“The tomb was sealed!” Rare shouts. “Where did you go?!”

The three of my companions, Rare, Miss M, and Malia, frantically search around my grave for any sign of my body. There is none.

The room is barely large enough to fit two people standing comfortably. There is no method of escaping except through the barrier we just unsealed. Clearly, I am not here.

“The spell was broken,” Rare says. “That has to be the way it happened. The Goddess herself broke the spell and genuinely transmigrated the body to another world, just like Eryk said. Earth isn’t some illusion. It’s… real.. I just… I can’t believe it.”

“You were wrong?” Miss M asks in a way that is simultaneously horrified and smug. “Rare Solbourne was wrong?”

“What spell?” I ask. “Please give me some answers now; I really need them to understand!”

Rare sighs. “After I was forced into hiding, I used the powers of Malia, a trusted advisor of my secret father’s, and Miss M, a demon queen I defeated in ritual combat whose powers I sealed away until she completed my bidding. Together, they performed one of the most important spells in Mystix history: they contained your powers, preventing your Life Point death but also trapping you in a permanent stasis. They erased your memories, placed you in a hidden grave, and let your subconscious mind create the Tomb of Eryk Solbourne all on its own.”

“And I did all of this as an F-Rank [Adventurer,] because that is what I was by the time you left my life,” I say.

I look over to Malia, who refuses to make eye contact with me.

All those years we spent together… She was my lover, but moreover she was my friend. How could she dangle me along like a puppet on strings? How could I have ever been anything to her other than a plaything to keep track of?

“Eryk, your [Adventurer] status is a re-classing,” Rare continues. “We used a sorting scepter to override your original class and give you a safer, more relaxed lifestyle. We highly suspect that this is not a permanent solution, especially if your ghost is finally returned to the rest of your body. It is not what you wanted, and we know that your spirit is too strong to contain forever.”

“What in The Goddess’s name was I? A [Lord] or something?”

“You were—are—a [Demigod,]” they say.

“A [Demigod?!]”

The one class that is random chance, one in a hundred thousand. The ultimate curse of the Destiny Deck System—a class unchosen by any, but instead randomly given to those who are unlucky enough to receive it. And all fall to a cruel and unusual fate afterwards.

That was me?

But… how?

“You were the first [Demigod] to survive past one year as far back as our records go,” Malia says. “The entire world was watching you, wondering what you would do next. And those around you wanted nothing more than to control your power for themselves. That is why Rare called us in. We whisked you away and gave you a simpler life.”

“Did I use all that power to fight the Slayers?” I ask. “Did I save North Spire and never even know it?”

All three of them look down precariously.

My heart sinks as I realize what Rare is about to say.

“You… were the founder of the Slayers,” Rare explains. “In that year of your life, Eryk Solbourne, you created a vast army and conquered entire nations. Some say you were tricked into it. Others say you wanted revenge for something. But only I know that you were simply trying to level up.”

“You know me too well, dear sibling.”

“In less than a year, you reached A-Rank. A-Rank as a [Demigod] and leader of an entire army. If it were not for your love for your family, you would have stomped over all of North Spire as well.”

“But… North Spire WAS attacked. That was the reason I became a hero in the first place.”

“You became an [Adventurer] because North Spire was attacked, yes,” they say. “Out of grief and regret for what your army had become and the brother you had lost, you went into exile. That was when Miss M and Malia took you in and cast that massive spell.”

“All I wanted to do was become the first S-Rank hero in milennia…” I mutter. “This all happened because I was too ambitious. Too foolhardy.”

“And you’re doing the same thing again on Earth, aren’t you?” they ask.

I nod. “But I’m just an [Adventurer.] Not a [Demigod] anymore.”

“You haven’t noticed the overpowered cards? The massive boosts of power you can pull out of nowhere? Your abilities are not gone, Eryk. They are merely sealed. And one day, at the time of greatest need, you are going to become an S-Rank hero, just like you’ve always dreamed of. You are going to change the fabric of Mystix. We just have to make sure that you are doing it for good. Because this is the perfect opportunity to finally end The Goddess’s reign of terror, once and for all.”

Rare smiles.

I can’t even gasp, I’m too taken aback.

[Achievement Unlocked: Figure out a terrifying secret. Redeem for a reward in the Achievements Board.]