So please forgive any inconsistencies in the timeline.
I only play Soul Knight, and I haven't explored it all that deeply.
There are some combinations I don't know about, so if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments.
I'll see if I can work them into the story.
For a pleasant reading experience, I suggest leaving your brains here.
[Brain storage area]
Once you've put them away, you can start reading.
Late at night, in a WeChat group.
Fourth: "Fuck! That bastard Uluru again! I'm done! Guys, log on for some Soul Knight!"
First: "It's this late. What are you losing your mind over now?"
Fourth: "Got ambushed at the bridge. (Sad)"
Fourth: "Come on, come on! Four-player Soul Knight co-op!"
Second: "How many are you short? If you only need one, I'm sitting this out."
Fourth: "Three! (Completely shameless)"
Third: "Nice."
Second: "So you haven't found a single player yet?"
First: "Not playing. Last time, your Transcender died before you even got going. I have to use my skill to save you every single time."
Fourth: "Having you tank up front makes me feel too safe, First. I'll play Vampire this time. No slacking!"
Fourth: "Second revives the mobs, Third summons the bear, and I dish out damage from the back in style. We've got this!"
Third: "...Why does a Vampire with the third skill need to attack from the back?"
Second: "Then I'll craft a red-tier weapon."
Amid laughter and playful cursing, four game icons lit up on their respective screens.
In the pixel-art dungeon, the Paladin raised his shield at the front, clad in a lava-like skin.
An eerie red demonic eye floated beside the Necromancer, the transformed Druid blew a horn to summon a giant beast, and the Vampire swung an enormous scythe.
They fought their way forward in perfect sync.
At last, they defeated the boss and stood before the Magic Stone.
Fourth: "Perfect! I'm on fire right now! I'm opening Arknights for a ten-pull!"
First: "Here we go again..."
Third: "Stay calm when you're pulling..."
Second: "Can you guys hear the incoming wails already?"
Fourth: "Relax, relax! Watch this! I'm definitely cleaning out this new banner!"
Off-banner-54
Off-banner-67
Off-banner-72
Fourth: "..."
Second: "Do you still have enough money to live on?"
"Lowlight above!!! I offer up the entire lifespans of these sons of mine! In exchange, let this ten-pull give me max potential!"
First: "...You bastard."
Third: "...That's going too far..."
Second: "...Even all our lifespans combined probably wouldn't be enough. If you want to pull it off, you'd better throw in your own too."
Fourth: "Second, you're even more ruthless than me! Fine, fine, I'll add mine... holy shit?!"
Before he had finished speaking, something strange happened on the screen.
There was none of the usual white or purple light. Ten rays of rainbow-gold light instantly filled the entire screen.
One ten-pull, and actual max potential!
"I... I actually got it?!"
Fourth's voice cracked with sheer disbelief.
But before he could celebrate, the light on his screen suddenly spread, swallowing his entire field of vision.
At that same instant, three other locations were completely engulfed in light.
All that remained in the voice channel was Fourth's abruptly cut-off cry. Then everything fell deathly silent.
Bang-!
"You little brat, what are you screaming about?! I'll... where'd he go?"
Terra, the year 1090, Rem Billiton.
A wise man saved a Cautus girl and set out with her on a journey to Kazdel.
Meanwhile, four crimson meteors tore through Terra's night sky and crashed down toward four corners of the continent.
Columbia, Rhine Lab.
"How is the test subject doing?"
"Stable for now. There's a chance he'll survive."
"Really... then increase the dosage. They're all expendable anyway. We might as well test the drug tolerance of different races."
The man they called a test subject stared blankly at the ceiling, hearing every word of the two researchers' conversation.
It hurts so much...
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Anyone... please kill me...
Boom-!!!
A tremendous crash shattered the silence of the night. A meteor fell from the sky, tearing through the towering building and destroying the evil within.
"Cough... cough..."
First barely shook off the daze from the impact. He shook his muddled head and struggled to sit up at the bottom of the crater.
What happened? That blinding light just now...
He instinctively raised a hand to rub his aching forehead, but his fingertips touched something hard, warm, and strangely curved.
He froze.
In disbelief, he ran both hands upward along his forehead-
Those sinister horns, as though formed from solidified lava, were unmistakably real atop his head. He could feel them clearly beneath his fingers, and even sense the scorching power flowing inside them.
An absurd, terrifying thought exploded in his mind.
"Holy shit!" he blurted, his voice warped by shock. "I've turned into a monster?!"
Almost simultaneously, three equally terrified and disbelieving voices burst directly into his mind.
Second: "Holy shit! I've turned into a woman?! This body... these huge tits... what the hell?!"
Third: "Holy shit! M-my head... why is it a deer's head?! And these claws...?!"
Fourth: "I... wait, I think I'm still just as handsome-huh? These pointy ears... this cape... holy crap! I'm even hotter now! Wait... this scythe-Breath of Death!!?"
Their chaotic thoughts collided and intertwined through an invisible link. First looked down at his hands. They were no longer human.
He was now covered in dark lava armor, brimming with explosive strength.
He clenched his fists, feeling the scorching power surge within him, at once unfamiliar and seemingly innate.
He looked down at the familiar yet unfamiliar cross-shaped shield on the ground.
"Guys..." First tried calling out in his mind, his voice heavy. "Are you all still alive?"
Second's tearful voice echoed through their minds. "It's gone... my little guy is gone..."
Third's voice was filled with panic, on the verge of tears. "Where is this?! Why did I turn into this?! First... First, where are you?!"
Fourth's voice, however, carried an unusual calm as it cut through their confusion. "Bros... look up at the moon."
The moon?
The unexpected instruction prompted them to obey instinctively, despite their terror over the drastic changes to their bodies.
First raised what had become a Flame Demon's head and looked at the sky; Third lifted his enormous deer head; Second also forced back the intense discomfort of her unfamiliar body and tilted her face upward.
Then they all fell silent.
Two moons hung in the night sky.
The twin moons shone together, their mingling light spilling over this unfamiliar land.
This was no sight they could ever have seen on Earth.
A long silence settled over their minds, an oppressive weight passing soundlessly between them.
A long, long time passed.
Fourth's voice sounded again, stripped of its feigned composure and swagger:
"Guys... I think we've crossed into another world."
Those words struck like a hammer, shattering their last shred of wishful thinking.
"Another world..."
First repeated the words, surveying the drifting dust, molten lava, and ruins around him.
He felt the scorching power surging within him and looked down at his tall, distorted form. Everything confirmed Fourth's conclusion.
"It's not just that."
First's voice sank lower as he forced himself to calm down.
"We've... turned into Soul Knight characters, complete with skins and weapons."
"I've become the Paladin, and it looks like I can control fire."
"I'm the Necromancer..."
Second's voice trembled slightly.
"My weapon's beside me too, and there are corpses all around me!"
Third sounded close to tears. "Were we... were we sacrificed here by that ten-pull?"
"Fuck..." Fourth cursed, though whether he was cursing his own jinxing words or this goddamn fate was unclear.
"So... are we in the world of Soul Knight now? Are there any recognizable buildings around you?"
Second: "No! I told you, there are corpses everywhere!"
"Wait... these corpses have horns on their heads? And tails!"
Third: "I'm on a snowfield! Snow as far as the eye can see!"
First looked around, but the dust blocked his view.
He looked at his distorted hands, and willed something to happen.
Scorching flames surged from the cracks in his lava armor. The resulting blast of air swept away all the dust, revealing a surviving emblem amid the ruins.
First: "There's a logo here. An ♾ symbol, with a plus and a minus inside the two loops."
Fourth: "Holy shit! First, are you sure you saw it right?"
First: "I'm sure... do you recognize it?"
Fourth: "I do! Of course I do! This isn't the world of Soul Knight. This is Terra! Terra from Arknights!"
The light of the twin moons shone indifferently upon the four strangers scattered across different corners of Terra.
After the shock, cold reality swept through each of their hearts like a bitter wind.
They were no longer players controlling characters from behind a screen.
They were the characters.
And this world was fraught with danger.
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