Hello all! I generally write/read in the Digimon section of the site, but Log Horizon has been growing on me recently and here I am, writing a story in this section. Please R&R and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Maybe an OC, but nothing else. Much sadness.

Prologue: A sign of things to come

Shiroe blinked.

Then he did it again.

"Eh?"

Looking around, the enchanter found himself surrounded by an unfamiliar environment that he most certainly was not in several minutes previously. He was standing in a small clearing with trees and mossy, old-looking buildings surrounding him. Most surprising of all, he found himself wearing a clothing set that he certainly was not wearing a few minutes ago. In fact, this certain set of clothing looked like the set his character in the game Elder Tale. Also, if he looked closer, the scenery surrounding him also reminded him of the game.

Wait…

Shiroe put two and two together quickly. The confused expression on his face quickly became shock as the only possibility available came to mind.

He was in the game, Elder Tale.

"No, that can't be right." Shiroe remarked to himself as he began to walk forward. Passing all the mossy buildings, he looked around for any sign of life or people that could possibly explain what was going on, but nothing was visible, minus the occasional gecko.

"I need to get somewhere where I can see a larger area…" Shiroe muttered as he continued to look around. Spotting a stone staircase nearby, he quickly moved to it, walking up to the top. Reaching the top, he quickly moved to the other edge.

"Now I can take a look-"

Shiroe was suddenly cut off as he was stunned into silence at what was before him. A giant tree was there.

"The Silverleaf Tree! So this really is…"

The sight had confirmed what he had originally concluded. He was currently in Akihabara, within the game Elder Tale.

Shiroe walked slowly through the crowded area below the tree, looking around at all the confused adventures that were no doubt in the same predicament as he was. After sighting the tree, Shiroe had noticed the gaggle of people down below, so he had quickly gotten off the wall and moved toward the area.

What met him was a scene of pure chaos.
Other adventurers were in a total state of panic. Many of them were fighting each other, blaming everyone for their current ordeal. Others were taking their anger out on the shopkeepers in the area. Yet others were simply sitting on the ground, empty eyes, not willing to accept their current situation or in extreme denial.

It was a pitiful sight.

Shiroe continued walking through the area, taking in all the sights. All of a sudden, he lurched forward as his foot caught on something, tripping him up and causing him to fall onto the ground.

"Ow…" Looking up from where he fell, Shiroe suddenly saw a bunch of random button appear out of nowhere, just floating in the air in front of him. Past the buttons, he could see what looked like HP bars appearing near each individual adventurer.

"Wait, could this be…a status screen?" Shiroe remarked in shock. "Does that mean…" Getting up from the ground, Shiroe immediately moved his hand over the "item" button, pressing it. As soon as he did so, a large amount of other words appeared in the air of items that Shiroe knew he had been keeping on his person.

"I can control it…"

All of a sudden, something at the bottom of his sight caught his attention. Quickly looking at it, Shiroe realized that it was the "log out" button as was customary in any game's status screen. Quickly moving his finger to press it, Shiroe watched as a red "not available" sign appeared on the button, which also greyed-out as he touched it.

"No good…it won't work."

Shiroe continued to move his eyes down the status screen, reviewing what was available to him.

"Wait, what's this?" he asked as his eyes latched onto a button semi-hidden in the lower right area. Reading it, he realized with a jolt of exhilaration that it was his friends list.

Eyes widening at his discovery, Shiroe immediately hammered the button, which opened up a drop-down list. Looking at the list, Shiroe immediately started reading the names of people that he knew in-game.

"Let's see…" Shiroe moved his hand out and began scrolling down the list. Noticing that several names were greyed out instead of white, Shiroe assumed that a white name was a player who was also stuck in the game at the minute. As he continued scrolling, a certain name made him stop. A certain slightly-insane former tea party leader's name was greyed out, signaling that said ex-leader was not online, but just the thought of what she would be doing in this situation brought a smile to Shiroe's face.

All of a sudden, with a ping, the name in question turned from grey to white.

Shiroe stared at it.

"Eh?"

He didn't have time to react any further, as another window popped up in front of him on the status screen. Focusing on it immediately, Shiroe found that it was an incoming call from someone.

"Who's calling?" he asked himself as he looked at the name. Reading it, his eyes widened in shock and his normally composed figure betrayed him.

"Kanami-san?!"

I'll try to update whenever I find free time. I recently uninstalled a bunch of games because my computer needed space, so I should have time.

Please drop a review if you have the time!