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Setting
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Suddenly all the life in ACO froze up and then many players were forcefully logged out one after another. Their friends watched as with blue flash of light, they are thrown back into reality. But those who remained had it much worse. First they lost all their inventory and money except for the beginner’s gear. Then all their abilities disappeared, later – their pets and at the end their level was reduced back to 1. For a split second complete silence overcame Terra, and then the panic began. Players started yelling, swearing and sending reports to Game Master, but it was futile.
Soon all these 10,000 players were transported to the Main Square of Novus City. Confused of happening events players screamed, yelled and some even got into fights with each other. Until finally alert message appeared in the sky. At instant players became quiet and concentrated on the message that slowly started to change it’s shape. Slowly it became a dark-hooded figure which every know as Game Master.
"Dear players,
For a long time I have been watching over this game and enjoying the sight of people laughing and being happy in the world I have created. But then I noticed that some of you completely forgot about the real world. You turned your back on your families, friends and beloved ones. You used this game to escape from problems of real world and now it's time to teach you that ACO is not an escape.
I've returned all players to the starting point where you have no inventory, no money or skills. You have to start this game anew but this time it will be game of survival. In order to survive you have to work, eat proper food, watch out from illnesses which I have now added into game. It's just like real life except that you still have to fight monsters. None of you will be able to log out until at least one of you has beaten final boss. Just so you know there are total of 1000 bosses, one stronger then the other. Also please do not forget if you die in battle, starve too long, have been sick with strong disease you will die for real. I wish all players good luck!
Yours faithfully,
Kawakami Yoshihiro"
With that message the dark figure slowly vanished into the air. Time in the game changed to year 1 January 1st and with it weather changed as well. It became cold and snow started to fall and along with that players went crazy.
Yesterday Refa fought some pretty strong monsters in Subaqua and managed to get some rare ores she could use to make a sword. Today Refa decided to enjoy beautiful parts of Terra and rest. Luckily no player had invited her to boss fights, so she could relax.
Suddenly something strange happened. All her inventory, money, skills and abilities disappeared and she became level 1 again. At first she thought it was a hacker, but then she got forced to teleport to Nova City. Thousands of players, just as confused as her, surrounded Refa from all sides. Crowd was so thick it was impossible to move. After short while Game Master appeared and announced that everyone is trapped inside this game and that they all can actually die.
Once Game Master was gone, panic arose in the giant crowd. Everyone started to yell, run, swear thus making a giant mess in already stuffed Square. Refa was being tossed from one side to another and for moment she thought that she would get crushed by this crowd. The sudden message shocked Refa, however she was not the kind of stay dazed in panic for long.
„I have to get out of this crowd,” Refa said and took out the only weapon she now had – beginner’s sword. Due to shock and fear of dying everyone around her instantly backed away from Refa giving her space to move. With her sword raised high up Refa ran through panicking crowd until finally she managed to break out of it. She could not stay here or else she’ll be one of first to die in this death game.
The moment before, she'd been fighting a group of trolls atop a high mountain peak, when her weapon had suddenly disappeared from her hand. Crying out in surprise, she'd looked up to see the gigantic enemies looming over her, already preparing to strike. The sheer, bleak cliff behind her left no route of escape, and, without her weapons, she was suddenly helpless. Shutting her eyes, she had braced for the impact, hoping to withstand it with some of her HP left.
To her confusion, when she opened them, she found herself suddenly standing somewhere completely different: Nova City. Specifically, the main square. While she supposed this was one of the game's main respawn points, she hadn't gotten the death message or had any respawn delay, which meant she hadn't died, had she? But stranger yet, as she looked down at herself, she found all of her familiar gear suddenly gone, replaced by a basic, form-fitting light armor suit which, although done in her usual burgundy and gold coloring, had never even been in her inventory to begin with. Besides, this was just level 1 gear. It would be useless to her! Opening her character screen and inventory with a small sweep of her hand, she had hoped to just find her old gear displayed there so she could re-equip it, but, she became further baffled when she saw her inventory - empty - and her stat display, which read that she was a level 1. All her hard-earned stats had suddenly been removed! She actually gave a small cry of surprise at this, but it was drowned out by the murmur of the equally confused crowd all around her. Opening a side-window, she decided she'd try to log out and back in in the hopes that whatever glitch had occurred would be negated, somehow. But when she opened the side-bar, all she found was a blank screen where the familiar, ever-present button had always been. Now her growing feeling of uneasiness turned to fear, and, in an instant, that fear became proven to be reality.
For in the next moment, in the skies above, a hooded figure appeared, and delivered the death sentence of ten thousand people, amongst whom stood Canon, her violet eyes wide with shock and disbelief. As the skies suddenly became overcast and snow started to fall - the date on her menu changed suddenly to January 1st, but she didn't notice that at the moment - Canon simply stared upward toward where the message had just been delivered. This... this was a joke, right? So many people, trapped in a death game with little chance of surviving... Something like that could never happen, right? Someone would put a stop to it... right? They'd all be logged out soon, wouldn't they? Or maybe this was just some kind of practical joke? Yeah, that had to be it, didn't it...? But then... why couldn't she log out? And where was everyone else? This crowd was only a small fraction of the player base, so where did everybody else go? Maybe... was this reality after all? No. No. No no no no no no no no no no NO NO NO! This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be happening, this couldn't be REAL!
Canon stumbled weakly backward, and slowly turned her eyes upon her character screen with disbelief. All of this... she wanted it to go away. She was scared. She wanted to log out now. Why couldn't she just log out?! She'd rather have been pathetic than afraid, so why couldn't she just go back to reality...?
She was jarred out of her thoughts by shouting from behind her, but even then, she hardly perceived it. Yet, it continued to draw closer... until suddenly, a fast-moving object struck her from behind. Giving a slight cry, she found herself knocked to the ground as, in the next instant, a heavy weight briefly crushed her down, then vanished again as, stepping on top of her and continuing her frantic flight, a girl with vibrant red hair proceeded to dash through the crowd, brandishing a sword. Canon tried to rise, only to be caught by the stampede that followed as players frantically ran this way and that. The young warrior watched in horror as she actually started to take damage from the impact of countless feet treading over her. One HP gone, two, three, four, five, six... these numbers soon became dozens, and dozens became scores, until her hit points gauge was over half empty.
And then, all of the fear she'd felt until that point exploded. Panic took over. She didn't know if it was a prank or if this illusion had, in fact, become reality, but she knew one thing above all else. She didn't want to die. She wouldn't die, she was scared of dying. With all of her strength, she began to flail about, lashing out at everyone around her. People fell from atop her as slowly, she forced her way up. Then, taking off in a mad dash in a random direction, Canon began plowing her way frantically through the crowd. She would collide with someone, fall, then rise immediately and just keep on running. Never once did she look back. No, all that mattered to her was getting away, escaping from all this and going... somewhere. She didn't care. But she had to run, had to run or she'd die. She couldn't die. She was too afraid to die!
At last, the crowds around her thinned, and, she realized, she escaped the crushing press of bodies. Slowly, as her HP began its tedious and slow recovery cycle, her heart, too, began to calm. But that fear that welled up inside her hadn't changed. Now that she had accepted the possibility of her death, everything around her had suddenly become a threat. In that moment, she realized that, even if she couldn't prove it, she now also couldn't deny the potential danger she was in. If her HP reached zero, there was a chance that she, Suzaku Kanna... would cease to exist. And that chance, even if she had no way of knowing for sure whether or not it was in fact reality... was enough to terrify her. She wanted to run, wanted to escape from all of this. She wanted to hide somewhere, and pray that this would all end quickly. Suddenly, she realized, she wasn't so strong as she had thought. In fact, she'd never been strong at all. That's right... everything she was, everything she thought, it was all a lie. Deep down, she was the same terrified little wretch as before she had ever begun this game. She suddenly missed her family, her classmates - even the ones who bullied her. She missed being kicked down and called names. She missed her blurry vision and all the colds she caught out in the real world. She missed studying and the endless hours of schoolwork that would yield no successful results. She missed being alive, even though it had seemed like a hardship to her before. Canon was terrified, scared, and lonely... but even still, she didn't want to die.
Marius watched in horror as all of his hard earned money and gear vanish, and his stats revert back to their level one defaults. Before he could react, he wound up in Nova city, near the edge of the crowd. As he heard the Game Master's message, he was struck with mixed emotions. He first thought selfishly of his legs. Being paralyzed from the waist down in real life, Marius didn't care at first, grateful that he could still walk. Then he though of his sister, and how she would react when she found her little brother, Mahiro, was stuck in a death game with no way out. Practically seeing his sister like that, devestated, in his mind's eye, Marius was struck with a need to do something.
Watching the panic escalate, Marius knew he needed to get out and get to some place that still had people with rationality. His first thought was to climb the building behind him, but he realized just as he reached it that with default stats, his chances of doing so were zero. Fortunately, there was a nearby alleyway, and slipped into an inn on the edge off town to plan out his first move.
Password: *********
Logging in.....
Asher inputted the mandatory words that would grant him access to his account. Right now, he is just logging in. Right now, he is in reality. Asher was relaxed, since he had gotten used to getting into the virtual world. However, he didn't know that the last breath of fresh, natural air he took... Would be his last one, for a long, long time.
"Dear players,
For a long time I have been watching over this game and enjoying the sight of people laughing and being happy in the world I have created. But then I noticed that some of you completely forgot about the real world. You turned your back on your families, friends and beloved ones. You used this game to escape from problems of real world and now it's time to teach you that ACO is not an escape.
I've returned all players to the starting point where you have no inventory, no money or skills. You have to start this game anew but this time it will be game of survival. In order to survive you have to work, eat proper food, watch out from illnesses which I have now added into game. It's just like real life except that you still have to fight monsters. None of you will be able to log out until at least one of you has beaten final boss. Just so you know there are total of 1000 bosses, one stronger then the other. Also please do not forget if you die in battle, starve too long, have been sick with strong disease you will die for real. I wish all players good luck!
Yours faithfully,
Kawakami Yoshihiro"
Asher could hear the game-master's words before he even fully entered the virtual realm of Antiva Chronus Online. Once he had finished logging in, he found himself not in the middle of a field surrounded by foxes and such. He was in Nova City, the square to be precise. Asher mentally chuckled. He can't do that... It's impossible. Why would he- Asher had brought up the game menu and slid his finger left on the holographic image. To his surprise, there was no log out button. Asher's eyes widened at the realization of the fact that the developer was actually serious. "You've gotta be shitting me..." Asher muttered. He flipped through the multiple menus again. His inventory was cleared out, his equipments were deleted, and his level and stats were reset to one. What was more serious is that Asher couldn't find a log out button in any of the menus.
Asher looked around his surroundings. Everyone was doing the same. He even saw a growing number of people breaking down in the midst of the crowd. This is not going to end well... Asher thought. His immediate reaction was to stop the situation from escalating, but this is too big of a crowd to do so. Asher may have authority over students, but nothing from the whole population of players. Asher quickly went through the crowd, pushing his way through even the most largest of players. He finally found a clearing and went out. "Crap..." The silver-haired sowrdsman sighed.
This was all too much, all too fast. Even for a mentally disciplined and strengthened martial artist such as himself, Asher was almost to the point of breaking down. Not only is his life at stake, but countless others as well. Asher, if this was the academy, would be able to take control and stop the wide-spread epidemic of fear, panic, and chaos. Even if he can't get to all of them at once, there would be the chance of him getting all of the people together and cooperate.
Not only that, but Asher won't see his family, his friends, not even his pet dog. Most importantly, Asher had a close friend in the academy named John. They were inseperable, and were like a couple, minus the complete love for the other. Then there was sensei... Asher grew fond of him as well. He should've never have bought the Insitus Gear, and now look at what's happening. Asher was ashamed that he didn't heed his senei's advice.
After a few minutes of trying to get himself together, Asher slowed his mind down and his heart rate to the norm. He won't let himself succumb to the panic and fear. His pride and his status of a black belt won't allow him. Asher pushed himself off the wall and looked around. The first thing he should do is buy a- "Wait... I have no money..." Asher facepalmed. Then, he looked around again.
There was a girl with the basic clothing and equipment. She too, was trying to calm herself down. Asher noticed her health bar had dropped dramatically, and it was climbing its way back to full. There must've been a stampede... Asher thought to himself. He brought himself to walk to the girl with much difficulty because his legs felt like Jell-O. "Damnit..." Asher cursed. Finally he got himself to the girl. "Are you alright?" Asher asked.
There were four cities connected to Nova - Silva, Dulre, Flos and Herba. Refa wouldn't go to Dulre and Herba because those two areas are well supplied and most likely when players realize that there are not enough resources, they're going to go there. The best choice was Silva, because around was Bear Forest which was quite a dangerous region for newbies, however since Refa already knew the game, it wouldn't be a problem surviving there even at low levels.
Without any more ado Refa put game manual back in inventory and turned south-west to get to Silva. She saw as other players headed north or east just like she had expected. As Refa ran through streets of Nova, she could hear the noise coming from players rampaging in the square. Most likely few lives were already lost at the stampede. It made Refa sad to think that some players will never meet their families and friends. They never had a chance to say goodbye or say sorry for their mistakes. That made Refa really irritated. She will make that crazy Game Master pay for what he has done.
As Refa made her way out of Nova, voices coming from square grew quieter until they completely vanished. She stopped running to see open Delta Plains and Nova City behind her. She was alone, but that's how it had to be. If she was to take anyone along, the other player would only slow her down. If Refa wants to free everyone she has to become stronger and play alone.
As gentle breeze combed Refa's fiery bangs, she slowly started marching towards Silva without looking back. The death game has began and she had to survive in order to save everyone. Although Refa was born only because of Reena's desire to become more open and gain new friends, she could not just sit and watch as people die. Refa herself had died during boss fights several times so now she had to be more careful and well prepared, because nobody knew what each of bosses might bring.
"Dear players,
For a long time I have been watching over this game and enjoying the sight of people laughing and being happy in the world I have created. But then I noticed that some of you completely forgot about the real world. You turned your back on your families, friends and beloved ones. You used this game to escape from problems of real world and now it's time to teach you that ACO is not an escape.
I've returned all players to the starting point where you have no inventory, no money or skills. You have to start this game anew but this time it will be game of survival. In order to survive you have to work, eat proper food, watch out from illnesses which I have now added into game. It's just like real life except that you still have to fight monsters. None of you will be able to log out until at least one of you has beaten final boss. Just so you know there are total of 1000 bosses, one stronger then the other. Also please do not forget if you die in battle, starve too long, have been sick with strong disease you will die for real. I wish all players good luck!
Yours faithfully,
Kawakami Yoshihiro"
Silence. Kahlan as well as the other players stood there still gazing at the sky, not really processing what had just happened. A high pitched scream broke the tense silence and as if some imaginary switch was thrown, panic exploded through the crowd. It was chaos. People began running in all directions at once. Some just fell to their knees, soon to be trampled by the insane mass of people. Fist fights, yelling, crying. The noise was overwhelming as players tried to flee the writhing form of bodies. But for some odd reason, Kahlan was untouched. Standing here still staring at the sky, Kahlan was silent. Suddenly, the corner of her lips turned into a wicked smile. This was what she wanted. Death? She could laugh it in the face! It was just another challenge she was going to face. Another boss. Another dungeon. Why was everyone so worked up? All they had to do was to not die. was it that hard? Or were they all just weaklings?
Finally gathering her senses, Kahlan spotted an slight opening in the crown and dashed through it. Being reduced to level one, she would have to gain experience points fast to keep ahead. She knew most of the good hunting spots around this area and she should take this opportunity as the rest of the players panicked. This was going to be fun. Adrenaline pumped through her virtual veins as she sped out of Nova City's gates in the direction of the next town. The game had begun.
A sudden voice from close behind her attracted her attention. Although it was hard to tell who was speaking, or to whom, amidst the noise of the nearby crowd, this voice specifically reached her notice due to coming from right behind her, speaking words that seemed like they might conceivably be directed at her. Although she realized usually she'd probably be panicking about now, however, social interaction had rather suddenly become the least of her fears. Slowly she turned about, violet eyes wide with fear and disbelief. As she vaguely registered what had been said, she nodded her head slowly. She herself felt completely numb, a sort of shell-shock settling over her entire being as she recalled all the many ways in which she had died, and realized that any one of them could now be a permanent end to her life. But, due to the way in which the programming of the game caused it to read current emotions and translate that into an artificially generated facial expression, she probably looked even more overwhelmed by her fears than she felt, as the system tended to overcompensate in that regard.
"I'm alive..." She replied quietly. "But... for how long?" She asked, as though the one who had hailed her would somehow be able to tell her the future. Actually, she probably looked like she was about to cry about now, but she was too frightened to care. How was she supposed to take this? How was she supposed to cope with the fact that her only remaining fantasy had just been turned into the means of her own execution? She had just wanted to be strong, but now... now she was even more helpless than before. She had to run away, had to escape. She was scared, something she'd never once wanted to be, not again.
"I'm alive..." She replied quietly. "But... for how long?" Asher knelt down to the girl and whispered. "It'll be alright... If we can get through this, you won't ever die by this game..." He patted the girl's head, smiling. "Look, I know you are frightened, but the last thing you want is for fear, sadness, and madness to take over your mind. I want you to keep calm, okay?" Asher smiled brightly, hoping to give the poor girl some hope.
He looked around. The whole crowd had dispersed. The players obviously had rushed to ever other city and/or fields so they can train and get supplies. The more the two players stayed in Nova city, the more likely they won't be able to survive. Unless, of course, all the players had rushed into all the other cities and left Nova City alone. Asher smirked at the thought. That means that we are in the safe zone... for now, at least. Asher thought. We might have food, shelter, and medicine if the maker was at least merciful to give us that to counter the new diseases...
Asher looked back to the girl. "My name is Asher... What is yours?" He asked. "And you don't have to worry. Everyone else rushed out too fast to get all the supplies in this city, so we have the advantage, for now. It might not be much, but it's at least something." There was his smile again.
Laying down on his bed, he closed his eyes as he always did... not knowing this might be the last time he would ever open them.
"System Begin."
<<Sequence Initializing...>>
<<Player: AtuobuuO - Confirmed>>
Shineda respawned in the main city of <<Caelum>>. He finally tasted defeat for the first time, at the hands of a monster. Sure, he'd lost to players before, considering how players were more advanced. But he had never lost to a <<Boss>> enemy, with or without a party... until today. It was a funny feeling to him, like he was sad and excited at the same time.
"This <<Secret Quest>> is pretty hard..." he muttered to himself before he got up and patted himself down. He was Level 43, possibly not a very good time to take on this particular <<Boss>> yet...but he wanted to try ever since the <<Quest>> appeared in his log all of a sudden. Big mistake. His armor and weapon at the moment might've been perfect for a level 40 type quest, but definitely not for this one. He got up and chuckled before deciding to fly down to <<Inferna>>.
Then his sword disappeared...and his armor. Soon everything on him was disappearing. Shineda thought it was a majorly bad glitch, but then he noticed from high above that there was flashes of light from all over the different areas. Teleportation?
He saw his level drop back to 1 and he was teleported to <<Novus City - Terra>>. All around him, he saw even more people flashing and finding themselves in the location, bewildered. What was going on?
It wasn't until the Game Master appeared and gave them his announcement, that everyone began panicking. It was insane at how the people around him immediately broke down, or lost their minds, crying or protesting. A stampede ensued.
'A...death game? Because we're spending less time in real life...?' he thought, slowly getting angrier and angrier. The Game Master was right...and somehow, Shineda understood the Game Master's motive and supported it, instead of shunning it like the others. It was all because of these stupid, crazy gamers who had no life. Who didn't appreciate the life they had. They were the cause that innocent people like him who wanted to return home had to stay here and participate in their punishment.
He watched as a few people were crushed under the stampede, shattering into crystal pieces of data and disappearing. He roughly pushed his way through the stampede, not caring whether they would fall and be crushed. 'Serves them right!'
He drove a fist through the person in front of him, reducing the person's HP before pushing him away. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
And he pulled out his 「Beginner's Shortsword」, brandishing it around to make it clear so that people moved out of the way. A few HP bars dropped before the message was received. A path opened up for the angry player and he charged out before turning around.
"IT SERVES YOU LIFELESS BASTARDS RIGHT! YOU ONLY THINK ABOUT YOURSELF, NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU'VE TRAPPED INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO PLAY THIS GAME JUST FOR FUN, INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO STILL WISH TO LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL WITH YOUR STUPIDITY!" he yelled at them, his eyes angry, tears threatening to spill out. He didn't even know that the system allowed tears to be in the game. He turned and continued to run, not knowing where his feet were taking him, but he wanted to get out of here and find a way out.
Where he went wasn't a good place to start, because he ended up meeting against a Level 6 <<3-Eyed Tiger>>. His anger caused his judgement and reasoning to be diminished, and he struck, fighting blow for blow against the <<3-Eyed Tiger>>.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" he yelled, striking and striking and striking, unrelenting, venting his anger on the program. His experience in ACO allowed his strikes to be faster and accurate, actually causing the fight to be even as he dodged and narrowly avoid dangerous blows. By the end of the ordeal, the fury-blinded Shineda was left with just a tiny sliver of health, that the green colour of his HP bar couldn't be seen, and the <<3-Eyed Tiger>> dead, shattering into crystals and disappearing. The normal <<EXP>> and <<Spoils>> screen appeared before him, stating he was now Level 3 and received 「3rd Eye of the Tiger」, 「3-Eyed Tiger's Claw」 and the sleek black-blue 「3-Eyed Tiger's Hide」. Shineda panted hard, feeling rather faint, threatening to collapse on the spot, but the amount of eyes that were staring at him from the forest kept his attention up and he ran.
"I'm not dying in this world...I'm not dying. Never." he muttered to himself, panting as he ran from 4 <<3- Eyed Tigers>> that chased after him. They were in the weaker territory now, and the weak Level 1 <<Slime>> was in the way. Shineda brandished his weapon then held it aloft in the air until it shone and he brought it down on the attacking <<Slime>>, slicing it in half, before he gave it 3 more slashes and continued to run. He swiped away the <<EXP>> and <<Spoils>> screen.
"NEVER!" he yelled outloud as he continued to run. He was surviving in this world, it was no excuse!
"A-alright..." She murmured, nodding as the boy commanded her to remain calm. That, however, was easier said than done, considering the situation they were in. Still, she tried to take heart. This couldn't happen... right? Somebody would stop it. Maybe somebody would notice that something was wrong? Maybe the moderators would be able to log everyone out safely? But... wait... With the time compression feature, how long would that take? Probably at least a month. If she waited around for that long, she'd starve to death, not to mention be left behind by the more fearless players. She'd be in danger because she'd be weaker than everyone else. Even if this wasn't a game anymore, she could still become at least a little strong... right? But, to do that... She'd have to risk her life, and she was scared. She didn't want to fight when it meant she'd actually die in the end if she lost. But... did she have a choice?
Realizing what the boy had just said, the girl in vermillion blinked. Asher...? But his nameplate said "The Voice of Treason," an ominous name if she'd ever heard one. Did that mean he was introducing himself by his name in the real world? That wasn't something she'd ever heard of anyone doing before. Generally, speaking of real world affairs inside a game like this was just something you didn't do. This world was virtual, just an extension of an internet connection. Reality was something you were supposed to just leave at the door. Well, she supposed things might have changed due to the circumstances they were suddenly in, but still, there was a nagging, paranoid fear that she shouldn't respond with her real name. What if he knew her in real life, somehow? What if he went to her school? She didn't want to think about it, but she also didn't want to risk it, slight though the chance may have been. "I..." She stammered, before settling on a response. "J-just call me by my username. I-it's Canon." The boy didn't seem to mind this, as he just continued to speak.
Canon, and the mind that controlled her, was always too scared to accept the help of others. But now, she had something much greater to be afraid of. And so, as the boy stated his plan, for once, Canon spoke without hesitation, wiping the last tears from her eyes and nodding slightly, trying to show that she was okay. It was remarkable how quickly her mood turned around, and yet, reverse it did. Years of experience in game were made manifest as she quickly offered her own idea, her tongue loosened by the nessecity of haste for her own continued survival.
"Quests," She said quietly. This might not have made sense for a moment, until she elaborated. "Everyone else will probably start trying to find quests. They're a fast, and mostly safe way of making money here in the starting area. To complete most of them, you don't have to fight, and for those you do, you get good rewards, like weapons or armor. But since they only happen a given number of times, they'll all be gone within a day, and new quests won't come out for a while. We'll need money to buy food, right...? If we start doing quests here while everyone else either panics or moves to other cities, we might be able to survive, even though the mobs in this area will probably be farmed clean." She stopped a moment, taking a breath and thinking back to her own time as a beginning, trying to come up with a plan that would work and be safe enough to be viable now. Quickly, however, an idea struck her, and she spoke up again. "A-actually, I know a quest that might work. If we go into the sewers, there's a knight who'll tell us to fight a group of kobolds down there. They're level 2s, but they have low defense and HP. With two people, it won't be a problem, and the reward is enough XP to level us up at least twice, and a rare-class single-edge falchion that holds up until level ten with the right upgrades," She explained. Honestly, Canon didn't know what she was saying anymore. The idea of fighting any enemies now, even ones she was sure she could beat, was absolutely terrifying to her. And yet, she realized, this was an MMORPG, even if it wasn't a game anymore. The only way to survive was to grow strong, and the only way to grow strong was to fight. If she wanted to live, she had to fight. She knew that, and would just have to act on that knowledge. That did not mean, however, that she wasn't still clearly quite scared.
"H-how about you?" She asked. A stammer worked its way into her voice as she remembered that she was talking to someone else, and she realized exactly how awkward she was bound to be. It was only made worse when she remembered that just a moment ago, he'd been only inches away from her, whispering in her ear. And he was even a boy, around her own age... Canon blushed furiously, quite noticeable for the same reason her tears had been. Trying to divert her mind from the embarrassing thoughts she was beginning to have, she quickly spoke up. Fortunately, she already had been intending to ask this question, so it came out fairly naturally, although there was still a bit of a stutter in her voice, and her eyes began to quickly avert themselves from the boy's face.
"D-do you know any good quests?" She asked, gazing shyly down at her feet as she kicked a pebble that she'd probably just imagined, trying to forget the fact that there had just been a member of the opposite gender so close to her - her, of all people! That was unusual enough, in her experience, to actually momentarily allow her to forget her previous fears, although they still lingered at the back of her mind. This was probably for the best as, had she continued thinking about her situation, she very well might have broken down completely. Living in the moment was, perhaps, the only thing keeping her from absolute despair, and probable death afterward.
"Luckily for us, they take place in a hidden theatre in this city. So while people struggle to kill the wild animals, we would take a short cut and beat them all to level 7, at least." Asher smiled. "I also know a few other hidden quests, ones that require a low-level character, such as ourselves. The developer incorperated a lot of cameos in this game. I know quite a few that are rewarding."
Out on the road, Marius jogged most of the way. He wanted to do everything he could to boost his agility. His entire style focused around high agility, so he needed it back up to full strength. Marius figured he would spend his time from now on alone. Before, he enjoyed partying up with others, but he wanted to be alone with his thoughts for now, to get things straight in his mind. While heading down the road, he noticed another player heading the same way, a girl with bright red hair. There also was a level 3 boar right behind her, trying to catch up and attack. Not one to abandon another player, Marius charged the boar. "Behind you!" he called out, and he launched a sword skill at the boar, dropping its HP to half. Using the recoil of the boar to is advantage, Marius turned on a dime after the hit, and finished it off with a few more. He turned to the girl and said "As cheesy as it might sound, it's dangerous to go alone. Normally, I would too, but without a safety margin at this point, it isn't the safest thing to do. Do you want to party up? At least until we get to Silva?" Realizing he had yet to introduce himself, he added "I'm Marius, by the way."
Refa decided that for now, it was enough fighting and that she needed to fasten her pace to get to Silva before nightfall. As she continued her slow jog to the city she noticed with corner of eye as one of wild boars followed her intending to attack. A boar was not threat to her or anyone else so she just continued to jog. When boar will get closer she will kill it.
"Behind you!" Refa heard someone call from behind her back. She turned around and saw as some player attack the boar and kill it in few blows. "As cheesy as it might sound, it's dangerous to go alone. Normally, I would too, but without a safety margin at this point, it isn't the safest thing to do. Do you want to party up? At least until we get to Silva?" He asked and without waiting for her answer added: "I'm Marius, by the way."
"Refa. This area is only dangerous for those who haven't played this game before. That boar you just killed couldn't even lay real harm on level 1 player. If you want you can tag along, but I won't wait for you if you fall behind and I won't help you if you get in trouble," She coldly replied and resumed her slow jog to Silva. Refa was being cold and bit rude on purpose. With other players around it would be harder for her to advance so she needs to get rid of him. Only reason she didn't refuse him right away is because there's nothing but road and plains on way to Silva.
Leveling up was surprisingly easy when you knew exactly where to hunt. Kahlan had already leveled up significantly. Working on quests and fighting monsters all day really did pay off when you knew what you were doing. Soon, other players would gather their senses and begin leveling up and gathering money as she was doing. Though she was still extremely mad and frustrated that she was reduced to level one, the thrill of gaining experience points once again was still just as enjoyable. She had lost some very rare items that day and the skills she took so much time investing in were now all gone. Its was back to square one.
Kahlan suddenly felt a strange but very familiar sensation. A low grumble sounded from her stomach and she instantly knew what it was. That was strange. She had never felt hunger in this game before. Even though you could eat before, the food in ACO only tricked you into thinking you weren't hungry anymore thus making eating in the real world necessary. But now since they couldn't leave, Kahlan would have to pay more attention to these things. She had never bothered with eating here before. With her mind always on dungeons and leveling up, eating was the last thing on her mind.
"I guess I should take a break."
Plopping herself down on the grassy plains, Kahlan opened up her inventory. During her earlier break, she had taken that opportunity to venture back into Nova City after things calmed down to buy some supplies. A roast chicken leg, some bread, cream, and water, Kahlan sat in silence and tore a thin slice of meat off of the chicken. The scenery was beautiful here. Though she had seen these plains countless of times before, she could not help but admire the rolling hills of grass that seemed to go on for forever. If she looked hard enough, she could just make out a tiny dot that was the city of Silva, the next town over which was her final destination for the day. She had seen a few players here and there heading in the direction of the town but the main crowd was still occupying Nova City at the time and probably would be for the next few days. It was a safe place, and she couldn't blame them.
Something red caught her eye. Another player? Kahlan turned her head and sure enough a girl with fiery hair came walking down the path, Kahlan was sitting next to. She noticed something about her. She knew what she was doing. Surely she had been at a high level before this game turned flipside on them. The way she carried herself seemed to say "I know exactly what the hell I'm doing so don't slow me down!" Kahlan smiled instantly gaining the girl's respect. But then something strange happened. The girl was still a far ways away to spot Kahlan and apparently she was quite aware of the boar that was attempting a sneak attack. Breaking into a jog, the girl sped up. Kahlan knew exactly what she was doing. Planning on drawing the boar in closer to finish it off without wasting time to stop and kill it. Smart. Kahlan's eyes caught sight of another sight. Another player, probably thinking that the red head was in danger had sprinted forward, and killed the boar with a flurry of hits.
Kahlan finished off the rest of the bread and chicken and rose to her feet with a huff, dusting herself off. It was getting quite boring by herself so maybe some interaction would be nice. They were all headed in the same direction anyways. The red haired girl suddenly took off jogging, apparently leaving the boy to decide to follow her or not. Kahlan waited till the red head passed her and took off with her running beside her. Hopefully she wouldn't mind.
"Well, well. It seems we have at least a few players who know what they're doing."
Refa turned her face in direction of newcomer and saw a girl with short blond hair and stunningly green eyes. She seemed to confident and strong and somehow it made Refa gain instant respect for this girl.
"Well, it's not like we got stuck in this game because we didn't play it," Refa said with ironic smile on her face. She was bit surprised that she could even joke in situation like this. Then again, if Refa is going to be serious all the time she'll be stuck in this game, she'll turn into sour-faced woman children get scared of.
"I believe you came out to join the crue. Since we're headed in same direction we can stick together for now. It's not far from Silva now and we'll split up there anyway," Refa said to the girl. It was interesting how she didn't want Marius to tag along, because he thought that Refa wasn't strong enough to protect herself from a wild boar, but when this girl came along, Refa was ready to accept her, even if just for a while. She figured that it was because this girl was experienced player so they kind of understood each other's actions without explaining. Then again Marius wasn't exactly newbie either.
"I'm Refa, by the way, and that is Marius, whom I met like few minutes ago," Refa continued and chuckled a little. Although she was bit mad at Marius, it was bit comic to know that he wanted to save her as if she's a damsel in distress. This was now a death game, all girls are strong enough to defend themselves. Or at least Refa hoped that they could. She already knew that few players had lost their lives in the square and without a doubt more will die every day. Only those who are strong will remain, unless somebody beats this game quickly enough.
He started a bit behind Refa, watching the rear for enemies. He wasn't used to this either, as before the reset he was often the lead scout, pulling whatever he was facing towards the tanks in the group to be pulled off of him. This was until they ran into another player. Refa greeted her with more civility than she greeted him, which slightly frustrated Marius. Why was he given the cold shoulder just for playing it a bit safe. He decided to stick with the group for now, though he was still a bit put off by this. When Refa introduced him, Marius gave a quick wave and greeted the newcomer with a neutral "Good to meet you." Marius looked off back down the road, towards Silva. "Well, I'd love to sit around a chat, but we're burning daylight. There is work to be done, and if we are all headed away from the more easily accesable resources to the North, we probably all have something specific to find down there. We'd better get moving. We can talk as we go." With that, Marius took off into a run a bit short of top speed to give them a chance to keep up. He was level 5 after that last kill, and he had put all but a few of his stat points he earned from level ups into agility, which made him faster than most players at the moment.
He panted as he equipped his newly acquired longsword type weapon shaped like a large flat blade with a hook on the tip that resembled it's namesake, the 「Scorpion Tail」, appeared and rested in it's sheathe across his lap. His HP bar was in the red zone, but he could manage. After all... he was done here.
"Time to go..." he stood up, while the multitudes of shimmering large, monstrous scorpion-shaped crystals around him shattered and faded away. Player levels were hidden from view unless in <<Duel>> situations, so there was no telling what the dark-haired swordsman's level was now. He emerged from the forest, slashing apart a <<Bear>> in the process before he was greeted with sunlight.
Those gamers could stay here for all he cared, but Shineda wanted to get back home... He needed to be stronger as fast as he could, even if that meant taking chances with the stronger enemies. Shineda had never died previously in the game, definitely not to the monsters, so he wasn't planning to die now. He was going to kill everything and get the hell out of here...
"Damn stupid gamers..." he muttered resentfully, turning his attention to an ore mound, where he began to dig. Obtaining several minerals, he continued onwards towards Silva. He had his own sequence of quests that he knew would give him the maximum amount of <<EXP>> to gain, and he was going to do just that.
"...'One does not simply-'" he stabbed at the ground and hooked out a gigantic <<Death Worm>> with the 「Scorpion Tail」 tip. "'-die in a freaking video game!'"
The <<Death Worm>> was shredded to pieces in bursts of lights emitting from Shineda's <<Sword Skills>>.
Caution had to be made for those who ventured into <<Bear Forest>> at low levels, since in certain locations in the vicinity of <<Bear Forest>> , are high-levelled <<Death Worms>> waiting underground for a tasty snack of travelers and adventurers.
'...and lifeless gamers.' Shineda thought to himself.
"T-that sounds... a lot more practical. B-but... um... Is there any fighting?" She asked, hating herself even more when she heard the fear that was evident in her own voice. He must have thought she was pathetic. He wasn't scared of anything. He probably could have survived perfectly well on his own. And yet, he'd stopped because he'd seen her, and decided to bother himself with helping her. All she would be to him was a problem if she kept acting like this. She might even end up dooming him, dragging him down into miserable failure along with herself. Thinking about it like that, she couldn't help but feel crushed by her own comparative inadequacy when stood up against her seemingly fearless benefactor. So, on a momentary surge of guilt, she decided she'd at least pretend to be courageous, and so hastily added to her previous comment.
"A-anyway, just in case somebody knows about it, we should go and do it right away. That way, we can start leveling up, and maybe we'll have a chance to get through this."
"I'm Kahlan. I'm very grateful you guys are letting me join you and I'll do my best not to slow you down."
Marius spoke up. "Well, I'd love to sit around a chat, but we're burning daylight. There is work to be done, and if we are all headed away from the more easily accesable resources to the North, we probably all have something specific to find down there. We'd better get moving. We can talk as we go."
And with that, the boy suddenly took off running in the direction of Silva. Well then.
"Your friend is quite in a hurry. But he's right. We should reach Silva before nightfall to rest up and stock up on supplies. I still haven't gotten used to the fact that we have to sleep and eat now." Kahlan shrugged. "Shall we go?"
"I'm going to get some food once I get to Silva," Refa said and started to run to catch up with Marius. He was running bit too fast for Refa's liking however she didn't complain. Increasing agility is one of her stategies as well, because she likes to strike fast so the opponent doesn't even get the time to respond.
On their way to Silva, road was rather safe. Few wild jackals and wolves tried to attack them however they were no match for 3 players. It only served to increase their power and levels slightly. Refa also noticed that monsters got more and more powerful as they got closer to Silva. If at beginning it was just level 1 weasels then now even level 6 wolves appeared. Most likely that's because Silva has quite a lot of rewarding quests that offer great armory, weapons and even some skills as prizes. However Refa knew that real bounty hunting will start in Bear Forest. Monsters there dropped quite valuable items which can be sold or used to make armory.
After 30 minutes of fast jogging the trio finally came close to Silva. It looked very gloomy and dark from the outside, but Refa knew that it was just a camouflage to keep players away. Actually inside city it was very beautiful, and even though areas around city were very dangerous the city itself was completely safe. Most likely it was safest place in whole Terra, because not many players came here. But there was some weird shadow lingering in front of the city. At first Refa thought it to be a wolf however as she got closer she realized it was something much bigger then that. 3-eyed tiger.
Refa has met this monster before when she started ACO for first time, but she had already forgotten all about it. She died 3 times before she managed to beat this moonster, because although it was just level 6, it actually put some strategy into attacks unlike boars who just randomly attacked player when they saw one. But on the other hand, then Refa was alone, but now she has two more players with her. The tiger shouldn't be a problem.
"Be careful around that tiger. It's stronger then wolves and boars. We'll have to work together to beat it," Refa explained and drew out her sword.
"The quest starts once we get to the bottom of the steps, with a person named Marlowe coming up to us and asking us if we can fill in the missing roles. Depending on the character, you may need to do more fighting. Plus, there's a person who tries to sabotage the plays, so we need to fight no matter what." Asher explained as he opened the door to reveal a long stairway. "But don't worry, though. He's low-leveled, and has extremely weak skills."
As the three approached the city, they soon found that their journey was not quite over yet. One more opponent blocked their path. A three eyed tiger, one of the stronger monsters of this route and it definitely needed to be approached with more caution than the rest of the monsters they had been fighting for they were still at pretty low levels regardless of the strength they had gained.
"Be careful around that tiger. It's stronger then wolves and boars. We'll have to work together to beat it," Refa explained and drew out her sword.
Kahlan nodded and drew her newly acquired reinforced long sword from its sheath from her back. With the three of them, this wouldn't be a problem if they worked together. She began devising a strategy. Since she had leveled up a bit, Kahlan invested the majority of her skill points into her stamina, upping her strength, defense and attack by a significant amount. She preferred overwhelming the enemy with pure power and force and that's exactly what she was going to do.
Kahlan took a step forward and leaned into stance. "Okay, Marius, Refa, here's what we are going to do. I'll keep the tiger occupied from the front. My attack and defense should keep him at bay for awhile. While I attack from the front, I want you two to keep attacking from the sides. I need you to be quick. Don't let it get a chance to attack once. If we are able to do that, then we can avoid anything from happening. Overwhelm it and eliminate. All drops will be at random so we don't have to worry about unfair distributing. Understood?
Last of the bosses Refa fought in Subaqua before the reset didn't even have any fighting pattern. It more felt like playing against very skilled player who adjusted himself according to situation. Refa never even managed to beat that boss and she hadn't even reached the half of the game at that point.
Refa was relieved that this time fighting the tiger wouldn't be a problem. Kahlan would take all the hits from tiger and counting that her defense is higher then Refa's defense back then, tiger should do less damage. Also since Refa and Marius would attack tiger together, they should finish it much faster.
"Let's do this!" Refa exclaimed and rushed straight-forward to attack the tiger. Lashing powerful blows at it, she attacked for as long as she could. Once red-head saw that tiger was going to attack, Refa backed away, letting Kahlan switch in. After that Refa rushed at tiger again and kept attacking him until it finally shattered into tiny pieces.
At last, they reached their destination. A small house stood before them, but, entering, the boy - was it alright to think of him as Asher? He'd given her his name, but it was always thought of as being rude to identify people as their real world selves here in ACO - began to lead her toward the quest point, explaining how things would go. She tried to memorize the information she was given, and quickly nodded, simply following behind him as they came to the stairway where the quest would begin. And, although it didn't seem like much, Canon realized that standing her symbolized something that would come to define her existence for so long as she remained in this world. She was facing her fears, not out of a sense of bravery, but because she had no other choice. By risking herself here, even if the threat wasn't great, she was accepting that fighting for her survival was the only path she could now tread. And, what was more, she was also submitting to the reality that she wasn't Canon, the strong and fearless warrior who never had to face danger. She was herself, a weak, cowardly girl who was fighting just so she could continue to live, because that was literally all she could do. Realizing this, on the spur of the moment, she spoke up quietly from the boy's side, even as footsteps made themselves heard from the top of the stairs.
"K-Kanna," She said quietly, giving a shy smile as the system overstated her reluctance and embarrassment at revealing this information at long last by displaying a soft red blush across her features.
"My name. It's... Kanna."
Canon - or rather, Kanna Suzaku - had accepted her fate.
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