In a neutral boundary zone between Visiwend and the Free Counties, an Invasion Quest spawned. As soon as nearby Players found out about it, word of it spread across the Isilia server. When word reached RemixHorizon, she instantly called Krafty, Niki, and Sayooshi to wake up and play! These four online friends have begun to refer to their Party as “Project Dream” or “Party D” because they have decided to embark on an ambitious player-made quest, to rise to the top of the server. There are multiple ways of doing that, being the richest or strongest Player. Or, by climbing a self-made celestial stairway so they could make history by forming a proper Player Government inside the game, using the game’s inbuilt mechanics that are basically left unused in every server across the world.

But to accomplish their quest, they need to amass an immense amount of gold coins to fund their project. And so, playing the game daily, day and night, whenever possible is the best way of achieving it. They are committed to their artificial goal because the game is very immersive, the game is fun, they found a temporary purpose in life, and most importantly they are doing this as an adventuring band of good friends who enjoy each other’s online company. So when Remixhorizon woke her friends up, they almost instantly booted up the games and all traveled to where the Invasion Quest spawned. Arriving at the destined location in an incredibly short amount of time despite the fact they were in another region of the overworld.

The reason why an Invasion Quest spawns is generally a result of two basic factors. Random chance, and whenever some sort of crisis is occurring somewhere inside the overworld. For the most part, Invasion Quests are uncommon because their spawn rate is of low frequency. Yet, these events are prized by many Players because the rewards are extremely lucrative. A lot of experience points, a lot of money, possibility of acquiring unique abilities or skills, more rare gear drops, and many other miscellaneous rewards such as special pets for Players to play with virtually.

The current Invasion Quest is called “Necromancer’s Lair” because the advanced NPC boss is a villainous necromancer who blighted the land and resurrected every single dead NPC and every time a Player died in the area back to life, rising them from the ground and seeking to expand his horde of undead so that he may take control of the world. The Necromancer Boss did not just randomly spawn from chance, but the characteristics of this Invasion Quest were shaped by the data left behind in the neutral boundary zone between Visiwend and Free Counties. This is a place which experienced high frequency of world-PVP fighting, but as a result both NPC civilian innocents and soldiers suffered death from the carnage which has been occurring the area for the past 7 months since Divine Mortality’s release. It could be described that the Invasion Quest resulted from an ingame humanitarian catastrophe, but of course it isn’t a real one. Usually, Players would team up with NPC mercenary bands, funded by Graypine, to invade Visiwend in this area. The last battle broke the camel’s back because a team of Player-only force from Visiwend utterly annihilated both enemy Players and NPC mercenaries. Despite the fact that fighting-NPC AI is advanced, and it can perform fairly well against a Human Player opponent. But during such fights, sometimes traveling civilian NPCs get sucked into the battle or spells like fireballs sometimes damage nearby buildings of NPCs living in Visiwend or the Free Counties. Thankfully the AI are generally smart and complex enough to no long settle or pass through high-frequency world combat areas, yet the damage had already been done. And so, the game’s systems gave rise to the Necromancer Boss.

Aside from Sayooshi’s party, many other group parties were formed between friends and strangers. But while these people are generally in the majority, the people who truly take the spotlight are the guilds. Generally, far more organized, and larger groups of Players who are led by officers and guildmasters to accomplish tasks together in a hopefully more efficient and community-oriented manner. Of course, the popular guilds present here in this invasion quest against the Necromancer Boss are combat guilds. Yet a few crafting and general-fun seeking guilds are present too.

Most Players arrived to this location through caravans, they rode either on the back of a wagon driven by an NPC chauffeur or by a Player if they owned that ‘mount’. Only the rich or lucky Players have their own mounts. The game has been out for over half a year but most Players still cannot afford to buy AND maintain their mounts. Unless the mount a Player rides is inorganize, which there are only a few mounts like that, then it must be maintained as a ‘living’ creature within a virtual world. It could runaway if it has a very low opinion of a Player, and if you chain it with binds then it may die from starvation or poor mental health. There are many simple yet intricate details to mounts and other things in the game like Pets or crafting. But maintain a mount in general is not difficult, it’s just an expensive drain of some money and resources.

Usually there are also NPC lead ‘guides’ to the Invasion Quest who either just offer you to do an extra quest within the Invasion Quest or they actually guide you through it. But it seems like since this was unaffiliated with any NPC organization or country, then the local NPC hero champions (who some Players have already met while questing) attempt to restrict the growth of the Necromancer’s blighting of the land into undeath.

The beginning phase of the Invasion Quest forced every Player to battle through hordes of undead. At first, they were simple skeletons and zombies, but they gradually raised in difficult and complexity. From Barbarian Skeletons to Zombie Wyverns breathing down poison, a few Player Parties began trinkling away from the Invasion Quest because it wasn’t worth their time. They got the little extra silver coins and experiences they wanted; it was enough for them, so they left. However, the guilds of course stayed, they would not leave until the Invasion Quest was over.

Krafty didn’t need to join up with his other friends, such as May, who were part of the guild Afatenity. Krafty was also a part of it. But Krafty mentioned to Project Dream that his guildmaster was also online and at this event. So, Krafty hoped to meet him somewhere in the area, probably after they reach closer the center. And since the event’s location is outside, and not inside a complex cavern or maze-like dungeon, it was easy to spot where the Necromancer Boss was at. On top of a massive rock boulder. Aside from periphery or important zones in Divine Mortality, many zones are extravagantly fantastical with landscapes existing that truly belonged to a high fantasy. Some zones are floating islands over a body water or a giant chasm to the earth. Other landscapes have obstructive small mountains that bend or peak up into the sky. Impressive waterfalls, glaciers, jagged spires, grasslands with ginormous fallen ruined structures, and so on. The place Sayooshi and his party were at belonged to a Riverland biome type, but after so much combat from the past 7 months, the use of magic and the influence by Lesser Gods transformed the area after a single patch.

Rivers gushed forward against risen boulders. It looked like a great flood had just occurred, but the only thing which was flood were the undead rising from the marshes, the trees, and grasslands. These were fallen NPCs and bodies of some Players who looked almost identical to actual Player characters. The closer the Parties and Guilds got, the more underling bosses they faced.

After a little while, the Necromancer who stood on top the highest rock in plain sight, used a grand Spell Art ability which mimicked earth magic that Players can use, yet it took it to another level by transforming the terrain in real time. Cylindrical rocks rose from the earth in cylindrical fashion with earth ramparts and bridges now available for Players to climb onto and eventually challenge the Necromancer directly.

“Come if you dare Divine Spirits! After the chaos you’ve reigned upon my peoples, feed me your souls again and again. Die and return, die and return… DIE AND RETURN! So that I may raise you into my unholy army…!”