I don't own ".Hack"

People have asked me "Have you ever read the 'AI Buster'?" The answer is yes, I have… and if it wasn't for that book, I wouldn't be here writing this right now, I would probably be playing the ".Hack" games.

Chapter 2 "The Secret Hero."

"Aaaahhhh!" Some strange creature was chasing me around the whole town.
"Kurumi, what's wrong?"
"Please kill it, Haku!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "I thought monsters were not supposed to wonder around the city just like that!"

Haku, I met him yesterday right after I arrived at MacAnu. He was a lvl. 8 Wave master, and wore a long bright red robe with pointy red shoes. If you ask me I'd say that he stood out too much! And also his outfit didn't go with his wavy blond hair.

"Kurumi…" He sighed as he picked up the strange looking creature, "There is no point of being afraid of this little grunty! Here," He walked up to me with the creature in his hands, "Pet him," he said.
"Err…" I poked its big snout. It snorted.
"Hehehe, it tickles!" I started laughing as the grunty licked my hand with it's big rough tongue.
"Well, that was easy…" Haku chuckled, "Kurumi, it's almost time for me to go, how about we level you up and then I have to call it a day."
"But, what about this grunty?" I grew attached to this little creature after a few minutes of being with it.
"He can come with us." He smiled as he helped me to get up from the ground.
We walked to the Chaos Gate.

D (Delta) Server Zone: Runs, Night, Magic

We were teleported to a beautiful field where it was dark and mysterious. The Night sky was filled with bright stars that you could almost mistaken for the ones in real life. Far to the west was a single flame that flickered in the wind. I never realized how I would fall in love with The World so quickly, and how it looked so much like the real world.

"Over there…" Haku pointed towards the light. "That's where we need to go!"
"Ok!" I nodded as I put away my twin blades and picked up the grunty.
"In this server, where there is a light, there is a cave." He explained, "And where there is a cave, there is a treasure!"
"And if there is a treasure, then there will be monsters to fight." I finished his thought.
"You catch on quickly." He turned to me and smiled. I felt myself blush.
"So, how long did it take you to level up?" I decided to change the subject.

He continued walking, "A day or two, once you get the hang of the game, you'll know where to train at what level."
He sent me an invitation to his party, and his icon popped up on the bottom right-hand corner of my screen along with his health bar. This was my first time joining up with someone, so I had no idea of how to play with a team. How lame of me.
Finally we entered a cave. I wanted to put my grunty down, so I could prepare to fight, but the poor thing was so scared he kept on climbing up onto my head.

"Leave him be," Haku exclaimed when he saw me wrestling with the grunty.
"But how will I fight with that thing on my head?" I pointed up at the grunty.
"He won't bother you!" Haku became all serious all of the sudden. I felt a cold chill run down my spine.
"Sorry…" I looked down. We continued into the cave.

Cave Level 5, Floor 1

"EEEEPP!" I jumped.
"What?" he turned around.
"What is this place? I feel like I'm inside a stomach!"
"Its just how the cave was programmed to look like."
"H-Hakuuu! Th-there is…" I pointed behind him.

He sighed, and turned around to look at what it was that I was pointing. A monster was flying straight at us. It was a pumpkin head, with a white cloak, and two daggers. It floating in the air like a half deflated balloon.

Haku quickly conjured up a fire spell and burned the monster alive. A treasure chest appeared.
"That was a Pumpkin Head" Haku said dusting off his robe. "He is a low level monster…"
"Yay!" I jumped, "A treasure chest! We beat it!" Then I stopped. "Wasn't this too easy?"

Haku opened the treasure chest "I got a Health Potion." The he continued into the cave, "This was just one monster out of hundreds that might be in this cave… luckily, I've been here before, so I know this cave like the back of my hand."

Cave Level 5, Floor 4

The cave became dark and gloomy as we reached the last floor. It was almost impossible to see.
"Stay close, so you can see me." Haku's voice became troubled.
"Is anything wrong Haku? You seem to be worried about something."

He didn't answer. Something brushed against my leg and I turned around to see what it was. The grunty on my head, that I've almost forgotten about, grabbed onto me more tighter and I almost attacked him. I couldn't see Haku anymore and became worried, but on the map I could see that there was only one room left unexplored. Knowing Haku and what he has told me about the caves, I realized that this room in front of me was a treasure room. I walked in.

"Haku! I was scared, I turned around for one second and… HAKU!" His dead body was lying on the ground under a huge monster that looked like Bigfoot. Haku's ghost was still in the room. "Kurumi, run! He is too strong… I'll find you later!"

Too late… the Bigfoot came charging at me, I could feel the floor shake as the monster ran towards me. I tried to escape from the room, but the door that lead out wouldn't let me go. I took a deep breath and took out my weapons. The creature roared, and I almost fell to the floor. I ran under it and attacked from behind.

Weapon Ineffective

"Kurumi, what are you doing? I told you, run!" Haku kept on nagging.
"I would, but the door won't budge!" I answered him as I tried to dodge the creature's attacks.

The Bigfoot monster went berserk, he started stomping his feet. His insane stomping made the whole room shaky. The he struck and caught me off guard. I flew towards the wall and hit it hard. My health bar went down to red, which identified that I was close to dying.

Everything went blurry, I could only make out the huge figure of the monster as it flopped to the floor defeated, then I passed out.

Well, that's it for this chapter, please review! And if you have any suggestions for the story, like which characters should "Kurumi" meet during her adventure in The World, or what should happen to her, please tell me!