Tales from New Eridu

by SkyKingSpitfire

After wandering the depths of the Cretan Hollow, an amnesiac survivor is given a second chance thanks to the masterful guidance of Phaethon and the daring efforts of the Cunning Hares... But without falling victim to Ether corruption, weeks after getting lost within the distorted dimension, it begs the question of whether this truly was the start of a second chance.

3. Ridu Rewind: Issue 1

Random Play - Wise's Room

After a long day of running around the Cretan Hollow, the boys were enjoying some RR. The Player was lying on the couch watching TV while Wise sitting on the bedside and browsing Inter-Knot on his phone.

While scrolling down the forums, Wise came across something interesting. "Hmm? Whoa," He inched his head closer to the phone.

"You say something, Wise?" The Player called from the couch.

"Yeah... I was just going through Inter-Knot and I came across a post talking about Tales from New Eridu."

"Oh yeah? Anything bad?" The Player was still focusing on the TV.

"Not at all. It's actually pretty good stuff. There are a lot of comments in support of what we have going on."

There was a small pause before the Player lifted himself up from the couch. "Really?"

"Yeah, have a look."

The Player got up from the couch and went over to the bed, looking down to Wise's phone as he held it out for him to read the comments.

---

EriduRider69(OP)
Has anyone looked into that story that dropped not too long ago? It's called Tales of New Eridu, and I gotta say, it's not too bad so far.

BirthdayPrince_44
Yo, OP! You saw it too? Yeah. It's pretty solid so far.

EriduRider69(OP)
Glad I'm not the only one!

LittleMizzPatty!
I have! It has potential to go far, but since we're only two chapters in it's hard to tell if it'll remain consistent in quality.

BikerBaeLucy
It's out already?

EriduRider69(OP)
[BikerBaeLucy] yep. It released earlier last month. July 13th I believe. First official chapter didn't go up until August 3rd though.

BikerBaeLucy
[EriduRider69] Hmm... That's news to me. I didn't get the memo. I may have to leave a detailed review about my dissatisfaction... I'm not happy about that.

EriduRider69(OP)
[BikerBaeLucy] Detailed review? But you didn't read it yet. Right?

BikerBaeLucy
[EriduRider69] I was referring to getting a role!

ScubaDubaSteve3344
Does anybody know when the next chapter is going to drop?

ZZZMaidZZZ
[BikerBaeLucy] is it really that big of a deal?

ZZZMaidZZZ
[BikerBaeLucy] thatd just mean more work

ZZZMaidZZZ
[BikerBaeLucy] wait, i just understood what you meant...we can get parts?

BikerBaeLucy
[ZZZMaidZZZ] Aren't all Agents meant to appear?

ScubaDubaSteve3344
I love how nobody is answering my question...

ZZZMaidZZZ
[BikerBaeLucy] no idea.

ZZZMaidZZZ
[BikerBaeLucy] ill ask around and see what i can find.

MikeTaisunBoii
[ScubaDubaSteve] It be like that bro

BrantBro
What's good bros? What I miss?

LittleMizzPatty!
[ScubaDubaSteve] We haven't heard anything about the next chapter release date yet.

RaiderRidez
What are the chances of this story having romance?

SailorReader96
[RaiderRidez] someone finally asking the real questions

---

After reading through a few of the comments, and with more coming in, the Player stood straight. "Wow. I wasn't expecting this thing to pop off the way it did."

"Same... But I guess we have an audience now. That's good," Wise smiled.

There was a knock at the door that got the boys attention and Belle was standing in the doorway.

"Hey, guys. What're you up to?"

"Just reading some of the comments on Tales of Eridu," Wise answered.

"It turns out we've got some good traction," the Player said.

Belle wasn't sure what to say at first. She just looked at them in concern before finding the will to respond. "Is... Is it safe to discuss that out in the open?"

"Oh, this isn't canon," the Player replied. "So we're not going to get in trouble."

"Sweet!" Belle tossed her concerns aside and walked into the room to join the boys. "What are they saying?"

"So far, a lot of congratulations on a successful launch," Wise said.

"The game or the story?" Belle asked.

"Both."

"Nice."

"Apparently, there are a lot of questions as well," Wise continued. "Should we answer them?"

"Eeeeeeh, I guess you can answer some of the pressing ones," the Player said. "But you probably shouldn't give too much information. I don't think the Writer is going to be happy if you let any spoilers slip."

"Makes sense," Wise went back to focusing on the forum.

"How much can we disclose?" Belle asked.

"I'm not too sure. That's why I was saying we should be careful," the Player replied.

"Okay, I'll answer a few just to get the ball rolling," Wise dragged his thumb down the screen.

---

Phaethon
Hey, [ScubaDubaSteve] there isn't a schedule set in stone, and there probably won't be to avoid not meeting reader expectations. There's a lot going on behind the scenes, so I think all we can do is just know chapters will be ready when they're ready.

GlizzySpy45
...Ayo, is that the real Phaethon?

Phaethon
[GlizzySpy45] Perhaps

ScubaDubaSteve
[Phaethon] [LittleMizzPatty!] I see. Thanks for the replies.

EriduRider69(OP)
[Phaethon] is actually here?! This post is about to blow up!

$$DaringHare16
[Phaethon] Do those who participate receive pay?

$$DaringHare16
[Phaethon] Asking for a friend

Phaethon
[$$DaringHare16] Hi, Nicole -_-

$$DaringHare16 Has Left Chat

EriduRider69(OP)
[Phaethon] Will we see more slice of life stuff?

Phaethon
[EriduRider69] I can't give too many details, but yes. Slice of life will be one of the main focuses as things progress. Expect a lot of interactions and scenarios.

SailorReader96
[Phaethon] That's cool and everything, but what about the ships?

StarlightSupaaFan
[Phaethon] I have reader request for a Monica ship.

Phaethon
[SailorReader96] [StarlightSupaaFan] Romance is confirmed. Again, I can't say much, but it is very much confirmed. Pairings have already been evaluated and balanced, so look forward to whoever gets paired with whoever.

StarlightSupaaFan
[Phaethon] So about my shipping request?

Phaethon
[StarlightSupaaFan] The list has already been established. There won't be any last second add-ons. If it is that'll probably be for very specific cases. Monica isn't one of them.

StarlightSupaaFan
[Phaethon] *sigh*

RaiderRidez
Place your bets, boys: Who do y'all think is getting with who?

SailorReader96
[RaiderRidez] Ngl fingers crossed for harem

Phaethon
[SailorReader96] Don't get your hopes up.

SailorReader96
[Phaethon] harems unconfirmed?

Phaethon
[SailorReader96] The one in charge is known for not being too heavy into the genre, so chances are slim to none it'll happen. Again, I can't say much, but with what I can say, I wouldn't put money on it.

SailorReader96
[Phaethon] Eeeeeeh, well that's disappointing.

LittleMizzPatty!
[SailorReader96] Not really. I like romances! It's refreshing not seeing so many girls trying to jump on the same guy.

SailorReader96
[LittleMizzPatty!] Choosing best girl is part of the adventure.

RaiderRidez
[SailorReader96] [LittleMizzPatty!] I like my stories like my currency: Poly[chrome]

MilkTan20
XD

GlizzySpy45
[RaiderRidez] Take the damn upvote and leave.

SailorReader96
But who is everybody shipping though? I'm tryna hear some theories.

EriduRider69(OP)
[Phaethon] Do you have any info on what the next chapter will be about?

Phaethon
[EriduRider69] It'll be a chapter focusing on the Player and Belle since he and I were the focus of the first one.

SailorReader96
[Phaethon] Player x Belle confirmed?!

LittleMizzPatty!
That could be a cute pairing!

RaiderRidez
Belle? Nah. Gimme Anby.

SailorReader96
[RaiderRidez] Anby is so- ZZZzzzz

RaiderRidez
[SailorReader96] Tomboys died out years ago, bro. Get with the times.

SailorReader96
[RaiderRidez] YOU SAID WHAT?!

LittleMizzPatty!
Oh jeez...

Phaethon
And that's my cue to leave. Thanks for your interest everyone! Hope you continue to enjoy and look forward to everything that's still to come.

EriduRider69(OP)
Thanks for stopping by [Phaethon]! Pretty sure the thread is about to get locked anyway because of the debate...

---

"Welp, that's enough of that," Wise said in a flat tone.

"What happened?" The Player asked.

"Unintentional ship war started to kick off. I wasn't going to touch that with a 10 inch pole."

"Ship wars? Already?" Belle asked, looking surprised.

"Oh, so we legit have a community now, huh?" The Player, meanwhile, was intrigued by the news.

"Sure looks that way," Wise said with a smile. He pressed the power button on the side of his phone and put it to the side.

Belle could barely contain her excitement and was grinning ear-to-ear. "This is so cool! I wasn't expecting such a high momentum start. I'm glad we got this started when we did. Now that we've got a good foundation, that means we'll have to work hard!"

"Most definitely. Lucky for us, there's a lot in store," the Player said. "This universe has a lot of material to work with. I can already tell we're going to be here for a while."

"Great!" Belle pumped her arms in excitement. "We better get ready for the next chapter then! You and Wise got all the spotlight before, but now it's my turn," she gave the boys a smug look.

"Of course. I'm sure your fans will be happy to see you in action," the Player smiled in support of her confidence.

Wise leaned forward, resting his arms on his lap as he watched his sister and roommate discuss the future of their adventures. Despite his cool demeanor, Wise was excited to see what was next for them.

---

A/N: Hey, gang. How's it going? I know this came out of nowhere, but since we're still early into this stories life cycle, I wanted to introduce a new segment that'll occasionally pop up in between major chapters.

Ridu Rewind chapters are going to be short bursts of nonsense that focuses on meta humor, where characters are wholly self-aware and address things centered around things going on with Tales of New Eridu.

For those familiar with anime and the like, think of Ridu Rewind as the omakes you see in Shonen: like Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers from Bleach or the omakes from Naruto.

Nothing about Ridu Rewind will effect the actual chapters, they're just fun side distractions that'll be used to either answer reader questions about the story or just random shenanigans the Zenless Zone Zero cast will get into.

Now that you're all caught up, and before I close this out, let me address something in regard to reader question I mentioned earlier; I was thinking of trying something new, I wanted to use Inter-Knot as a means to answer reader questions to make it feel more in-line with the ZZZ universe, just for fun, so I was thinking of actually including reader usernames and having their question featured in the chapter so the characters could reply to them directly.

The questions in this chapter were questions from readers but I didn't include their usernames and had an abridged version of their question by shortening it.

I know I could just answer questions myself, as the writer, but this seems more fun. It's just an experiment, so we'll see how it goes.