Chapter 1: Guess I'm the LARPer Now
“Your home has quite the curious architecture to it. Compact and plain, yet efficient and organized.”
Can you please not diss my condo unit?
Also, I’m pretty sure that the mountain visible from the window wasn’t there before. I live in the inner city, close to hospitals and supermarkets, far from any mountain on the island…
Anyway, after our heart-racing first interaction, I led the mysterious woman to the small dinner table so we could talk. Since the room felt uncharacteristically cold today, I prepared some hot chocolate for us.
After I offered her the cup, she seemed unsure what to do with it at first, like watching a caveman discover fire. She stared deep into the cup, tilted her head, and then her expression brightened as if something finally clicked.
“Ah! A mortal custom, yes? Sharing a drink in celebration upon meeting! Truly, you are a remarkable constellation, honorable one. One with no equal. To have such a deep understanding of the lives under his grasp… Mhm!”
“C-Constellation? Right. Um. Sure.”
“Yet, if memory serves right, those mortals’ celebratory drinks were… sparklier. Transparent. Like liquid gold! This one, however, is nearly pitch black… and scalding!”
Is she talking about beer? And what was that talk about me being a constellation? Things have really taken a strange direction here. But now that I don’t have to fear for my life, I ought to extract as much information as I can from her.
She grabbed the cup and downed it in one gulp.
“Careful, you’ll burn your to—”
“What a wonderful flavor! So this is the taste of the fruits of civilization. What a marvelous thing!”
She sighed with delight, then closed her eyes, a blissful smile on her face, savoring the flavor.
… Maybe I shouldn’t be worried about her after all. If she can remove my crutch from existence with a wave of her hand, then she could probably survive being dunked in a pool of lava. A cup of steaming hot chocolate should be the least threatening thing to her.
Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open, and she planted her hands on the table, pushing her body forward and violently slamming her head onto its surface.
BAM!
“I apologize for my rudeness, honorable one!”
What is it this time?!?
“I am still lacking as a fledgling constellation, and I had not realized my actions would draw forth your wrath. To think I even forced calmness onto your noble self with my divine powers… I deeply apologize for acting so hastily!”
Could that be why all the tension I felt disappeared a moment ago? Because she cast some crazy divine… divine? Wait, is this woman a goddess?
“However…”
“However?”
“Lord Yvell!”
As she cried out, she raised her head from the table and met my gaze with determination. Then she moved herself back onto her seat and clasped her hands together, as if in prayer. Her brows furrowed, and her lips frowned. Her words that followed were dripping with desperation.
“I simply must have you assist me.”
“... Could you explain a little more about what exactly you need help with?”
She nodded her head before waving her hand towards the table. Then, a miniature model of a familiar planet appeared. It had a space elevator connecting to a space station large enough to be a small nation.
“This is… Ysdrafell.”
“Yes. This is indeed your Ysdrafell. The prosperous red-green star amidst the spiral sea of the ever-night. One of your many masterpieces, honorable one.”
Her blue eyes suddenly glowed golden, then several holographic-like screens were summoned above the planetary model. These screens featured scenes similar to those from high-budget fantasy films.
The difficult beginnings of the elves born from the World Tree, struggling to survive in a barren world cloaked in eternal darkness. The World Tree provided them with glowing berries, which the elves used to light up their way as they expanded their reach. Unafraid of the darkness, their community quickly formed.
The elves desperately protected the World Tree from the armies of dragonoid invaders who sought their grains. The barren lands did no one any favors, so the dragonoids who hadn’t the blessing of the World Tree sought to plunder what food they could. Elven men bravely sacrificed their lives to defend their homeland, while the women and children fled to the caves. The situation looked grim as their numbers started to thin.
An elven hero was born from the ashes of the World Tree’s branches, rising to the occasion to save his people. The hero charged into the army of dragonoids on his own, crushing scores of them with every swing of his fist. Though powerful, he was not cruel. He spared those who submitted to him. He did not fear them turning a hidden dagger on him. This won him the respect of the dragonoids who had laid down their blades.
(In reality, though, he was just a clone I made using a bug with the World Tree’s [Graft] ability and then pumped full of various stat-boosting items.)
The elven hero forced his way into dragonoid territory and defeated their champion in fair combat, earning his respect and loyalty. Once the head of the invading army bowed to the hero, the rest followed. In a world where food was scarce, strength was king, for it was the strong who kept their kin fed through plunder. As such, the elven man who held unparalleled power inspired awe in those beneath him.
The dragonoids joined hands with the elves, and through their union, a new legacy was cemented—the first Empire, uniting two races under a single banner. Together, they became an unstoppable force, waging wars of conquest across the continent, defeating one tribe after another.
When arms were laid to rest upon securing enough land to feed many of their future generations, both the elves and the dragonoids shed their old skin of barbarism and took on the mantle of civility. The dragonoids, with their superior physique, produced tools that helped support the foundation of society. The elves cared for the land, fertilizing the soil with the World Tree’s blessings, feeding the country’s people. The age of agriculture, I called the “Green Age,” finally arrived on this barren world.
Then came the Bronze Age, the Age of Blood and Steel, the Industrial Revolution, the Age of Assimilation, and finally… The Age of Unity.
The Empire went on to rule the world, expanding the World Tree’s roots to every corner of the planet. The once-red, barren planet gained a new green hue, ensuring that every inch of land that the World Tree could reach could safely house life. By the end of the Age of Unity, they had achieved spacefaring technology and even mixed elven and dragonoid genes through genetic engineering. By that point, I considered the playthrough finished.
Once the scenes finished, her eyes closed, and the scenes began to loop.
“A miracle. Ysdrafell was a miracle beyond comprehension.”
Her eyes reopened, losing their golden glow, but now filling with reverence as they stared into mine.
“The World Tree served as the guiding light of the world. All sought shelter beneath its splendor as it spread its green bed of life, welcoming all into its embrace. Conflict was eradicated when bellies were fed full. And the starving sought to assimilate and bask in the blessings of the World Tree. Through this, you achieved unity.
That was only possible because it was a game, though…
“And that… isn’t the only instance of you achieving this utopia.”
She motioned her hand as if waving the planetary model aside. Then, Ysdrafell vanished along with its various screens, and in their place, hundreds of smaller planetary models with their own screens appeared at once.
Some were shattered into pieces, orbiting still-vibrant cores that had become miniature stars. But life continued to thrive in space as artificial habitats embedded themselves into the planetary debris.
They would not yield their existence to the cruel nature of space.
Some were planets with steel surfaces, populated by sentient machines with undying curiosity. When they reached out to life beyond their own world, they formed amicable partnerships and explored their universe alongside their newfound friends.
They would not let the unknown elude them.
Some were locked in fierce conflicts, where spaceships exchanged volleys in space with familiar-looking robots with white horns and beam rifles. These bipedal machines would unleash the potential of their pilots. Those pilots, destined for conflict, would pave the way to a new future through their struggles.
They would not allow the changing tides to destroy them.
There were many more, but my gaze eventually returned to the woman across the table.
“I have visited many of the worlds you had made. The way you raise civilizations from rags and ruin into prosperity—pushing mortals through trials, rewarding triumphs, guiding them through failure, punishing arrogance—ah, it is nothing short of divine! And their stories… they always end the same way: utopia. Truly, you are a wondrous constellation, Lord Yvell!”
Is this woman crazy or something?
She suddenly started moving erratically as if unable to hold back her overflowing emotions, spinning in place, waving her arms about, losing control. Even the rings of light floating behind her started flickering like crazy, reflecting her chaotic excitement.
By the end of this strange display, she wrapped her arms around herself as if scooping her lost sanity back into her.
Once she opened her eyes and met my gaze, her eyes carried a new sense of tranquility.
“My world has only recently broken free from the flames of creation, and the seeds of brilliance have only just begun to grow within the once-mindless beasts that roam its lands. As its fledgling guardian constellation, I wish to nurture it into a utopia. That is why I hastily summoned you — and even your home — to my world. And that is why… I must make this presumptuous request!”
Ah… That explains the mountain from earlier.
Then she stood up and bowed her head once again. This time, it was a ninety-degree bow that would put the average Japanese salaryman to shame.
“Lord Yvell, I've long admired your work! I beseech you! Please, provide me with your wisdom!”
…
Mhm.
I see.
You know, after getting hit by one confusing thing after the next so many times, I don’t think anything can surprise me anymore. Now that all of that’s done, let’s organize all this information in my head.
So, to get things straight, this newbie goddess happened upon some of my colony sim saves and mistook me for some brilliant constellation who spawned many masterpiece-tier worlds. Because of how impressed she was by the worlds I had made, she decided to seek my help with developing her own and summoned me and my condo unit to her world.
Not only that, but she thinks she earned my wrath after I panicked and tried to brandish my crutch as a weapon, so she apologized. And after that cup of hot chocolate, she thinks I’m emulating the culture of mortals. Actions befitting a high and prideful constellation. Right. That makes sense.
Now, that begs the question:
What would happen if she realized I wasn’t a constellation and that all those “worlds” she saw were just parts of a game?
Answer:
Wouldn’t she just lose all reverence for me and delete my very existence just like she deleted my crutch?
…
I’m fucked.
…
Hahahahaha!
Hahahahahahahaha!
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Lord Yvell?!? What’s wrong?! Why are you— Oh no. Give me just a moment! I can help!”
Shiiing…
“...”
“Lord Yvell? Do you feel better now?”
After I suddenly stood up and started laughing like a maniac, the goddess before me used her divine powers to calm me down. And to think I used to see her as just some weirdo larper on Chaos.
Larper
La…
Ah.
That’s it.
That’s how I’ll survive.
“... Yes, I’m fine.”
I gently pushed my seat back into its place underneath the dinner table and walked towards the window. My condo had a large corner window that reached from the floor to the ceiling. This was an ideal spot to make a dramatic scene.
With a steady gait that echoed through the now-silent condominium unit, my steps finally came to a halt at the foot of the window frame. My eyes were greeted with a beautiful setting sun and a… dragon with udders? Whatever the fuck that thing is, it was flying across the horizon.
I need to set the mood.
I clasped my hands behind my back and stared into the sunset, trying to ignore the dragon-cow thing. Then, I tried to instill stoic discipline in my voice as I uttered my next words with grace.
“Your world has potential.”
Guess I’m the LARPer now.
