“Master… Master, are you here? Please, it’s very urgent that you talk to me!”
“What is it Jiro? You are interrupting my training.”
“It’s Suzu she’s in danger!”
“I’m sure you’re just over exaggerating, now, tell me the real reason you are here interrupting my training.”
“Sir I am afraid that if you don’t hear me out, Something terrible will happen!”
(Shibuya quickly averts all his attention to his young student. Jiro appears as though he had gone through an extreme deal of trauma.)
“Wait, slow down… just take a breath and tell me very slowly… what’s wrong with Suzu?”
“Have you heard of the game AKO?”
“Yes, Suzu may have mentioned that once or twice, but what does that have to do with Suzu?”
(Now that Jiro has Shibuya’s full attention he explains to him what has happened to Suzu.)
“Well… I think it would be easier if I show you the video she sent me last night.”
(The video depicts a dragon with six heads hovering over what looks like thousands of people. The video is being broadcast from the POV of Suzu and that information is unbeknownst to Shibuya at the moment.)
“I bet you are wondering why you are here. Well, the purpose for you being here is because you have been specially selected to participate in our little contest. As you may already be well aware of you cannot log out. That is because you are forbidden to leave our very special tournament. The objective of this is to, well, survive of course. We are your new Gamemasters, we regulate the universe around you, and there is no way of leaving this realm. Now, some of you may have already figured it out but we left the communication lines open so that you may send your possible last goodbyes to your loved ones. Communications will stay open until Noon tomorrow until then you should really consider saying your goodbyes. Now here are the rules of this little gala: If you die in this realm you will be put into a coma through enhanced beta waves that will be transmitted from your VR helmet directly into your brain causing inexplicable damage to the beta receptors which in turn will cause a coma. You cannot be revived or resuscitated back to life if you die in here, you are gone forever, Now, here’s a real kicker, whoever joins the game starting from this moment on will be added to our little competition and the same rules will apply to them as well. Finally, the only way to leave this game intact is to, well… beat the game. You must completely clear all two hundred worlds. When and or if the first person clears the game you will all be free to leave. Just think of this place as your new home away from home. Now, please enjoy yourselves in our very special world. We wish you all luck, and remember, we will be watching.”
“Jiro… why did you show me this?”
“Siri just wait a moment.”
(“Mushin waits a moment until he hears a voice say…”)
“Father.”
(Shibuya is struck silent when he hears his daughter’s voice.)
(No please don’t tell me… don’t tell me that’s Suzu! NO, it can’t be true.)
Shibuya waits in silence as he is stunned by what he had just heard.)
(The voice continues)
“Father, I just want to let you know I will beat this game and reunite with you soon. No matter what, I will not let these bastards beat me. Dad, I urge you to hear me now, do not try to follow me into this game. Do not let Jiro fall prey to this. I love you father remember that, if I don’t make it, do not cry for me, remember me the way I was and don’t let my death ruin your life. I promise you I will try my best, your training will protect me well here since bladed weapons are the weapons of choice for people here. I must go now please do not follow me into this game I will be fine. I love you, daddy, take care Jiro you will always be my one and only true friend and I just need you to know...”
(Shibuya and Jiro wait in suspense waiting for Suzu to finish her sentence when finally, they hear a deep breath and silent quivering coming from Suzu before she utters the final statement.)
“I just need you to know that I (the sound and video cut out it seems as though the video was tampered with.) Please heed my request and don’t follow me. Good-bye, hopefully, I will see you sooner than later.”
(Shibuya and Jiro stand there in silence staring at the holograph video screen till a black screen appears showing that the video transmission has ended. A teardrop falls down their faces whilst their sadness echoes through the empty halls of the dojo.)
“Master, are you alright?”
(Shibuya just stands there expressionlessly staring at the holophone screen, then in an almost mute like tone he utters.)
“Jiro.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Get my car keys, you are driving to the game shop.”
(Jiro stands shocked by his teacher’s sudden remark.)
“But Sir, Suzu vaguely expressed that she didn’t want us to enter the game.”
“JIRO LISTEN TO YOUR TEACHER’S REQUEST AND DO IT POST HASTE!”
(Shibuya, trying to hold back his tears, is reminded what he had once overheard about preparing for entering a virtual game. He remembers how these two avid “Jumpers” as they were called, had been talking quite loudly in a coffee shop and he happened to pick up a few tips on the “Jump”, and how he should wear comfortable clothes so that his body won't tense up even more during the transfer of Beta Particles before the jump. And how when during his time in the virtual realm he should always have someone periodically looking over his body to make sure nothing happens to it. So he did just that, he had made a few arrangements with a few doctor friends at the local hospital to watch over his and Suzu’s bodies whilst they were in the virtual world. Now with all his preparations in order, all that was left was the retrieval of the virtual helmet that was required to send him into the virtual world.)
2 HOURS LATER
“I’m sorry I took so long but the local shop didn’t have any in stock so I had to travel across town to the tech supercenter.”
“No worries Jiro, you made it just in time, it’s almost noon so let’s hurry this up. Now, how do I configure this?”
“Here I will set it for you.”
“Wait, Jiro, why have you brought along another jumper helmet? Don’t tell me you are planning on going in there… NO, I forbid this, I will not allow you to risk your life and…”
(Jiro interrupts him mid-sentence.”)
“I will not allow you to go in there by yourself! I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to both of you if I knew that I could’ve been there to possibly make a difference! I will not allow myself to sit idly by while you are in there risking your life to save Suzu! Plus, I love her. Ever since I first visited you in your dojo asking for your training so that I may enter the junior kendo tournament I saw her hiding behind you, hiding in fear of the new person that is visiting your dojo. Ever since I saw her big beautiful turquoise eyes, radiating with beauty beyond anything imaginable lying in the shadows of her gorgeous raven hair I fell in love with her. Right then and there, I knew that we were meant to be together but I’ve always been too shy to express my feelings towards her. She’s why I want to delve into this virtual abyss, I want to save her, and I want to be with her if this is truly our final days. Please, allow me to enter so that I may help you save Suzu.”
(Shibuya pauses for a brief moment to contemplate whether he should allow Jiro to journey with him knowing that he may die in the game.)
“I will allow you to journey with me Jiro.”
“Thank you, sir, now let’s delve into the new realm.”
(Shibuya turns to Suzu’s body and utters these words to her.)
“Don’t worry my sweet Suzu, I will find you and we will leave together… as a family.”
(Outside the window, Jiro notices the cherry blossom trees in the nearby garden. He remembers an old tale that Shibuya would tell him in order to prepare him for a kendo match. Shibuya would tell him that the kendo tournaments where just like cherry blossom trees, he would say that people would spend their entire lives looking for the perfect cherry blossom flower. He would say that the pursuit of the perfect cherry blossom was equivalent to how the participants wanted to prove they were the best kendo artists in the entire world. He would explain to Jiro saying that people may think they have found the perfect cherry blossom but then the next day they would find an even better blossom and there would just be an endless pursuit of perfection. He would end his tale by saying that the only way that Jiro would win the tournament is to think of himself as the perfect cherry blossom and to just believe that there is no one better than him in the entire tournament. Jiro sheds a couple tears as he contemplates whether he will ever come back to the world he is accustomed to. He then instills himself with the hope that he will come back to this world with Suzu and they will be together in this world happily. The two protagonists put on the headgear and initiated the link to the virtual world)
“HELLO… PLEASE ENTER A SCREEN-NAME INTO THE SCREEN.”
(Shibuya pauses for a moment while trying to figure out what the voice is talking about, he suddenly notices the podium in the middle of the room, he sees that the podium is a touch screen that indicates where he should enter his screen name.)
(Shibuya thinks to himself for a moment about what his name should be, he pauses for a brief moment then he suddenly thinks of calling himself Mushin-Hashime which translates into No Mind Soho. He enters the name into the console and as he’s waiting for it to confirm he sees a big green thumb on the screen saying…)
“CONGRATULATIONS Mushin-Hashime, YOU ARE NOW A REGISTERED PLAYER IN AKU-ONLINE… BZRT~~~~~~~~~~~ WE BRRZZ~~~~~ WELCOME Y~~~~ ONLINE~~~~~ (complete silence then a red screen appears on the wall then out of the red image you see a silhouette of a man and he says...)
“Welcome newcomer, we would like to welcome you into our little competition. Now, you may have been expecting many things but one thing you probably weren’t expecting is that now that you have registered you may not be able to leave till one person completes all 200 worlds of the Aku Universe. Now we would once again like to say welcome and enjoy yourself if you need any more help on the new rules please do be scared to ask anyone that has heard of the rules trust us, they would be more than happy to explain it to you. Now good-bye and have a great time in your new home.”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
(Shibuya is suddenly surrounded by a weird colorful veil covering all outside lights, he then starts wondering what is happening until suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his back, arms, and legs, the veil lifts off of Shibuya he is very confused about what just happened when suddenly he hears a sort of helicopter like sound come towards him he goes on his guard since he doesn’t know what’s going on)
“Welcome newcomer, my designated name is H3lP3R but you can call me helper for now, how may I assist you?”
(Shibuya is relieved that it is not an enemy and he asks him some questions)
“Helper, can you tell me what just happened to me I saw a veil of light cover me then suddenly disappear.”
“I can answer that question that is the restoration veil, it happens to many players, it causes the player to revert back to a state in his/her life when they were at their peak physicality and strength. As with your case you were reverted back to when you were in your middle ages, somewhere between the human ages of 20-30 years. Would you like a mirror to see for yourself?”
(Shibuya stricken with skepticism jokingly goes along with the helper-bot and agrees to view himself in the mirror, helper hands him the mirror)
“What is this… what has happened to me, I look young again, and I also feel younger as well?”
“That is because it has restored you to peak conditions so you can play this game at your best.”
(Shibuya gazes in awe at his amazing restoration he pauses for a moment and asks the robot one more question)
“Helper, can you tell me if a student of mine has entered the game?”
“Yes, actually I can, what is his name so that I can look him up in the directory?”
“His real name is Jiro Hashina and he would’ve joined around the same time as I have.”
(HELPER appears frozen but tiny 1’s and 0’s fly across his face monitor as he searches the game for Jiro when suddenly he comes across Jiro.)
“I have found him, He is near us and closing in quickly. Would you like me to send out a beacon to his Heads-Up-Display?”
“No thank you, HELPER I would rather walk to him myself, I would like to have a test run of this body’s capabilities.”
“Yes sir Mushin-Hashime, if you need any more assistance I will be available through your drop-down menu under the help module.”
“Actually HELPER, do you think you can tell me a place where I might be able to get more information and help on the game?”
“Yes Mushin, I will add a quest marker to the journal map in your inventory. If you open your journal and open the tab labeled quests, it will show you all of your active quests. Once you find the marker I have labeled `Training` in the quests tab, simply touch the word and it will display a trail path leading to the position I have made for you.”
“Thank you, HELPER, you have been nothing but helpful this entire time.”
“Don’t be modest, it is my protocol to help out my designated player, now, let me open the door to the world.”
(suddenly the dark void walls start to move like a door being opened and Shibuya sees the world in its full glory. The sun shining beautifully in his face, it seems as though there is no sign of pollution in the air. In Shibuya’s eyes, it’s as though the world just formed and it is currently in its peak life, almost like how that veil that surrounded him earlier restored him to his peak condition.)
“Master!! I’ve found you!!”
“Ah, Jiro so I didn’t even need to look for you after all.”
“No need, I asked the HELPER unit to tell me where you were and to lead me to you… WAIT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, YOU LOOK YOUNG AGAIN!!”
“Knock it off Jiro, I wasn’t that old for you to be saying it like that!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, and, it reminds me of when I first met you. So how did this happen?”
“Apparently, this game implements a mechanic that transforms your body to your peak physicality, in my case it was when I was in my mid 20’s. I’m guessing the reason why your body didn’t transform is because you haven’t reached your peak physicality yet.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.”
“Either way Jiro, we need to focus on learning the mechanics of this game. I had my HELPER unit give me the location of an area where we can learn the basics of this realm. Remember, we are here to find Suzu, finding her might take a while due especially since we don’t know how this game works yet.”
“Ok, I’ll be following you to the location.”
(Jiro and Shibuya walk around the beginning world searching for the destination. They notice many differences from this world and the real world. They notice how the people seem like they don’t even care that they are stuck in a game. Shibuya thought that people would be freaking out and going crazy but it seems that they are normal people trying to live out their lives as though they would be in the real world)
“Jiro, have you noticed that the people here are surprisingly content?”
“I was about to mention the same thing master, something doesn’t seem right about this place.”
"Jiro, there’s the destination, is that… the dojo?”
(Jiro and Shibuya walk up to the front of the dojo, quite surprised that it looks like Shibuya’s Dojo back in the real world.) (A voice can be heard very faintly coming from the back of the dojo)
“Ok everyone, now we are going to spar in pairs, walk to the board and find your name and you will find your partners name next to yours. Today’s training will be kendo defense & offense.”
(Shibuya and Jiro are completely shocked; they recognize the voice but they are not sure if it’s just their minds playing tricks on them.)
“master I don’t want to spar with Kubo he’s too rough!”
“Maiko, I’m sorry but you have to get tougher if you ever want to advance to the next class.”
“Aww… ok… I guess I’ll spar with him then.”
(Jiro races Shibuya to the sparring area of the dojo, racing down the contracting, narrow, and endless hallways Jiro beats Shibuya to the sparring area. Once he reaches it, he stops at the doorway, speechless at whom/what he sees.)
“Jiro, what happened, why did you just suddenly stop?”
“Hi, dad.”
(Shibuya is hit with a freight train of emotions when he hears those two words come from a familiar face.)
“Suzu… I thought it would take a while to find you, we both didn’t realize that we would find you here, training people… hopefully, you are training as well.”
“Dad, why did you still come into this game, I told you, I would be fine… and Jiro I thought you would understand that as well.”
“SUZU.”
(Everyone in the dojo stops what they are doing when Shibuya screams out Suzu’s name.)
“I couldn’t let you be in this place without me, I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you if there was even a slight chance I could’ve made a difference. Jiro told that to me when he was trying to convince me to let him come along as well.”
“It’s true Suzu, we couldn’t let you be here on your own. We couldn’t live with ourselves if something happened to you and we could’ve been there to stop it from happening. Suzu, you are probably very angry at the moment but hear us out, please… we only did this so we could make sure we get out of this together.”
“Jiro…”
(A loud humming starts to go off deafening everyone… once the humming stops, a seemingly distorted voice starts to project itself.)
“WELCOME PLAYERS, IT IS NOW OFFICIALLY NOON IN THE SECOND DAY OF THIS REALM WHICH MEANS… ALL COMMUNICATION WITH THE REAL WORLD WILL BE DISCONNECTED AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE ENTRIES INTO THIS REALM. CURRENTLY, WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 50,000 PEOPLE IN THIS GAME. THIS IS… A LARGER NUMBER THAN PROJECTED… WELL, THE MORE THE MERRIER. (LAUGHS) REMEMBER EVERYONE, IF YOU DIE IN THIS WORLD, YOUR REAL LIFE WILL BE ALTERED DRAMATICALLY. AT LAST… THE REAL LAUNCH BEGINS… GOOD LUCK AND REMEMBER… WE WILL BE WATCHING!
(Shibuya is freaking out in his mind wondering who was the person that was speaking and why did that man say “we will be watching” is the man insinuating that there are more than just one person controlling the players in this world. Shibuya then thinks that what he just thought was a dumb idea. He then criticizes himself by saying that there would be no way one person could take over the game there would have to be a group of people that would be able to take over the game. Just as he is thinking about this, he realizes that no one is freaking out just like earlier. He thought that seeing the person who is controlling everyone would stir some panic in some people but just like before, the people around him just walked away like nothing happened. He found this very concerning and he wanted to figure out what was wrong with everyone and why he and Jiro were the only ones freaking out by what just happened.)
“Suzu, I’ve been wondering something for a while now. Why is no one freaking out about what just happened?”
“Well, the story is that during the first appearance of the mysterious ruler caused everyone to act hysterically until suddenly, one guy came out of the crowd and stood up above the rest of us and said…”
“Everyone Calm down, we don’t need to act this way, that’s exactly what they want from us, we need to pull ourselves together for that is the only way we will be able to beat them. Now what we need to do is next time that he shows up, we will not show them fear or any emotions if we show them any emotions that will only fuel their egos and they will have complete and utter control over us. So I say let’s band together and show them we are not scared of them.”
“That character really did that?”
“Yes Jiro, after what he said everyone calmed down and they all agreed in unison that those people will not have complete control over us. There are still some people who show some emotions but they don’t affect the entire populace.”
“Wow Suzu, wait… I forgot to ask you Jiro and Suzu, what are your names you have chosen?”
“Well father, my name is Ari-Su I think it translates into Noble and Kind.”
“Ah, and you Jiro what have you chosen.”
“Um… JiroDestroyer.”
(Suzu and Shibuya both glance over at each other then they fall down laughing)
“HEY THAT’S NOT FUNNY, I COULDN’T THINK OF A NAME SO I PICKED ONE OFF THE SUGGESTED NAMES LIST.”
“Still Jiro I am pretty sure there were better names than that. Ok now that that’s out of the way, I will be calling both of you by your first name.”
(Shibuya is interrupted by Jiro)
“WELL, THEN WHY DID YOU ASK US WHAT OUR NAMES WERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?”
(Shibuya bring up his menu hologram and then explains why he asked.)
“This is why, when I was scrolling to the journal section earlier I passed by a panel that read… Ah, here it is.
(Shibuya opens the party panel and then out of the corner of his eyes he notices a tab that says nearby and he turns bright red when he sees that. Jiro notices.)
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing Jiro, I’m just a little warm.”
“But father the temperature is 16°c. currently in the game.”
“SUZU JUST DROP IT.”
(Shibuya sends both of them requests to join a party with him, once they accept the invite, they will be banded together in a makeshift faction, But Suzu has her regrets.)
“Father, I cannot accept this party request. I have an obligation to my students to be their teacher. They are only children who have never played a VRMMO before they barely know how to swing a sword.”
“But Suzu, I need you to come with us I cannot let you stay alone here in this town. I need you to be next to me so that we three can protect each other.”
“I’m sorry father, but I can’t join you I need to stay here to teach the younger ones to fend for themselves.”
(Then a mysterious voice bursts through the air in a beautiful yet strong tone.)
“Don’t worry about the kids miss, I will teach them everything they need to know.”
“Who said that,” Suzu asked
“I did.” Said the mysterious voice
(Then out of the moving crowd, a beautiful woman with a wooden shield that has a painted wolf on it appears in front of them. Her beauty radiates through every part of her body giving her a shining glow that a diamond can only mimic imperfectly.)
“Who are you?” Asks Shibuya
“You can just call me Bodana.”
(she winks at Shibuya while she says that.)
Shibuya responds to Bodana with curiosity, “Hello my name is Shibuya and this is Suzu, my daughter, and Jiro my Student.”
“Hm… well by judging your gear that you have acquired, you do seem like you might know a few things… but I can’t trust the safety of my students to a complete stranger… especially when they need to be trained to the utmost extreme so that they can be fully prepared for anything that they will most likely face.”
“Trust me, I ran a guild on the last VRMMO that I played, I think I am fully capable of teaching a couple of noobs a thing or two about safety out in the battlefield… So, what do you say?”
“Alright, it’s a deal. Whenever everyone is ready, we can go ahead and head back to the dojo and tell the students the news.”
“Wait, first things first, let me add all of you to my friend's list so that we can keep in touch. (she takes a quick glance at Shibuya and immediately her face turns red hot.)”
“Well, now that we have that settled, we should probably head back to the dojo and explain the situation to the students, hopefully, they will understand the decision that you had made Suzu.”
“That’s true father, hopefully, they will understand and accept their new trainer.”
“Well, there is one thing I forgot to mention, you see, I will not take this role willingly without a fight. The only way I will accept this new role as a teacher is… if Shibuya beats me in a duel.”
“Wait what do you mean by duel? Why would I do that, won't that mean one of us would die?”
“Not exactly, you see in these towns there is a protection barrier surrounding the city preventing any damage to be dealt within the city limits, unless, you issue a duel between two players. During a duel, players will fight till their HP gauge reaches the red zone once a player reaches the red zone the player with the most health wins the duel. Simple is it not?”
“Yes, I understand, fine I will accept your duel request just be warned, I have been training myself in the arts of Taido, kendo, and I excel at Bojutsu combat. I have trained myself in other numerous arts of fighting over my entire life.”
“Well, it seems as though I was right about you, after all, you see, I have also trained myself in many of the graceful arts but, what I have been known for is my mastery of the art of Krav-Maga.”
(Bodana removes her sword and armor from her equipment and readies herself for the battle that will determine if she will subject herself to a new life of protecting and teaching a new generation of fighters, or will she be free to do as she pleases and start her adventure to discover a way out of this nightmare.)
(Shibuya prepares for the battle hoping that he will be able to harness his strength to fight this unknown foe. He removes the starting gear that he was assigned and all that’s left on his body is his robe that suits him to the dot. He seems to be at peace with himself.)