1) The art gallery

My name is Seb. Okay, it's just a nickname, but you have to stick with it. I'm wearing a blue vest, open, a blue t-shirt, jeans and white sport shoes. I'm a little thin, no matter how much I eat and I don't do much sport. I finally brought myself into downloading the game Ib. Nothing against the game, but so far I didn't play it, because there was no ending with all three of the protagonists getting out of the painted world.

Now there was supposed to be new content with a bunch of new endings, which surprised me, supposedly you'd only expect one or two or three new endings. So instead of watching another LP, I decided to play it myself and find out myself about those new endings.

The menu was the same, only there was an additional option: new content. Since I had watched a bunch of Ib Let's Plays, I went straight on to the new content.

"Welcome. Thank you for downloading this game. Here you'll witness a new kind of adventure of Ib and her friends. Are you ready? First select a character which will be removed from the game and a new character will be added instead. Depending on your choice, the story will change. Once you chose, you won't be able to undo this choice on this safe file. Now, please choose."

There were now three pictures: Ib, Mary and Garry. "Interesting." I said out loud. Now who do I want to remove? Funny the game is called Ib and yet you can choose to remove the main protagonist from the game. Of course I was tempted to do that. But I decided against it. Next Mary. Although I am a nerd and pretty much the only social contact I have is during buying groceries, working and going to this awesome Japanese restaurant, I could totally understand Mary. Even I would go crazy in there, even with PC, internet and all. Humans, even nerds needed real social contact every now and then. Garry. Well I didn't hate him or anything, but I had the most disagreements with him. I had the feeling he didn't really understand what Mary is going through and only saw her as a monster, like that one room in the game he sees the creepy dolls instead of the bunnies. The bunnies were creepy too, though.

Garry it was then. "Are you sure?" the screen asked. I confirmed my choice.

"Very well. Let's play."

The last two words turned red and red liquid, most likely symbolizing blood, flooded down my screen. Suddenly I felt somewhat chilly. I first thought it was the excitement of playing a new game. Boy was I wrong when a hand came out of my screen and dragged me into it!

"Welcome to the world of Guertena." a voice echoed in my head before I passed out.

XXX

When I woke up, I was under a grey sky, lying on a bench. "What happened?" I wondered aloud. "Ow...now I know how a hangover feels." I mumbled, rubbing my head which felt like it would explode any second.

I sat up and tried to comprehend the situation, tried to remember what actually happened. "Let's go step by step. I woke up pretty late, since it is my free day. Cornflakes for breakfast and then I watched the news. Oh yeah, there'd soon be elections for...arrgh, who cares about that detail? Politic never really works anyway. So, I checked my post and then I started the PC. I wanted to down-

...

Wait, no way this could have happened."

I kept my voice low, so no one would look at me strangely. The people did anyway, since I had been lying on the bench only a minute ago. They must think I was some guy who drank too much last night. I have a cola addiction for that matter.

The one thing about us nerds is having a screwed up mindset, thus having always a strange kind of humor, mine is about death, and being adaptable to crazy situations. This one was a crazy situation.

I decided to take a look on my surroundings. I was in some kind of park, people going for walks with their dogs, children, couples, everything you'd expect. I grabbed in my pocket and sighed in relief as I felt my purse. I'd be screwed ten times over without any money. I remembered exactly in which game I fell in and gulped.

"Could be worse." I reassured myself. "I could have fallen into Slender or Silent Hill. At least here you don't have to fight."

Speaking of that whole crap, where was the art gallery? If I really fell into the game, shouldn't I have come out near it or inside? Well inside would be pretty bad, I'd be thrown out immediately and whoever brought me here, his or her plan would be ruined.

Starting to walk down the park, I tried to figure out who took me in. I realized the number was pretty big, if you count all the dolls, manikins, and pretty much every painting that was alive in the game. Mary was pretty high, but it also could be the artist himself.

Finding the gallery wasn't that easy. I was in a town, I assumed at least 100k people living in here, in whatever microchip I was now.

I walked for quite some time. I didn't have lunch for the day, so I found a burger joint and decided to get some grub for what laid ahead of me. Of course I simply could avoid it all, but I wasn't a complete idiot. I 'removed' Gary from the game, meaning I took his place.

"Multiple endings, now I get it. Everyone who downloads this special version is going to have a hard time." The thing is, I only had one life. So what ending was I heading for? My favorite 'together forever' would kill me. Leaving Mary or Ib behind was against my conscience. 'Welcome to the world of Guertena?' For this ending I had to get mind fucked. No thanks. I wanted to avoid killing Mary, she was way too cool for that.

Realizing I didn't get anywhere with thinking about my situation, I finished my meal. Before I went outside, I walked to the girl behind the counter. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the Guertena exhibition?" I asked.

The woman thought for a moment, before snipping her fingers. "Ah yes, now I remember. It's near the old theatre."

"Uh..well, I'm not from here so..."

"Ah, sorry. Yes well...I know, you can take the bus. There's a station outside. Take the number 30 on the opposite side of the road. It says City Hall. Leave at the old theatre. The station got the same name and there's this old theatre." she chuckled. "Thanks a million. Let's hope I don't walk into my own grave." I muttered the last part.

"Didn't you recognize him?"

"Hmm? Oh hey boss. Should I? He said he's new in town."

The boss slapped his forehead. "Haven't you watched the news lately?"

I had to wait for the bus for a few minutes. Luckily I had a habit of putting hale of my savings into my purse or else I'd have a problem. Still I was just going to get me into more trouble. Did I have a choice? Well, considering I had no papers whatsoever, the art gallery was my only chance to either get home or get a future. Or lose everything.

I shuddered as I entered the bus, taking a seat at the far left corner. I watched the world outside passing, not really thinking about anything at all. I almost missed my stop. Before I entered the gallery, I decided to get some stuff for myself from a shop that was nearby.

I never really cared about what people thought about me, but as I was about to pay for everything, I noticed the guy behind the counter giving me a weird look. A lot of people did it, now that I glanced around. The guy was polite in an icy way, which said: 'Get the hell out of my shop.' Something was off. I have a tendency in pissing people off, but only when I talk. Death jokes and all.

Just when I walked outside, I noticed I had my lighter with me. Huh, I really took on Gary's role. My lighter had a picture of the XIII Arcanum in Tarot: Death. I took my death jokes seriously.

All joking aside, I stood in front of the gallery. It was a huge white building, two stories tall. "Here we go." I entered the gallery and went to the reception. The receptionist didn't give me that weird look, unlike at least some of the other people. What was wrong with them?

Ignoring them, I decided to at least enjoy the gallery as long as I could. Walking around, this gallery had something calm about it. It was larger, than in the game and a few more paintings were hanging around. I almost could hear the soundtrack going on in the background.

I walked to the Hanged Man. Garry wasn't there. Well he could have wandered off somewhere else, but I had the feeling he wasn't even here. I took in the various details you only saw as pixels in the game.

"That guy was pretty good. Wonder how he died." Maybe he could have painted Mary a friend. I felt something tucking my jeans. Turning around, I needed to look down, since it was a kid, tucking my jeans. It was Ib. I noticed I stared at her for a few seconds. When I did, I quickly shook my head. "Sorry about that. You wanna see the picture?"

She nodded. God Ib, stop being so adorable. Her red eyes just look awesome. I gave her some space and she got closer. I faintly remembered from the game she could read this picture.

"The Hanged Man. You know in Tarot, the Hanged Man symbolizes self sacrifice, if I recall correctly. Do you know what Tarot Cards are?" I asked. She looked up at me and shook her head.

"They're supposed to tell the future. There are...twenty...sorry, my brain is failing me. Ah yes, 22 big Arcanums and four smaller once. I don't know about the smaller Arcanums, but I have a faintly knowledge about the rest. Basically, when you start a new day, you pick up a card. Each card has a different meaning. When you pick up a card and it's upside down, you have to take the meaning the other way around. For example 0 the Fool stands for the beginning of a journey. Other way around it would most likely mean the end of one. You still catch up? I'm not bothering you, am I?"

She shook her head and smiled a little. I smiled back automatically. "You're a smart girl, catching up, when I talk that fast without a break. The thing is, I'm not sure if everything I tell you is correct, because 22 the World stands for the end of a journey and...fulfillment? Or was that Judgment? I need to look up again, so some things I told you could be wrong."

She nodded and looked back to the painting. "I'm gonna look around a little more. Laters."

I looked at the different paintings. Not that I understood anything about art or anything. It was worse with books. In tests I almost always failed to interpret them correctly. Paintings were a little easier, since there were multiple explanations. Sometimes.

"Death of the individual. I get the basic idea with the lost heads, but don't they have still some individuality with having different colors?" I asked no one in particular, as I looked at the statues. A man, who seemed to paint stuff himself looked at me.

"An interesting way of interpreting it. You seem to have an eye for such things, my boy."

I shook my head. "I just think a person's individuality is something very important. I mostly misinterpret paintings, texts and all." I replied.

The man chuckled and left for another painting. I looked at the statues which would soon hunt me. I went over to a place, where they showed a lot of accessories. "Are these gems all real?" I wondered. I looked at a sign and yup, they were REALLY expensive. If I had a girlfriend, I'd try to steal some of the stuff for her. Shaking my head at the thought I left for another painting.

"It is him, no doubt about it."

"You mean...but what's he doing here in an art gallery?"

"I guess even those guys...spent their time...like...you know."

"Can't be. You know earlier I saw..."

"The Lady in Red." I read out loud. Fairly simple, compared to other paintings. I wondered how she was supposed to hurt me. She didn't have claws or anything, right? The statues I get, although they look a little unstable. With a weapon I probably could fight back.

I took a look at the Abyss. It was painted on what seemed to be 1/10 of a cinema screen. I think I saw the eye of the fish moving. Blinking a few times, I left pretty fast, not running, just walking very fast. Other people were still there, so I was still not in the other world.

I had been staring into space for some time, so one of the employee stuff approached me. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Well...I'm looking for a painting, it's called Mary."

"I'm sorry, but we're not allowed to put it to the public. The least will of Weiss Guertena."

"You know, weiß means white in German. Who calls his own kid white?" I asked the employee woman and she chuckled. "I didn't know this. Do you have another question?"

I thought about it. "I'm still curious about Mary. I've seen her picture in a magazine. Do you know what inspired Guertena into painting her?"

She shook her head. "No one knows why he started to paint at all. He was a very introverted man."

"Hmm. Thanks for the info. I'll look around a little more then."

"You're welcome. Feel free to ask anything anytime."

Did Guertena know he created a whole world? Was it that reason he died? From what I could gather, the cause of death was unknown. Was he inside that world? Nah, if that was the case, Mary would have escaped already.

I found the Milk Puzzle, which couldn't be found outside the other world in the game. It was in a room, which didn't exist in the game, at least until after you played through it ones and found a special key.

"Struggle after Death. So much for death makes life worth living." I deadpanned as I looked at the statue with the woman and the skeleton fighting. But what did it mean? I always saw death as a kind of salvation, the stop of struggle.

I pretty much looked at everything by now. Maybe I overlooked the one or other painting, but I decided to go to the one painting I've been avoiding.

"Fabricated World." I read out loud. I think I saw the Lady in Red at the right part of the painting (that's how it looks for me from the game).

Nothing happened. I was about to cry out in frustration, yet at the same time I felt a little relieved, but still on edge. Was it too early to happen? Meh, I needed to go to the bathroom anyways.

The light flickered as I stepped in. I didn't think much about it. It happened almost on every second toilet opened to the public I entered. At least it was clean.

When I washed up someone banged on the mirror from inside. I jumped and splashed water everywhere. There was a handprint from outside the mirror. "Oh shit..." It had begun.

I noticed red paint coming out of the tap. Or was it blood? I sure as heck wouldn't check, so I turned it off. Outside the lights were off and no one was there. If the calm atmosphere the gallery had only minutes before was gone. I could hear footsteps, but from the soundtrack file I've gone through before starting the game, I knew it was supposed to be the background music. Right? It did its job well, scaring me and I wasn't even really inside the fabricated world.

As I slowly made my way, I got an idea, looking behind the counter if there was anything useful. My dad for example had one time a flashlight in his office for whatever reason. I found it, when I was young.

Nope no flashlight, some papers, a book which held record of visitors, a small monitor for security cameras most likely. If this would be Silent Hill, I was sure I'd have found a gun. I checked the drawers and bingo, there was something. It was nothing special, it just seemed out of place: newspapers article or rather a part of it.

...not guilty. The prosecution announced it would go into revision. Prosecutor XXXX XXXXXXX (the name was blackened) gave a press conference in which he said: "I won't rest until this dangerous individual is behind bars!" Meanwhile...

"Not guilty, huh? Wonder what this 'dangerous individual' is supposed to have done."

I tried not to make an opinion of the defendant. I didn't know the story behind this all and the press had a tendency of overdoing it. Curiosity got the better of me and I shoved it into my pocket.

I checked the front door just in case, but I was locked. The windows wouldn't budge and it was foggy outside.

I wished I had my mp3 with me to block out the footsteps, but I knew I'd need all of my senses to survive this horror trip. I played with the thought of staying here waiting until everything was until I remembered in that case Ib would be the one who'd be trapped.

Being trapped. I needed to find a solution for this one. And I only had one try for everything. Every decision I'd make would influence the 'ending' the three of us would get, in my case most likely Game Over. At least Mary would be able to escape with Ib.

I shrieked and jumped 180 degrees, when I heard a splash. Frantically looking around, I saw a writing on the wall.

"We're waiting."

I gulped. This was going to be one hell of a trip. And those guys were getting impatient. "Okay, okay. Just let me look around a little more, 'kay? I wanna look for something."

Another splash on the opposite wall.

"Come..."

"Five minutes at most, kay? It's not like I have another choice...great my sanity is already beyond zero. Great job guys!" I clapped.

Actually I did all those antics to keep myself calm. This here was more or less a save room. At least I thought it was. Now I wasn't so sure anymore. I kept looking around, while keeping an eye on my watch. I was looking for more newspapers article pieces.

Suddenly another splash.

"Five minutes are over. Come, you know the way."

I looked at my watch. "Huh? You got that right." I tried to more or less befriend with the paintings. Higher chances of survival. "Alright."

I walked back to the Abyss painting. There were two sets of footprints. One was there from the game, the other one was smaller, probably Ib. Wait wasn't I supposed to start elsewhere? Whatever.

"Moonjump!"

Instead of landing on a staircase, was diving into what seemed like water. I held my breath, but soon realized I wouldn't drown. I was sinking slowly, without the chance of getting back to the surface. The big fish swam around me and I totally panicked waving all of my limps.

When my feet hit the ground I was in a blue box-like room. In front of me was a blue door. On the ground was writing: " A"

I didn't get what it meant. Did someone caught me or was I trapped? No the door could be opened. Taking some deep breaths, I slowly opened the door, looking for any dangers. I entered the first room. I was inside the World of Guertena.