A New World, An Immersive Game Experience

Her words repeated in Eldrian's head as he tried to comprehend why she would say it as she had.

If she was from Miracle he would assume her to try and hide the fact, or pressure him into something. He would not expect her to acknowledge Miracle but also distance herself from them in one sentence.

Her tone had been distant, Eldrian felt a kindred spirit in how she had talked about him. Her tone had resonated with him. It was how you would speak of a friend who had betrayed you.

"That's right, I'm also from Earth. Or I used to be..." Ashliel continued after giving Eldrian some time to consider her words. Her words sounded almost uncertain, as if it was a fact she knew but could no longer comprehend.

"Used to be?" Eldrian was covered in chills, suddenly he got the feeling that she was what would happen with him if things ended going south.

"Indeed, since you have not heard of the Divines I guess you might not know of the incident."

"Incident?" Eldrian's mind flashed and he recalled the biggest incident in Miracle's history. At least to his knowledge, something that had been expertly hidden from the public. "Do you mean when a group of game testers were killed?"

"So you have heard of it? Why would they share that and not- I see, your condition must have been quite unique."

"Sorry?"

"You can use magic right?"

"Wh-"

"On Earth."

"Uh..."

"So it truly worked..." Ashliel seemed to relax greatly hearing this, her posture changed as a massive weight was lifted from her shoulders. Yet, at the same time, she felt jealous. Felt incensed that the cost had been her and the others' lives.

"It isn't a good thing though!" Eldrian countered.

"Are you afraid of the chaotic storms?"

Eldrian nodded.

"I see, I guess they did not explain the history of Miracle to you."

"History?"

"Do you truly think ANW was designed without guidance, that they stumbled upon a world of magic by accident?"

"But there were a lot of failures."

"I see, that is how they decided to spin it."

Too lost and unable to follow Eldrian paused, "Can you please start from the beginning? Who are you?"

"I'm one of the so-called game testers who died."

"But your alive-"

"Yes, only thanks to GAIA. Back then things were far more chaotic than now, the realm of souls had not even-" She paused, uncertain if Eldrian even knew of what she was talking about. She was impressed that he didn't seem confused thus far.

"The realm of souls had yet to be formed and as a result all souls were doomed to wander the world as they slowly returned to the universe, as we slowly dissipated. It is not a pleasant experience..." She paused recalling those days, shuddering at the vague but powerful emotions that were locked deep in her mind.

"It was the collective wish for an afterlife that gave birth to the realm of souls, but before that... I was nearly completely gone when I was found by GAIA. Of course, back then Miracle had been in deep water. The incident was unprecedented and I am sure our families were furious. The AI were all ordered to rescue those who were still alive."

"Sadly, due to the shock of being killed and there being no filter back then, my heart had stopped back on Earth. When GAIA found me they couldn't return me to Earth. While it is possible to revive a body here in ANW, the same isn't true on Earth. Returning would mean entering a dead body and ultimately dying again."

"I wasn't the only one to whom this had happened. In the end, only three of us survived the ordeal."

"I'm sorry for what happened to you. But what are you trying to explain? It's terrible, but this still doesn't explain who you are."

"I guess it doesn't..." Ashliel looked at Eldrian and wondered what the young man had gone through in his short life, in the year and a half since the game had been released. In the few years since the invasion had started her life had been turned upside down. She suspected his circumstances were similar.

"What story did Miracle give the public regarding the game?"

"How do you not know? Aren't you part of Miracle?"

Ashliel sighed, honestly most of her memories of Earth had long since been lost to the eons. "It is hard to stay loyal to a company when you're as old as I am. After you lived through all that I had."

"Wh- They couldn't have been working on it for that long."

"You're right, but consider for a moment how much time has passed in the simulation. For the people stuck in ANW."

Hearing her words Eldrian was chilled to his soul, "Are you saying?"

"Indeed, I've been in this world since before the first empire was founded. Besides the gods, I, along with the other two Divines, are the oldest people in the world."

Eldrian was stunned to his core, he had no words. He could not even imagine what it would be like.

"Honestly, I don't remember much of Earth. All that I can recall of that time was that we wanted to discover magic and in our search I was lost to this world. And through the ages, I have gone insane and regained my sanity multiple times... Humans aren't meant to live this long..."

Eldrian just sat in silence, he could not imagine what it must have been like. From the outside to Joren and the others speeding up time inside the simulation was as simple that. But for Ashliel, thousand upon thousands of years passed, did not just pass. She lived through them.

"In the end, the only way I managed to remain sane for periods of time was to abandon my memories. This, along with the nature in which I am kept alive prevents me from using magic."

Hearing this, Eldrian could only imagine the torment. To live forever and be kept from the learning of the thing that had brought you to this point. "Why didn't you-"

"Why didn't I kill myself? I don't really know. I guess because I had a less cruel, no... I had a less permanent solution."

"Wiping my memories is more or less the same as killing myself. When I become tired of living I just start over. It is almost like reincarnation. GAIA even allowed me to be born as a babe a few times..." Ashliel seemed to recall something, she smiled and disappeared into her thoughts for a moment.

"I have actually been enjoying my last reincarnation quite a lot. That is until..." She stopped, she shook. She fought back tears. "Until those bastards decided to start another experiment!"

She was shaking in fury and Eldrian was shocked to find himself being influenced by her anger. He quickly suppressed this, but his heart was shaken. He realized she might not be truly disconnected from magic. Rather, she might be too connected to it. Her life intertwined, her being was magic.

"This time I decided I won't forgive, I can't forgive. When I heard that this would be the last, I understood that they were ready to start over. Ready to give up on us. Maybe they never even planned on saving us..."

"I came here because I need your help. I'm no longer able to return to Earth, I can't influence their reality. But you can!"

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support the story by simply reading on Webnovel, voting for the story, or sharing comments. It is all greatly appreciated.