Author's Note: *sigh* Since I can't get my HTML to work. 'Blah' = thoughts,
*Blah* = emphasis. At any rate, I really wanted to work on this and at
least finish chapter one before I went back to Anthem's Report. For those
of you who are mad at me for that.don't hurt me. And for the .hack
enthusiasts, I hope you enjoy my fic. I've only played the game, seen the
OVA and the anime, but SOLEMNITY isn't based solely on either of them. Do
expect some appearances from random characters, though.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own .hack or any of its installments.
?+a^$)r_!%e
User Registration Process..
I sighed as I plucked out the last characters of my user name and character name. I wasn't sure how well this would turn out. But finally, I had gotten my hands on a copy of "The World". Wouldn't you know it? My computer just happened to have contracted a virus. Just as I was preparing to install, my firewall collapsed and I was given a breach alert. If that wasn't bad enough, it was the only computer in the house, so I would have to wait for it to fix itself.
It's a shame I hadn't figured that out at the time.
I was too anxious. I couldn't wait to play the highly acclaimed "The World". There was no way I would just pass this up. After spending over 40,000 yen on the goggles alone, I wasn't going to wait.
"User registration is complete. To start the game, select 'The World' from your desktop. Please enjoy 'The World'."
'It worked?' I thought, as my desktop icons swiveled to their regular positions. That had been the biggest shock. Frankly, I'd expected the terminal to crash and burn. Was this a joke played by the CC Corp.? Did it happen to everyone? Somehow I doubted that.
For a minute or two I simply sat and stared at the monitor. The new goggles sat invitingly atop the case. Fingers tingling, I reached out, picked them up and slipped them over my head. The mouse seemed to move of its own accord as I went to open the shortcut entitled "The World". The moment I heard the computer churn the controller was in my hands. Before the game even loaded up, my palms were damp with perspiration.
I flipped the goggles on. The login screen appeared flawlessly before my eyes. I smiled and, ignoring the bright, flashing "new" next to the Board option, I quickly, earnestly logged on to "The World".
I found myself in the Root Town, Mac Anu of the Delta server. Seemed natural enough, considering that's where all newbies end up. Unable to contain myself, I took off to explore the place, shop, and make some new friends. I had barely gotten across the bridge when my Long Arm Bronze Spear suddenly fizzled - like the TV screen when it's receiving a bad frequency. Then the scenery fizzled, then *I* fizzled. I closed my eyes. I hoped to God it wasn't the Deadly Flash. Of all people, of course, even a four-year-old virus would come to me even in its scarcity nowadays. Something kept me from dropping the controller. I had no way of disconnecting myself from the terminal. What was going on?
I finally gathered the guts to at least squint. The fizzling had stopped, but I was no longer in Mac Anu. I was in some strange field. It didn't look anything like the pictures of all the other fields, so I figured this might be an event field. Or not. I looked all around, having no map. I tried gating out, but nothing I did seemed to work. All I could manage was walking. So I walked. And walked. And kept on walking. This place. . .There was nothing here.
Disparagingly, I took a tighter grip around my Bronze Spear. The field lacked hills, buildings - I couldn't even find a dungeon. There weren't any ability-enhancing symbols; there weren't any monsters. Just terrain - and flying letters. . .
"What the hell?" This was getting way too scary. I'd heard rumors of infected fields, and the only possibility was that I had stumbled upon one. By the time I began to rationalize my situation, I finally figured the virus had something to do with it. But it couldn't have been the Deadly Flash. After all, I was still alive.
I was alive, right?
Suddenly, a blast of wind rustled my flipped, light purple hair. It refreshed me a little but left me depressed when it stopped. That was rather astonishing. I didn't think even a game of this caliber would have such realistic effects. Imagine that. Even in an infected field, there was wind. Something about that made me worry.
I spent a few minutes attempting to gate out, to no avail. I eased myself to my heels, leaning against the Bronze Spear. For a while I gave up trying to leave the field and just looked at my stats. My astoundingly *high* stats. From the looks of things, I wasn't a level one newbie Long Arm. In fact, I had no finite level at all. My Bronze Spear was, in fact, a Bloody Lance, which had also been upgraded. My eyes widened. Every single number had been replaced with a strange character. All my equipment had been exchanged with a higher-leveled piece, some of which I hadn't even heard of before. I had more money than possibly anyone in "The World" could even acquire. What the hell was going on here?
Desperately I issued the gate out command over and over again. I was so confused I almost had a heart attack when it worked. I was back on the bridge at Mac Anu. Nothing had changed from what I recalled. Well, almost nothing. At the moment, I was being given curious glances. That seemed logical, since "The World" provided fluid movement. I wouldn't just be sitting like that in an instant. I returned the glances with a pitiful look of my own.
Dazedly I stood. I balanced the strange lance in my hands. It didn't look natural. Not to me, at least. It was, to say the least, shimmering. Shimmering? That wouldn't be the right word. . .It didn't matter at the moment. Before thinking, I charged for the Chaos Gate.
This game was frighteningly realistic. I found myself panting for breath when I finally reached the spinning portal. Swallowing a vast quantity of air, I prayed I would somehow manage to escape this. I closed my eyes and logged out.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own .hack or any of its installments.
?+a^$)r_!%e
User Registration Process..
I sighed as I plucked out the last characters of my user name and character name. I wasn't sure how well this would turn out. But finally, I had gotten my hands on a copy of "The World". Wouldn't you know it? My computer just happened to have contracted a virus. Just as I was preparing to install, my firewall collapsed and I was given a breach alert. If that wasn't bad enough, it was the only computer in the house, so I would have to wait for it to fix itself.
It's a shame I hadn't figured that out at the time.
I was too anxious. I couldn't wait to play the highly acclaimed "The World". There was no way I would just pass this up. After spending over 40,000 yen on the goggles alone, I wasn't going to wait.
"User registration is complete. To start the game, select 'The World' from your desktop. Please enjoy 'The World'."
'It worked?' I thought, as my desktop icons swiveled to their regular positions. That had been the biggest shock. Frankly, I'd expected the terminal to crash and burn. Was this a joke played by the CC Corp.? Did it happen to everyone? Somehow I doubted that.
For a minute or two I simply sat and stared at the monitor. The new goggles sat invitingly atop the case. Fingers tingling, I reached out, picked them up and slipped them over my head. The mouse seemed to move of its own accord as I went to open the shortcut entitled "The World". The moment I heard the computer churn the controller was in my hands. Before the game even loaded up, my palms were damp with perspiration.
I flipped the goggles on. The login screen appeared flawlessly before my eyes. I smiled and, ignoring the bright, flashing "new" next to the Board option, I quickly, earnestly logged on to "The World".
I found myself in the Root Town, Mac Anu of the Delta server. Seemed natural enough, considering that's where all newbies end up. Unable to contain myself, I took off to explore the place, shop, and make some new friends. I had barely gotten across the bridge when my Long Arm Bronze Spear suddenly fizzled - like the TV screen when it's receiving a bad frequency. Then the scenery fizzled, then *I* fizzled. I closed my eyes. I hoped to God it wasn't the Deadly Flash. Of all people, of course, even a four-year-old virus would come to me even in its scarcity nowadays. Something kept me from dropping the controller. I had no way of disconnecting myself from the terminal. What was going on?
I finally gathered the guts to at least squint. The fizzling had stopped, but I was no longer in Mac Anu. I was in some strange field. It didn't look anything like the pictures of all the other fields, so I figured this might be an event field. Or not. I looked all around, having no map. I tried gating out, but nothing I did seemed to work. All I could manage was walking. So I walked. And walked. And kept on walking. This place. . .There was nothing here.
Disparagingly, I took a tighter grip around my Bronze Spear. The field lacked hills, buildings - I couldn't even find a dungeon. There weren't any ability-enhancing symbols; there weren't any monsters. Just terrain - and flying letters. . .
"What the hell?" This was getting way too scary. I'd heard rumors of infected fields, and the only possibility was that I had stumbled upon one. By the time I began to rationalize my situation, I finally figured the virus had something to do with it. But it couldn't have been the Deadly Flash. After all, I was still alive.
I was alive, right?
Suddenly, a blast of wind rustled my flipped, light purple hair. It refreshed me a little but left me depressed when it stopped. That was rather astonishing. I didn't think even a game of this caliber would have such realistic effects. Imagine that. Even in an infected field, there was wind. Something about that made me worry.
I spent a few minutes attempting to gate out, to no avail. I eased myself to my heels, leaning against the Bronze Spear. For a while I gave up trying to leave the field and just looked at my stats. My astoundingly *high* stats. From the looks of things, I wasn't a level one newbie Long Arm. In fact, I had no finite level at all. My Bronze Spear was, in fact, a Bloody Lance, which had also been upgraded. My eyes widened. Every single number had been replaced with a strange character. All my equipment had been exchanged with a higher-leveled piece, some of which I hadn't even heard of before. I had more money than possibly anyone in "The World" could even acquire. What the hell was going on here?
Desperately I issued the gate out command over and over again. I was so confused I almost had a heart attack when it worked. I was back on the bridge at Mac Anu. Nothing had changed from what I recalled. Well, almost nothing. At the moment, I was being given curious glances. That seemed logical, since "The World" provided fluid movement. I wouldn't just be sitting like that in an instant. I returned the glances with a pitiful look of my own.
Dazedly I stood. I balanced the strange lance in my hands. It didn't look natural. Not to me, at least. It was, to say the least, shimmering. Shimmering? That wouldn't be the right word. . .It didn't matter at the moment. Before thinking, I charged for the Chaos Gate.
This game was frighteningly realistic. I found myself panting for breath when I finally reached the spinning portal. Swallowing a vast quantity of air, I prayed I would somehow manage to escape this. I closed my eyes and logged out.
