Chapter 1: Trapped
The city streets were bustling with activity. Lines of cars packed the streets as drivers hurried home to spend their evenings. The sidewalks were crowded with businessmen and women and shoppers heading to the local stores. Among the mass of people were four girls wearing school outfits, looking out-of-place in this business-heavy atmosphere.
"Are you sure you know where you're going Konata?" asked the pigtailed girl as she eyed the buildings they were passing suspiciously.
Her only response was a small chuckle from the smaller girl, her signature cat-like smile never leaving her face.
"I am sure she knows where she is going Kagami-san." stated the bespectacled girl next to her. "Izumi-san wouldn't lead us anywhere without a good reason, right?"
Sighing to herself she had to agree with her friend. While Konata Izumi had a rather interesting world-view, she had enough common sense to know when something was wrong or didn't seem right. Broken out of her stupor by her smaller friend's cry of success, she suddenly began reconsidering her previous opinion of her upon seeing their destination.
The building the four girls were staring up at was a complete wreck. The paint on the outside of the building was starting to chip away and the sign hanging over the door was so faded that the only thing that could be made out was the building number. Furthermore, the building looked completely different from the surrounding buildings. The neighboring buildings seemed to tower over the smaller one and seemed to be compressing it, as it was much thinner than the others.
"You can't be serious." Said Kagami with a dejected voice wondering just what she had gotten herself into. Her confusion echoed by both Tsukasa and Miyuki. "What are we doing at a place like this Konata?"
"This." With out another word, Konata produced a piece of paper from her school bag that looked like it had been printed off her computer. The paper seemed to be asking for volunteers for what looked like beta testing.
"Beta testing?" questioned Tsukasa looking at the paper in her friends' hands.
Nodding her head, Konata answered. "Right. The company wants average players to beta test their new game before it comes out in a few months. It's only for three days."
Ignoring Kagami's outburst at this new information, Konata turned expectantly to her other friends for their answers, only to receive another question from the younger twin.
"What is beta testing?" asking that, Tsukasa turned to Miyuki as was natural when asking a question.
"Beta testing is when a product goes through its second testing stages usually with the assistance of people outside of its creation so that it can be given a "real-world" test. Is that right?" Nobody was shocked when Miyuki answered a given question due to her reputation as a living dictionary, but it was still strange that she answered what was considered a technical question.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Konata confirmed her statement. "They are even willing to pay us for our help."
This information was enough to catch Kagami's attention again. They would be willing to pay us for playing a game? The thought made the idea a bet more appealing for her.
"Ah, Oneechan this is great. You've been saving up money for something haven't you? For Kona-" Tsukasa was unable to continue speaking as her older sister had quickly closed her hands over her mouth, her face red in embarrassment.
Ignoring the soft chuckles behind her, Kagami simply flipped her hair over her shoulder and started towards the door, her cheeks still burning. "Well, let's go since we're already here."
Whatever Kagami was expecting when she entered the building, what she saw through all of those expectations out the window. The inside of the building, in stark contrast to the outside, looked almost brand new. The walls looked to be freshly painted white while the floorboards had been polished to a shine. Strangest of all were what looked to be several rooms with sliding door entrances leading up hallway and around the corner.
"Welcome. How may I help you?" The sudden voice snapped the party out of their daze. Standing in front of them was a woman dressed in a brown business suit with her hair tied up in a bun. A typical businesswoman noted Kagami, but she began to wonder just where she came from.
Stepping forward, Konata produced the piece of paper and started to hand it to the woman. The woman then clasped her hands together and asked "Oh, you are all here for the testing correct? Wonderful. Please, this way. We have an available room at the end of the hall." Motioning with her hand the lady turned around and began guiding the group towards the far room.
Walking down the hall, Kagami heard voices coming from several of the other rooms and could see silhouettes of various people sitting around what looked to be computers. From the number of silhouettes she could see and voices she could hear, there had to be a couple dozen people here already.
"There are a lot of people here for the test aren't there?" inquired Miyuki. After receiving an affirmative response from their guide she then asked. "And all of them are being paid to help with this game?"
"…Correct…" After her response, the group finally made it to their room.
Tsukasa pulled open the doors to show a rather cramped room with a large table holding four computers, chairs, game controllers, and 4 large visors that looked like something out of a science fiction anime. The only other object of any note was a large window at the back with the blinds closed so tightly that only a small amount of light came through.
"Wait, is this an actual virtual reality headset?" asked Konata. "I didn't know we had something like this yet."
With the same smile she had worn the entire time, the lady answered, "Yes. Our company has put a lot of research and development time into its creation but would like to keep it a secret until the game has debuted. That is also why the casting for beta testers was done this way."
Seemingly agreeing with the explanation, everyone nodded their heads as their guide began explaining what would be happening during their test period.
"Over three days we would like you to play through three scenarios. The first day will be a quest to find an artifact within a temple. The second quest will be a treasure hunt within a cave area. And the third day will have you fighting a boss character in a field." Pausing for confirmation, she then continued. "After each quest is done we would like you to submit any concerns, ideas, or even just praise on the game. Now then, if you would please log in and create your characters we can begin."
The large marbled doors swung open to reveal a circular park littered with various small shops and vendors. Various people were walking around the area, going to shops, talking to other characters, or just sitting around the water fountain in the center. Miyuki Takara was not someone who played video games often so she did not know if this was how most of them looked nowadays. For her, it didn't even look as if it was a game. Everything looked so real that she could even make out the brickwork in the buildings beyond the park. It felt so real that she could almost feel the wind or smell the grass and trees.
Walking through the area Miyuki reached a set of trees where she saw two girls standing. Recognizing them as the Hiragi twins she rushed over to them only to receive a sharp pain in her leg from where she had kicked the table. Collecting herself, she nervously tapped the controller to move forward only to be passed by her much smaller friend who had been beside her.
"Yo. Sorry we're late." cried Konata walking up to their friends. "This is pretty cool huh?"
While the twins were responding to the smaller girl, Miyuki took the time to look at how everyone looked. The costumes were very detailed to the point that she could almost make out what material the clothing was made out of.
Tsukasa was wearing a white robe adorned with various jewels and symbols that she couldn't understand. In her hands was a simple oak staff that spiraled inwards at the end with a chain hanging from the inside of the spiral. She was also wearing an ornate yellow headband rather than her usual ribbon.
Her sister was wearing a rather tight black body suit covered with various pieces of leather armor with leather straps on her arms and legs. By her side was a long wooden spear with several strips of paper hanging from it. The piece of her outfit that caught her eye was her hair though. Rather than her normal pigtails, or as Konata liked to call them "twintails", her hair was braided and held together with a purple ribbon at the end.
Izumi-san's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Oh, you chose the spear class Kagami? It suits you." Her comment making Kagami's cheeks redden somewhat.
"It's a Halberdier class, I think."
"And Tsukasa is?"
"Ah, I'm a Magician." answered Tsukasa, smiling proudly. Izumi-san's response however was simply a worried look.
"It's fine." Said Kagami. "We're all in the same room anyway." She waved off the smaller girls worries in reference to a joke or something that Miyuki was not aware of making her feel slightly left out.
"What about you Miyuki-chan?" asked Tsukasa as she walked up to greet her friend.
"Oh, I'm a …um. What is it again Izumi-san?" Blushing in embarrassment, she turned to her friend for help.
"She's a Blademaster. I think it suits her."
She didn't get a good look at her character when it was being created, as Konata was helping her and was moving through the menus pretty fast. Now that she had time to look at herself, she found that her character was dressed similarly to Kagami's. She was wearing what looked like a v-neck vest under rather heavy looking metal armor. There were additional pieces of metal trailing down the sides of her legs like a skirt, as well as metal boots that reached up to her knees. The game had even created a set of glasses for her character to wear and her hair was tied up into a ponytail.
Taking off her visor, Miyuki could see that there was a large broadsword strapped to her character's back. She wondered just how her character could wield it.
"However, I'm surprised the design is so modest. I was expecting a bit more cleavage." Said Konata, earning an annoyed groan from Kagami and another blush from Miyuki.
"What about you?"
"Naturally, I'm a Rogue." Looking proud of herself she casually flipped the dual daggers her character held and added, "All adventurer parties need a thief character."
Looking over the blue-haired girl, Miyuki noted that she simply wore a vest over what she could best describe as a tunic. She had nothing more than a pair of fingerless gloves, boots, and a pair of sheaths for her daggers on her belt to complete her outfit. Yet, Miyuki couldn't help but think that the look fit her better than anyone else.
"Who knows, I might get lucky and meet a cute girl who will give me a mysterious bracelet."
Laughing at her own joke, everybody else joined in and laughed for a bit before heading off. Following the others, Miyuki turned her eyes downward hoping no one else noticed how forced her laugh was.
"Ehh? What do you mean you won't be able to come tomorrow?" asked the blue-haired girl absentmindedly kicking a rock in the road.
"Yes. I'm afraid my mom has already made the appointment." The pink-haired girl sighed and turned her head down in apology. "I told my mother about our plans but she insisted. My tooth has hurt lately."
Konata nodded. She knew about Miyuki's sensitive teeth and her fear of dentists but couldn't quite hide how disappointed she was. The first day of testing had gone rather well. Aside from a few rather obvious graphical glitches, the game was ready for release in her opinion.
After they signed out, they were asked to fill out a form with their opinions and criticisms. She remembered thinking it was pretty strange but quickly forgot about it.
'Man, my arms are still sore.' Thought Konata as she stretched her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. Kagami and Tsukasa will still be there, and I'll make sure to get your pay. Besides, your fine for today right?"
Nodding her head, Miyuki smiled slightly and then turned away as they reached an intersection. Over the sound of passing cars, Konata barely heard the glasses wearing girl's mutterings. "I could just not go."
Tilting her head, Konata thought about asking her about it only to be interrupted by the arrival of the Hiragi twins.
After exchanging greetings, Kagami said that the two of them would be leaving early because their father wanted to talk to the family over dinner. Sighing, Konata nodded and went inside the building with her friends. She had followed up on the volunteer notice because she wanted to do something with everyone. It doesn't look like we'll be able to finish this together, she thought.
"Ouch!" That was the third rock she had kicked since coming into the cave area.
'Wait, that's not right'. Shaking her head, she corrected herself. 'That's the third time I've kicked the table. Right?'
They had traveled through the area for nearly an hour. Kagami was leading the charge, and both Tsukasa and Miyuki looked like they were getting tired. From the back of the group Konata watched as everyone entered another empty room. There were a lot of them and it was getting rather boring.
Stretching her arms Kagami called back to the rest of the group. "How much farther do we have to go? We haven't seen anything in a while."
Before she could answer, Tsukasa's voice drew everyone's attention. "Oneechan, it's late. We have to get home. Dad's probably already worried about us."
"Ah, your right." Realizing how late it was Kagami stopped and faced the group. "Sorry but we got to go. Guess we should log out now."
"Don't worry about it. Miyuki-san and I can take care of the rest." proclaimed Konata, looking to her glasses wearing friend for her agreement. "We'll see you two tomorrow to finish up."
As Kagami took off her visor to start leaving, Miyuki and Konata started stretching so they would be ready for the rest of the area.
"What the hell?"
Turning around in confusion, Konata saw the purple-haired girl with her hand in front of her face wearing a scared expression. "What's wrong Kagami?" she asked.
Not moving her hand, Kagami said, "Konata, I need you to take off my visor." Her only answer was a rather confused look from the smaller girl. Before she could answer Kagami shouted, "Just do it okay!"
Taken aback by the sudden outburst, the blue-haired girl simply shrugged, closed her eyes, and took off her visor.
That was what she thought.
'Huh? What is this? Where's my visor?' Opening her eyes, Konata saw a gloved hand in front of her face. Her mind froze. She wasn't wearing gloves so why was there a gloved hand in front of her.
Suddenly, it hit her. Her legs felt tired from walking when she should have been sitting in a chair all this time and she didn't feel a controller in her hands.
"Kona-chan? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Ignoring Tsukasa's questions, Konata looked behind her for the rock she had kicked earlier. Running over to it she kicked it as hard as she could. A shooting pain rushed through her leg as the rock rolled a few feet away from her.
"How is this possible?" Miyuki's trembling voice came from behind her. Turning around, she saw Miyuki frantically grabbing at something that should be in front of her only to grab air. Tsukasa wasn't faring any better, as she had started shaking and looked like she was going to cry.
Taking a deep breath, Konata tried to regain control of the situation. They were inside of the game. She didn't know how but they had to get out. 'It's the dungeon right? It's because we're in a dungeon. We just have to get out and we'll be fine.' Frantic, her mind was racing for a solution. After a few minutes of calming everyone down they all decided to exit the dungeon and head back to town for help.
The sun was setting, giving an eerie glow to the empty hallway. The shoji doors that had shown numerous people engaged in games had been flung open to reveal nothing more than white wall. At the end of the hall, the door was open revealing four girls, their bodies draped over their chairs, seemingly lifeless. The visors that had covered their eyes removed and set on the table. To one side stood the businesswoman who had accompanied them through their "tests"; standing in the same spot she had started in hours ago.
The sound of footsteps drew the woman's attention. Bowing to the new arrival, she faded into the air, as though she had never existed. Taking her place was a blonde woman wearing a frilly white and purple dress and hat decorated with red ribbons. The fan she held in her hand hiding the large smile that occupied her face.
"It seems things went well." The voice from behind her seemed tired. The purple haired woman yawned as she slowly floated over to her friend, and examined the scene in the room. "So, what's next?"
"We simply move onto step two. Separating her from her friends will be rather easy." Tilting her head over her shoulder, she gestured to several other figures roaming about the hall. "For now, we should move them. This place has served its purpose."
Turning back towards the girls in the room, she muttered, "This time I will not fail."
With a resounding snap of her fan, the world began to distort. Outside, evening commuters continued on their way, barely sparing a second glance at the empty lot that had always existed in that corner of the business district.
