𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒 | genshin impact

| 01 |: Chains of Sky Silver

Year 2052.

The gaming industry has flourished in the past years, and VRMMO-RPG took over the market. VRMMO-RPG is abbreviated from Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, an online game that allows the player to enter a virtual world and experience it as though it were real life. On the pinnacle of VRMMO-RPG is Camelot Chronicles, a game that is popular for its unusually high player freedom which enables the player to customise their character however they want, and they could also create their very own unique NPCs. The latter requires a hefty sum of in-game currency and materials, so you were only able to create one NPC for yourself.

His name is Enki, a doppelganger capable of copying the appearances and abilities of the people he interacts with. Although your character is of the same heteromorphic race, most of your points were spent on levelling your magic skills so you're only able to retain your humanoid form. In your party, Enki functions as the vanguard and so was given high physical and magic resistance, but this is adjustable when he takes on the form of someone else. His primary purpose is to aggro the enemies while you attack at a distance as a mage; outside of the battlefield, he's your loyal attendant who caters to your every whim.

As you stretched your arms over your head, you expelled a deep sigh before closing your notebook. You've just finished taking notes of the reading material your teacher had assigned you this week, and decided to play Camelot Chronicles for the rest of the night since it'll be the weekend tomorrow. Humming a random tune, you put on the specialised VR headset that's needed to play VRMMO-RPG and logged into the game.

You were immediately greeted by the sight of Enki standing next to you in Arondight Forest, the surrounding pine trees and uneven topography conjuring up the feeling one might get when venturing through a coniferous forest. You've been farming Jagged Fangs for the new craftable weapon that's coming in the next update, as Enki needed a new spear; you wanted to make him stronger so you could explore Galahad Ruins, a new area that was recently released. Extending a hand in his direction, you gently waved it from top to bottom.

"Follow," you said. The in-game command was immediately processed by him, prompting him to trail closely behind as you led the way. You traversed Arondight Forest in search for the bird-like mobs you'd usually farm for Jagged Fangs, only to notice their unusual absence. The lack of mobs in the area was already concerning enough, making you wonder if there was some sort of lag that's causing a delay in their spawn time.

Just as you're about to teleport to the nearest save point, your console froze.

"What's going on...?" you mumbled, tapping the air where your console had frozen in place. You then tried to close it by force which didn't work, and when you shifted your attention to your surroundings, you saw distortions in the environment. As incessant buzzing filled your ears, glitch patterns appeared around you before vanishing abruptly, and this repeated until the scenery shattered like glass.

You stared in awe. Things that you've never seen before were reflected in the shattered pieces. Upon closer inspection, you noticed that those things - those people - were moving, which drew you in. One scene showed an armed group of humans uniting under the leadership of a young boy holding a lyre; another showed a multi-headed sea serpent being rained on by gargantuan spears of stone; another showed a brutal war between a gigantic white snake and a woman with long violet hair wielding a spear.

"Master!"

A hand clasped your elbow suddenly, startling you. You were then spun around to meet the crimson eyes of Enki, your creation. Your jaw went slack when you realised that he had somehow become sentient amidst this strange glitch.

"E-Enki?!" you squeaked.

"Master, it seems like we've gotten ourselves in a dangerous situation," he said, "Stay close to me so that I can protect you. We don't know what's going to happen next."