The portal shimmered with raw emotion—grief, defiance, and something even more haunting: memory. Unlike other gates, it didn't roar or burn. It wept.
As Lian, Jayce, and Demist stepped through, their bodies felt heavier—not with weight, but with significance. Something on the other side remembered them before they even arrived.
---
[ World Transfer Complete – Welcome to: Solgrave ]
> World Genre: Heroic Tragedy
Tier: 3, Level 1
Time Remaining Until Collapse: 9 Days
World Modifier: "Willpower Overrides Fate"
Jayce blinked. "That's…a hell of a modifier."
Demist frowned. "Means if someone believes hard enough, even death won't work."
Lian looked out across the horizon—and froze.
The sky was a canvas of stars shattered mid-twinkle, and beneath it, cities burned in silence. And yet… people stood.
Not hiding. Not running. Fighting.
---
Survivor Encountered: Elric Vane
A lean young man stood in front of a line of injured people—staff in one hand, laughter in the other. He was covered in soot and blood, but his smile could've lit up the apocalypse.
He looked up, smirked, and waved like an old friend.
> "Took you long enough."
---
System Notification – "World Protagonist" Detected
> Name: Elric Vane
Role: Chosen Flamebearer of Solgrave
Alignment: Chaotic Hope
Talent: Laugh Against the End
Passive: Morale of all allies increases the longer death surrounds them
Active: Turns pain into power. Jokes into buffs. Laughs into light.
Luck Trait: Unreasonably lucky. (System note: ???)
---
Scene: Resistance Camp
They followed Elric back to his base—a broken cathedral reinforced with vehicle scraps and dream steel. Inside, children giggled while training. Elders cooked soup while monitoring energy grids. A little girl with a missing arm taught a dog to dance.
Lian felt something in his chest stir. It wasn't hope. It was resolve.
Jayce whispered, "This world's already lost… and it's still going."
Demist clenched his fists. "So they refused to die."
Elric sat cross-legged, tossing a coin into the air again and again. "Listen up, newcomers. Solgrave's heart is dying. Its sky's already bled. But we've got nine days left before we burn—and I plan to make every second hurt."
He grinned.
> "Let's go punch Fate in the teeth."
---
New Quest Unlocked – "Light the Flameheart"
> Objective: Reignite Solgrave's core hope using old symbols, lost relics, and gathered survivors
Bonus: Each hope ignited strengthens the World Modifier
Final Goal: Prevent total collapse OR escape with the surviving will of Solgrave
---
Battle Phase: First Flame Site – The Orchard of Regret
The group rode in silence toward the site. Elric rode a junk glider powered by belief and broken hymns. Jayce upgraded the rickshaw, adding a joke-fueled shield projector. Demist fused his shield with a memory anchor.
Enemies awaited:
Despairborn Trees – Creatures that root in people's regrets, draining their will to move.
Mourning Phantoms – Echoes of those who gave up, now trying to convince others to join.
Hollow Knights – Former heroes who lost their hope and became weapons of the collapse.
---
Battle:
Lian slashed through despair roots, but they regenerated—feeding on his past failures.
Jayce yelled, "I dropped out of comedy school for this!"
His new attack, Laughquake, caused emotional tremors that shook the trees from the inside.
Demist stood guard as Elric charged the flame sigil.
But the final boss approached—
"Phantom of Yesterday's Self"
It looked like Elric—but tired. Hopeless. It whispered things Elric almost believed.
"You'll fail like last time."
"You aren't enough."
"Everyone dies in the end."
Elric stood still. Then he whispered, "Maybe. But I'm still smiling."
He hugged his phantom.
And it burned away—leaving behind the first flame.
---
[ First Hope Rekindled – Solgrave's Heart: 1% Awakened ]
> Modifier Boosted: Allies recover 2x faster when near civilians
System Suppression: Reduced enemy fate override by 15%
Flamekeeper's Bond Formed: Elric is now part of your convoy
---
As they rode back, Elric grinned. "Eight more to go. Let's light the sky, huh?"
Jayce leaned back. "Lian, you ever think we'd be saving worlds by biking through despair with a flame-throwing jester?"
Lian laughed.
"No. But I think we were meant to."
---