Hey Guys, this is something I've been thinking of doing for a while now. I don't know if this type of story is even allowed so I'll wait for a month or two before even thinking of posting a second chapter.
If you follow any of my other stories please read the note at the end of the chapter.
(START)
Team RWBY and team JNPR sighed collectively as they sat together in team RWBY's room. "You know…I kind of miss reading that book with Mr. Fox." Jaune stated in a bored tone as he listlessly flipped through the pages of a comic book.
Ruby flinched slightly at the reminder. "Jaune…you know we can't…" she mumbled sadly as the others in the room winced.
Pyrrha nodded her head sadly. "It was unfortunate what happened…" she began trying to find the right words. "But did he not send us off with a smile on his face?" she questioned getting a nod from Blake who set her book down to join the conversation.
"He knew what would happen, he even warned us that the result would be the same regardless of what we did." She stated rather bluntly getting warning looks from Yang. "At the very least we made it painless for him."
Ruby sighed sadly. "I guess you're right." She mumbled. Her musings were cut off as someone knocked on their door. "Who could that be?" she wondered aloud
Weiss the closest to the door got up and opened it to see who it was. "Huh…no one's there?" she muttered in confusion as she looked around. Glancing down she saw a letter addressed to both teams. Picking it up, she looked it over before her eyes widened.
"Who was it?" Nora called out bouncing around restlessly.
"Nora calm down." Ren chided her simply as he placed a hand on her arm. He smiled softly when she nodded happily and sat still.
"It's from a Mr. Fox…" Weiss stated showing them the letter. Everyone's eyes widened slightly as Yang jumped up and grabbed the letter from Weiss' hands ignoring the white themed girl's indignant shout. "Dear Teams RWBY and JNPR you are hereby invited to a reading session hosted by Fox. If you wish to attend please sign below."
Do you think…?" Yang asked looking around the room.
"I say we do it." Nora declared with a dangerous grin on her face. "If this guy is trying to prank us then we break his legs!"
"I'm tempted to agree with Nora." Pyrrha stated looking cross. "To use the name of the dead in a prank is not something one without malicious intent does."
Ruby looked at her teammates as Jaune and Ren seemed to agree with the girls of their team. "What do you guys think?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
"I say we do it." Blake declared. "Best case scenario, it really is Fox and we get another good story. Worst case, someone is playing a very cruel prank and we beat them up." So nodding everyone signed their names and just like before a bright light engulfed them forcing them to close their eyes.
"Splendid you really did accept my invitation!" a familiar voice called out happily as they shook the blurriness away. "I was worried that I didn't explain things enough to convince you to come."
"Fox?" Ruby asked as she blinked the spots away. "Is that you?"
"Yes it is Ruby…" Fox began only to pause as a little red rocket rammed into him. "I'm sorry to have made you worry child." He muttered patting the back of the crying Ruby. "That goes for all of you, it seems I have caused you unnecessary trouble."
"But how?" Blake muttered as the others began looking around. "We saw you disappear."
"I'm not quite sure either, to be perfectly honest." The being admitted as he separated from Ruby's embrace. "However, I do know that the story I have for you is not an offshoot like the one before." He gestured to the couches behind him. "For now why don't you all get seated?"
As they sat down Ren looked Fox in the eye. "So if we're not reading about an offshoot dimension of our own, what are we reading?" he asked.
"The title of the story is Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku or Death Marching to the Parallel World Rhapsody." Fox explained as he showed them the cover. "To summarize, a person from a mundane world is somehow transported to a world of swords and magic with a three time use unique spell."
Blake's ears perked up. "Those can either be real good or real bad." She stated when the others looked at her. "The person being transported is almost always brought into the new world to save it from a demon lord or something like that." She looked at Fox "Can I start?" she asked.
Fox looked around "Is there anything anyone wants to ask before we begin?" he questioned. Seeing negatives all around, he smiled and handed the book to Blake.
1 – 1. Cataclysm Begins through a Death March
"That…is a very interesting chapter title." Yang stated with a blink of her eyes. "What's a death march though? Cause…well I don't think it's the one I'm thinking about."
Weiss was the one who answered her "They're probably using the business version of the term in which a team works multiple days without rest in order to complete their project." Yang blanched as Ren grimaced remembering how sometimes looking after Nora felt that way. Without waiting for any subsequent comments Blake began reading.
Stars wander
Great numbers of them
Sometimes glimpsing a shooting star
When people see such fleeting moments, each recite a wish in their heart.
Ruby scrunched up her face. "Is it me or is this worded weirdly."
Fox simply smiled "This story is told from a first person perspective, so it's worded in the way they speak."
"So that means we are hearing the character's thoughts?" Jaune asked "So right now the speaker is talking about shooting stars?"
"That is correct."
But isn't the sky divided by the falling meteorites?
Accompanied with thunderous roar, the mass falls upon the earth with overwhelming speed.
There might be people who enjoy seeing them on TV or a video site... but no one would want to see this downpour in close proximity.Yes, right now hundreds of meteorites are falling down in front of my eyes.
Both teams seemed stunned as the events in the book played out on the television in front of them. "That looks terrifying." Weiss muttered as she watched the meteors impact the earth repeatedly.
"If something like that were to happen on Remnant I don't think humanity would still be around." Yang stated seriously as she looked at the destruction being caused. "But…how did it happen, was it just coincidence?"
Nay.
I shouldn't say it like it's other people's business. This disaster is unmistakably caused by me.Due to my thoughtless choice about 10 minutes ago, now meteorites gouge the earth.
Striking dozens of kilometers away, trampling down the [enemies] there. From the corner of my viewpoint, the red dots on the radar are disappearing along with their lives.
"Oh well…that answers my question." Yang muttered with a frown.
"That amount of death and destruction…" Pyrrha muttered sadly. "Just what type of person is the speaker?"
"He doesn't sound like someone who goes out and kills people at random though?" Nora half stated half asked. "See he even admits that he caused all this because he was thoughtless."
"Nora…I don't think that makes it okay." Ren stated simply.
And then, a while after most of the meteorites disappear into the earth the slightly delayed sounds reach with a bit of ground tremor.Before the wave of dust crawling on the ground...Suddenly, I'm struck with acute pain, like it's some sort of divine punishmentMy head feels like it's splitting.
Ruby looked thoughtful "Doesn't that radar thing of his look like the mini-map in a game?" she asked innocently. The others paused their own musings as they looked more closely at what Ruby was pointing at.
"You're right, Rubes" Yang stated scratching her head. "Wait…is this…?" she began to ask only for Blake to cut her off.
"This world he's in is remarkably game like. However, that doesn't explain why he's suddenly in so much pain."
As if my body is being torn apart and scattered away.
Immediately after my consciousness parted from the pain, my body is swept away by the dust wave.Let's rewind the time a bit.
Everyone just stared somewhat blankly at the screen. "Is this story blatantly telling us that we're seeing a flashback?" Blake asked dully.
"I…I think it is." Jaune muttered in a surprisingly deadpan voice as Pyrrha sighed in what could only be annoyance. "I hate flashbacks." Jaune and Pyrrha both stated before looking at each other in surprise.
"Adorably in-sync aren't they?" Yang asked Weiss while winking causing the heiress to roll her eyes.
I'm working on holiday to meet a certain much-delayed project deadline. The so called smartphone and PC browser game from a major company who dispatched an outsourced subcontractor programmer to complete it.
Even a black company doesn't normally commission one person for two projects. However the junior programmer disappeared on the verge of release, leaving lots of bug and specification changes! Deplorable!Working in a place with high turnover rate, the only programmers around are the junior and me. Having no means to anticipate the situation, I'm forced to not only manage my own project, but also stuck with my junior's doomed project."That…that is a completely different setting than what was happening earlier." Ren muttered in slight confusion.
"Are those smartphone thingies like our scrolls?" Ruby asked curiously.
"I believe so Ruby." Fox began as he looked at the little red reaper. "I do believe that your scroll is slightly more advanced though."
"I'm more interested in the fact that this company is forcing all of the work for two different projects onto one person." Weiss stated in anger, even she knew that wasn't good.
"Alright, completed all the classes, I/O and comment entries, the rest is auto documenter from source code, relation diagram and seriously squashing the bugs.
I let my neck loose for a bit.
Surveying my surrounding, the office is full house on holiday like always. My neighbor, an outsourced person responsible for debugging, is grumbling while working, but no one shift their focus. There is no room for that. The surrounding designers and planners work silently with hollow, dead fish-like eyes.
"This is why we leave game design to the pros." Ruby stated with a shiver. "That kind of life looks harder than the life of a huntsman."
"I totally agree!" Nora shouted energetically "They're like…zombies!" she laughed as she began bouncing around again causing Ren to groan.
When I returned from getting some coffee, the monitor already finished displaying the output material needed for debugging.
Even so, with no documentary to work with I can't get fired up.It can't be helped if the junior who was thrown into OJT right away to complains like dying. Among the 4 programmers who were present when the junior entered the company half a year ago, only I remain, I'm not even sure how many are in the whole company."Sa... Suzuki-san, the client claims that the difficulty of WW is too hard for a beginner, what do we do?"You almost said Satou damn you. We've been in the team for half a year, stop getting it wrong!
"Satou? Is that an embarrassing name or something?" Yang asked while looking at Blake.
"Why are you asking me?" the Faunus asked looking confused.
"Aren't you the one familiar with foreign words?" Yang shot back looking happy.
"It's just a nickname." Fox cut in to stop any potential arguments.
The overweight director and planner turned his head over here with his usual troubled face.
Moreover, even though such troublesome things arise, he somehow looks happy. Why are there so many M's among developers?
"What's an M?" Ruby asked while turning to look at Yang.
"Uh…" Yan floundered as she looked around for help. She really didn't want to explain something like this to Ruby. She looked to Blake who only smiled and turned away. 'Traitor!' Yang hissed within her mind while shifting her attention to Weiss. Weiss turned red in the face as she looked away. 'Don't act all ladylike when it suits you!' Yang shouted internally as she turned to team JNPR for aid.
"The M stands for Masochist Ruby." Pyrrha explained simply causing a look of confusion to cross Ruby's face while everyone else stared at Pyrrha in horror.
"What's that?" the innocent one asked.
"It's a term used to describe people who derive sexual pleasure from having pain inflicted upon them." The Spartan explained causing Ruby to turn bright red as the others in the room looked at her oddly.
"Why do you know that?" Weiss eventually asked.
"I do read books you know." Pyrrha smiled at Weiss who spluttered at the simple answer. "Besides…why do you know what it means hm?" The others shared looks with each other before turning back to the story as Ruby fidgeted uncomfortably.
WW is an abbreviation of the smartphone and PC browser game [War World]. It's an orthodox strategy game with a bit of social aspect in it."Didn't they say that the main target market won't play it if we lower the difficulty anymore?"Yes, the current difficulty level was decided after great many meeting with the clients. Those time-wasters were really a waste eh. Miserable.
"I guess I can see what they're talking about." Jaune stated with a hum. "If I was playing a game I really like I wouldn't want it to be made easier to appease people who don't usually play it."
"Why don't we use the canceled bonus for the first timer, the show all enemy on map and the 3 time map annihilation bomb? And give the skilled guy who doesn't use it a rare title or such as a present for clear condition?"Since there's no time, let's go with that~. I'm counting on you for the implementation Suzuki-san."
Mr. Overweight said it as carefree as ever."Waitaminute. I'm still debugging the smartphone MMORPG right now, just give the OK to the client for now. There's no time to fix it if it gets rejected due to poor implementation."
"OK. Will immediately tell them on the phone~"The gigantic figure of Mr. Overweight disappear into the smoking area with phone in hand.
"Doesn't that map wide annihilation bomb sound like what happened earlier?" Yang asked starting to put the pieces together.
"It might be." Blake agreed seeing where Yang was going with the thought. "But let's not jump to any conclusions just yet."
I continue to work while silently muttering to myself.
The GO sign on Mr. Overweight's office lit up, he's out eating junk food like late night.After correcting numerous superficial errors left behind by my junior, I leave the rest to the debug team.That reminds me, what was the name again? It didn't usually come out since I always call it MMO or Roleplay. Oh yeah, it's [Freedom Fantasy World]. Because it's easy to mix up with WW's former name, [Fantasy War World], no one called it with the proper name. When I think back on it, the documentary marked it as FFW. Since we removed the [Fantasy] from WW, nowadays it's not ambiguous though.While the modification for WW goes on for a while, I'm sending the bug I discovered from FFW to the debug team... All-nighter again today huh.The checking continues until the next morning, miraculously the client program of the MMO-RPG is delivered.Of course, probably there are still some bugs remaining, but since the super weapon called [Update Patch] exists for net distributed programs, there's no need to worry. I feel like I can hear booing from users but I'm sleepy. While the debug team is working, I forwarded the modified exe package of WW to Mr. Overweight via intra-company mail, then I retreated to the safe haven under my desk to sleep for the first time in 30 hours.
"I think I would do the same thing if I went thirty hours with no sleep." Ruby muttered worriedly. "You think he's okay?"
"Ruby he was just forced to work for thirty hours straight, there's no way he's okay." Weiss pointed out simply causing Ruby to blush slightly.
Ah, bliss. The fun time of a corporate slave. For now, sleep is justice!Do you know what lucid dream is?
Being aware that you're inside your dream.Right now, I'm in a wilderness.I'll stop since it looks like a line from Pol-san
"Who?" both teams asked while looking at Fox.
"I'm afraid I don't know the reference either." The being admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.
Yep, wilderness. I guess it's okay to liken it with the American Grand Canyon.Why do I know that it's a dream?One, because I remember sleeping under my desk. Another is because I can see [Icon] for 4 on the lower right and [Menu] written on the upper-right of my vision.It looks like the thing on WW I worked on earlier.
Blake seemed deep in thought. "There's no way it's that simple." She muttered getting an odd look from her leader. "Judging by the title of the series, he really is in a different world, but I suppose the work he was doing mixed in with the fatigue made him think that it was a dream then…"
However! This is the first time that I'm dreaming about the thing I worked on during a debugging Death March. Though I'm not sure why it's wilderness instead of my work room...
Was it because the room was dry, I'm feeling that's the reason.Somehow the menu opens when I tap it with my finger. A transparent window often used for near-future stuff appears in my vision... I have poor imagination if I say so myself, I'll never be a planner or designer.The menu is divided into tabs for [INFO], [MAP], [Unit Management], [Storage], [Exchange], and [Log], as well as [Status], [Equipment], [Magic] and [Skill] menus that don't exist in WW.Did it get mixed up during the FFW debug last night?Well, you can't really expect consistency in dream though.
"Don't I know it?" Nora cheered happily as she began laughing. "One time I dreamt of eating a tower of pancakes that Ren made for me, but then suddenly I was riding a donkey while singing about marshmallows!"
The others looked at Ren for an explanation but only got a shrug in response. "You get used to it." He explained simply.
When I check Status, level is 1, HP, MP, Strength and all other attribute are 10. This is the basic status that hasn't been assigned with bonus points. Come to think of it, the last check was character creation.Hmm? There's also Job Type and Reward & Punishment parameters that don't exist in FFW? Where did it get mixed in from?Age, 15 years old... Did I want to have mentality of a student again?
[Job Type: Management], but I don't even have one subordinate!
Even so, [Affiliation: None], is it a sign that I want to change job...The content truly has hidden meaning in it... Ah, I want a vacation.
"He's totally convinced he's dreaming isn't he?" Pyrrha asked with a chuckle.
"That might be why he so casually called down a meteor storm." Blake nodded in agreement.
The peculiar ability of [Unit Creation] or [Unit Arrangement] probably mixed in from WW, but is there any need for the peculiar ability field to be written in the menu?
Furthermore what is with the last ability being [Indestructible]? What a strange dream.
I'm wearing a Polo shirt, chinos pant and sneakers. Hey, this is my attire just now. In the storage, there is my wallet, mobile phone and a yellow box with impressive nutritional balance food inside, 1 box. Come to think of it, I left it on the desk with the intention of eating but I lost to the drowsiness in the end.[Magic] and [Skill] are blank.
There are 10 skill points but sadly there are no skills to allocate them into.Opening [Setting], I add map and radar on basic indicator. Map displays a wide area and my own position. Radar is almost the same as map but it searches for enemies on the area, and adds color-coding to enemies and neutral units.I'm shown on radar as a small white point. The surrounding 100 meter is shown in gray, indicating unexplored region."Umu, I cannot see any enemies. It's free time. If only this was grassland I could indulge myself in lying around inactive."
"That's a flag." Jaune muttered getting odd looks from those around him while Blake looked interested in his reasoning. "He's going to do something that reveals the areas around him really soon probably."
I'm not interested in lying down on a rough ground.
I inadvertently stare at the icon "4" on the lower right corner. [All Map Exploration] is 1, [Meteor Shower] is 3. These are the measures for newbies from the arrangement with Mr. Overweight.[All Map Exploration] is just like the name suggests, search all the region in range. It also makes it possible to view detailed information, including the weak point of all units.
I thought that the scope of information was too much with no practical use for it, but Mr. Overweight pushed for it to be included in the package.I tried tapping it like on a smartphone.
The radar searched for all enemy and countless red dot appear. I lower magnification on the radar to display wider area.
Red dots filled half the map... Aren't the enemies too many?
"Called it"
I choose to keep them company with my own army using [Unit]
I'm getting fired up on having a small army defeating large one!...There was an era when I thought such thing.[Unit Creation]... Possibility to make unit, none.
[Unit Arrangement]... Can't arrange nonexistent unit."Attacking with a level 1 character lololol"
Truly a dream. Even absurd things are unreasonable.
"Well I think that should be the first hint that it's not a dream right?" Weiss suggested as she glanced at the resident plot expert.
"What's with that 'You read a lot so you should know how things go' look on your face." Blake asked with a raised eyebrow causing Weiss to stare at her strangely.
I glanced at the [Meteor Shower] icon on the lower right.
This is [Meteor Shower], the celestial annihilation.[Meteor Shower] is set with high tension parameters; it could destroy everything, beside the campaign scenario last hidden boss, in a single blow.It's a message for beginner that says "Bulldoze the map you can't clear with this".Would you push?
Yes
ＹＥＳ
Heil Braiking!
"Well then…now we know how that beginning sequence came to be." Ren stated with an amused voice. "I don't think I would've done things differently." There sounds of agreement around the room as everyone thought about it.
The last one seems to be a bit different.
Maybe the effects from the all-nighter still remain, I tap the icon while thinking such thing.
...The silence hurts.
I expected something amazing but there's nothing happening is it?I was sad for a moment and proceed to lie down. My back hurt from the rough ground.
Then I turn my face toward the sky, something comes into the view...Thank you for waiting.We're finally back to the opening scene.Real name, Suzuki Ichiro. Character name, Satou's life in different world began this way.
"Well…that escalated quickly." Yang muttered as she leaned back into the couch.
"If this isn't the way to start an overpowered main character story I don't know what is." Blake stated as she set the book down in order to rest her eyes.
"Aren't overpowered character stories usually pretty bad?" Jaune asked
"Not necessarily, it depends on how they do it." Blake stated with a shake of her head. "If the main focus is on saving the world and the villains aren't equally overpowered than yes, it's pretty bad. However, overpowered character stories have their own unique possibilities for fun."
With that thought in mind Blake handed the book to Weiss who began to read the next chapter.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
If you're reading this than you probably follow one or more of my other stories. Unfortunately I've decided to drop all other non-completed stories and will leave them up for adoption.
My reasoning is that, simply put, I've lost sight of what I wanted to do with each one and currently feel zero desire to fix them. If you want to adopt a story feel free to do so.
After 60 days or so I will delete all of my abandoned stories.