It is there, in front of me.
The Everest, the Amazon, Antarctica. The sea of fog that extends beyond the cliffside, begging you to take the leap.
I've finally been transported to another world. The one from my favorite game [The Abyss, The Tower, and the End]. A Dungeon Crawler/Roguelite known for being unreasonably hard, cruel, and against the player, but that's just casual salt. Once you knew what to do, it was an enjoyable test of your capacity to adapt, game knowledge, and luck.
I don't have provisions, much less equipment, and the Slave Brand on my belly is still sizzling, but I do not give a shit.
Because it ain't nothing I haven't lived (played) through.
The three Grigori stand before me, towering over the menagerie of adventurers that prepare to go into the Abyss under their auspices. Their identical frames are nothing more than lumps of clay, that give the faint impression of humanity. Their unfinished faces are featureless, but if I peer into them the clay begins to peel away.
The one to the left is a playful child that does not know what wrong even is: Kipbo.
The one in the middle is a wise sage that holds everything in disdain: Xu Shi.
The one to the right does not laugh, it will never laugh: Umzana.
Though the clay looks fresh and wet, their vigil over this island and the Abyss within has been undisturbed for millennia. Since far before anything that could die set foot in this world. There are ways to call their attention and rewards for doing so. But at this stage, well, it's better not to.
I have to worry about feeding myself, and then I'll worry about becoming the fucking strong.
The adventurers that step into the point where their gazes meet fade away like a mirage, transported to the Abyss. It's the safest way to enter it, avoiding having to travel through the Outer Ring, which is an ordeal best left to the suicidal.
Now, time to run down my mental checklist again.
First, go southeast to avoid high rankers and carrion looters. The first would kill me if I look at them wrong, or even by accident while opening a path down to the lower floors, the second will kill anything that tries to steal their livelihood, and both are too strong for me. I can still see the sun on the first floor, and it's early in the morning, so I'll know where to run.
Second, find the noob cave. It's a cave in the southeast of the first floor that meets four precious requirements. First, it's off the patrol path of the wandering boss [Panbairn], so it's safe to fortify. Second, it's near the crossing point of the spawnzones of [Bullgoats] and [Forest Blackbirds], so when the birds kill the bulls and eat their organs I can steal some meat. Third, it's near a [Goblin] den, providing precious EXP and loot for weaklings like me. And four, there are no NPC spawns in there, so no risk of getting bullied out of your loot.
Third, survive. Kill goblins, and eat bullgoat for twenty-eight days until the [Ripper Train] arrives, and take the ride back here. That way I should have enough experience and money to convince my Master that I'm worth keeping.
If I hadn't got the worst starting roll, I'd aim for the second floor on the first dive, at least. But I have to prioritize money, or my head goes flying. Sad!
But those are the wages of having the worst master in the game.
So! Time to gaze into the Abyss. I meet the Grigori's eyeless gaze head-on, and my vision begins to swim. I am everywhere. I am nowhere.
And I am at my destination.
<<<<<<<<<<
Damn, that's trippy. My vision is still swimming, and my limbs feel like they're made of gelatin. No wonder [Teleportation Sickness] is such a hard-hitting debuff.
I close my eyes. It will make the nausea pass faster, and it's not like I need to see to know what's happening. The stronger Delvers, who have at least five dives under their belt no longer suffer from this debuff, so they've already left the starting point. All that's left here are the newbies and their miserable moaning.
“BLEEERGHHH”
I think someone just puked. It sure smells like bile. The idiot probably tried standing up and walking. I suppose he was scared of mobs walking in and finishing us while we are writhing on the ground, but he needn't worry. Very few monsters have this starting point in their patrolling path, and on top of that...
I open one eye, everything's still wobbly but I can see him clearly. The old elf, so withered he looks like his skin is made of leather and clothed in nothing but rags, shows a toothless smile as he looks down on all of us. [Old Nikhos] is an NPC that hangs around the starting point and kills every mob that threatens the new Delvers while they are defenseless. He won't protect me the moment I step out of this zone, but the dude is strong enough to solo everything on this floor short of the bosses, so I can relax.
Usually, [Teleportation Sickness] lasts an hour, but if you lay down, close your eyes, and relax, it passes ten times faster.
And soon enough, I'm standing up.
I should have a look at the rest of the newbies, it's extremely rare but sometimes a non-randomly generated NPC spawns in the first div-!
Oh, ho!
I see him! Black hair and brown eyes, the average height of a Japanese male, slim build, equipment suspiciously similar to a jacket, shirt, and trousers. A dual-wielder with a katana and a straight sword. Lovingly dubbed [Protagonist (lol)] by the community, the one, the only: Hayato!
Now, the question is...
Should I kill him?
For [Artificer] players like me, killing this guy is a nice and easy way to get your hands on two Relics. The katana is randomly generated, but it's always lightning element and its first ability is to shoot elemental energy waves with a slash. The straight sword is the real prize, its name is [Seed of Seven Branches] and it's one of the thirty-seven Growth-Type Relics, which are the best items in the game for Artificers like me. Even if [Seed of Seven Branches] is the seventh hardest to bring to its full potential, enhancing it once is easily done and will carry me at least to the third floor. I would have to replace it with my real target, eventually, but it would make for a nice pick-me-up.
But on the other hand, not killing him opens up a quest with a unique boss. And the skill it drops is very nice for the eleventh floor. The difference between it being just a pain on the ass, or torture with a chance of death.
I think I can work without a weapon for a while, but it's nice to know I have a relic piñata if I need it. After all, this guy can't die on his own until he's at floor four.
Congratulations, Hayato, you get to live another day.
Huh? Why is he so close? He's still on the ground, so he shouldn't have been able to...
Ah, shit! I walked towards him while thinking. I can feel Nikhos's killing intent stabbing me in the back.
Hey, old man elf! Stop looking daggers at me, I've already decided to not kill him!
I'm not dumb enough to try and get lucky with that guy here, I'd at least have waited until he walked off the safe zone!
“Get away from him!” A shrill but still cute voice shouts.
I twist my head to look down at the interloper. A wide-brimmed pointy hat decorated with runic engravings on the inside, long and fiery hair with a faint smell of strawberries, ocean blue eyes narrowed in anger, and pink lips in a snarl that's 99.9999999999% cute and 0% intimidating. So short I could play with her like a doll, with a foul personality, and flatter than a board, but cute and cute! The heroine that probably was written in the 2000s: Leonore Adastra!
In [The Abyss, The Tower, and the End] she can be romanced by male Humans, Halflings (ManletxWomanlet love lol), and Elves, but she's the least popular heroine in the game. A literal who to most players, hated by most in the know, and loved by a few patricians. Yes, my favorite dogs are chihuahuas, how did you know?
She raises her staff against me, sparks of flame gathering at its round head.
“Stand back, you lizard!”
And she's racist against half the playable races.
Not at all coincidentally, I'm a Lizardman!