In a mountainous, forested area where common animals and monsters coexisted in balance, peace reigned. Occasionally, a diverse group of humans would pass through, looking for something.
They might have been looking to capture rare animals, hunt monsters for their parts, collect medicinal herbs, map the area, or simply try their luck at finding valuable remains of any kind, whether from the present or the past.
Due to the abundance of resources in this area, which allowed three nearby city-states to benefit without conflict, the mountain range was called the 'Three-Headed Mountains.'
The name referred not only to the relatively nearby Eclipse City, Dawn City, and Sunset City but also to the three peaks that stood out due to their unique characteristics.
These mountains did not exist in this area before. First, a forest emerged with some small, unremarkable elevations until, 100 years ago, these three peaks rose from the ground.
One was an active volcano, with a plume of black smoke always rising from its peak. The red magma inside attracted special creatures related to fire or heat.
Even the trees growing on this volcano were special! After the cataclysm, not only did the fauna mutate into monstrous creatures, but the plants diversified and expanded in size. Many of them also became monstrous beings.
Thus, it was not uncommon for dangerous trees of all kinds to appear on this volcano, including those that could move on their own and those that could not. However, since the world was already strange after the cataclysm, humans had long become accustomed to it.
The mountain on the other side was the complete opposite. It was snowy. It was just like the frozen area near Eclipse City. A constant blizzard lashed this place, and it was home to cold-related creatures, whether animals or plants.
These two mountains were extremely different from each other! The largest peak stood between them and separated them. It was also particularly special.
It was completely bare. Many mountains were like this, which was not unusual, but the oddity was that none of the local creatures approached this place. When a human did approach, they felt a gnawing sense of dread, causing them to turn away.
If someone with an iron will insisted on approaching, they would rapidly lose their physical and mental strength. The Noetarchs felt that their energy was difficult to manipulate, and the side effects came much sooner.
This made climbing it practically impossible. Anyone who overcame their fear and refused to leave, even when extremely tired, would meet the expected fate: death.
Only the drastically consumed nutrients in the corpse would remain, based on the body's self-protection to survive. It did not turn people into mummies, but it made them extremely thin, as if they had suffered from starvation.
The mountain seemed to drain the life force from living beings, which is why the area was designated extremely dangerous and had a well-known reputation not only among the three nearest city-states but among all of them: Hunger Mountain!
What caused this effect? Since no one could investigate it, many hypotheses began to circulate among the high command and the general population. After all, mysteries always cause speculation.
Some claimed that it must be a natural phenomenon that arose after the cataclysm. This theory had some merit, given all the strange phenomena occurring around the world that defied common sense, including geographical, climatic, and biological anomalies, as well as events that clearly defied logic. These phenomena were collectively referred to as 'paranormal.'
Another hypothesis is that this place is under the influence of a technological creation from the past. This is because technology before the cataclysm was, in some ways, as advanced as today's technology, just without enchantments.
One interesting hypothesis, which has inspired related art, is that Hunger Mountain, like the two mountains next to it, may be home to invisible creatures. These mountains had obvious characteristics as well as a related population.
According to the theories developed around these beings, they possess an innate ability for stealth and prey in a particular way. They do not eat the flesh of animals or the bark of trees but rather absorb their "essence," causing the aforementioned deaths.
Though initially just one person's idea, this hypothesis gained traction when similar beings were discovered and was even taken into account by the governments of nearby city-states.
Regardless of the reason for this situation, no one wanted to explore it; no one approached this place on purpose unless they were looking for their own death.
Should they dig a tunnel or fly over the mountain? It was useless. These effects seemed to extend above and below the mountain, so no aircraft flew over the area for fear of dying of 'starvation,' so to speak.
Machines? The strange thing is that the same thing happened to these creations, including the Glyphworks. This place drained all forms of energy! Some say that only light is free from this influence because it is not affected by this phenomenon.
With all this in mind, what's important to know about this place right now? Simply put, when a place whose characteristics were familiar to many people showed even the slightest change, it was newsworthy.
So, how did the changes in Hunger Mountain begin? As with many events in real life, it happened by mere chance. This time, the event was triggered by the greed of a few.
A tanned woman covered in bloodstains and breathing heavily did her best to run through the forest. She cut through the branches in her way with her Glyphwork, a straight sword covered in yellow lines that seemed to glow with less power than before.
There was nothing remarkable about her except that she was carrying a cloth bag with something heavy inside in her other hand. She clung to the bag as if her life depended on it, constantly looking back.
"Leona! You can't run forever! Hand over the relic, and you'll walk away unharmed!" An amplified voice reached her ears, and she trembled slightly when she realized it sounded closer this time.
However, she continued running, clenching her teeth tightly and enduring the burning in her muscles as if it didn't exist since she had used her Noeia to numb her nerves.
She didn't need pain; she just needed to run! She amplified her legs' capabilities, moving like a leopard among the trees. She didn't bother with stealth; she didn't need it right now.
She needed to escape as soon as possible! As she ran, she glanced at the bag she was carrying and felt sad remembering how her boyfriend had been cruelly murdered by her teammates. Were they still her companions when they were also trying to kill her?
She didn't need remorse! She felt guilty for urging her partner to join those people, for participating so eagerly in exploring what appeared to be an experimental site before the cataclysm, and for being protected at the last moment by Carlos.
Leona didn't need those emotions. She only needed to survive. If she survived, she would get her revenge. She had a crazy plan in mind that, if it worked, would get her out of danger. But what if it failed? She would take one of those bastards down with her!
"Leona! Ahead lies Hunger Mountain. Do you think we'll give up because of that?" Stop! Don't waste your life! Hand over the relic!" the amplified voice said again, this time with much more urgency.
Leona didn't bother to respond. It would only distract her and waste energy she wasn't willing to expend. Her skin glistened faintly with sweat, and a faint white mist surrounded her due to the rapid evaporation caused by the heat resulting from her exertion.
Suddenly, the woman emerged from among the trees. Her feet were no longer touching the fallen leaves or the gnarled roots penetrating the earth; now, she stood on solid ground with no plants in sight.
In fact, the forest seemed to end abruptly at this spot, as if nature itself were afraid of what lay ahead. She could no longer hear birds or insects, and even the breeze seemed to have died down.
The world seemed unwilling to make a sound and attract the attention of whatever inhabited this place. Like a mirage, Hunger Mountain appeared suddenly in front of her, hundreds of meters away.
Standing alone at its base, she felt terror grip her heart, causing it to beat erratically and slip out of her control.
Her pupils dilated, and her temples seemed to swell as she tried to turn around and run away. Although she had heard and read about the situation in this place, she never thought it would be so serious.
As a Noetarch, she thought he would have greater resistance to the mountain's effects. But now, facing her fear, she realized this wasn't the case. She was as vulnerable as everyone else. She was nothing in the face of this area's phenomenon.
She was fragile in the face of the anomaly, yet she still summoned the courage to walk forward. She wanted to continue her escape, even though the hairs on her body were standing on end.
Even though she was trembling, she had to move forward. She simply couldn't turn back. She didn't want to stay and die. Her only option was to continue her journey, clinging to the vague hope that had brought her here.
Noeia seemed to respond to her iron will, pushing her body to dangerous limits and drawing on strength she knew she couldn't muster. If she didn't, everything she had run for during this time would be worthless.
'I just have to hide among those rocks. They won't come to me. Just...' she thought before feeling a sharp pain in her lower body. She simply couldn't take another step and fell to the ground.
A spear decorated with glowing red lines had pierced her lower back, come out the front, and impaled her before sticking into the hard ground.
The pain was terrible, but not as terrible as the despair engulfing her mind. She felt the heat escaping from her body and her lucidity fading. Still, she dragged herself forward with all her strength, determined to fulfill her goal despite her situation.
"Damn it, Leona! I told you to stop! Bitch!" growled the man whose voice she hated so much. He had always spoken to her through a loudspeaker.
"We must leave quickly. Although we are not close, Hunger Mountain's effect is already upon us," said another man. This caused the first man to take a loud breath before pulling the spear out of Leona's body. She was still alive and clinging to it desperately.
"Yes, we must leave before..." The man fell silent and watched in utter amazement as something that had never been seen before in this area occurred.
He trembled. The mountain was shaking! Not only that, but a large stone wall split in two, revealing a dark tunnel that seemed to descend into the depths of the earth.
Leona's three pursuers, upon noticing this situation, added to the fear they felt just being in this place and began to flee in terror.
They didn't check Leona's body or claim what they had been trying to steal from her. They just wanted to get away as quickly as possible. They ran toward their flying vehicle, but it was lying on the ground, motionless.
"Shit! The mountain swallowed the car's energy!" complained the third, who seemed to be having a panic attack due to everything happening.
"Let's go on foot!" the second one said before running into the forest, followed by his two companions.
Leona was left behind, still trying to cling to the ground with her fingernails despite her weakened state from her injuries, and the drain on her stamina caused by the Mountain of Hunger.
However, her will continued to drive her on; her Noeia urged her body to react. She simply did not want to fall here and be consumed like one of those unfortunate souls.
"Human life is truly tenacious. It's been a long time since I've seen someone like you. Could it be that even in this era, there are people with brilliant wills like yours?" said a new male voice that sounded unusually calm, even though he should have been experiencing fear.
Leona couldn't respond. She didn't even hear those words. The owner of the voice didn't seem bothered by her lack of response, though. Instead, he laughed, recognizing something only he could discern.
"Deactivate the Life Nullifying Field!" It's time to see which humans in this era have a strong will. Perhaps I should organize some fun games with rewards! What's the point of playing without winning something?" That voice said, as if talking to someone, but only the voice could be heard.
Someone lifted Leona's body and carried her away. She could only see that this person had not taken her relic but had tied it to her arm as if not wanting her to lose it.
"Did you find that old laboratory? It seems you found one of the special processors I created a long time ago. I guess that's your reward. I have better things now. These centuries have not been in vain!" the voice said before Leona fell completely unconscious.
Since that day, no one had set foot on the mountain again. However, three people who had seen the changes were already exploring the forest. They weren't the only ones in the area, so perhaps in a few weeks, the three surrounding cities would know about the situation.
Enough time to organize some games, right?
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Back in Eclipse City, night had fallen, and Selene's three friends had returned home, promising to spend more time with her next time. Selene smiled as she lay on her bed after showering and changing. She only put on black panties, leaving everything else exposed.
That was the advantage of privacy! Since she practically lived on the third floor, her parents rarely came up. And if they did, they took other routes to the attic, leaving this area of the house at her disposal.
She could practically be naked without shame, though she didn't have much to begin with. Still, she wouldn't let her parents see her completely naked; at the very least, she should wear a bra.
She held two objects in her hands: her communication crystal and the gold coin. She was carelessly examining the coin while her mind wandered elsewhere, busy thinking about irrelevant things.
With her arms slightly raised, her armpits were visible, covered with a small blanket of purple hair. Was she disgusted or uncomfortable with her own body hair? Selene felt neither!
"Will it really work? Can I simulate others in my dreams to fight them? It seems complicated. I don't understand how this thing is built or programmed.
I could barely get the firewall to work, minimizing its trace on the network. A new function? Creating something like that from scratch would take a long time," Selene complained, putting her communicator crystal aside and holding only the Dream Interface Core.
The purple-haired girl knew that if she created duplicates of the beings she wanted to face in her dreams, they wouldn't be entirely realistic and would have many of her biases.
Not to mention the lack of data! She would just create creatures to crush with her superiority! After all, it was her dream, and she would inevitably be given advantages when fighting. This would be counterproductive to her desire to train, so Selene decided to test the waters a little.
So Selene decided to test the waters a little. Wasn't this some kind of advanced virtual reality? Surely people used it to play in their dreams. There must be options related to that.
She began a review process using her communication crystal. Her father had completely modified and adapted her version, making it capable of requesting the necessary permits for something like this to exist in the city.
In this sense, she didn't need crystal computers because her communicator was already one! She skillfully began exploring the systems of the Dream Interface Core and even looked at some of its source code.
This allowed her to understand how it worked and was built, which would be useful in the future. It also allowed her to find what she wanted, or something similar.
After two hours of exploration, Selene finally found what she was looking for. She confidently activated the special option and began reading the related information.
[User, you have activated the 'Realism Mode' option on this device. You must understand the following...]
[In this mode, the constants of the real world will be simulated with 99% accuracy.]
[The user will be unable to control the simulation, except for their own actions and some minor adjustments.]
[The user will experience the sensations of the real world one-to-one, just as in base mode, but they must also suffer the consequences of their actions.]
[As a realistic simulation, any sensation will be felt as it would be in reality, including pleasure and pain.]
[The user will be vulnerable and may 'die,' which means their consciousness will be forcibly awakened, and all history created up to that point will be transferred to the records. However, the simulation will be accessible again, and the user's process will have to start from scratch.]
[If you are not satisfied with the default role, you can choose to customize another storyline and restructure the simulation. User customization options are offered before the simulation for these adjustments.]
[A comprehensive description of your desired execution is required and involves the use of data packages with records to simulate environments and living creatures.]
[There is no censorship or scruples. However, if you decide to create a particular story, the simulation may contain various 'rules,' whether internal to the simulated environment or external and organized by the creator of the simulation.]
[You can upload your simulation to the network to let others experience your dream world...]
Although more information existed, only what followed was important for the ancient era. Unless a functional Dream Interface Core factory is found, only Selene will be able to experience it all.
"I wonder how many crazy things people have done. From normal dreams to the most exaggerated ones. But this thing is blank; it only has a strange simulation." It seems that, although this object was not tied to a person before Selene, whoever acquired it at that time created their own simulation.
[The Princess and the Seven Assassins]
Selene didn't know what it was about, but she had heard that the artistic world used to be much broader. Even now, less than 1% of the movies, novels, stories, poems, songs, games, and other works of art from that time have been found.
She remembers spending a million Argentum a year ago when someone found a metal disc containing an intact music album. The person sold it to the city government for 500 Argentum, but Selene had to spend a lot more to get it.
She managed to get the song files and kept the disc, which is now framed and hanging on her wall. In her room, you could hear the soft voice of a singer while she hummed along to the music, her fingers running over the gold coin.
"From the tone of that name, it seems to be based on a story, but I don't know it. I already know how to create simulation packages; I just have to load the data." Selene narrowed her eyes, thinking about a few things.
There were compendiums on current flora and fauna, including monsters. Although there were no specific details, such as 'It tastes like this and that,' the purple-haired girl felt that what was there was enough.
The only problem was that the truly detailed records were expensive, but they were much more complete than what was taught in class. Selene had already obtained them some time ago, though, and stored them on her communication crystal.
"Never mind. Let's upload that data and look for more online. There's always something interesting there. Also, download videos of fights, use yours, too!
It's great that Morgana records my fights with Dad. I'm really interested in trying that simulation now, but I'm sleepy, so it's a win-win," Selene said, smiling before settling into her bed. She tucked herself in and covered her bruised body, which had already begun to fade since this afternoon.
She held the gold coin in front of her eyes and fell asleep. Once again, she appeared in her mental passage. Suddenly, what she had created the first time she used the Dream Interface Core appeared, just as she had left it.
However, there was also a transparent screen in front of her displaying a complete menu. This feature had not been available previously, but while searching for ways to create more concrete simulations, she had enabled certain options, one of which was this interface.
She quickly located the section on realistic illusions and found the only one available, along with a brief explanation. She then created a soft seat, sat down on it, and felt comfortable before reading the content in front of her.
[This simulation is based on an old story. You will be transported to a fantasy world where you can play the role of a princess who must overcome the surrounding dangers.]
[Will you be able to survive and live in peace?]
"That doesn't explain anything!" Selene complained, disappointed by the limited information available to her. However, her pink pupils sparkled with interest. Wasn't that an adventure? She liked adventures!
She prepared herself mentally before starting the simulation. Suddenly, everything around her changed dramatically. All that she had built was buried and replaced by a new setting.
The sky clouded over, and black clouds covered the sunlight while dropping snowflakes. A huge castle loomed in front of her, resembling works of art from the past that had been recovered.
A superior force took over her body, making her pass through the walls of the building and deposit her on a huge, warm bed. Her surroundings were full of elements that seemed simple at first, but she recognized them as luxurious.
Fortunately, her physical appearance had not changed. She was still in her thread-like form. Only her hair was much more 'descriptive,' so to speak, although many details were still missing. However, Selene knew that the characters in the simulation would not notice this difference.
"Is this how people lived in the past? Or is it because of the role I must assume?" Selene murmured before reading what appeared in front of her.
[You are a beautiful, delicate, and fragile princess. You can't fight in that state! You must find a way to survive by any means necessary.]
Selene grimaced when she read the information and realized that her exuberant power had disappeared. She couldn't feel her muscles' strength, her bones' hardness, or even her sharp teeth. Among her other permanent enhancements.
Now she was a normal woman! Rather than being frightened or panicking, she was interested in her situation. This feeling of weakness gave her a new perspective on her body, one she hadn't had since childhood.
"A woman without strength, was that what princesses were like in the past? No wonder they were always kidnapped in those stories!" Selene clicked her tongue before sitting on the edge of the bed.
"From the title, I guess there must be seven assassins. From what I've read, it seems that each of them has me as their target. So, let's start exploring this simulation." She had already started looking at the large wardrobe in front of her, interested in the clothes inside.
If she liked what she saw, she could recreate those designs and bring them to the real world. She could certainly start a great business recovering clothes from the past! She stood up and walked over to the wardrobe.
"By the Second Sun! It looks like I'll make some money with these beauties," Selene murmured, smiling. But before she could try on the clothes, she heard a knock on the door. It made her tremble.
It seemed that the characters were no longer going to stay still, and it was her turn to participate in the simulation.