Hello, everyone!

I hope you enjoy this new concept of mine. Please tell me if it is good, bad or meh.

P.S please excuse the horrible grammar and syntax. I was so overcome with the desire to share this new idea that I didn't edit it properly before release.

Chapter One "Magecraft Online"

"Here it comes!" Kazuto Kirigaya cheered as the countdown for the most anticipated game in recent years appeared on the screen before him. "Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… It's time to start!" He grabbed the nearby NerveGear and placed it firmly onto his head. "Link Start!"

The world around him changed as he found himself in skies that was the default setting for when making the Player Avatar in his most anticipated videogame of the year. He saw the mannequin-like human body before him with great interest as he inspected it one more time. Kirigaya made sure that everything looked as he had planned before quickly pressing "accept" and typed his In-game name.

"I hope Magecraft Online lives up to the hypes." Kazuto muttered in excitement as he pressed the continue button to confirm his choice of name. "Let's try the hotly advertised Simulation Mode."

A huge block of text appeared before Kazuto, but he ignored it. It was the stupid user agreement that everyone had to electronically sign before playing any online videogame. Kazuto didn't bother to read it and he just scrolled down before pressing [confirm].

Suddenly, Kazuto felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion wash over him as his eyes closed.

- O -

In a dark, oppressive swamp filled with a thick, wet fog.

Even the harshest sunlight was unable to penetrate the low clouds and gloomy fog, so anyone walking through this area would feel a constant chill on their skin.

There were small, foul-smelling ponds everywhere one looked. These ponds were inhabited by a myriad of strange creatures. Whenever wanderers visited, this desolate and silent land would become a paradise for those creatures, many of whom fed on the flesh and blood of any that they could prey on. Hence made travelers avoid the place like the plague.

But, right in the center of this swampy land, where no reasonable living human being could bear to live, a dark looking tower loomed over the surrounding land. It was a tall stone tower, with a height of over a hundred meters. The tower's foundation was made entirely of augite, so when the darkness of night came, the entire tower would radiate a chilly and silent glow, making it especially attractive to evil spirits and wraiths.

Maybe it was because of a lack of basic maintenance and care, but the lower part of the tower was completely entwined with the crazily growing vines of a demonic plants, making its surface look like it was filled with wooden spikes that shined like metal. If any ordinary man became entangled in these vines, all the blood in his body would be sucked out. Eventually, his corpse would join the others in the huge pile of bones lining the base of the tower.

The sky darkened with the coming night, a candle was lit inside the tower.

Dim candlelight leaked through the narrow window in the side of the tower. Not only did its light not bring any warmth, but, instead, would send a shivering sensation crawling down one's spine and through their heart.

"Argh!" A certain boy screamed as the worst headache in his life hit him.

Kirito' brows knitted into a tight frown. He couldn't control himself and clenched his fists. He wanted to scream out as a way to vent the pain, but he took a deep breath and held still for a while. After a long time, he finally managed to suppress the urge.

"Deep breathes, Kirito…" He reminded himself as he started to call upon a familiar, yet also the same time strange, habit. "Do what you have been doing for years…"

Air rushed into his lungs, and Kirito's headache started to subside as he reorganized his thoughts.

It took a while, but he eventually managed to separate what were the memories of someone that had the same name and appearance of his Player Avatar but had lived a completely different life from his. Kirito also got the feeling that the someone had assisted in his task to separate the memories or he had the suspicion that he might have completely forgotten about the life and memories of Kazuto Kirigaya from Earth.

"That someone likely has to be the CARDINAL System of Magecraft Online." Kirito hypothesized as reviewed the life memories of Magecraft Online's randomly generated origin and backstory that was made for every Player that had chosen the Simulation Mode. "Let's review what I know…"

The world he was now in was not that of Earth, but the fictional world of Aincard where Magecraft Online took place. A world of magic and the supernatural. Where the ruling and military elite of Aincard was dominated by the users of Magecraft, Mages.

His personally chose of Player Name and Avatar had resulted in him having the fake memories of an aspiring Mage, a Mage Apprentice, of the same name and appearance.

As he reviewed his avatar's origin and backstory, the most important one was that he was an Apprentice Mage living under the tuleage of a Great Mage. The duty of an apprentice mage being that they worked diligently and conscientiously, taking care of the daily life of the Great Mage to have the smallest chances of learning the wonderous power that Magecraft offered.

Although, it seemed like mage apprentices lived a tough life, much more than any college student as not only did an apprentice have to pay for their living expenses, but also the exorbitant education fees and the money-burning burden that came with practicing magecraft.

Deep breath in. Focus drawing the Mana in the atmosphere and bring into my body and channel into my Magic Circuits… Kirito subconsciously thought to himself as without knowing it, he lost himself in the fake memories of his Avatar. "Argh, what am I doing?!" He shouted when he realized that what he was doing wasn't something he would do in real life. "Wait a moment…"

Kirito was about investigate the strange, yet familiar thanks to his avatar's fake memories, sensations when there was a knock on the door leading into his room and a following loud voice.

"Kirito, what's taking you so long? Don't tell me you forgot our important first lecture by Great Mage Grey!?" A young male voice shouted.

"Eugene," Kirito muttered quietly as his avatar's false memories surfaced. He started to recall everything he knew of the boy on the other side of the door with great clarity. Despite knowing he was being affected by the false memories, Kirito couldn't help but smile and welcome the presence of Eugene.

Kirito sat up and walked to the door before opening it up.

"Oh, you must have been mediating…" Eugene said in a surprised tone as he saw disheveled appearance that usually manifested when his childhood friend was mediating. "I know we have still a couple of minutes to spare before the lecturing starts, but we need to go now if we want good seats."

"Let's go then! Lead the way." Kirito spoke up as he gently pushed Eugene to the front.

"Okay! There is no need to push!" Eugene laughed and he started to run. "Last one there has to be the one writing the lecture notes!"

Kirito chuckled and chased after Eugene.

- O -

"Welcome to my class," said a late middle-aged man with grey-eyes and hair befitted his name. "My name is Grey. I am happy to see you, boys and girls, that are the latest batch of aspiring mages that have chosen me as your teacher. As a 1st Circle Mage, I welcome you into the world of mages."

Kirito made last minute checks that he had all the proper equipment that he needed before Grey would start the lecture. He internally chuckled at the unfortunate task that had been giving to him as sadly Kirito had lost the race with Eugene.

"A great future awaits," Grey continued as his happy demeanor changed, "I must remind you that the path of becoming a mage is not an easy one. It is arduous journey that requires great sacrifice and perseverance. Many of you will eventually become a Great Mage, but how fast that will depend on your talent and hard work. The average time is about a decade but is normal to take more." His expression hardened and said, "Sadly, there will be some that will never become a Mage. So, I must warn you that you must be mentally prepared for the day when become the majority aspirants that never surpass being more than an apprentice."

A frown grew as Kirito became intrigued by the notion that not everyone could become a Mage. It went against his belief that no matter how bad your talent was that with enough hard work you can overcome any challenge.

"Some of you may be confused what I mean," Grey sighed. "In our world of Aincard, the standard to be considered a mage is different from the 'mages' of other worlds. Anyone who has Magic Circuits, the knowledge and training can become a magic user, or whatever similar equivalent. Aincard's Mages are unique in that you must form a Magic Core to be considered one of us."

Eugene elbowed Kirito in the ribs. "What are you doing?" He whispered. "Don't forget that you are the one that lost the bet so don't forget to take notes."

The elbowed Kirito nursed his ribs with one hand and resisted the urge to quip back that Eugene should be writing his own notes. He accepted his lose and started to jot down words.

"Argh, I forget not everyone here has the luxury of reading from a book or having a private tutors." Grey clicked his tongue in his momentarily forgottenness. "Let's start with the basics for those that don't know anything. The first prerequisite to use magic is to possess Magic Circuits. This is the machine that allows magic to happen. Many humans and animals lack having a single Magic Circuits; having the unfortunate luck of due to a birth defect or injury damaged their Magic Circuits so that they cannot use magic."

"I know that already. Don't stay on Magic Circuits forever." Eugene complained quietly.

"Magic requires a fuel and it comes in two forms: Od or Mana. Od is the life-force a living organism that can be used as magic fuel. Mana is encompassing term to refer to potential magic fuel outside of Od. The most common source of Mana from excessive Od that leaked out or from leylines. Either one, Od or Mana, is converted by a Magic Circuit into Magical Energy that allows magic possible. Od is normally used to start magic and Mana is used for the rest as every magic user has a limited amount of Od at any given time."

"So how are Magic Circuits, Od, Mana and Magical Energy connected with a Magic Core?" One student asked.

"If a Magic Circuit is considered a machine that produces magical energy then a Magic Core is a factory. The two cannot be compared. The same as how an Apprentice is different a Mage." Grey replied. "This connects back to the topic of why not all Apprentices become Mages. Not all Apprentices have the ability to create enough or improve their Magic Circuits to the point that they can form a Magic Core…"

- O -

"My god. I had wondered why the genre-tag of Life Simulator had attached to Magecraft Online. If all my time is spent as a magical student then I might quit the game." Kazuto complained as he logged off Magecraft Online and took off his NerveGear from his head.

Kazuto stored away his NerveGear properly when he noticed the false memories of his player avatar seeming to fade away from his mind like waking up from a dream. No doubt the effect of not playing Magecraft Online anymore

Except there was one thing that greatly baffled Kazuto. The false memories about his avatar's origin and backstory faded, but the memories associated with magecraft before playing Magecraft Online for the first time was still fresh in his mind as if they were his real memories.

He noticed also another abnormal. It felt like his body in the real world had Magic Circuits.

"There is no way…" Kazuto said in dismal until a curiosity overpowered his dismissal. "WHAT THE HECK?!" He shouted in shock as stared down at his body. "I have MAGIC CIRCUITS?! In real life!" His breathing started to jump at the impossibility. "No, Magecraft Online was simply too realistic that my mind is confusing VR with the real world." He shook his head. "Yea that has to be right. All that gaming has worked up an appetite. Let's see what there is to eat."

Kazuto walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. He found that no one was home and there was nothing to eat beside preparing food and making his own meal. Instead he chose to eat outside, especially when there was a cheap, healthy and delicious food in the neighborhood.

He left his home and headed towards his favourite nearby restaurant.

"I swear that having Magic Circuits in real life is impossible, but yet it feels like… phantom pains that amputees are said to have." Kazuto muttered in dismay. "Let's try this ridiculous idea of mine to prove that it was all a figment of my imagination…" After his test, his eyes widened in shock. "Are you telling me Magic Circuits are real…? If so… why is there no Mana in the atmosphere? Did the creator Magecraft Online… Akihiko Kayaba be partially inspired by what was real… That could explain why there is no Mana as that was something he made up…" He vigorously shook his head at the absurdity that he was considering Magecraft was real. "I will prove to myself Magecraft isn't real after this meal."

Kazuto stopped thinking as he soon found himself in his favorite restaurant. He quietly entered and was greeted with heavenly smell that made his stomach growl.

"Yo, Kazuto! What do you want for today?" A familiar voice to Kazuto called out.

"One Tonkatsu curry, Shirou-oniisan." Kazuto replied as he sat down on the branch infront of where the kitchen and chef worked at.

"One Tonkatsu curry for my younger brother coming up!" Shirou shouted as he started cooking. "So, what's stressing you out? Otherwise, that impeccable control over your Magic Circuits would have never slipped and I would have never learned that you were also a fellow mage."

What?! Kazuto shouted in his mind in disbelief as he nearly slipped off his chair and have his head smash down onto the bench. "Shirou-oniisan, you got to be joking right? There is no such thing as Magecraft in real life."

"How can you say, 'there is no such thing as Magecraft in real life.' Of course, it's real! How else are you using your Magic Circuits?" Shirou replied in confusion. He became concerned when Kazuto didn't respond to him for several moments and stopped his cooking to look at his friend, who he treated like a younger brother. "Kazuto… from your shocked look and your lack of control over your Magic Circuits to prevent magical energy from leaking out of your body, you must have learned about Magecraft not to long ago." Shirou replied to the shocked Kazuto as he walked to his restaurant's front door to flip the sign to show the words, We apologize but the Muramasa Diner will be closed today. He stared into Kazuto's eyes and said, "Tell me everything so I can help you out."

- O -

Yuuki Konno sighed as she logged out of Magecraft Online. She had greatly awaited the release of the world's first Virtual Reality game with greater anticipation then most hardcore gamers as it would be the first time she would be able to freely do anything she wanted in the Virtual World. Now that she was no longer inside the fictional world of Aincard, she returned to isolating and boring life of being someone that needed to live in sterilized medically room.

Not only did she immediately miss the freedom of her player avatar, but she also felt a deep sense of loss as the false memories faded away. Her only refuge of memories, that despite not being truly her own, something that she feel was a reminder of her lost freedom.

"Next time when the doctors and nurses let me log in, I am going to enjoy my playtime to the best of my abilities. So, let's see what I remember from the NPC Grey's lecture…" Yuuki muttered as she replayed Grey's lecture in her mind. "Wait… what is this tingling sensation…?!"

She never got the chance to become shocked by her new discovery as someone smashed into her room. Yuuki was more shocked by what she saw before her then her frightening abnormality. For a moment, she thought might be hallucinating or still playing Magecraft Online. Otherwise, there was nothing that could explain to Yuuki how a young woman could smash through a concrete wall as if it was paper.

"Are you insane?!" A certain Rin Tohsaka screamed at Yuuki. "Control your Magic Circuits better or I will have to knock you out before you cause a magical explosion that can level this entire hospital!"

Was this good, bad or meh? Please tell me what you think. I accept all criticism as long as it is no flaming.