I sat there in my bedroom, in front of my computer that's displaying the endcredits of a game.
A long sigh escaped my mouth as I stretched my arms "Still no true ending in sight"
Yet again, another failed attempt.
Having seen that credits sequence multiple times, I skipped it, only to be met by the title screen of the game I just finished playing.
[Dragon's Roar], a strategy, turn based RPG, dungeon crawler, with a focus on its big cast of recruitable characters and the threat of perma-death when character's hp got to zero.
When it came out, it was regarded as a god-like game with an amazing soundtrack, beautiful pixel-art animation, a huge cast of characters, multiple choices and ways to play the game, a story that is... okay, and an impressive quantity of forty-two different endings, some bad, some good, and one true ending that, even years after the game's release, has yet to be achieved.
However, even with everything the game had to offer. It ended up fading into obscurity a year after its release.
So, the only people left in the community are those who try to achieve that seemingly impossible forty-second ending, and those who stay in the back, waiting for someone to achieve it.
Due to my lack of a second monitor, I minimize the game to look at a forum for this game.
"I've already tried most of these strategies" I kept scrolling and scrolling, finding nothing new to try.
"On the second in-game week, do an early visit to the 4th main dungeon, this could trigger an early confrontation with the [Dark Eclipse] allowing you to have a chance for the earliest time to recruit Julius..." I already knew what the comments were gonna look like...
I decided to read them anyway.
User27374: [Dark Eclipse] isn't a thing until month eight of year one r******
User28348: The earliest you can recruit Julius is at the start of month one, in the second year. Why don't you kill yourself instead of making us waste our time
"I expected worse..." surprised at the self control displayed by the community, I decided to minimize my search engine and maximize the game to start an improvised run.
"I'll just... make up things up on the go, maybe if I..."
Suddenly, I felt extremely dizzy
"I... wanna throw up" everything feels like it's spinning, and that light... that light coming from my computer, showing me that title screen, is really bothering me.
"Maybe... if I... close my eyes and..."
...
...
No matter how many times I blink, it doesn't change.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a wooden ceiling I had never seen before.
I also felt weird, as if was just a bit younger. But it all made sense after looking at myself in a mirror.
"... No way..." this is a face I recognize all too well.
Alen, one of the worst characters in [Dragon's Roar].
If I made a tier list and ranked every possible character you can recruit, I'd create a tier below F called [The Worst Three] and put Alen next to two other characters.
He is... or I am... whatever, the case is that this character belongs to the thief class, which is already bad enough as thieves aren't a particularly useful class in this game.
But the earlier he can be recruited is at the mid-game. And he joins with below average stats, so you most definitely already have at least two other thieves that do his job much better and didn't have to babysit, as those two other thieves are stronger than Alen.
"Alen, we're already eatin'!" I heard the voice of a woman, probably my mother "Come down right now, or I'll make you come down myself!" I felt my stomach growl, so I prepared myself for everything that's to come and headed downstairs.
"..."
"What's wrong, Alen, not 'ungry?" said a tall, muscular man with a scar on his face.
"Maybe he's still full... we did eat a lot last night" said a different man, a bit more slender, with short blonde hair.
"You know he doesn't like it when we reheat last night's food" said a young looking woman, with short purple hair that wasn't eating but rather tuning a bow.
"He didn't eat anything last night, he said he wasn't feeling well" said an old man reading a book.
"Feelin' better then?" Said a woman with long ashen hair as she was still munching her food. She is the one who called me down here, but she definitely isn't my mom.
"... n-no, it's... it's nothing. I'm still a bit... sleepy" What are they doing here? or rather, what am I doing here with them?
These people... they're a mercenary group called [Crescent Moon] they're all mid to late-game bosses that meet their demise working for the [Dark Eclipse] They're all known for their loyalty towards the one that hires them.
Barret: A tall man, burly man with a big scar that covers the right side of his face. He's a great knight class unit with high defense and an even bigger strength. He's the leader of the group.
Khyle: A slender blond man. Belonging to the warrior class, an all-rounder not only in stats, but he can also use every weapon type and has an average affinity with every magic element in the game, he has no true weaknesses.
Milly: The youngest member of the group. A woman with short purple hair, she's known for being emotionless. She's a mounted unit proficient in bow and arrow. It feels like she always crits no matter what.
Magnus: A scrawny looking old man who relies on his high dark magic affinity to deal tons of damage. He's the first of the [Crescent Moon] you meet and kill.
Karla: She's a woman with long ashen hair. A swordsmaster, and the last one of the group you kill. She has the highest skill and speed stats out of every unit in the game.
My thoughts recalling everything I know about this particular set of characters was interrupted by the sound of my stomach growling.
"Here" Milly handed me a kinda warm chicken leg "Eat, you'll need it for your training later"
"Thanks..." What kind of relationship does Alen have with these guys?
"What ye doin' there, lad? Come sit with us!" Barret's loud voice snaped me out of my thoughts.
It's probably better if I just pretend to be Alen and play along until I can calm down and put together a plan in my head.
"He needs to be well trained for the future"
"He's already good enough. No need to worry too much"
"You can never be sure, this world's big and there're always stronger people"
As I was hearing what Khyle and Magnus were talking about, something clicked inside of me.
Alen had special dialogs when fighting members of the [Crescent Moon]. At the time, it sounded like they were saying nonsense to a random soldier they didn't know.
But with this new knowledge of Alen being a member of the [Crescent Moon], they now have a meaning of subtly encouraging Alen while fighting on different sides.
"You better get used to eating reheated food. You won't always get the privilege of having new, fresh food on your plate"
"Don't worry about it Alen. You'll get a good job, and you won't have to worry about not eating fresh food"
"Stop giving him fake hopes, old man" this conversation between Khyle and Magnus was getting a bit heated.
"Khyle's right. The lad's gotta learn t' live with the bare minimum." Barret joined their talk regarding me. It seems Alen is really important to them.
"Food, work, that doesn't matter" Karla slamed the table "What matters the most in life is trainin'" Karla slammed her hand on the table, makin the plates jump a bit "Alen, getting better at somethin' is the best feelin' ever"
She stood up and lifted me by the back of my collar "Let's start your trainin'" What a creepy smile...
"B-but I... haven't finished eati-"
"Should've woken up earlier, kid" she started carrying me outside
"Aye, if ye be doin' wrong, ye ought t' be punished, I be agreein' " Barret nodded as Karla took me outside.
I looked at Magnus and Milly as those two seemed to be the ones that spoiled Alen the most. I was only met with words telling me to come back alive.
"Forget it Alen, they can't save you" said Khyle while following Karla.
I just sighed and accepted my new life as the weakest NPC in [Dragon's Roar]
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