Mythos Of Narcissus: Reborn As An NPC In A Horror VRMMO

Chapter 157: Somashift, And The Fifth Ordeal Of The Midnight

"So this is how it feels like," Verina muttered as she changed between her biological legs and her Aetherstride prosthetics again and again. "It doesn't consume any lifeline either, now that I think about it."

Kuzunoha haughtily answered, "Yes, praise me more for my ingenuity~"

After restoring Verina's legs with the Valtherion blood, I implored Kuzunoha to modify our kilnalan's soul and vessel to accommodate 'dimensional bodyparts' that allowed her to shift between having a pair of proper legs or her Atherstride prosthetics.

As much as she was grateful to have her legs back, she found it much more useful and comfortable to wear the Aetherstride. I planned to craft a leg accessory or boots that would allow the same function, but we only had a few minutes left before the Ordeal of the Midnight.

Because of that, the Aetherstride were now permanently regarded as Verina's body parts after some tinkering—since the dimensional bodyparts didn't allow foreign parts when shifting between one set to another.

Also, I had been referring to 'dimensional organs', 'dimensional vessel', and 'dimensional bodyparts' rather loosely and interchangeably.

Because of that, Kuzunoha and I decided to name this whole function and phenomenon as 'Somashift'.

Likewise, we also categorized it into two levels according to the size and criteria of the somashifted parts: Somashift Vessel, and Somashift Organ.

A hand or a leg was technically an organ, so we didn't really want to overcomplicate the early phase of Somashift's etymology—although we were sure that it would be prone to modification later down the line.

And with it, we planned to evolve Somashift into something more than a mere organ-changing between private dimensions.

"Everyone, be prepared for what's to come."

[The

Ordeal of the Midnight

will be approaching in 1 minute_]

[This message will appear invisible to every instances of entities in this world, if you received this sequence of notification, please notify any of the

Arbiters

to prevent further complications in your immersive playing experience]

As always, the last minute to the beginning of the Ordeal of Midnight has never been less nerve-wrecking than a major event going on in your life.

Despite that, the bastioneers around me didn't really exude any kind of visible anxiety. Was this because they were too used to gambling their lives everyday outside of the comfortable grasp of a citadel?

If I lived in this world long enough, would I be indifferent to the ticking bomb in my head?

[

Qu? m? ex v!ersicu!l?s me?s put??stis, quod!? su?nt mollicul?, par!?um pud?c?um!!

]

I knew that the appearance of a Qliphoth Object was a rare occurrence, but I couldn't help but be wary that I would get another one of them after encountering one the day before.

[A special type

Calamity Object

have been manifesting within the vicinity of your bastion_]

[Attempting to analyze its property and identity_]

—

[

The Abyssal Harbinger

]

[

Description

: A towering, spectral figure with eyes like glowing embers that leave scorched, clawed marks in the air. Its form is ever-shifting, leaking thick, dark smoke that induces despair in those who breathe it. The Harbinger drags a weapon forged from nightmares that drains courage with each strike. Its mere gaze pierces the mind, causing hallucinations of engulfing shadows and bottomless voids, pulling victims into a spiral of terror]

[

Hint

: The Harbinger's strength wavers when confronted with symbols of unyielding hope or light, disrupting its shadowy form and lessening its grip on the mind]

—

While we stood on a land that was ever moving to an unknown destination, a maddening existence appeared on the horizon—a dark smear against the dying light.

At first, it was almost formless, more like a storm cloud than anything solid. But then, it shifted, looming taller and darker, until a pair of eyes like molten coals burned through the haze, leaving faint scorch marks across the sky itself—s if it clawed at reality to pull itself forward.

As it drifted closer, tendrils of thick, inky smoke oozed from its shape, curling and expanding in the air, reaching out like the bony fingers of some deep-sea creature.

While the Calamity Object was still far away, I used this time to inform all of my bastioneers of what we were going against, "That's the Abyssal Harbinger—a creature of nightmares, born from the deepest, blackest voids, and it thrives on fear; its very presence seeps into your thoughts, clawing through your mind until you drown in despair.

"Its weapon doesn't just cut flesh—it steals courage, leaves you hollow, too paralyzed to fight back. And don't, whatever you do, meet its gaze or breathe that smoke; both will drag you into hallucinations so dark, so all-consuming, that they'll feel more real than the ground beneath your feet."

One would think that I'm being hyperbole, but my speech was enough to accentuate the danger that we would be facing.

"Should we engage from afar?" Verina asked, already having a certain spell chambered into her musket.

"It is too early," I said. "We don't know how it will react, and if any of your spells and our equipment can even hurt it."

"A wise way of thinking," Kuzunoha snapped her fingers, sending out a rippling wave of bluish arcane energy that coated every weapon in its vicinity, every bolt, and every spearhead with a blazing glow . "This is not a sure-way to victory, but now our arsenal can damage it at minimum."

"I also forgot to mention this." I almost forgot to give the last piece of information. "But the Abyssal Harbinger's strength waver when against light and anything hope-related. So make sure you choose anything luminous when concocting your spell, Verina."

"I shall remember that." Verina nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll remind her until she is annoyed by it," Lupina slyly added.

For a moment, the Harbinger slowed down, before conjuring a spiraling portal. One of its smoky tendril inserted itself into the portal—before conjuring a fourth-dimensional object of unstable form.

Just the mere sight of its weapon was enough to bind all of us to the ground, unconfident of what was about to come.