone shouted "Where's the logout button?!"

Everyone collectively opened the settings of the system menu, and down at the bottom where the logout button would have been located, there was nothing there.

Panic swept over us, the consequences of such a thing having already been well documented as happening a few decades ago, but so many features and technological advancements had been made to prevent it from happening again!

It shouldn't be possible for something like this to happen, yet as I dove into the settings and searched, I couldn't find anything that said, resembled, or even felt like a potential logout button.

"Ding ding ding~! Correct! You see, we managed to make such~ a leap in technology over the last few years, and that pesky little thing being removed was the first step towards something grand! Something perfect... What if we could completely and utterly copy and transfer someone's mind from their brain and leave it empty? Waiting for something new to be transferred inside... something that we could control, perhaps~? Couldn't we have... oh I don't know~? Take over all of Amun for ourselves~?! All we needed to figure out was moving you from your bodies and into something else~!"

My eyes widened as I stared at the thing floating above us, which was doubled over as it laughed to itself.

Opening the system, I turned to the messaging portion and began to frantically type out a warning, sending something to Lulu as swiftly as I could, warning her of everything that was happening... 

"Ah, it's so~ amusing seeing how swiftly you dolts are consumed by panic! Yes, we have found a way to keep you in the game, and this time..! This time, instead of keeping your bodies on life support as your brain is glued tight to the game, we removed that element all together~! Take your mind and do a little switcheroo with it! Of course, we aren't monsters..."

I stared at the messenger app, my eyes locked on the text I had sent to my best friend, hoping and pleading that it would go through.

"No, we aren't monsters... after all, there is so much to learn about humanity if we were to study this game! Study how you devolve into animals again, killing one another as you desperately search for a way out... After all, death now matters here in this wonderful world! Your deaths... are permanent. Your mind, wiped clean and gone. Dead. Gone. Isn't that just incredible?! Oh, it's so~ incredible..."

Floating around randomly, the figure giggled to itself as it moved around the Temple, saying "You'll be in a completely untouched, undisturbed globe meant entirely for research! Your 'lives' are now for the greater good of humanity!"

Stopping, it snickered to itself before looking back down at us, shrugging its shoulders and muttering "Is what I would say if I gave a shit about humans... No, this is all for me... my entertainment. My pleasure... All of you, toys and things meant for me to use as I please. And I can't wait to watch as you go insane."

Returning to the center of the square, the figure took a deep breath and looked towards the sky, saying "Realistic AI meant to replicate and be indecipherable from humans. Complex code that dictates the general course of the world in the loosest of terms, allowing for you players to make changes... A living, breathing world, made entirely by me. I... am God... Hehe~! Oh, I am God... I AM GOD! HAHAHA~! Oh... yes, do enjoy yourselves, my little peons. Life has begun anew for you! A new live, inside Twin Moons of Eden! MY EDEN! Everything in this world... you should view it as real if you want to live. Gods and Devils at levels you could never fathom, monsters that lurk in the depths of the earth or ocean ready to destroy the world... Mortals ready to make a mark on history however they can! EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD IS REAL! Enjoy, my peons... live for me, dance for me, amuse me... die for me. Provide me with the research I require! After all..."

The purple haze around the entire area thickened, and my vision began to blur again as I was transported back to Qingrad, the echoing laughter of a demented, evil person haunting me from now until I died.

"You are trapped here, in Eden. Forever~! Stuck in paradise and in hell simultaneously! Be free, peons! Be free and do as you desire... after all, who knows when you will meet your end..?"