BAO... or Blade Art Online is an infamous anime which was all the rage back in the day. Sadly, even 30 years after release, it never reached classic status, which is a shame really. Dantes remembered enjoying the series when he was but a little weeb, beginning his anime journey. These days he was much more of a casual enjoyer, but back then, watching anime was a daily ritual -- and he actually enjoyed it. Dantes finished season three -- or was it four? The one with guns. That was the last one he could remember. That specific season was the event that awoke him to a whole new world of men who looked suspiciously feminine... but that was a story for another time.
He never watched Elicization or whatever it was called. The one where the main character is in a wheelchair. Is he crippled now? Who knows. Dantes would probably never know. People said it was good, but he was not about to watch any more BAO.
There would be no need anyway, for he was about to live out the exact experience.
----------------------------------------
After a short loading void, Dantes was dropped in the middle of the city at the city square. The area was slowly filled with more and more players, when a massive figure, covered completely in a red cloak descended from the heavens, penetrating the clouds from a dark portal made of lightning.
"God damn it the square isn't big enough-- oh shit, are we online?"
The figure obviously had a voice changer on, reducing the menace-meter of the situation. Come on, at least hire a voice actor or something. This was probably an important event after all.
"Uh... Welcome, players, I hope you've been enjoying Everybody's Tower so far-- What? That's not what I'm supposed to say?"
"..."
The crowd wasn't even finished loading in yet, and only a third of the server was at the central square. Since the area was far too cramped, some users even began to spawn atop rooftops and statues.
"Well, I'll be back in a few minutes."
The colossal figure floating in the sky disappeared, and soon enough (after loading in the entire userbase), he returned.
"Welcome, players... Look, I'm not gonna say that edgy shit on the script alright? Do you think we're fucking playing around or something? Get the fuck outta here." said the figure, "...Anyways, welcome, players. I'll keep it short: you're in a death game, yadda yadda yadda, reach the 999th floor and find the Only Part."
Silence.
"...What?" a voice in the crowd cried out, not in dismay, but in genuine confusion.
"...Look, have you guys watched BAO?"
"...What?"
"Come on, you guys haven't watched the classic? I mean--"
"What do you mean a classic, it fu**in' sucks!" another voice in the crowd shouted.
"...Mods, twist his balls then ban him."
"Yeowch!!", then despawn.
"Then let me be even clearer: You know how at the 999th floor of the tower, there's the Only Part, right? Until you reach there, everyone in the game will not be able to leave -- or you will die. That means you can't forcibly remove your headset, or we'll microwave your brain."
"...Is this a goddamn NUZLOCK?!" a new voice screamed.
"What? No, if you die in the game, you die in real life. There are no retries. Don't you get it? It's like real life, and you gotta finish the game if you want to escape and return to the real world."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"...So it is a NUZLOCK!"
The crowd fell silent once again. Even though this was a death game, the people did not seem to care at all. Perhaps most did not understand it, or there were more Buddhists than the gamemaster anticipated.
"Anyhow, since just copying BAO would be boring I added a small caveat -- on the 999th day, everyone's true identities will be revealed. That means your appearance, your name, your IP address -- everything!"
Suddenly, a wave of death screams rose from the crowd as many tried to escape in denial. Some even found enough willpower to override the anti-movement protocol to forcibly remove their own headsets, which triggered a split second of intense microwaving, cooking a chicken dinner. Their avatar exploded immediately afterwards, covering the nearby bystanders in blood and guts, only increasing the chaos.
"Hahahahahah, HAAHHAHAHAHA!" laughed the shadowy giant, "Well, have fun folks."
He disappeared into a black hole, erasing all evidence of his existence.
Shit, Dantes was about to miss his exam day. Oh well, he was going to spend all day playing Everybody's Tower anyway. This did not change his plans much.
To avoid being trampled by the crowd, he quickly pushed through the rapid current of avatars and tried to reach for a higher ground. However, since he had chosen a shorter-than-average avatar, he had a difficult time and slowly began to fall under the pressure of the waves. Thankfully, before being swept away, someone held out their hand for Dantes to grab onto from atop a fruit stand.
After climbing and catching his breath, Dantes turned to see that the stranger was none other than Renegade.
"...I suppose the hunt is cancelled huh?"
"Unfortunately, yeah... Anyways, wanna help me find my friends?" asked Renegade.
"Well, you saved my life. How can I say no?"
The two began scouting the area. However, since Dantes did not remember what Renegade's party members looked like, he was simply looking busy. Finally, Renegade spotted one of the members, an assassin being swept away by the stampede. The two could see that there were already many casualties of the stampede, but many still did not explode. Perhaps they were still alive. However, there were just as many pools of blood scattered across the streets.
"R-Reijin!", a faint voice could be heard.
Renegade hopped from roofs to rooftops, racing the river of users to locate his comrades. However, the current was far too quick, and the assassin was swallowed by the surface of heads, not to be seen again.
"Marina!"
Renegade looked around to find any sort of answer -- any clue. However, the situation seemed grim and no solution could be found. No blood could be seen yet, there was still time.
"Stop! Everyone, stop!"
However, his pleas were but whispers in the wind as the surrounding areas resembled hell, wailing of wounded souls and screams of sinners like air raid sirens. The air was suffocating with despair and the purple-pink sky almost seemed to descend, the heavens finally collapsing under the weight of the suffering.
As a last resort, Renegade ran to jump into the river himself, however, Dantes managed to stop him midway, holding his waist and locking in.
"Stop, what are you doing--"
Renegade's angry protest was interrupted by a volcanic eruption of blood, like those from Yellowstone. The blood came down as fast as it rose, painting the surrounding area in gooey red. Dantes could not help but wonder: How did the devs replicate the blood so realistically? How did replicate hell so perfectly?
----------------------------------------
By the next morning, the population of the servers dropped by half. Dantes was not sure if it was the same for the other servers, but the world felt as if it had stopped in its tracks. NPCs felt like soulless husks, and it became more clear than ever that the world was not right.
The reasons for the dramatic drop were the stampede, wreckless gaming, and... logging out.
Dantes did not wish to talk about the last cause.
After spending most of the day indoors in an NPC's house, he finally decided to leave the bathtub.
He wondered what happened to the Vergiln girl. When checking his friend list, her spot was replaced with 'deleted user'. She mentioned her father was one of the head developers, so hopefully, she was alright.
Renegade on the other hand...
He looked up to the sky. It was blue again. The streets were gray again.
Everybody's Tower had finally begun.
The quest told him so: "Clear Floor 1: Sol-Aegis, The Cowards' Palace"