Chapter Text
Mydei returned to his room after an uncomfortable meeting with his father. Each day it became harder to deal with him since his mother’s death; the house, despite being a mansion, felt smaller, tenser, as if the very air were charged with suppressed anger.
Trying to calm himself, he checked his phone and noticed that his job application had been accepted at one of the most important restaurants in Okhema. His father had been clear: if he wanted to keep enduring his temper and his company, he had to stay; otherwise, he could leave. And that was exactly what he intended to do.
Looking to distract himself from reality for a while, Mydei didn’t even change his clothes. He was still wearing his formal black suit, the tight turtleneck collar pressing against his neck like a constant reminder of the pressure he felt. He turned on his PC and decided to start another run of an indie game that had become his personal refuge: Nameless Faces.
It was a peculiar cosmic horror game. It was obvious that its creators had far more ideas than they had managed to implement, but even so, Mydei had found in it an appeal that was difficult to explain. The game assigned the player a completely random role in a world where, on any given day, the sun caused a physical and mental corruption known as the Black Tide in anyone who dared to look at it turning them into monsters with unrecognizable faces.
Mydei had tried different roles until he discovered the true twist of the story: in reality, the sun had been devoured by an immense creature, inconceivably larger than entire galaxies. What the inhabitants of the world believed they saw in the sky was nothing more than one of the countless eyes of the entity, resting upon the planet as part of its indifferent cosmic horror.
The exact reasons were never explained. Ignorance was an essential part of the terror.
For Mydei, the experience had been fascinating. He had played at least six times and, curiously, no role had ever repeated. The store page only mentioned that there were more than ten possible roles assigned at random, but he was certain there were many more…
The current playthrough turned out to be one of the longest Mydei had played so far. At first, the only thing he knew was that his role had to be that of a warrior from Castrum Kremnos; the character’s clothing left no room for doubt.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen that warrior. In previous runs, when Mydei had taken on the role of the scholar or the healer, that same character had appeared at key moments. He had always shown respect toward both, even a certain willingness to help them, though his true motivations had never been clear.
That ambiguity was what unsettled Mydei. He had the feeling that the warrior was hiding information not only from the other characters, but even from the player himself. There were red markings around his body, visible even beneath the armor. Mydei didn’t know whether they were the aftereffects of using alchemy, as with the scholar, or whether the character actually belonged to the strange cult that had been the first to reveal the true nature of the sun.
The warrior’s red markings seemed to burn a second longer than usual on the screen. Mydei had the impression —absurd, impossible— that the character was looking at him, not at the avatar. The ambient sound grew deeper, slower, as if something were breathing behind the game.
Then, the screen flickered.
A sudden wave of dizziness forced him to close his eyes.
When he opened them, he was no longer in front of the monitor.
The first thing he noticed was that the room was far too dark. As he sat up in bed, a lingering dizziness forced him to brace himself with one hand against the mattress, trying not to lose his balance.
“Oh great!, you’re awake. Please, don’t even think about opening the curtains.”
Mydei’s body tensed instantly. He recognized that line.
It was exactly how Nameless Faces began. The same tone. The same awkward pause at the end.
Was this one of those lucid dreams? Or was he living inside the world of Nameless Faces?
In the game, ignoring that voice’s warning meant the first game over that was particularly violent. He had no intention of finding out whether that rule still applied now.
“I’m under the bed, in case you’re looking for me.”
Carefully, Mydei leaned down and looked underneath. Beneath the bed was a pink crystal. Exactly like in the game.
The crystal let out a muffled gasp of surprise, a strange, high-pitched sound that made Mydei frown. However, it immediately resumed the same lively tone as before.
“Well then, player Polemos. It’s your moment to live a very… unique experience. Just please, never look at the sunny sky under any circumstances. The sun is contaminated, and I don’t think your human brain could handle seeing a sunny sky.”
The voice tried to sound optimistic, but Mydei knew all too well what that meant. He had seen several endings in which the character looked at the false sun only to suffer a horrifying physical and mental corruption, known by the NPCs as the Black Tide.
“Look, I know it’s not very fun that the next world you go to after dying is precisely this doomed world, but I’m sure you’ll manage to reach the least horrible ending and return to your own world” the crystal said calmly.
That dialogue didn’t exist in the game. And, to be honest, it didn’t make him feel any better.
“Wait… are you saying I died?” Mydei asked, his voice tense. “How? I wasn’t even in a life-threatening situation.”
“I’m not allowed to speak about that in detail,” the crystal replied, “but there must be some way to return to your world if you ask Khaslana.”
Mydei fell silent.
Khaslana
That was the name of the cosmic horror creature. Asking it for help would be like trying to reason with Cthulhu!! Incredibly stupid, he thought.
“How am I supposed to talk to Khaslana?” he asked. “It doesn’t even understand surviving humans! It just toys with them until they die.”
“Well, I assure you it is possible to speak with him,” the voice said calmly. “You just need to be a little patient.”
Mydei sighed. The being inside the crystal was, after all, another cosmic entity, similar to Khaslana as he had concluded during the scholar route. She didn’t fully understand human emotions. Even so, in the game she had always supported the player.
Her name was Mem.
Beyond that, there weren’t many details about her, except that upon leveling up, her ability to change form was revealed allowing her to take on the appearance of a pink haired human woman.
“And… should I call you Mem, or do you prefer another name?” Mydei asked after a moment.
“Another name?” There was a brief pause. “Hmmm… no player has ever asked that before. I prefer the name Cyrene~”
Mydei nodded, though he wasn’t exactly sure how Cyrene could see him through the crystal.
“To see your inventory, you just need to clap twice on any of your pockets” Cyrene said with almost contagious enthusiasm.
Despite the darkness of the room, the crystal’s faint pink light allowed him to see that his clothes were still the same. He hesitated for a moment before obeying. Finally, he clapped twice against the pocket of his pants.
An inventory interface appeared in front of him, floating in the air like an unreal overlay. Inside, there were only three items: a red goblet, a bouquet of purple and yellow hyacinths, and a camera.
Nothing else.
Mydei felt a knot form in his stomach.
It was uncomfortable to realize that none of those items were meant for defense. In the scholar role, the game started with a loaded pistol; in the golden weaver’s role, with an elegant sword. There was nothing like that here.
Perhaps that meant he was following the role of the character he had been playing. The problem was that, unfortunately, he still didn’t know who he was supposed to be.
Mydei sighed and tried to analyze his options. At least none of the items were completely useless. The goblet had the special property of removing any poison from the liquid it contained, allowing him to drink without fear. The bouquet of purple and yellow hyacinths was a single-use item capable of preventing combat, though Mydei had never understood why those flowers had such an effect, one strong enough to stop creatures designed to kill. As for the camera, perhaps it could be used to capture information or serve as a trading item.
He didn’t have time to think any further.
The crash of shattering glass in nearby rooms pierced the silence. Mydei immediately knew who it was: the Flame Reaver, the second most difficult enemy in the game. It was known for grabbing the current character and dragging them until they were forced to look at the sun, driving them into madness.
It didn’t usually appear during the main story, except through sheer RNG chance. Apparently, today Mydei was unlucky. He heard someone opening the door.
Mydei took a deep breath and turned around.
Standing before him was a tall man dressed in a black suit. He wore metal gloves as armor and a hood that concealed his head. He stared at Mydei intently. His expression was impossible to read: a mask with golden details completely covered his face.
Carefully, Mydei took out the bouquet of purple and yellow hyacinths. In the original game, that item could prevent combat if given to the correct enemy.
The hooded man reacted with surprise. He took the bouquet slowly; it was neither a violent nor a rushed gesture. His fingers approached the flowers with an almost reverent caution, holding them as if a sudden movement might cause them to fall apart.
Then he removed his hood and mask. He looked to be around Mydei’s age, with white hair and blue eyes. He murmured softly:
“Polemos?”
“It’s actually Mydeimos” Mydei corrected him.
He was a little surprised that the man used his username. Even so, he would have preferred his real name. After all, he still didn’t know how to return to his world.
The man’s smile softened. For some reason, a strange thought crossed Mydei’s mind: if he had a tail, it would probably be wagging nonstop, like a dog’s.
Mydei was pulled from his thoughts when the white-haired man caressed his right cheek.
Wait… when did he move?
He tried to organize his thoughts, which suddenly felt hazy. The white-haired man was watching him with intense fascination.
Mydei attempted to step back, and that movement alone was enough to trigger an immediate reaction. The Flame Reaver blinked, as if waking from a distracted state, and withdrew the hand that had been caressing Mydei’s cheek.
“I’m sorry… I got carried away. My apologies!” the white-haired man said, there was a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
Now it was Mydei who stared at him, unable to hide his disbelief at such an abrupt change. Were the flowers really that powerful, or was there something deeper he was missing? If this were all a dream, it still wouldn’t make sense. He had never imagined the Flame Reaver as such a… human. Not even as someone attractive.
“It’s fine” he replied at last, looking away.
That was when he noticed the open door behind Phainon. Beyond it stretched a hallway bathed in clear, almost comforting light, in stark contrast to the dark room they were in.
Phainon cleared his throat, as if trying to recompose himself, and spoke again to draw Mydei’s attention.
“We got off on the wrong foot, but I should introduce myself. I’m Phainon of Aedes Elysiae.”
He extended his hand.
Mydei hesitated for a moment before returning the gesture. He didn’t remember hearing that name in any of the six roles he had played so far. Perhaps it was just another of the game’s many mysteries. Maybe Phainon was a recurring NPC in the roles he hadn’t played yet, much like the warrior of Castrum Kremnos. Still, in all previous playthroughs, the Flame Reaver had always been violent and relentless.
Now, however, the item to avoid combat had already been consumed. Having him as an ally could be beneficial.
“I already told you my name earlier… but it’s Mydeimos. You can call me Mydei if you prefer,” he replied, shaking Phainon’s hand.
Phainon smiled openly and closed his eyes. Mydei wondered if he even needed to blink at all. In the short time they had been talking, he had noticed that the gesture seemed more like a form of expression than a natural necessity.
Then again, he was the first NPC he had interacted with in this way, aside from Cyrene. Maybe, in this world, that was normal.
“Oh, wait here, I’ll bring you something,” Phainon said, leaving the room with a surprisingly cheerful mood.
Mydei watched him disappear down the lit hallway before he could respond.
Cyrene’s pink crystal floated back in front of him, glowing softly.
“Congratulations. You’ve survived your first day,” she announced enthusiastically. “Your missions are now unlocked.”
A luminous projection appeared before Mydei. As he read it, his sense of confusion only grew.
The missions were… absurd.
There were no apocalyptic warnings or direct mentions of the Black Tide. Instead, the list began with tasks such as staying close to Phainon, taking care of Dromas, collecting six chimeras, and feeding the chimeras. Further down, one quest stood out for its sheer improbability: participating in a cooking contest for the Mems… Was there more than one Mem in the game?
Mydei blinked several times, convinced he had misread it.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a horror game?
The thought left him more confused than relieved. After everything he had experienced so far, that strange mix of mundane tasks and lurking danger was even more unsettling.
Mydei sighed, trying to gather his thoughts.
It seemed the absurdity was only just beginning.