"Ah-this damned, exploitative job! A whole week of overtime until midnight, all for this measly pay. They really want to work me to death... But today, it's finally over!" I dragged my utterly exhausted body out of the office building.
The crimson clouds on the horizon actually brought tears to my dark-ringed eyes.
The last time I got off work on time was... the last time!
I couldn't take it anymore. Night after night of overtime had turned my brain to mush, and even walking left me gasping for breath. As I made my way to the subway, the people around me seemed to deliberately keep a few steps away. Did they think I was some kind of creep?
I still remembered scratching my head while wrestling with a bug in the code, only to pull out a great clump of hair. The smooth patch beneath my fingertips was just as unforgettable.
If this kept up, going bald young would probably be inevitable.
So the moment I handed in my resignation, I felt refreshed from head to toe!
Well, as for how long the few coins rattling in my pocket would last, or when I'd find another job, I could worry about that later.
Right now, the most important thing was-
"Elden Ring, the crowning achievement of the Soulslike genre and winner of the 2022 TGA Game of the Year award, recently drew the attention of countless players with the trailer for its DLC, Shadow of Gold, released by its parent company, FromSoftware. In 2024, we can look forward to returning to that vast continent of swords and magic for an extraordinary adventure!"
When this news popped up as I scrolled on the subway, my body went from nearly crashing to rebooting in an instant.
Whoa! Shadow of Gold was finally coming?
Miyazaki, you old bastard, serve up my damn DLC already! Do I have to get on my knees and beg?
My heart felt as though it was pounding out of control.
Ah, thinking back to when I first bought Elden Ring, I honestly hadn't wanted anything to do with Soulslike games at first. The protagonist was everyone's punching bag-even passing dogs would leap over to take a few bites. You battled wits with rank-and-file enemies, rolled and scrambled your way along, and after narrowly escaping being hacked into mincemeat, finally reached the boss battered and filthy-only to die in one hit.
Life was hard enough already. Why suffer and torment myself in a game too?
I'd rather just stay a humble Genshin fan~
But-
Clang! Clang!
The moment I logged in, magnificent music swept over me with an immense sense of epic grandeur.
As the game began, a weathered, deep-voiced narrator described a world wracked by endless strife and teetering on the brink of collapse. The protagonist, a Tarnished, crossed the pale mist and stepped boldly onto the path to save the Lands Between-or destroy the world.
Limgrave, peaceful yet fraught with danger; Liurnia, deep and mysterious; Caelid, steeped in death; Leyndell, glittering with gold yet falling into decay; the vast, disorienting snowy mountains... Every landscape was breathtakingly beautiful... Well, except Caelid. That place took your breath away in a different sense, especially when rotten crows and rotten dogs were chasing you at the same time.
The immersion spoke for itself.
Even falling again and again, suffering again and again, couldn't extinguish my curiosity or my urge to explore and adventure.
It felt as though I really was riding the spectral steed Torrent across that vast world, becoming that cockroach of a Tarnished who simply wouldn't stay dead, writing my own epic.
Even during breaks at work, I couldn't resist looking up Elden Ring online, reading other players' tips about shortcuts, hidden treasures, boss challenges, and ways to cheese them. I wished I could turn the clock forward to quitting time and hurry back into the world of the Elden Ring to try them out.
By the time I came to my senses, my playtime had sailed past a hundred hours. Was it two hundred now? Three hundred?
Well, I couldn't remember.
Anyway, I'd gone from an armchair Souls player who knew nothing to a fairly accomplished "expert" who could even land the Parry skill four times out of ten~
Now, Shadow of Gold, the DLC I'd been waiting two or three agonizing years for, was finally coming. Supposedly, it would be about half the size of the base game. My brain was boiling with excitement, my eyes practically shone, and my hands were already working an imaginary keyboard and mouse!
All right! With all this free time, I'd do another Elden Ring playthrough to mark the occasion!
Which ending should I go for this time?
Age of Order? Age of the Duskborn? Blessing of Despair? Frenzied Flame?
No, no, no~
Obviously, it had to be my Ranni's Age of Stars~
After all, she was my beloved wife... Ahem. After all, hers was pretty much the longest questline, giving me the most complete experience.
Of course, I also liked to progress almost every NPC questline at once. I even liked doing half the Frenzied Flame route so that wooden little Melina wouldn't have to burn herself with the tree, then crossing the rift in time and space to seal the Frenzied Flame with the golden needle, leaving her with lifelong regrets. Hahaha~
Sadly, that old bastard Miyazaki hadn't written the lifelong-regrets part. Or rather, the story after sealing the Frenzied Flame was incomplete.
I wondered whether this DLC would fill that gap and give Melina and the Tarnished a perfect ending.
All I could do was wait and hope!
Anyway, for now, let's boot up Genshin!
Link start!
Ah, I'd lifted that great door again and reached sunny Limgrave. So beautiful! Oh, wasn't that our bank manager, "White Mask" Varre? Let's take a look at the Tree Sentinel in the distance instead, folks.
Tonight's objective! Brave Stormveil, cross Liurnia, and go find my wife Ranni!
After all, I was an "expert" now!
[You Died] [You Died] [You Died]
[Lost Grace Discovered]
"Ah~"
After dying over and over, I'd finally dealt with little Godrick. I'd drained every healing flask, and Nepheli's golden lightning whirlwind had helped a lot... A sigh like a dried-out corpse's escaped my throat.
Next, straight to Ranni's Caria Manor.
...Those hand monsters were weak to fire. I'd better gather more smoldering butterflies to make fire pots.
As for my level... Thirty should be enough.
...I was getting a little sleepy. Huh? It was already five in the morning? When had that happened...?
I'd better rest a little and play again later... Hehe, after meeting Ranni, I'd go find Millicent. I had to be careful this time and not let my precious Milly tank too much during the co-op fight and get herself killed... That would cut off the questline, and then Milly really would be gone for good.
...If only the DLC could let Milly survive, or... or let her consciousness return to Malenia, and let Malenia recognize the Tarnished.
...Or let more people in the Lands Between survive, and give us a truly perfect ending...
After all, compared with all that sadness, I still... still preferred a happy story full of hope and a future. Hehe~
I didn't know whether I'd fallen asleep and started dreaming, or was hovering on the edge of sleep.
Through the haze, I saw a tiny golden light fluttering like a butterfly.
Instinctively, I walked toward that little light.
I walked, and walked, and walked...
I had no idea how long I walked.
All I remembered was a world of white around me, like thick fog without beginning or end.
Finally, even that golden butterfly vanished into the mist.
But as though a key had unlocked a great door, dazzling light suddenly flooded toward me from where the butterfly had disappeared, making me raise a hand to shield my eyes.
Gradually, my groggy brain woke up, and my thoughts grew clear.
I opened my eyes. An icy wind swept through a dark, dilapidated chapel, making me, making me...
"Achoo-damn, it's freezing!" I wiped my nose, then suddenly noticed something was wrong. "Wait, where are my clothes? Why am I wearing a loincloth? And where is this, anyway? Wasn't I at home?"
Huh? That long, round stick in my left hand looked familiar.
Wait, it wasn't just the wooden club that looked familiar. A naked man, a dark, ruined chapel... I vaguely remembered crossing thick fog to reach the other side...
I-I-I hadn't actually crossed into the real world of Elden Ring-the Lands Between-had I?! And with a stark-naked Wretch start as the Tarnished, no less!
Before you continue