-South Branch of [Front Lines], Twilight Shores-

“A division at such crucial times…”

“It’s a conspiracy I say! An outright conspiracy against all of us!”

“The peace negotiation is a trap for sure, do not go, [Rune].”

“But if he doesn’t go, what will happen to [Fiorae]?”

“Hell, if he goes, both our leaders will be out of running before the war even begins!”

“Oh yeah, and you got a better solution? Let’s hear it instead of the crap you are shouting right now?!”

The branch leaders of [Front Lines] and leaders from the allied guilds sat around a large table, throwing insults and heated lines at each other. Rune stayed silent throughout the commotion, leaning forward on the desk, deep in thought.

As the angry voices increased in volume, he looked up.

“Enough.” he said calmly, “I’ve made my decision.”

The members around him quieted down, their tense gazes resting on him.

“I will accept the negotiation.”

A few gasps erupted around the table. The branch leader of [Front Lines]’s Twilight Shores southern base spoke up.

“Then, I will supply you with a group of our best men at this base, it should be-”

Rune shook his head, rejecting his offer.

“I will go alone. Just like they have requested.”

“But, in the case that they turn the tables on you, wouldn’t you be safer going with backup?” a leader from the allied guilds piped in, voicing the concerns of everyone in the room.

“It will be unwise and unnecessary to get too many people involved all at once.” Rune replied steadily.

“[Front Lines] is already missing its leader, it can’t lose its deputy too.” another member refuted, earning himself a chorus of nods in support.

“I will be fine, and-”

“And in the case that the negotiation fails?”

“Then…”

Rune smiled, his eyes radiating with an eerie glow in the darkness.

“I will break her out by force.”

-------------------

-Instance Lobby, Golden Orchid Imperial Capital-

“And so, the next relay is an instance…a co-op dungeon, huh.”

Serenia gazed at the details of the quest in front of her, thinking about their next steps.

Relay mission #32: Join the [Finding N3MO] instance in the Instance Lobby.

Location: Golden Orchid Imperial Capital. Five miles East of Starlight City.

Rewards: 1,000 EXP, 500 Eden Seeds, Relay progress 32/50.

Time remaining: 12:04:13

“…”

“Well, either way,” Serenia said, as she closed the quest window, “we should ask that NPC over there about this instance first.”

They headed toward the NPC standing behind a desk on the other end of the grand hall.

“Excuse me, we would like to learn about the [Finding N3MO] instance.” she inquired, giving him a light smile.

“Certainly. Please wait a moment while the system loads the instance preview.”

They waited in silence as the NPC tapped away in mid air, on what seemed to be an invisible keyboard.

System prompt: Would you like to complete the instance once in third-person mode?

“Yes.” Serenia confirmed, as the scene around them promptly became dark as the night sky.

Once upon a time, there lived a young boy named N3MO…

As the system operator began to narrate, the darkness began to melt, revealing a beautiful grassy field illuminated by the dazzling sunlight.

In the midst of the everlasting paradise, stood a young boy of no more than ten.

Coral-red hair, and sea-blue eyes.

As if he came from the tranquil sea itself.

N3MO lived with his father, a clown named [email protected]

The scene shifted to show the young boy with his father, altogether seeming like a happy and wholesome family.

All’s well until one day, [email protected] offended one of the local gangs. The mountain trolls thus kidnapped N3MO, and demanded ransom for his release.

“…is this the actual story…”

“Shh, [Lux]. Just listen…it’s a wonderful and heartbreaking story.”

[email protected] thus gathered up all his life savings, and set off to rescue his son…but, before that, he needs YOUR help!

The scenes began to fast forward. The ground below them began to shake as the stone walls around them collapsed, spiraling into a mass of chaos.

Team up with 5 other level 10+ players!

Four anonymous figures appeared beside them, standing back-to-back against the impending doom.

Fight your way through the hideout!

The group began to run, fighting various enemies along the way.

Defeat General G. W. Shark…and secure your ultimate victory in the next 30 minutes!

-[Finding N3MO]©

The dramatic preview came to an end.

“Would you like to register for an upcoming session?” the NPC asked, as they found themselves back at the grand hall of the Instance Lobby.

“How long will we be waiting?” Serenia asked.

“There is one that is going to start in approximately five minutes.” the NPC offered.

“Great! Well, if there is room for two, we will certainly like to register for that session.”

The NPC tiled his head, slightly confused.

“There is room for two…but who else would be registering?”

“My teammate right beside me…[Lux], can you confirm-”

Serenia looked to the spot right next to her, where Lux was standing moments ago.

Yet, there were no traces of her companion anywhere in sight.

Gehh!?!? I took my eyes off him for a few seconds...and he is gone again???

————————————

-[Mission: Possible] Home Base, Instance-

“Alright boys, we got 14 out of 15 people gathered here. Waiting on one last person before we decide the teams.”

“Looks like we got a good balance between the attackers and supporters.”

“Yeah, seems like a qualified group. I wonder how good the last person will be…”

As the 14 members of the [Mission: Possible] instance chatted in their home base, a light began to shine from the portal behind them.

“Oh, the last has arrived!”

“Finally! Now, let’s begin-”

They stopped short, their eyes focused on the individual in front of them.

[Lux]

Level 10

“…are you f****** serious.”

Chapter 10- End

To be continued...

——————————————

Very long announcement from Hikaru Seishin!

AKA: Please read at your own risk.

AKA 2: Please read it…I would really appreciate it if you could…

Announcement 1:

Hey everybody! Dark Eden is BACK and running! I apologize for the long months (more like a year) of delay, but things are settled now and D.E.O. is back on track! Thank you all for your patience, and without further ado, please enjoy the 10th chapter of The Death God’s Origin!

PS: I have totally forgotten 99% of the plot. Much apologies if I start spamming non-sense, I should get back into the mindset soon. This is partly why this chapter is so short…the long hiatus really got me, I seriously have a lot of catching up to do first. And…much apologies for the randomness once again, I promise that there will be less craziness as I slowly get back in shape (yeah…got to do that in real life too actually, but that’s a different story…)

PS: Think of this chapter as a teaser then, promise that once my winter break starts (very very soon), we’ll be be off like a rocket!

Announcement 2:

I have received a few comments from a friend of mine, in regards to how drastically different my stories on Royal Road are. Well, I decided that I’ll take some time right now to briefly introduce the readers to other creations of mine. I’m sure that for those who like certain elements of Dark Eden, you may also find these fictions worth your time.

PS: It is 100% reasonable for you to hint on my other fictions that I should update Dark Eden. This is actually pretty effective, since I was bandwagoned on to updating this fiction through other forums and through constructive feedback from readers like you. AKA: Comment comment!

Well, either way, here’s what’s up for grabs:

1. Zephyrion

Synopsis:

One man’s mistake.

“Don’t avert your eyes. Look around you. Look at the souls that your foolish kindness had reaped.”

One man’s escape.

“Your attempts are futile. There is no place for vermin like you in this holy empire.”

One man’s descent into chaos.

“At the cost of your humanity, and the lives of many innocent others, will you forsake all to ascend to the top?”

And one man’s final resolution.

“Enough with your blabbering. Even if I have to start over from the lowest of low…”

“I will definitely regain my rightful throne.”

Comments:

Essentially, this is one of my “let-me-write-a-story-while-I-am-drunk” fictions. Let’s just say that this is pure madness, and I seriously do not know what I was thinking back then. But, in all honestness, this can be interesting to readers who want a story with a typical “revenge” theme, but with a crazy sore loser of a magician king MC who was betrayed and ended up on a journey to conquer the world with the Chaos God Erebus. AKA: Someone who is not nearly as overpowered as Lux, but perhaps even more stubborn and a hundred times more sarcastic. Yet, that sounds like Zeph alright!

2. Colosseum 72

Synopsis:

“No one knows when it first appeared, but for as long as I could recall, it had always been there.”

——-

Across the globe, people were receiving a series of “chain mails” from an unknown source, asking them to participate in the “Colosseum”.

Those who accept this invitation are mysteriously transported to a strange realm, where they are forced to complete the objectives required on each floor.

Failure to pass the trials means death in real life, but it is rumored that riches beyond one’s imagination could be found at the top…

17-year-old Kurose Mikage is also one of the “challengers”. But what will happen when he clears Floor 72, and find himself trapped in the worst situation, all because of a wrong wish?

An action-thriller featuring an anti-hero main character and a deadly survival game.

It is Mikage-kun versus the World!

———

“I know one day, they will eventually find out…And on that day, I would become the most wanted mass-murderer in history.”

Comments:

Well, what can I say? Unlike Dark Eden, Colosseum 72 is a detective story. But, unlike the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, our main character here is a serial-killer moderator of the “Colosseum”. What? Serial-killer moderator? Is this basically the mix between Light Yagami and Kirito??? No, not exactly. Throw in the fact that our beloved moderator is nothing more than a mere puppet for an anonymous figure named “Ame”, Colosseum 72 will take you on a roller-coaster ride up the levels and leave you hanging for more! Quite literally.

3. Washington: The Fool

Synopsis:

“To dominate the Land, is to unite the Nation.”

After falling from a cherry blossom tree, the young founding father of the United States, George Washington, found himself trapped back in time.

Plot twist? He is stuck in the body of Oda Nobunaga, one of the most celebrated warlords of Sengoku Japan.

Will he ever find his way back to his own time, in time for the birth of his own country?

“And I, Oda Nobunaga…is the man who shall unite Japan!”

Comments:

One word: WTF. Ok, that was more like three words, but you get the point. Well, you got the action-thriller (Dark Eden), fantasy-comedy (Zephyrion), and the mystery-horror (Colosseum 72), why not the historical-drama? Featuring our beloved founding father, George Washington, and the fangirls-a-plenty Oda Nobunaga, what more could you want? Yeah, ok. More chapters. Yeah…working on it.

Announcement 3:

After all this, here’s the big question that some of you may have:

“Hikaru, how often are you going to UPDATE these works?”

Good question. Let’s just say that it is actually easier for me to work on multiple works at the same time, as I would be less likely to drop anything because of boredom this way. With that said though, it will be hard to balance out the releases, as there are readers waiting on each end.

My final answer? I will have to think about this more in-depth during my winter break (around one month in length…cheers), and I will let you all know by the end of it what I had scheduled for each fiction. Until then though, I will try my best to alternate between the fictions, at the rate of one release per week (minus my exam times).

Well, that is all for now! Thank you so much for reading (the few of you that are still here that is), and I’ll see you next time in Dark Eden: The Death God’s Origin!

-Hikaru Seishin,

November 27, 2015