[Aki]

Chapter 2 – 2

I slowly opened my eyes to find myself lying in a bed, staring at a wooden end table. I slowly pulled myself up to a sitting position and looked out the window. Grey clouds floated by, and rain started to lightly peck against the windows. I looked around, recognizing the wooden walls of an inn, and sighed.

I lay back down, throwing the blankets over my head and pulling my knees up to my chest. "What the hell?" I muttered to myself, slowly closing my eyes, letting myself get plunged into darkness.

As I lay there, slipping in and out of sleep, figures danced around me, laughing and grinning. They muttered words at me.

"Useless, pathetic, worthless, burden, helpless".

I lay on the ground in the center of at least thirty figures, their bland faces staring down at me. I reached out shouting at the top of my lungs for help, until my vision was completely swallowed by images of legs, kicking at me.

My eyes shot open, I felt small tears trickle down my cheeks. I slowly wiped them away, sniffling and staring at the underside of the blanket. Rain still pecked at the windows, and a brief crackle of thunder sounded in the distance.

As I lay there, doing nothing, the rain grew louder and louder, falling faster and faster. Streaks of lightning lighted up the clouds, and thunder rumbled all around, shaking the inn. I smiled. I closed my eyes, letting the sound of rain and thunder sooth me as I slipped into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up again not a few hours earlier, a message notification appearing in my vision. I slowly opened my eyes, and hesitantly opened my menu, opening the message.

"Oi! Aki! It's me, Tachibana! Didn't know you were actually in here! What inn you staying at?! Let me know and I'll drop by for a bit."

I smiled, re-reading the message, and typed in the location of my inn, and sent the message. I slowly stood up, not caring enough about my appearance enough to change out of the short athletic shorts and blue tank-top. I slowly walked down the stairs of the inn, passing a few other female players on my way down to the entrance, waving to them as they passed.

I opened the door, and stood near the front window, letting the rain fall on my head and shoulders. I looked up, staring at the grey clouds hastily moving across the ceiling of the floor.

As I closed my eyes, letting the rain drip off my face, loud footsteps echoed through the small street. A figure slid, rounding the corner and sliding to the stop in front of the inn. A girl about my height with short, red hair stared at me smiling.

She looked me over once or twice, her smile slowly fading.

"Aki?" she asked. "I know I haven't seen you in person for a year or so, but Jesus, you look terrible."

I chuckled. "It's just the situation."

"Stayed in bed the whole day?" she asked. I nodded. "C'mon, Aki. You love MMO's. You were waiting forever for a full dive experience. What happened?"

"Last night happened," I told her, staring at the brick ground. "Fighting for your own life? It's not what I paid for. I don't want to die because of some artificial intelligence. I want to die a meaningful death."

"I know, but other than the permadeath feature, it's a normal MMO," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"Sorry, I'm not going out into the fields to fight," I told her, turning toward the door to the inn. She stopped me.

"Here, at least do this for me," she started. I turned to look at her. "At least get some levels and start cooking and leather working. It won't be too hard and with the stores and player trades, you don't need to really go out and fight. Hell, I'll help you get started. How 'bout that. Do it for me, please?"

I stood there, staring at her. The two of us had planned to party together through the whole game, fighting every boss together and clearing the game. But when last night's announcement happened, I got cold feet. I couldn't fight anymore. The only thing I could do was sit around and cry. My legs didn't work when I went out to the field, and I couldn't even lift a sword.

But I couldn't drop a promise to her. I smiled and nodded. "I'll try," I told her.

The rain slowly lightened as Tachibana's face lit up. "Thanks, Aki," she said. "I'll message you when I get some ingredients and we'll learn how this works together." I nodded and we said our goodbyes. As Tachibana disappeared down the streets. I sighed, turning around. I reached for the door, but felt something pass by me. I looked down the street toward the center of town, seeing a boy my age walking, a sword still in its sheath in his right hand, and the hood of his leather cloak covering his face. His icon was green, and his health was red, slowly increasing into the yellow.

As his health increased, I sighed. It hurt me to see people risking their lives for people like me. Useless, pathetic, helpless people like me, stuck in the Starting City because of their feelings and their inability to get over a simple shock. I felt tears start to grow in the corner of my eyes, and slowly walked inside the inn, walking up to my room and throwing the blankets over me, closing my eyes and trying to drift into sleep.