Chapter 1:

Thus Spoke the Stars!

Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top!


In the year 1423 of the Euphony, there lied the land of Aria! Solely ruled under a Tri-Monarchal Government, there stood everlasting peace and tranquility; free from all War and organized bloodshed. None dared to disrupt the peace of this Utopian world, those who dared to disturb this world were silenced without mercy!

In spite of this, there foretold an ancient prophesy revealed by the Constellations above that an unknown Enemy would rise from world underneath, and lead armies of foes to decimate anything that drew breath on the land. This Enemy would change the fate of humanity as we know it!

The Constellations above feared this revelation, and thus they began their work! They worked rigorously against time to preserve the beautiful land of Aria, but the more they worked, the more they realized that they needed something more to complete their mission. They needed something taboo, they needed a sacrifice...

They needed someone who's to unwillingly give themselves for their land, and be sent through the fire to become the final HOPE for all humanity.

The Constellations examined all the land yearning to find this sacrifice, yet they found none who could bear the burden. And soon they began to lose hope, and some even counted it as lost.

That was until now... One man amidst the people shone a light within his spirit, and caught the attention of all the Constellations above. The Constellations themselves spoke to one another with great joy, but also with overwhelming conviction for the sin they were about to commit.

"One man for the sake of humanity!" said the Zealous Constellation.

"He will be restored for his heroic sacrifice and be gifted power from above!" exclaimed the Valorous Constellation

"I will become his Hope, if he trusts in me..." uttered the Hopeful Constellation.

The other Constellations began to make their pleads about the situation, they knew it was for the best, but at what cost?

That man they found was named Shin Tsuki, a devout man loyal towards his headship, quick-witted, adaptive to his surroundings and strong willed above all!

No one else on Aria could hold a candle to the potential this man yielded, and so the Constellation's decided to put their plan into action.

The time is now, the iron is hot, and the time of the Enemy draws near! And thus begins the story of Shin Tsuki!

At the Edge of Aria, upon a large cliff that stood at the threshold of a deepest pit of Aria. One man stood in shackles and bloody rags, his body was thin and covered in crimson stripes.

Many guards and knights surrounded him as they took him closer to the Edge, many spiteful gazes leered at him from all directions, yet the man said nothing to them. Soon they were standing at the Edge, and they turned the bound man before the multitude of people that followed. 

One high ranked officer shouted towards the man saying, "Have you nothing to say to them traitor!? Won't you defend yourself here in your last moments?"

The bloodied prisoner shook his head and stayed silent, the officer spat on him, "A Worthless coward up until the very end! Priestess, hurry and give him his last rites!"

A woman in a pure white robe came and began to pray over the bound man saying, "May the Constellations above take you, as this land below consumes you. May you finally find peace in the next life, and may the blessings of Lady Hope cleanse you of your sins!"

The Priestess stepped down and walked away, the officer came back up and made one last proclamation to all those present in the crowd.

"Shin Tsuki you are hereby charged with the greatest sin known to man, TREASON! Under the laws that govern this holy land, we now sentence you to capital punishment! You shall be dropped from this place into the Tranquil Pandemonium, whether you survive the fall or die matters not. May God help you if you survive this!"

The guards readied themselves to throw him over edge, the officer asked him once more, "Do you have any last words before you go?"

Shin spoke softly, "Even if I pleaded my innocence now, none of you would care to listen. I have nothing more to say to you or the people. Now just let me go in peace already..."

The officer gave him one more disgusted look before giving the final order, "Throw him over, I had enough of him already!"

With one strong push, Shin fell down into the dark abyss. Soon his vision went black and his consciousness faded...

The sound of slowly dripping water reverbed through a dark and empty cave, and in the midst of it, I was lying washed up against a stony shore with blood and stripes all over my body.

"How did I end up here...? It's so cold, so dark..."

My strength begins to fail me as I tried to crawl forward, it feels as though my lifeblood is pouring out of every gaping wound. My body was drenched in water, and every small draft of wind triggered frozen pains all over.

"It hurts... it hurts so much.."

The sound of flowing water can be heard behind me, as well as the wild critters creeping around in the shadows. The air is so damp and heavy, I can hardly even breathe in here!

"Is this really happening..? Am I really about to die here..?"

I crawl up and lay my back against a small rock sticking up from the ground, it's not the most comfortable pillow, but it will do for now.

I look upon myself and saw many gashes and deep punctures patterned all around, it was quite horrifying to say the least.

"I can't believe it... I can't believe it's going to end like this! What did I do to deserve this!?"

Tears began to flow from my eyes as the shadow of death lingered over me, I clenched my fist and began pounding it into the ground.

"Gyargh! It wasn't me! I didn't do it! It was a damn set-up! Why doesn't anyone believe me!? I would never have betrayed my master's family! Let alone even him!"

Sobs and loud thuds began to echo through the darkness as rage continually built up inside of my heart. I began to replay all the bitter memories before this whole ordeal began.

"It was all HIS fault! He's the one who set me up! It's HIM that deserves to be down here, not me! I trusted him! I freaking trusted him!"

A faint image of a man in a shadowy cloak flashed by, he had a diabolical grin stretched across his face with a bloodied knife in his right hand.

"I'm going to kill that bastard! I swear upon all that's holy, I'm going to kill him!"

I look up towards the darkness above and declare to all, "I'm going to crawl up from this hell and tear that bastard to pieces!"

One thought replayed in my mind over and over again, "I need to get out of here, I need to get out of here!" I slowly regained some energy to move whilst saying this in my head. I began to look around for some clues on where to start.

"I need to stand up..." My mind became focused on trying to regain my balance and composure, it was difficult but I was determined to do so.

"Arrrghhh c'mon!" With one mighty push, I was able to regain my footing. a little wobbly, but at least I got it!

I held onto my ribs and slowly moved deeper into the abyss before me while repeating to myself, "I need to get out of here!"

I can barely keep my balance, but I pressed on. Step by step, I continuously moved forward in a unsteady rhythm. My head was spinning, and I couldn't move in a straight line. Little by little, I felt more and more tired, as if my body was already at it's limit!

"Ack!?" I suddenly lost all strength and toppled over.

"DAMN IT!" I shrieked.

In a fit of rage, I began to beat my fists into the ground.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"

I shouted over and over whilst rolled over on the stony floor. It was then that I began to hear movement from all around me. If things couldn't get anymore worse...

I lifted my eyes to see a small pack of primal spiders gazing back at me, they were quite big in size compared to normal spiders; these were maybe about 3ft tall, and had thick, hairy legs.

One spider then suddenly blindsided me from the back, "ACK!? What the hell!?" I got knocked forward.

Another came and spat venom on me which caused an ungodly torment to enrage upon my right arm. "HYAACK!?"

One by one, each spider began hitting me in what seemed like synchronized attacks. All I could do was helplessly take every hit, like a ragdoll being manhandled by his master.

I said to myself. "Is this really how I die? Am I really about to become spider fodder in the depths of this hellish pit?" 

I was then suddenly knocked airborne by a ramming spider, and landed near the water I first emerged from. My body is now completely out of commission, I have no more strength to muster anymore. I can't breathe, nor can I see very much.

"A-Another chance..." I whispered to myself.

"If only I had... a second chance..."

The spiders began to close in on me as I awaited my pending doom. Again I called out to the darkness, "Another chance... If only I had a second chance!"

Many unbridled images started flooding me, I saw the bloodstained room where my master and his family lied in pools of blood. Then the bright courtroom in which I was sentenced, I remember hearing the verdict, "CAPITAL PUNISHMENT!". Then came the bitter unrestrained torture and beatings in that horrific black dungeon. Lastly was when I was taken to the threshold of the large pit, I was carried away by many armed guards whilst in shackles and bindings. After a few last rites, I was then plunged deep into the dark pit and fell to the waters that were below. 

"This is really it huh? My life is already flashing before my eyes... I can't believe I lived this long to die in such a way."

The spiders were all standing before me now, their eyes emitted a vicious hunger. Looks like I'm already done...

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for the last time, my final thoughts were, "If only I had a second chance, things would've ended much differently..."

Suddenly all the noise in the cave cut out, no more water, no more creeping things, no more grunting spiders, and no more wind; it was just dead silence!

I slowly opened my eyes, "Am I dead yet?"

But to my amazement, I saw something unexpected. It emitted a neon red glow, and took the shape of a long almost transparent-like box. It was floating mid-air above me and had bright words etched into it. The words on the neon red box read:

Congratulations! You have been selected to be REBORN as a <PLAYER>!
Do you accept your second chance?
[YES] or [NO]
(Selecting NO will cause every organ in your body to explode)

"What the hell is this? Second chance!? Reborn!? Am I dreaming or something? Did I go insane!?"

I couldn't believe nor comprehend what I was reading! It seemed too unreal to me; I had never seen nor heard anything like it before!

"Selecting no will cause my organs to explode!? What the hell does that even mean!? And what is a player?"

Many confused and conflicting thoughts entered my head, it was then that another smaller red neon box appeared.

If you don't select in <3 minutes> then NO will automatically be selected!

The timer began to countdown at a steady pace, "Now it's giving me a timer? It really wants me to hurry up and make a decision..." 

However though, my mind was already made up since the beginning. Like I said before, "I'm going to crawl up from this hell and tear all those bastards to pieces!"

I then call out to the floating neon box, "I don't get what's going on, but if this is my second chance then I'm taking it! YES I accept! Give me my second chance!"

Instantly the neon box closed in on itself, and a new one appeared in it's place. As this happened, my body began to illuminate into a blinding light and I felt all my wounds begin to close, my strength began to return, and my vigor replenished!

The new red neon box read...

Welcome <PLAYER>!
Please choose your <STARTER CLASS>
[FIGHTER] [THIEF] [MAGE]
(Choose wisely as you won't be able to change this later.)

"It's even letting me choose a starter class? What does that even mean? Am I able to get new skills and abilities too? That doesn't even make sense! I need to think about it, after the miracle that just happened to me, I'm pretty sure something is finally working in my favor. I wonder if the Constellations heard my cries..?"