Motoropia

"The age of motorbikes and high-speed vehicles, the newest VRMMORPG to be released in the fall of 2026. Produced by Vast productions."

Sinon stared at the screen display that stood behind the massive glass window, partitioning her from the game shop in the local department store. The graphics on this upcoming game was certainly of a whole new level, and she was comparing this to that of ALO and GGO, both games dominating the current online rankings for best quality graphics in online forums. I wonder what the plots are gonna be like? Must be difficult to top off with such competition hanging around the market nowadays. She thought. Taking another glance at the screen that was going through a replay infinitely. Damn, those graphics are hella good. She made her way to the exit of the department store.

Plopping onto her bed, she grabbed her Amusphere and slipped it over her head. Time for a dive. The group had decided to meet up at three in the afternoon, at Agil's store in Yggdrasil for another round of clearing the next floor boss.

Link start! Sinon reopened her eyes to find herself standing in the familiar store, Agil was behind the counter as usual, busying himself with his usual chores around the store. Standing in front of the counter were Kirito and Asuna, deep into a conversation about new speed skills that were recently introduced to the game. Sinon scanned the room for the rest of the group, but they were not in sight.

"Lisbeth, Silica and Sugu are across in Lisbeth's Arms shop. They're bringing the weapons over from the last time we left them with Lisbeth for maintenance. In case you're wondering where they are." Agil spoke from behind the counter.

"I see." Sinon wondered if the man could read her mind. "All that's left is for Klein to arrive. He's late as usual." She gave of a small laugh. She'd joined the group for several years, and they'd gotten along as if they'd known each other forever. It was strange for people to get to know each other from virtual worlds, and it was even more special for them to keep in touch in the real world. She loved the fact that they hopped between different worlds; it made reality seem a lot easier when you could dive into fantasy anytime, but there was this boredom recently. It was as if a dish was under-seasoned or such, something similar had happened before she'd switched from GGO to ALO.

A gust of wind fumed into the small room, "I'm sorry I'm late!" Klein panted as he could barely stop himself, rushing into the store. He donned his samurai outfit, weapon at the ready. Carrying a surprised look as he looked up to find half the group missing. "Guess I'm not the last to arrive, huh?" he remarked, just as Lisbeth and the others trudged in, arms full with their weapons.

"Here ya go! I fixed 'em up. Gave yours a bit of upgrading, Kirito, might find that it's gotten a bit heavier but I reckon you'll like the new stats." Lisbeth gave a thumbs up over to the black swordsman, who took his sword and inspected it carefully.

"Wow, I didn't know you could add onto a fixed weapon Lisbeth. That's pretty cool, and an upgrade in the power field, too. Just what I wanted, thanks." Kirito thanked his friend.

"It's a recent thing that us Leprechauns just received, kinda like a seasonal offer. Not sure how long it'll last though. Hopefully it'll turn out well and the producers will keep this for the long run." Lisbeth's eyes twinkled as she explained the new benefits her species had received.

"Speaking of recent, there's a new game coming out soon." Sinon began. "It seems pretty fresh, and the graphic qualities are nice."

"Motoropia, right? I've heard of that one. It's produced by Vast productions, and they've just gotten the latest 3D computer graphic programs with the largest color palette available. Not sure what the game is gonna be like though. From the trailers, it seems like it's all about motorbikes and racing cars or such. Hopefully not another racing game." Kirito piped up, frowning at the part about the racing game.

Sinon doubted that Motoropia would be your usual racing game. That would be a waste for a MMORPG. The group rambled on about new games as they readied themselves for the boss fight. As they approached the door, Sinon touched her bow one last time before they would meet the boss. Never mind whatever motorbike race, let's just kill the boss and clear another floor. Another floor.

Congratulations! The words were projected above them as they sat on the floor of the boss room. Having defeated another boss and unlocked another level of New Aincrad, The battle had been quite an intense one, even with all members of the group present, it was a difficult fight. Kirito, Sugu and Agil could barely hold up the rally at the front, and there were constant switches throughout the fight, Lisbeth and Silica were down on the floor the moment it was over and Klein was literally a deflated Salamander, something Sinon could rarely see. She looked over to find an exhausted Asuna, their regular healer had been the one holding the group up. That girl has a whole lot of stamina in her, having to keep up the lives of seven friends. Sinon wondered, looking at her friends relieve themselves after battle. Makes me think of my position in the group. What can you do as an archer? You don't fight in the front lines; you just stand at the back and wait for the moment. She wasn't out of breath, and she hadn't really contributed much in the fight. Actually, she hadn't really done much in any of their fights. Perhaps it was the fault of an archer. But then again, there weren't many archers in ALO; most players opted for a sword or a more direct weapon. Frowning at her lack of efforts in the group, she climbed up the staircase with the others as they went to activate the gates of the next level.

"I wish there were more things to do than clearing the floor bosses and attempting to hunt rare animals in the forest. It's almost as if ALO is reaching a plateau now." Silica whined as she and Sinon walked around the department store after school.

"I get what you mean, MMORPGs should continually interest its players, but ALO seems to have reached a dead end. I think the producers have run out of ideas for quests." Sinon agreed with Silica's disapproval of the game's situation. "I was hoping there would be some interesting twist as we cleared the latest floor the other day, maybe some sort of new plot that connected the different floors that we cleared up earlier – " She stopped as the new releases rack caught her eye. Motoropia was finally out, and the detail on the packaging was just as brilliant as she had seen on the screen a week ago. Sinon walked over and picked up a copy of the game.

"This was the game you guys were talking about that day in Agil's store." Said Silica. Sinon nodded. It looks stylish and different to the ALO and GGO. And the colors, there was something up with the colors and graphics that made it significantly different to the other new games. I think I'd like it. Sinon smiled as she checked the price tag. Affordable and worth it.

"Yeah. I'm buying it." As she and Silica headed to the cashier.

Author's Note:

I haven't written a fanfic for a while, and this just popped up in the middle of the night. Not sure where it'll lead up to, but hopefully a good start :)