If the boy was being honest, he wasn't sure when he first put on the AmuSphere on his head. The device's metal contraptions felt cold and unwelcoming, despite being made with ease of use and long-term comfortable use in mind. He laid still on his bed, waiting for the slowly-filling loading bar on the top right of the supposed Heads Up Display of his newly-borrowed gaming platform. Well, not really. Since the games have to run through his Personal Computer first before being transmitted through the device. He exhaled a long breath of wariness, and was starting to develop second thoughts about playing the game altogether.
But alas, a rather high-pitched notification noise chirped from the AmuSphere's built-in speakers. Shortly after, multiple tables and graphs appeared on the screen, surprising the new player ever so slightly. But the most prominent one was the notification box overlaying everything that seemed to be monitoring his heart-rate and blood pressure. It was a pop-up, or more like... a warning to the user, considering how the letters inside the text-box was written in big, blocky capital letters that overshadowed every single statistical data behind it.
DIFFERENCE IN BRAINWAVE LENGTH AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE FROM DEFAULT USER DETECTED.
REGISTER AS A NEW USER?
He blinked, before realizing that the device may be just referring to the only other individual that used the device regularly, his mother, who was absent from the boy's abode and was already on her way to Fukuoka along with his father. Thinking back, he still couldn't believe his own luck that his parents just let him use the AmuSphere without protest, despite him being honest with the device's usage was to play an online game with his old friend. Still, despite the obvious choice presented before him by the Full-Dive gaming system's interface, he wasn't sure about the next step he was supposed to take.
He wondered if the AmuSphere was waiting for some sort of input.
"Uh... yes?" He tried pathetically, his voice sounded weak and unsure of his own words.
Fortunately, that input seemed to work, as the pop-up screen disappeared, and he was presented with a new pop-up screen.
NEW USER REGISTERED AS HOMEUSER-02.
WELCOME TO AMUSPHERE - OPERATING SYSTEM VER. 1.034 (BETA)
REGISTER NEW USER AS DEFAULT?
"No."
The machine once again chirped in confirmation of his choice. Kicking out his own sickly mother from the device was surely an unwise decision that he's sure he would come to regret in the future. She was already kind enough to keep the device up to date with the most recent software updates, too, since most common folk would just care less about the software the AmuSphere uses. The pop-up overlay once again disappeared, and he was then finally presented on the current monitor of his blood pressure and heart rate. From his own observations, everything seemed normal for an average young adult in his early twenties like him.
A small warning did pop up on the far-right of the screen, basically just stating that in events of an emergency, like the device detecting a sudden, significant drop in the user's brain activity, or in one's heart-rate and/or blood-pressure, the device's failsafe system would automatically log the user out from whatever they're doing. The boy's eyes blinked. For a simple, supposed gaming device, the AmuSphere sure did take that extra step in providing the best health and safety measures in their own gear. After a quick read-through of the warning, he dismissed the information elsewhere into the depths of his brain.
The time display on the device told him that it was 09:30 in the morning. Ample time for him to probably orient himself into the new game he was about to play. Speaking of the game, Gun Gale Online along with its updates was already installed in his Personal Computer and was already primed on the device, proven by the AmuSphere's OS detecting the installed FDVR game on his computer. The device was simply waiting for the user's input to commence a Full Dive by that point.
Only thing is, he didn't know what to say to boot the game.
"Uh... play?"
Nothing happened.
"Start the game?"
He was still staring at his own ceiling through the rose-tinted glasses of the device.
"Commence Full Dive, please? Open Sesame? Will you please, start, up, the damn, game, you piece of, rusting, crap?"
Getting increasingly agitated, he quickly reached for the phone by his nightstand and did a quick search through the internet for the AmuSphere's activation sequence. After a swift sift through the gaming pages, he found out that the device still used basically the same voice command as the old NerveGear system. A rather bold and controversial move he might say so himself, but he didn't really mind it, and so did millions of other active players in the world, so he was more than willing to give this a pass. He needed to start up the game anyway.
Pushing down the last amount of hesitation with an audible gulp of his saliva down his throat, the boy breathed one last breath of self-confirmation before speaking.
"Link-Start."
Instantly, he felt like he was being pulled into a white void, with all of the former external stimuli he felt, like the soft fabric of his clothes and the squishiness of his own bed gone and replaced. His senses was already being taken over by the device, and while he still had reservations when he saw that the AmuSphere was loading up a checklist of his active senses, all of them seemed to fade away when he felt his body was slowing down, and on the front of his eyes, he was greeted by another notification box, while still being stylized in the device's font, he knew well that he was already in the game.
For he was staring at the welcoming worlds to the world of guns.
WELCOME TO GUN GALE ONLINE!
NO SAVE FILE DETECTED.
CREATE NEW USER & SAVE FILE?
It was pretty underwhelming to say the least, when he realized he was just staring at a system message as a greeting to a supposedly multi-billion dollar FDVR game. But a single confirmation of a 'yes', dismissed such thoughts, and he was presented with the choice to make his own avatar. Two randomized figures of different gender stood before him. A boy and a girl of an average height, wearing a very basic-looking clothes of the game. Without much thought, he chose the option of his own gender. And the camera zoomed into the male character with a randomized appearance.
One thing he should note, that the figures seemed to be already rendered in-engine. To which he wasn't really impressed with, considering Full Dive VR was supposed to reflect real life to begin with. The character he was editing right now looked very... digitized, and very... gamey, almost as if its skin was made out of a cheap plastic toy material. Still, to say that the graphic was bad would be a lie. But at the same time, saying that the FDVR games looked like real-life was a complete overstatement. Virtual Reality simply just couldn't handle that much data compared to more streamlined home-console games, even in 2025.
He would still have to give credit where credit's due, though. For he was now freely sculpting his character's base appearance to his own liking, and the customization is quite phenomenal. With simple swipes and pinches of his ethereal-like hands, he could craft pretty much any kind of human-like appearance within the creation engine, just like one would shape a clay pot or a statue in real life. He respected the game already giving him that much freedom of choice to his character creation, since most multiplayer games in general would simply just lock the more advanced customization options until late-game, or unless they pay a sum amount of money to unlock that feature.
The boy wasn't sure how much time has passed since he first starting to let his imagination run wild. But in the end, he simply opted his avatar to be modeled after... himself, even down to his physical height and his approximate weight. After a while, he thought that shaping a model character would be fun, like in most other character creation, having the chance to just play as... simply yourself was of extreme rarity. And in a game where people would most likely want to stand out as a perfect take of an ideal character, seeing an average-joe model really wouldn't hurt anyone. Using one's appearance may even just be the best natural camouflage in a world filled with fake representation of one's self.
He wasn't aiming to become a top player anyway. One whose name would show up on the leaderboards for everyone to see, and for every single gaming sponsors to give him a taste of all the VIP passes they're willing to offer. For a person who rather loathed the idea of appearing in the main screen of streaming sites, staying incognito as a casual player seemed to be a best way to go. All his years gaming, he never really thought about going hardcore or into Major League Gaming. He stayed small, and would rather end the experience staying small.
He was now looking at a young male, whose appearance seemed to be the perfect definition of being forgettable. A very average build, with slightly below average height for his age, with black hair and dark brown eyes, and a seemingly apathetic expression donning his face as a part of an expression test. Said male was wearing a white over short-sleeved shirt, an underneath that layer of cloth was a reflective-blue colored metal plating, as his pants were a pair of black military leggings and an all-weather boots. A very... basic set of clothing that led him to believe that this was supposed to be everyone's starting clothes when they first enter the game.
After accepting the character's appearance, and the acknowledgement that he could change his appearance later in the game (though this would cost some in-game currency), he finally arrived in the last section of the character creation phase.
The naming section.
This time, the boy thought maybe a bit longer than he might's hoped. While his real life appearance would just work as a part of his plan to just blend in and disappear within the crowd, using his real-life name would prove to be fatal for him. Looking at all the suggestions, he was given eccentric, flashy, Western action-hero names. Like BomberZR, ExceederXZ, FreedomR1, DragonShooter, Dish0nored, and all that elaborate usernames. He groaned at the suggested options. For him, using a rather neutral name that wouldn't attract much attention to himself, something... empty.
"Nanashi..." Was the word that left his lips without much thought in the process.
Nanashi.
Anonymous.
Nameless.
That seemed just about perfect.
And once again, it seemed luck sided on his side, for that simple username was available for him to use. Quite shocking, considering the rather common use of such terms. He simply thought that everyone might just wanted to be noticed in their own unique way. And so, being literally nameless within the vast majority of gamers, ready to prove themselves to the world was quite unappealing for most people. He was just fortunate enough not being like most people. Finalizing his options, his surroundings was finally once again shrouded in a blinding light.
It was time to play.
Emerging out of the main portal of the ruins of the [SBC Glocken] was Nanashi, who was just about done shielding his eyes with his now existent, manifested hand. He was quick to take note that his surroundings had suddenly just became more... vibrant with color, yet at the same time, had this rusting dystopian atmosphere. Before him was long, road of stone and metal, with towering buildings coated with neon lights as far as his eye could see. He could feel the desert, polluted winds blowing against his skin. It felt rough, but it felt real.
All around him, stood players that continued to appear and disappear through the portal, and the many shops and buildings dotting the landscape around him. And just as he suspected, all of them were dressed in their own unique, vibrant ways. Their high-tech sets of clothes and armors seemed very uimmersive to the depressing vibe the game's setting gave him. But the most prominent thing that he could see, was that these players carry one single thing that made the game what it was.
Guns. Lots of them. TONS of them.
People holding guns.
People playing with their guns.
People cleaning and repairing their guns.
People playfully pointing their guns at other players.
The amount of firearms exhibited around him was just astounding. It's almost as is every single person carried a different weapon. From old-rusty looking bolt-action rifles, to what looked like a railgun of some sorts, the game was in no shortage of firepower one could carry with them around the premises. A new, curious sight to behold indeed. He was almost tempted to try and check his own inventory to see if the game was generous enough to give him a starting weapon, or maybe some other rewards or boosters as a newbie of the game, if he knew how to open the menu, that is.
"Oh, hey! There you are!"
A rather familiar feminine voice caught his attention, as he snapped his attention from the multiple players around him, and refocused onto a single girl of an average height and slightly athletic build. Said girl's appearance was not much different than other players. Just as eccentric, and maybe even more so. With bubblegum, bright pink hair that was tied to a single side-tail to her right, a pair of bright, crystalline blue eyes. The girl's attire consisted of a white, black, and pink. Said pink was in the similar shade to her bright hair. It was emphasized that her clothes were made for the ease-of-movement, seeing how he failed to see any kind of desirable amount of protection. Heck, from appearance alone, he would argue that his starting gear carried more armor than hers.
While he wouldn't recognize the girl's appearance, he would know her voice anywhere.
"Aka..." He stopped himself from saying her name further, and opted to close his mouth again before changing it into a simple: "...Kureha."
The girl was only slightly surprised when he tried to call her with her real name, but was left with a satisfied grin when he corrected himself. "Personal information, mister, you'd do well not to spoil it to anyone," She reminded him with a friendly smile, to which he was glad that she didn't seem to take it to heart. "Finally, it's about time you logged on! It's already 10:34 A.M., did you really spend thirty minutes on the character creation screen?"
Nanashi didn't expect that he was that long in the menu, but he responded to her chiding with a shrug. "Well... I tried to log on early at 9:30... so technically it took me an hour."
Kureha's eyebrows rose in amusement. "You spent an entire hour just to create a character that..." She shuffled closer to her childhood friend. "...that basically looks exactly like you in real life?"
Nanashi, once again, simply shrugged.
The pink-haired girl sighed. "At least you're not crazy enough to name your avatar your real name, because I'd spot that gloomy vibes that you face gives away from a mile. But either way, welcome to [Gun Gale Online]! It's good to finally meet with you again face to face after all of these years!" She spoke in excitement, whilst sweeping her hands dramatically to her sides, showing off the streets of [SBC Glocken] with pride.
Kureha could see her longtime friend's lips slowly forming a smile, one that she just realized, she missed dearly after not being able to directly interact with him for such a long time. "I wish the circumstances could be better so that we don't have to rely on a second-hand VR game to finally talk to each other face-to-face. But yeah, it's really been a while. Great to see you still in high spirits, at least."
"Hey, at least I gave it to you for free," She defended, crossing her arms with an eyebrow arched upwards. "So, as our first time Full-Diving, what'd you think of the game, eh? Looks cool, right, right?"
"...Well, certainly everyone looks really edgy and out of place, that's for starters..." He mumbled, once again letting his eyes roam to the people around them. To think that the game could load these many interactions and inputs without any noticeable lag was already an achievement enough for him. "And for the game itself... well... while the Full-Dive System seems to be working just as intended here, I can't say that the game's graphics are living up to the hype I've set for this game. At least after experiencing it first-hand."
Kureha gave a long questioning "Haaaaa?" before continuing. "Whad'ya mean the graphics aren't up to your standards? It looks real fine and crisp to me!"
"I mean... it looks like it's made from Unreal Engine..." He trailed off.
"Well, it IS made in Unreal Engine, though..." The pink haired player supplemented with a quizzed expression.
"...Four. I mean, Unreal Engine Four," Nanashi finished, his head shaking. "The textures look real rough and aged on some parts. I could cut this game some slack for being a VR, but it's 2025 for God's sake. The draw distance to that... Citadel thingy up there," He pointed towards the sharp-looking tower located at the heart of the [Glocken] to emphasize his argument. "It's abysmal. I can't even see the textures loading from here. For a Western game, the engine's sure isn't optimized that well."
Kureha just stared at him with a strange look. "Still a cynical asshole as ever, huh?" She placed her hands on her hips. "You know well that GGO is basically just developed because of [The Seed]'s coding. The developers only changed the settings and made some few tweaks here and there to the engine."
"Talk about lazy game design..."
Nanashi then could feel himself getting softly elbowed on his chest, the perpetrator being none other than his childhood friend. Kureha was still flashing that toothy smile that was like a trademark of hers since they were little. If he was anyone else, Kureha would probably be annoyed out of her mind at how antagonizing his stance was towards her current favorite game, but Nanashi was a special case. He was, and still is her childhood friend after all, one that she grew too attached - in a platonic way - to just simply hate him.
"Hey, that's enough of that, alright?" She curled her hand towards her as she started to walk away, gesturing him to follow her. "I invited you to play this game to have fun, not to mull over the insignificant details. So we're gonna do just that."
Nanashi made a questioning noise through his throat, but he followed her anyway. "Can't we just starts from the literal basics first? Like the lore of the game, or how do one open the menu... you know."
"No time! There's a PVP tournament with a rare loot on the line, I can just run you through all the game's mechanics while we participate. Now come on, the registration period will end soon!"
Nanashi was quiet for a few seconds, trying to digest the words that she just said, until he finally came up with a response.
"...Wait, what?"
Fatal Bullet
An Alternate Novelization
