Foreword:
Yo! Welcome to my first ever attempt at writing fanfic. It's always been a hobby of mine to imagine myself in the different universes I experience in fantasy games or anime, and what one do with that much foreign knowledge and/or power (think of it as a "if you go to the distant past/future while retaining your current knowledge, what would you do" scenario). I've had this one floating in my head when I take long showers or when in bed, so I figured I'd give it a go! This one's based on the Phantasy Star Online 2 (not New Genesis) universe, with some changes here and there. To you who's reading this, hope you enjoy it! But before that…
Warning: Isekai/Overpowered Protag tropes inbound. Also possibly some overused character tropes. You have been warned.
This will basically be the story I imagined in a PSO2 world where NPCs are the norm, and what would happen if our in-game characters (as OP as they are) somehow managed to get in. Most of the characters will be original. I wanted to write a story within the PSO2 universe, but, unlike the game, which only focused on the fighting and the ARKS as a unit that defends against the Darkers, and the ARKS living in spaceships, I wanted to write a story where the ARKS are a part of a society – one with the normal populace like your average Joes, office workers, shops, normal families and children, etc etc.
Of course, given the genre and the setting, the ARKS will still be the central part of the story, but I suppose I wanted to give the story a bit more of a slice-of-life feel, and a bit more context into their lives outside of combat.
Without further ado, here we go!
Chapter 1: Another Day, Another New Life
Ring ring ring… Ring ring ring…
Ugh.. I groan to myself as I sluggishly look up from my pillow, blindly feeling around for the source of the ringing noise. Finally finding the source, I hit the button on its side, wincing slightly at the sudden flash of light that shone on my face, as the current time is displayed on its display.
Seven... I guess it's time to get up and go. Rolling to the side of the bed, as if trying to stay in bed as long as I can, I walk towards the door, out into the corridor, and head towards a white, patterned door to my left. So sleepy…
As I enter the room, I look up at the mirror, to be greeted by a grotesque mess of hair. Wow, really? Did I toss around that much in my sleep...? I wonder to myself as I struggle to fix it. It almost felt as if sleeping was a trip to the barber, except that the barber was a computer with the world's best randomization algorithm. Last week, I remember waking up with hair so… shapely that Elvis might've gotten jealous that I was able to literally do it in my sleep.
After refreshing myself in the bathroom, I trudged down the staircase into the ordinary-looking living room, to find a woman, lazily dressed in a white T-shirt, laying face-up on the L-shaped, cream-coloured sofa. I almost did a double-take when I realized that her bent legs were moving side-by-side.
"Wow, you're actually awake at this hour?! Don't tell me… did you even sleep?" I couldn't help myself from blurting out. Anyone else might've found it quite rude that I was talking in such a manner to someone older, not to mention the person who took me in and allowed me to live in their house, but this was pretty much the norm for us at this point.
"Yup! Of course! Wouldn't want to miss my little brother's first day, after all!" she cheerily replied back, hoisting herself up, and turning to lean on one of the nearby cushions. Her unkept red hair, hastily tied into a side tail, rested in front of her, right under her shoulder. Just as I was about to comment on her rare show of discipline inside the house, she immediately fell over on her side. "…Well, I'll go back to sleep after you leave, though," she said, stifling a yawn. Classic, I smiled at myself as she reverted to her lazy self.
"Just wanted to make sure you're ready and that you'll be okay."
"I'll be fine," I replied, "you've told me what I need to know, and I won't get lost thanks to this.". I waved the phone in my hands. "Great,", she said, smiling. "Well, I know it might not be the easiest thing in the universe to do, given what we've talked about the last few days, but go ahead and try to have fun, okay? You're going there for your own sake, too, you know?"
"Oh, you don't have to be worried about that bit. I'm actually getting quite excited, myself."
"Did you want some breakfast?"
"Nah, I'll be fine. I kind of want to try the food there, too."
"Alright, go on then. Back to dreamland for me."
"Good morning." I cheekily replied, as I walked out the front door. I look around me, taking in the surroundings as I walk along the red brick road. Walking for extended periods of time on an open street like this was a relatively new experience for me until just recently, as it was definitely something I could not have done in the place I lived before. As I stretched off the remaining bits of my sleepiness and fatigue, I turn the corner, to come face-to-face with a wide, cemented road, lined with buildings of different sizes.
Let's see here…I think it was a right turn after crossing two streets this way? I checked the map on my phone to reconfirm, as I continued walking. The clear early morning air breezed past me, passing by the occasional pedestrian, the occasional vehicle, and the infrequent citizen wearing markedly different, but somehow like others of its type, attire. Almost looking as if it was made of metal, it was a right fit on the body, and gave off the vibes of a uniform, made for combat purposes.
As I got closer and closer to my destination, the uniform-style attire became a more common sight, yet the demographic of those wearing said attire shifted slightly to a younger and less hardened group, and they, me included, were headed towards the same direction. Reaching my destination, I stopped looked up – and was greeted by a large, modern black building, several stories high. Similarly-sized buildings stood behind and around it as well, though the one in front of me was the largest. Towering above me, on top of the entrance to the building, were the words that explained everything – the reason I was here, the reason for all the military uniforms, and why we were all headed towards this very building.
"ARKS Training Institution".