Logging in, I see the digital city of Mac Anu. Such an interesting place, I had to admit. The stone textures for the walls and ground looked fairly real, and the NPCs looked and acted like real people. I stood in front of a Chaos Gate, looking onto a stone bridge which stood over a large stream that flowed through Mac Anu. On the other side of the bridge were a few shops and a square area which users conversed and traded, and on the closer side of the bridge were two shops and a bank.
"Hey, you." Said a voice behind me.
"Huh?" I said, turning around to look and see who was speaking. A tall man with white hair and white wings stood behind me. He had silver armor on and sheathed in his left waist was his sword.
"What're you doing just standing around? Enjoy The World." He said, smiling and he walked past me and over the bridge.
"Uh, y-yeah. Of course!" I said as I began to wander.
I decided, after buying some weapons with my starter money, to go and see what the fighting was like in The World. I stepped up to the Chaos Gate, chose my words, and was transported to a different place.
This place was a plain. The grass was a beautiful green, and there were a few trees every once and a while. In the distance, there was a strange looking stone entrance. I looked at it curiously, but decided it must have been a dungeon. I drew my weapons, and decided to fight some of the monsters in the field. A goblin appeared, and looked at me. It tilted its head, and then ran. I blinked at it curiously for a moment, and then ran after it. Were monsters supposed to run from users?
When I caught up to it, I sliced at it with one of my grey daggers. Immediately, it froze. For a moment, I thought I did something wrong, but then everything started to move again. The goblin blew up into a million pixels, and the pixels concentrated themselves into my daggers. My daggers began to glow, and I suddenly felt more powerful. That must be how the experience points work, I thought.
After a few more goblins, I decided I could take on the dungeon. I had progressed two levels already. I walked towards the entrance of the dungeon, and entered. Inside the dungeon was somewhat dark. The textures of the walls, floors and ceiling were that of stone. There were artificial cobwebs in corners and what not, and some black metal bars. As I continued down the halls, I came across all kinds of monsters in which I destroyed. Each time, everything seemed to freeze. But not long after it all froze, it all seemed to go back to normal.
Finally, I got to the end of the dungeon. The boss was easy and simple. Only a few blows, and he had froze, and then blown up into a million pixels. I chuckled, received my reward, and clicked the log out button.
I logged in the next day. Glancing around in Mac Anu, I saw people mumbling and whispering. Everyone was talking about a strange bug that had made the system glitch yesterday. I walked up to a group of users and listened.
"Yeah, I heard about that! There was some kind of area glitch that made all the users there freeze. It took them two hours to figure out how to fix the area without delete the user's accounts." Said one.
"Oh yeah? Did you hear about a new Lost Ground?" Asked another.
"Lost Ground?" I asked. They all looked at me.
"Yeah, a Lost Ground. They're areas within the world tha-" He was caught off by a man calling from behind us.
"Hey, you!" I turned around to see the man I saw the day before.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Come here." He said. I walked over towards him.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah. What were you doing yesterday after I told you to enjoy The World?" He asked.
"Um.. I went to a beginner area and trained for a while. Why?" I asked, almost scared. I knew the other users were looking at us.
"I take it you haven't heard about the mysterious virus in the system." He assumed.
"Oh no, I have."
"What do you know about it?" He asked. I told him about what I had just heard from the group of users. He nodded and told me to be careful when I go out into areas and to watch what I do. I nodded to him and went to the Chaos Gate. I didn't want to be here much longer. I felt accused, and it hurt. I chose random words, not seeing the level of the area and was transported there.
When I arrived in the icy area, I was more infuriated that anything. I drew my dueling daggers and began slicing at all the monsters I could. I was so angry; I didn't find it strange that some of the monsters in the area began to glitch. I began to not only slice at the monsters, but at the ground and any other scenery around me. The pixels from the scenery begin to lift from its grid and fly into the digital atmosphere. I stabbed the ground a couple times, making the pixels of the ground fly into the atmosphere more. More monsters appear and I shoot a digital beam at them, causing their pixels to spread into the air.
Suddenly, I hear the clacking of metal on metal. The sound of clicking rings through the area that is now mostly just its basic three dimensional grids. I turn to see the face of Balmung, the Administrator. He is typing on a transparent sheet. As I growl at him, pixels of all different colors begin to fly into the air, and then there is nothing.
In The World, there is a city called Mac Anu. There, users can rest from fighting; they can converse, trade and have a good time. In the weapons store, standing behind the counter is the NPC for the weapon store. His black hair, thin body, and twin blades seem life-like, but also lifeless at the same time. Within the digital head of his, a woman's voice calls to him.
Do not worry yourself, Cubia. I will awaken you again, soon.