Pipit let out a small yelp as he, along with the whole other mass of players online at the moment, were transported to the center plaza in the Town of Beginnings. Midst the commotion a large figured appeared as the sky turned a dark red along with warning messages all over the place. The large figure silenced the crowd and began to speak. Words of how they players were all trapped inside the game sparked new noises to come from the crowd.
Just as every other player was doing this Pipit brought his menu down and sure enough, the Log Out button was missing. So..this just had be some kind of event right? There was no way the developers would just do this to all these people...right?

Just when he was about to close his inventory he caught sight of something. He didn't remember having anything before so he gave it a second glace. A Mirror had been placed in his inventory.
Pipit tapped it and it materialized in his hand. He noticed he wasn't the only one with the mirror either. So he looked into it and when he did a flash of white erupted around him, and all the other players who looked at their reflections. When the light subsided, Pipit looked himself over and then looked back at his reflection
He let out a small yelp again as he now looked exactly like he did in the real world! The changes from his avatar weren't that much though, but they were noticeable to him. Player's quickly realized who everyone really was.
At this moment the figured continued to speak and after a few minutes he was gone and the sky returned to normal and the barriers around the town went away.

Players started to funnel out of the Plaza and the commotion started up again. Pipit slowly started to walk along with the mass but he really didn't know why. If this was real...then he was trapped in here. And if he died in this game..he was dead in real life. It was almost too much to comprehend at this moment...but now he just needed time to think.
So the young man continued to walk by himself through the small crowd he was a part of to exit the Town. This had to be some kind of Day One event or something. There was no way this was real. Right?

Pipit let out a small yelp as he, along with the whole other mass of players online at the moment, were transported to the center plaza in the Town of Beginnings. Midst the commotion a large figured appeared as the sky turned a dark red along with warning messages all over the place. The large figure silenced the crowd and began to speak. Words of how they players were all trapped inside the game sparked new noises to come from the crowd.
Just as every other player was doing this Pipit brought his menu down and sure enough, the Log Out button was missing. So..this just had be some kind of event right? There was no way the developers would just do this to all these people...right?

Just when he was about to close his inventory he caught sight of something. He didn't remember having anything before so he gave it a second glace. A Mirror had been placed in his inventory.
Pipit tapped it and it materialized in his hand. He noticed he wasn't the only one with the mirror either. So he looked into it and when he did a flash of white erupted around him, and all the other players who looked at their reflections. When the light subsided, Pipit looked himself over and then looked back at his reflection
He let out a small yelp again as he now looked exactly like he did in the real world! The changes from his avatar weren't that much though, but they were noticeable to him. Player's quickly realized who everyone really was.
At this moment the figured continued to speak and after a few minutes he was gone and the sky returned to normal and the barriers around the town went away.

Players started to funnel out of the Plaza and the commotion started up again. Pipit slowly started to walk along with the mass but he really didn't know why. If this was real...then he was trapped in here. And if he died in this game..he was dead in real life. It was almost too much to comprehend at this moment...but now he just needed time to think.
So the young man continued to walk by himself through the small crowd he was a part of to exit the Town. This had to be some kind of Day One event or something. There was no way this was real. Right?

(Edit: I'm sorry about that. I have no idea what happened.)

Pipit let out a small yelp as he, along with the whole other mass of players online at the moment, were transported to the center plaza in the Town of Beginnings. Midst the commotion a large figured appeared as the sky turned a dark red along with warning messages all over the place. The large figure silenced the crowd and began to speak. Words of how they players were all trapped inside the game sparked new noises to come from the crowd.
Just as every other player was doing this Pipit brought his menu down and sure enough, the Log Out button was missing. So..this just had be some kind of event right? There was no way the developers would just do this to all these people...right?

Just when he was about to close his inventory he caught sight of something. He didn't remember having anything before so he gave it a second glace. A Mirror had been placed in his inventory.
Pipit tapped it and it materialized in his hand. He noticed he wasn't the only one with the mirror either. So he looked into it and when he did a flash of white erupted around him, and all the other players who looked at their reflections. When the light subsided, Pipit looked himself over and then looked back at his reflection
He let out a small yelp again as he now looked exactly like he did in the real world! The changes from his avatar weren't that much though, but they were noticeable to him. Player's quickly realized who everyone really was.
At this moment the figured continued to speak and after a few minutes he was gone and the sky returned to normal and the barriers around the town went away.

Players started to funnel out of the Plaza and the commotion started up again. Pipit slowly started to walk along with the mass but he really didn't know why. If this was real...then he was trapped in here. And if he died in this game..he was dead in real life. It was almost too much to comprehend at this moment...but now he just needed time to think.
So the young man continued to walk by himself through the small crowd he was a part of to exit the Town. This had to be some kind of Day One event or something. There was no way this was real. Right?

Pipit let out a small yelp as he, along with the whole other mass of players online at the moment, were transported to the center plaza in the Town of Beginnings. Midst the commotion a large figured appeared as the sky turned a dark red along with warning messages all over the place. The large figure silenced the crowd and began to speak. Words of how they players were all trapped inside the game sparked new noises to come from the crowd.
Just as every other player was doing this Pipit brought his menu down and sure enough, the Log Out button was missing. So..this just had be some kind of event right? There was no way the developers would just do this to all these people...right?

Just when he was about to close his inventory he caught sight of something. He didn't remember having anything before so he gave it a second glace. A Mirror had been placed in his inventory.
Pipit tapped it and it materialized in his hand. He noticed he wasn't the only one with the mirror either. So he looked into it and when he did a flash of white erupted around him, and all the other players who looked at their reflections. When the light subsided, Pipit looked himself over and then looked back at his reflection
He let out a small yelp again as he now looked exactly like he did in the real world! The changes from his avatar weren't that much though, but they were noticeable to him. Player's quickly realized who everyone really was.
At this moment the figured continued to speak and after a few minutes he was gone and the sky returned to normal and the barriers around the town went away.

Players started to funnel out of the Plaza and the commotion started up again. Pipit slowly started to walk along with the mass but he really didn't know why. If this was real...then he was trapped in here. And if he died in this game..he was dead in real life. It was almost too much to comprehend at this moment...but now he just needed time to think.
So the young man continued to walk by himself through the small crowd he was a part of to exit the Town. This had to be some kind of Day One event or something. There was no way this was real. Right?

Pipit let out a small yelp as he, along with the whole other mass of players online at the moment, were transported to the center plaza in the Town of Beginnings. Midst the commotion a large figured appeared as the sky turned a dark red along with warning messages all over the place. The large figure silenced the crowd and began to speak. Words of how they players were all trapped inside the game sparked new noises to come from the crowd.
Just as every other player was doing this Pipit brought his menu down and sure enough, the Log Out button was missing. So..this just had be some kind of event right? There was no way the developers would just do this to all these people...right?

Just when he was about to close his inventory he caught sight of something. He didn't remember having anything before so he gave it a second glace. A Mirror had been placed in his inventory.
Pipit tapped it and it materialized in his hand. He noticed he wasn't the only one with the mirror either. So he looked into it and when he did a flash of white erupted around him, and all the other players who looked at their reflections. When the light subsided, Pipit looked himself over and then looked back at his reflection
He let out a small yelp again as he now looked exactly like he did in the real world! The changes from his avatar weren't that much though, but they were noticeable to him. Player's quickly realized who everyone really was.
At this moment the figured continued to speak and after a few minutes he was gone and the sky returned to normal and the barriers around the town went away.

Players started to funnel out of the Plaza and the commotion started up again. Pipit slowly started to walk along with the mass but he really didn't know why. If this was real...then he was trapped in here. And if he died in this game..he was dead in real life. It was almost too much to comprehend at this moment...but now he just needed time to think.
So the young man continued to walk by himself through the small crowd he was a part of to exit the Town. This had to be some kind of Day One event or something. There was no way this was real. Right?

Tosuns sword was on the downstroke, mere milliseconds away from finishing off a monster when he suddenly found himself back in the plaza he started in. "Huh? what the hell.." he said, blinking and looking around. With a frown he sheathed his sword. The plaza was full of other players and by the looks of it they were just as confused as he was, some of them angry and muttering about no log out button. Curiosity got the better of him as he opened the menu and searched for it but to no avail. The log out option was not available. This was strange.. and disturbing. Just then the sky turned red, filling with 'System Error' panels. Tosun looked on in confusion and worry as a large figure appeared in the sky claiming to be the creator of the game.

A lot of what the being said was unimportant but Tosun grasped the core concepts. Evidently they were all trapped in the game and the only way out was to die or complete all one hundred levels. "You can't be serious!" Death in the game means death in the real world? this is insane, this man was a lunatic! And to boot, if anyone tampered with your nervegear on the outside, your brain would be fried. Tentatively, Tosun looked into his inventory for the item that the creator mentioned. A mirror? he thought as he selected it, the item appearing in his hand. As he looked into it he didn't see the avatar he'd created with short black hair but instead saw himself and his medium length silver hair. Unbelieving, his hand explored the features on his face and sure enough it was his own. Everyones true identity had been revealed, to the great dismay of many.

Guys who'd been partying with girls came to find out that their parter was in fact a male. Tosun snickered and allowed himself some amusement at this despite their current situation. Damn.. if this is real.. his thoughts trailed off to the possibilities. He would have to be very careful from now on when fighting monsters. Fighting monsters. Tosuns eyes became focused and renewed with determination as he ran from the plaza once the sky was clear and the creator gone. "I'll play your game, you bastard." he said through gritted teeth. Leveling up and getting stronger were what mattered now.

~Two Months Later~

The young girl tightened her gloves as she walked towards the pub, her shoes faintly clicking on the cobblestone. Her little informant better show up or else she'd probably rip his throat out, no matter how hard the task would be in the virtual world.

She had finally decided to keep the name Ace. It was easier than telling everyone she met to call her Anna and she felt she was finally living up to her expectations on Ace. She may have only been average level for people going at her rate, but she was a solo at the moment. A fucking solo. Solos didn't do so well because they were loners. They ended up dying alone and since there's no body to find, no one can record their death and put in in the charts. Ace hoped Nick wasn't a loner like her. She didn't want to find his name on that list. If she could ever find his name.

The bell above the door rang as she walked into the little pub. It was full of players drinking, laughing, and eating. She sat down at an empty booth and waited for a wench to come along.

Ace didn't know shit on what the broker looked like. She had the general suspicion that they were female, for most were. Flirting to get information gave them high advantages.

A waitress came up to her table after a couple of minutes. "What can I get you today, ma'am?"

Ace placed a small order, all the while trying to figure out if the waitress was an NPC or real player. She'd seen both in almost every occupation thinkable, and they were always easy to pinpoint. NPCs were perfectly crafted for their chosen job, while players were always flawed in one way or another. This wench was in the middle of things.

"It'll be out in a sec!" She said cheerfully as she left to wade through the crowd of people. After a minute, Ace's order and a napkin was placed onto her table. She have the waitress a brief nod and thanked her.

Ace ate in the silence of her thoughts. The bread was bland and could have been considered stale in the real world, but it was Aincard. The food was either shitty or expensive. The solo glanced towards the bar and judged the lumbering men, both NPC and real. She didn't know for sure if one could get drunk in the game. She didn't plan to find out, no matter how much her curiousity pushed her.

Ace sighed and continued to eat. Crumbs collected into her cheeks and her lap. She quickly wiped the crumbs off her gear. She opened her napkin to brush off the crumbs on her mouth when she saw faint ink in the inside, she looked around for any watching eyes and then slowly opened the napkin, as not to tear it.

Hastily scrawled on the surface were the words "17th floor of Gilmer's Tower. Big boss. Watch out.".

Ace smiled. She needed this boss drop all to herself. It'd help pay for her new harp, not to mention the greedy clans wouldn't get a hold of them. Spending all the loot on bullshit accessories with no stats. Ridiculous waste.

When all this started, Apollo was well aware of the risks and knew it'd be up to him to keep his sister safe. Never would he have imagined, however, that she would turn out to be the better player.

The pair were in the back room of his current smithing shop, Sunlit Armory. For once, he had no commisions today and was focused solely on upgrading Artemis' breastplate. He admitted himself impressed; the trip to gaining the metals needed not only went smoothly but both gained a level. He himself was only slightly above average, around the mid twenties. Artemis herself finally broke into level thirty. The girl was a non-stop grinding machine, so much that he was surprised she had actually decided to stay and watch him make the armor as opposed to taking off and coming back once it was ready. Once the armor was properly forged, he sent it to her. Once she had received it, she equipped it. The silver breastplate fit well with her outfit.

"Thank you, Apollo." Artemis said, handing him some Fol.

It was something odd, but the two had decided to avoid calling one another by their names. For some reason, Artemis thought their names reminded her too much of the real world. Until they got back, she refused to be called by her name. Apollo was shocked at how much she had changed. His once meek, feeble little sister was somewhat cold and distant, intent only on clearing the floors above and little more. He let out a sigh as he watched her examine herself in the mirror. She caught his look, turning back to him.

"Looks great." He perked up, giving her a thumbs up.

She nodded in agreement, pulling up her menu once more. It was then that she noticed he had included another item. "What's this?" She asked him curiously.

He grinned, placing his hands at the back of his head. "My current masterpiece. Go on, try it."

Artemis stared at Apollo for a moment, but she did as she was told. As she equipped it, her hair was covered by a beautifully made open cloak. It was colored a royal blue, nicely complimenting the rest of her outfit. The hem was trimmed with a gorgeous lace design, giving it a very nice finishing touch. She admired it, her eyes having just a spark of amazement. It felt absolutely soft to the touch. "You made this? For me?" She asked him in awe.

"I remember you told me that you liked that one guy with his cloak, so I thought I'd give it a try." He told her happily. "Mind you, took me forever to get my Sewing level to make it, all the other ones came out so plain. I thought you would like this one."

She nodded eagerly, looking at herself in the mirror. She felt so cool wearing it. She probably looked badass--or at least she thought (and hoped) so. "I love it! Thank you!" Apollo watched her, clearly satisfied with his work. After a moment, however, she also equipped her sword. She unsheathed it, pointing at the mirror. She then let out a giddy giggle, twirling around. "I mean it, you've really outdone yourself." She looked at her sword, her smile fading. "I got another offer for a guild."

Her blonde brother rolled his eyes. "And you declined it." He stated. "I've told you before, this IS an MMO, working together is the name of the game. Sure, you can go along with the rest of the stragglers on the front line, but eventually you're going to have to group up with others sometime, Artemis."

Artemis scoffed, sheathing her sword. "Maybe if I could find people that could actually keep up, I would be in a guild." She told him as she turned back to look at him. "It's not my fault that everyone either can't keep up or just ends up getting in my way. You also said that it was important to keep my level up--which, if you don't remember, has finally hit thirty."

"What good is a level if you end up dying by yourself?"

"What good is a guild if they all end up dying because I wasn't around to babysit?"

"What good is your strength if you don't put it to good use? You can have the strongest weapon in the game, but if you give it to a complete noob, it's useless!"

Artemis let out an irritated huff, placing one hand on her hip. "Fine, whatever, you're right. But I'm not going to just join whatever sorry excuse of a guild asks me just to ogle me and make me do all the work. Not like last time." She told him, her heels clicking against the ground as she began to walk towards the inner house. "I'm starving, do you want food?"

Apollo sighed. "Yeah. Bring it to the front when you finish, I just want to make sure I don't miss any customers."

Edge crept through Gilmer's Tower, on his way back to the town from the deeper areas where he spent quite a bit of time grinding his level, his hand at the hilt of his rapier. He was running low on supplies after a long night of pushing through the dungeon. The other wusses who were with him had already gone back to the town before long, afraid of the monsters deeper in the dungeon.

Once every few meters, monsters would pop up in groups and formations, though after going one turn, it was easy to take them out from the blind spot with quick movements. They were all formed with weaknesses a good eye could see in order to differentiate between the ones with skill and the ones who simply moved forward without thinking. Every time he took sizeable damage, the boy would go on the defensive until his Battle Heal ability fixed his wounds. He'd almost forgotten that they were just in a game. Taking something like that this seriously... It felt strange. After cutting down another one of the small lizards with Star Splash, he noticed a rise in the digits over his name. With that moment of distraction, he found his health reduced substantially. Feeling the numbed pain coming from his back, he spun and stuck his blade through the attacker with a basic sword skill and cut him up. With a sigh, he waited for his health to replenish. This is getting easier and easier. I had a lot more trouble when I was going in.

~20th Level Safetown, outside an Item shop near Portal~
Edge had his cloak covering his armour, though he wasn't wearing the hood. The boy stretched after closing his inventory tab, yawning. I'm all set to go another round. And this time I don't need any cowards to stick with me either...

Two months after the 10,000 players were trapped in Sword Art Online, Erios found herself alone on the 20th floor, living among the player and NPC houses. Mason had disappeared one night; he left to go XP grinding, but he never returned. Erios assumed that he had been killed, and that only sent her into a worse state of fear. Not only was she trapped in this death game, she was now without her protector and love. She'd searched for him for almost 2 weeks straight; during which she had leveled up her hiding, searching, and sprinting skill. She found it easier to outrun and hide from the monsters than to fight them one-on-one.

Erios wandered from the house, out onto the streets of the town. She made her way to the cafe, and sat herself down inside, placing her order to the waitress. She sat in silence and looked around; players of all shapes and sizes occupied the cafe. She spotted a short, scrawny kid, younger than her, looking like he'd not eaten anything in his life. Across the table, speaking the kid, sat a tall man with well toned muscles, almost the opposite of the kid. Erios observed that the kid looked taller than her; which was not impressive, considering she came in at a whopping 5'4".

She saw a group of players walk in, all of them armed to the teeth. There had been rumors going around about an alleged attack on level 20's boss to clear the floor today. Erios wondered if this was true. She hoped it was, as it would bring everyone a floor closer to going home.

When they'd first started the game, Mason had told her that she should turn herself into a speed fighter and help the frontlines like he planned to do. She resorted to not do that. She would only get in the way and get herself and someone else killed...

It had been a few months now since the 10,000 players learned that they were now trapped inside this virtual reality. Since day one Pipit took it rather hard, but on that night he vowed that he wasn't going to let this get him down. He was determined to survive until the end and make it out of here. Or at least that was what he said on the first night.
Back those few months ago Pipit had been with numerous players on boss clearings and floor raids and other missions and he had grown stronger.
When he was about level six he learned that he earned a class specific skill since he was a beast tamer.

He was given a quest and when he went to check it out he wasn't alone. During that time he partied up with two other beast tamers and they each promised they wouldn't move on unless they each finished the quest with a companion.
As they started the quest they all learned of the numerous number of beasts and other companions they could tame and train. The area they were in was full of creatures, big and small. The first one to tame their animal was a girl about the same age as Pipit. She made taming her beast look so easy and even though she was done she kept her word and stayed with Pipit and the younger player with them.
Pipit was the next to tame his beast. He chose the dire wolf for an obvious reason from his thinking back in the real world but whenever he is asked about why he chose such a beast he gives them the ol, 'I chose him for the stats and attack bonuses.'
Which was true...to a point.
But quickly after the younger boy with them chose a rather easy beast to tame, some kind of large bird, it's been a while and one can forget names of other animals.

With each player a beast tamed the girl with them suggested they split up. But each of them exchanged and accepted friend requests and with that each of them went their separate ways.
Pipit quickly went to grinding exp and completing easy missions to help empower his new companion. The beast didn't seem to much care for Pipit at first but it must have been after he hit a certain level he became more loyal. He still doesn't mind sometimes however

Now here he is, on the 20th floor. Pipit wandered around the rather medival looking town for a few minutes with his companion at his side before he decided to take a load off and get something to drink or eat.
He quickly spotted a pub and decided that would be a suitable place to get some food and drink. So he made his way to the pub..or cafe area and opened up the door and stepped inside. He made sure his little companion entered as well before he shut the door.
The place was full of players and NPCs and it was...actually hard to tell them apart. Pipit only got a few looks and he quickly returned the looks with a smile and a nod.
His companion stuck his tongue out and opened his mouth and proceeded to let out a few yelps of happiness.

Due to his small size the yelps were rather high pitched and Pipit quickly bent down and placed his hand on the wolf's head. It arched its head back and stopped yelping and Pipit couldn't help but smile and let out a few laughs.
After that he stood up and took a seat at a table by himself and his beast sat on its haunches on the floor next to him. A menu was laying on the table in front of him and after looking it over Pipit didn't see anything that he particularly just had to have.
But during that quest to earn his beast he was given the recipe for a type of food his companion would like. Luckily during his travels he partied up with a young man who was something up a food genius...his cooking level was really high, and he made a few batches of the stuff for Pipit.
So he opened his inventory and tapped on one helping of the stuff and it materialized in front of him. Little bits of meat and what not here and there on a small plate...Pipit thought it would be rather funny to have other people look over and think he was going to eat this kind of food.

His companion was quick to notice the food and his tail started to wag rapidly. He let out small grunts and yelp of two as Pipit lowered the food onto the ground in front of him. The wolf instantly started to carve into the food in front of him, and of course, Pipit started to smile. After that the young man looked up from his companion and started to look at the players around the cafe. He noticed a few that stuck out in particular but...he saw no other beast tamers.
But no matter. He was sure there were others out there, he just needed to keep looking. Always keep a positive outlook right?

At that moment Pipit started to think. He had heard somewhere that there was going to be a raid against the boss of one of the floors close to the one he was on. Was this the meeting place? He had only been on one or two boss raids before...but he didn't even know about this one. If that was even what all these players were doing here. They could all just be here to enjoy a good meal. Oh no..not a good meal. Just a meal.

It had been about two months since Mitsuru found herself trapped in the game Sword Art Online. She remembered the fear and the chaos that had been at the beginning. But now things had settled down at bit. People had been united together in order to fight through the floors and make it to the top. She was one of the ones who was on the front lines. As a self proclaimed Dragoon, she was one of the few fighters who could take down flying enemies with ease. Acrobatics was her highest skill and her spear made it easy to drive them down to the ground. She had been stoked to find that there were no classes in the game, customization was her favorite part of any game. And there weren't enough games that had a spear class that focused more on speed and agility than raw power.

Though she had paired up with people plenty of times in the past, she still hadn't found a guild that was right for her. She wished her friends had gotten copies to so they could play the game together and make their own guild, but at the same time she was glad that they hadn't. There was no saying how many of them would have died by this point. And she couldn't bear the thought of not being able to protect them. She is protective by nature and would have certainly tried to save them all with reckless abandon. It was miracle she had survived this long because of it. She really needed to find a good tank to pair up with. You could only get lucky for so long in this game.

She stepped into the cafe on floor 20 with a group of people. They were all going to be part of the fight against the boss and decided to use the cafe as their meeting place. So far there wasn't enough people to attempt the boss and they were hoping to get more before they went. The cafe was popular, hence why they chose it. Currently she wasn't partied up with anybody. They had a bunch of raw power and speed fighters, but no tanks. She wanted to party up with a tank. Or at least somebody who fought more defensively. Even if they didn't get a good tank, she'd have to pair up with somebody. She wasn't a loner, her style and personality just wouldn't allow it.

Understandably a lot of people didn't want to fight and risk their lives. All sorts of people played games. But Mitsuru just couldn't understand sitting on your ass and relying on other people to do your work for you. She was a risk taking anyway and the thought of danger thrilled her. "Hey, Farore right?" One of the males at her table said. "I'm not just saying this because you're one of the few girls on the raid, but do you want to join my party?"

Mitsuru thought that it was adorable that he added in the part about her gender. She also really liked it that he was seeing her as a fighter not a woman. So she smiled at him. "I want to see what we're going to have before I party up with anybody. But you'll be first on my list when the times comes, how about that?"

The male smiled back at her. "Sounds great. I'm Abel. I love your name by the way, I get the reference and think it suits your appearance."

Mitsuru fingered her long green hair. "Thanks! My friends say that I have a lot of courage, and you know the green hair. I use it as my name in all the games I play."

"Well when we get out of this game I'll have to look for you in other games too."

The of them continued to chat while they waited for the raid leader to announce they were leaving. Mitsuru wasn't hungry at the moment so she did order anything. She didn't like to eat right before a battle anyway.

"Idiots." He bellowed out in a deep and husky voice as he shook his head negatively as he read the report in his hands. "You're sure it was them?" Issued as a question, the hard-edged tone to his voice easily gave away he knew the truth.

"A-yep. Group of five walked on in without the Assault Team, figured they could get some extra XP and split whatever the loot earned them." Even though the petite informant in front of him was masked and robed, he could almost feel that grin beneath her clothing beaming right up at him. "I got the map... if you'd, you know. Want to go take a look. Or has the Iron Bear gotten soft these days, hm? I heard about that last group you saved. Almost didn't make it, riiiight?" The high-pitched rise and teasing tones were more than enough to make him stare coldly at the woman, but he forced back the annoyance and simply gave her a flat look. She'd done this plenty of times before. As childish as she might have been, she was good at her job.

"Fine. Name the location and I--"

"Ah-ah-a! So quick to make conclusions, Iron Bear. This time, it's... free of charge." There was a drop in her voice and her eyes went downwards. "A friend of mine. He was in that party. I told him not to take any risks, but... just, don't let it happen again, yeah? You might be an asshole, but you've already put your neck out on the line more than anyone I know. We've lost a fair share of people in the short time we've been here... and it's only going to get worse. So, please. Don't let someone else lose a friend to this boss. I only got their map... nothing else."

He shrugged simply at her change of heart. He could've pegged her for a heartless woman who only cared about profit, but if anything could make people realize that this is all just one screwed up game that only mattered if you made it out alive... death sure could do it. "Alright. Mail it to me, I don't want anyone to stalk me down. I got... some things to take care of, tonight. Don't ask, either." Stern and hard-edged, with no warmth at all as he spoke to her.

She nodded to him simply, and turned on her heels to walk off, much as he did himself. The inn would be the best place to check up on the rumor he heard, about this "rare" spawn that should show up soon. He pegged it down for a PK'er Guild rumor, given that only people with valuable items seemed to have heard of it, and those were few and far between the normal lot. It was habit, at this point. He was solo, but he was almost always wandering outside of the towns. Patrolling the hunting grounds and the dungeons, making sure no one got killed because of a stupid mistake. After enough times, people started to talk about him time to time. He wasn't the best player, sure enough not the most skilled, but he was higher level than quite a few folks given the fact he was rarely in the towns.

In fact, he was starting to think the rumor was made specifically to catch people like him. It was too obvious that it was fake. No info' broker had anything on it... at all. It was more than likely a trap, but one he'd have to walk into. Not to keep whatever kind of reputation he had, or to prove a point to people. To make sure, that as many people got out of there alive. It was his duty as a Marine, to make sure that happened. Out of all the people in this game, he was probably one of the few people who was trained and disciplined to give the ultimate sacrifice if necessary for the sake of others. Fortune have it, that's how he got his rather formidable gear. You save enough people... people end up making sure you stick around long enough to, maybe, just maybe, save them one day. Wasn't as top-class as some of the monster gear, but heavy plate was hard to find. Especially good sets, which he liked to think his was.

Then, he snapped back into it. The inn was just around the corner, and was given away by the noises made by everyone inside of it. He made for the door, and walked on in, observing the people around him. He was tall, taller than quite a lot of people given the fact most of the players were from Japan. Standing six-foot-three, he sort of stood out like a sore thumb. Enough to get through the crowd easily enough, and thankfully no one paid him mind. He wasn't famous, just heard of by enough people that it caught him off guard when they approached him with that stupid nickname.

"Room for one. Six nights." He said as he traded the necessary amount to the clerk. NPC or person, he couldn't really tell by the rather scripted and rehearsed response. With that all done and taken care of... he turned around and about and headed for the table. Regardless of the rumor, he knew there'd be other people in here looking to make a raid party. If his agent had a copy of the map, surely other people would, too. From least lethal sources than an entire party dying for nothing. He would just do as he always did. Look for a group small enough to think they'd have a high profit value without having to deal with the larger Guilds, and yet have enough to take it down. Label down the leader, and then trail them and have his agent trail him, too. He already knew she'd be in here, somewhere. Disguised with everyone else, watching him and those around him. It was an odd partnership they had, but it worked for them both. She got all the maps and details she wanted, as well as names and updated loot drops, and he got the info for dungeons and any missing persons reports. Most of the last... were never solved. A few, however, he did manage to find and rescue. Even if it was only one out of a hundred, it meant any and all effort was worth it, to save a life.

No matter the risks.

The pair sat behind the counter of the shop, eating in silence. Apollo couldn't believe how quiet it was, not a single soul had wandered in all day. He couldn't help but frown at that, though a day off should have been enjoyable. He let out a small sigh as he finished the stew that Artemis had made, and watched the bowl disappear. He looked at his sister, who had finished as well. She caught his look, raising an eyebrow. "What? Did it taste bad? I tried something new today, some ingredient I got from a quest.." She asked him, bringing up her menu.

"No, it's not that. It was good, like always." He replied, casting a look over the empty shop. "Business is just slow today."

"Oh." Was all she offered as a response. She then stood up from her seat, making sure to equip her weapon and armor. "Well, I'm off to the dungeon. Figure I might as well explore a little, maybe if I find the boss room I could sell the data to the frontlines again."

Apollo perked up at this point, bringing up his menu as well. Once he was finished, his own weapon and armor were equipped as well. "Let's go together then, I could use the experience."

"What? No, Apollo--"

He sent her the invite to join his party with a wide grin. "Come on, Miss Moon Goddess, you fight and I'll just watch." He joked. Against her better judgement, Artemis accepted his request, and his name and HP Bar popped up under hers. She would have much rather gone solo, but he wasn't going to let her off easy. "Don't worry, I won't get in your way, and I'll teleport out if it gets hairy, blah blah blah, feel better?"

Artemis let out a huff. "No. But I know you'll just keep spamming my inbox. And I guess it's been a while. Come on, big boy, let's get moving." She told him. The two exited the shop, and once Apollo properly closed it, the two headed out for the dungeon.

Edge looked through the map he'd created during his time in the dungeon as he walked towards the edge of the safe zone. He spent more than a few rounds in each room to make sure he would gain more and more experience before moving onto the next floor so that he could clear it in one go. The crowd around him was walking around as if everything was normal without anything on their minds. Most of them were most likely glad with the situation they were in, being able to do anything they want. He wondered why he wasn't walking around carelessly like that. The temptation to lay back in a house he can buy with the money he had was great but for some reason, he never got to doing it. It didn't feel right to leave the hard work to the others in the front lines.

After several minutes, he was on the path leading to the tower with his hood up over his head, his entire body still covered by the cloak. He could see some scattered monsters around the area though they were still quite far from being organized. Every once in a while, Edge would have to fight something low level in contrast. Sometimes a bee would come, sometimes a 'bandit'. There were camps near the tower where most of the front liners were making plans to proceed.

"Come on guys let's go!" Brian yelled as he ran to his car and hopped in. Caleb jumped in his cars and his friends all followed suit as they drove to Caleb's apartment. It had been one of the biggest anticipated games of the year. Natasha looked over at Caleb with a smile, "Hey!" she said as she nudged him, "Don't be too quiet, you'll still be better than everyone else!" she said with a grin. Caleb shook his head, "How you know what I am thinking honestly amazes me sometimes." Caleb said as he glanced at her and put his eyes back on the road.

"Well of course I do, we just got done playing basketball yesterday, and Stevie definitely worked you." she said as she giggled, "Thanks" Caleb retorted back. "OH come on!" She said as she grabbed his arm, "We've been dating for a year and been friends for 2 years, you know that you aren't that bad. You just always want to guard the hardest player whenever we play sports." She said, "It's admirable since you want to do it to get better." Natasha said very smoothly as she let her finger glide up and down his arm.

Caleb grinned as he said jokingly, "Dang it woman get out of my head." She smiled and responded with a firm "Nope!" as she leaned back in her chair. "Besides you are better than any of us at video games, don't you remember in basketball beating Jake by 70?" She said now trying to make him feel better. Caleb nodded as he made a turn that led to a main street. "Of course I do, but video games aren't going to get me anywhere, name one situation where it'll help out." he said. She smiled as she responded sweetly, " Why simple dear, what if my life depends on it?" She said half jokingly. Caleb chuckled at the thought, "I have your girl, and you can only take her if you can beat me at video games. Right, like that'll happen." Caleb said as he chuckled. Natasha shrugged her shoulders "Well have no fear, you will be better than the others at this, I mean heck you were the one who read all the manuals already as well as done all the research. I mean who's your competition?" she said with a smile.

Caleb slowly turned his head with a smile, "Oh gee I wonder who, maybe the only person to ever actually make me have to try in video games to beat them." he said with a smile as he looked at Natasha. Natasha raised her hands, "Guilty as charged!" she said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Caleb finally pulled up to his driveway. He parked on the curb as his friends all parked as well. As Caleb got out of the car Stevie was already booking it for his apartment, "HEY CALEB TOSS THE KEYS!" he yelled as Caleb threw his keys to Stevie. "Is it just me or are they way more into it than I am right now?" he asked Natasha gave him a glare, "Caleb, you are more into it than any of us, that's why you have your 'it's time to get serious' gaming face and voice. Caleb shrugged as they started walking Caleb Saw that they had shut the door. Taking the opportunity and being alone he grabbed Natasha by the arms and pushed her against the car and kissed her. "I love you." he said with a smile as she looked down and smacked him in the chest, "Dang it! now I look like a tomato!" she said blushing. They walked to the house where everyone else was already almost done. "Come on Caleb!" Adam said as he grabbed his nerve gear. "Set up!"

So Caleb set up as they all sat there and waited, the countdown on the gear started and they all laid on the mattress of their choosing, Natasha and Caleb were next to each other though of course. The second the countdown hit zero all at the same time they said, "Link START!"

---

In seconds Caleb was now in the game. With his friends joining him all around him. He and a few of them talked for a bit, but he was looking for someone, it was hard since he didn't know what everyone put as their faces. That's when he bumped into someone. "Oh i'm sorry!" he said as he looked behind him. A girl shoved him now, "Yeah watch it bub you don't know who your messing with!" she yelled. "Look i'm sorry i'm looking for a friend." He responded only to get shoved again, "You wanna talk back to me?!" she asked as she got closer. Caleb gave her a weird look, "No I-" before he could finish she kissed him, "There's your first virtual kiss Caleb." she said with a grin. Caleb put his head into his palm, "Of course I should've known it was you." he said as he hugged Natasha.

"Hey guys come over here!" his friend Jeremy said, but in the game he was known as Yago. "Accept my guild invite and let's get going! Caleb we'll follow your lead!" he said with a smile as everyone formed the guild, "What are we called?" Stevie who was known on game as Sosa asked. Yago smiled, "We are The Nomads!" he said with a smile. They all cheered at the name, Caleb smiled these were his friends. And it was time for him to lead them. "Okay guys this way!" he said as he started leading them through the beginning part of the game that he had already read so much about and that he had already basically memorized from the different things he read and saw online.

It was only a couple hours of them getting in when they suddenly all found themselves teleported back to the beginning town. That's when the game inventor appeared in the sky and started explaining things. Caleb stared at him angrily as Natasha held onto his arm and cried into it, "Caleb we look like what we did in real life!" she said quietly. He looked down at her and whispered, "Good I'd rather see your beautiful face for as long as we are stuck in here than your avatar's." he said as she and all of his friends pressed in. "Calm down everyone." Caleb said as he could tell people started to get very uncomfortable and started to act nervous.

So if Caleb had heard right, the only way out was to beat all 100 levels. But if someone died in game they died in real life. "What type of sick twisted bastard would do this. A couple of Caleb's friends were brand new to MMORPGs and this stupid game was risking their life. "We will get through it." Sosa said as he wrapped his arm around Caleb, "After all we have Caleb!" he said with a grin, "Remember guys he almost was on a professional Gaming team! He did that by beating their top dog." Sosa said with a smile. Caleb could feel everyone's eye's on him, he didn't want to but it was time to play seriously, it was no longer about fun. Caleb's face turned very serious as the rest of the group got a large smile, "Oh there it is! His serious face!" they said as they all gathered around him. Caleb then grinned with them, "Let's go all, let's show these people how to truly game!" he said.

And that's what they did, they leveled and lived with each other for awhile, It wasn't until a few weeks in though that their first death happened when Brian ran off to try to level on his own to get a higher level. They ran to try to save him but he died. Then next it was Erik, who was killed by a player killer, next was Kevin, Cory, and Chad. All of them dying in different ways. After awhile the rest of them tried to push further in a dungeon. But only ended up getting separated by a big fight. Caleb couldn't see any of them and he had to run. He never saw them again after that, his group of friends. Now he truly was a Nomad. Someone with no home.

---

Two Months had passed since the day that the Game became life and not just a game any longer. Caleb had become a solo player now, as he walked through most of the challenges that came his way. He was way too good at MMORPG's to be beaten by some weak NPCS. He still had no idea if some of his friends were alive or not. he hoped they were. He looked around the forest, he was on level 20 of 100, one fifth of the way there.

That's when he saw some type of praying mantis approaching him, "Stupid creature." he said as he pulled out his sword. He felt the energy in his body start to escalate as the mantis charged him. He quickly moved forward and stopped as he sheathed his sword. He looked back as the mantis stood there with it's arm still in the air. only to have a cut appear across it's body. That's when it just eventually dissipated into nothingness. "What a weak creature." Caleb said with a grin. Caleb tried to not let his issues bring him or anyone else down. He had been apart of a couple boss fights, most of the time just as support though. Most people didn't even think about him and just passed by him without giving him a second glance.

It was fine, he didn't need to be known. He would beat this game, and save his friends, if they were still alive. He hoped they were. He missed Natasha. He missed her very much and after he lost her he cried for about 4 days before finally getting a hold of himself and grinding out his levels once more. His thought was, He hadn't seen her dead, so she must be alive still. He didn't care if it was foolishness, it was one of the things that kept him going and one of the things that kept him from just quitting like so many others had.

He walked into town as a couple people waved at him, he had made a couple friends at least since being in the game. They knew his real name was Caleb, but a lot of them still called him Wally on account of his game name being Waltic. He hadn't any place to live really, he would just go from floor to floor looking for Natasha, or any of his other friends, and then spending the night at a tavern or an inn. So far no leads but he had people on watch for her just in case. There were a couple times where people thought they had seen her, once was back at the town of beginnings but it turned out that that wasn't quite true as he found no trace and it was simply off of a rumor. The other was someone said they thought they had seen someone fitting Natasha and Stevie's look in the forest of level 13. Which was the level they had all gotten split up at. It made sense but when he went the two people were two completely different people and were definitely not Stevie or Natasha.

So he walked into a tavern as he passed a female in white clothing. He walked over to an empty spot at the bar and sat down. He raised his hand as he asked for something to eat and he got what he asked for. He sat there as he turned around and watched as everyone talked. He noticed a few people talking about him. In such a small community word of one's misfortunes and gains gets around quite quickly. For him it was the fact that he was a Nomad and didn't have a place called home. But he had some friends. As someone walked over and started to talk to him. He talked back s they joked loudly for awhile before they both left the tavern and parted ways, He simply stood outside the tavern in some shade as he waited for the sun to go down.

Ace simply scuffed at the staggering height of Gilmer's Tower. It had taken a trip to hell and back to get up there, but the whole time all she could hear was the sweet music that Grand Harp could tune. Back at home, she was horrible at playing and begged her father to let her quit band, but he insisted. He was probably sad that she didn't reach up to her mother's standards. They met as young adults at a formal concert. Her dady played violin, her absent mother played the harp. The one and only harp was new to the large orchestra and all the sections were showering her with greetings and gifts. Ace'a father said her playing was more heavenly than angels playing the instrument itself.

In this world, Ace could make the same noise on the harp as divine beings did. She found comfort in playing in, while at home all she had contempt of the dreaded strings that would often cause her fingers to bleed.

"Mr. Boss Man, you had better be a good drop," she whispered to nothing at she enter the gates. They shut behind her with a loud thunk. Ace pulled out her weapon and surveyed the dungeon. It was typical looking. No monsters you could see. Always in the rafters or hidden rooms or right around the corner. Ace herself had only been a dungeon once, but it was small, and she was only collecting a special type of metal for a small request. Even then, it scared the hell out of her. She didn't want to put herself in danger, but she didn't want to be selfish.

Ace only wished this one time that she could find someone and they could party just for the time being. She didn't like working with partners, there always had to be a mutual agreement on a plan and it always resulted in the other one fucking up. But, in this quiet, solitary place, she would've felt maybe even a little comfort knowing that someone would watch her back.

She forged around a lot of corners, avoiding the temptation of lonely unopened chest, seeing the traps just waiting to lure in their pray. She occasionally sprinted away from annoying creatures that were too overpowered for small levels.

Ace swore she heard distant voices echoing through the halls. They weren't the horrorish whispers that conjured in her ear at night, but the instructions of small guilds and parties. She smirked to herself. She beat the front lines. For once, she got ahead of those hoarding bastards.

"Can't wait to see the looks on all your pretty little faces when ou see no boss and me with all the loot, sweat hearts!" she yelled from over her shoulder. It was a risky and stupid move. Any NPC monster or player could've heard that. Oh, but Ace was on a high of that perfect melony slowly spinning off the threads that didn't make her fingers bleed.

There was another cry slightly off, around the corner. Edge still had his armour hidden with his sword out in his right hand, cutting down one of the monsters. He pulled up the map he'd made of the area and stared at it for quite a bit. After closing it, he sighed and continued walking. He reached a corridor where a young player, no older than he was, was trying to navigate through the maze.

Going around alone? That's not sa-- I guess I'd be a hypocrite if I said that, huh? Just as he was about to say hi, he heard her challenge the world.

"Can't wait to see the looks on all your pretty little faces when you see no boss and me with all the loot, sweethearts!"

A smirk grew on the boy's face. Hehe... This'd be a good chance to scare her, he thought to himself. He knew one person wasn't enough to take on the boss but someone who'd gotten to level 20 without dying must've known that. "Hi there," he said with a warm, calm tone. "Are you lost?"

It wasn't safe for anyone to challenge a boss themselves. He knew this himself as well. It would be helpful to have an ally to rely on during the fight. He put on the nicest look he could manage in order to show that he wasn't hostile.