In the beginning, the world was nothing but emptiness. There was no life, no power, not even anything that could truly be called a world.
And yet, within that endless void, two forms of matter drifted freely through space. One radiated light, while the other was shrouded in darkness. Then, one day, the two collided, creating a massive explosion that shook the heavens.
The fragments scattered by the explosion slowly gathered and merged, eventually forming a colossal continent floating in space. As time passed, an ecosystem began to take shape. Vast lands stretched across its surface, lakes formed, mountains rose, and forests spread throughout the continent.
But there were still no humans or ordinary creatures to inhabit it.
From the light emerged divine entities known as the Belio, while from the darkness came divine entities known as the Cronio.
The floating continent eventually became known as Cosmia.
Cosmia was divided into two regions: the side of light and the side of darkness. The differences between the Belio and the Cronio made it impossible for them to coexist. Their conflict eventually erupted into a great war that raged without pause for a thousand days. Their powers shook every corner of Cosmia, destroying the mountains, forests, and lands that had formed before them.
The world they had created was slowly being destroyed by their own war.
When the war finally ended, only four divine entities remained.
Among the Belio, Asteria and Selene survived, while only Orion and Erebus remained among the Cronio.
The four entities no longer possessed enough power to continue fighting. Cosmia had suffered immense destruction, and their own existences were on the verge of disappearing.
But from the devastation left behind by the war, a new entity was born.
Solitas.
Solitas was neither Belio nor Cronio. It was an entity born from the destruction caused by the clash between light and darkness.
Seeing Cosmia on the brink of destruction, Solitas created the Four Pillars, supports that held the world together and prevented its collapse. With the four pillars in place, Cosmia slowly stabilized, allowing life to flourish once more.
However, Solitas imposed one condition.
The Belio and Cronio were forbidden from ever fighting each other directly again. Should they violate this decree, their very existence would be erased from Cosmia.
The decree became a curse upon both sides.
Unable to settle their conflict with their own power, the Belio and Cronio chose different paths. The Belio chose humanity as the race that would carry on their will, while the Cronio chose the Mostro to continue the conflict that had existed since the beginning of creation.
As time passed, the humans aligned with the Belio began building a civilization and eventually established a kingdom known as the Atlas Kingdom. Beyond their territory, the Mostro spread across forests, mountains, deserts, caves, and countless other wilderness regions.
The Mostro were not a single species of creature. They could originate from animals, plants, rocks, or even inanimate objects that had received power from the Cronio. That power granted them life as well as different abilities depending on their level.
To defend themselves against the threat of the Mostro, humans established various training centers for those capable of fighting.
Human civilization in Cosmia eventually developed into four major cities connected to one another through portals. Traveling between the cities by land was also possible, but doing so was far more dangerous, as nearly all territories beyond the cities had become habitats for the Mostro.
Belio City was the capital of Cosmia, the seat of government of the Atlas Kingdom, and the training center for those who wielded magic.
Tira City served as the training center for sword and dagger users.
Nergal City was known as the city of craftsmen, where they learned various skills for creating weapons, equipment, and other items.
Meanwhile, Salia City developed into a center of commerce, connecting the needs of people from every corner of Cosmia.
Only these four cities served as the centers of human civilization. Everything beyond them consisted of wilderness—forests, lakes, mountains, deserts, and caves—most of which had fallen under the control of the Mostro.
At the center of Belio City stood an altar known as the Belio Altar.
According to the beliefs of Cosmia's people, humans with the potential to become heroes would be summoned into their world through this altar. This was how the Belio brought humans to Cosmia to defend it against the forces of the Cronio and the Mostro.
And it was from this very place that a hero's journey would begin.
Are you ready to embark on an adventure in the world of Cosmia?
[Yes] [No]
Click.
Reina stared intently at her computer screen.
She was a forty-year-old single woman who worked as a high school teacher. That night, after finishing all of her work, she decided to try a newly released online game.
A classic MMORPG released in 2050, at a time when the online gaming industry had long been dominated by VRMMOs.
That was precisely what caught Reina's attention.
Classic MMORPGs reminded her of her childhood, when she had spent nearly all of her free time sitting in front of a computer playing games.
“Wow... this is exactly what I was hoping for.”
Reina moved the cursor and examined the available starting jobs.
Mage.
Cleric.
Warrior.
Craftman.
Rogue.
Knight.
“I've already played a Mage, a Cleric, and even a Warrior before. Craftman might be boring since it doesn't have many combat abilities. And a Knight has to carry a shield around. Too heavy.”
Reina's gaze shifted toward the final option.
Rogue.
The job used daggers as its primary weapon and relied on speed in battle.
Reina stared at it for a few moments.
“Hmm... I've never used daggers in any game before. All right, I'll give it a try this time.”
Click!
Name: XOXO
Job: Rogue
Gender: Female
After choosing her job, Reina began customizing her character's appearance. There weren't many options available. She chose blue hair tied into twin tails, then changed her character's eyes to blue as well.
“Blue really is such a soothing color.”
Reina rotated her character model several times.
“Hmm... is that it?”
Her attention then fell on the brown dagger her character was holding.
She fell silent for a moment.
“Huh?! A wooden dagger? Just a wooden dagger?”
Reina was rather surprised by how terrible her character's starting weapon was. But her surprise quickly turned into a smile.
Such simple starting equipment reminded her of the MMORPGs she used to play.
It had been decades since she had last seriously played a classic MMORPG.
The nostalgia only made her more excited.
[PLAY GAME]
Click.
A cutscene began to play.
The camera swept across the sky from high above, revealing a brilliant blue expanse dotted with white clouds. Slowly, it descended toward a medieval city, passing over the city walls and the royal castle before finally approaching the central plaza.
An altar stood in the middle of the square.
BELIO ALTAR
A blue light appeared above its surface.
A few moments later, Reina's character emerged from within the light.
“Wow! This is amazing!”
Despite being forty years old, Reina looked absolutely delighted as she sat in front of her computer. For a moment, her excitement was no different from that of a child discovering their favorite game for the very first time.
She immediately began testing the controls, moving her character left and right, running around the altar, and rotating the camera to examine her surroundings.
Not long afterward, another light appeared at the Belio Altar. One by one, other players began arriving through the same altar.
Cosmia Online didn't have much of a tutorial. Its interface was simple as well. There was only a map, a status screen, an inventory, a skill menu, and a handful of settings.
Reina opened the server information.
Server Status
Players Online: 80
“That's all?”
She stared at the number for a few moments.
“Well, I suppose not many people would be interested in playing a classic MMORPG in an era dominated by VRMMOs.”
The small player population did nothing to diminish Reina's interest. If anything, it made her even more excited.
The fewer players there were, the less competition she would have to face to become one of the best players in the game.
Reina then took XOXO around Belio City. She spoke with several NPCs, examined the surrounding buildings, read through their dialogue, and eventually accepted her first quest.
However, the longer she explored the city, the stronger the strange feeling became that she had seen all of this somewhere before.
Reina stopped her character.
“I feel like... I know this place.”
She examined the city's layout once more, thinking about the NPCs she had encountered and the first quest she had just received.
And that was when Reina realized it.
The story concept, the first quest, and even most of Cosmia Online's visuals were almost identical to an MMORPG she had played when she was a child.
A game whose servers had been shut down decades ago.
Kosmik Online.
Reina's eyes immediately lit up.
“So this is a remake of my favorite game from back then?”
Rather than feeling disappointed by the similarities, Reina only grew more excited. The world that had long existed only in her memories seemed to have come alive before her once again.
“Great! I never thought I'd get to play it again.”
From that day on, Cosmia Online became part of Reina's daily routine. Whenever she finished teaching and completed her work as a high school teacher, she would return to her computer and enter the world of Cosmia as XOXO.