You walk into a bar, armed with an iron sword by your left hip and two silver daggers to your right. Your soaking strapped leather boots and outfit dripped with rainwater, your upper portion covered with a well-tempered high-quality grey steel chest plate as well as tougher, leather shoulder guards on both your shoulders, your small pouch and bag attached to your belt, hidden beneath your brown cloak. Your head and face were covered beneath your cloak's hood as well as your featureless bronze mask. Your skin was nowhere to be seen, and not a single part of your body was revealed beneath all that clothing and armor, that went for your hands as well, which were covered beneath the long leather and fur gloves that you made yourself. However, you knew that you needed more than just armor to survive in this unknown world.

You walked past many mercenaries, all eyes were locked for but a moment in your direction as you neared an empty seat near the counter. But there was this one troublemaker amongst the crowd who wanted to make a fool out of himself. "Oi! are you an assassin or somethin'? you look like you went through shit!" A barbarian from the third row of tables taunted, hoping to get a response out of you, but to his surprise, you give him none. "Habar! that's enough rabble!"

An old man callout from the counter, appearing from behind a corridor as he walked towards you. "Ignore that troublemaker, he's been running his mouth for days now, not a lot of customers come here much often, and not a lot to drink with." The old man said worryingly, pouring you a glass of mead while the barbarian known as Habar only sighed and shook his head.

"It's on the house." The old man continued, seating himself on a stool across you as he smiled. "You know, not many survive from where you came from, judging by the excess amount creatures you killed, it's no wonder you were able to survive." You look at yourself for signs of stains on your chest plate and shoulders but found none. Looking back at the old man, he smiled once more. "Oh, you must be curious about how I know this." The old man chuckled and smirked. "I have a special power you see, I can sense just how many people or beasts you have killed just by the aura you release, and looking at you more closely..." The old man stared at you for a brief moment before continuing. "You've been on killing sprees more than once." True, you've killed nearly countless monsters just to get to where you are now, however, you also trained in hiding your aura from others, and so you try to hide it even more. The old man winced for a moment as if you'd completely disappeared for a split-second, you walk out of the bar and back into the silent stone road from which you previously came. 

While walking alone on the stone road, you started to reminisce about the time you were sent into this world. At first, you had nothing, hell, you had no clothes, to begin with, you had nothing but your own body which resembled a mummy with inscriptions and runes written on your bandages that were darker than the color black, almost like a void that devoured the light. You remember the hardships you went through just to make some coats, and eventually make the very weapons, armor, and attire that you wear at the moment. But to avoid suspicion, you decided to wrap yourself in a medieval version of a modern jumpsuit, but this time it wrapped around your entire body from head to toe, complete with nearly modern aesthetics that make its design look more modern and medieval at the same time. Made from fur and skin, it remained beneath the attire that you wore above, and beneath said jumpsuit, was layers upon layers of wraps and bandages you made from literal dragon's skin, although, the item itself did not feel tense at all, nor did it feel like a hindrance during your many journeys.

Then it happened, you felt hunger for the first time, and you started to regret ever leaving the bar and ignoring the beverage that was given to you for free. You took out your flask and started to drink, as water poured from its entrance before landing on your face, you remembered that you didn't need a mouth to drink or eat, you simply had to think you were drinking, and lo and behold, the stomach you thought didn't exist was slowly being filled up by the very food that was above the place where your mouth was supposed to be. As if your mask absorbed the very water that landed upon it, you regained your strength and moved on, keeping your flask as you kept walking towards wherever the road would lead you. But then you heard men on horseback racing behind you, judging by the sounds they made, there were twenty of them.

You unsheathed your iron sword and quickly turned around and faced the incoming threat, and just as you expected there were indeed twenty of them, all of which were knights in silver armor, with blue capes and golden crests resembling lions on their chests. "Hold there!" Shouted the leading knight, his white horse neighing whilst stopping in its tracks.

You stared at the group of knights for a brief moment, they appeared to be guarding a prison carriage, housing many criminals. You move to the side, allowing the knights to pass peacefully, not wanting any trouble for yourself, you continue onward on your journey in silence, braving even the harshest of winds the rainy season could offer. Past mud and weather, you persevere.

Allowing yourself to bask in the rain, you arrive at a lonely village at the center of a foggy farmland. Produce and wheatfields graced the land, and sheep grazed peacefully without trouble, guided by shepherds who tend both the farm and cattle. 

"What brings a traveler to this backwater village?" A villager asked you, approaching with a calm demeanor as you both stare at each other. His face is nearly all white and pale, and you recognized that this person is a vampire but remained calm despite this knowledge in mind. "...Ah, you know of us, and yet you do not attack. What are you, stranger? a man of great virtue? surely not, all mortals despise us yet you do not, hence, you are not mortal." The villager said in a more noble voice, changing his appearance to that of an old man, in gothic attire and cloak, he expected a response from you, yet you remain cold and silent. "Ah... such a shame, I would have thought old fashion would at least surprise you in this day and age. If only just a tad bit..." The vampire said disappointingly, shaking his head whilst shrugging in disbelief.

You took out a piece of parchment and a makeshift pen before sketching something on it, and after a few minutes, you showed the vampire your sketch, showing a young prince from a cartoon show you watched laying on his deathbed.

The vampire leaned forward, despite it being only a sketch, it almost looked realistic, all thanks to your old drawing habits. The vampire nodded his head and spoke. "This is prince James the third, I believe he is currently alive and well last year, what curse could have befallen such a star amongst the dirt?" You took out your flask and dagger before cutting yourself, filling the flask with your blood. You hand over the flask as a reward to the vampire. However. He merely laughed at your kind gesture.

"Oh... oh dear, I have not seen this experience at all in all my lifetimes! Ahahaha!" The vampire laughed and laughed, only to stop after a few minutes or so. "Fine, fine... you are the first to make me this joyous in a hundred centuries. So, I would like to accompany you on your journey, a little adventure would not hurt right?" You shake your head in disbelief, however, the help was appreciated. You extended your hand for a handshake, and the vampire quickly accepted it, with a grin on his face.

"Artemis Angeles Drake, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance... and you are?" You took a moment to remember your name, however, it would not mean anything in this dimension. And so you released your grip on the vampire's hand and gestured to your throat, before taking out a gold coin. After returning your flask, dagger, makeshift pen, and parchment back to where they belonged, to their respective places so as to not ruin their proper arrangement as well as your other items and belongings.

"So... you are mute?" Artemis asked nervously as he lowered his hand while you nodded. "And... your name is coin?" You shook your head at his terrible guess, prompting him to guess again. "So, Crest then?" You nodded at the guess.

The name Crest was far better than a mere coin, and so you accepted your new name in this strange world. Artemis smiled at his somewhat great intuition, brushing his grey hair as he watched you check your sleeves for something.

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked. You finally took out the item you were looking for from your right sleeve and unfolded it, it was another parchment, and this time it had the symbol of an unknown magic circle that looked identical to eastern culture, but just about when you were going to hand it over to Artemis, you were shot on your left shoulder by an arrow.

You fell to your right, but quickly get up. Artemis smirked at you before focusing on the attackers, a black sword appeared on his left hand while a black dagger appeared on his right. "My apologies Crest, however, it appears that we have the first-ever obstacles on our journey together..." Artemis said with a grin as he continued. "...Why don't we give them a warm welcome?" Artemis's swords burned with purple flames. You quickly return the parchment back inside your sleeve whilst unsheathing your sword. "Such blasphemy!" A female voice called out. You look to see nine men and one woman in white crusader armor, all in chainmail, none wore plated armor, their bucket-shaped helmets and the red crosses painted on their chests and capes proved that. "Damn crusaders! have you not had enough bloodshed already?" Artemis cursed loudly, rage and irritation filled his eyes, but seeing your composed demeanor helped him regain his composure.

"Silence abomination! you and the heretic will die here!" Shouted the female crusader. "You watched as the ten crusaders on horseback galloped towards you. You quickly slide forward, leaning back as you sliced the lower portion of the first horse that passed you. "Gah!!!" A crusader screamed as he fell. You went in for the kill, using your iron sword to jab his throat. Killing him. You were quick to block the other's attack, but in return, your sword paid a heavy price in exchange for your life.

You threw your broken sword at the crusader that broke it, but by fate, he died. Your broken sword pierced the back of his neck and he fell from his horse. It was then you realized that you had no defensive weapon to work with, you grab the crusader's steel sword next to you while running towards the other to take it. You used your current understanding of magic to merge two swords into one, complete with its own design, you tempered it as well, to the point it had no other impurities. Although your new sword was barely twice as big, it still felt a little heavier, but somehow managed to still fit in your previous sword's sheath. It looked elegant but simple enough for intense combat.

The crusaders unmounted their horses, quickly charging towards you and your ally from all directions. But seeing as there were only six of them left, you turned to Artemis and simply nod. As if knowing what you meant, both of you fought three crusaders at once, and with swift movements, both of you slaughtered the opposition, only the woman remained.

"Now then... what do we do with her?" Asked Artemis as he brandished both his weapons against each other, walking towards the remaining crusader as you also approach her. For a moment you stopped to think about her fate, she was on her knees, holding her bleeding stomach as she bled there on the spot. Both of you locked eyes, but she did not see yours, she only saw the empty pockets of darkness beneath your mask, a black abyss filled with no emotion. But for a second she felt it. Confusion, pity, remorse, and curiosity. The crusader hesitated for a moment but uttered the words she thought she would never say.

"I... I see now..." The female crusader fell unconscious, You began to bandage her wounds by taking off her chest plate and removing her cape, wrapping her waist with said cape, and taking her along with you before situating her on the horse you were about to mount. Artemis chuckled at your act of heroism and mounts another horse as well, following you into the open road as both of you officially started your first adventure together, leaving the village as the weather continued to harshen.

You and Artemis braved the storm for weeks, sharing your blood whenever Artemis would get hungry, defending each other and the unconscious crusader whilst in the midst of battle, enjoying many sceneries and wildlife, as well as very nature itself.

Your journey was long. But in the seventh week, you and Artemis found yourselves in the midst of a war. Sounds of clashing armies filled both your ears, death was everywhere and the blood flowed freely, to a normal vampire it would have looked like a festival, but to Artemis, it looked like the sins of cruelty, greed, and corruption, he detested it.

"Barbaric..." He muttered. "The capital Howald should only be a few days from here, we should set up camp for now." You and Artemis unmount your horses, preparing tents from the materials you both gathered from previous days. Once preparations were done, you and Artemis settled down for a snack, the rain still unrelenting. You were about to take a sip from the beef soup while Artemis drank your saved blood from his own flask until the female crusader awoke from her sleep. 

"I know this may be rude of me to ask... b-but... may I join you...?" The crusader asked with teary eyes, removing her helmet as she revealed her face to you and Artemis. Her orange long hair almost reminded you of someone you once knew back home, her bright blue eyes similar to that of the clear ocean, and her brown skin matched that of her current attitude.

You nodded without hesitation as you filled a wooden bowl with beef soup before handing it to her as she approached and sat next to you. She took one sip before slowly eating the entire content of the bowl, she soon turned towards you, with Artemis choosing to remain silent as tears started to flow from her eyes and soft whimpers left from her mouth. "...Why? why did you spare me?" You remained silent and stared at the burning flames of the campfire, choosing to instead refill her bowl with more soup whilst avoiding eye contact. It was then Artemis decided to speak on your behalf. Somewhat interpreting your actions as a sign of selflessness and pity for the young crusader. "Perhaps it may be that he saw something in you young lady, I can sense your pain, and I too have gone through so much more..." You nodded at Artemis's words, prompting the girl to bow her head in shame and seek forgiveness from you, crying, as she confessed on the spot.

You dulled your senses to her pleas, instead, you stared off into the sky which slowly went dark, without even knowing it, you were late to realize that it was already past midnight, and the moon was up.

You noticed that Artemis was huddled together with two other people apart from the female crusader. Two men with brown features, one an assassin in white, the other a soldier in blue leather armor. But as you turned to your left, you found yourself huddled with another person, a young man covered beneath a brown cloak like yourself, but unlike your attire, his was of much lower quality. His height was also lower than yours, but the weapons he wielded matched that of an assassin's set.

You looked down on yourself, your chest plate was much darker, almost like a darker shade of grey. You couldn't help but notice that your equipment became a fair bit larger than before, by one-fourth of an inch, and became far denser and noticeably thicker. As if it became even more of a higher quality than it was a moment ago, you felt its weight pull you down. You felt the hides and leather tighten and squeeze, it did not hurt you, but it somehow made you even lighter, and even more flexible. Your outward appearance started to change, you became taller but barely enough to be noticed by anyone but yourself, and even your clothes as well as your armor and weapons started to change, unnoticed even by the very person next to you. You started to feel energy wrap around your entire form, and anything else that were on you, your armor, your outfit, your belongings, and even your weapons, your entire existence vanished, as if you never existed in the first place. Your body, as well as your belongings, became near unbreakable. It might not have looked like it but it was there, you felt your invincibility.

Your sudden change in appearance almost made Artemis mistake you for another person, but the thought was only at the back of his head, and he knew you never moved from your spot. "Crest!" He shouted. "Why don't you join us? we have new traveling companions!" Artemis said with a wide smile on his face, clearly, he hadn't noticed your change in height, but when you stood up, you saw his face turn pale. You quickly looked behind you, only to find absolutely nothing but the wind.

The assassin behind you was also alerted, quickly taking out his daggers as he turned to face wherever direction you were looking at. You felt like a fool for turning, but as you waited for a few more seconds, you thought you heard something that clearly sounded like tank treads rolling behind the treeline, but sooner realize that it was something greater.

The cloaked person, as well as the soldier and crusader all, gathered behind you, with Artemis soon standing by your side with the same weapons he used before. With weapons prepared, you and those around you waited for a moment or two as whatever was behind the treeline revealed itself later than usual. The rolling became louder and louder as a shadow cast over your party, all glanced at the towering metal monstrosity that approached. It had the body of a dragon, the head of a man, a tank body for legs, and six arms that carried two of each weapon, a scimitar, a lance, and an axe. All of which were made of gold. The body was separated into three components and could rotate three-sixty degrees in circumference, the top part held the scimitars, the middle part held the lances, and the bottom part held the axes. There was no room for weakness in the contraption, however, gold was weaker than steel, and melts faster than stronger materials.

You quickly noticed the fast-moving arm headed towards you, but you were too slow. You were sent flying along with the assassin behind you, the rest managed to dodge the attack, but unfortunately, you and the assassin were not quite well off.

And just when you were about to hit the trunk of a tree, you woke up. Your appearance still remained the same, and you were still in the same position as you were before. Only this time, your chest plate turned from the previously well-tempered high-quality steel, into a lighter, and stronger titanium version. You also noticed that your steel sword turned into a stainless one. And that both your outer and inner appearances became twice as dark, dense, and solid as that of your previous alteration.

You thought you were dreaming for a moment there, however, the pain felt too real. You stared in the direction in which the contraption came from, but heard nothing but the sounds of birds chirping and leaves flowing with the wind. There was something off about the whole thing. As if someone had just reverted time itself. You stared into the distance, hoping to find at least a glimpse of the contraption, however, you only saw a mere silhouette of a smaller object, perhaps even the caster. You were quick to follow, dashing into the trees from where the silhouette came without a sound, racing almost like a passing breeze. You saw the silhouette again, this time stopping in place as it stared in your direction, you leaped into the sky before violently landing on the area where the silhouette was before. Only for a second, you saw the true form of a silhouette, a violet-haired young man, behind a silver mask, covered in two cloaks, the top was purple, and the bottom was green. You saw his blue eyes stare at your abyssal mask, you saw the fear in his eyes. You did not know what made people fear you, but you wanted answers first, so you engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the teen.

You expected some sort of magic attack from him, but the strange-looking young man merely resisted your barrage of strikes. He used his palms to counter your fists, taking their blows with much of an effort, like paper against a rock. You began to stress the fact that this teen was besting you in defense. You threw your blows harder and harder until the young man could no longer take your blows, he was forced to dodge your attacks, and just as you were about to strike, he struck your left knee with a left hook. You both paused for a moment, his desperate expression turned into pure shock and realization, and you felt absolutely nothing, apart from a slight press in but a split second. The teen slowly turned to face you as you raised your fist for a final blow, but just as you were about to land a killing blow, you were stopped by a hand grabbing your wrist, accompanied by a voice that came from Artemis. "Crest. That... I believe, is enough sparring..."

You slowly turned to face Artemis, and he gave you a disappointed look. You forced your hand to move until you realized that everything was merely an illusion. You punched Artemis in the face, however, blood did not come out, but reality itself cracked like broken glass. It was indeed an illusion, and a good one too, good enough to fool you for days.

You found yourself once again inside a bar, the very same bar that you left weeks ago. "Took you long enough! I was beginning to think you'd never make it out in one piece." Said a young man behind the counter, in a modern bartender's attire, black hair, and brown eyes, this guy was definitely European. "Welcome to Immortal En Ligne!" The man said with a smile that rivaled playboy billionaires, he cleaned a champagne glass cup with a towel as he introduced himself. "I'm Josh, by the way. I run the schematics of this place, and you are?" You stood there silently, hesitant for a moment. This was the first time you've met a human from Earth for the entirety of your time in this world, which the man named Josh just so happened to call Immortal En Ligne. Or so you thought. "What? cat got your tongue?" The man placed the clean champagne glass cup on the counter, before quickly snapping his finger as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh! you must be thinking about the time travel stuff right? don't worry, that was just a few minor bugs." Josh chuckled as he gestured to an empty stool.

For now, you accepted Josh's words as facts. You walked toward the counter and sat on a stool, Josh was quick in pouring you a glass of wine, but instead of it being red, it was colored bright blue. "...Neat isn't it?"

You drank the contents of the glass, Josh not minding the fact that the wine went through your mask. "Players don't get to have that sort of gear you know? and punch me if I'm being a bit paranoid but... I can't seem to read your stats." Josh said in a curious tone that slowly turned to slight nervousness. "Well, whatever." Josh shrugged as you lowered your glass. "...Immortal En Ligne isn't quite as it used to be you know? players don't come back anymore, this world is goddamn dying. To tell you the truth, I'm supposed to be the real god of this dimension." You listened to Josh's history as he explained his story about the world you were in. "When people die in accidents, they were supposed to be sent to me, where they would become the heroes of their own stories. The goddess bullshit was just a half-lie, I created the scenarios for those who died, and most of them were Asians. Heck, nearly all of them were..." Josh frowned at the unfortunate history of his life, however, his sad expression quickly turned from sad to happy as he quickly looked at you. "But maybe we could compromise a bit...?"

Josh crossed his arms and smirked. "Tell you what Administrator Crest. There's one guy that just died a second ago, if you fix the current popularity crisis in Immortal En Ligne, I'll grant you nine wishes, anything you want really." Josh reached out to you for a handshake as he continued. "So...? what'll it be, Administrator? all you gotta do is make a player entertained."

You pondered for a moment, it was a good deal knowing your current state. But the powers you wielded were superior to Josh's, although still growing at a relatively slow pace. His information was quite interesting as well, many of your questions were quickly answered with only a few words, but after quite some time, you nodded, and soon accepted Josh's deal.

"Good to have you on board Administrator. Now tell me when to start." Josh said as he prepared some sort of tab, you quickly nodded without a second to waste, and as you did he smirked, and a blinding light devoured your entire body. "See you on the other side Crest! and don't forget! the player's name is Ren!!!" Those were the last words you hear before you found yourself sitting in a tavern, and across you was Artemis, but no longer a vampire. Instead, he looked more like an inquisitor, that hunted heretics. And what surrounded him were three masked men, clearly, they were the soldier, assassin, and the young man.

"Something wrong sir? you look to be in shock..." Said the soldier, who noticed that you were frozen in thought. "Calm down Zion, let the Administrator do his thinking. We've got enough free time as it is." Said the young man as he replied to the soldier, known to you now as Zion, who scoffed and sneered, uttering murmurs under his breath. "Tomato, tomato, Fez. I'm bored as the morning sheep grazing on an open pasture... hunting heretics with the old man is much better than doing menial work." Zion replied to the young man known as Fez. "Well, that's for the boss to decide. He outranks all of our careers combined, I don't get what we're doing in a tavern, but he's the one in charge. Not the inquisitor." The assassin finally joined. You noticed that Artemis had just finished a cup of mead you were pretty sure wasn't drinking a moment ago. He lowered his cup and interjected. "Not another word Heather. As inquisitor and second-in-command, I demand that you lower your tone. Lest I encourage the Administrator to hang you by the port." Artemis demanded quite calmly, with a soft smile.

With the names of your companions known, you quickly got up and turned to the nearest exit. This surprised your group, as they also stood up to follow you while the other customers of the tavern pay you no mind. Except there was that other person. 

"H-Hey now... watch where you're..." A young man with light brown skin, black hair, and blackish eyes exclaimed as he bumped into you. You turned to see the person nonother than the one you were told to entertain. His height was, of course, shorter than yours. You knew the person right from the start, it was definitely the transported person named Ren, all because of the rectangle glasses that he wore. And as Josh suggested, he was Asian. "I'm so sorry for my rudeness sir! please forgive me!" Ren immediately bowed at a forty-degree angle, something a familiar nation from Earth reminded you of.

You nodded and ignored the confused Asian for now, but just after you and your team were about to leave, you hear Ren say the magic words. "I'd like to commission as an adventurer please." It was then you just had to follow the damn guy, although it was irritating, the nine wishes were just as tempting. And so it goes, your adventure formally began.

You followed Ren for days, weeks, and then months until it went on for a full year. Your own party grew strong, although at first, they doubted your suspicious behavior. But after a few monsters being slain, and a few dungeon conquests, your party luckily mistook your actions as the cleansing of the world, for it to become a much better place. It was then the second year had come by, and you had arrived at the most important event in gaming history, the final boss fight. It was gruesome, but your party persevered. Unbeknownst to you, however, the final boss was not the demon king, but the goddamn goddess herself. It was going to be tough, but you had no choice, it was either you win the prize you had worked for, or her winning, and the cycle repeats all over again. So you chose the former. And decided to play the hero.

Years, decades, centuries, millennia, and Josh knows what. You knew you had succeeded in your mission, but at the cost of being somewhere, you had not realized existed. Although, you knew it was real. And it greeted you quite warmly for that.