I don't own anything but my OC and a beat up Volvo station wagon. Enjoy the fic.
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He hadn't intended to play on a Japanese server, it just sort of happened.
His LoreCraft Guild had been a bunch of guys at his High School and the general drama of teenage life had gotten into the middle of things and before he knew it they were all on the outs. He'd wanted something to spice up his gaming life while he waited out the latest episode of their real life soap opera. The Elder Tales preview had looked promising, and the best part was he wasn't going to upset anyone by playing with a new party. So he'd gone solo and signed up for the beta.
Unfortunately the first release of the game had been in Japan, and by the time it came to the U.S. he had already built his account... really built it and there were enough English speaking players that he could squeak by with some expert gameplay and Google translate. They really didn't need to understand everything that was happening to know he could deal damage and he could take it. And to be honest.. he kind of enjoyed it. When he wanted a social game he could always log into LoreCraft and when he was tired of the drama.. he could go solo in Elder Tales.
The game was admittedly a bit addicting. The storylines for the quest were just original enough that he couldn't always tell where they were going and that kept him hooked. The combat system was pretty standard, but to really get the most out of it you had to put some serious thought into your strategy. He was a tank through and through in LoreCraft and it carried over into Elder Tales, he played as a Guardian. It's a difficult class to play solo, but his role in the party required the least communication, take damage and don't die.
It's not easy to play the same game for 20 years, he'd reached a point somewhere along the line where he just logged in for events and to play new expansions. It was a matter of pride now, two decades of his life in game and he had better be the best. It wasn't as if anyone really recognized him, or if they did it wasn't like he had a reputation for being chatty... but he knew a good 80% of his equipment was vintage items, you just couldn't get these drops in the newer expansions and that was, in his mind, pretty cool. Well... it was cool if you weren't really thinking about it and realizing that meant he had to be almost forty to be playing that long.
When the worlds end came though?
To start with he shouldn't have been logged in, and he cursed himself for his own foolishness in being so, he was a 37 year old father of two... if his wife caught him secretly gaming in her office... well he shuddered to think of the consequences. Facing the fact that despite all odds he was in fact trapped in a video game... well... there was a reason the US release had been so terrible, the game was definitely set in Japan. He couldn't exactly open a new tab and Google everything everyone was saying, he cursed himself again... he should at least have picked an English server or learned some Japanese.
He didn't bother with his contact list, there were only a few English speaking players on there and none of them were logged in, hasn't played since the European release. The players he knew the best, which still wasn't very well, probably hadn't logged in for decades. He tried a few charades at first, trying to ask the important questions, the most important question..."Can you log out?". He was terrible at charades though and pictionary as well. So in the end just went with what he knew.
He knew how to play and so he just played.
He visited the bank in the Guild Hall to reset his equipment and drop off his valuables before leaving the city. He didn't know exactly what his plan was, but he had bought the expansion pack for the new quests and even if he couldn't find them he could at least level up now and that was something to do.
Finding monsters after leaving the city wasn't hard. Working out how to kill them was a bit harder. The first few battles weren't won by his own expertise but by sheer luck and his pet, apparently she knew what to do even if he didn't. He took a moment to thank anyone listening for bonus items, the dog had come as a limited edition equipable item with the third expansion pack of the game. It had cost him extra to buy the collectors edition and at the time he'd barely had enough, but he was certainly appreciating it now.
He whistled twice sharply and she followed the command heel and gave up her search for dropped items. He wanted to live more than he wanted a few extra gold, and even with low DPS like hers, 5% of his own, she at least knew how to attack.
The next battle was easier, he drew the enemies attack to himself and once they were close used a shield swing. The dog went for the ones that hit the the ground with a low hp, anything that started moving again quickly was his problem. They established a good rhythm, she was the harmony to his melody.
They went back to Akihabara a few times, to restock items or switch out equipment. Something was happening in the city, the Crescent Moon Guild had set up some sort of food stall. He'd thought about stopping by it but the chef was a werecat and Harmony had some kind of instant aggro against cats, so he just kept to himself. It was a difficult decision though, everything he tried to make was insanely bland. He salivated at the thought of his daughters burnt cookies.
He was about a tenth of the way to level 91 when he started hitting trouble. The low level monsters weren't giving enough XP and the higher level ones were hard to manage in high numbers. When it was just a game there were always a few small parties out raiding and monsters were a lot more scarce. It was almost as if no one had come out this far since Armageddon, there were monsters swarming at every turn. He needed a new strategy. The beginners dungeon seemed like the perfect place to formulate one. Low level monsters that he could easily handle in high numbers would help him simulate his predicament.
A solution didn't come quickly. Harmony was a quick learner though, it was as if outside the restrictions of the game she had become as real as he had been... she learned sit, speak, heel, wait, all the commands he taught his own dog in the real world. Her attacks were becoming more varied and useful than in game too, her original purpose had been to collect items and she'd occasionally come barrelling into a fight in a display of complete uselessness to bite some monster or another for little to no damage. Here though she worked on his commands, she would attack, defend or search as he trained her.
Apparently she had the same personality traits as collies too, that Lassie style instinct to protect. It happened on their fifth day in the dungeon. They were as far as in as you could go, waiting for a respawn on the area boss when she took off nose to the floor chasing down something only she could identify. He followed behind her as fast as a guy in a couple hundred pounds of armor can go.
What she found was new players. The obviously new ones, low-level combined with a poor strategy. Their sorcerer was in the front drawing the attack away from their tank, the poor samurai looked confused as hell. They had a bard, a druid and a kannagi as well but as a team they seemed at a loss for what to do. The samurai couldn't draw the attack back while the sorcerer was throwing around high level magic drawing the aggro to himself. The druid couldn't heal fast enough to counter the damage being taken and the kannagi didn't seem to know how to use barriers or at least she wasn't trying any.
He waited to step in until they called a retreat, they were likely to run into more trouble running out like madmen and the last thing he wanted was a bunch of dead kids on his conscience. He slammed his shield to the ground, cast anchor howl and whistled for harmony to attack. The dog lunged for one undead after another, she wasn't bringing them down but anyone that countered her attack was hit by the counterattack from anchor howl, a messy but reasonably effective strategy.
A few more were drawn in from the tunnels and he surged forward with a quick taunting shout to draw their attention and then cross slash when he got closer. He was separating from Harmony but putting himself between the combat and the young adventurers who had backed up behind a rock formation to heal their wounded sorcerer.
The taunt was effective and they surged towards him and one by one he picked them off, they were easy kills if you were careful. The danger was in too many at once, but the druid had finally pitched in and was restoring his HP pretty well, not to mention the kannagi had blocked a few attacks here and there.
When the last one fell he rifled round in the dirt for a minute to pick up any worthwhile drops, most of this he couldn't use but he could probably sell it. It seemed like there were at least a few players still engaging in combat but he was willing to be that the stalls were significantly less flooded with monster drops these days.
"Naotsugu?" The samurai shouted from where they had taken cover. "Is that you?"
He ran his hands across his face and sighed once long and deep before drawing himself upright. At the very least he knew he had left his kids tucked in safe and sound in bed, he could handle a few wayward children in a video game turned reality as long as they weren't his own. Harmony sniffed imperiously as if in agreement, the situation wasn't ideal but they would work with it.
"I don't even know what that means kid." He shouted back with a sigh. "I do know however that you're coming with me. I can't say for sure but I'm pretty certain your parents don't know you're really here, in a dungeon fighting monsters. I think if they knew they'd very much disapprove. So let's get you and your buddies back to Akihabara."
Throwing his shield across his back he made his way over to the confused youngsters pointedly ignoring their hushed whispers in Japanese. He would kill absolutely anything for a Babel fish right now. They moved into a more defensive formation the closer he got, the sorcerer and samurai in front, the druid and the bard center and the kannagi in far back.
"I'm not going to attack." He said uselessly, raising his hands slowly in a goodwill gesture.
"Who are you? The samurai asked. "Are you one of the training camp instructors? Thanks for the help, really... but why are you in here? And where did that dog come from?"
"I don't speak Japanese kid." He said tapping his chest and loudly calling out the magic word. "America. I'm American. English."
"America? Like Hollywood?" The little bard asked excitedly, jumping to the forefront. "I want to be a rock star one day."
"I'm not from Hollywood. I didn't understand the rest of that. But you need to come with me." He replied motioning toward the tunnels. "You lot need to get to a safe location and recover, and then ideally you could open your browser and start reading some game guides."
"Hallo. I don't speak English. Thank you for your help. You want us to leave with you?" The kannagi asked, motioning first to to her party and then to him and then to the tunnels.
He froze for a moment.. what had she said... eigo wakarimasen... Eggo? Like the waffles? He wasn't a huge fan of instant waffles, but they were convenient and just thinking about them made his mouth water. He shook himself out of his reverie, the girl was still motioning somewhat confusedly towards the tunnels.
"Yes." He said with a sigh of relief, at least they understood each other that much. "Let's get you out of here"
He walked slowly towards the tunnels, turning back every other step to make sure they were behind him. The samurai led their party, the sorcerer always half a step behind or in front of him in an excited flurry of motion with the girls trailing behind uncertainly. He hesitated just a moment before whistling three short notes to Harmony, she circled the perimeter once with her nose to the ground before standing at attention facing the tunnel. He motioned the sorcerer first, taking him by the shoulders and slowly walking him to the center of the group. The young man made a few attempts to come forward be he put him back in his place several times. He pulled the Kannagi forward to stand next to him and pushed the Druid and the Bard to the back before finally walking himself forward to the Samurai's other side placing Harmony between them.
"We'll walk like this, everyone face out a bit and watch for incoming. Harmony will sense monsters first so she will lead and if needed draw them away.. do you understand?" He stared at their blank faces for just a moment before nodding to himself. "Of course you don't."
He took a deep stabilizing breath and tried not to think about why logging out and getting some coffee would be nice, thinking about it would be even more depressing than his general circumstance. He circled the group turning each kid just slightly to face outwards and then motioned pointing to his eyes and then around them. "Keep your eyes open for trouble, its a short walk so we should be fine."
"If you're not here with the training camp then you must be out here by yourself?" The samurai pressed him as they walked. He couldn't understand what the kid was saying but the tone of voice and wide hand gestures conveyed a hefty mixture of nervousness and curiosity. "What about your dog? I've never seen pets in game before. Are you a player or an NPC?"
"NPC?!" He questioned in surprise, giving the kid a light cuff about the head. "I can't understand everything but I got that one. I'm not an NPC. I've been playing since the game was in beta and judging by your short stature and brash behaviour, probably since your were in diapers."
"Did he say he's been playing since beta?" the bard called forward, he looked around to make sure she wasn't signalling the presence of any monsters before disregarding their chatter.
"I'm not sure. I thought he said he wore diapers, but that doesn't make any sense... my English is terrible." The samurai whined back at her.
"I know a little." The druid offered. "But he speaks too fast, and his accent isn't what I learned so it's hard."
"Serara... How do you say 'thank-you' in English?" The kannagi whispered a little loudly.
"I think it's "Sank-you"" The druid replied, struggling a little with the pronunciation.
"Okay.. I think I got it." The kannagi said before turning back to shout. "Sank-You Kapusan Amerika!"
"Your welcome kid." He said with what he hoped was a friendly grin, this was a whole new face so who knew what was his expressions looked like? "Now you guys quiet down so we don't attract anything, you'll get higher level monsters as long as I'm with you." He put his finger to his lips and shushed them in a gesture he hoped they understood.
"And by the way..." He said turning to face them, "It's pronounced, Captain America."
...
Authors Note: Just a one-shot, I kind of had the idea stuck in my head. I like the anime a lot, but I haven't read the manga so I'm not sure if I'm totally wrong about stuff and what not, if I am just be like... alternate universe! Because I won't be fixing it anytime soon, right now I'm working on a possible Avengers/Log Horizon crossover as well as everything else I am writing and that's enough on my plate.
As always huge thanks to SpaceCavy for helping me write this. You inspire me and also fix a lot of my mistakes. :P