"Damnit!"
Eros threw his controller across the living room in a fit of rage.
20th try on the same damn boss! Why the hell do they make these games so difficult?
Reluctantly, he got up from his couch and picked the controller back up. It was still working, although he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
He sighed. Why did everything have to be so frustrating?
Time to take a break.
He put the controller down on the small couch table and sighed again. Why was it so difficult to have some fun these days? Stretching his sore limbs, he looked at the deathscreen on his monitor.
It's as if they make these games intentionally horrible to play to squeeze money out of the players with in-game purchases.
Eros shook his head, it wasn't like he cared all that much. It was a profitable business model after all. Evidently, the players were stupid enough to fall for such honey pots.
He opened the fridge and paused.
Why is this thing already empty again? I just went outside to fill it up last…
He scratched his head.
On second thought, it may have been a while.
He closed the fridge and pulled out his phone.
Time for delivery, I guess.
After ordering some takeout through a terribly coded website, taking far longer than it should have, Eros fell back into his couch.
When did everything become so tedious? Aren't we supposed to be living in the age of comfort?
Annoyed, he scrolled on his phone, looking for something interesting to watch while eating.
Boring. Annoying. I already watched this three times, but I could go for a rewatch. What even is this? They made another one of these? Who even watches that shit anymore?
He groaned and pinched his nose bridge, laying his phone to the side.
God, my eyes hurt. I'll just take a short nap until my food arrives.
Exhausted from doing nothing all day, Eros lay on his couch. Unable to fall asleep or get up again, he lamented his life. It wasn't like his life was bad or even just hard.
He had everything he wanted: money, a nice apartment, lots of books to read, games to play, and even a completely non-existent social life just like he preferred!
He was talented in most things he tried and quickly reached the near peak in any field, but never beyond that.
It wasn't like he was a Jack of all trades; his interests were too few and far between for that, but he was good at a lot of unrelated and mostly useless things. He was too lazy to put in any real work to reach the pinnacle in anything, but he didn't mind. He was perfectly content with gifting his devout dedication to random things that piqued his interest for a short time and then dropping them entirely to pursue another topic. He had always lived like that, yet lately he was beginning to feel tired of such a life.
More often than not, he found himself lying on his couch, stuffing his face with snacks and doing nothing.
To hell with this bullshit.
Was his last thought before slowly drifting to slumber, oversleeping the ringing doorbell and the alarm ringing outside.
He dreamt of a Nightmare. In utter darkness, there were voices and innumerable, piercing eyes.
They looked at him, judged him, and deemed him a slave and an enslaver. Temptation was their name, and together they struck a deal.
Sweating profusely, Eros tossed and turned in his sleep and ultimately landed on the floor. Startled, he woke up and looked around.
Crap, I overslept. Wait, where the hell am I?
This wasn't his living room! The ground was soft and wet, there was grass under his palms, and he was blinded by light.
Raising a hand, he shielded his eyes from the sun and quickly his eyes adjusted.
Eros was lying in a forest, surrounded by other people. Many were clad in pyjamas or underwear, but others were wearing working clothes or formal wear. There were many different ethnicities, and there was an incomprehensible mixture of languages lying in the air as everyone panicked. Clearly, they were just as confused as he was.
Eros himself was wearing his favorite pyjama onesie. It was very comfortable. Cozy even.
Weird.
Was he still dreaming? It didn't feel like it. Had he even dreamed? He couldn't remember.
Then what was he doing here? Had he sleepwalked again? No, that didn't make any sense, the nearest forest was miles away! And it wouldn't explain all the people gathered here either.
Eros scratched his head in confusion.
Better look for someone who has a clue what's going on. This seems exciting, though. Supernatural stuff here I come!
Eros giggled. How long had he waited for something fun to come into his boring life?
Whistling happily, he started wandering around in the hope of gathering some information or finding something to eat.
He didn't really care whether he was hallucinating, dreaming, or simply going insane, at least he would finally get to do something exciting.
*****
Raika opened her eyes.
She was back in the small clearing in the forest. After all these years, she had finally returned.
She clenched her fist tightly. It would be different this time around!
The tutorial should start soon. I need to prepare myself.
Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and went over her plans and goals one last time before she got to work.
She would prevent the calamities, kill the 9 Demons of this world, and change its ending! But to do that, she would have to become stronger than anyone ever before and faster than in her last life.
I don't think I can take on any of the Demons at this point. Good thing there's a lot of time left before I meet any of them. But I need to get strong fast so there won't be any casualties. I don't want any unnecessary suffering.
At that moment, Raika shuddered. Cold sweat broke out on her back, and her throat dried out. There was something horribly wrong, she could feel it! But what?
"Hello there, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this situation, would you?"
Chills ran down her spine, and her hair stood on end on her neck. What was he doing here?!
She hadn't met him this early in her past life, so why was he here now? Had something changed already?
She gulped slightly and turned to face him.
His face looked different, younger, friendlier, slightly more chubby even, yet his eyes were all the same. Lifeless and empty. Unlike his lips, they didn't smile at her, and there was a hint of constant pain flowing behind his hazel eyes.
He looked… different, especially in that horrible onesie.
Yet it was unmistakably him.
Desire.
One of the 9 Demons and one of the beings she had sworn to kill.
Realising she had been staring at him for an uncomfortable time, she tried remembering what he had said.
"Uhm, no, I don't know what's going on either. What would make you think that?"
"Call it a hunch. You didn't seem to be panicking like the others. On the contrary, you seemed relaxed. Quite intriguing."
Desire mustered her closely. What was she hiding? Could this girl know something the others didn't? This was exciting.
Mysteries here I come!
"I'm just relaxing because I finally got an opportunity for once. I don't know what's going on here either." Raika laughed akwardly, it wasn't a complete lie.
She had indeed forgotten a lot of things over the years, and time to relax would be sparse in the years to come once more.
"You seem to be doing fine as well. Are you not bothered by this? I mean, it sure is weird. I was just sitting in my office and now I'm here." A lie.
"I don't care to be honest. I was bored with life anyway, and now there is finally something exciting on the horizon!" He started giggling.
So he was crazy from the start, all along. Great. What do I do with him now? Do I just go for the kill once the tutorial starts?
Desire looked at her oddly.
Crap! Had she somehow let her hostility show?
After a moment, Desire simply shrugged and began looking around.
Phew.
She needed to keep her intentions in check. Especially around a Demon like Desire. His instincts seemed to have grown beyond those of a human already.
Why was he even here? This hadn't happened last time, she would have remembered something so important. She would have, right?
Suppressing her self-doubt, she thought about her next steps. Should she try to win him over and use him as a disposable tool? Should she just steal his keys and leave him to die? Speaking of which, where were his keys? She didn't see them!
Could it be? Had he not been corrupted yet? But all the Demons should have been infected before the start of the tutorial, it didn't make any sense! All of them should have received their respective artifacts already!
She would have to worry about that later. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and cemented her will.
The tutorial was about to commence.
Suddenly, the air felt heavier, the light brighter, and the shadows deeper. A crack formed in the empty sky above them, and a vaguely humanoid thing stepped out from it, hovering in the air above the crowd. Its body had a slightly grey colour, and its face was entirely blank and featureless. Its height was difficult to gauge from their viewpoint, but it was about as tall as an average human 4-year-old.
It stood in the air, completely motionless, even its strange robes didn't move in the wind. It floated and mustered them, at least that is what it felt like, it had no eyes after all.
After a short moment of silence, the supposed Demon next to her raised his arm and… waved at the creature in the sky.
What the hell is this Idiot doing?! He's going to get us all killed! Desire's stupidity was incomprehensible to Raika. Yet what was even more incomprehensible was the being in the sky actually waving back!
Raika's jaw dropped.
The Demon giggled.
What in the heavens?
Before her brain could evaporate out of bewilderment, the translucent text window of the system finally appeared before her eyes.
[Welcome to the tutorial, humans. Congratulations on entering Limbo.]
Raika clenched her jaw, her second round was about to begin.
[After completion of the first round, you will be granted a strand of the system. Best of luck.]
The Demon let out a scream of joy.
Raika rolled her eyes. Weirdo.