"You're pretty good."

The minuscule titan slammed headfirst into the ground before exploding into millions of blue pixels.

"Thanks."

The archer tossed me a healing potion—an item that cost dozens of Cor. Luckily, I'd gotten it for free; he promised to reward me with an expensive item if I could defeat three titans in a row.

"Listen, kid... you should join the tournament they're having tomorrow. You could get a ton of money," he persuaded.

"I'll think about it," I replied, sheathing my sword.

This world was beautiful. It was hard to get over how much detail there was in this game—though, it could barely be considered a game anymore. This game was my reality, albeit a virtual one.

Though I would've liked to admire the vast fields and dungeons before me, I instead had to gather as much loot from the three-meter titans as possible. In the daytime, there were only small titans that could barely hurt you; in the nighttime, the larger and more gruesome titans came out, along with an armored titan that led them into battle. All I had in my inventory was a few pieces of titan meat, fifteen Cor, and the default weapon that players received when they first logged on.

And just then, my HP dropped in half.

An aberrant titan had come bolting toward me.

Its first attack made me fly across the field and land in a pile of mud. Quickly, I gulped down half of the healing potion I had been given, and my HP recovered instantaneously. Apparently, it was already nighttime, and the more vicious titans were on the way.

The aberrant titan wasn't finished. It approached me, but this time, I was prepared. Leaping into the air, I hooked onto its head and spun around to its neck, stabbing it with great force. Blood spewed onto my face, surprising me; I fell to the ground, my HP falling to around 25%.

Somehow, the titan was not finished. Its HP was still at half, and it stared me in the eyes eerily.

The game was only just beginning, and I was being decimated.

Groaning, I jolted up and ran between the titan's legs, hooking onto its neck before it could turn around. As I whizzed through the air, players started swarming the area, gazing at me with their jaws dropped.

"Haven't any of you guys seen someone kill an aberrant before?" I asked the crowd, loudly. There was no reply, and I impaled the titan, ending the battle.

"How did you do that, dude?!"

"You're our hero!"

"Will you beat the game for us?!"

Hordes of players surrounded me, asking questions and irritating me in various other ways; I suppose this is what I deserved for showing off.

When no one expected it, I slipped through the crowd into the door of an inn. Finally—peace and quiet.

The innkeeper behind the desk greeted me, asking if I wanted to buy a room. Promptly, I nodded; she handed me the keys to my room with a wide grin on her face. Thanking her, I left the lobby and proceeded to my room, which was on the fourth floor of the building—far away from the crowd.

My room was small, but it sufficed; I was immensely tuckered out from the fight, and I needed to rest. Everyone else was out in the field battling the waves of titans that were marching in, but I didn't want to risk my life just yet. My plan was to fight three-meter titans that next day, and collect enough Cor to buy armor and a better sword at a shop. Maybe I'd even be accepted into the Survey Corps, the best guild in the game—it was the first one to be created, and it had been formed in the alpha testing of the game. Apparently, to get in, you had to take a exceptionally difficult exam; I thought that I could surely pass, for I had just slayed an aberrant titan, and I felt extremely proud of myself.

Eventually, I stopped contemplating the entry exam, and I drifted into sleep.

"Wake up!"

My sleep was abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice. As soon as my eyes groggily slipped open, I could see that Armin was standing above my bed with his arms crossed.

"We were going to go on a hunt tonight, you idiot!"

"How'd you find me?" I sleepily answered, rolling out of my bed and falling on the floor.

"I have my ways," he huffed. "Now, party up with me!"

He was right—I had promised this annoying boy that, once we were in the game, we would venture out to the hunting grounds and fight together. We had gone to school together before the incident, and I had only become his friend because I felt sympathy for him; he was always alone, and his face was always in a book.

But now that the incident had occurred, I had thought that the deal was surely off; why would he still want to hunt with me if it meant that he would risk his life? He wasn't even good at the game—somehow, he was only a level two, while I had achieved level five within one afternoon.

"Fine..." I muttered, pressing my fingers down, opening my menu, and sending him a party request. Almost instantly after I sent the request, it was accepted; now, directly below mine, there was another HP bar—it was Armin's, and I had about three times as much health as he did.

"Let's go! With you on my side, we can certainly defeat some of them! Right?" he asked.

"Uh... sure," I answered.

Beckoning for me to come with him, Armin left the room. Did I really have to protect this guy?

Of course I did. If he were to lose all of his HP...

Not wanting to let that happen, I dashed out of the room and followed behind my party member.

"Be careful... there might be a crowd of people out there looking for me," I warned him.

"Wait... what?!"

"All right! Here we are!" Armin exclaimed, extending his arm and pointing to the field excitedly.

Players were losing to the titans everywhere you looked, and the sky was full of blue shards. The armored titan was the main cause of this, looking about a hundred times as strong as that pathetic aberrant titan that confronted me before. This would be difficult...

How did I get myself into such a mess? It's a long story.