"So. Carter Caine…" The woman rested her face on her hand and tilted her head slightly. She looked at him directly in the eyes.
She wore a dark gothic dress that was way more high-fashion than that little pub could handle. But she didn't care, and no one dared to question her. Her hair had a glistening purple shade in the night.
"If I give you the chance, right now, to live in the world of my video game, what will you say?"
On the opposite side, sitting on the other chair, was the owner of the name she had spoken.
The man frowned, tapping his fingers onto the wooden table.
"Do you want an honest answer or an acceptable one?"
"Honest, of course!"
"Fuck no!"
The answer took the purple-haired woman aback physically. She leaned back and jerked her head.
"The world of Darkness and Bloodlust is deadly and unforgiving. Gods and monsters walk amongst men. Even if you are a farmer, an unimaginable horror can just drop on your head at any time.
If you're lucky, death would be the end of it.
If you're not, then… Tch. Tch. Tch. Years and years of physical and mental torture.
I love the game. I love the world. But if you ask me if I want to live in this world…" Carter didn't say the rest and just shook his head with pouty lips.
The woman's smile disappeared. She looked at him. A long and everlasting gaze that made him a bit uncomfortable.
Carter let out a long sigh. He never had any luck with women. Mostly because he was a nerd. But also because he never knew how to properly flirt.
In his mind, he thought that he must find a way to fix this situation. Somehow.
"Look. It's not like…"
Before Carter could finish his sentence, the Goddess of Darkness and Bloodlust slapped him right in the face. The slap was so hard that he, literally, got sent across the dimensions. He became dazed from the strike.
Everything became blurry, and he fell down on the floor. For some reason, the wooden floor of the pub was bizarrely rough and cold. It was as if it were made out of hard stones. An overwhelming nauseous feeling took hold. It was too much misery for a mere slap and fall.
He could feel it inside his gut that something wasn't right.
The unsettling feeling caused him to gag a little bit. He tried his best to get up, with one hand holding his stomach. And he opened his eyes, taking in the scene of the surroundings.
A dungeon devoid of light with stone walls and a stone floor. Darkness filled the corners, and the only illuminating light source was a torch on the ground.
Carter felt the cringiest emotion in his heart. The feeling that told him that this was real and it was no longer the reality that he knew so well.
"I must be hallucinating. This can't be real," Carter tried to convince himself, even though he already knew the answer.
He shook his head, thinking it would snap him out of this stupid, vivid imagination he was having. But the only thing that followed was an insane headache flooding over his mind.
"Dev? Goddess of Darkness and Bloodlust? Delusional woman, where are you?"
Carter called out to the dark, but nothing replied to him. The only thing that sounded was the cold, dry wind of the dungeon.
Carter's skin crawled.
Suddenly a transparent window popped up.
"To my champion,
I hope you will have a lot of fun in my world.
The game you played so much is an exact replica of this world.
But there is one catch.
You can start from the beginning if you die in the game.
But in my world, if you're dead, you stay dead, and I will happily consume your soul.
Also, no cheat system for you. I saw that you were able to break my world so efficiently already.
Have fun, my champion!
Yours sincerely,
The Goddess of Darkness and Bloodlust,
Lucille."
Carter reached his hand toward the transparent window. His fingers went right through the hologram. Then the text disappeared like it never existed.
He dropped down on his knees and clenched his two fists. The man restrained himself from shouting, holding back his anger with all the fibers of his being.
He. Is. Fucked.
The developer of his favorite game had reached out to him. They went on a date and shared an enjoyable conversation. The sole developer was a woman to his surprise and a little bit delusional. She called herself a goddess.
Carter thought she was only joking. He didn't think that it was the truth and that she was able to send him into the world that she created.
Carter ran into a dark corner of the room and observed the surroundings with caution.
A collapsed tunnel at one end. A large double wooden door at the other, which was already broken into many pieces.
The tunnel must have broken down not long ago, as the scene seemed fresh. Most of the poor souls got buried completely, and some were only able to reach their hands out of the dirt. A few were more fortunate, being crushed only on half of the body.
The cursed ones were the people that survived the tunnel only to meet the creatures of the dungeon. There were many deformed corpses lying on the ground. All of them were mauled to death by unknown monsters.
Weapons scattered on the ground.
Big shields, small shields.
Long swords, short swords.
Curved blades, knives, clubs, and mallets.
This scene was familiar. Carter saw this place a thousand times before.
The beginning of Darkness and Bloodlust.
The only difference was that he had always seen it from the top-down view of a computer screen. Now, he was seeing it in the first-person point of view.
The bloody scene snapped Carter out of his outburst. He looked down on himself. He was still wearing the same suit. Carter touched his face, trying to get a feel for it. He wanted to know who he was. Was he himself, or was he playing one of the main characters?
There was no character creation in Darkness and Bloodlust. You could only choose from a limited range of characters to be your avatar.
Carter grabbed the torch on the ground and picked up a shiny shield nearby.
His face was reflected onto the shield's surface. He still has his original facial structure and appearance. His body also felt the same. Nothing had changed. He was sent directly from his world to the world of the game.
With the shield in his hand, Carter felt assured again. His breath slowed down, and his mind was cleared of doubt.
Darkness and Bloodlust was a cruel and unforgiving world. But it had always been fair.
With his knowledge, Carter knew he would be able to accomplish unimaginable feats in this world.
He touched his cheek. The feeling of that slap was fairly new. He could even feel her soft, slender hand.
He chose to be a speedrunner for the most difficult and rage-inducing game there was on the market. He mastered the game to such an extreme level that he was confident no one could be compared to him.
He didn't do it because of the streamer fame nor money. He played the game because he loved it. Through your cunning and wisdom, you could always find a way to survive and flourish.
He loved the unforgiving, ever-expanding chaos of this world. He loved the eerie feeling it provided and the challenge he had overcome. It made him exhilarated and alive.
Because nothing else in his life had made sense. Only the game was.
Carter picked up a spear and clenched it tightly in his hand. The feeling of the weapon gave him courage and determination.
Now, he had a choice. To continue to cower in fear or to revel in this violent world.
He chose the path of violence and vengeance.
"Arrogant goddess. I will come for you!"