Paintings of Terror - Chapter 1: Entering the Painting

July, 1946. The existence of an alternate world was confirmed.

It was supposed to be a new world for mankind.

However, the enormous cost, the annihilation of the advance troops, and fierce public opposition led to the signing of a non-aggression treaty.

Mankind turned their eyes towards space.

Half a century later.

A certain company formed a team in order to explore the alternate world’s dungeon.

Five professionals and three artificial intelligences. And one reserve member.

With modern weapons and technology, the adventure was expected to be easy.

However, the ones who had arrived in the alternate world were a defective artificial intelligence and a non-professional.

Through trial and error, they lived, ate, and fought. And, they explored the dungeon.

In 2030, humanity faced its first true collapse…not by war, but by the sudden invasion of Nightcrawlers, creatures emerging from darkness itself with the desire to devour sunlight at all cost for their evolution.But, they could not absorb it directly since it was as deadly to them as to a shadow under the noonday sun. They could only absorb the sunlight from lifeforms or through signing a nocturnal contract to possess their bodies, providing them with direct sunlight immunity.Within twelve hours, over four billion people perished as Earth was split between eternal night and day.Just as extinction loomed, Holy Light Pillars descended from the heavens, purging one thousand cities from Nightcrawlers and offering humanity sanctuary under their divine light.A century later, in the Heliodor Region, an innocent child found his world turned upside down after two mysterious nightcrawlers invaded his home, slaughtered his parents, and ripped his eyes out of their sockets, leaving him permanently connected to the Shadow Dimension, the home ground of Nightcrawlers.Was it just a random feeding session for them, a planned assassination, or it goes deeper than this?Follow Levi’s journey as he weaves between darkness and light, chasing the truth hidden in both.

After seeking pleasure in the nightclub and a night of romance, he discovered there’s a seed in his stomach;

“So... well... I died as it seems?Then I woke up as a character from an online science fiction game...And the craziest thing was that I was in my personal spaceship...Aside from that, I have this weird gaming system bugging me with missions and stuff...So... finally, something interesting happened in my life at last.At least now, I am unbound by anything and can do as I wish.”- Acturus Al-Yesod Crawford“In the grim darkness of the endless space, there is only one sole constant that has ruled the space since immemorial, that dictated the life and death, the order and chaos of every single living being.Power.This is the story of one of the most controversial people in the history of the Known Universe, Arcturus Al-Yesod Crawford, the Star Mercenary, Bounty Hunter, Trader and many other titles...”- Prologue Chronicles of the Known Universe: Chapter Star Citizen, Star Date: Unknown***Tags: Aliens, Androids, Army, Army Building, Automatons, Assassins, Artificial Intelligence, Cosmic Wars, Fleet Battles, Futuristic Setting, Male Protagonist, Mercenaries, Monsters, Outer Space, Nobles, Late Romance, Slow Romance, Money Grubber, Supernatural Powers, Psychic Powers, System, Game Elements, Strategic Battles, Strong to Stronger, Transported into a Game World, Wars, Evolution, Genetic Modifications, Industrialization, Military, Politics, Poor to Rich, Strength-Based Social Hierarchy, Time Skip