In the hallway of a hospital a young and tired nurse was pushing a lonely hospital bed while chatting with an old doctor. On the bed a young man with long brown hair was lying in hospital clothes, his expressionless face was calm like he was no longer alive yet his hearth beat with rhythm.
- So... This is the patient who did not wake up even after his session ended in full dive?
- Yes, Doctor Fred.
The doctor flipped through the papers on the clipboard he was holding.
- Strange. How did a healthy young man lost consciousness out of nowhere. There was no report about a hardware malfunction, was there?
- No, it was brought into service and they found no issue with it. Also, even in case of malfunction he should disconnect without hurting his brain.
Their voice was going further and further away. The young man saw the scene go along from above his body.
'What is going on? Where am I? Why am I on a hospital bed?'
He was looking around confused, but could barely see his surrounding as it all started fading out. The whole scene looked more decrepit the closer he tried to look. He tried to remember what was his last memory, but it was hard.
'I was inside the game... I got up the rocky wall the and opened a door? Then I was here...'
He looked closer to his own face. The only part of the scene he could see clearly. He was asleep on the bed without any worrying sign about his state.
'Am I having an out of body experience after they took me off from the full dive finally? I heard you can get something like this if you get good at meditation or something.'
He scratched his none existent head.
'But when did I get into a hospital? I was supposed to be at home, and barely any times passed by... Or... Did I pass out and lose consciousness?'
He thought he was too calm for the situation, but even when he tried to feel anything he could not do it. He was just watching as they moved him into a room with a machine he did not recognize.
'I guess they are trying to figure out what is going on? ... I would love to know as well, so I hope they will see something!'
But as he tried to enter the room with them everything went dark as night.
When the lights came back he was standing in an open field. The area around him desolated, everything burnt down into black chalk. Parts of the area was still smoldering and smoking like it never wanted to give up it's warmth. The sky was covered in smoke choking out the light of the lone artificial sun glowing down on the land.
Mamon took a deep breath like he just surfaced from under water and coughed from the smoke. Looking around panicked not knowing where he is or how he got there.
The place did not look like the 1st level of the tower he knew and it definitely did not look like the hospital he just saw moments ago.
'What was that? Was that a vision I just saw, or reality?'
He kneeled down and held his aching head between his hands while several blue windows with messages appeared in front of him, but he ignored them.
'Am I dead? Am I trapped in a dream? Or did something else happened to me'
A red window started to flash in front of his eyes in a way he could not ignore. "System message: Host's mental state instable. Please try to remain calm!"
- Remain calm? What are you even talking about? Who are you?
But instead of answer the painful red light flashed over and over. It felt like he was spinning around as he tried to think of a reason or rhyme that would get him here but only the painful headache was present in his head.
"System message: Warning! Mental stability is low! Emergency system activated"
He suddenly passed out on the floor, his eyes turning fully white while a blueish white light enveloped his whole body and swirled around like a hurricane full of energy.
"System message: Reconfiguration and mental overwrite initiated."
After a few seconds the light moved towards his body and got absorbed into him.
"System message: Reconfiguration complete. New goal: Clear the tower of the corrupted god!"
The light returned to his eyes and he slowly stood up.
'What a headache. What happened? ... I was thinking about something? What was it again?'
He looked around confused.
'Oh yeah! This doesn't look like the first floor I know. Instead a forest this looks more like a hellscape.'
Then he looked at his body. His colors returned and he had no scratch marks on his legs anymore. His hands were also fully healed from the cuts he got while climbing.
'At least this remained the same as in the game... I mean the normal game mode? What am I talking about?'
He looked around again.
'Oh yeah! This doesn't look like... No! The village! Find the village that is on the first floor... Right! That's what you should do first?'
He started walking towards the direction he thought the village was in. Stumbling around, while still confused and trying to figure out what is going on. He felt like he forgot something, but he could not remember what. It felt like he had a dream he forgot as soon as he woke up.
After a few minutes he regained his usual composure and walked steadily forward still looking for anything alive. Hoping the village was not burned down, even more so as he needed the statue and the temple from the village if he wanted to continue on without any hiccups in his plan on beating the game.
As he walked through the desolate wasteland he noticed that the part he was walking on had less ash on the ground. He shoved a small part aside with his foot he saw a paved road sleeping underneath.
'I guess the road is still here even under all the ash. This should lead straight to the village, if it's not burnt down by now.'
While walking he was on the lookout. Even though everything was burnt there could still be some monsters around. After all the game was about fighting them off. Even if the environment changed, it would only change the monsters not remove them.
A wooden wall singed on the sides by fire was standing over the wasteland announcing it's presence far into the open field, still unseen from far away due to the smoke in the air blocking out the view. On opposing sides of it gates big enough for a carriage blocking the entrance for unwanted guests and a platform behind the wall ensured a space for guards to stand on and look over both the wasteland and the village inside.
As Mamon got closer to the wall he waved at the guard on top of the wall. The guy wearing simple armor and holding a spear was really surprised by someone coming from the outside.
- Greetings sir! I'm a traveler looking for shelter in this desolate land.
- A traveler? Have you not heard of the monster in the forest? I mean what is left of the forest?
- A monster? I have not heard nor seen it.
- Then you are the luckiest person I have ever met. Come in and take a break, however do not expect much hospitality. We have shortage on everything including water and food. Due to the monster we can't get supplies from other villages. I suggest you move on as soon as you can.
- Thank you for your advice! I will surely heed it.
'After all I only came here for a few things, I can just go and get rid of the floor boss and go to the 2nd level as the burnt forest will not provide a good leveling spot. While the other villages are too far away.'
Another guard opened the gate and let him in. The village made entirely of wood filled with people with depressing looks and sadness sitting around and talking about how bad the situation welcomed him.
'This is a lot worse than I thought it would be. I guess I should just head to the statue first and see where to go from there.'
He walked closer to the village center while looking at the people who were chewing on some bark like they were eating some meaningful food. Kids sitting around drawing with sticks on the ground. One small child asking his mother when will they get water again. An old woman collapse on the ground and being helped up by a young man.
In the middle there was no statue, only an empty space with a well. A young woman with sunken face was trying to draw none existent water from it and cryed when there was nothing in the bucket.
Then he heard an old man's voice from behind him.
- Depressing isn't it?
- Gatekeeper?
He turned around hearing the familiar voice.