Chapter 1 - 2: Trapped in a Gilded Cage
???, Avalon(?). 01:14 AM JST
"WHAT IS THIS?", Tsukasa yelled at the ceiling. "ANSWER ME, YOU SH!TTY DEVS!" The reality of the situation had finally sunk it for the boy, who was desperately trying to communicate with a GM or a Dev... or anyone else. Tsukasa's HP and MP bars had vanished from the top of his vision, but it didn't mean anything - it could still be an event, or an update, right? Tsukasa could now sense his mana reserves, but not his health - maybe it was because he was undamaged? He tried accessing the menu again, but nothing seemed to happen.
"Maybe there's a new logout function," Tsukasa said, trying to convince himself. He started making weird motions, jumping, and other actions, but nothing popped up. "Maybe if I just think about logging out?" Tsukasa tried but failed - and he was out of ideas. Despite this, he just wanted to keep trying.
In his heart, Tsukasa already knew he was trapped, but his brain couldn't seem to accept it. He decided to calm himself down before proceeding. He took two deep, shuddering breaths and closed his eyes for a good minute.
"Okay. I should start by looking for some other players - there ought to be a few solo players hunting bosses at this hour who hadn't noticed. Tsukasa left the room he was in and into the entry hall. Another gate lay on one end, while a large banner labeled 'iNCITE Guild Hall' - the name of his guild. iNCITE stood for No Cash ITEms, while his guildmates suggested adding an 'i' so it made more sense. The name was strange, but everyone got used to - and eventually loved - it.
As soon as Tsukasa opened the front gate he realized something was wrong - instead of the mountain range near Logres, strange scenery greeted him. He had expected something like this, but not to such an extent - iNCITE's guild hall was hidden amongst a few grassy hills, while the great city of Logres had been replaced with a flat plain illuminated by a radiant sun half shrouded in clouds., its tall grass whipping in the wind. Tsukasa noticed something else that was wrong - he could smell the plants, the dirt, and the... another smell he couldn't identify. Despite being a 'true' virtual reality device, a Reality/Shard could not emulate smell. Therefore Tsukasa was forced to face reality - this was no longer a game.
Tsukasa felt as if he should have been more shocked. Or scared. Or desperate to get home. But the more he thought about it, what was here to return to in his previous reality? An empty home with an aloof guardian, one he'd had since his parents... left but had never warmed up to him, endless hours of homework and school until he reached college - and probably study something interesting there. After that, what then? Look for a high paying job, but end up as an overworked salaryman until the end of his life, struggling to maintain a middle-class lifestyle. And that was an optimistic outlook compared to certain other possibilities. Living on the streets, eating out of dumpsters and begging? Although Tsukasa would hate to admit it, he was rather proud. Sure, he could suppress his emotions for a plan, but sacrifice his dignity just to scrape by? He couldn't do that.
Life in Japan, no, on Earth, was a pointless cycle - one could experience joys, but they never lasted long and usually had repercussions or a price. However, Tsukasa could accept that. It was the only path he could take, and that was much better than nothing. But if he could live the rest of his days in a twisted reality, removed from his old world and free, would he take the path out? Tsukasa couldn't decide, but he reached a conclusion.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As far as he knew, there was no way out of this plane of existence. Hating the time he spent here would be foolish - he should at least try to enjoy it, and who knew - he might find it better than Earth. Assuming this wasn't Earth.
Determined to make the most of his time trapped in this gilded cage, Tsukasa started walking, searching for signs of life.
After an eternity of walking, Tsukasa had discovered multiple things. Firstly, he could access his inventory by using the same method he had in Avalon. He also realized the scent earlier was that of animals - while his in-game character looked mostly human, in reality (this reality) he was a Dragon Avatar - descended from Dragon mages and hermits who sought wisdom, power, or both through a lonely path of pondering and eternally searching their souls. Since a Dragons form was immensely powerful and possessed many distractions, they took on human forms - avatars, However, some of these Dragons' descendants grew weary of these lives and mimicked human lifestyle. There were few players who chose the Dragon Avatar class for several reasons. Dragon Avatar hermits hadn't fought in ages, therefore they possessed a low racial bonus in the attack stat. They were also heteromorphic, which slowed down their leveling up and received harsh treatment from other players - heteromorphs could be thought of as the minority of Avalon. As a result, Tsukasa had been PKed every day until he reached level 30 - several months. However, this class had some pros to balance out the cons. They had a naturally high magic defense, resistance, and physical defense, as well as mana and speed. Unfortunately, they were unable to transform into a true draconic state. Since Tsukasa had high 'survival' stats via racial bonus, he focused on overlevelling his physical and magical attack.
Tsukasa eventually stopped walking when it grew dark. He was tired, but thankfully his character had good stamina so he had covered a lot of ground. Tsukasa activated [Guild Teleport], half hoping to find a guildmate but simply returned to the iNCITE guild hall. Since he could use a normal [World Teleport] spell to return to places he'd previously been, he could resume his journey the next day. However, [World Teleport] used a lot of mana for a 4th tier spell - it wasn't much, but its cooldown and cost could tip the tide of a battle. Fortunately for Tsukasa, he had obtained a unique, Divine class item a few events ago - the [Tarnkappe], a cloak of invisibility inspired by Das Rheingold and the Nibelungenlied, the theme for a chain of event bosses a few months ago that would fix this problem. He'd hide under it for a while after teleporting.
It rendered the user completely invisible but drained a mana at an alarming rate, but in battle, removed the invisibility and increased physical stats and mana regeneration. However, the combat boost didn't work if one had full mana, which was very important for [Assassins] and other classes, making it more useful for a melee build.
Tsukasa walked up the winding staircase in his guild hall to his room, one the nine large ones - which were for the Leader and Co-Leaders - the first nine members of iNCITE. The room was sparsely decorated, yet beautiful in its own way. Despite being windowless, it was not claustrophobic and had a very comfy bed - the one thing the Tsukasa had been focusing on. He quickly unequipped his clothes and armor, tapped his [Amulet of Greater Sustenance], which cleaned his body and nourished him, then slipped into bed - he still hadn't gotten to sleep since last night(?).