.hack/Jinsei to Shi
Disclaimer: I, Melvin, do not own anything related to the .hack/ series that may be found in this work of fiction, however, many of the characters are my own original creations and may not be used outside this fiction without my permission. If by some chance the names and characters are similar to that of copyrighted characters, it is merely a coincidence unless the characters that are copyrighted were copyrighted after the day I posted this story. It may still be a coincidence…but you never know.
Note: This story takes place before the PS2 Games and after .hack/SIGN.
Some random small town in Canada, 3:40pm – June 1st, 2010
"I got it! I got it!" I shouted, watching the tower of cardboard boxes topple over. I leapt in and caught the few boxes I could, finding difficulty in balancing them all with my two arms. I shifted my body from side to side in an attempt to hold them up but soon lost all control, dropping the boxes, which, incidentally, landed on me.
The girl holding the original tower of boxes popped her head from behind what remained of it saying, "Ah…I'm sorry, Miles. Thanks for breaking their fall though."
"Yeah. It's no problem, Alana." I responded with an annoyed and sarcastic tone of voice. "Do you need any help bringing these boxes to the band room? I can walk home with you afterwards."
"Sure. I want to get home as soon as possible." Recently, Alana seemed really into a video game, like many of the people at our school. It was called, "The World" and it's got modern society hooked. I never took much interest into it. For years now, I've given my focus into art and the world of Anime and Manga.
"It's not because of that stupid game is it?" I helped stack the boxes one over the other into two piles for me to carry while Alana held the remaining ones.
"Don't insult the game until you actually try it. " We started to walk down the corridor while keeping up the conversation.
"I might try it if I had any incentive to."
"What if I did you three favours?"
"Depends on what kind of favours."
"Ew! God no! PERVERT!"
"Not that." I irritatingly grunted. "Like are there any limits to the favours in a non-disgusting way."
"No limits other than the obvious."
"Fine, I'll play. I got the game as a present last year for Christmas so I'll start after school." We arrived at the band room and dropped off the boxes, seeing the teacher and waved to let her know we brought them.
"Great! Start right after you read the instructions. I'll meet you at the Delta root town; it's where you should begin in the game." Alana took me by my shirt and began dragging me off towards the nearest doors.
"Alright, fine." I struggled to say as we hurtled out the school.
Soon after we began walking, we parted ways as I needed to take the bus home while she lived only a few blocks away. It took less than twenty minutes to get home and as soon as I did, I walked into the kitchen and fixed myself a snack with a Coke. I staggered over to my room, placed my food on my bedside table and pulled out the game-gear from beneath my bed. I started my computer first and, before I set up any of The World stuff, I logged onto sites that I frequent and that managed to distract me for like half an hour.
Afterwards, I spent a good hour figuring out how to plug everything in and install the software onto my computer. As everything loaded up, I began reading the instructions. Battling, character classes, locations, weapons/armours, etc., after all that, I heard a small beep coming from my computer, I placed on the headgear and started the game.
The game began, I selected the, "North America – Canada" server and I was given the choice to design my character. I decided on a Long Arm class for my character and modified the outfit to resemble more like a knight with a crimson-colour theme. After giving it some though, I chose the name, Hotaka Takumi, Hotaka being the name of a mountain in Japan and Takumi meaning artisan. After doing so, I was sent directly to Delta's root town, Mac Anu.
I slowly analyzed my surroundings. Very classic setting with a smooth atmosphere, something I tend to enjoy. I looked around, trying to spot characters that could potentially be Alana because she never told me her in-game name and no one was around the Chaos Gate.
"I really should have asked for her in-game name…" I sighed to myself, people who were passing looked over and gave a strange look my way. I figured, "Well, maybe she's out hunting treasure or something", so I decided to venture around the town, familiarize myself so that I won't get lost.
I walked around for a couple of minutes, getting to know the people who hung around regularly in the town and saw a boat sailing away with several soldiers on it looking up to a woman which I declared as a Wave Master based on the weapon in her hands. She was directing the soldiers and soon after, the boat stopped and the soldiers left. I sat down by the river and looked over at her, later seeing her look back. Naturally I turned away but I quickly glanced back only to find her gone.
"Ara, Miles? Iie…Takumi-kun!" The Wave Master greeted, in Japanese no less. It was pretty basic Japanese so I understood.
"Alana…?"
"CHIGAU! Ayaka Sora desu." Her voice was a little more upbeat than when she spoke in real life. It was somewhat strange to see her in this way, almost unfamiliar. Also, she doesn't usually use Japanese in conversation.
"How did you know it was me? And wait…You speak Japanese?"
"I know what I know just what I learn from Anime. And, I could tell from your name." I had often use the name, Hotaka Takumi, when I role played in less virtual places and since Alana had been involved in a few of them, she was able to tell quite quickly. I'm just a slight slow. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet with you right away, I had some business to attend to."
"Business? What kind of business do you have here in a game?"
"I run the Scarlet Sentries, Canadian division."
"What are the Scarlet Sentries?"
"They are a group of selected soldiers that promote the laws of The World instated by the administrators. Since the disbanding of the Crimson Knights, the Scarlet Sentries are carefully watched over by the administrators."
"And you get to tell these guys what to do and when to do it?" My tone of voice implied something much dirtier and it was clear she picked up on it.
"Not when you say it all pervy like that. ECCHI!" She dismissed it right away and called me a pervert, as she always does.
"So what do we do now?"
"Well, first off, you might want to begin levelling. We'll start at an easy level. If things get really hard, I'll bail you out."
"Alright, then."
I got up from my spot by the river and walked with Alana towards the Chaos Gate. She whispered a few words, raising her staff and golden rings swirling around her, Alana's body slowly fading away afterwards. I whispered the same words and resulted in the same action.
As soon as we arrived, a large monster portal stood before us. Seconds after our realizing, the portal disappeared and a small creature lay in its place. Without warning, the monster attacked me but I easily countered its assault. I held my spear high and struck downwards, slicing the whelp in half and resulted in its defeat. Experience points hovered over my head and the corpse lay no longer. It went on like this, fight after fight, and I would continue to gain more experience points and level up. I continued right into the early morning, just killing random monsters.
I had never realized such fun could be had in a game that, from an outsider's point of view, is repetitive killing. I enjoyed the thrill of the kill and when I returned to Mac Anu to save or trade, I spoke to several other players and made quite a number of friends. We traded member addresses and participated in events together but I never ventured into any dungeon without Alana. It took me less than two weeks for me to catch up to Alana, in terms of levels, but I did and collected a great number of items along the way. Although the game was fun, the reality of The World soon transcended to the point of life and death itself. I didn't understand exactly how it happened but after I got out, I never touched the game again.