The explosion produced not only mere light and sound. It was a collision between the will to live and absolute destruction. The world shook violently, the ceiling began to crumble, and the stars shattered on their own.
Arya, who was just sitting in front of his PC screen, was startled. His eyes widened as the whole screen shook and made his PC lag severely.
Then all the light subsided and a large text appeared on his PC screen.
[Congratulations, You have successfully saved Levyrend World.]
"Huh? I did it?" Arya had finally managed to defeat a Hidden Boss in the hardest game ever created by humans.
In the game Levyrend World, after we defeat a Boss, usually there is a side story that tells us how the Boss was created.
Usually, Arya was never interested in the storyline. What Arya always did was just mix potions and artifacts. But because this was a Hidden Boss, Arya was interested in reading it.
At first, there was a crazy and heretical cult that worshiped The Demon God of Darkness. They did everything they could to bring The Demon God of Darkness down to earth using a woman with black hair as a vessel. Their experiment actually succeeded, but the vessel that held the power of The Demon God of Darkness was too weak, so only a small portion could be contained.
"I actually don't really understand the storyline. But after taking a look at it, the storyline of Levyrend World is actually really good."
After finishing the Hidden Boss story, Arya went to the Levyrend World player forum just to show off and was curious how the community would react if he managed to defeat the Hidden Boss.
"Huh? What is this?"
There was a post from some remaining players receiving a surge for the first time. After two years of the game declining, this was the first time the player forum surged again.
[Player 1: Ah this damn trash game, suddenly the server errored or whatever that was. I was fighting the Hidden Boss just now.]
[Player 2: You experienced it too? I thought it was just me, especially since I was almost defeating the Hidden Boss.]
[Player 3: Right, the server suddenly errored.]
Arya was confused seeing the comments in a post, many saying the server errored. Filled with confusion, Arya intended to log back into the game Levyrend World.
Beep!
Suddenly Arya's house turned into a forest filled with red, blood-like light. Then the gaming chair he sat on turned into a tree with terrifying red flowers.
Overwhelmed by fear and confusion, Arya tried to scream for help. But for some reason his voice wouldn't come out and was stuck in his throat.
In such a condition, Arya panicked even more. He tried to stand up but his body wouldn't move at all. The red light, which turned out to be produced by the moonlight, now illuminated Arya's body.
Suddenly, many thorny roots emerged from the ground trying to wrap around Arya's body. In that situation, Arya panicked even more and was terrified to death.
The thorny roots had already wrapped around Arya's hand, and he could only stare helplessly in fear.
His vision trembled and a tear fell from his eye due to fear. Just as the thorny roots were about to wrap around Arya's body, a bright light appeared to illuminate him. That light was like hope inside despair.
The moment the light touched Arya's hand that was wrapped by the thorny roots, a hand wearing a white glove touched Arya's hand gently.
When that hand touched Arya's hand, the ground filled with terrifying red flowers turned into a round bronze table, and the tree Arya leaned against turned into a tall chair adorned with strange constellations.
When Arya saw the face of the person holding his hand, he was shocked. It turned out the one holding his hand and saving him was a beautiful woman with silvery-gold hair.
The woman wore a long, majestic white gown decorated with golden motifs resembling floral symbols. The upper part of the gown had a black geometric design with golden accents. The gown split into two sides, revealing her fair legs.
"You're safe now, so calm down." the woman said softly.
Arya tried to breathe steadily to regain his composure and also tried to understand his situation.
When he felt calm again, Arya looked at the woman and asked:
"Who are you? And what happened to me?"
The woman smiled gently. Then she moved her right hand and softly touched her chest.
"I am Arcla, and I am a Goddess."
"Arcla?" For some reason, Arya felt familiar with that name. But when he tried to recall it, he found no clues at all.
"Maybe it's just my imagination."
The woman named Arcla looked at Arya with her emerald-green eyes.
"Are you curious about what is happening to you, Arya?"
"Of course! You have no idea how panicked I was. Imagine, you're happily playing a game and suddenly you're transported to a terrifying place like that."
Arcla only chuckled softly at Arya's reaction. Then she explained what Arya was experiencing.
"What happened to you was caused by The Demon God of Darkness. He realized the plan I had made."
"Plan?" Arya asked curiously.
"Yes, my plan was to summon help from the outside world to save Levyrend World from danger."
"Saving Levyrend World? You mean that world is real?"
"Yes, that world is real. Everything that happens in the game is real, even the battle between Clarissa and the vessel of The Demon God of Darkness is also real."
"So you mean the one who sent me to that place was The Demon God of Darkness from Levyrend World?"
"Yes, that's right. Because he realized my plan, and he saw that you managed to defeat his vessel. He wanted to kill you because he feared you would disrupt his plan."
"Disrupt his plan? How would I disrupt his plan? I'm not even in the same world as him."
Hearing that, Arcla smiled softly while looking at Arya. Arya understood the meaning behind that look and smile, and he spoke firmly.
"No! I don't want to die! I know how terrifying that world is."
"Of course you would say that, Arya. But I won't let you work for free. I will grant you three wishes, anything."
"Anything? Even asking for a hundred trillion every year?"
"Of course. Even if you asked for unlimited money for your entire life."
Arcla smiled faintly and touched the surface of the bronze round table. Then light appeared from beneath the table, forming a gift box as big as a human head.
Arya was very interested in that. Arcla asked for help and offered wishes, and Arya had desires he wanted fulfilled. It was a mutual relationship for the both of them.
"But wait, you said you are a goddess. At least in Levyrend World, someone who has reached the level of Goddess or God becomes an Almighty being, right? Why don't you save that world with your power alone?"
Arcla paused. Then she answered softly, "You're right, I am an Almighty being. But I'm not that Almighty. There are still other Almighty beings who threaten Levyrend World."
"I've even repeated the world's timeline many times trying to find a way to save Levyrend World. But it was all in vain. You alone are my only hope. Help me, Arya."
Arya felt very conflicted. He knew he really wanted his wishes granted, but he was also afraid he would go insane in that world. Arya knew how terrifying Levyrend World was.
Arcla looked at Arya's conflicted face. Then she smiled softly and said, "I know you really want to grant that wish, but you are also afraid of the dangers of Levyrend."
Arya froze, unable to say a single word. Because what she said was true. And at that moment Arya realized Arcla had been reading his true thoughts from the very beginning.
"Fine, I will help you, as long as you help me with my wish."
Arcla smiled happily. "Agreed."
Arcla looked at the lights floating above the bronze round table and transformed them from a gift box into a swirling, galaxy-like vortex.
"So who will you possess?"
"I get to choose?" Arya asked curiously.
"Of course, you are a veteran who succeeded in finishing Levyrend World. You must know which character suits you best, right? But you cannot choose the main character, because they are destined to bear the burden of humanity. I'm afraid it would be too difficult for you."
From the start, Arya was not interested in possessing the main character anyway. The main character's talent was great, but his understanding was lacking. So Arya chose.
"I choose Erdian."
Arcla smiled faintly when she heard Arya choose Erdian as the body he would possess. Arcla moved her hand and suddenly a strange light door manifested.
At that moment Arcla gathered transparent energy from the entire place, forming a blue light on the strange light door. The color of the strange light door changed into a dark bluish-black glow.
It looked like very thick fog.
"Please go in, Arya. I've prepared everything you need to become Erdian—his memories, behavior, even his way of thinking."
Arya stood from his seat and walked casually. Beyond the strange light door, Arya knew there was a world full of madness waiting for him.
When Arya reached the strange light door, he turned to look at Arcla. He saw Arcla smiling sweetly and waving, and her mouth moved as if she were saying something. Arya couldn't hear it.
"I didn't hear what she said."
Then Arya turned and stepped into the strange light door.