This is not your typical success story (even if there's success in it), so bear with me.

First of all, I guess an introduction is needed. My name is Shadark (even if my family name says otherwise) and I've been playing this game on and off since 2016. I'm not your typical hardcore player, but I guess I'm also not entirely casual. With some work and some strokes of luck I've been climbing and climbing in this game during those years.

But that's not what I'm interested in telling you. I'm pretty sure that this place will fill with success stories: lots of PENs, impossible chances, fateful encounters, incredible loot... and obviously I'm more than happy to read and share those stories. But I thought I could shine some light on an aspect of the game that, strangely and curiosily, still captivates me to this day.

Back in... probably 2016 or 2017, I was still a fairly new player and didn't know better. Inbetween typical new player mistakes (when boss scroll groups were typical, didn't know what 5x meant and guessed it was 5 players... didn't work so well when I was only carrying 1 scroll instead of 5) and slow but steady gear progress (those were the liverto days, if someone still remembers) I was exploring the world at my leisure. From Velia to Heidel, from Heidel to Calpheon. Mediah and Valencia were still very far away in the horizon, villas were no more than a "what could it be that blue building icon in the middle of the desert???"... you get the idea. But I digress.

During those innocent but wonderful days, as I was exploring, I found myself often lost in unknown zones. And, one of the memories I have burned into my mind is that of exploring a new zone and... seeing that dreadful red overlay that tells you that a monster is too difficult for you. Run away!, the game would say while showing you the monsters' names in that malevolous dark purple. The first time I found this warning was when I decided to explore the southeastern parts of Calpheon (I decided that I wanted to try going back to Heidel but not using Delphe Knights road, instead going the south road) and it kept going. If I remember correctly, I ran from that place and tried to go south, but found myself feeling that sensation of fear near North Abandoned Quarry with all petrified miners. I ran from there, got to Heidel and never looked back.

On a side note, those were the days: the old Heidel and Calpheon music (I still miss the Calpheon theme, it was absolutely epic), not knowing what to do and doing a lot of "mistakes": I thought the transports on the map could be robbed by other players or bandits and you had to protect them. And it was funny as heck that time when I decided I wanted to see if going from Heidel to Calpheon in a rowing boat was faster than going in horse. Spoiler: it is not.)

As I graduated from being a new player. I didn't find that sensation of fear a lot of times during my journey afterwards. I'm sure more players can relate to this experience, however: being a relatively new player to the arid lands of Valencia, going through the desert and seeing a strange portal. Oh, I'm gonna check that, maybe there's treasure behind! Wrong. Finding yourself in a strange place, filled with powerful enemies (again, that red overlay and the ominous warning), you just want to escape and run from there. Welcome to Aakman (or Hystria!).

Finally: 2021, a lot of powerful gear, just some enemies that I can't take, doing my business. I was doing Odyllita main quest, because I wasn't playing during its release. I was doing some quests near Thornwood Forest, searching for some... lapis lazuli crabs, could it be? You know, just questing and exploring around. And then, as I catch a brief flash of a red name above the head of some humanoid figure, my life total goes instantly to like 10-20%. I panic and press V to escape, and just run and run and run while my heart is also running wild. What is that????, I ask myself (and also in my guild chat). I got too close to a place not meant for me, and I'm lucky to have escaped alive. Welcome to Crypt of Resting Thoughts, one of the few places that I haven't conquered yet.

As I said, I'm sure this isn't your typical tale. Is a tale of fear, but that fear is what makes me go further beyond. That fear is what propels me to improve and get better (both skills and gear) so I can conquer that fear, both metaphorically and in reality. Conquer your fear, so you can achieve your dreams.

Hoping for more years of fear, adventure, discovery and achievements:

Shadark