VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

A soft orange light illuminated the frozen hellscape, as the party gathered around a small fire in a moment of leisure and recuperation.

They had fought a dozen different groups of Elves and their Yeti bodyguards, gathering plenty of meat from the latter. They left the meat of the former completely alone.

Even Belladonna, who treated people like walking juice boxes, was naturally uncomfortable with the thought of eating something that was human-like. The Yeti’s, however, were beastial enough that it didn’t matter to them.

So whilst Belladonna was cooking Yeti Skewers over the fire, and Figg was using the time to prepare more robust Ice Resistance potions to keep away the bone chilling cold, a few questions were naturally floated around the camp site.

"Why do you think it was Elves?" Lilith asked, as she was fiddling with the fragments on the ground. She had them all laid out, and was rearranging to see how they were supposed to fit together, like it was just a fun little puzzle.

"Hard to say. They aren’t exactly talkative about why they are here, and they definitely aren’t friendly But if I had to guess, Ice Elves hate Flaming Demons. Seems like a standard set up." Belladonna answered with a shrug.

"Don’t you think that’s strange though?" Vestra interjected, "I mean everything outside of the dungeon feels so alive. I guess... Why wouldn’t they. They are real after all..."

She looked down in embarrassment, playing with her wand nervously before lifting her head again.

"But you know what I mean, right? The people in here, even if they think and speak, are just lacking that... spark. Like they aren’t entirely there. I mean they have an actual aggro range that we can test, patterns that they carry out like they are actual NPCs."

"I think it’s history." Saige spoke up, "I think the ’Siege of Infernus’ was a real thing that happened, although maybe not entirely like how we are experiencing it now.

Whatever this is was clearly created by the gods, I know that for a fact. The Gods made this, and it wasn’t a unanimous decision between them all it seems. My God, for one, wants me to stab this dagger into the heart of the dungeon and change it or kill it or... whatever.

But if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean it has to be real in some way? If the people are alive, even as mind altered zombies, they had to be based on something, right?"

The answer floated in the air for a few silent seconds, as the only noise amongst them was the soft crackling of the fire, before Figg finally added to the conversation.

"Why don’t we poop?"

"What?! What does that have to do with- That’s gross!" Vestra spat back at him, throwing a nearby rock at him, although light enough that it just bounced off his arm harmlessly.

"No I mean it. Like... These bodies are real, the world is real. We all understand that. But... why don’t we poop or do anything like that? I mean we get hungry, kinda, and we eat all the time. Plus, we have the all the proper equipment, and people have made sure that it’s functional-"

"Gross!" Vestra interrupted, throwing another stone at him.

"We didn’t have to have it. The stuff, I mean." Belladonna said, gesturing to a certain area on her body.

"We used to be completely smooth like dolls in the Beta test. I didn’t even really think about it changing, but yeah... With all the people I punch in the nuts, you think I would have clocked that before now."

"I expected about as much from you." Saige muttered monotonously, earning his own rock.

Lilith laughed, changing the positions of a few of her fragment pieces, "Don’t worry about it Bell, it was part of the launch update. Apparently some weird people from the Beta wanted it in it, and they changed it. Although how that is even possible considering the reality of it all... I have no idea.

Still, Figg’s not wrong though. I’ve seen some stories of people getting intimate with the locals and even ending up in a pregnancy situation in some cases.

There are some people out here that just treat this as a world wide dating simulator. In fact... Speaking of dating~"

Lilith’s sentence trailed off into a teasing smile as she turned her gaze towards Belladonna. However the woman in question immediately locked eyes with Lilith, as he eyes glowed with an unbridled and barely contained fury.

It was a very subtle warning that if she continued her next sentence, that it might be her last.

Lilith’s smile froze on her face, her voice catching in her throat as she shivered slightly at the horrifying, blood thirsty gaze of a true predator. With a much more forced smile and slight panic in her eyes, she slowly turned away and found her fragments to be the most interesting thing in the world.

The remaining three group members glanced between Belladonna and Lilith awkwardly, but didn’t dare to say a word about it.

"Anyways..." Saige eventually muttered, sweeping the matter under the rug where it belonged, "There is indeed some strangeness going on with these bodies and this type of dungeon.

Whatever it is, it’s clear that the Gods, or something else, wants us to become stronger. Everything is gearing us towards growing stronger, increasing our magic power both here and in the real world, and unfortunately until we find out the reason for that we have no choice but to go along with that.

Things are only going to get more dangerous as the general public become more powerful. And It won’t be because of the monsters we will be facing."

The group grew silent as the sound of crackling fire became the dominant sound once more. Everyone focused on their individual work or fidgeting as they nodded softly and solemnly.

"Okay, but seriously. Why don’t we poop?!"

"Will you drop it!"