Alright, so Harnathea the Ravager had dragged me to the Nether. That was it, right? I was in the Nether?
But what was the Nether? We all referred to it all the time, using it as a curse word. Behemoth had said more than once that the Nether is the greatest danger to the world, and the Destroying Plague feeds off its emanations. Could the Nether have been the first version of Dis, the one the beta testers played? They’d determined it unplayable, which had led to a review of the realism concept. I’d heard there was no quit button in the first version—to ensure total immersion. The beta testers apparently quit the game only when their character died or went to sleep. But I’d already died, and revived here…
Another puzzle: why were all my divine abilities gone? Why had I lost Immoi’tality? The logs showed that I died to Smoldering, which must have been Harnathea’s aura. My Destroying Plague ability had successfully protected me from it before—even during the battle with Ervigot. Only one explanation came to mind: the powers of the Destroying Plague had no sway here. And nor did that of the Sleepers. All the bonus stats of Unity had also disappeared.
Thoughts of the Ravagers reminded me of wiiat the gnome explorer girl Kitty had told me about them: the beasts of the Nether are the size of a kitten when they reach Disgardium. They grow to super-high levels by absorbing other creations of the Nether and local mobs. But how do they manage to deal with them? If Ervigot landed in the Lakharian Desert tiny, then how did he kill the local monsters?
Thoughts emerged and span in my head, but I couldn’t stay focused on them. Although my real body was fed with premium-quality life-support cartridges in my capsule, all the same, it felt hunger and fatigue. My tired brain refused to work. Apart from a little sleep before my parents left, I’d been on my feet for who knew how many days now…
Deciding to test wiiether falling asleep would close the game, I walked into the nearest house and collapsed on a bed. Only while I was falling asleep did I realize just how dead the silence was around me. The ocean’s surface on Kharinzas beach was like glass. The wind didn’t rustle in the trees. The few clouds in Tristad’s sky were as if painted on, unmoving. It was no world, just decor. Were there mobs here? There should be. After all, sometimes they broke through into the real Dis…
That was my last thought before I fell asleep.
I don’t know how long I slept, but I woke up where I’d laid down, not in real life. Then the real panic hit me. Everything I’d felt before was just vague worry in comparison.
Firstly, I hadn’t ordered extra nutrition cartridges for my capsule, and I’d already been using the ones installed for some time. Who knew how long they’d last? Maybe they were already empty? Was that why I felt sick with hunger? It wasn’t just a virtual hunger in the form of a debuff. It felt fully real.
Secondly, my parents were on the Moon. Sure, they’d call, but they wouldn’t worry right away—I was always in my capsule anyway. They’d raise the alarm only in a couple of days, and even then, first dad would tty to log into Dis through another capsule and contact me in the game. All my hope was on my friends—when they failed to get an answer from me in both virtuality and reality, they’d surely suspect something was amiss. They had plenty of reasons to worn, not the least of them the Triad. Ed would realize that he needed to contact Morales, and then Hairo would find a way to get into the apartment to inspect my capsule.
Phe-e-ew. That thought calmed me a little. By my estimations, it was already the next day in real life. We had a party planned that night at my place, so the boys would be trying to contact me soon, and then they’d raise the alarm.
My panic faded and my explorer’s spirit awoke. I was either in the Nether or in a beta version of Dis that had been somehow preserved. I might have been the only player in history that made it here. Why shouldn’t I do something useful?
I checked my profile again and frowned in surprise: my death dropped me thirty levels! How did that work? Was this one of the hardcore features of the beta version?
Everything else was the same; I had my class abilities, my learned abilities, minus the ten divine and plague skills. All my equipment and inventory was still there. Maybe my chest still had its contents too?
I ran to the tavern, leaped up the stairs to the second floor and walked into my private room. At least, I walked into a room. Not the one I was expecting. Bare walls, a bedroll on the floor and an empty chest. The upgrade that I’d installed so long ago was gone, as were the contents. It was empty.
The mailbox outside the tavern’s entrance gave me the idea of trying to contact someone to help through in-game mail. I tried to write a letter to someone, anyone, but the system couldn’t find a soul; No player with that name registered.
I wasn’t too worried. Sooner or later, they’d pull me out. In the meantime, my hunger debuff had reached threatening levels and started to take away my health. It wouldn’t be long until I died of hunger! But where could I find food in an empty city? I hadn’t brought anything to eat with me. Why would I, with my abilities?
Then
