KingVessel: Plot bunnies, plot bunnies, plot bunnies everywhere
Chapter 01: The World of Flames
Namimori City, Japan (12:59, November 6th 2022)
Finally finished his homework and putting it aside, Tsunayoshi Sawada, third year middle school student of Namimori Middle, all-round loser, Tsuna for short, picked up the NerveGear he had spent a whole year fervently saving up for.
The faint scent of a fresh meal wafted over to him from beyond the bedroom door and Tsuna briefly contemplated getting up and eating. But that would mean risking being spotted by his mom, and he wanted to avoid that even if it meant going hungry for a while.
Closing his eyes, Tsuna put on the NerveGear and waited for it to boot up. "Link Start!"
For a minute, Tsuna's world darkened before suddenly whitening up as several 'colors' shot towards him and reoriented Tsuna's perception.
[Touch: OK]
[Visual: OK]
[Audio: OK]
[Taste: OK]
[Smell: OK]
[Language: Japanese]
[Log in or Create Account]
[Account Creation Finished]
[Sex: Male]
[Character Edit: Random or Customized]
[Random selected]
[Welcome to Incarnation of Swords and Fire!]
'Is this it?' Tsuna blinked blearily before slowly bursting into a grin as the sensations properly carried through as he gently then eagerly clapped his hands. "I'm here!"
As Tsuna looked about in excitement, hundreds of other players started popping up all around the city.
"Ah! I need to find to a monster spot or something." Tsuna came to the realization as he suddenly wandered off, taking note of his game appearance as he passed a nearby body-sized mirror.
He looked much taller and adult-like, with his spiky brown hair now blond. Looking it over, Tsuna nodded in approval and continued on his way, liking how his random character at least looked a bit like his original self, thereby not making him feel too awkward with a stranger's face. 'Maybe I'll dye my hair blond sometime... No. Hibari-sempai will totally bite me to death!'
"Hieee..." Shivering to himself (and immensely glad that the Demon of the Namimori Disciplinary Committee would never be interested in VR himself), Tsuna shook himself free of all worries and kept on his way.
As he kept walking, he marveled at how easier it was to move in his virtual body compared to his real one. No more bursts of incontrollable clumsiness, no more fuzzy disorientations, no more inexplicable painful colds in his chest and head.
Like he'd been living in a fog all his life, Tsuna could feel all of his five senses working perfectly in sync for the first time in years.
In a burst of spontaneous energy, Tsuna did a casual cartwheel.
Dame-Tsuna would have painfully and undoubtedly landed on his face.
Virtual Tsuna completed his movements without a single awkward flaw.
'This is the best!'
"Hey, let's make a Party."
"Hmm, maybe..."
Ignoring the flirty couple beside him, Tsuna hummed as he left the vendor with his first purchase of a weapon in the game. A shortsword didn't sound too bad for a first timer like him.
Now, then... where could he find a monster now?
Town of Beginnings, South Field, Floor 001. (14:01, November 6th 2022)
"HIEEE!" Tsuna yelped as he dodged the charge from the Frenzy Boar and scrambled to his feet just as it turned around to attack him again. Luckily, he was able to prepare himself just in time to properly adjust himself this time, scoring a long slash on it's side just as he dodged aside again.
To his relief, the boar's HP finally finished off and caused it to burst apart into shards of data that prompted a status window to pop up and show the EXP, items, and money earned. "Thank goodness... I can't believe I was unlucky enough to deal with an entire mob for my first battle-"
"Look out!"
Tsuna turned around just in time to see a boar that he had missed, just about to collide headfirst and headbutt him hard enough to send his own low HP into zero as well, only for a spear to suddenly stab through the boar and kill it.
"Thank goodness!" An eyepatched girl with long, blonde and wavy hair approached him, smiling in relief at Tsuna's unharmed state. "I'm glad you're alright."
"T-T-Thank you so much!" Flustered beyond all belief that a girl was actually speaking with him, Tsuna stood to his feet and bowed in total gratitude.
"It's fine... er..."
"I-I'm Tsuna!" Tsuna introduced himself, his avatar name the same as his actual one. Just because his bullies had perverted it into Dame-Tsuna was little reason to abandon the name 'Grandpa' had given him when he couldn't pronounce his full name.
"Chrome." She replied gracefully as she retrieved her spear. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you!" Tsuna replied. "Are you a Beta Tester? That spear flew so smoothly!"
"Ah, thank you." Chrome replied bashfully. "I'm not a Beta Tester but I do have some actual training with a polearm."
"I see." Tsuna nodded understanding. "The fact that the NerveGear allows you to move your body almost exactly as you could IRL must've attracted you here, right?"
Chrome's single eye looked to the side with an indecipherable emotion. "...very."
Tsuna awkwardly fidgeted about as they very quickly realized that they had little more to talk about until he bowed forward with a burst of nervous enthusiasm. "I'm sorry but would you please form a Party with me?!"
"Ah?" Chrome backstepped in surprise. "Well, if you're okay with me..."
Chrome bowed back in response. "I'll be in your care, Tsuna."
Town of Beginnings, South Field, Floor 001. (17:25, November 6th 2022)
The two proceeded to spend the next few hours grinding, along with Tsuna enlightening Chrome on the settings of {Incarnation of Swords and Fire}.
According to the legends, in the long-distant past, the world was split into the Forest Elven Kingdom Kales'Oh, the Dark Elven Kingdom Lyusula, the Human Alliance of the Nine Kingdoms, the underground realm of the Dwarves, and various other groupings. While there were skirmishes at times, the land was at peace.
But one day, a hundred varied regions from around the world were cut into circles from the earth and summoned up into the sky, being mysteriously stacked in a conical formation to form a gigantic floating fortress.
The Floating Castle, Aincrad.
The castle held its countless towns and villages, mountains, forests and lakes, and never again returned to the earth. The magic that had caused the old civilization to flourish were lost due to the disconnection, and with them, the nine kingdoms of man. Most towns reverted to maintaining and protecting themselves from the monsters trapped with them with the little bit of magic they had left, and the 'Floors' lost contact with one another, each one one dominated by the strongest monster of each Floor.
A great length of time passed. Legends and tales of the Great Separation still existed among the two elf races, the only people to keep their kingdoms intact from that fateful time.
Then suddenly, a shift occurred.
A thousand of a new species of humans appeared on the lowest Floor, calling themselves the Incarnates (Beta Testers) and wielding the ancient power of the Flames, using it as a replacement of magic to combat the monsters and return Aincrad to the earth.
However, despite their ability to wield Flames and return from death, they failed and disappeared, vowing to return with an army ten times larger, all joined in the endeavor of conquering Aincrad.
"And that is where we come in." Tsuna finished. "Flames are kinda like the magic system of this game, but the game lore clearly says that magic and the Flames are two separate things so..."
Tsuna made a 'so-so' gesture. "Anyway, it's says on my HUD that I'm a Sky Flame user with the property of Harmonization... which I have little clue what that means in game terms."
"Mine tells me that I'm a Mist Flame user." Chrome replied. "It says that my property is Construction."
"...I think that deals with illusions." Tsuna muttered uncertainly. "My friend mentioned something like that..."
"I see..."
"Ah!" Tsuna gaped as he suddenly noted the setting sun, as the game had been set to have it's weather mimic the real one that shone at ARGUS HQ's location. "It's getting late. I need to go home before Mama gets worried."
"Very well, then." Chrome bowed back. "I see you tomorrow, then?"
"Sure!" Tsuna happily turned around and opened up his menu. To think that he'd actually made a friend in ISF! And it was with a girl who's beauty was on the same scale as Kyoko-chan's cuteness! "Goodnight, Chrome... huh?"
"What's wrong?" Chrome turned around, hearing the confusion in Tsuna's voice.
Tsuna shakily turned so that she could see the grayed out space on his menu. "T-The button to logout isn't working."
"What?" Chrome frowned before accessing her own game menu, opening the options tab and scrolling down to the logout button… which was greyed out as well. "Oh, dear..."
Suddenly, a bell started to ring off in the distance, surprising the two. Then they were suddenly enveloped in a light which briefly blinded Tsuna until fading away to reveal both of them in the central plaza.
Along with them, there were more players being brought there with the same lights. Judging by the sounds of confusion from everywhere, Tsuna could easily tell that this wasn't planned at all in the slightest.
"A forced {Teleport}?" Tsuna muttered just as the bell stopped ringing, most likely because every single ISF player.
"Tsuna, above us." Chrome warned, prompting him to follow her gaze upwards.
[WARNING]
[System Announcement]
Those two messages were shown in a blood red panel in the sky, before it suddenly multiplied rapidly until they had filled the sky and were shining down with an ominous glow. After that, something very similar to blood splashed down from between their seams, piling up in midair while crackling with electricity until it transformed into a massive figure in a regal crimson robe that had a hood which concealed their face with a combination of brilliant purple Flames.
"Who is that?" Chrome frowned.
"That... might be a Game Master, I think." Tsuna replied hopefully. "He must've been the one responsible for the forced {Teleport}. He probably wants to address the logout button issue."
"Attention, players." The GM raised his hands dramatically as he gazed down on them all. "Welcome to my world. I am Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am the sole person in control of this world."
'What?!' Tsuna gasped in shock. 'This guy's Akihiko Kayaba?! Both the NerveGear and ISF's very own creator is here himself?!'
Tsuna wasn't the only one to be shocked by that. Around him, several actual Beta Testers were in similar states of shock instead of excitement, as none of them had expected something like this to happen.
"I'm sure that some of you have already noticed the logout button is missing from your menus." Kayaba raised up his hand and made a massive variation of the menu, turning it about to show them all that even that one had it's logout button greyed out as well. "However, this is is a feature of the game, not a defect. I repeat... This is a feature of Incarnation of Swords and Fire and has always been meant to be implemented from the get go."
"F-Feature?" Tsuna whispered. "The malfunctioning logout button is deliberate?!"
"You cannot logout of ISF yourselves. And no one in the real world can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should anything be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave which will irradiate your brain and end the life of the one wearing it."
"What?!"
Tsuna wasn't the only one who yelled at that. Around him, several other players made similar protests out of outrage, fear, etc..
"Unfortunately, the friends and families of several players have ignored this warning and attempted to remove the NerveGear by force. As a result, the 10,000 Adventurers of Aincrad that started with you all today have now been reduced to 9,787. If you look around and do not see a person who isn't here with you in this plaza but had also logged into the game earlier, they are now gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."
"T-Two hundred and thirteen people are dead already?" Chrome gasped in horror.
"N-No way!" Tsuna shook his head in disbelief. "It's got to be a lie!"
"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths." Kayaba waved his arms, causing several screens to appear and display the various channels reporting the situations. "Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope this will allow you to clear the game with no worry of interruption from the outside."
Multiple Victims in Online Game Incident!
Akihiko Kayaba Missing!
Virtual Gaming Celebration turned Nightmare!
"But I want you all to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to be revived within the game after death. If your HP drops to 0, your avatar will be permanently deleted and at that moment... the NerveGear will destroy your brain." Kayaba ominously declared.
'What?' Tsuna grew very cold at that moment, his mind fogging up. 'If we die here... our bodies will die as well...'
"There is only one means of escape. Clear the game and conquer Aincrad." Kayaba announced as he removed the screens. "You are presently on the lowest Floor of Aincrad, Floor 001. When you make your way through the dungeon and defeat it's Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Once Floor 100 has been cleared as well with it's Boss defeated, the game will be cleared."
"What?!" Tsuna yelled out at that condition, uncaring of how many people turned to look at him. "That's too much! Not even a Beta Tester I know ever made it past Floor 005 without conditions as strict as these!"
The muttering grew louder at that, with some people actually confirming Tsuna's worries.
"That guy's right! The Beta Testers couldn't make it anywhere near that high!"
"Clear all 100 floors?!"
"How the hell can we do that?!"
"Finally, I've added a present from me to the item storage of everyone who logged in today." Kayaba announced, uncaring of their mutterings. "I recommend that you check it out immediately."
Tsuna and many others did so on the spot, causing a handheld mirror to appear in their hands and reflect their faces. 'Mirror of Truth?'
Once again, blinding light erupted from everyone who had looked into their mirror, causing the entire plaza to be filled with the screams of panicked players. When the light faded away, Tsuna blinked blearily, only to be shocked at the sight of people different that the ones that had been around him.
"T-Tsuna? Is that you?"
Tsuna turned at Chrome's voice but gawked when he saw a stranger instead. The girl before him was now short and petite, like what fragile glass would look like to Tsuna if it ever decided it wanted to look like a teenage girl. Unlike her previously waist-length and wavy blonde hair, her hair now was shoulder-length and straight purple, with her eyepatch being the only bit of her to stay intact. "Chrome?"
"Y-Yes." Some of Chrome's graceful demeanor had disappeared. "It looks like unlike me, you didn't change that much of yourself."
"Y-Yeah." Tsuna replied. "It looks like... Well, you're still pretty cute so it doesn't change much for me?"
Ending his sentence as a question, Tsuna wasn't sure if he had said the right words to her. Judging by the increased blush on her face as well as the small smile she was sporting, he hopefully did well.
"Right now, you're probably all wondering 'Why?'" Kayaba spoke up again, gaining their attention. "Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Incarnation of Swords and Fire and the NerveGear do all this? Well, I have already achieved my goal. I created this virtual world of Incarnation of Swords and Fire solely for my personal enjoyment. And now, everything is finally reaching the desirable phase."
Kayaba's form started to waver and distort, as patches of Cloud Flames started to burn his robes from within. "This ends the tutorial for the official launch of Incarnation of Swords and Fire. Good luck, players and conquer this world... with all of your... dying wills."
Finally, Kayaba's form fell forward and burst into Flames, swiftly incinerating itself to nothing before it reached the players below. A haunted silence fell over the entire plaza, panic not quite having settled in yet.
Then it did with the smash of a dropped mirror and the scream of a haunted girl. "No... NO!"
"S-Screw you!"
"Let me out! Let me out of here!"
"I can't stay here! I have a meeting in two hours!"
"How could this happen?!"
"Let us go!"
Tsuna barely noticed a translucent forcefield fade away from beside him as he and Chrome happened to be right at the edge of the plaza and close to the exits. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Chrome's hand and dashed off immediately, correctly predicting the impending stampede that would soon occur.
"Tsuna? Where are we going?" Thankfully, Chrome didn't try to fight Tsuna's grip, choosing to keep up in pace as they maneuvered their way out.
"I-I don't know. We just need to get away from the panicking crowd, at least!" Tsuna replied as they left the plaza, nearly colliding with a black haired guy his age. "S-Sorry!"
"It's fine!" The guy shouted back as he ran alongside them. "Where are you two going?"
"A-Away from the crowd! Panicking never helps out whenever bad things happen!" Tsuna yelled out, declaring a solid fact of the life he had lived as Dame-Tsuna. "Especially when they're crowding!"
It was always much more practical to put all effort into escaping the bad situation.
"...in that case, you'll need to head for Horunka." The guy replied as he panted. "Head up there, take the NPC quest there... and get yourself the {Anneal Blade}."
The guy pointed at the blade on Tsuna's hip. "No offense but that thing's beginner's trash."
"Hieee... Noted." Tsuna sighed as they came up to a split in the path. "So..."
"I'm heading west." The guy frowned before raising his hand up for a shake. "I'm Kirito by the way."
"Tsuna." Tsuna took his hand and shook it gratefully. "Thanks for helping us out."
"No problem. I'm just glad I could still help someone out after Klein and I had to separate." Kirito sighed wistfully before smirking at Tsuna. "You wanna repay the favor? Do your best not to die."
"Neither of us have any plan on dying." Chrome replied. "Also, I'm Chrome."
"Nice to meet you, Chrome." Kirito replied before the three separated, with him heading westwards while his new acquaintances headed north.
No matter what, they would survive this world.
KingVessel: So, yeah... I just wrote that. Please review!
