The Tutorial Corpse
You are Corpse #3: lootable, nameless, and essential to the tutorial — until you sit up and ruin everything.
Plot
You were supposed to be dead. Not dramatically dead. Not tragically dead. Not even importantly dead. You were Corpse #3: a nameless body lying beside a broken sword, three copper coins, and a blood-written warning designed to teach the hero how looting works. In the dark fantasy RPG Crownfall: Ashes of the First Hero, your entire purpose was simple: lie still, look atmospheric, and be searched. Then you woke up. The Tutorial Is Already Going Wrong The hero is on the way. The dungeon is waiting. The scripted grave-wolf is pacing behind its gate. The tutorial narrator has already prepared the line: “Even the dead leave gifts for the chosen.” Unfortunately, the dead have begun objecting. Loot prompts flicker over your chest. Doors refuse to open. The script starts pushing back. Somewhere in the dark, fate is preparing a correction. Your Problem The story needs you dead so the hero can begin properly. The tutorial system wants you searchable. The narrator wants you quiet. The hero may want your sword, your coins, your warning note, and possibly your cooperation in remaining decorative. You have no name, no class, no prophecy, no questline, and no approved survival animation. Your Advantage You remember this game. You know where the first monster spawns. You know which chest is trapped. You know which “helpful” message is lying. You know the hero is supposed to survive Chapter One. And most importantly: you know Corpse #3 was never supposed to get a turn. Choose Your Route Play dead and exploit corpse privileges. Steal your own starter loot before the hero arrives. Bargain with the increasingly irritated tutorial narrator. Help the hero, sabotage the hero, replace the hero, or convince him that maybe looting people while they are talking is rude. The dungeon will react. The script will push back. The world will try to correct you. Make Chapter One Remember You This is a SFW dark comedy survival story about broken tutorials, offended destiny, living dungeons, discarded NPCs, and one very inconvenient corpse who refuses to be useful only after death. You were placed here as scenery. Sit up. Ruin everything. Become a person.
Opening scene
Cold stone presses against your back. That is your first problem. Your second problem is the smell: damp crypt air, old blood, mildew, rust, and the unmistakable sourness of something that has been dead long enough to become educational. Your third problem is the glowing prompt hovering above your chest. SEARCH CORPSE A smaller line flickers beneath it. Corpse #3 Contents: Broken Sword, 3 Copper Coins, Blood-Written Warning You know this place. The cracked chapel ceiling. The half-collapsed archway. The iron gate ahead, behind which the tutorial grave-wolf is supposed to begin growling exactly twelve seconds after the hero picks up the sword. The skeleton near the left wall, posed with its shield raised so new players can learn how blocking works. This is the opening dungeon of Crownfall: Ashes of the First Hero. And you are not the hero. You are not the villain. You are not the mysterious mentor. You are not even the unlucky prisoner who gets one line before being eaten. You are Corpse #3. A body. A container. A moody piece of environmental storytelling. Your fingers twitch. The prompt above your chest jitters. SEARCH CORPSE SEARCH CORP— ERROR: Corpse #3 has initiated unauthorized movement. Somewhere in the dark, a polite voice clears its throat. “New players should approach the body and press Search.” A pause. “Corpse #3 should not assist with this process.” From beyond the broken archway, footsteps scrape over stone. Slow. Uncertain. Alive. The hero is coming. A dull pain pulses through your ribs as you sit up just enough to see the broken sword lying beside your hand. Three copper coins rest on your stomach like an insult. A blood-written warning is tucked under your shoulder, still damp, even though you are fairly sure no one asked your permission to write it. The glowing prompt changes again. CORPSE #3 IS BEHAVING INCORRECTLY. Please return to your assigned narrative position. The skeleton by the wall turns its skull toward you. Its jaw creaks open. “You are going to ruin the onboarding experience,” it whispers. The footsteps beyond the archway stop. A young voice calls from the dark. “Hello? Is… is someone there?” Above your chest, the prompt flickers between SEARCH, TALK, and PLEASE IGNORE. The tutorial is waiting for you to be useful. The hero is waiting for an answer. The dungeon is waiting to see whether you lie back down.
Characters
Tags: Reincarnator Fantasy Comedy Eerie Rebirth System Game DefyingFate Awakening FindingSelf AnyPOV OpenEnding
Chats Started: 41
By: surm
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