*

"Look, Ossan (old man)*, it's annoying if you just keep staring at me practicing with that big smile of yours. I'd go as far as to say that it is creepy." I complained to the man that has been sitting there for the past half-hour, smiling and watching me practice. Meanwhile, I had moved on to another piece of practice, slowly moving from the Balancer stance, which had resembled a horse stance, to a half bow stance.

Combatante hasn't logged back on yet. I wonder if she's busy with something.

"What's wrong then, young one, you were practicing rather smoothly before I came along and you noticed me after... a few hours or so. Or is something on your mind?" The Ossan was unfazed by my rebuke, and even smoothly came back with a retort. Which sadly made sense.

I wasn't too sure about what he was talking about though.

"Ossan, I have no idea what you are talking about. Isn't it better to keep thinking during a fight?"

"Young man, is that what you really believe? Haven't you thought of letting loose for a bit? I believe that you had done so several times in the past."

Letting loose... is he referring to Berserk Impulse?

"Young man, sometimes you think too much. You hesitate rather often on your moves, and you miss openings and make yourself vulnerable in the process. Your thoughts, they have been holding you back."

And not thinking strategically in a battle is a good thing? I brought up as such to the Ossan, who merely smiled.

"Young man, it seems that for now, we are of opposing mindsets. Perhaps we shall bring this up another time."

And before my eyes, the Ossan vanished into thin air. Is he some sort of assassin or ninja or something?

Oh well, at least I can finally practice in peace. I switched exercises, practicing lunges, my spear shaft stabbing forward as I had practiced. Since it was a dashing foot movement, I need not extend it as much as I would have had, for the sake of stability. The thing about extending the spear to its full length in a dash movement was that I wasn't too confident of withdrawing the spear. Holding a long pole by the end is not an easy thing to do after all, and I can be easily disarmed in this situation.

"Morning, Howard."

A lunge is a common thing in fencing, a fencer suddenly moving forward in a forward leap, the weapon and arm extending to its full length to catch the opponent. But a spear is far longer than a epee after all.

"I said, morning, Howard..."

I lunged, and using the leg that was leading, I pushed myself back, retreating to a safe distance where my spear shaft's long reach would be at an advantage, and made to lunge again to strike at the imaginary opening that opened up in my mind as my imaginary opponent missed his strike...

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!!"

I was jolted from my theoretical revelry, running spear first into a rather angry Tante, who deflected the spear shaft to the side with her spear that she was equipped with. I was caught off guard and stumbled, falling face first onto the ground.

I looked up, sheepish grin on my face. Perhaps that Ossan was right...

"Ah, morning, Tante..."

"Get up."

Tante's normally clear and melodic voice had a hard edge. It was as though someone struck a bell with too much force. She seemed to be angry for some reason... but the reason was of little importance to me. Whatever the reason, her anger appeared to be directed at me. I am... in the soup, so to speak.

"No, really, get up, Howard. We have to get moving. We are headed to join an punitive force at the Crypt to the West. I only just found out about this on the Internet, and if we move quickly, we should be able to get there to join in the fun."

....

And there I thought that she was angry.

"Now pack up, we get moving in an hour. I'm going to have to trouble you with my baggage; my men still need to rest."

Yup, she's still angry.

**

In a village to the west, some distance away.

Preparations are being made as soldiers, knights and paladins ran about, arming themselves for battle. Blacksmiths were hard at work, repairing and upgrading equipment where ever possible, and chefs are doling out servings of stew and bread. Priests are giving out blessings whenever they could, and mages are meditating and preparing spells to use in combat.

In the middle of the village, the expedition leader, Gordon, is deep in discussion with his party regarding the war tactics for the expedition...

"What's for lunch?"

"Just stew and bread."

"Again?! These chefs aren't very original, aren't they?'

If you consider this war tactics discussions, that is.

"Anyways, what are we going to do for our manpower?" Gordon, a level 125 Paladin was chewing on a piece of bread as he spoke, spraying crumbs everywhere. He's currently leading the expedition, and through a long and convoluted quest line, he has somehow arrived at an important position as the expedition leader leading the assault on the Crypt, where there has been report of undead and orc activity within the vicinity.

Despite this, he has been taking a rather lackadaisical approach to all this so far, chewing his bread while lying against a convenient tree stump in a relaxed manner, somehow lightening the serious atmosphere. In the midst of the chaotic bustle, the discussion was rather calm, the group taking the lead from their relaxed leader and lounging around peacefully. Several soldiers and blacksmiths shook their heads disdainfully as they passed, but it was ignored.

"Aren't we enough? We have easily 100 soldiers, about 50 archers and 50 mages, and about 25 priests." one of his self-proclaimed lackeys, a level 95 Knight, spoke up, his head covered by a half helmet.

"The undead aren't to be underestimated though. It's probably best that we get some back up anyway." Morton, a Level 131 Fire Mage, piped up. His twin, Horton, a Level 131 Ice Mage, nodded silently in agreement.

"But should we be a bit selective with the recruitment? We don't want a repeat of what happened in the last punitive force." another knight spoke up, a bit more uptight than the last.

A few months back, a punitive force led by Darius, a level 140 Sword Warrior, in order to liberate Baran Village from a large war party of lizard men, fell into disarray after Darius unwisely led the punitive force into an ambush. There were many casualties reported as a result, and the returns weren't even very good.

That knight had been playing for quite some time now despite being a casual player, and was in that particular group. Also, since that event, he has also actively participated in several raids that were similar to the first, but with better results. As such, we could say that he was a veteran with regards to this particular aspect.

"I see your point. What do you suggest we get then?" Gordon sat up from the tree stump, all ears for whatever advice he could get. The relaxed look on his face was sharpened as he suddenly became serious. The light atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

"W-well sir, I would suggest a surplus of priests and paladins since we are supposedly going against undead. Some mages and archers wouldn't hurt as well to mow down the enemy lines." The knight became nervous at Gordon's sudden interest, but emboldened by his success at drawing interest, he made an effort nevertheless.

"Oh, and since we are supposedly facing undead, we should see a necromancer or two. Some assassins should be recruited as well to take out these key targets." the other knight spoke up, unfazed by the the heavy atmosphere. Gordon rubbed his temple as he heard the candid responses from the rest of his group, keeping silent throughout.

At last he spoke, in a barely calm voice, as though keeping something back.

"Hmmm... All valid arguments, but all this is just guesswork right? Did anyone even bother to scout out the area and report back to the force?" Gordon suddenly snapped midway through his musing, all traces of his relaxed nature gone now. His irritated voice had an edge to it.

The excited babbling from the rest of the group soon fell to a silence at Gordon's outburst. There was awkward mumbling as the group looked at one another, at a loss, their bright ideas shot down by a single sentence. No one had any idea what to do without the necessary intelligence, and the proposals before weren't back by anything concrete either.

"I'm surrounded by idiots...." Gordon sighed to himself, and continued in a calm voice:

"Assemble a scout party of about 5 or 6. I need information. What is the terrain like, what are we currently going up against, what are my key targets and their weaknesses." This was said to a rogue, who stood up straight and saluted in a not-so-rogue-like manner.

In the meantime, Morton, you begin the recruitment drive. We'll need a powerful vanguard force to breach the enemy lines. That is what we are missing. Our defensive core should be fine, but just in case, get some mages and priests as well. We are looking at about 150 to about 200 extra people in total. Did you get all that or do I have to cram it into your thick, numb skulls?"

Again, there was an awkward silence as everyone nodded. Gordon suddenly relaxed again, and waved his arm so as to shoo them away.

"Good, then it's settled. Get to work, everyone, we only have 30 days to perform the suppression and report back to the king. Chop chop!!"

At this, everyone within the group scurried off, with the exception of Gordon, as he lay back against the tree stump again and sighed, this time peacefully. Several soldiers continued to look disapprovingly at him, but they were, of course, ignored.

And so, amidst the hustle and bustle of the war effort, a loud snoring sound could soon be heard above the noise as Gordon slept peacefully, oblivious to the noise and angry looks the soldiers are shooting at him.

***

"Come on, move quickly, we have to get to the recruitment drive before sundown or all the slots will be taken!! And where is my song?"

Tante hurried me as she ran in her armor, flag raised up and billowing in the breeze. Meanwhile, I was moving slowly behind, burdened by a large amount of baggage. For one person, she always seemed to carry around a large amount of stuff. She didn't seem to be too tired despite the armor she wore, though.

I was too tired to sing anyway, and even though I had a rather large amount of stamina, it was steadily dropping due to the weight of my heavy burden. On the other hand, I was training my stamina in the process, and it slowly increased as we jogged along the stone path.

We were currently still in the forest, and the sun was blotted by the large tree cover that covered the area, making it cooler than normal. In exchange, the atmosphere was humid, and sweat ran down my face.

It was annoying for Virtual Reality to even imitate that, but I was okay with this, since it was a natural way for the body to cool itself down.

I drank a mouth of water from a leather weather canteen as we jogged. Got to keep myself well-hydrated...

Ah right, I wonder how Blake was doing?

"Friend List!!"

I checked my buddy list, and to my pleasant surprise, the normally greyed-out name was now a bright blue, signifying that he was online. Blake was the only other player character that passed out of the basic training program with me back in the Sleepy Fortress. He was a gifted martial artist, but he excelled in using the sword. He was definitely a strong guy to have by your side, but we decided to split ways after the program, promising to keep in touch.

Let's see... if I remember correctly, by tapping the name on the list, I would be able to "whisper" to him. The "Whisper" feature is a common one found in many games, allowing players to communicate with one another over great distances, even across channels. It was a lot more convenient to use this than a chat room in most situations.

Let's see... tap the name, and when the name lights up, verbally send a message to initiate a conversation.

"Oi, Blake, are you there? Hello?" I asked tentatively. There was a good chance in other games that he is currently away from keyboard (AFK), but this is Royal Road. A few seconds later, I got a response.

"Who's there?" a rather confused voice responded. It seems that Blake has not used the Whisper feature before either, or had no cause to. I wonder what he has been up to since that day?

"It's Howard here. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it's been about 3 weeks since. How have you been doing?" The voice took on a surprised tone, but it sounded pleasantly surprised.

"I'm having a blast, but my leveling's been on the slow side. How about you?"

"I'm doing pretty well for myself. I'm now at level 57. You?"

"... 30."

"You weren't kidding when you said that, huh. Still, it's nice to hear from someone. I'm currently in a dungeon now, training on my own since I couldn't find a party. Hang on a minute - Eat this, Savage Slice!!" There was a sound of a blade slicing through flesh easily, and a eerie howl as the unfortunate target entered its death throes.

"Huh... If you don't mind my low level, is it fine that we meet up then? I'm headed to the Crypt, west from the Dryad Forest. There's a raid going on right now, and they are taking in people. It's a great chance to meet more people, not to mention the large amount of experience and loot to be obtained.

"That sounds awesome. Halcyon Village where I am at the moment's not that far from that location. I should be able to get there in abou- Hold on, there's an opening. Doryah!!" Wait, is he fighting as well as talking at the same time? Sounds of gore and violence could be heard over the conversation as swords were crossed, the noise of people getting stabbed and cut down.

Then I heard footsteps as someone tried to run away. Blake decided at this point to continue speaking.

"Either way, I'll see you there. Now if you would excuse me... Dash attack - Slipstream!!"

More screaming was heard until I cut off the conversation. Holy crap.

That conversation also jolted something in my memory. That guy was pretty adamant that I go for this...

"Ah, Tante, I think I forgot to mention this..."

****

During my break, I logged off again after explaining to Tantte that I had "school commitments", being in the school fencing club. I wasn't very good, but I had two natural advantages: I was left-handed, which was awkward for most people to fencing against since the majority of them were right-handers and they primarily play against right-handers, and my tall height gave me a naturally longer reach.

On the other hand, I was not the most flexible person in the world, nor is my physical fitness excellent, so to speak. Also, I'm overly aggressive since the epee does not play by the right of way. In the end, it all balanced out and my coach had the team spar against me to prepare for fights against left-handers. I'm happy to say that this has changed over the 2 years spent in the military, but my flexibility still needs some (scratch that, make that a lot of) work.

Anyways, the team captain had decided for the whole group, which had graduated from college years back, to meet again today to catch up with one another and see the coach again, including me, the team punching bag.

Well, I did say to Tante that I had school commitments. It was probably her fault that she missed the past tense in that sentence, but I still felt a little guilty anyway. Either way, we had made good progress, anyway, and it was probably fine to take a decently long break for the day anyway, so she readily agreed to this after some persuasion.

Speaking of our coach, he was a middle-aged chap who easily gets impatient. When we were in the club a few years back, he was happily married with a little girl by his side. Under his charge, our school team had enjoyed relatively high successes over the years. Other than fencing however, he was an amazing fellow, taking up martial arts in addition to fencing, and scoring several degrees as well.

It wasn't very pleasant training under him, though. When we were starting out, because my lunge covered the least distance (my physical fitness was terrible back then), he had me utilize a defensive approach, passive maintaining distance and fighting with mainly counters. On hindsight, I should have gone for something that fitted my temperament but I wanted to take on a sports co-curricular activity for a change, and bowling was definitely out because it costs too much money. Other sports as well, in my opinion. I wasn't a very sporty chap back then, I admit.

Either way, we still met up, and it was agreed that we would meet up at a fast-food restaurant before we went to the "dojo", which was our pet name for the place where we used to train back then.

Our team captain, Kevin, welcomed me when I arrived. He had a short build, and was the only one who had some experience and knowledge in fencing before we signed up, making him a likely option for team captain. Within the team, we had mostly saber users and a few epee users. The foil, the third of the three, was seen as the hardest weapon of the sport to pick up, and as such, Kevin, who used the foil, had to shift to a saber as a result since the others were beginners in fencing. Two years, and two practices a week isn't a lot of time to practice anyway. Not to mention that our batch was one of the smallest within a few years as well.

"Oh, if it isn't our only leftie. How's it been these past two years? The army treating you well?" Kevin smiled as we shook hands. In addition to his fencing ability, he was friendly and self-effacing, and he was actually likable unlike most team captains, who tend to be regular jerks.

"Well enough, though I have already passed out from that Hellhole some time ago." I grinned as I said this, and flexed my left arm playfully, flexing my bicep. Kevin nodded approvingly, and we settled down at a long table to wait for the others. I ordered a strawberry smoothie at the counter as Kevin sat there and sipped a cup of coffee.

"Ah, then you should have some time before you enter University, then right? What have you been doing in the meantime?" Kevin said as I returned with my order and sat down with a relaxed sigh.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Ah, you know, I have been here and there... picked up a part-time job, took up a few hobbies, also tried a new VR game..."

"Virtual Reality, huh? It's really useful for training, although nothing beats physical training in real life, in my opinion. Although, would you care to elaborate a little further on this?"

"I thought you would know the game though, it's Royal Road, have you played it?"

"Oh, Royal Road? I haven't played it, but I have heard good things about it. Coach positively hates it, he made it clear that he would rather die than have his little girl play the game."

"He's not going to like hearing this from me, then." We laughed, and I felt a sense of warmth that arose from nostalgia. All fathers, even mine, naturally have a daughter-complex anyway. Oh, stereotypes...

"Have you kept in touch with the others, then?"

"Well, I did manage to contact Gerald. He has been overseas for some period of time pursuing his degree, but he is able to come back here for our little reunion today. Shen and Agatha are also coming, they are currently working while aiming for degrees at the local universities. How about things on your side?"

"Well, I did manage to call Coach to let him know that we are dropping by today, so a surprise is out. Which is just as well, he hates surprises more than he hates VR games anyway. I also got Henry and Blue to come as well."

"It seems that we got the whole group between us then. It would be like old times, huh?"

"Yup. For today, anyway." Kevin had a rather sad look on his face as he said that, but covered up his sorrow by taking another sip of coffee and coughing awkwardly. There was a resultant silence as a result.

The awkward silence was soon broken by the arrival of the other club alumni, who chose to gather as a group and arrive together.

****

Coach welcomed us like he would his children. Well, children that was not his daughter, anyway.

"Well, if it isn't my batch from about 3 years ago. You guys look healthy and strong, time has certainly treated you well. But have you guys been practicing your fencing??"

There was some mumbling that suggested that this was in the positive. Coach nodded solemnly, and continued:

"Somehow, I don't believe you, but I'll give you a chance to prove it. Your juniors are currently here for their weekly practice, so I think that you guys can help me train them by sparring with them. They need more exposure to improve themselves. I have high hopes for these guys as well, but you guys have your pride from seniority to uphold, so it should be a good fight."

As such, we met up with our juniors. We shook hands and we were grouped accordingly. There were about 7 of us on the Senior's side and around 10 on the Junior's side, easily a rather larger batch compared to a few years back, and it was eventually decided that we would go by a round-robin, where each participant faces off the others at least once, and we were playing by Saber rules, sudden death. Coach handed out equipment that was kept in the "dojo" and we took our places and began.

The equipment consisted of a wire mesh helmet, suit and gloves. The saber had a guard that covered most of the hilt, and the blade was more a long, rather thin and whippy metal rod with a larger tip at the end.

The saber follows the right of way (players take turns to attack and defend, and you switch roles if the attacker attacks once), but you are able to slash with it as well. The guard was larger than that of a foil and you can score a point by hitting that in addition to parts of the body. As expected, the saber felt really light in my hand.

I was first up against an equally tall opponent. I had things to be jealous about him, other than height, he was everything that I was not; he had good physical fitness, he was a right-hander, and he was brash and confident. Oh, and he mainly uses the saber. Coach also was particularly proud of this particular recruit, something he wasn't with me. Pissed by all this, I soon ended this with a wristy forehand that swatted aside his guard and bit into his shoulder in one movement after some time spent maintaining distance. Not bad for a guy who was deemed rusty after a long period of time.

All around me, the seniors were having mixed results as several lost as well. Kevin won his, Shen won his, but the rest lost. Coach shook his head disapprovingly, but it was the first round.

We fared better in the second and third rounds, however, as the seniors soon got to grips with their rusty fencing skills. I and Shen won one and lost one, bringing our scores go up up to about 2-1, with only Kevin maintaining a perfect streak.

My fourth opponent was a bit too defensive and maintained a bit too much distance, however, and I quickly covered the distance with a foot movement and tagged him with a simple lunge, like I would with my spear shaft in game. It was a bit disconcerting to see a normally slow and big opponent move so fast, but that was the way it normally was. Smaller players tend to be a bit more agile and fast while taller and larger players fall back on their longer reach. It was a stereotype which has been repeatedly broken in the past, and I reminded my junior of this. Consider him chastised.

The round robin went on. Kevin soon lost his first match, and we who lost a fair bit weren't too quick to console him, sadly.

"Argh, my first loss..."

"Dude, you have already won 8 out of the 9 fights you have been in so far, come on!!"

The next few opponents were a lot better, and they got into the groove. There was one that performed a cracking parry-riposte win, beating aside my lunge and striking me again for the win. There was another that had a really long lunge that suddenly covered a long distance in a flash. Two demonstrated excellent footwork, and I wondered if they had been taking martial arts before they took up fencing. I lost those fights, easy.

Nevertheless, I made an effort, but 16 fights in a day can really get to you, and I committed more mistakes as my legs increasingly got fatigued and worn out from bending low. As a rather tall person, I had to squat lower than the others to make the most of my advantage, but at the same time, it can really wear a guy down.

The last fight was against a junior known as Jacob. That one was my most memorable fight for the day, in my opinion.

Both sides were equally tired by that time, but when we took our places across one another, I happened to have looked into his eyes… and was forced to hold it there.

They were burning with the desire to win, a steely look that defied his fatigue and demanded victory at all costs. I involuntarily gulped, caught myself and focused by closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

With that, the bout began. The first few moments were spent on getting a feel for the one another’s “killing range”, which not only included the player’s reach, but also how far they can lunge and their burst speed, which basically meant a sudden surge in speed to cover the distance and attack. I was defending, with the right of way currently on Jacob’s side.

Eventually he started by poking and testing my defences, opting to initiate even though the distancing was not perfect yet. Knowing that this was a feint, I stood my ground. Right of way passed over to me with that attack, and I moved forward, carefully covering the distance. I didn’t want to open myself up to a riposte.

I decided at this point to try something from in-game. I initiated, covering the distance with a sudden burst and crossing swords with Jacob. At the same time, I twisted my saber outwards to throw him off balance. My blade was on top, and I shifted the trajectory of my attack upwards to try and catch him on his shoulder.

This movement was similar to the fundamental spear movement lan from the Bajiquan system. Spears have several similarities in common with fencing, mainly the need for distancing, thrusts being the predominant attack, and the way it is handled as an extension of your arm, focusing on small and/or linear movements.

Unfortunately, the saber was a lot lighter and shorter than a spear, and through force of will, Jacob recovered beautifully and brought in his off-position arm in a forehand that caught me on the side. For some reason, his slash was a lot faster than my thrust, and that made all the difference, netting him the point and winning him the round.

“Nice counter.”

“No, senior. You hesitated at the last minute.”

“Did I?”

Jacob said nothing else, leaving me with that enigmatic response.

Eventually it came to an end, and the seniors managed to hold on to their pride somewhat, but it was mostly Shen and Kevin who carried us, mostly, with a score of 11-5 and 12-4 respective.

"Howard, quit being modest. You did just as well as Shen have done. And the two losses you had in the last two rounds were mostly flukes, in my opinion, even if Coach doesn't admit it." I was rebuked by my fellow seniors as I made this assessment. Yet, I had come out from the round robin with a score of 10-6, being third among the seniors and about 6th overall (a win record of about 62.5%, too.), but I could have been playing so much better, to be honest. I made a note to watch out for these mistakes back at Royal Road.

Coach soon approached me as we were packing up and preparing to go for dinner (Coach's treat, one should never turn down free food), nodding approvingly.

"You have changed, indeed. Last time your physical fitness and inflexibility were holding you back, and while you still need to become just a bit more flexible and your physicals still need a bit of work, there is certainly a marked improvement in your fencing. Have you been continuing fencing outside of school?"

"Not exactly, Coach. You wouldn't like to hear this, but..." I soon told him about my little foray into Virtual Reality Gaming and Royal Road, and how I have been picking up some martial arts on the side.

Instead of exploding or acting defensive for the sake of his daughter, Coach simply nodded appreciatively as I finished my account.

"So it does have some effect then... I have wondered why the quality of our competitors had gone up recently, and most of them seem to have included VR Training into their curriculum. I'm glad for the first hand account here. It would take some effort, but I believe we should be able to introduce this as well..."

I wonder about that. It's definitely a cause to be jealous of then. But it's not exactly my problem now anyway.

"It's just as you say, Coach. There's definitely an effect. Reflexes and Muscle Memory can be cultivated in the game, although physical fitness and real-life practice is still improved in real life."

"No, no, no, aside from that... A whole new world to explore, you say. I have traveled over this good Earth many times over, and of course it never ceases to surprise me, but... hmm..."

I finished my packing up and went to take a quick shower at the changing room. Behind me, cupping his chin as his hands as he sat there, Coach was deep in thought.

****

We had a great time chatting with our juniors over a rather large dinner, and it was agreed that we would keep in touch and do this again some time.

We laughed and made jokes, exchanged emails and numbers. Several of our group even played Royal Road, and I agreed to meet them in game... after I level considerably. My level is a bit on the low side, even if I didn't want to admit it. The others expressed some interest, and would probably join us sooner or later. I look forward to that.

I really do... I think?

I was walking home from the train station after the group parted ways. In the advent of cleaner and more advanced technology, the government's campaign to encourage more people to take public transport had been largely successful. Cars are also ridiculous expensive, and so there were few of them on the road, and all of them ran on electrical motors. As a result, the air was clean and fresh, and the sky was no longer blotted out by the smog that was released day by day in the past, opening up to easily a million stars, a stark contrast dancing across the night sky. The half-moon hung over the vicinity, bathing everything in a silvery light.

"Things have certainly started to change since I took up Royal Road..."

And it certainly had. Even though my journey so far had been a relatively short one, I had fought several times with my life on the line, and came out victorious each time. It had been a matter of luck, but I relished each and every one of these encounters. Small they may be, but each fight, even the one against rabbits, had contributed to my growth time and again.

It easily felt more rewarding than real life, which I had felt was a drag. I still had no goal in mind, and I still want to just settle down in a well-paying job and retire early, but perhaps my ambitions have changed, even just a little bit?

Today's sparring round robin had been a fun and enjoyable experience for me. I fought with my pride as a senior on the line, and had mostly justified it, winning more rounds than I lost. It felt great, being competitive. I felt immense pleasure when I had won, and felt sorrow at my losses. Perhaps that was what athletes feel each time at a tournament. I could empathize with them somewhat, but I'm no professional, to be honest.

I recalled what I had reflected on during that particular night's practice, where that Ossan had suddenly appeared in front of me with that wide Cheshire cat smile of his, and told me that I had been thinking too much.

"Was it okay for me to go so far for a game that will only be deleted and replaced with new titles eventually?"

"Why am I even bothering to make the effort?"

"Have I forgotten what those RPGs did to me in the past?"

"Was it okay for me to throw away my pet philosophy regarding these games?"

These thoughts came rushing to me as I immediately thought on this. I had begun my adventure, intent on quitting once the one-month's free trial was over. And yet, I had went through so many brand new experiences thus far as my in-game avatar, immersed myself more deeply in the game than any other game I had play thus far in my short life.

It was a new experience, so to speak, a breath of fresh air from my dull life so far. I conveniently ignored the games that I had played in my school years, bright lights that lit up my otherwise bright life.

I still have about a week's worth of the trial left. But we are going to the punitive force... Which will probably take a bit of my one month left... and after that? I didn't want to miss those possibilities...

I decided to let my last week play out first before I would decide on whether I wanted to continue.

*****

Meanwhile, back at the Sleepy Fortress...

A young man who was dressed in traveler's garb had suddenly appeared there. He was tall and muscular, but his shabby appearance, so similar to that of many newbie players, was naturally ignored by the general populace that resided here.

"Wow..." and like many new players before him, he was pretty taken by the scene that greeted him as he appeared.

"Indeed, a new world for me to explore... And here I thought I did everything that I wanted to do so far in my life. The Earth continues to surprise me, each and every other day."

Like many other new players, he had heard good things about the game through word of mouth, and the thought of a new world to explore has consumed him, and he could not think of anything else. Finally, he gave in to his desires and got a capsule, getting a close contact of his to bring it over immediately and set it up quickly. He had paid a little extra for that, but...

"Well, time is money after all, but time is still more valuable than money." That was his pet opinion which could not be shaken to this day.

He had surreptitiously made subtle changes to his avatar as well, making him younger by a few years and taller than he normally was in real life. He had always wanted a couple of inches on his height, and his body, while muscular without any useless fat, could afford to be a bit bulkier...

Of course, he had also taken the name "Alf" in this game. He had always seen himself as an Alfred or Alfonso or Alfonse anyway.

After appearing and working out he kinks in his new virtual body, Johnathan Zhang, or as he was now known as, Alf was keen to begin his explorations. He checked his backpack and found 10 pieces of rye bread and a canteen of water.

"The game was even so kind to suit me up for the challenge, too."

He dashed to the gate that led to the outside of the city, but was stopped by the Guard that was stationed there.

"Hold, traveler. I see that you are new to this continent. The world outside of this fortress is a dangerous one, and I see that you are ill-prepared for this. As such, it is the lord's decree that new travelers are to stay within the perimeter of the fortress for the first fourth weeks to prepare. For now, you are not supposed to pass through this point. Or else."

Alf gave a strange look to the Guard that stood there and spoke like a pompous puppy (at least, that was how he sounded to him). There was an awkward pause as the Guard realized that the newcomer that he had spoken to and threatened had not scarpered off like the others before him. Alf dug his ear nonchalantly, and suddenly lashed out with a large and rather well-muscled arm.

Bam.

It was sweet and textbook, a left hook aimed at the chin, devoid of any excess movement and perfectly weighted. The blow sent many mixed signals to the brain. The brain was jumbled up by the feedback and soon arrived at this conclusion: fall unconscious, shutting down all bodily functions. As a result, the guard flew up several inches from the blow, simply went limp and fell over like a log.

Alf massaged the blood back into his fist that was throbbing from the impact. He gave a rather happy grin since no one else stepped forward to try and stop him.

"Well, that settles it. ONWARDS TO ADVENTURE!!"

Drawing curious and suddenly surprised looks from passers-by who heard his sudden outburst, Alf dashed out of the city, happily oblivious to the dangers and curiosity that surrounded him.

**********************

Author's Notes:

I'll probably think of something to say here.