Civilization

"Kingston… What happened… This morning? I know it isn't technically your fault but still, that was dangerous, and I don't want something like that to happen again." - Sam

Sitting on a chair isolated from the couches in the living room, Kingston nervously scratches the back of his head. Everyone was slightly on edge from the incident in the morning and with so little information about the situation, all of us were worried.

"Kingston, Adam, and I were the ones that saw you in the morning. You had the mask you get when you go berserk on your face. It crumbled away the moment you woke up." - Ian

"You also caused a fire and an explosion if you didn't remember." - Rebecca

"Well… I don't really know where to start. A lot of things happened last night." - Kingston

"How about you tell me what happened in the tunnel? Kaede left you and came back to HavenFall with news that you disappeared along with Gibing, David, and the others. I know they didn't die because there was no system report of them dying, but I had no idea what was happening." - Ian

"Okay, easy enough. After fighting a bunch of monsters we reached the white door. However, this white door wasn't glowing anymore despite there being a Pillar of Light prior to entering the tunnel. Confused as we were, we approached the white door carefully but nothing happened until I touched it. That door is a portal to a place called the Glemt and Ian is the owner of the portal." - Kingston

"What do you mean? I didn't get any message about this?" - Ian

"Maybe you have to touch the door as well, I'm not too sure about the requirements, but that place is where me and the others got taken too. Of course, against our will." - Kingston

"We know about the Glemt. There is a lot of talk on the forums about it since it is connected to the event." - Even

"Which part of the Glemt did you get transported to?" - Sam

"There are more to the Glemt?" - Kingston

"According to the forums, the Glemt refers to the territory controlled by the Reaper, specifically around the Reaper's Castle. From other players' experiences, we have verified there are at least 5 spots where players have been transported; Courtyard, Farmland, Tower, Barracks, and Abyss.

The Courtyard had 30 doors, Farmland 25, Tower 20, Barracks 40, and Abyss 10. Not all the doors were open, and some places had very few players but the ones that were transported to the Abyss were the first 10. Funnily enough, it was 1 player per door in the Abyss." - Nina

"Right, and it would be funny that the place where everyone supposedly died in, the Abyss, is where Kingston went through." - Sabrina

"I think I was in the Abyss. Since there were only 10 doors and 1 was part of the first 10 to arrive in the Glemt." - Kingston

"Not sure if lucky or unlucky…" - Rebecca

"What happened in the Abyss?" - Ian

"Uhh… That's the funny thing…" - Kingston

"No… No way. YOU KILLED EVERYONE IN THE ABYSS?" - Sabrina

"Wait, how do you know this?" - Kingston

"The forums. There was a fight between demons in the abyss but one of them was spawned in front of a door. I can only guess that you are related to the demon. Did you make a contract with a demon? Are they the same as the Gods?" - Nina

"I made a contract with a demon called Belial. I'm not too sure about the process of contracting a God, but I would assume it is similar. I gained new skills and additional stats, but the downside is that Belial is constantly in my head.

Furthermore, I also summoned him when we were fighting the demon since there was no way anyone in that room could have killed him. Belial… He did kill everyone but Gibing and the others are currently trapped inside some sort of black cocoon. " - Kingston

"Belial… I have heard of him before in a video about demons. Don't ask why I watched it but from what I remember he is the 68th demon in a grimoire called Ars Goetia. It is also related to Solomon's 72 demons." - Evan

"NERDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!" - Sabrina

"Shut up, Sabrina!' - Evan

"So, the demon was the cause of your outbreak in the morning?" - Sam

"Uh… Kind of… I hear him right now." - Kingston

"WHAT!" - Evan

Jolting up from Kingston's sudden announcement, every one slightly backed away from Kingston. I could hear Sabrina gulping down her saliva since she was the closest to Kingston.

"Wow, wow, wow, wait. It's not what you guys think." - Kingston

"Kingston, explain yourself please." - Ian

"Alright, just don't freak out like that. It scares me too. In Settlement, I heard a voice constantly ever since I kept using Endless Rage. Eventually, I found out the source of the voice to be a demon. After contracting with the demon, I was able to converse with it, but I thought it was only limited to the game.

After waking up in the clinic, I started to hear his voice although faint and sometimes mumbled, but I could tell it was Belial trying to connect with me. At first, I thought I was hearing things. I mean, come on hearing voices in my head that I heard in a game. I thought I was going crazy. That was until he said, 'So there are worlds outside of mine…'. That was when I snapped out of the illusion and realized, oh this is real.

The only problem is that sometimes Belial would disconnect, so right now, I can't actually hear him or anything, but I can tell he is listening. Our hearts ironically are connected, and he is experiences what I am experiencing. Not going to lie, but ever since Ian's incident where the spider mark was found on his back, it has been slightly suspicious about otherworldly connections.

Sam, I know you have connections to the inner workings of society. There must be some talk right? That's the one of the reasons you sought us out and created a guild. I don't want to just imply that you created a guild for something like this, but this must be part of it right?" - Kingston

Listening to Kingston analyze the situation, I realize that his thoughts matched with mine. While I tried to ignore and look past the facts he had been thinking about them and was looking at them while deciding whether to commit. Looking at Sam who was still standing at the front, I could see him contemplate about his answer. The cogs in his brain were turning and after a long minute of waiting, Sam answers.

"I'm sorry. I have been unfaithful to everyone here. I wasn't sure if saying this would cause panic or cause everyone to not want to be together but after the situation with Kingston today I think it is better if everyone here knows." - Sam

"Holy… What is happening right now? This is like information overload. Like, I am not ready for this. Like WHAT THE HELL?" - Evan

"Evan, take a chill pill. Sit down and wait for them to speak." - Sabrina

"So, it is true… Damn, it was in the back of my head but now that even Sam is saying something." - Nina

"Babe, what's going on?" - Rebecca

"Just let them talk, we are about to find out." - Ian

"Sam, can you please tell us about what you know?" - Kingston

"Alright, but what I'm about to say right now isn't made public yet, and I don't know if it will be made public. Can everyone agree to not disclose this information?" - Sam

"Agreed." - Everyone

"This information is only known to a select few including the higher ups in Lotus, Bones, and Aqua. Other than them, there are about 50 people worldwide that know about this information that I am about to tell you. Settlement is just a precursor to a bigger whole. When the angel Ariel first tells every player that they are creating Civilization from scratch, she literally means it because in the near future, Settlement and Earth will become one.

Now, it might sound confusing and trust me it is. I didn't believe it when I heard about it from my father, but he assured me that it is without a doubt legit. You can already see parts of it merging together with Ian's spider mark and Kingston's demon acquaintance, however, it is still in the process. When it will completely merge, I'm not too sure either.

What Kingston said is true about the guild. I also wanted a safety net of allies I could trust with my back once the world merges. Eventually, I was going to tell you, but I didn't think it would be this soon. " - Sam

"Sam… This is like big news, you know that right. Like we are talking about another world that is real. So every time I was playing Settlement, I was essentially isekai-ing into another world. Oh my god. AND I MEET ELVES!! LET'S GO BABY!" - Evan

"If what you say is true then the NPCs in the game are more than just NPCs. They are real living people even if they are of different races or monsters." - Sabrina

"Then, all the NPCs that died with me. They…" - Rebecca

"Not just them, babe. Everyone we killed whether it was monster or players were real." - Ian

"The only difference being, players could revive." - Nina

"So what now?" - Kingston

"Nothing we can do. Just keep playing the game and build up what we have already. The stronger we are, the better it will be. Especially since there will be more players joining the game soon. I believe it will be after this event, they will announce more 'player slots'." - Sam

"Alright then, I suggest we try to gather closer to each other or create some sort of route between us while at the same time, strengthening our forces. The event will only last so long and with the Glemt already accessible, it won't take long before more and more players will start to invade the Reaper's territory." - Ian

"Agreed. Let's end this discussion here. Kingston, I'm sorry for being rude to you at the start. I hope this doesn't create any bad blood between us." - Sam

"None, taken Sam. I understand your perspective fully." - Kingston

"Thank you. I'll be taking my leave first then." - Sam