Desama Reality

April.23.2050...

A 20 year old boy named Desama Sukawa had bought a new virtual reality game that had come out just months before...

It was a MMORPG where you could create and customize your character with endless possibilities. He just reached level 10 when suddenly a power surge rest everything in the house.

(What was that?...a glitch maybe?) He thought to himself. "Pause game" Desama announced...But nothing happened. In the game, you need to command the game to pause for your consciousness to return to your body. "I don't understand...why hasn't the game paused allowing me back to my body!?"

After an hour he gave up on waiting for the game to pause and proceeded to continue the game anyway. "If I'm gonna be stuck here, I might as well gain EXP and other useful items"

CHAPTER 1 A New Reality

After a day of being inside the game he suddenly felt a breeze of wind coming from the forest he was in the center of. "Wait, you can't feel in this game...and I'm hearing everything as if I were there instead of like headphones. What's going on!?" He felt as though no aspect of his real self was there. Desama could feel, see and hear as if this was his real body. "Maybe it's from my consciousness being inside the game for so long"

His character was a vampire with knight armor and two swords. He was only level 20 so his character didn't have many skills and his stats was still below the average since there were plenty of gamers that bought it on it's release day or week. Sukawa walked through the shaded forest when he heard movement nearby.

Because he was now his character instead of just a game he had an advantage, he could move and focus his attacks more efficiently. Just then a dagger flew passed him hitting a large oak tree. "Aura of defense" The player muttered as a green light outlined his body. Suddenly another player rushed him from the trees headed straight for him.

"All your equipment will be mine!" They announced as their assassin character began trying to stab him with two daggers. Desama quickly noticed the player's level above their head as he dogged each coming attack.

(He's only level 10, just half my level. This shouldn't be too difficult) Once realizing this the vampire found an opening and struck the player in the torso, sending them across the dirt into a tree. Desama watched as the opponent's health dropped to half.

"I won't lose!" He shouted as their assassin stood back up.

"If that's so...then strike me down in one hit, even though I'm 10 levels above you" His foe groaned in anger pulling out a bow. Sukawa stood there waiting. Finally the player shot an arrow aimed right for his head. But just as it came into melee range, Desama caught it with one hand. The other player stood there surprised, not able to think of what to do next.

"Dragon burst!" Suddenly the vampire breathed a narrow but fast wave of fire from his mouth. His enemy just barley dogged it when it blew up after making contact with the ground. The assassin was safe up on a branch for the moment. However the flames and smoke blocked his view of his target.

"Damn it! Where'd he go!?" Just then he was stabbed in the back and fell to the ground with just an inch of HP remaining.

"How lucky you are to have survived a surprise attack after already being on half health" The vampire walked over spinning a dagger between his armored fingers. "You have a choice you can make: Join my team or be finished off here with all your items being taken from you"

"What would I gain from joining you?" He asked. Desama laughed replying: "I'm stronger and more experienced than you. But if you'd rather die and get robbed I'm fine with that"

"Fine, but I'm not getting bossed around by you"

"Fair enough" The vampire agreed dropping the dagger. "So what's your player I.D"

"My name is Damien. Hope we get along so we can grow stronger and claim some territory"

"That's the plan" His ally responded as they proceeded through the forest. After about ten minutes they found a small village. Damien suggested they check it out in case anything valuable is hiding in one of the houses. Sukawa was an advanced gamer, he knew that some of the rare items would be in the ruined down areas that most won't waste their time checking when they could just destroy it in one attack.

The vampire followed the low level ally into the small village with just a few rows of old wooden houses.

"Welcome travelers to Sage Hollow, here we trade and grow crops" Both players turned to see an elderly man standing there smiling at them. He wore light red robes and a hat.

(This must be the village leader) The vampire thought to himself. At that moment, Damien stabbed the poor man through the chest killing him. Sukawa watched in shock as the innocent man hit the ground bleeding out until the NPC vanished. Desama wanted to tell his ally not to just go around killing anyone he wants. But unlike Damien, he wasn't inside the game like him, as if a real person had gotten killed.

For some reason...killing other players seemed fine since he knew these were just created characters that would just respond. But he hesitated to kill the CPU humans, they seemed like real people. If they were monsters then he won't care.

While his teammate continued to slaughter the villagers of Sage Hollow, Sukawa just searched each house for anything of value. All he was able to find was small sacks of gold coins. Aside from gold, there wasn't anything important in the entire village. They finished their search and headed out for another place of interest.

As they spotted a city out in the distance, a dagger flew past the vampire, just barley scraping his cheek. Luckily it was a small wound so it healed in seconds. Desama turned around to spot another player moving at super-human speed. Just as they lunged at him, Damien clashed with them. The player was forcing a large sword down while the ally managed to stop it with a mere dagger. Finally their clash broke, causing Damien to stagger back hitting the ground. As the unknown player went for the killing blow by jumping toward his open target gripping his great sword.

Suddenly Sukawa stood between him and his ally, stopping the sword with his hand. Their foe began complaining until Desama fired an energy attack straight for the enemy's chest.

"Damn it!" The player yelled as his character hit a tree. "This isn't over!" Their foe threw another dagger so fast, it stabbed the vampire in the torso. Blood ran from his wound as he fell to the ground. Damien moved as fast as he could, punching straight through the target's chest. While their unknown threat vanished, Damien rushed over pulling the dagger out from his ally's chest.

Sukawa's injury wouldn't heal for some reason. Sighing, the boy pulled out a small red bottle and poured it across the bleeding wound. It sparkled with red light before healing in seconds. "Thanks Damien" He got up brushing himself off. Finally they entered the city. The city was filled with stores and inns. They stayed close to each other as they explored the new terrain.

It was getting dark so the streets lights came on with just a few citizens walking up and down the street. Gavin walked into a bar with his ally right behind him.

"Welcome to the Wealthy Beetle, here we serve all kinds of drinks and food to replenish your HP"

"Actually we're here for any bounties you currently have so we can collect some gold. We're from out of town, so we don't have anything of value to use as currency at the moment" The bar tender took a deep breath then smiled replying: "No worries...I can give you a room for a night, that should give you enough time to collect a little gold" Sukawa thanked him as they headed up stairs to the inn part of the building.

"Why must we waste gold staying here? Why not just kill him and stay here free of charge?

"Because, if we go killing random people for personal gain, then we'll just be causing more problems for ourselves. The player sat on the bed knowing he didn't have the will power to kill an innocent NPC. Even knowing that all of it was fake wasn't helping with his judgment.

Moments later the bar tender came up, handing the higher level a small booklet. "I forgot to hand you this, it's a book of all the known threats that we need dealt with. Oh by the way, my name is Charles if you need anything else" Once again they thanked him before he left. Damien told his partner that it was getting late where he was so he was gonna go to bed. "Alright, hopefully ill see you tomorrow" he replied. Damien vanished as a sign he logged off, while Sukawa laid on the bed starring at the ceiling. Suddenly he fell asleep...

He awoke the next morning with Damien calling his name. The vampire shot up surprised he had been sleeping the whole time. At first he assumed he wouldn't need to sleep. But of course, the longer he was there, the more real it would get for him. The two warriors set out to deal with the listed threats...

"Alright, looks like the closest threat is group of ogres. Says they've been tormenting people just outside of the city and may've taken one girl hostage in their cave"

"Then let's hurry and get down there!" Damien responded taking off ahead. They found themselves in front of a large cave about a half mile away from the city. Desama read extra info about the creatures, they're stupid, yet large and strong. They can't be reasoned with so taking them down was really their only option. The level 20 vampire aimed his hand at the deep cave and shot a small but powerful fireball into the dark space.

At that moment, the dark hall of the cave lit up in a powerful burst of light. The entrance to the cave collapsed on itself, trapping the ogres inside. "There, hopefully that'll keep the monsters away from the city. It may've been harsh, but they had it coming...Oh crap" Desama said with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" His ally asked looking at his expression. Sukawa reminded him that a hostage could've been in there. Just then the ground began to shake, they turned to the cave to see a monstrous ogre burst out of the rocks, sending them flying everywhere.

"Well if he survived, it could be possible the girl did too. Damien, go search inside while I take care off this brute" The player nodded headed inside. The large creature slammed his fist on the ground, but missed him by a second. "Wow big guy, you have some power...let's see you match it with mine" Sukawa could see the level of his foe was 15. Close, but low enough to defeat single-handedly. The large dark green creature let out a deep roar as it threw powerful punches in the vampire's direction. But the ogre's strength was nowhere near it's target's level of speed.

Desama evaded each attack without much effort. Meanwhile Damien was deep inside the cave. He had to use a fire spell to light a path through the dark and damp trail. All he saw were dead bodies of humans, some that were mere skeletons after years of decomposing. That's when he heard movement ahead of him. The player pulled out his bow and aimed a flaming arrow in the direction of the noise.

He proceeded slowly keeping his weapon locked in the same direction. That's when he came across a large golden door, it had many types of gems on it. Damien felt around for a doorknob, but was unable to find it. "Hmm, I guess my only other course of action would be to try and knock the jewel covered door down. Gold was one of the strongest materials in the world that he was aware of, but given his super-human strength, he should be capable of breaking it down.

Damien clinched his fist tightly before striking the large shiny door with about 70% of his power. Sadly the door remained unaffected from his attack. "Well, seems I'll have to try even harder" Activating a power boost to multiply his stats, he struck the door at full power. The cave shook from his powerful strength. The player was only level 15, but had ways to make up for it in a situation. Finally after several attempts, the doors fell to the ground with a loud boom. Before proceeding any further, Damien called out to Sukawa to accompany him.

Meanwhile the vampiric warrior sliced the large monster in half, it's green blood flying everywhere. Finally done, Desama entered the cave catching up with his ally. They made their way through the doorway, just then Desama heard a noise out in the distance. Suddenly a large crowd of undead skeletons came rushing towards them.

"Take this, flame barrage!" The vampire unleashed a wide blast of fire that burned the first few rows of skeletons to dust. Next were armored undead. Once more the player shot a blaze of fire in their direction, but was ineffective. "Damn, no effect...hmm"

"Since when can you do that?" Damien asked firing several arrows at the coming threat. His ally explained it was a skill he had unlocked after killing the large beast. Damien's arrows took down a few, but not enough to do much. The warrior sighed and took off for the large group of undead, Sukawa began to take them on hand to hand.

Luckily these were low level skeletons, their armor improved their defense, but slowed them down. The vampire managed to block or evade each attack that came his way. Suddenly all of the remaining undead tackled the young warrior, burying him in a pile of skeletons. Damien attempted to fire an arrow with dynamite attached to it, when his ally sent all the undead knights flying everywhere.

"Attack boost, limit breaker!" Desama's power was multiplied nearly 10 times. "Two hand fire barrage!" A blast of piercing flames washed over the trail, it's multiplied power obliterating every last target in sight. "Heh, take that" As he lowered his hands, Sukawa collapsed on the dirt path.

"Dude you ok? Dude...he must've lost connection" Since the archer was just a normal player, he had no idea that his ally was actually within the game. Damien decided to take a bathroom break, hoping his friend's signal reconnected...

After about five minutes, Desama regained consciousness. "W-what happened? Oh, I must've lost consciousness from the use of so much power, especially limit breaker, that alone takes a toll on the player. That fact that I'm inside the game, caused the over-use of power to make me faint. A normal player would just be unable to use and skills until their stamina refilled. Hopefully I won't pass out during a boss fight"

He looked over and saw his friend offline still, so the warrior decided to proceed further without his ally. Just before entering the next room, Sukawa looked through his skill list at when he'd unlock his next skill. The boy was at level 21, his next skill was at 25 so it'd be awhile until a stronger move would appear...

Desama found himself in a large steel arena. He could tell that a place like this wouldn't be good. At that moment, a mage emerged from a dark rift. "Welcome, I am the mage of Demoto, please to meet and kill you"

"We'll see about that!" The player replied trying to sound confident. His dark-hooded opponent smirked before swiping his hand left. Multiple undead warriors formed from a dark mist.

"Let's see how you hand my dark gladiators" With a single hand motion, the three undead assailants charged their target. The player waited calmly for them to attack...Just as the skeletons swung their swords at him, Sukawa caught the first blade between his palms, then ducked the second.

(Hmph, these undead are impressive, but not nearly as good as I was expecting) But the mage still had a smile on his face, so the vampire knew this was probably just a game. Without hesitation, Desama kicked the blade between his hands out of the undead's, sending it spinning above them.

He ran toward one of the undead, it swung it's large sword but missed as his foe ducked then jumped off his face, grabbing the blade. Covering it in flames, Desama clashed swords with his two undead assailants. Both creatures were hesitant to strike back from the bright flames. Their hesitation gave him an opening to slash the two in half. The mage watched as his undead fell apart then became dust.

"Well done, to think a level 21 could beat my undead with such speed and skill. Seems I misjudged you"

"Are you ready to fight me yourself!?" Sukawa challenged, gripping the sword tightly. That's when his target began laughing. "You really think you're capable of beating me!? You must've lost it boy. But not may get this far, so I'll humor you and use a little of my power" Desama shook in anger, dashing straight for his target, swinging his blade full force.

"Whoa, that was a close one, any closer and I could've been hurt" He turned around to find his opponent standing a few feet away unharmed. The vampire's eyes shined red from anger, he sliced through the air with all his power. But his target evaded every attack that came his way.

Out of breath Desama commented: "Fine, if I clearly can't hit you, then you attack for once!" Once more smiling, his unknown attacker aimed a finger right at him. A stream of light moved much faster than the hero could keep up with. A great pain filled his body before collapsing on the steel floor. Desama couldn't move, the pain would just get worse with every movement. That's when Damien came racing through the doorway.

"Glad you could join us, your friend here doesn't have much health left. Maybe you could help him, if you can reach him" His ally tried running toward his friend but was stopped by their foe's fire attacks. Damien had another plan, he pulled out a potion, pouring it on an arrow and aimed it at his ally. It went soaring through the air. The mage threw his left arm up, creating a wall of pink flames.

Luckily the projectile managed to get past the fire just as it was forming. Once it hit Desama, a green light covered his body, instantly healing his body. Sukawa quickly got up, forming a barrier using his fire ability. Their attacker tried warping his fire wall around the hero, but was proved useless. With his pyro barrier, Desama charged right through the flames, punching the mage across the face with great power.

Both watched as their enemy staggered back, further into the large cave. "Take that jerk!" Damien made his way over to his ally while the vampire kept on guard in case their target had a trap set. Player one carefully made his way into the rocky hallway that lead into a maze-like area. He stood in a large area with multiple holes, leading in different directions.

Suddenly the mage appeared made out of smoke. "Hmph, so you still wish to continue this fight?" Player one sighed still in an offensive position. His assailant snapped his fingers, each dark hole lit up with a rift opening in each one. "Go on, if you want to defeat me, you'll have to choose one of these four rifts and try to find me" He began laughing as his transparent smoke-self faded away. Desama sighed in annoyance.

"Great, who knows what could be awaiting on the other side of those rifts!" As Damien entered the room, his ally told him they should split up and choose a rift each to boost their chances of finding their enemy. Both picked one of the four, Desama took the third one while his friend took the first one. Sukawa found himself in a place that seemed like the underworld. A red light covered the area, along with black spikes all over the place. If he wasn't careful, the vampire could take unnecessary damage. It was difficult, the hundreds of spikes didn't leave much room to move around.

Meanwhile Player two found himself on a flat cliff. He could see a narrow walkway from him to the other side. Carefully he proceeded across the narrow path. Below Damien could see what looked like acid. A large pool of green bubbling liquid. The player was almost there when his path gave out on him.

Just before falling into the pool, Damien managed to grab onto the remaining part of the rocky terrain. Player two may've just been a normal teen behind a screen, but who knows how far back he'd end up if he died, or all the stuff he'd lose. With enough effort, Damien managed to climb up to the other part of the rock side, reaching the top.

Just as he planned to rest, two large muscular creatures came out from the entrance in front of him. They looked like giant minotaurs. They held large axes while charging at him. Damien aimed an arrow at them, waiting for the right time to shoot. When one of the monsters was just a little ahead of the other, Damien fired his arrow into it's knee.

The large beast lost it's balance, causing both of them to trip and fall into the boiling pit of acid. Player two couldn't help but watch as the two beasts were melted alive, he shook at the sight of their skill melting away until their bones sunk below the surface. Taking a deep breath, the archer shook it off, kinda hoping to forget what he just saw...

Back in the other rift, Desama finally made it threw all the spikes with just a few tears in his armor but nothing too concerning. Looking ahead, the young player walked slowly through the empty hall when he found himself in a large area. "W-what is this?"

"Welcome player one A.K.A Desama, you're the first to reach this area, both before you're ally and literally, no other player has managed to survive the four rifts of failure. Then again, you two did happen to choose the two lowest ones in difficulty, but we'll talk about those another time. Now, you'll face numerous enemies to see if you really have what it takes to take me on and if you beat all of them, I will give you a healing potion so you can fight me at your best"

Sukawa looked at the minor rips in his equipment then back at the direction the voice was coming from. "Alright, I'll participate in your little tournament"

"Splendid, this will be both a great warm-up for you and an entertaining show for yours truly!" Just then a large chained gate raised up, a large rift formed in the darkness.

(Not another portal) Sukawa thought, not keeping his eyes off it. At that moment, a blood red cheetah with a tail covered in flames emerged from within it. "Behold Desama, this is the blood cheetah, it may only be a level five, but when do villains ever bring out their best card first!?" The vampire moved both his hands in opposite directions, causing a circle of flames to form around the cat.

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(Let's see how effective that is against such a low creature) It clawed at the red flames, but only managed to damage itself. Sukawa laughed at the cat's ignorance. That's when it leapt through the fire, heading right for player one. But even though it had escaped, the flames had done severe damage to it's health. The cheetah had about 1% of health left but decided to charge Sukawa anyway.

With such a small amount of life, player one back-handed the cat, sending it across the arena into the wall, just in front of the empty bleachers. "Well...I'll give the cat points for jumping through my flames and still going for an attack with such a faint amount of life"

Applause could be heard from all directions, even though no one could be seen in the chairs. "Good work, the creature may've been basic level, but it still was a great battle. Now, onto your next opponent!" Just then Damien came walking through a rift just a few feet away from his partner. Desama couldn't help but notice his friend's body badly injured. "Are you ok?" His ally asked walking over to him.

Just as he was going to answer, a giant ogre emerged from the rift. It had dark green skin with sharp teeth. Player one threw his hand forward, unleashing a massive wave of flames toward their over-sized threat. However, his attack had no effect on the mythical beast. "Crap, seems fire techniques are ineffective against this monster"

The ogre let out a piercing roar as it charged the two warriors with a large club. "Die maggots!" It shouted in a deep voice. The giant club came down on them, but Sukawa managed to stop it with his left hand. The ogre put all his strength into his weapon, forcing the player down. The ground where Player one was standing began to crack apart from the immense force of his foe's.

(Surprising he would have so much power being only level 15. Then again, these types of creatures focus on that kind of trait, so his defense and speed should be much lower by comparison. I can't hurt him with fire attacks, so normal melee may be my only shot) Desama covered his hands with fire, causing smoke to emanate from the giant club. It covered the monster's eyes, causing them to water.

(Now's my chance!) As his tall muscular foe lost focus, backing away, Desama seized his opportunity to attack. The vampiric warrior threw a blow in route of his enemy's chest. Using all his force into one strike. His fist went right through it's chest. Sukawa pulled his hand out, covered in pale green blood.

"There, yet another defeated with my growing power" He stood there out of breath from using all his power into one attack so suddenly, especially after holding back his target's large club for so long. Damien smiled replying: "Way to go, I was worried that monster was gonna over power you!"

"Heh, size doesn't matter. It may've had strength beyond it's level, but it's other stats were it's downfall" That's when the mage's voice could be heard: "Once more you exceed my expectations as a warrior, you just have one enemy left to face. To make it fun, I've picked one that's a higher level then your own!" Both watched as a thin armored figure came out from the rift. It wore silver battle armor with a purple aura glowing around the outline of it's body.

"She is an elite fighter, level 30. She has stats well above your own...but I'm sure if your low level partner actually works with you this time, you should beat her" Desama sighed in anger, not keeping his eyes off her. The player wasn't even at his 100% at this point, so unless his friend helped out, he'd sure be defeated. Player one had Damien attack from a distance as support while Sukawa went in for hand to hand. Damien nodded pulling out his bow, while also filling it with his energy to boost it's attack and effectiveness.

Player two commenced his barrage of arrows while Desama went in close for a direct attack. Since his partner was more than 10 levels below their threat, his projectiles weren't causing much damage, but since they were hurting the maiden, she couldn't help but turn her attention towards the low level.

She fired multiple energy blasts in hi direction, luckily Damien evaded them just in time. That left Sukawa an opening to attack. He punched the armored girl across the face, though it didn't seem like it had much effect. She only moved a few steps. Normally an attack like that would send them staggering several feet.

(Damn, it's like her durability is multiple times my attack points. At this rate I'll run out of tactics. I might have to risk using boosts along with limit breaker to defeat her. But I have a few tricks before I reach that plan) Player one charged up red energy in his left hand, getting ready to attack. But just as his attack was ready, their enemy fired a pink blast right for him without having to even charge.

"Shit!" Without thinking, the hero fired the blast right at the ground, launching him into the air. His assailant's attack just missed him as he went soaring into the air. Desama landed on his back next to his teammate. "Yep, that hurt" The vampire got up, placing his hand on Damien's shoulder. His ally commanded him to fire a full power projectile towards the tyrant. His partner was hesitant considering the cost of energy it took to fire a full power attack. But he saw the expression on Desama's face and knew he wasn't kidding.

As the archer charged up his attack, Sukawa transferred most of his power into him, boosting the player's attack points. Damien asked if now was the time to fire. His partner thought for a moment then said: "Hold on...Attack booster...limit breaker!" Instead of multiplying his own stats, the boosters increased the archer's. Their attack power was now much higher than the maiden's.

"Now!" Player one yelled. The arrow, swarming with both their power went fly right into the villain. It went right into her torso, near her heart. Just as the NPC tried to pull it out, it blew up in a blinding explosion. Both players went staggering backwards into the barrier of the arena. Desama let out a faint laugh before losing consciousness.

Damien was curious to why his ally's character was acting so real, doing things that couldn't be done by other players. At first he had assumed it was just a glitch, but it's happened so much, the player knew it couldn't have been just a poor connection. Just as the archer was planning on walking over to him, the dark mage appeared before him.

"Well executed you two. I couldn't have done it better myself. It's time for the final boss. But first...I have a promise to keep" The boss tossed two aqua colored potions to player two. "Have you and him drink those, they should bring you both back to full stats" Damien was skeptical but did what he was told.

Once both were given a potion, they were fully healed. "But why would you heal us? Why not kill us and get it over with?" Damien said not actually expecting a real response. The mage looked at him with a smile replying: "Because I promised your friend here. I told him: if he defeated all the opponents I threw at him, I would bring him back to full strength to make it a fair fight"

Sukawa smiled, glad to be at full health again. His armor had also been repaired. "Good, we may have a chance I beating him" Damien looked at him as if he were insane commenting: "How!? This guy's a level 50! We're far below his experience!" Once more his teammate laughed telling him that our past fights had leveled us up, definitely after beating someone much higher than them.

His ally looked at their stats and he was right, Desama was now a level 35 while he had shot up to 24. Both warrior's capabilities had increased about three times the amount they originally were at. Along with a few new skills and one passive. Sukawa's passive was regeneration since he was a vampire. Player two's passive was fast reaction. The skill was, there was a 50% chance of an incoming attacker becoming completely sealed in ice.

"Alright you two, it's time to start the final battle in my little game. Only then can you proceed to the next part!" Player one stood ready, determined to end this endless challenge. Damien looked through his new skills just before starting. Demoto mage lifted his hand in the air. Both players looked up, to see a massive fire ball right above them. Sukawa grabbed his ally just as the boss threw his hand down, causing the sphere of flames to impact the arena.

The vampire got scorched, but managed to protect his friend from any damage. "Are you ok?" Player two asked. Taking in a breath, the vampiric player's scorched side slowly healed. "Yeah, I'm fine. But don't know if there's a limit to how much I can heal" Sukawa responded.

"Why don't we test it?" The mage said in a dark tone. The hooded wizard unleashed a barrage of fire attacks, aimed right for the immortal warrior. Just then Desama activated one of his new skills. "vampiric darkness!" Suddenly two doppelgangers of the vampire manifested on both sides of him. They were made out of dark energy.

"Let's go darkness!" The vampire and his duplicates went right for their target. The mage sealed himself within a barrier of flames, but right as the doppelgangers went for an attack, one of them touched the flames, instantly freezing it into a ball of ice.

(Damn, to think a player could simply freeze my barrier on the spot, especially when it's his clone and I doubt they're as strong as him) Damien watched from across the room as Gavin and his dark clones focused their attention on the dark mage. In an abrupt quake sent the ice shattering in every direction. "Very well, let's see how you do against my ultimate attack!"

That's when a large creature made out of dark formed beside the evil mage. Desama stood still, watching as the dark creature grow arms like an octopus with red eyes. Before the vampire's clones could react, they were grabbed by the mage's dark creature. (Damn, well...they're only clones. I won't be losing much if they parish)

Suddenly Damien threw two twin daggers right for the demonic creature, but it passed right through him as if he were smoke. "Heh, you fool. You really think it'd effect my creature that's made completely out of dark mana!?" Sukawa watched as his dark clones were slammed to the ground by the dark creature's tentacles. The vampire watched as his duplicates faded into purple particles of energy.

"Saw that coming, looks like I'll have to think of another strategy to take it down" That's when he looked through his skills quickly..."Ok that technique should work!" Desama moved as fast as he could, right for the dark mage. His target's monster threw it's tentacles right for the player. Just as the demonic creature could grab a hold of the vampire, Desama created another clone letting it go on ahead while the original was captured.

"What!?" Their foe exclaimed as the doppelganger flew past the demonic creature, grabbing the mage by his face. Their attacker begin to feel his health and energy decrease to the point where he was out of energy and less than half health. "You pest!" That's when his summoned creature suddenly vanished as well from his energy being depleted.

Their target stood there motionless, unsure of what to do now with his creature gone and his energy depleted. Sukawa landing on a speed when the creature disappeared letting go of him. Damien pulled out another pair of twin daggers, tossing them right at the open opponent. The enemy tried stepping out of the way, but was struck by both daggers in both shoulders.

"Damn you brats" both players watched as the boss collapsed onto the floor before disappearing into a swarm of wisps of light. Damien cheered throwing his fists in the air. "Finally we took that jerk out!" A large golden door appeared on the other side of the area. The duo slowly approach the large door as it opened. They walked through, finding themselves in a large room filled with gold, armor and other useful materials.

"Whoa, look at all this rare stuff! If there's this much gold and items here, who knows how much stuff they have in the final boss!" Both guys gathered up as much gold as they could and equipped higher level gear and weapons. Since Desama didn't really use weapons, most of the weapons were given to Damien. There was one golden katana though that increased the vampire's attack by a lot so he decided to hold on to it...

They made their way back outside and waited in the forest. "I'm gonna take a nap, we've been playing for awhile so I'll get back on in a few hours" Damien announced. "Alright, hope to see you on again" Sukawa said before his friend logged off. At first Desama didn't know what to do since his ally was gone, but decided to search alone, hoping to find something interesting...

As the player made his way through the endless forest, he thought he heard something move out in the distance. Desama carefully slid his sword partly from it's scabbard. Right as the echoing sound drew closer, the player instantly spun around, aiming the tip of his blade toward the creature. However, it was a mere squirrel that quickly scampered away.

"Strange, that moment was too loud to be a mere squirrel" Sukawa remained on guard, but continued through the shaded green forest. A few moments went by when another sound could be heard. That's when the vampire spun around, deflecting an incoming attack. Sparks flew from his blade from the force and speed of his assailant's surprise-attack. He found himself starring at another player that had found him.

"Nice to find a player that can actually handle themselves" The opponent commented. Sukawa focused his sight on the warrior dressed in black armor...(He's close to my level, but with my rare gear, it should be enough to extend the gap between us. Also, looks like his name is Hero Killer. What a cheesy name)

"As you can probably tell from my name, I hunt down high-level players and kill them"

"Technically wouldn't you call yourself the player killer then?" Desama asked. His attacker hesitated for a moment before pulling out two twin blades with his arms crossed. The assailant moved at a great speed, even with his level being just a few less. Player Killer tossed one of his small daggers right for the target while holding onto the other in his left hand.

Sukawa managed to catch the blade just in time. The force of the blade's movement, along with the vampire's tight grip on it, caused blood to drip from his hand that stopped the coming attack. "Hmph, nice catch, but that won't be enough to make any difference!" Player Killer proceeded forward, hoping to strike his target across the face.

However, right as the armored tyrant went for the killing blow, Desama moved out of the way just enough for his attacker to go past him. As his opponent slowed down to try and attack, Desama used his vampiric strength to push Player Killer across the green forest, smashing into a large oak tree with a boom that sent birds and other small creatures running.

(Hmm, looks like that shove didn't inflict as much damage as I was hoping for) Sukawa moved at full velocity for his open combatant. Killer got up and aimed his palm toward the vampire. "Enough! I'm sick of this already!" Sukawa laughed as he reached the foe. The man was about to unleash a blast of Ki when Desama knocked his hand out of the way, causing the blast to shoot off into the sky.

"What!? How did you do that? Players can't just knock attacks out of place like that! You're a hacker aren't you!?" The vampire laughed responding: I'm no hack, but I am an abnormal player as well, I am inside the game instead of using a V.R helmet. Sukawa slowly stepped closer...then without warning, sent his fist piercing through his foe's abdomen.

"Since this is a game, I know I'm not hurting you in real life. Well...maybe your pride. But, you were bound to be defeated sooner or later. What did you expect if you go around just killing random players. I know you'll just respawn and try again, but I'm sure the end-result will be the same"

The warrior watched as his opponent shattered into small wisps of light. Desama leveled up to level 34. He smiled and walked further through the silent forest. Just then the dark blue sky became black for a moment before reverting back to it's normal blue. (That's strange, what just happened?) He thought hoping the game wasn't malfunctioning.

That's when a few players began to appear all around the area. "If I'm correct, other players may've been transported to this world like me. I normally stayed on the most open server so I didn't have to deal with so many other players. But if this world just became completely real, every player that was on different servers is now on one server, meaning I'll probably have to deal with many other players from now on"

Sukawa noticed a group of players discussing the predicament of possibly being permanently trapped in the game. The Vampire hesitated but decided to approach them. "Hello, how are you all dealing with the change in the game even though it's only just happened?" They Shrugged and said they were about to freak out but decided to remain calm.

"Do you all have a plan on what you're going to do? Such as strengthening your group because leaving the game I doubt is an easy task and I recommend you just focus on making your character stronger"

Their leader approached him, it was a female dark elf, she had dark-pink hair with orange eyes. She wore a yellow scaly armor with a Katana at her side. "I'm Jessica Kinder, I am the leader of this squad, Ominous Twilight. There is 12 of us in total. Last time we made contact with them, they were in the dark hollow canyon. We heard word that there is useful items or gold in that area, so we decided to send some of our best members to search"

"I haven't explored that region yet, I've only been exploring small towns that may have hidden items that you wouldn't expect from such low-level areas. I had and ally that fought alongside me but he still hasn't come back online. Though, I don't know if he will be trapped in the game once he logs on or not"

"Hmm, Well would you allow me to send you a friend request so we can stay in contact in case we need you?" the vampire nodded and stood waiting for the request to send. That's when he got a notification of the request. (I would think that the friend menu wouldn't work considering this world has become real. But seems like a few menus still work. The one that still doesn't work is obviously the logout one. However, it seems that my equipment and friends list are working just fine, meaning I can use and change my items while also staying in contact with other players)

"Well I'm gonna carry-on, if you need any support just let me know. I'll have my ally sent you a request as well" Jessica bowed in thanks as the player walked off...

After 20 minutes of walking, he saw digital text appear above him in white letters: "Damien is online" He remained still, waiting for his ally to appear. "Hey Sukawa" The vampire turned around to find Damien standing behind him. "Oh hey, didn't expect you to just pop up behind me"

"Have you noticed the game has been acting different lately?"

"I'm fine, why what's going on with you?" Desama asked. Damien held his hand up feeling the wind brush against it. "The game feels...more real than usual. But I'm probably just being paranoid" His ally frowned realizing that Damian had been transported to the game as well.

(This means he won't be able to log out like all the others, he'll be stuck in the game until someone figures out how to get out) That's when he remembered to tell his ally about the guild he had met not long ago. "Almost forgot to tell you, I ran into a guild that seems like useful allies. Their lord added me to their friend list and I told them that I would have you send them a request as well"

"Alright, if you think it's the right move then I'll friend him" Sukawa nodded pleased before finally making their way out of the forest. They found themselves in front of a large rotting temple. "Hmm, this place doesn't seem familiar, do you have any idea of what this is?"

"Hmm, I feel like I've seen it before, but I too can't recall it's name"

"Well in that case, I'm gonna see what's inside. You can wait outside if you want" Sukawa approached the large worn-out landmark with his teammate following right behind. The temple's main doors were meters high made of red metal. Along with a statue of some kind of monster, either an ogre or demon. Desama pushed on the great door with just his left palm, but the door was locked.

"Seems the door's locked. Keep watch in case the noise draws any enemies or players" The archer agreed and turned towards the forest in case they draw any attention. The vampiric warrior struck the doors with all his attack power, sending a loud boom echoing throughout the region. At first he thought it was ineffective but noticed the door had a dent where he struck, so he began hitting it raptly, sending more shockwaves across the grassy land.

That's when Damian noticed creatures moving inside the forest. The archer quickly pulled out his bow, waiting for the creature to charge. That's when a a monster that look like it was made out of shadow in the form of a wolf with red glowing eyes raced towards him. Damian was just about to fire his arrow when a player jumped from the top of the temple landing on top of the wolf. He was stunned as the player stabbed his sword straight through the creature's torso, causing it to disappear.

"Too slow" He laughed, sliding his sword back to his side. Damien aimed his bow toward the new target. "Heh, calm down man, I did just save your ass" Damien sighed putting his weapon away. Both players turn to see the large red doors fall to the ground with a thunderous boom.

"Looks like he's managed to get inside" The unknown player commented. Both players made their way over to the entrance where Desama was standing. "So, who might you be?" Sukawa asked turning his attention to the new player that appeared.

"My name is Anako Kenra, I'm a level 32 demi-human. I have a good balance between offensive and support in battle" Desama looked at the player up and down, he wore a dark purple cloak with a hood, his eyes were dark red like a demon's and he had dark skin. The hood covered his hair so he couldn't see it.

"Why is it that you helped my ally out of the blue? It was just one shadow wolf. Surely there's plenty other creatures more worthy of your attention"

"Doesn't hurt to help out a player from time to time. So long as they don't cause me trouble, I'm fine with helping others out"

"Well then maybe you should come along with us at least for a while" The vampire suggested. Anako decided to go along with it and join their party. The trio made their way through the entrance into the temple. It was dark aside from the sunlight flowing through the windows and cracks of the aging stone. Anako studied the architecture on the walls while Damien just followed close behind his ally.

Meanwhile Sukawa walked through the large lobby, looking left and right for anything of interest. That's when he reached the end of the lobby. A massive statue of the demonic creature stood holding some kind of red gem. The player was hesitant but decided to reach for the glowing jewel. "Feels...full of energy" In an abrupt flash of light, the gem phased inside the character, multiplying his stats by two.

"Wow, this feels weird" The other two players could see a red aura glistening around the vampire's body. "Fascinating, so this is the outcome of you holding the gem. What impressive power boost. Though, I doubt it's permanent" At that moment, the temple began to shake, pieces of the ceiling came crashing down, letting more sunlight flood in from outside.

Turing their attention towards the statue, they could tell it wasn't made from stone any longer, it was now the real living thing. "Shit, this may be bad" Sukawa commented as they stood just a few feet from the monster. Out of nowhere, the dark-skinned monster threw a punch right for Desama. Luckily, his boost let him evade the coming attack just in time.

The force of the demon's attack caused the temple to crack apart and begin to collapse on itself. Quickly the trio raced back toward the entrance of the temple with the creature following them close behind. Anako jumped up facing the creature. "Take this, paralysis bind!" Ropes made of demonic Ki wrapped around the monster's arms and legs, keeping him bound him place as the landmark continued to cave in on itself.

As the three made it outside, the demonic creature let out a deep roar as it was buried under a hill of stone. "Hopefully that was effective" Sukawa commented as they stood side-by-side. Just then, they heard a rumbling beneath the pile of stone. "Just great" Damien complained as the quaking grew louder" Finally their enemy broke free from the pile, sending pieces of stone in every direction.

"Time to shut this thing up" Anako announced as he drew his Katana out. Both he and the vampire charged their opponent. Desama threw a punch at the exact same time the monster did. Their clash send a powerful shock wave through the environment. The demon managed to grab ahold of him him beginning to squeeze him with both hands.

Sukawa could feel his HP decreasing at a drastic rate. (Crap, even with my super-human strength, I can't seem to break free of his grip!) Kenra threw his blade right for it's forehead. Even with the monster's fierce breath of fire, the katana moved through the flames, piercing the demon's forehead. The immense pain caused their attacker to loosen his grip on the player.

"Good work" Desama said as he escaped the beast's hold on him. Their archer shot multiple arrows right at their target's face, each one that struck it's skin had no effect and instead broke on impact. Finally, one of them struck the beast in the eye, partially blinding it.

"Good, I at least did something" Damien commented. Sukawa moved at full speed, upper-cutting the enemy up into the air, nearly reaching the clouds. Quickly, Desama tossed his blade over to Kenra. Using his ability, he used a telekinesis-type ability to send the blade upward into the sky. Moving his index finger in a quick motion, the katana moved in each direction his finger did, piercing the beast repeatedly.

Their assailant shattered into wisps of light just before it could hit the ground. "Impressive, didn't know you could do that at such a long range" Anako smirked before giving his ally back his weapon then picked his up from where the demon was going to land...

1 Month later...

The group had improved greatly, Damien was level 45, Kerena was 48 and Sukawa was level 50. They heard word that a great number of player's banded together to create a sort of government in an a banded city surrounded by a large steel wall all around the city into a circle. The three players made their way towards the great city.

As they reached the entrance, Desama noticed That all around the city was cleaned up and looked nearly new. "Hmph, seems as though the players put a lot of effort into cleaning up this old place" The vampiric warrior commented with a smirk. They walked up to the large metal doors of the entrance where a man stood guard. He wore large Imperial armor something you would normally see from a royal knight.

"Halt! What business do you have entering the city of Gumby!?" Both Anako and Sukawa tried to hold back a laugh from the ridiculous name of the city. "My name is Desama Sukawa, I am a level 50 vampire and wish to gain entrance into the city so I may speak with its ruler, or whatever name you would give the one highest in power" At first the guard gave him an annoyed look but then decided to step aside as the large doors slowly opened. They made their way through the tall Gates into the large city.

Kerena studied all the large houses and buildings, while Damien watched each player carefully. The average level of each player in the area was about 30-45, but they didn't doubt that there were plenty of level 50's hanging around the area as well. They walked through the bricked streets towards the large castle in the center of the city.

As they reached the doors of the castle, Desama focused his sight on the two knights guarding both sides of the door. (Let's see...level 45 and 49. The right guard may cause us some problems, but the level 45 should be simple to handle even if they're only four levels apart)

"May we help you?" The left guard questioned as they held their great swords like staffs. "We're here to speak with your ruler so we may negotiate" Both of the men looked at each other then began laughing. "What makes you think you're worthy of such an audience with our King!?"

"I assure both of you that we are indeed worthy of meeting with your king. Normally I'd find it a waste of energy to fight someone when it gains me nothing. However, if both of you keep me from meeting with the one in command, I will have no choice but to take both of you down" The pair of guards clench their weapons with a frown.

"You dare threaten guards of the royal castle!?"

"Apparently so, now will you let us through or do I have to make a scene?" Sukawa questioned. Without another word, The right guard lunged towards their leader head-on. Right as they were about to attack, Desama stopped the great sword, clapping his hands together on both sides of the blade right before it could hit.

"Heh, you might be close to my level, but you're merely just a human" Suddenly the leader kicked the sword right out of the knight's hand. All of them watched as the great sword spiraled a few feet above them before the vampire caught it with his left hand. "I will ask you again, let us pass"...

(TO BE CONTINUED...)