...Located Underground, although no one knows where it truly is, this place is known as the Starter Camp.
It is called as such because this place served as a Tutorial, it was designed to help new players get started into the game.
Getting them familiar with the system, ability and all that.
That"s how and what it is for Players. However, for these NPCs, this place is h.e.l.l.
Controlled by many Greater Demons.
And I"m here locked in this prison along with these old peeps.
We"re sitting in a circle, discussing a strategy to break out. It should take but a moment, no rush. Players hardly talk at all during the Tutorial
"I should take it easy" I thought
The leader of the group, I call him Baldy. Don"t know who his name is…
He spoke, "Hmm, there are too many demons over there" pointing at the drawing on the ground. "What about that route? The west is in disarray, we might be able to get through there"
"No, Ludtleth is guarding the Entranceway, it"s impossible!" said the beardy old man.
"Hmm..."
The Baldy suddenly glancing up to me, "What do you think, la.s.s?"
"Huh?"
"Did he just ask me? Wait, he is!"
It was surprising, because if I remember it correctly… this guy would wrap this up quickly and just break out right away.
"Well, if he is asking me... I should give an appropriate answer, can"t just blurt out nonsense"
I pondered about it…
The West is being guarded by Ludtleth, he is a unique being, an Ethereal-Type monster which ranked 4th as the highest difficulty of a monster or as a "Creature/Being" can become.
Maybe he"s not a monster but a demon, or maybe he"s another type of creature.
I never really met him before, I"m kind of interested.
But, it"s just impossible for a level 0 character to even try and fight him, I would be obliterated in a matter of second.
It looks like the north is the better option.
However, curiosity spark inside of me, it"s telling me to explore the other route. The idea is coming to my mind like a trail of blazing fire, I want to see what"s on the other side.
I spoke, "We"ll go to through the west"
Upon hearing that, most of the old man stood up and not long after it becomes rowdy...
"That"s crazy!"
"Yeah, didn"t you hear what we said before!?"
"We can"t just go in there and—"
*Bam!
the Baldy punched the ground, that shut them up. Soon after, the other spoke and trying to calm them down, it calms them down a little but still with a hardened expression on their face, they went to sit again.
"Well, most of them wouldn"t be alive if they go to the other route, not that I can tell them that anyway. I think it"s worth a shot to go through the west gate."
Crossing their arms, tapping on their shoulder... I can tell, they"re anxious, worried. The choice I made is something that has never been done before.
Baldy frowned as he spoke, "La.s.s, are you serious about this?"
I nodded "Yes"
Another old man with long beard slams the ground with his fist, "Nonsense, Ludtleth is there, what makes you think we can go against him, Huh!?"
The others nod in agreement.
"Let"s try to convince them more"
Gesturing my hand as I speak, "The North is true without a doubt a safer option but that will lead to some of us getting killed. Our goal is to get out of this place safely... all of us."
Their expression still conflicted
"Not enough, huh" I thought. "All right, let"s gamble on this"
Looking back at Baldy, I spoke "I will distract Ludtleth, while the rest of you go around and make a run for it"
His eyes widened, "That"s suicide, la.s.s"
Indeed, one couldn"t imagine a level 0 could kill an Ethereal, who knows how high his level is.
Fidgeting my finger anxiously, "Since I play in Realism Mode, if I die, it"s going to be so painful"
But...
I want to know
Just what is on that side
I stopped fidgeting and look back at him
With a stern look, I said, "It"s worth a shot"
— Then out of nowhere —
*Boom*
An explosion has blown out the prison door
"Geh, it"s starting already!? Too Soon!"
Some of the old men hide me on their back, luckily nothing happened.
"We don"t have much time"
I look back at the Baldy
We are staring at each other for a moment, but he quickly shifted his gaze to everyone else and now back to me, "Alright, la.s.s. We"ll go with your plan!"
He stood up and shout, "Everyone, with me!"
The others have a conflicted expression on their face
However, for me… it"s exciting.
Baldy looks back and forth outside of the door, he pulled out a knife.
"You need a weapon, la.s.s. Here, take this" the Baldy handed a dagger to me, a rusted old dagger.
Usually, when we"re getting out of the prison, Baldy would give a weapon that corresponds with the Player"s Occupation.
I don"t have an Appraisal Skills so I can"t view its status, well it doesn"t matter what weapon I use since I don"t have a spell yet.
"Let"s go!" commands the Baldy.
We left the room and head outside of the cell.
Many people are running around, with undead chasing after them.
We tried to help as much as possible but our goal demands us to hurry.
"d.a.m.nit, I forgot to practice my incantation for [Wind Creation]"
"Kruoooh"
A grunting sound
My eyes widened, "s.h.i.t" I cursed.
An Armored Skeleton suddenly popping out of nowhere and swinging its weapon at me
*Bak*
Baldy appeared, blocking its attack
*Bam *Bam
*Dasth!
He pushed and punch it to death
Looking back to me, he said, "You alright, la.s.s?"
I was in awe for a moment, then I nodded
We move onward
Much more undead keep popping up
I can"t kill any of these things, so I just push them to the side and whenever I"m in a pinch, Baldy would rush in and help me, do more of this and I might fall for him.
Normally, we just go on our own way, this place doesn"t give Players any a.s.sistance and just left them to figure it out themselves, which is a pretty cool design.
But this is not so bad... I feel like I have a team... a team.
A lip tilted, forming a smile.
We fight our way through the place.
And so, we arrive at the West Gate.
Even with so many people running around, Ludtleth stood there without doing anything. Maybe he is the Lich king or something, not that it has anything to do with... anything.
"He looks like an undead, but…"
Standing along with his two follower Avarice u0026 Malice, their voluptuous body truly second to none, but don"t let their appearance fool you.
They are a high ranked Arch-Demon, Vicious and Deadly.
"I should"ve read more about their lore back then, no wait, n.o.body has it! The info on them is still incomplete and immature"
The Lore is self-created by the Players, there is a rating system to judge its legitimacy but even with that, there is not much info when it comes to the Starter Camp or anything in it.
"La.s.s, I don"t think this will going to work. Those things will rip us apart like a thin paper"
The Beardy Old Man spoke, "How about we go back and go through the North Gate? It is still not too late"
"These guys can be annoying sometimes, but they"re right"
But…
I stick on the side and hide near the wall, moving through and getting closer to them.
"You"re a madman"
The others followed me, "We should go back" they said
Ignoring their suggestion, I scan around the place, I think it"s possible if I can distract them for a minute or two.
Now looking at the two guardians, they"re t.i.ts— no, I mean their abilities are quite a problem. I"m sure it would take thousands of High-Level players to take them down.
"How do I distract them though? I feel like I"m the one who is getting distracted instead"
— All of a sudden —
Avarice unexpectedly turned her head this way
"Eh?"
Shuddered, our eyes met and now lock on to each other.
"Uh, La.s.s?"
The Baldy and the rest are panicking
"W-Wait a moment, why is she suddenly— I haven"t even entered her Aggro Range"
Avarice turned her body and slowly approaching us, our formation is in disarray and some of the old men are now in terror.
With an eerily intimidating tone, Avarice lifted her arm and said, "Come, Mortal"
"Huh?"
I"m quite sure she was talking to me.
I"m trembling
"No, wait. This is not the time to be scared, I don"t want to disappoint these guys"
I mustered up the courage and while stuttering I spoke to her, "C-Can you let my friends go?"
Avarice tilted her head, quickly opened her palm and then grasping the air.
"Gughhf!"
Choking me with magic, she then raised her hand up
"NGAAAANGHHH"
Lifting me in the air.
I"m struggling to get off from it, but I can"t do anything.
The Baldy and the others are panicking, they don"t know what to do.
If Avarice wanted it, she could kill them in a blink of an eye.
She pulled me to her hand
"Nnghf"
I tried to loosen it up but I can"t do it, I just can"t!
"P-Please, let my them go"
*Bwooost*
Dark Flame appeared from her hands, melting my neck
"GYAAAHHHH!! STOP, STOP, PLEASE STOP, STOP IT!!"
*Ziiing*
"She"s healing me?"
*Pant *Pant
"It hurts, thank goodness she stop—"
*Bwooost*
Another Flame appeared it"s a Chaos—
My eyes filled with terror
"NGAAAAHHHHH!"
I can feel my eyes rolling up, it hurts...
Then, my limbs went limp.
*Ziiing*
"Why am I still alive… how…"
Avarice chuckled, "Fufu, you will make a fine toy, Mortal"
"Huh, what is she talking about…"
She walks back and brought me to Ludtleth, throwing me to the front of him.
"What the h.e.l.l is happening" I thought to myself, "This is somehow terrifying but exciting at the same time, this is not good. I may have that fetish, but if this keeps up, I might become hopeless"
Experiencing something so new, I wish I can record it but a Complete Interface only available after Rank up in level 20.
"I see, that is Ludtleth indeed"
I wasn"t sure at first, but for a Genius such as myself, I can tell without the need to look any further than this…
Appearance-wise, Ludtleth is an Ethereal type undead (?) with 6 horns on his head and a broken pair of wings in his back, his appearance is so majestic in a goth-like way.
Ludtleth who keeps standing there now bending his body and looking me in the eye.
He spoke, "Mortal, I admire your courage for coming here"
Paused for a moment as if he"s sizing me up and down.
His eyes turn from yellowish-white to dark red
"Before I kill you, is the anything you want to say?"
The tone of his voice changed.
"... Or maybe there is something… you want to ask of me?"
"Huh?"
I don"t think I should be asking what his level is, or how strong he is— no.
What"s important right now is my comrades… the old peeps.
Looking back up to him, I said, "My friends" pointing out to the old peeps, "Please, can you let them through?" I begged him.
When I look at it now, his face is quite disoriented, I don"t think he has skin there.
He paused for a moment and without turning around, he spoke, "Malice… lead them to the surface"
She nodded.
I can see the look of the old peeps hardened, even the Baldy too, it feels so weird to have an NPC sympathizing you like this, I smiled warmly and waved at them.
Malice went to led them out through the door and Avarice uses her magic to make me afloat and this time, without choking me.
She lifted one of her hands and chant something and then many undead emerges from the ground, 30 of them and they"re all Death Knights.
Death Knight is at least level 400, summoning so many of them like this, is quite shocking.
Indeed, I have seen it many times before, but those are far at the later end of the game, and this is only just the start!
Even players couldn"t summon that many.
We went to walk around; I don"t know where we"re going but... we are pa.s.sing through other players prison.
The place is in chaos.
"Holy s.h.i.t! WHAT f.u.c.k IS THAT!?" shouted one of the players
"H-Hey, I don"t think we should..."
Avarice opened her palm
Their eyes widened by the sight of a sudden whirling of fire on her hand.
"RUNNN!!"
*Bwoost*
The whirling flame flying so fast and then hit them right on the ground.
*BOOOM!!
An Explosion, the players exploded to pieces and now melting because of the flame.
I witness it all
"This... why do I feel like... it"s not Scripted"
My eyes widened as I turned my head and glancing at Avarice, she"s grinning.
"W-W-Wait, has monster always smile— smirk like that?"
I shook my head, "N-No way, m-maybe it was designed that when she kills players, she would put that smile"
I tried to convince myself that is the case, "Yeah, that"s g-got to be it. Yeah..."
We pa.s.sed through even more of those Players, they are burning to a crisp and this time, Avarice...
She"s laughing sinisterly... it seems she"s really enjoying it.
Hearing her like that, made me tremble. I want to log out and do a restart but there is no such thing, not until I"m dead and resp.a.w.n back again.
Ludtleth and Avarice brought me to a narrow dark corridor, it is so grotesque. The wall is like flesh and large tooth growing out of them along with spider webs stuck at every corner.
Somehow this feels familiar.
We arrived at a large door, Ludtleth lifted his hand.
Opening his palm to it, sending in large black magical energy, I can see it… I can feel it… this is Mana of a Dark Soul.
A corrupted Soul that strayed from their original path.
That means Ludtleth is not just an ordinary Ethereal, no, he is an Overlord.
The door is opening, no, it"s melting.
We walked in...
And awaits us inside is a Skeleton— a Lich sitting on his disturbing Throne, which is filled with many parts of bones, and I don"t think it"s just human bones.
He spoke in an eerily cracking voice and menacing tone
"You have come, Ludtleth"
A b.u.t.t-clenching disturbing sound coming out of the Lich.
He looks up, revealing a part of his face
I can feel my eyes widened to its edges by the sight of him
No, it"s not because of his scary appearance
It"s because
"It"s him"
Accidentally, I speak out my mind
"You..."
...