Chapter 1: The Choice
[Achievement Unlocked: Midas’ Touch]
[Hey, congrats! You’ve totally nailed all the endings of the different faiths!]
Isaac grinned at the cool notification sound.
After achieving the ending of the ‘Golden Idol’, Isaac watched as everything around him, even the people, transformed into shining treasures of gold and silver. It was all thanks to him embodying the Golden Idol in the game world.
Not sure what the consequences of this would be for the world, Isaac didn’t let it bother him. This was his eighth time seeing the ending of the incredibly tough game, ‘Nameless Chaos’.
This game, made by the folks at ‘Unknown Software’, was famous for being super hard and not very user-friendly. But at the same time, it had a dedicated fan base who loved the freedom it offered, its vast open world, and all the little details.
Nightfall came, and eight characters emerged.
Humans, orcs, elves, giants… These were the characters Isaac had brought to life and played with so far. He mused with a tinge of remorse, “Hmm… looks like I’ve squeezed every drop out of this game. Maybe there’s nothing new to try?”
In Nameless Chaos, players pick from eight different belief systems and races to carry out the tasks assigned by their gods. Each choice led to vastly different interactions and storylines, making for an immersive experience that never seemed to get old.
But having seen all the faith endings meant he had almost exhausted all the game had to offer. As he hesitated to log out, a strange message popped up in front of Isaac.
[To celebrate the world’s first accomplishment, a new faith has been unlocked.]
[Hidden Faith: You can now select Nameless Chaos.]
“Huh?”
A ninth faith option, one he had never encountered before, appeared on the character creation screen. It had a peculiar tentacle symbol with glowing red eyes. Isaac was surprised by the name ‘Nameless Chaos’.
“…A faith for monsters?”
The main faiths in Nameless Chaos were known as ‘The Nine Faiths’. However, only eight could be played, leaving the ninth off the list.
The ninth faith, ‘Nameless Chaos’, was a monstrous belief system worshiped by brainless tentacle creatures, swarms of maggots, and squirming flesh. It was considered an enemy by all the other gods.
‘A legit hidden faith?’
Isaac scoured the internet for any info on Nameless Chaos but came up empty. There was no mention of it on strategy sites, wikis, or forums. While some talked about it being just an Easter egg, there was nothing concrete.
Not that surprising. Nameless Chaos was a world of hopelessness, famous for its brutal difficulty and permanent character deletion if you died. The fact that Isaac had completed all the faiths was pretty exceptional.
‘Now that I think about it, it did say it’s a first-time achievement… no wonder there’s no scoop out there.’
He dove right into creating a character.
“Let’s see… what kind of character can I whip up?”
Armed with this unique faith, Isaac decided to fully immerse himself in its theme.
Nameless Chaos featured a wide array of professions and races, but faith was at its core. To truly embody this special faith, a paladin class seemed like the right fit, even though Isaac was sick of the same old priest endings.
The idea felt right, ya know? If Nameless Chaos really embodies its vibe, it’s gonna be totally shunned by all the other faiths out there. Unlike priests who might struggle in tough situations, paladins, or ‘Holy Knights’, are like these ultimate survivors.
‘Hey, I can change up my job anytime in the game. Let’s go for that paladin ending,’ Isaac thought.
Race: Human.
As Isaac rolled the dice for character creation, he saw this cool character with gray hair and ashen eyes pop up. Even though the game let you get super creative with appearances, Isaac wasn’t into the whole wacky veteran look thing.
‘A character’s gotta have some charm, you know?’
Luckily, most random character looks were pretty good looking. But Isaac didn’t stop there; he carefully crafted the character’s appearance. It might seem small, but he was all about making a connection with his character.
Once the character creation was done, the attribute menu popped up. Isaac checked out the stats like strength, agility, vitality, intelligence, and faith. For a paladin, focusing on vitality and faith was key. Without overthinking it, Isaac went all-in on faith, only keeping the bare minimum for starting gear.
‘If it’s some special faith, might as well dive in headfirst.’
Being an experienced player, Isaac wasn’t sweating the early stages. The paladin’s solid defense would keep him safe once he leveled up. He was picturing a paladin with a priest-like vibe.
Then, the big decision showed up.
[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]
[The Nameless Chaos wants to hook you up with a sweet power. Take your pick:]
[The Intestines of a Dead God: Absorb some abilities and traits from your defeated foes.]
[The Sheep’s Cries in the Night: Summon followers from another world.]
[Beneath the Skin: Strip your opponents of their insides, using their skin as your outer layer.]
“……”
The choices were out there. But what really surprised Isaac wasn’t how weird they were, but how powerful. Most other faiths required a ton of work to unlock abilities this cool.
‘To be handed these powers right at the start?’
But Isaac also had a hunch.
Nameless Chaos didn’t just give stuff away. If it offered such a big gift, there had to be a catch.
After mulling it over, Isaac went with the first power, ‘The Intestines of a Dead God’.
Even though he wasn’t sure what ‘devouring’ really meant, being able to soak up stats and traits from foes was a major edge.
Traits were the real game-changer. Some were just so unique, you couldn’t learn them no matter what.
Even a slim chance to get those traits was a steal.
As Isaac made his final choice, everything started to go white.
The real deal was about to kick off.
And then, his head started spinning.
***
[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]
Isaac’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of a shimmering blue eye.
It was a gorgeous eye. But the weird thing was, it wasn’t just one or two. There were like a thousand of them, surrounded by red flesh, moving muscles, and pulsing veins.
It was a trippy vision Isaac had never come across in his eight previous runs.
He felt like he was gonna pass out, but he couldn’t close his eyes or look away.
Someday, Isaac found himself locked in a staring showdown with a whole horde of eyes. Not exactly an ideal situation.
Blink.
Surprisingly, it was those thousand eyes that blinked first. But instead of feeling triumphant, Isaac felt a bit off. Normally, you wouldn’t hear a sound when eyes blink, but with thousands, it’s a whole other story.
[The Nameless Chaos sees through such tricks]
Suddenly, he heard this strange, incomprehensible whisper right by his side, like some mechanical mutter.
[And guides you to a world truly fitting for you.]
The message seemed oddly familiar to Isaac. As he tried to recall where he heard it before, another voice chimed in.
“Get up and grab your sword, Isaac!”
Crack.
In an instant, the sea of eyes and flesh vanished, replaced by a burning village. Isaac was hit with a wave of dizziness from the acrid smoke and the metallic tang of blood.
Bang! Rumble…
The night’s darkness rippled strangely. A giant stone tower crashed down with a deafening bang. Houses were ablaze. Ghostly figures crept through the flames in eerie silence.
“Isaac!!”
A scream echoed from the distance. Isaac turned to see a middle-aged man battling three skeletal soldiers with a busted sword. It dawned on Isaac that the man was calling out to him, that he was Isaac.
Seated on the ground, Isaac grasped the sword, attempting to stand and offer it to the man. Before he could fully rise, the rusty blades of the skeletal soldiers pierced the man.
“Gugh, hah…”
Isaac couldn’t stay upright either. His head was spinning. His hand came away wet with blood as he touched his forehead.
In the whirlwind of confusion, flashes of memories flooded Isaac’s mind. Debris hurtling towards him, the brink of death looming. Yet here he was, somehow alive.
‘What is this?’
Debris? That wasn’t his recollection.
Wasn’t he just playing a game? Isaac tried to piece it all together, feeling disoriented.
But these memories weren’t his—they belonged to someone else named ‘Isaac.’
The memories were of ‘Isaac,’ not the player, but the character.
As the flood of a 14-year-old’s memories assaulted him, Isaac felt excruciating pain, the stench of burning, the stickiness of blood, and most unsettling of all, memories that didn’t belong to him.
Finally, Isaac caught sight of himself in a shattered window.
Grey hair, lifeless eyes, a fragile figure barely older than a teen. It was the child version of the character Isaac before entering the game.
Then, a strange window materialized before him.
[Isaac (EX+) / Shock, Exhaustion]
[Race: Human/Nephilim]
[Job: Child (F)]
[Abilities: The Intestines of a Dead God, Touch of Chaos]
‘What?’
Even in his haze, Isaac grasped its meaning. Isaac was the name of his character. But Nephilim? He’d never picked that race before.
In the game, Nephilim were angelic-human hybrids.
Blessed with beauty and strong faith, cursed with frail bodies due to the ‘Cursed Blood’ trait.
‘I heard you almost never get awarded this race, so why now?’
Isaac revisited his character creation process. Boosting faith, perfecting looks, and aligning with the gods’ worst attributes. Maybe all these factors had swung the odds towards Nephilim.
And in that moment, Isaac understood.
He had totally jumped into the world of ‘Nameless Chaos’, and now he had to live as the character he came up with, ‘Isaac’.
Shhh─! A sharp sound of air escaping came from somewhere. The skeletal soldiers that took out the middle-aged monk were closing in on Isaac.
“Ugh…!” Isaac started booking it. He considered fighting back with his sword, but he was in no shape to battle it out in his current state.
As he kept running, he felt his breath getting shorter. That was the downside of being a Nephilim.
Isaac doubted if his supposed charisma would work on the undead enemies.
Ignoring the urge to throw up, Isaac moved as stealthily as possible, evading the skeletal soldiers’ sight.
As he walked, he remembered the tagline of Nameless Chaos. [This is a world ruled by giants and gods.] [You will meet your end here, worthless and meaningless.]
