Mythos Of Narcissus: Reborn As An NPC In A Horror VRMMO

The bastion's courtyard, dimly lit by the faint glow of torches and the maddening moon, buzzed with quiet murmurs. Bastioneers gathered in uneven clusters, their faces painted with a mix of apprehension and curiosity. The chilling weight of Viviane's earlier revelations still hung heavy in the air.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Standing atop the central platform, one that I just constructed myself—I addressed them, the flickering torchlight casting long shadows across my frame. Every eye was fixed on me—an audience of both the faithful and the fearful. While both Verina and Lupina were watching from the side.

"Listen closely," I began, my voice steady yet carrying an edge that cut through the murmurs. "Tonight, we face something that transcends any Ordeal we've encountered. It's not a foe to be defeated, nor a trial to be endured. This is the Nihil—a phenomenon that unravels the very fabric of Carcosa itself."

The crowd shifted uneasily, exchanging worried glances. I raised a hand to quiet them.

"It is not chaos for the sake of chaos. It is change without pattern, alteration without understanding. What is real may not remain so. What is possible may become impossible. And what is impossible may walk among us."

Amelia stepped forward, her expression firm despite the tension in her jaw. "Lady Narcissus, is there any way to prepare for this... Nihil? Or is it just survival by chance?"

I gestured toward Viviane and Kuzunoha, who stood a few paces behind me, busy weaving intricate patterns of energy into the air.

"Viviane and Kuzunoha are fortifying our bastion," I explained. "They're creating safeguards—and many others preparation for what might transpire in this time of uneasiness. For now, the best we can do is remain vigilant and trust in their expertise."

"Is there anything we can do in the meantime?" Kara shouted.

She seemed to be more restless knowing that there was nothing that she could do at a time like this.

"Sharpen your mind and envision the uncharted future," I said. "Action must come before intention and preparation, only then we can affect the outcome to a great degree of our liking. While the situation might prohibit the thing that we usually do in order to survive the ordeal, we can still remain vigilant, hone our train of thoughts—ensuring that our body and mind is ready when something happens in front of us, even if it is far away."

Another one raised her hand. It's Sera. Her serious and sharp real self appeared to be slipping into the crack of her cautious and harmless persona. "Is there an estimation of the time of Nihil?"

"There is no clear indication that we can use as reference to calculate any kind of estimation. Not to mention, time might not be moving properly, which will be an issue when it comes to appointing a promised expectation."

Another bastioneer raised a question.

"Can I answer the call of nature?" Yora sheepishly asked.

"What a way to bring down the intensity!" Naosi jabbed with her words.

"Well, I guess it's good to know that one of us still has the composure to ask for permission like that," Lydia shrugged.

"I'm on the brink end, don't laugh," Yora snarled.

"Well, carry on then," I chuckled. "The rest can ask more questions while Yora is not present, and fill her in when she comes back."

"Don't get kidnapped into another dimension, you hear me!" Callista said as she slapped Yora on the back.

"Why you!"

I allowed myself a small smile to the antic, but it quickly faded as my gaze fell upon Erika.

She stood apart from the others, her posture rigid. Her Skypiercer was gripped tightly in her hands, the weapon trembling slightly as her knuckles whitened. Her usual expression of excited devotion had fractured, replaced by something raw and unsettling: anxiety, dread, and... terror?

It was as if she had experienced something far more threatening and undeniable, an event of tragedy that had already happened, instead of the terror that someone showed when they are about to go through that awful foresight.

That face was not the kind that someone would make if it was only just a premonition. Explore more at empire

"Erika," I called, stepping down from the platform. The crowd parted as I approached her. "What's wrong?"

Her head snapped up, her amber eyes locking onto mine. For a moment, she seemed frozen, her lips moving soundlessly before she managed to speak. "Lady Narcissus, I—"

Reality shattered with a quick snap into the bone, careening down the sky into a red waterfront as the moon turned into a flood.

The world around us dissolved like fragile glass struck by an invisible hammer. The courtyard, the bastioneers, the reassuring light of the bonfire—all gone.

"... Viviane isn't kidding in the slightest."

In their place was a vast expanse of hilly meadows, blanketed by glistening golden flowers that stretched endlessly in every direction. Another place, another timeline, and probably another world.

The air was thick and heavy, each breath I took laced with the faint scent of something metallic. The flowers shimmered unnaturally, their golden petals swaying despite the absence of wind.

I didn't have time to marvel at the beauty—or dread the alien stillness. A sense of foreboding crept over me, a pressure building at the edges of my awareness.

Then I saw it.

From the horizon, an incomprehensible force began to surge forward. It wasn't just an object or a being; it was something vast, all-encompassing, a living entropy consuming everything in its path. The golden flowers withered and crumbled into ash before being devoured. The ground beneath them disintegrated into nothingness.

The very sight of it clawed at my sanity, threatening to unmoor me from reality. My instincts screamed at me to run.

So I ran.

My feet pounded against the ground, the flowers shattering like glass beneath me. The ominous force surged closer, its incomprehensible presence warping the very air. My breath came in ragged gasps, and the pressure in my chest grew unbearable.

I had no direction, no plan. Just the primal need to escape.

"Tch!" I remembered not how far I have threaded, and how long I have been moving my lead-filled legs. "I can't keep running like this!"

I can start shifting into my other Somashift Vessel, Lambda.

But before I attempted it, a hope appeared like an angel who descended from heaven.

Ahead, a crack appeared in the fabric of reality—a jagged tear radiating blinding light. From within, a familiar voice called out.

"Kiddo! Over here!"

It was Viviane.

I threw myself toward the crack, the looming entropy mere moments from engulfing me. With a final burst of desperate energy, I dove through the rift.

I stumbled onto solid ground, the golden flowers and all-consuming force vanishing behind me as the rift sealed itself. My knees hit the dirt, and I gasped for air, my body trembling from the exertion.

"Narcissus," Viviane's voice was steady, but there was an urgency beneath it. She offered me her hand, helping me to my feet.

"What... was that?" I managed to ask between breaths.

"The Nihil," she replied grimly. "And it's far more volatile than I anticipated."

I straightened, brushing the dirt from my clothes as I forced myself to regain composure. "Volatile?"

Viviane gestured to the distorted landscape around us. Time and space had begun to warp and blend, fragments of past and present overlapping in surreal, dreamlike ways. A dilapidated tower stood alongside a pristine meadow, its shadow stretching unnaturally.

Wisps of light floated through the air, faint echoes of people and events that no longer existed.

"The boundaries of this reality are fraying," Viviane explained. "The Nihil is blending Carcosa with fragments of its own past—pieces that haven't yet been consumed by the All-Dreaming Beast."

Despite my best efforts to remain calm, my voice betrayed a hint of unease. "And the safeguard you and Kuzunoha mentioned?"

Viviane nodded. "We've already placed them as anchors." She said as she tapped her cranium. "They'll guide us back to our original timeline. All we need to do is follow the metaphorical rope."

Her words brought a measure of relief, though the chaos around us made it difficult to fully believe in any guarantees. "And the others?" I asked, forcing my voice to steady.

"Kuzunoha and I have ensured their safety," Viviane replied. "I have called forth other versions of myself to assist in rescuing everyone from their respective rifts. They're being guided back as we speak."

I exhaled, a heavy weight lifting from my chest. "Good. That's one less thing to worry about." But as the relief began to settle, a question lingered in my mind. I turned to Viviane, my gaze sharp. "Why bother saving them?" I asked. "You're fae. Mortals are beneath you, aren't they? Wouldn't saving me alone be enough?"

Viviane's expression didn't waver, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes—perhaps a touch of amusement. "I cursed them with the knowledge of Nihil," she said simply. "That curse binds me to them. If they die here, they are erased—not just from the people of Carcosa, but from memory of existence itself. The only ones who would remember them are those burdened with the same knowledge.

"It is my responsibility to ensure that they will deal with the curse of knowing the existence of Nihil, and the experience that they had gone through unlike many of their peers in this world." Her posture remained stoic and resolute, and the unwavering gaze in her eyes was something that I didn't expect from someone who was a fae. "They need to live with this curse, or else it won't have any meaning."

I raised an eyebrow. "And that's the only reason?"

Viviane's lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. "Perhaps I have a principle to uphold. Or perhaps I simply dislike leaving unfinished business."

Or maybe, she knew how dangerous this Nihil would be from the start and made an excuse to protect everyone.

Who knows. At least I didn't need to do anything to convince her to save the rest of my bastioneers.

"Well," I said with a wry smile, "Whatever your reason, I'll take it."

Viviane nodded, her expression softening slightly. "We should move. The longer we linger, the more unstable this place becomes."

Together, we began preparing to follow the anchors back to our original timeline, the distorted echoes of Carcosa shifting ominously around us.