The remains of splintered trees and burnt carcasses were wide-spread, and even spending over two hours running through the affected forests, December still hadn't left the immediate area of the blast.

"Cearis?" She had said the name several times in the last two hours, yet had gotten no response. Although she was now alone, she had received the a message explaining the duties of a World Boss.

World Bosses are beings of immense strength, while also being deemed as harmful to the world and are constantly attacked by both players and the opposing factions.

Since she was automatically placed in the Darkness Faction, and gained even more Favorability when she became a World Boss, she was squarely in the Darkness Faction as far as anyone would be bothered to check.

December's attire was a part of the gift box she had received from the Trial, which had appeared in her inventory afterwards.

She wore a lace black dress with hints of blood red ribbons, and a pair of black lace stockings and black and red combat boots, which looked way more fashionable than even high end shoes she had seen in the real world.

Then her clear pink red eyes darkened as she thought about the fact she couldn't immerse herself in the game forever. Yet, the thought of leaving herself, to go back to being Liam was heart wrenching.

"Excuse me Your Highness, please wait a moment." A voice startled December and made her look at the gorgeous and heroic woman who had appeared at some point besides her wearing white armor with golden highlights.

"My name is Johana, it's presumptuous of me to request this of you, but would you please come with me?" December froze and inspected the woman who wielded a giant sword which hovered behind her quietly.

Johana the Fallen Knight (Legendary)

"Why?" Although the Fallen Knight in Johana's title was a bit assuring, the Legendary Rank besides it was not. Without it, December couldn't even perceive Johana's existence before she greeted her.

"Although you're only at the Extraordinary Rank right now, as Blood Clan Royalty, your growth and potential naturally won't be low. Rest assured, I'll send you to a place more suited for you."

"Oh? The Dark Forest of Avonwell isn't too popular, the fact you managed to get so far into this Forest is also amazing." Johana commented while rubbing her arm uneasily.

"Um, how long will it be until we leave the forest then?" December asked while narrowing her eyes and gazing straight ahead, but aside from broken trees far ahead, nothing else was visible to her.

"Well, we can leave now if you're in a hurry, but if we continued at our current pace, it'd a few weeks?" Hearing the Fallen Knight's words, December felt a surge of goodwill to Johana as well as amazement at how huge this world might possibly be.

"Well, the bigger it is the better..." December said while inwardly feeling excited. The larger this game world was, the better it was because she had more things to do inside this world.

"Can you fly?" December asked Johana who nodded and extended a hand to December who looked at it blankly. Johana felt her cheeks redden when she was stared at with December's pinkish red irises.

"I'm casting a spell." Hearing Johana's explanation, December nodded, and with a motion she couldn't feel at all, Johana leapt into the air while carrying December along.

At five thousand feet, the world below them had begun to fall away faster and faster until they both hovered high in the sky, the dark treelines below spanned from horizon to horizon and the realization set in as December realized all the land below and beyond what she could see was truly all just a part of a single forest.

"How does anyone get around at all?" Hearing December's question, Johana raised an eyebrow and inwardly wondered if December had been a pampered princess in regards to the knowledge of the world.

"Most people... Well, unless someone reaches the Epic Rank, you wouldn't believe how vast this world is. Even Transcendents need to use teleportation way points to get around quickly."

"At most, the Dark Forest of Avonwell is just a small piece of uninhabited land for many, and those that live here live in seclusion, isolating themselves from the world." Johana explained while the world around them simply changed abruptly.

"Extraordinary Rank requires you to be level 110, while Epic Rank requires a level of 700. The higher the ranks, the more drastic the increases in requirements, but the gains are also immense."

"Don't worry, with your strength, you'll undoubtedly become strong, so don't think too much. I'll deliver you to the Ehea Continent... Although, don't say the name to the inhabitants, to most of them their continent is their entire world."

"Okay, don't move too much." Johana's ever present sword sliced the air ahead of them, and the surroundings once again flickered and changed.

"The population is pretty high since it's inhabited by many races that reproduce extremely quickly. The dangers you face shouldn't exceed the Extraordinary Rank either..." Johana waved a hand and December felt the air whipping at her dress as she plummeted to the ground below.

"Be careful with the Church and the other hypocritical Factions. I'll come back if I'm directed to." Then Johana vanished, and December could only feel the wind rushing by, but before she collided with the ground, she came to a standstill a few feet above it.

"How could a company ever have enough storage to even run this game for a moment?" Although December wasn't complaining, she was amazed at how much this world had shown her.

"What do I do now?" December asked the air, patting the non-existent dust from her dress and looking around at the rolling fertile fields and streams crossing through it.

It seemed this world wasn't scaled upwards, but simply had areas that exceeded common sense by a large margin, because the fields weren't outrageously huge, while still sprawling and vast, couldn't even match a percentage of the Dark Forest of Avonwell.

"But... Even if this place isn't big according to Johana's standards, it's still bigger than what I'm used to. How far away is the nearest village or town?"

Compared to the feelings of walking, flying was more exciting, but as she was now, she had no way of knowing how to go about learning such a Skill on her own.

Choosing to follow a stream, she just kept walking while her eyes kept glancing at the timer in the corner of her vision, showing less than two hours remaining.

"I became a World Boss, but... Was Cearis telling the truth? Why would a company ignore health limitations because someone achieved something in a game?" December wasn't sure, but as the time slowly ran out, she found herself becoming more and more anxious.

"Cearis?!" When the timer reached an hour, December couldn't help but call out with a tinge of panic. Being forced out of the game didn't seem like something she could stand.

Although she couldn't claim to be a natural at controlling her new body, she loved it regardless. It felt like she was real and a person, not just someone who existed and would someday die.

Someone who could live happily, someone who could find joy in things again, something she had lost before she realized it. December felt herself growing more and more irate as the timer reached twenty minutes.

"CEARIS!?" Her scream was one of questioning, hope, and bitterness. Obviously she didn't expect an answer, but when she heard something up ahead, she burst into a run.

Each footstep was light, not elegant and graceful, but still light and agile. December slowed her pace a few moments later and stared at the group made of four people walking along a dusty road.

"Um, hello?" One of what looked like the men holding a bow said uneasily, to which he received no response because December was also stunned silly.

When she spoke to Cearis, she regarded her as an A.I. and wasn't flustered or nervous, while Johana didn't make her withdraw into herself, half was based on curiosity and the other half was simply that Johana didn't feel very intimidating to her.

No, that wasn't actually it. Johana initiated the conversations or answered her questions, and while December had secluded herself for a year, both her interactive skills and ability to converse with others had unknowingly crumbled.

"..." Even while completing the Trial of Blood, or speaking to the Legendary Rank being, December hadn't felt so unbearably nervous as right now.

"You should be a player right? Look at that cool armor, what buffs does it give?" Hearing the archer, December took a deep breath and then spoke, her voice cold.

"Do you know who Cearis is?" Hearing her voice, the archer made a face and looked at the what should have been a healer in his party.

"Isn't Cearis the Goddess of Destiny? Why?" Seeing his confusion, December was also confused. Cearis spoke to her, and guided her, but she wasn't an A.I. but instead a goddess?

"What?!" December asked but then felt her vision shifting and darkness engulfed her eyes. Her eyes widened and she felt a pang of hot wrath surging through her!

"It wasn't t-time!" She yelled, her voice cracking at the end, but unlike her worst fears, her voice was still the one she loved, and she was still December Nyx Valaine.

"Don't be afraid, what I promised you is valid, but it's no longer necessary for you." A voice spoke in the darkness and a faint figure appeared, looking illusory and ethereal as a wisp of smoke about to be blown away in the wind.

"Cearis?!" December asked in a panicked voice, not sure what she meant, but the feeling of tightness in her throat and chest made her shudder.

"That is my name. December, destiny dealt you a bad hand, but life is what you make it. The gift you've been given, you will soon know. Until we meet again December." Cearis said lightly and the world collapsed like she had just woken from a dream.

Seeing the familiar frayed ceilings, the blank walls she always saw, her laptop on a desk nearby her bed, her fists clenched and she cried!

It was heart breaking, to finally find what it was she had longed for, only to lose it. Between her cries, she shifted and realized she felt uncomfortable and kicked her sheets off in a mixture of pain and despair.

"H-how?" When she spoke, it wasn't the voice she was familiar with, the one she had spent nearly two decades with, instead it was beautiful and appealing to her ears!

She didn't think and bolted to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, and saw a pale frail girl, with extremely beautiful features she couldn't really compare with anything staring back with pinkish red irises.

"December?! I'm not him! I'm not!" The relief was so immense, she felt as if she had somehow dreamt of this all, because she now had the appearance of her character in the game, long white hair and all.

"I-is, is this the gift?" When she entered that strange place with many light pillars, she had been told she was getting a gift, and it was said again by Cearis, but who knew the gift was this?

"Cearis? T-thank you!" December wasn't sure if Cearis was a goddess or even a demon, only that she had gotten her greatest wish, and had to give gratitude even if she even begin to couldn't put into words how much she wanted to thank Cearis.

"I'm not broken anymore..." December said with a giggle, one which she couldn't hold back, and the smile that teasing her lips and threatened to grow on her face kept twitching as she caressed her cheek in the reflection with a sense of overwhelming happiness.

"I'm December, not Liam... December, not Liam." Repeating her words a few times, December was finally unable to contain herself and cried again, but this time it was out of sheer happiness.