Chapter 1: We Are Waiting
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At a place that was fully engulfed in darkness, an earth-shattering war was taking place. There were angels with flaming wings, riders attired in heavy metal armors and crusaders holding long golden swords who were battling it out with skeletal dragons that were masked with black smog, terrifying revenants who were ferocious and hideous as well as a huge army that comprised solely of vicious skeletal soldiers.
The setting of the battleground was not at a flatland that was covered with flames and smokes nor was it at a boneyard that was filled with bones and skeletons. Instead, it was at a place that was so dark that it was pitch-black. This was undoubtedly a strange and peculiar phenomenon.
What made it even more bizarre was that outside the scene of the battlefield, in the empty space that was fully enveloped in darkness, a few indistinct voices could be heard whispering to one another.
"Control it! Quickly take control of it! My goodness! Don't use the Skeletal Dragons to attack the Angels! Its purpose is only to frighten the other players! Why did you go and attack the Angels for?"
"You better control your own Revenants before you complain about someone else! Look at that! The Death Riders are fighting with the Moving Forts now! How dumb is this! Where is our Skeletal Battalion now?"
"Where did my team go? Who is attacking my team? Where did the freaking enemy go?"
Upon hearing these three classic questions, the other two voices became silent immediately. That out-of-the-world great war was finally coming to an end, the group of vicious army that was scattered all around was quickly wiped out by the shining golden army. The few dissenting voices simply gave up and surrendered in silence.
After the battle ended, the angels, revenants and all the skeletal soldiers that were scattered in all directions slowly vanished into the darkness. All at once, this place resumed its original state of absolute silence and total darkness. It was as if nothing had taken place at all.
Nevertheless, the few voices seemed to be still communicating with each other, with more voices joining in the conversation as well.
"My teammates are such noobs! Even a chained dog is stronger than them! Not only did they not helped at all, they even tried to fight for the command of the DPS team!" One of the surrendered player complained exasperatedly.
"Oh please! It was clearly the faults of the Death Army for being too weak! If it had been my vicious Devil Battalion, the outcome would have been totally different!" Another voice, who was trying to justify his mistakes in the way he commanded the characters, could be heard striking back fiercely, "And here I was thinking that the Revenants could easily defeat those stupid forts!"
"Please stop fighting, you two. Could any of you enlighten me please? Where exactly did my Skeletal Soldiers go during battle?"
A few laughters could be heard in the darkness as they listened in to the conversation. The two voices that were arguing became dejected right away and had no choice but say to the winning party, "You guys were too strong, we acknowledge our defeat!"
To their surprise, voices from the winning party could be heard mocking them.
"HA HA! Good ultimately prevails over evil after all!"
"Whether it's the Death or the Devil Army, faced with our strength, even God doesn't stand a chance at all!"
Such words undoubtedly added insult to injuries as they prompted the two players who was about to calm down to start bickering again. A third player from the winning party who was distancing himself could not help but let out a sigh, "I shouldn't have organized this game in the first place, should I?"
Apparently, the horrifying but magnificent war that took place just a moment ago turned out to be nothing more than a game?
A voice that had not taken part in the game could be heard saying, "It's amazing that one could actually just use mere thoughts and imagination to simulate a war with such vivid interface that it gave us a fully immersive experience. As expected, only you are able to surprise us and catch us off guard, Sir Hope."
Faced with such heartfelt gratitude, the man who was called Hope replied humbly, "You flatter me, this is merely something to while away the time and it’s for entertainment only."
That was right! The great battle of life and death between the army of good and evil just now was nothing more than a way to past time, a distraction that added some amusement to this boring and endless prison life.
This was the Void, a place that existed outside the realm of reality. This was a place that was pitch-black, frigid and deadly silent. Its condition made it impossible for living creatures to survive. It was a place that was more dreadful and terrifying than death itself.
Even so, in this place where no living creatures could survive, a group of indomitable and tenacious living things that had no definite nature existed. Those things had no physical form and what was left in the Void was merely their souls and thoughts.
They called themselves the Voidwalkers, they were people who were locked up in that jail that was known as the Void.
Before they were locked up in this place, they were all the very best in their own field. For example, just to name a few, there was the Archmage who had broken through the peak point in diabolism, the Warrior who had mastered the ultimate level of martial art, the Alchemist who had created thousands and thousands of items, the noble Cleric who never once swayed from his faith, the Devil who once ruled Hell and the Lich who was able to control souls. They were all figures who had carved their names on the annals of history.
Most people had thought that they were all dead a long time ago. Only historical records could prove that they had once existed in the past. Nobody had the slightest idea that those people with their monster-like strength were actually imprisoned in the infinite Void since a long time ago and would continue to be trapped there for what seemed to be an eternity. Although it was just a thin wall separating the realm of reality and the Void, it was a barrier that they had never gotten past. Despite the fact that they had once possessed immense strength in the olden days, there was absolutely nothing that they could do at all about their situation then.
However, none of them had given up hope in trying to escape solely because of the exceptional existence of that particular person. Among the 33 Voidwalkers, the Fifth Walker was given the nickname --- Hope.
Hope's real name was actually Baiyi and he was not from any of the realms outside of the Void where human beings normally live. Instead, he came from a very peculiar place known as Earth. Before his death, he worked for a small news website as an editor. His job everyday was to copy news articles from other websites and then paste it onto their own website after changing the headlines to something sensational like Shocking News! A News That Will Make Men Weep and Women Silent . It was a boring job that was created with the sole purpose of creating uproars and to stir rumours among the public.
Later on, when he unfortunately got killed in an accident, his soul did not immediately disappear. Instead, he was pulled into the mysterious Void where he managed to survive through sheer determination. He finally was able to settle down after he encountered the other Voidwalkers through some strange coincidence.
The rests of the Voidwalkers firmly believed that Baiyi who came from a different world would be the key to their freedom. "You're the only one who is different from the rest of us. You're our one and only chance in escaping this place. It is because of this that I named you Hope!" The Archmage also known as the First Voidwalker once told him this.
There was no doubt in their mind that they would be able to see the light of day once more even though they had been imprisoned for countless of years. Had it been a hundred years? A thousand years? Or ten thousand years? They had totally lost track of time...
Relying only on small talks and discussions to keep their sanity intact for such long duration in this permanent prison was obviously not sufficient at all. To kill time, one of the activity they usually participated in was something called Memory Exchanging.
This activity was constructed based on a mental technique called Memory Anamnesis. Once this technique was activated, it allows the user to relive every single detail of their past lives. It was so accurate to the extent that they could recall every word without missing a single punctuation that they had read on a newspaper.
The user could also omit and withhold the memories that they were not willing to share like having sex or masturbating, before exchanging memories with another user. This was equivalent to them watching a lengthened biography of another person, which was definitely a good pastime given their situation.
Just like that, by reading the memories of every single Voidwalkers in the prison and with the aid of their eyes, Baiyi witnessed plenty of events that had taken place in the magical world of swords and magic. He had seen with his eyes the rise and fall of empires, experienced the dominion of ultimate powers and authorities, explored the truth and secrets of the world and endured countless time of joys, sorrows, partings and reunions.
The memories of the 33 Voidwalkers allowed him to undergo 33 different lives and experiences. Even though he had erased most of the memories to prevent confusion with his own past life, he retained their knowledge as well as their experiences. He was no longer the normal Earthling he once was, he had become far more mature and wise beyond his years, eradicating his weaknesses such as being naive and his impulsive behaviour. It was all thanks to the 33 different lives that he had gone through.
It was exactly this reason that the other Voidwalkers had high hopes for him. However, many years had passed but he still could not find any clues to escape this place. The only thing he could do was to come up with a pastime that could bring a little enjoyment to their dull, boring prison life.
Meanwhile, dusk had just started to fall at a place called Isythre in the realm of reality. It was when the rays of the setting sun wholly embraced the Celestial Fortress Academy that the students were finally released from their strenuous lessons. Accompanied by the sound of energetic laughters and cheerful voices, the students could be seen strolling in groups on the tree-lined trails around the campus.
Mia from the sophomore class of the Soul Armature Course was one of them too. She had a cute and delicate face with black hair that was tied up into pigtails while wearing the classic school uniform of the Celestial Fortress Academy. After saying goodbye to her classmates, she walked to the public square of the academy by herself and leisurely sat on one of the benches as she took out half a piece of leftover bread from the pocket of her jacket. Carefully shredding the bread into tiny pieces, she then scattered them all over the bluestone floor of the square.
The sound of wings flapping could be heard descending from the sky a moment later. A few pigeons landed swiftly by Mia's feet and lowered their head to peck on the breadcrumbs as they cuckooed. Mia crouched down carefully, her long ponytails lightly sweeped the floor. Watching the pigeons that she was familiar with in silence, a relieved smile could be seen slowly forming on her face.
A beautiful girl, a few docile pigeons, a quiet square with a few statues in sight along with the verdant vegetation painted a magnificent picture under the golden light spilled by the setting sun.
This was a fixed routine for Mia everyday and it was the most relaxing moment in her day. As an ordinary student in the Celestial Fortress Academy, trying to survive in that prestigious school was not an easy job at all.
"It's going to get dark very soon so I guess we will have to call it a day. I still need to go back and do my revision. Goodbye then, Mr Pigeons!" There was a relaxed smile on Mia's face as she waved goodbye to the pigeons. Striding away with her long and slender legs that was covered in white silk stocking underneath the short skirt, she hurriedly return to her hostel.
Night time was an important time to study, especially for an ordinary student like Mia. The efforts she needed to put out was not as easy as the smile that seemed to be forever carved on her face.