A dive into the unknown

Senkar was the first of his kind, a Portal Diver, as they called themselves. He was not the only one. Another seventeen had volunteered for the initiative, but five dropped out by the end.

As he marched towards the dimensional tear that would take him to unknown whereabouts, silently followed by his Guildmaster Nob and his friend Iyola, he rolled back and forth the memories of the last two months and of the last evening. He had been a fresh medicine student in his normal life, and as such, he knew what studying hard meant. Yet the training truly tested him, not because of its complexity, but because it consisted of things that Senkar never really thought about in his life and had much to catch up on. The ability to learn was the primary requirement for a candidate for this mission, more so than their high level or awesome equipment.

Before he could learn, research had to produce something worth learning. Ways to navigate, to map, and to tell the position. An investigation into the portals themselves. A test of what kind of injuries or deaths could be a… permanent problem.

What a ridiculous situation, he thought not for the first time. A random bunch of kids, teenagers, adults, all equally lost and all victims of the same ridiculous mystery, all stranded in this shared dream, with no way back to the lives they had; all connected only by having played a certain online game at a certain time. We thought we would wake up from this before long.

Because this definitely IS the “world” of NAVIS Online. The abilities, classes, certain mechanics, monsters, they are exactly as we knew them. But the… well, the world is alien. Nobody had seen this land before. Are we on a continent never before seen in the game?

Nob and Iyola insisted on walking him the rest of the way. They were among those who took the situation quite well, but for different reasons. Senkar was different from both of them.

His gear clattered as he walked, a problem pointed out several times by Jinron, another Portal Diver, who seemed to excel in stealth not only as an occupation but also as an expression of his personality. A role-Player, they said of him, and he chuckled. Senkar felt for the poor guy; the Rogue seemed to suffer in the presence of any noise, and was only at peace either in absolute silence or in the rustle of nature. He was a really sociable person but one that could hardly stand the quirks of other people. What a terrible thing to suffer from, thought Senkar.

For the time being, there was not much Senkar could do about the clattering. He was carrying quite a bit of tools and supplies, on top of his own Hunter gear which was rather modest. He had been only level 39 in the game when the thing happened, and he never was much of a gamer. Once he eats through some of the supplies, the cargo will diminish in size. He was also instructed to immediately drop it and either fight or run in case of danger.

There was some anxiety in him, but also some excitement. Yes, he was about to be teleported to, as far as anyone knew, to a completely random location that could be anywhere in the world, including low orbit, ocean bottom, or a deep crevice of the earth, or into a wall and be splattered like a tomato. Some of that was rather deadly, but Senkar had died before, so that was fine. They all died several times already. Meanwhile, potential new lands and new people - and hopefully a triumphal return - awaited him. And if it was not that end, then maybe if would be the other end he wanted.

They emerged from the foliage of the autumn-colored forest into a riverbank. The river was at a low level, exposing pebble-strewn riverbed on each side. It was on the opposite bank that the dimensional tear manifested, and they could well see it from there: a few feet above the ground, and large enough for two adults to march through. It appeared as a swirly vortex of ethereal shapes and emitted a distinct, crackling noise like a high-voltage electrical conduit. A few wooden stakes were hammered into the ground as makeshift stairs to allow access, but it was done only for him the day before.

As if waiting for that moment, Nob spoke up.

‘The Admins asked me to remind you of the objectives one last time, but I know you know them. So I’ll make it quick, yes?’ Nob asked Senkar.

‘Yeah, yeah, do what you must,’ Senkar said, stopping and turning towards both of his companions.

‘One: find a way back here, and map it. Two: establish contact with other groups. Stay there as our ambassador if return is impossible. Three: catalogue unknown monsters, and species of fauna and flora. Since you’re in my Clan, don’t embarrass me and do all three, copy?’

Senkar nodded twice and seeing that Nob was done talking, he turned to Iyola.

‘I will keep an eye on her,’ she said to Senkar with a wink and a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Senkar was unprepared for that playful but helpful attitude, and briefly wondered what got into her. It was probably her way to cope with emotion. He returned a smile and spoke honestly:

‘Heheh… thank you. Don’t do anything weird when I’m gone. Not without me.’

‘I’ll do the weirdest shit I can think of, so hurry up and don’t miss it.’

Nob raised his eyebrows witnessing that exchange but did not ask questions. There was not much more to say from any of them. The farewell party for all Portal Divers had been the evening before. The memory of that feast and Iyola’s assuring words brought up the memory of Hestia sitting opposite him, picking her food absent-mindedly. The vision almost made him decide to abandon the duty he accepted - but then what would she think of someone who had done such a thing? No, he would come back with the proverbial shield, whether it mattered in the end or not.

‘Time to go,’ he told them as if they did not know, and gave the most reassuring smile he could muster as it was them who needed it.

He went past the warning signs and the makeshift rope fence that prevented accidental access. A one-way portal was well-understood to be something dangerous and worth protecting people from, but the protections were symbolic. The people of Rockbase and the leaders they elected were not stupid. How do you make effective barriers against people who can now apparently turn invisible or shoulder through brick walls? Your only hope is to ask them not to.

He went up the wooden stakes, balancing easily despite the bulk on his back, took one deep breath, and disappeared into the vortex like a wisp of steam on the wind. Then the portal itself followed suit, vanishing as if it had never been there with a worrying sound reminiscent of shattering glass. Reality reasserted itself in its wake.

The two figures stood on the riverbank a little longer as if to see if anything else would happen, and turned back to go home when it did not.