As he sat on the grass, in a spot conveniently underneath a lovely willow tree, and watched the sunset, the young man thought to himself. It's been three months since this stupid game trapped all of us in here, and I still can't seem to wrap my head around it all. All I ever see when I'm out is people who are fighting for their lives, both in-game and real life. This is not what I wanted when I started playing this game. I expected a cool place where I could be myself, yet have my escape from reality. But this place… this is much more real than anyone could have ever imagined. Do I regret putting on the nerve gear? Sure, I mean I would rather prefer my life over a virtual reality based game. Whatever made me get it, I'll probably never find out. Hopefully I do, but at this point I'm just trying to be realistic rather than optimistic; it may cause damage to me psychologically. Though, my mind should be focused on leveling, getting stronger, and finding a way to get to defeat the boss on level 100. I have to find a way to get out of here. He took a deep breath in to calm his nerves a little bit then stood up, and walked away to find a lodge to stay for the night.
[ONE WEEK LATER…]
The young man, known as Maki, was out in the field killing monsters early one morning. His goal was to reach level thirty-seven before dinner so he could have enough Col to buy food, and also get some better equipment. "Maybe if I get enough this time, I can get something better to eat. Maybe some more meat if I can afford it! I'm getting hungry just thinking about-!" His rambling was interrupted by the sound of cheerful humming from the nearby hill, followed by some giggling. "Hm? Is there a player over there? What are they doing here so early?" he jolted just a little bit, "Hopefully it's not a trap if I go over th-there and find out wh-who it is…" Maki took a deep breath in, then with his hand on his sword and his eyes focused on his surroundings he made his way towards the hill. As he reached the midway point of the slope he heard a small scream and a giant splash. Is someone in danger? It sounded like a girl! He hurried over to make sure the player was ok. As he stood atop the hill, he looked down and saw a young looking girl with light blue hair sitting in the middle of the crook. It wasn't deep so her hands were supporting her as she sat there with her head held low. "Eh?! Miss!" he started running down to her, "Miss are you okay? Did you get hurt?" As he was walking through the water, he heard her giggling again. Hm? Is… is she… really giggling..?
"Miss?"
"Hehe! Hi!" She spoke happily as she looked up at him. He just looked back at her, still puzzled at what was so funny that she completely forgot she screamed and fell into the water. "U-Uhm.. are you ok..?"
"Hm? Me? Of course I am!" She sprung up from the ground, and giggled slightly as she placed her hands on her waist. "Don't I look ok? My health bar isn't decreasing or anything, right?" Maki did notice that her health bar was still green; though it was obvious a fall into water would not do any serious damage. "Y-Yea…right. I-I was just worried when I heard a scream. I thought you might have been attacked by something so I came to help in any way I could. I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you."
"Well, I'm ok. No worries, ya?"
"Hehe… yea no worries. Well, now that I know you're safe," Maki smiled and began to walk away, "I'll be on my way then-"
"Wait!" She grabbed his sleeve to make him stop. He turned around and looked at her, his puzzled face returning yet again. "Yes?" he questioned. "What's your name? We should be friends!" She giggled and opened up her friends list, waiting for him to state his name. "E-Er… Maki…" The girl smiled and added him as a friend. He pulled up his friends list and looked at the recent request he had.
【Lavender would like to be your friend.】
"Your name is Lavender?" He accepted the request and looked up at her, puzzled (shocker). "Yea. Why do you ask in that tone? Do you hate the name or something?"
"N-No! it's not like that I promise! It's just that… your hair… it doesn't really match your name that well, don't you think?"
"Oh! Well, when I first joined the game, my character had purple hair. When we all looked in that little mirror at the opening ceremony, my hair turned blue and well, this is how I really look. Blue hair and all… somewhat."
"Ah, I see. When I first started, I had long hair put on my character instead of my real short hair. I had the same hair color that I do right now though; I like to feel like I'm one with the game."
"So I suppose this is a little more than you bargained for, huh? Hehe!" They both laughed at the joke Lavender made, but slowly stopped at the realization of the truth in it. "So…" Lavender made a small attempt to break the awkward silence, "What are you doing out here so early?"
"Funny you should ask, I was curious about what you were doing out here so early. As for me, I just want to get enough money for food and equipment. Col doesn't come easy, you know." He chuckled a little. Lavender giggled a little bit then spoke softly, "I just… wanted to test out something. But it's not important. You must be hungry right? Come on there is a nice little place where we can grab a bite to eat in the village nearby! My treat!" Before Maki even had a chance to say something, Lavender was running over the hill laughing. Maki was a little stunned at the fact he wouldn't have to pay for his food. "I'll race you! You have to pay if I win!~" she shouted. Maki instantly snapped out of it and started running after her shouting back, "Hey! N-No fair! You got a head start! Lavender wait up!"