A/N: I'm glad that I at least have 5 followers and 1 favorite. :) Here's the second chapter. I hope you guys enjoy!

Comments and criticisms are well appreciated.

-end of A/N-

Mornings are hateful.

If William Lee had a motto, that was it. He rarely oversleeps, but he would always be cranky in the morning. Today was slightly different, though.

When he woke up, he felt slightly chilly even though he was sweating.

‘Did I forget to turn the AC on?’ he thought. As he sat up, he felt something dribble down from his nose over his lips.

“Huh? A cold?” he muttered as he wiped his nose. Looking at his hand, it was covered with blood. Eyes widening, he quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. In front of the mirror was his pale reflection.

Blood was continuously dribbling from his nose. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was ghostly pale. Then he started shivering as he felt intense chills attacking his entire body.

“What… the… hell?” All he could do was rummage through the cupboard and took out the medicine case. He immediately went back to bed, placed a cloth to absorb the blood from his nose, and used the thermometer.

After some time, the thermometer beeped and he checked the reading.

“40.2 degrees,” he muttered. With a sigh, there was only one reason he could think of to why this was happening. His eyes fell on the AR head gear placed beside his desktop computer.

Last night…

[ Augmented Reality Head Gear ready for use ]

“Augmented… reality…” William Lee repeated. He knew of the term. There were talks about it in some forums. It was a technology being developed secretly to compete with the currently widespread Virtual Reality Technology. There were no concrete information, only rumours.

[ Please input the required information to register user ]

As the words appeared, it was followed by a small form requiring his username, e-mail, and password, followed by a virtual keyboard.

‘IAMWILL,’ he inputted for the username, then for the e-mail was one of his many gaming e-mails, [email protected].

[ Registration successful ]

[ Setting AR Field… ]

[ AR Field setup successful ]

Then, from the device connected to the computer, a blue light similar to that of a bar code scanner spread out and covered the entire room. Every thing the light hit, a blue outline would appear over it. After a few seconds, the blue light and outline faded and disappeared.

[ Interaction with objects inside AR Field now available ]

[ One application available. Would you like to run the application? ]

With no idea what had happened, William decided to go with the flow and ran the application. Out of nowhere, a background music reminiscent of action arcade games played. Large letters using animated flaming fonts floated into his field of vision.

[ AR Battle ]

It was followed by a ringing sound, and a phone icon appearing in the upper right corner of his vision. William hesitantly answered the call.

“Congratulations, you have been chosen to participate in the testing of this new technology!” a young male voice entered his ears. He sounded like he was just right there speaking beside him.

“Who are you?” William shouted back.

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What you need to know is that you are one lucky fellow. This Augmented Reality technology is brand new. We have finally completed the hardware and distributed it to testers all over the city. It comes with an AR Actualizer, and a test program. We couldn’t come up with a cool name for it, though.”

“Actualizer? Test program?” William was confused.

“That thingy you connect to you computer, and the AR Battle stuff. Wait… you should already know all these. Didn’t you register for the testing through the underground site?”

“I don’t remember such a thing…”

“Damn… an outsider,” the man’s voice suddenly went cold. “Tsk, nothing we can do about it. Once you’ve registered the hardware, there’s no taking it back. You’ll just have to go through this, but without the insurance. You can’t blame anyone for this kid, just your damn luck. You’ll receive an e-mail for further instructions. You can’t tell anyone about this, or try to back out. When you wore the hardware, it implanted a nano-chip in your head. If you disobey us, one push of a button and you can say bye-bye to the real world.”

The line suddenly cut after that ominous warning.

Cold sweat rolled down his forehead. He didn’t expect for things to suddenly develop into a strange direction. It all started when that girl mistook him for someone in that dark alley.

Why did he have to give in to his curiosity? He regretted it deeply.

When the words disappeared from his view, it was replaced by a familiar interface. It was a menu similar to that of games. There were options for , , , and . Despite his current situation, when he saw that menu, he couldn’t stop his self from giving in. He was a gamer after all.

He extended his hand and pressed the option. He had already noticed it earlier, but looking back on it, the interface was very realistic. When his fingers touched the image, he could feel it on the skin of his fingertips. It was not like the motion sensor system of the game consoles of the previous gaming era where the images respond only to the movements detected by the sensors. There was feedback. It was as if the projections he was seeing through the visor truly exist.

A window appeared with his current appearance right in the middle of it. He could see his self wearing his current clothes with the AR head gear on his head. When he moved, the three dimensional image also moved. He could also rotate the image around to inspect it from all angles.

Next, he pressed the option. A window appeared right beside the window. He noticed that he could rearrange the windows after opening them. He could make them overlap each other, or arrange them so that one window is closer to him while the other is further behind.

Inside the window was a gridded space. There were items inside taking different amount of grid spaces depending on the size and shape of the item. The items were , , , and . There was also what seemed like currency, .

Touching the , a pop-up menu appeared with the options , , and . Choosing , a window appeared.

[ Equipping this item disables the option of converting it to a card. Proceed? ]

William selected . A new window appeared.

[ A Workshop Field is required for changing equipped items, conversion of items to cards, and equipping of cards ]

[ AR Field detected ]

[ Ownership confirmed ]

[ AR Field registered as the user’s personal Workshop Field ]

The item disappeared from the inventory followed by the three dimensional image in the window changing in appearance. The clothes of the image changed into that of the item. It was a tasteless gray full body suit with protective pad over the joints and the groin area. It reminded him of those masked heroes in old cartoons and TV series.

It wasn’t just the image that changed but his actual appearance as well. Looking down, William saw that he was wearing the exact same suit as the image, the item.

“Ugh… can’t they think of a better design?” he complained, completely engrossed with the features and have already forgotten his earlier problems.

He could unequip the item by dragging it from the window back to the window, returning his self and the image back to their original appearance. True to the warning, the option for had disappeared.

This time, he clicked the . A window appeared with a random items appearing and disappearing in a speed that the eye couldn’t follow.

“A random item roll, huh?” William guessed based on his experience. Indeed, it was a random item roll. After a few seconds the items stopped changing and what stayed on the window was a shield.

[ New item received ]

“… The name’s a bit extravagant for a shield…”

William clicked it and a menu opened, similar to the one with before it was equipped.

“Hmm, I’m not really a shield type so…” saying that, he clicked the option. Once again, a window appeared.

[ Card conversion is irreversible. Proceed? ]

Without any hesitation, William clicked . The item disappeared from the inventory. Next, he clicked and chose .

[ Beginner Spell Book contains the following spells: ]

[ Fire Ball, Wind Blade, Water Blast, Lightning Bolt, Rock Bullet ]

[ Choose one spell to learn ]

Based on their names, it could be assumed that all of those spells are non-target missile types; they fire a projectile in a single direction. If there were no major difference in the spells’ damages, cast time, and cool downs, and they only differ on their elemental properties, then that means there were equipments that reduce specific elemental damage, was what William inferred.

“From my experience with most games, players tend to not choose earth-based spells.” William liked to play and use the less chosen builds because it gives him a sense of superiority whenever he beat other players who use the mainstream builds and play-style.

He chose .

Lastly, he clicked .

[ Card identification requires Battle Points x750. Proceed? ]

With no idea on what the other purposes of were, he clicked .

[ Character Card received ]

[ Since this is your first Character Card, is now set as your Prime Card ]

The window opened automatically, with two cards inside. The card was surrounded by a glowing white border. William clicked , then a blue glow appeared in front of him. He moved the windows to the side to get a better look of what’s happening.

As the blue glow quickly faded, it was replaced by a complex wire-frame three dimensional model of a female human figure composed of millions of blue lines. It was then swiftly covered by layers of colors, transforming into a naked woman around 20 in age.

She had short vermilion hair and untainted fair skin. She was slightly taller than William, and her figure could only be described as perfect. Before he could fully admire her splendidness, she opened her big almond-shaped eyes, revealing bright emerald pupils, followed by a sudden burst of golden light around her body. As the light dissipated, she was now clad in a golden dress topped with black-colored armor composed of a breastplate, faulds, and a pair of gauntlets and sollerets.

Their eyes met, and William was at a loss for words. Her appearance was beautiful and heroic. Unconsciously, he moved the windows to the side so he could see her without obstructions. A small window appeared beside her. He pulled it closer and read its contents.

[ Evalynna Sejovska is the youngest child and the third daughter of the Sejovska Warrior Clan. Like her older siblings, she had undergone intensive training for various weapons and combat styles under the tutelage of the Clan Head since she was ten of age. Unfortunately, despite being directly from the main bloodline of the clan, she was ranked only as average among her training peers in the Sejovska Warrior Clan.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She mysteriously disappeared the night before her 19th birthday.

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Magical Energy: C

Magic Resistance: C

Unique Skill: ]

William repeatedly read the description. For a moment, he was awed at the information provided by the window, followed by a slight annoyance.

“Whoever made this game sure spent effort in creating this extremely detailed model and background story… but left out the more important informations necessary for playing the game!”

He was feeling quited irked. Indeed, everything looks so wonderful and detailed, yet the most important things were left out. There were no explanations of the game mechanics; only useless information and flavor text!

“You seem troubled, master,” a sonorous female voice came from the front. “Is there something I could do to ease your apprehension?”

It came from the small pink lips of the figure in front of him.

“Wha—!?” William yelped in surprise. He fell down to a sitting position on the top of his bed. “Were you the one who spoke just now?”

“Affirmative. Is there a problem?” she replied, her standing stance unchanged. Only her eyes had moved to meet his, and her mouth to speak the words she said. Her chest rose and rested in tandem with her breathing. This movement made William curious if the woman in front of him was real or not. Before he knew it, his hand had moved forward and his palm rested on her chest.

He could feel her warmth, her breathing, and most of all, he could feel her heart beating. Using his other hand, he started to massage her chest. The soft yet firm flesh and muscles were there.

“Are you… real?” he asked with a powerless voice.

Despite the action he had taken that was beyond common sense and would have been enough to file a complaint and a police report, her pair of emerald eyes unceasingly stared straight at his, along with the unhesitant reply, “No.”

The answer woke William from his stupor. He retracted his hands and started mumbling incomprehensible words. Before he could gather his thoughts, a chime sounded from his desktop computer’s speakers, along with an envelope icon on the top right corner of his field of vision, the same area as the call icon from earlier.

Realizing that it was an e-mail and suddenly remembering the call, he felt anxious. Still, he opened the e-mail and read its contents.

[ 11:30 tonight. Old Airport, Runway 1. Enter through Terminal Gate 3 with the head gear on. Wear anything as long as it doesn’t reveal your identity to anyone. ]

It was simple and direct, yet it filled William with a foreboding feeling.

“Just what have I gotten myself into?”

Once again, he felt the gravity of the situation.

After an unappetizing quick dinner, he changed clothes and rode his moped to the Old Airport, wearing the AR head gear instead of a proper helmet. It took him almost an hour to get there even without the traffic.

Along the way, he noticed the lack of people along the roads and inside the stores. This was the effect of VR technology. Most people after work and school stays at home or in establishments that rent specialized VR hardware. Some were playing games while others were conducting business through the VR world. This had also reduced physical crimes over the years, but had increased digital crimes instead.

Before he left, he had figured out some of the other important things related to the AR hardware and installed application, . All that was left was to figure the rest on the spot. He didn’t like this sort of thing. His style was to collect information on his opponent and the things he needed to form a strategy and win with the highest percent chance, but in this situation, he didn’t have a choice. He was playing in the hands of someone he could not reach, for now.

‘For now,’ he emphasized in his thoughts as he slowly walked through Terminal Gate 3. He imprinted in his mind that he would trace down and find the person or persons who had involved him in this mess and sock them in the face.

The glass panes that served as the windows and walls of the Airport Terminal were covered in tapes and old newspapers. This airport had been abandoned for almost a century, yet it was a mystery why it had not been demolished yet. He could only think that someone had bought it and preserved its current state.

‘Probably someone related to this,’ he thought as he touched the head gear’s smooth metallic surface. For William, this could serve as a clue. He mentally took note of this.

Finally, he exited from the gate into the runway. He was greeted by cold blasts of air. It was currently August, and the cold night temperature was something not out of the ordinary. Looking up, the night sky was covered by a layer of dark gloomy clouds. It was the rainy season, so it was fortunate that it wasn’t raining tonight, despite the sudden shower earlier in the afternoon. Thinking back on it, it was when this all started for William. If not for the rain, he wouldn’t have taken shelter by that door, and he wouldn’t have been mistaken for someone and given that packaged.

‘It was still partly my fault, though,’ he admitted to himself.

His thoughts were disrupted as a figure appeared from the shadows about a hundred meters in front of him. Then, from four different places, blue lights shone.

[ AR Field detected. Registered ownership unknown ]

“Welcome to !” a voice boomed from all directions. “I know the title is a bit bland, but we didn’t have much time to think of something cool.”

The way of speaking, and the voice, was certainly that same person who called William earlier.

“Anyways, as the title suggests, you’ll have a battle! Isn’t that exciting? No? We’ll here’s a little present for you!”

Suddenly the entire runway glowed. After the glow, the scenery had changed into something completely different. It had turned into a forest.

“Nice, isn’t it? Anyways, let’s get this on!” William was flabbergasted. This guy had no intention to explain any of the rules! What was he supposed to do?

“Get your cards ready! IAMWILL versus Mad Crusher! Forest Stage! Battle… Start!” Then, just like that, a siren sounded signalling the start of the match. William was completely unprepared.

Out of nowhere, two cards appeared in his vision. They were the only cards in his possession, and the shield . The character card glowed and disappeared, and in front of him was the heroic figure of the red-haired woman.

“Please summon and stay behind me. I will protect you,” she said full of confidence. With no other ideas coming to mind, William did as told and activated the card .

In front of Evalynna, a majestic silver-colored shield appeared. Its front was covered of intricate patterns of gold. The inner part contained complex mechanisms along with the handle. Grabbing it, Evalynna raised the shield in front of her. It was wide enough to cover one and a half person’s width, and tall enough to protect everything from the chest down. Its top part was flat. The sides from the top formed a straight line ending below the knee area, then gently tapering to meet at a center point.

‘If this is an arcade style battle, then there must be something I can do aside from just relying on this woman in front of me,’ he thought. Suddenly, he remembered the spell he got from the item earlier. Looking down, in his field of vision, there seemed to be an icon that looked like a rock. When he concentrated on it, strange words flashed before him with a certain rhythm.

“Erd… Erd… Erd… For!” he chanted the words while following the rhythm. He felt his right hand tremble as he said each word. He stared at it and saw yellow specks of light gathering in hid palm. Then, when he uttered the last word, a two-second countdown timer appeared in his vision. He didn’t know exactly what the countdown was for, but he knew he had to do something before it ran out.

Panicking, he pointed his hand forward. A projectile with the appearance of rock formed in his hand and suddenly shot in a straight line over Evalynna’s shoulder. Surprised, she turned to look over her shoulder at William. That was when it happened.

From the direction he shot the , a huge man wearing leather armor appeared swinging a huge hammer to mow down all the trees and shrubberies blocking his path. The hammer’s handle was as tall as an average person and as thick as an arm, while the hammerhead was as huge as a water tank. Behind the man was the figure I saw in the runway. He was also wearing an AR head gear.

There was a hole in the huge man’s armor and a bruise was visible through it. It was probably the result of the I shot. The figure behind had gathered green light in both his hands, then he pointed them at the huge man. Suddenly, the huge man dashed forward at an incredible speed, leaving only a trail of shadows behind.

Before I could react, he had already swung his hammer at Evalynna. She managed to raise to defend against it, but it was no use. She was sent flying along with the shield. With a savage smile, the huge man swung his hammer back.

Toward William.

The match had ended and William was lying on his back on the concrete runway. He could still feel the lingering terror and pain from the previous battle.

“As expected, it’s Mad Crusher’s victory. Too, bad! Try to do better next time. It may be your last,” the voice said with a dark tone. The blue lights scattered once more then completely disappeared.

A man wearing common business clothes complete with a tie looked down on William. His face couldn’t be seen through the head gear. He was Mad Crusher.

“Rookie, like he said, you have to do better next time. This was your first battle, and you had already used your BP beforehand. That was a very stupid thing to do. Learn from this, although you only have one chance left. Remember, when you lose once more with zero BP, it’s the end for you.” After giving that advice, he left and disappeared through the dark runway.

William sat up. His remaining disappeared after the battle. He had lost, and it was a crushing defeat. He smiled wryly at the irony; crushed by Mad Crusher.

“I see…” he said aloud, talking to himself. “So get deducted if you lose. Then, if I win, I gain more.”

He stood up and patted his clothes. He then slowly walked back toward the Gate Terminal he had used to go to the runway.

While walking, he was clenching his fists hard. Below the head gear, streams of tears were visibly flowing down his chin.

William Lee hated to lose.

The doctor had arrived before noon and checked his condition. His nosebleed had stopped by then. He was given some medication to lower his fever and was told to just rest. He had already called the school that he would be absent, and he was required to show the doctor’s diagnosis and written consent for his absence when he returned to school.

Spending the rest of the day on bed doing nothing bored William. He couldn’t stop his eyes from looking at the AR head gear. Sitting up, he took it and placed it on his lap. Slowly, he touched and stroked the smooth and cold metallic surface.

Although his appearance was weak and lonely, in his gaze, there was a blazing emotion. He suffered humiliation and defeat, with circumstanced and conditions completely against him. He was caught unprepared. He was suddenly thrown in a battle with no idea what to do, how to protected himself, and how to fight back. He was crushed.

Revenge. Blood-thirst. Rage.

He will not let this be. He can not accept it.

He can only be the victor. William Lee plays to win. Results other than victory is unacceptable.

Gently placing the head gear on his head, he prepared his mind of what needs to be done.