Safe Haven

[In a world that was once whole and full of life, a great cataclysm shattered it into countless fragments. These fragments now float in a void, connected only by bridges of light. Each fragment is ruled by a Fragment Lord, using it to reshape that fragment in their own dark liking and goals, it's also inhabited by various creatures and races, each with their own culture and history. You and the other players are to traverse the fragments of the shattered world, battling monsters and uncovering the secrets of the cataclysm, and killing Fragment Lords, and taking the power of the Fragment with you after.Along the way, you players will encounter various beings and people, and even Angels or deities who will offer quests and provide lore about the world. Players must adapt to the new world and its rules, as well as learn to navigate the bridges of light that connect the fragments, to travel to tiger Fragment regions ruled over by the Fragment Lords. You must fight your way through hordes of monsters and other dangers to reach the heart of the cataclysm, where they will find the answers they seek. As you progress through the lands, you will gain experience and level up, unlocking new abilities and equipment. The world is vast and full of secrets, and you will need to explore every nook and cranny to uncover them all. And if you die here, you are dead permanently]

Joon thinks, 'Players? Dead permanently? Ah, so it's true. This is real. Unless the devs are doing everything they can to increase the immersion and shit. But then at the same time, it feels too real. What if the players earlier…are actually dead? No, nah, haha, that can't be. But why did I faint? Or did I die? In the old version, you never fainted. Perhaps this could be like, a new feature or something? When I was fighting, I saw health bars, and energy bars. I don't see anything now. Am I dead? I need to wake up. Wake up….wake the hell up.'

"Wake up."

Joon opened his eyes, and he only saw a wooden ceiling.

Joon yawned, and he looked to the right, and saw a window, then he looked to the left, and there was an old lady he noticed sitting in a chair smiling at him.

Joon screamed like a girl, and he flipped out of the bed, clinging to the wall, pointing at the old lady.

"I-I KNOW YOUR ASS!! FROM THE OLD GAME! DONT TOUCH ME!"

The old woman replied with a smile, "Now now, dear. What's this old game you're mentioning? And your screaming could wake up the others."

"Others? Ohhhh I see what the hell's going on. You've kidnapped me and some NPC's for your amusement Huh? You got tired of us tormenting you?"

"Kidnap? No, haha. I know you're frightened, after taking down Bolgor the Destroyer, it takes a toll on you. You must be really really strong!"

"I did my best I guess. The first time I ever used that skill, it felt…crazy. Like I was overflowing with power. My body felt nimble, light, while my attacks felt heavy."

"Bolgor didn't stand a chance."

"And of course you know that bastard…of course you do, you two probably work together."

"Oh no, all wrong there, kid. Once Bolgor's race was threatened and sabotaged by soldiers of the Fragment Lord, they were forced to be pushed back out of their homeland. Ruined everything of theirs, their villages, their monuments, food, and everything, Bolgor was the last one alive, the last one to escape the soldiers of the Fragment Lord. Bolgor was hungry, he had to survive, so he destoryed and ravaged his way through villages and towns for food, killing and eating people after-. Are you even listenting?!"

"Huh? Yeah, I think. Too much lore on this Bolgor bastard made me kinda sleepy. My bad."

"Haha, youngsters. How do you remember me though?"

"I have a few questions of my own. Answer mine and I'll answer yours."

"Mmmm, I like you. Okay. Shoot."

"I remember where we dropped, I remember the name of the tavern we were in. But I don't remember what region we're in."

"You wanna know the name. You're in Magmel. Pieces of the Shards/Fragments were broken apart, which is what held together the world we known before the catalysm happened, breaking the world into different parts, in which Fragment Lords fight for control over, and once they garner the power of the fragments, they can bend it however they want. This land of Magmel is ruled over by two Fragment Lords: Lord Shännuus, and Lady Myra, both married. No one knows where they are."

"Ah. All sounds like some sort of new plot. I remember before how this world was almost taken over by the Fallen Angels who were cast out of Heaven, and wanted to use this world as their new home, wanting to absorb the sun of this world to draw more power for themselves. And after they did that, they planned on using some shard or rune to create a bridge through the void to wage war on Heaven for kicking them out."

"Oh? So you know about that? You're very knowledgeable, kid."

"Yeah.."

"A group of unknown people came to this world, and saved it from the Fallen Angels, are you one of those saviors?"

Joon thinks, 'She's referring to the game 10 years ago, that definitely means there's a new threat this time. Is this game really a remake, or part 2 of the game ten years ago? Since from the last version of King of Gods, as I mentioned before, the Fallen Angels were the threats. I guess this is a sequel. Based on what she was saying, more shit about this world is being uncovered. The world I knew was one, nothing was separated. Now based on what the system message said earlier when I was knocked the hell out, the world is now split in different fragments, in which those fragments are pieces of the world, and those fragments contain power that Fragment Lords are trying to grab. And we have to kill them. What happens if they grab them all?'

Joon said, "Y-Yeah. I was apart of those people that came and saved the world. It's whatever."

The old woman asked, "Ohhh, okay. That's nice. Where did you guys go? After you defeated the Fallen Angels, they all just vanished. Everyone wondered where you guys had went."

Joon gasped, saying to himself, "Okay, this is weird."

'The devs are doing a really good fuckin nerd job tying in the years it took after we stopped playing King of Gods to this game. Wait, if I ask her this question…'

Joon said to her, "Oi."

"Hm?"

"How many years has it been since the defeat of the Fallen Angels?"

"10 years."

"HAHA! Of course! HAHAA! Damn, dude. I knew it. You asked where we went huh?"

"Yes."

"We went back to our world."

"There were rumors from people around that you guys had been summoned from another world. But there was never any proof. For if someone did summon you, that person never spoke up about it. Now then…"

Walking into the room, was Duri.

Duri was holding a cup of water, and she said, "….Yo."

The old woman smiled at Duri, "Oooh, right on time! Joon just woke up."

"I heard everything."

Joon sat up quickly, asking Duri, "So you know how this all doesn't make sense, right?"

"….Yep."

The old woman said to Duri, "Awww young lady, you're so cold to this boy. But earlier you were asking every ten minutes if he was awake!"

Duri's cheeks were flustered, and she replied, "N-No I didn't! I feel nothing for that bastard."

Joon zipped up to Duri, smirking, "Hmm? You were worried about me, huh?"

Duri blushed even more, she poured the water on his head, grabbed a pillow from the bed, and tried to suffocate him on the bed as Joon squirmed.

Duri said to the old woman, "You don't mind if I kill this prick, do you?"

The woman responded, "Well if you do, everything I did to help him wake up faster would be a waste. Which reminds me.."

Joon broke out of Duri's grasp, running behind the old woman, and pointing at Duri, saying, "You slut! Don't touch me!"

Duri replied, "Go to hell!"

Joon looked at Duri, thinking, 'Her arm…it's still gone..'

The woman asked Joon, "I forgot to remind you of the question I wanted to ask, but how do you know me?"

Joon answered, "10 years ago in the old game, I remember you used to be the head of a horse stable. Players would always go there to upgrade their horses, ya know like, upgrade their horses speed, toughness, and stamina. Everytime I go to the stable, I try to kill you for fun because I found it funny at the time. If players tried to kill you to get free items, you would turn into this big buff woman and beat the living shit out of us. It was a slap in the face towards us players because later on the devs told us you were unkillable, that you were designed to be one of those NPC's who doesn't die."

"Game?"

"You don't remember being attacked all the time?"

"I do. But after the catastrophic event that took place after you heroes went back to your world, I have chosen to play a part in all of this. I decided to forgive and forget, offering shelter and a safe haven for those who were heroes once before. The horse stable from ten years ago is now the safe haven. When I ran the horse stable, I was too afraid to even step outside to fight the Fallen Angels. Even though I was strong, I didn't know I couldn't be killed, so I feared death. I wanted to live for my daughter, and her son. The Fallen Angels were enemies that were formidable. Who knew what the limits to their magic were?"

"You saying that, must mean there's other players here who told you what I just told you? Do you remember any of us?"

"Not a lot. But I don't really remember the exact people who attacked me during those times. Also, they never mentioned a game like you did."

Joon thought, 'If those other players talked to her about how they knew her, then they must be thinking this is a game, and they're just playing along. Maybe this really is a game. Maybe it's not? Fuck it, I don't know. But I'll find out.'

"Ahhh, gotcha. How many others are here? People like us?" Joon asked.

"Only four. They came here three hours ago."

"Oh yeah? I wanna talk to their ass."

"They'll be back in a few, they said they're out looking for something, I don't know. But, you've been asleep for 8 hours, you must be hungry!"

"8 hours?!"

"Yes, come downstairs, I'm sure Jonah made something."

"Jonah? Who the hell is that?"

"The son of my daughter, who was killed when the Fragments split, when the cataclysm happened I mean."

"Geez. That sucks."

Duri walked beside Joon, and hit him in the shoulder, whispering, "Be polite, asshole."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"No."

"Yes. I'll kill you now."

"Do it, you won't."

"…."

"Tch. Whatever."

Joon stuck his hand out towards the old woman, saying, "My bad for being rude and stuff. I'm Joon, I'm pretty sure this witch beside me told you while I was asleep. In the game you were known as just 'The Old Lady', without a name. Do you have a name?"

The old woman looked down at Joon's hand, shook it, and smiled, "I don't have a name, but you can call me whatever you like."

Duri thinks, 'Like the old version of the game, she didn't have a name….strange.'

Joon said to the old woman, "Nah, nah nah nah. We can't have that. You're gonna have a name. Why don't you have one?"

"I was never born with one I guess. Everyone called me the Old Lady."

"Mmm. Not acceptable. How about I call you Elma?"

The Old woman gasped, replying, "Y-You're giving me a name?"

"Uh, yeah? You don't want one? Sorry.."

"No! No! I do! Thank you young man! My name is Elma!"

Joon saw she was happy, and it satisfied him.

Joon thought, 'Heh? What's this feeling?'

Elma said, "I can smell it, the food I mean! I know you're hungry!"

Joon and Duri followed Elma out of the room, and they started walking down a hallway, and going down a set of stairs.

Duri saw how happy Elma was, thinking, 'A possible NPC is happy because she got a name. Strange.'

Minutes later, Duri and Joon were sitting at an empty table alone, eating off of a plate of food. They were in a tavern-like eatery. They were closed for the day, so there were no customers.

As they were eating, Duri said, "I heard everything you said to Elma."

"I know that. You made it clear once you interrupted our super important conversation. How rude."

"….Do you think we're in a game? Or real life?"

"Ah, so we're both having doubts and beliefs."

"Ye."

"What have you come up with?"

"That message from our system. About us needing to kill the Fragment Lords, we need to cross the bridges of light in the void to travel to them as well. My suspicions come from everything we've been through. That Chujong man said this was a demo to where we had to hold off waves of monsters and shit. But now we're doing other things. Bizzare."

"Yeah, I got that message too. The Fragment Lords want to use the power of the shards or fragments or wherever to reshape reality in their own image. And we gotta find them, kill them, and take the power of the Fragments for ourselves."

"Based on the message, my guess is that even though Fragment Lords rule over a certain Fragment region, they desire more power from other Fragments-."

"Which could lead to all out wars and all that. Fragment Lords could be fighting and killing each other over those Fragments."

"Crazy shit."

"I wonder what happens if they gather all of the Fragments."

"Who knows."

"And this Jonah kid. He's the grandson of Elma. These NPCs have backstories."

"That's something else bizarre. They have a whole lineage of a bloodline. NPC's from a game we played before have families that were never ever mentioned in the old game."

They both sat in silence for a few seconds, and Joon looked at Duri's arm.

"Your arm…"

"Don't worry about my arm. Elma said she'll help me with it. Worry about yourself. Don't you think you're gonna die any second? If creatures like Bolgor pop up out of nowhere trying to kill us?"

"Then I'll fuck them up like I did Bolgor."

"You would've died if I wasn't there to open the door for you to use your skill."

"HUH?! N-Nuh uh! I did all that on my own!"

"TAKING ALL THE CREDIT IS CRAZY! NEXT TIME I WON'T HELP!"

"DON'T HELP ME THEN! I DON'T NEED IT ANYWAY!"

"YOU DID BEFORE, FOOL!"

"TCH! I'LL KILL YOU NOW!"

"HUH? I WANNA SEE IT!"

Elma walked into the room, smiling, "Aww, young love. You two act like a married couple."

Joon and Duri looked at Elma, replying, "Are you crazy?!"

They both were flustered, talking over each other as Elma did nothing but smile.

But then, the front doors opened, and entering was 3 men and one female, along with a little boy in front of them.

The little boy was Jonah, he had wavy brown hair, tan skin, and green eyes, he exclaimed, "They're back! They're back!"

The people behind Jonah were players.

Remy - (Female, 19 years old. Light brown skin, dark pink eyes, blue hair with a bang in the front, with the ponytail in a braided ponytail. Rank - Level 22)

Remy exclaimed with excitement "Ooooh, finally some more players! Yes!"

Darthen - (29 years old, brown beard, short brown hair in a small ponytail, brown eyes. Rank - Level 25)

"We have pressed our way back here, past those dreadful and demonic dungeons of horror! We sought for answers, but could not find them! Ugh, the irony of this land is lost! For the pavilion of-!"

Joon interrupted him, "Stop. That's annoying. All that yelling for no reason."

Duri added, "I agree."

Darthen answered, "Hmph! I would insult thy players, but word around the town is that you defeated Bolgor in the next town over! I commend you two for being strong and mighty!"

Joon raised his hand with a slight grin, "Actually I'm the one who killed Bolgor. With no help."

"Hoh? I heard you were the one who delivered the final attacks."

Duri put Joon in a chokehold, scoffing, "I'm killing you now. Tell them I helped give you an opening."

"ACK! STOP! LET GO, WITCH!"

Remy pointed at them, laughing, "Haha! They're funny!"

Darthen said, "Even if you had not given the final blow and attacks to thy Bolgor, you survived against him. That doth count for something as a warrior!"

Duri answered, "…"

The next player was Sho. He was 23 years old, He had ash blonde wavy hair, orange eyes, and scars on his neck. His rank was level 24.

He said, "One question for everyone, how do I look?"

Darthen responded, "Naive arrogance is not the way of a warrior."

Remy added, "He even asked that dungeon monster if he was pretty!"

Sho arrogantly laughed, "Of course you wouldn't know anything about true beauty. We'll find the truth behind this cataclysm with elegance."

And the last player was Dreamer. His nickname was Dreamer, he never told anyone his real name. He was 17 years old, he had messy shoulder length black hair, and he had green eyes, he always looked tired.

He was always staring off into space, and he said, "It was nice outside…very warm…lots of monsters…can we recruit them to our group..? We could…cover a lot of ground…finding and killing Fragment Lords and such…uncovering secrets and lore….I want food. I'm hungry. And thirsty."

Joon thinks, 'What a strange bunch. But this is kinda good. With more players with us, we could definitely cover more ground.'

Darthen looked at Duri, and gave her a certain glare, a glare that made Duri uncomfortable.

Duri looked down at the table, thinking, 'The hell was that? Gave me that creep look.'

Jonah dashed up to Joon and Duri, shaking both their hands at the same time, saying with fan-boy excitement, "You two are awesome! Like, super awesome! Could you train me?! Be my mentor?!"

Joon answered, "Sorry, brat. I'm still learning everything myself, ya know? I just learned how to use my skill."

Jonah made a puppy face, "But I want to be taught by you!"

"Huhhhh? Saying it louder and louder doesn't CONVINCE ME TO TRAIN YOU!"

Elma walked closer, saying, "Now, now, Jonah. Joon and his friend Duri just woke up. Let them breathe for a second, okay?"

Jonah tilted his head, "Yes ma'am! You seem more happy, grandma!"

"Those kids gave me a name!"

"A name?! That's great! What name?!"

"Elma!"

"That definitely sounds like an old lady name! It fits you!"

Elma's eye twitched while trying to keep her smile intact.

Joon thinks, 'Leads me to wonder why she never named herself…'

Darthen stepped up, saying, "Now that we hath acquainted ourselves with the likes of you two, introduce yourselves to us, so that we may be on the same page, hopefully for a possible alliance. I'm sure we've all gotten the system message earlier about our tasks while in this super immersive game: Find and locate the Fragment Lords, kill them, gather the power of the Fragments, repeat. Also while encountering many races, monsters, and possibly other players. The road ahead speaks danger, for we as warriors shall come across thy lands of battle and taunt. And lastly, figuring out the cause of the cataclysm that bewildered this peaceful world of the King of Gods universe. You two with your capabilities could definitely lend us your strength without fail. Will you two help us?"

Joon thought, 'Yeah, I can tell already he's obsessed with the old game.'

Sho was crying, saying, "Ugh. What a beautiful speech. My beauty is leaking through my eye sockets."

Remy answered Sho, "Uhhh, that's not possible! Haha! Weirdooo!"

"Silence, fool."

Dreamer said, "….Was that even a speech…? ….I'm…hungry…'

Darthen then asked Joon and Duri again, "Shall we?"

Joon and Duri think at the same time, 'Screw it.'