1 The Coming of King

In a lonely house, there was a young adult, approximately 25 years old, his hair was messy, his physique was deplorable and under his eyes there were deep and marked dark circles.

While slowly the last lights of the sun illuminated the place and the darkness of the night took over the atmosphere, the young adult simply kept staring at the screen of his computer.

He was a staunch fan of RPGs or Role Play Games, more specifically traditional dice RPGs.

Some time ago, he and a group of friends began the tradition of connecting via the internet and through an online role-playing page to play different games.

But that was so much time ago.

Things had changed since then.

Slowly the players were leaving the games.

You might think that this is the normal course of life, to change and leave things behind.

But…

What if your life were RPGs?

How would you feel when you discover that what you value most dies?

Anyone would plunge into depression; slowly falling into an abyss of melancholy and resentment.

In a last attempt to revive what he longed for so much, the young man decided to create a new campaign with incredible details, but this was simply the last signs of a dying man.

He had sent messages to everyone, the game was ready, he had each of the possible dialogues ready, the only thing missing was the arrival of the players.

The only thing missing was for his friends to arrive.

Right now he was waiting.

He was waiting for them to connect, for his friends to arrive, for them to join together to start the new game ... this was his last hope, his last hope to go back to the old days ... the old times that he cherished so much in deep in your heart.

He knew that if this did not work, there would be no more role-playing games, he knew it would be the end of everything.

His parents had long died in a car accident, it was approximately at that time that he met the hobby of role-playing games, perhaps he took refuge in these to avoid the cruel reality.

He had no close relatives, his grandparents had died of old age and by isolating himself through RPGs, he slowly lost contact with the rest of his relatives.

He was truly alone in this world, his only bond with it was the good memories of him with his friends.

He waited and waited ...

The hours passed ...

And nobody came ...

As his room slowly plunged into darkness and his being lost hope, something interesting happened.

The following message appeared on his computer screen: "Cheo has joined the game"

It was the arrival of one of his friends.

He immediately wrote the following message in the chat "hello Cheo, good to see you, can you enter the voice channel?"

After a few minutes, Cheo replied "Yes, why not, it will be for the best."

"YES" he celebrated, he quickly reached for his headphones and activated the microphone.

"Can you hear me Cheo?" he asked.

"Yes, I hear you" immediately came the answer.

"Wow, it's been a really long time, Cheo. I was beginning to think that no one would come. "

"Yes…. It's been a while since we last spoke "

Cheo's voice was the voice of a person about 25 years old, but in this there was no trace of what could be called vigor, enthusiasm or youth.

"This is the first time since you changed jobs in real life, so how long has it been? ... two years maybe more?"

"Ah…. Yes, I think it's true. Wow… It's been a while since then… it seems like my sense of time isn't working… lately I've been doing extra shifts every night. "

"Cheo, if I can ask, are you okay?"

"Physically? I'm a mess. Not enough to visit the doctor, but only narrowly. I really want to drop everything. However, I have to earn money to make ends meet, there is no other option, it doesn't matter if they treat me like a slave. "

"Oh…." Tilting his head back, he made an irritated gesture, of course, it was a voice chat for which Domino would be unable to see his bitter expression.

"Actually, I'm barely able to bear it." Cheo's melancholy voice, charged with an incredible sense of reality, headed straight for him as if it were some kind of attack on his conscience.

His complaints regarding work in the real world increased further.

Stories about incompetent colleagues, plans that were completely changed overnight, criticism from superiors for not achieving their goals, days of sleepless nights due to accumulation of work, weight gain due to their ruined biorhythm, the increasing number of medications with each passing day.

Eventually the conversation turned one-sided as cheo complaints flowed out as if a dam had broken.

There are many people who avoid talking about reality during RPGs. That feeling of not wanting to drag the real world into the role-playing session was understandable. But he knew that stopping him would be rude of him.

After a few moments, Cheo's words of complaint stopped "… Excuse me. I don't have many opportunities to vent. "

To prevent the depressing atmosphere from growing, his reply came quickly "Okay, Cheo. I'm the one who asked you to come, even when you were tired. "

Compared to before, a weak laugh with a little more enthusiasm was heard from Cheo.

"Thanks a lot. I am happy to have connected and to have spoken again. "

"I'm glad, I also liked talking to you, about the Cheo game…."

"Sorry, I won't be able to participate, actually I just logged in to tell you not to participate."

"Oohh ... Yes, it's understandable, no problem."

"Excuse me again."

While staring at his monitor, he looked at the user image of Cheo, it was a dragon with a humanoid form, while looking at the image, he gently sighed to hide the emotions that had arisen in him.

"I really want to participate, but I am exhausted."

"You must be exhausted. Please disconnect and rest a bit. "

"Thanks for the advice Dungeon Master, by the way what will you do?"

"I am planning to stay online for a few more hours. There is still time ... who knows, maybe someone else could connect. "

"So that's what you'll do ... frankly, I didn't expect you to continue running games, it was a nice surprise, thanks for not changing."

In this kind of moment, it was really nice that they weren't talking via video call. Because if they were, Cheo could have seen his gesture with the naked eye. He immediately closed his mouth to stop his sudden emotions, because they would be evident in his voice.

Immediately dry the slight tears that had arisen, Cheo's words had reached directly to his heart.

He had kept the tradition of getting together to talk alive, so it was natural for him to feel overwhelmed with indescribable feelings when hearing words like the ones one of his greatest friends had just said.

"As the Dungeon Master, you have done your best in an attempt to bring us all together again. Thanks for that."

"It is the duty of the Dungeon Master to give his utmost effort in his games."

"It was thanks to your presence that we were able to enjoy these RPGs to the fullest ... Next time we meet, it would be nice if we had some coffee."

"Yes, that would be good, lately I don't go out much of the house, although I doubt very much that we can, we are in different countries."

"Mmm… Right…. So, aahh ... I'm feeling really tired ... So I'll log out ... I'm glad I talked to you again. "

"..." For a moment, he was unable to answer; however, he spoke his final words immediately.

"I had a good time too. Thank you so much for everything."

A smiley emoticon appeared in the text chat. He did the same as his friend and selected the same emoticon.

Then, Cheo's final words were heard.

"See you later friend" and with that the only player who showed up, disconnected.

Silence returned to his room. A silence devoid of interest and emotion.

Looking at the location of Cheo's user image previously, he released a sigh at the same time as he spoke the actual words that he was going to say at the end.

"I understand that you are tired, but since I had many things prepared today and that you are already here, how about I reduce the difficulty and make a short game?"

Of course, there was no response.

"Aaahhh ..." letting out a long breath from deep in his heart. He knew it, he couldn't bring himself to say those words.

The fact that Cheo was always tired was completely evident from the tone of his short conversation. But Cheo saw the email he sent and showed up today, even if it was to say that he would not participate. He should be grateful for just that. Wanting more would have been not only shameless, but also a nuisance.

"See you never ..... My friend" It was his words while he deactivated his microphone, of course, Cheo did not hear them, but he knew that those words were more for himself than for Cheo.

"Let's meet again in a different place"

"Let's meet again one day"

"See ya"

"See you soon"

"It will not be for long"

He had heard similar phrases one after another. But nobody had fulfilled them.

No one had returned.

He didn't know, this had been the last time he would speak to Cheo.

His shoulders began to shake and then her true feelings that he had held back for a long time exploded.

"SHIT, FUCK, THEY ARE TRAITORS, WHY? WHY? WHY?!! What did I do wrong? What was my mistake? I-I-I… .. AARR! "

With a furious scream, he hit the table where his monitor was leaning with one of his hands, it was fortunate that it did not fall from his place.

"How many adventures have we had together? How many great characters have we created? How can all of them drop all of this so easily ?! "

What followed his fury was cold desolation.

"…No, is not that. They did not give up on this. They simply faced the choice between 'reality' and 'fantasy'. Ah, it couldn't be helped, and there was no betrayal. It must have been a difficult choice ... "

He muttered to himself as if he was trying to persuade himself.

He gradually regained his calm, until he returned to a calm state.

"I'm an idiot" were his words.

While he was thinking about what to do, he looked at a notebook that he was near him, it was his notebook where he had all his notes with the information he needed for his departure, which would be impossible to do. perform.

"I'll take one last look at it, and I think later ... I will."

After looking at the map, the prominent places, some important NPCs, the nations that made up the world, among other things, I get to the most important detail, the main enemy of that campaign.

Currently I only had ready the final Boss of an incredible dungeon with a castle design, I also had some details ready such as the castle locations and the NPCs that would function as the Bosses of each zone.

At this time, he only had the final Boss character sheet ready, and he only had some initial concepts of what the Bosses in each zone would be like.

"A powerful Arch Witch with the appearance of a High Elf who is actually an undead Fairy, his powers and abilities were so high that he could statistically be compared to a god. What was he thinking of making him so strong?" after meditating for a few moments he remembered "For more pleasure of course."

As he looked at the cards of the other bosses, he noticed something "His character sheets are not ready yet; unfortunately I will not work on these cards anymore since the game is canceled, it is a real shame. "

Putting the cards back in the notebook, he leaned back slightly in his chair, and one by one he remembered the names or nicknames of his friends.

Marcus, Cheo, Alan, Felix, Mecso, Jaime, Neolaris, Lalos, Ighor, Shade, Magnus, Levita...

Remembering the names of his companions was not very difficult for him, the names of his friends were deeply etched in his mind.

"It was fun, really fun ..."

♦ ♦ ♦

Slowly his sight was blackening... he was dying...

Knowing the imminent end of her he began to close his eyes, it seemed that what she had done would end quickly.

he she was losing the sensitivity in her whole body...

His consciousness was sinking into a deep abyss of darkness...

It was over…

... or so he believed at first.

But without him knowing how or why, his eyes slowly widened.

When he focused his vision on him, everything had changed.

He was in a dimly lit place, sitting in a humble chair with few details.

"Welcome. Unfortunately, you have died. " Someone suddenly spoke to him.

In the room was a set of office desk and chair, and whoever announced that his life was over was sitting in that chair.

He was an extremely old man, his wrinkles had wrinkles, his head lacked hair, instead he had a long beard, the beard instead of showing wisdom and understanding, reflected fatigue and exhaustion.

His hunched over posture, unkempt beard, and deep dark circles denoted an exhausted existence.

"My name is Guardian" the old man began "I am the god in charge of a distant world, a world different from earth, you have two options."

"two options?"

The old man nodded, but just before he could respond, he began to sneeze violently.

After wiping the slime from his mouth using his faded tunic, he spoke: "The first option is to return to the wheel of transmigration, you would lose all the memories of your life and you would be reborn as a living being somewhere on Earth, this would be what normal."

"What kind of option is that? You are literally asking me to leave my memories and start from scratch, it is the same as erasing my existence since my memories will disappear. Also ... you said to be alive, it means that I can be reborn as an insect or even a plant"

"Yes… each of your words is the truth of the afterlife. But I have good news for you "

"Well ... what would be the second option?"

"There is a distant world of magic and fantasy; a world with dragons, goblins and other creatures… "Guardian confidently began to explain the so-called good news from him.

In short, Guardian's explanation was something very simple.

The world of magic and fantasy described by Guardian was in a state of stagnation and was slowly falling into decline.

According to Guardian, the world functioned mechanically similar to a certain RPG with dungeons and fire-breathing reptiles.

Apparently Guardian had already sent other people to that world, some were more successful than others, apparently, according to Guardian, the vast majority of reincarnates, not to say all, had died, many died of old age and others had bad luck or took bad decisions.

As the explanation finished, the Guardian's next words were intriguing "You will be the last reincarnated, sent to that world."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I am already tired of that world, of its people. For that reason, I will give you the choice; whether to reduce that world to ashes or be the bearer of its salvation. "

"How will I do that?"

"I will make your last wish when you were alive come true"

♦ ♦ ♦

The sight of what was in front of him simply left him speechless. The change of atmosphere from being in an endless cesspool to a fully lit space overwhelmed him.

After making a deal with Guardian, the vision of him had blackened again, but this time he knew it was not the end.

What was in front of him was a huge room: a space large enough to hold hundreds of people and with room to spare, and a ceiling so high that you had to look all the way up. The walls were white, adorned with a variety of gold decorations. Hanging from the ceiling, rows of opulent chandeliers made of rainbow-colored gemstones that gave off a fantastic glow. From the end of the hall to the vicinity where he was, a total of fifty giant pillars with different patterns were lined up and in the center of these pillars, as if it were a path, a huge carpet marked the path from the entrance. from the living room is the place where he was.

There was a low staircase that had about ten stairs adorned with gold and silver in the central area of ​​the room and at the top was a majestic golden throne with a light red padding, on that golden throne he was sitting.

Behind the throne was a stained glass window that allowed the passage of natural light, the design of this was a coat of arms or flag, it consisted of two immense glass panels, one black and the other white, in the center of this was an imposing interconnected tree being the section of the tree that was in the black zone, white color and the section of the tree that was in the white zone, black color; around the tree were ten stars, five white and five black, with the same theme as the tree in the center, white stars in the black area and black stars in the white area; and on the upper part of this tree was a crown with the same theme of inverse colors to denote an absolute balance.

To anyone else, that glass would have simply been a stained glass window with a strange and extravagant design, but nothing familiar.

But he knew what it was, and that made him happy.

"Perfect!" he exclaimed.

"The old man was not lying." he knew it, that flag had been designed by himself, it was a flag for a role-playing game.

"My lord, is something wrong?" The words came from a female voice that had genuine concern in his voice.

Slowly directing his gaze to the source of the female voice, which belonged to a figure standing next to the throne, his blindness due to his shock had prevented him from noticing it.

On her body was a pure white dress. Paired with her dress, her silver hair that had a few streaks of pink, which was trimmed at the sides to shoulder length but the back of her extended to roughly her shoulder blades.

Although her jade irises and vertical cat-like pupils were peculiar, she was an impeccable beauty. On his forehead was positioned a beautiful silver headband with golden lines and from the tips of the headband that was on his left and right temples he had a beautiful design of protruding metallic wings, and on his waist there were a pair of wings with White feathers. Perhaps because of her wing-shaped headband and delicately combed hair, her smile seemed to belong to a beautiful warrior queen, intelligent and calculating, but kind in her own way.

She was a woman whose beauty could be classified as exotic.

The upper part of her dress was close to her body, which allowed her perfectly balanced feminine figure to be easily visualized, while her long cross-cut skirt revealed the objective of allowing free mobility in her design, a kind of white choker with lines and Golden edging completely covered his neck and part of it extended slightly towards his shoulders and chest. Her arms were covered by silk gloves that gave her a delicate appearance.

He knew who she was, or at least he suspected who she might be; her appearance perfectly matched the description of a character he had created.

If he wasn't wrong, her name should be Keil, the hand of the king.

He wasn't quite sure, but based on the background fragments he remembered. She was the character who supervised the nine Generals of the castle, but at the same time she was also the person closest to the lord of the castle, that meant that her rank was above all the other inhabitants of the castle.

He stared at who he thought she might be Keil and wondered "Is it really her?"

He unreservedly looked at Keil with sharp eyes as he analyzed the situation; the more he thought about it, the more surreal it all seemed. He decided to give the most casual comment possible.

"And you are….?"

For some reason, the one who looked like Keil put a slight smile on her face as he retreated a few steps from the throne.

"Of course, a being as exalted as you should not waste your time remembering an insignificant insect like me" Holding the hems of her skirt at the height of her thighs, I make a perfect bow before continuing to speak "This humble being who is in your presence is Keil. "

That confirmed it, if it was Keil; the same Keil who was designed as a character for his role-playing game, the same Keil who was the penultimate Boss of the castle. Remembering her stats, a chill ran down her spine.

"Keil right?" He asked a rhetorical question as he started, she only nodded "I guess you know who I am right?"

Keil nodded before replying "You are my lord and master."

"Mmm ... Explain."

Keil swallowed with difficulty and her body suddenly tensed, it seemed that her words had caused some kind of concern in her.

Waiting for her did not matter to him, because internally he was surprised at himself, the voice that came from his lips did not correspond with the voice he had before arriving at this place.

His voice was much thicker and deeper than he remembered, it seemed to belong to a villain from some anime or movie. Why had his voice changed?

But the next words stunned him.

"You are Zark Ar Zathot, the ruler of Castle Damenburg."