CH 1 The Game starts 

Ever so slowly pieces of Noels consciousness came back. But he wasn’t on his own in his muddled mind, something else sat there he couldn’t say if he was in its mind or the opposite. 

All was dark, and the realization of what happened crawled into his surface thoughts, he denied, as all mortals do. His entire life wasn’t spent in the moonlit one, technically nothing of it, besides those last moments had anything to do with Type-Moon or the Nasuverse. So even if the possibility that Gaia would have allowed a Vampire to have an unsupervised connection with true magic was insane.  

But so were his thought as coherent as they were when they weren’t spilling between anger at the world, depression at his death, and denial of all.  

“I’m dead?”  

“No, I must be alive, I have to be.”  

But no matter how much anguish the thoughts caused him, no tears flowed in the mindscape. The panic was paralyzing, yet his heart wasn’t beating and no adrenaline flow in his bloodstream.  

Such realizations were the main cause of further depression, till he relapsed into anger at his current state. Dead and paralyzed with nothing but void all-around and something even darker just a few feet away that sent even darker thoughts spiraling in his head.  

Sarcasm and curiosity wormed themself into his mind, all to systematically forget the circumstances in which he arrived in wherever he was, those were the same measured he always relied on for his usually carefree attitude. So, he stood up or the equivalent of that in a realm of the mind?  

Noel looked at his body, and found himself translucent, he looked around and all was dark, or darker. A single pitch-black spot in wherever he was still caused him shivers, but it was the only distinction from everything.  

“Not gonna say anything.” 

“Can’t speak, can we?” 

In stupid curiosity and a death wish he approached, to end it all, for he was sad but couldn’t cry, couldn’t say if he spoke or only heard his thoughts. Whatever it was it didn’t move. Every step he took more sadness came up in his mind, his family, his friends, his possessions, he seemed to look back at his life and finding himself inadequate and wanting.  

“Ain’t I too young to die a second time” the mental aspect of the afterlife that one is forced to revision his own life already down, now it has time for heaven or hell. He begged and pleaded for heaven. 

That said touched the darkness only for nothing to happen. 

A lough came up, only for him to start punching the spot. Nothing seemed to happen, but he didn’t stop for in the cycle of acceptance he has now reached anger once again. No longer in his right mind, alternating between bargaining anger and depression he stopped denying his own death as outlandish as it seemed in his wrath.  

“Why I didn’t deserve to die”  

A cry on his lips once again something broke, ripple seemed to mire his left arm, and the sound of glass breaking was filling the room. His right was breaking and only aggression was his answer. 

 The dark spot was finally showing signs of little cracks. In glee of hurting something he kept on pounding.  

Now his left was broken into pieces, a stump remaining, he kicked for something in his afterlife was happening. Noel fought he could see something on the other side, jet his mind was failing to grasp it. 

 Finding himself crippled, his legs about to break and his right arm about fall apart he reached through the cracks in an effort to tear it apart. 

He succeeded pieces of darkness lying on the ground he moved through the hole, and all went white once again, as his body creaked and broke on the other side of the hole faster than he realized. 

His head sunk to the ground, then his mind screamed at the realization of the loss of touch, and he cried for his broken limbs as his own head shattered and with it his consciousness.  

“Limbo it is” he thought.  

[Loading Reality Marble] 

[Initializing Game system] 

[Loading …] 

[Grime] 

Images streamed into his head about two dying giant organisms sharing their life force with each other in outer space.  

[Loading …] 

Numerous smaller rocks came together, crushing each other and themself till they imploded into a small black hole, a miniature singularity. Noel came back to consciousness. 

‘Finally,’ he thought right before he got dropped to the ground 

Looking around it he saw more than two human eyes should allow, he could see to his right, left, front, and back, without turning his head. His body scattered from the fall and once again broken and all he could do was crawl. His arms were mostly intact, his vision disturbing, and small rocks and particles were being drawn to him. So, he kept on crawling and watched as his new body of rock was made anew.  

His golden HP bar was at half, the rocks floating towards him didn’t change anything about it, the green stamina bar remained full. He couldn’t see his head but with a body of stone could look down upon from 360° he knew something was fundamentally different. 

“Welp too late for denial.” Noel realized this was a game Ui, he knew this was or should be a game, but he didn’t want his reality, heaven, or hell to be this.  

Grime the game was an Action-Adventure RPG Metroidvania, that was known for being cruel, hard and fast.  

“So why am I here”  

No answers and only more Questions, were what he got in the little cave he was just reborn in. 

With enough matter reassembling his body he stood up and started his journey. 

His body was humanoid enough, no genitals, no head besides a black hole from what he gathered, considering matter flows into his vision and just disappears, no flesh only gray stone.  

Trying to gather his mind, and marbles before he loses all sanity considering his situation and failing. 

“Hahaha, oh god, oh no” 

“Can’t even hear my sweet, sweet voice, have mercy.” 

Without a mouth to scream all, and he alone with his thoughts in cave and nothing but a single path out. He thought to himself if he could be somewhere else and warped 5 meters in front of himself.  

Watching the scenery instantly change drastically, didn’t help him. But he remarked a change in his stamina bar.  

With his first steps taken, Noel sees no reason not to continue his way  

As much as he didn’t like the surroundings of the cave, sinch the rock formation had a far too alive and dead outlook that caused nothing but dread.  

“Inventory” the main Menu opened just like in the game. 

“It’s just a game, just a dream”, he told himself, but his heart wasn’t into it.  

In Grime the Menu was made of four tabs Inventory, Prey, Map and Overall settings. 

The Inventory showed all inventory, mass, weapons, armor, items. It was empty. 

Prey was separated into three parts by size and power of the killed creature, it too was empty of entries.  

Noel now selected the map and all he felt was darkness und unknowing, as he was shown pure darkness all around.  

After a short stop in his steps, he continued onward. Because if he was right, he had a world to end.