(Chiaki's POV)
"It seems everyone has arrived." Headmaster Jin Kirigiri declared. Looking around, I did indeed see the familiar faces of Classes 78 and 79. My class was also here. "Everyone, I have gathered you all here for a special purpose. A former student form here will explain the rest." Kirigiri-sensei said. He then gestured someone to come on stage. To my surprise, it was Hoshizora Kame. "I'll leave you to it." Kirigiri-sensei said, and then he left. What did they have planned for us?
"Greetings. I am Hoshizora Kame. And while I could certainly just tell you my talent, I will show you what I was, and still am, in just a moment. But before that, a brief lesson. Now it has been scientifically proven that it is entirely possible that pouring hours and hours on end into one certain thing, whether it be a sport, occupation, or a simple hobby, it begins to influence your personality. You'll soon find yourself thinking of your current situation as if it were the same thing as what you were fixated on. Your actions will be reminiscent of what you were doing for a long time, and you may not even realize it. In fact, you may even start seeing things that aren't really there. But those illusionary images may just reflect what you dedicate yourself to. This phenomenon, believe it or not, actually has a name." After that, Kame-san turned on a small monitor that displayed the title screen of a very familiar game.
"It's called the Tetris Effect?" I heard someone say. If I had to guess, it was Byakuya Togami, Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Togami-san may be arrogant and reserved, but he mostly just wants to work alone. Of course, that really didn't stop Class 78's class rep, Makoto Naegi from trying to be his friend. Surprisingly, he succeeded. "Indeed. However, this is not always a bad thing. Because I believe that such a singularity in your mind can lead you to find out who you truly want to believe in life. Thanks to a few of my former classmates, in addition to some of those with you now…" Most likely Kazuichi Soda, Chihiro Fujisaki, and Miu Iruma, who are Ultimate Mechanic, Programmer, and Inventor respectively. Soda-kun is very emotional and jumpy, often leading him into being the butt of a joke. But he's got a good heart, and he's more than willing to help his friends out. Fujisaki-san is very intelligent, but she's rather timid. However, she's extremely kind to everyone. Even if some of them act like jerks. Iruma-san is an… odd one. She's very openly vulgar, boisterous, and eccentric. However, she has also been confirmed, by numerous students, to be openly perverted as well. Almost to the point that it makes Hanamura-san have a good moral compass. Hoshizora pulls out a mysterious sphere, and continues on. "… I'm going to lead you on a more spiritual journey to discover your inner self. And no need to just stare at the screen. Although that is all I will see in another room, this special projector will display all not only the game, yes it is a game, but also the various images that comes with it. While the main game will only appear in front of you, the images will appear all around you. Think of it as a planetarium, if you will. Feel free to talk quietly amongst yourselves if you wish. And please, do enjoy yourselves." And with that, Hoshizora walked off stage, presumably into the special room. After two minutes, the entire room went dark.
Looking forward, the game had started as well, but the score, time, Zone meter, and speed level were hidden. Probably intentional. However, what interested me were the Minos themselves. They were aquatic in appearance and took on a blue and cyan color scheme. I knew what this was, this was the first level of Tetris Effect. To think, I'm going to see a Hoshizora run of the game live in person. It's very exciting. As the pieces moved, circular particles of the same color as the pieces started spiraling around. In addition, I could hear the familiar humming sounds of a chorus and a beginning of a theatric orchestrated piece. Listening in, I heard a few of the others talk about what they were seeing. "I mean, it does look nice." Hiyoko Saionji, Ultimate traditional Dancer admits. Saionji-san can best be described as direct. She speaks what's on her mind without a problem. While some of it can be rather insulting, she does care for her friends around her. She's just horrible at showing it. "So we're just watching some guy play Tetris? Kinda boring…" Kaito Momota, Ultimate Astronaut, says. Oh just you wait Momota-kun. Momota-kun is very passionate about, actually, just about anything. He's always giving people encouragement when they need it, and he always knows what to say to give you help. He may be comical sometimes, but there's no denying he's got a good heart. "So, is this it?" Hajime asks me from my right. "Just wait. Things only get more interesting from here." I assure him. I look around and see Fujisaki-san, Iruma-san, and Soda-kun smiling, as if they're expecting it. They must have been informed of this ahead of time. Regardless, the moment soon arrives, as Hoshizora clears this first set of lines with a perfectly set T-Spin Triple.
As soon as the lines disappear, small blue fishes swim around fast for brief moment before slowing down. However, to most of our surprise, the fishes swim around the entire room. I heard collective whispers of amazement around the room. "Okay, I take it back. This is really cool." Momota-kun said. And it's just beginning. I lean toward Soda-kun, who happened to be on my left. "Did you guys know this would happen?" I asked him. "We only know about the first level. Everything afterwards is all new to us." Soda-kun informs me. He clears five more lines in a combo of 3. Afterwards, light cymbal sounds start playing to a set beat. On the floor, a few undersea rock formations could be seen. And all around, more fishes started appearing. Just like Hoshizora to want his audience to enjoy the music rather than playing optimally. He could have easily breezed through this level in seconds, but it took him roughly a minute to clear just 8 lines. However, he quickly sets up and completes two T-Spin Doubles in 10. And then sets up a Perfect Clear Tetris. How? He's just that good. He stalls a bit for the right moment, and then he clears the first Tetris of this run.
A whale-like sound can be heard, and rocks and fishes dematerialize. The particles reform into five manta rays swimming around entire assembly hall. The ceiling had a feint globe of the earth spinning slowly. The beat became more distinguished with a every fourth beat of the measure having a distinguishing sound. Every other time it would switch between a clap and a bass drum beat. "Okay, this is really cool!" Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Baseball Star, remarked. Kuwata-kun is rather hot-blooded, and actually doesn't like his talent at all. But he's fairly easy to hang out with, and instantly became a friendly face around the academy. Hoshizora is timing it perfectly so that his movements coincide with the music, just as he always does. But I waited with bated breath for the real kicker. The lyrics. "Every passing day, the winds might blow stronger." This caught a lot of people off guard. I don't think anyone was expecting that to happen. But the lyrics do carry a certain charm to them. "Joy to light the way to keep the reminder." For those lyrics actually carry a deeper meaning than face value. What could easily be seen as a simple feel-good song has more to it. "Every passing day, the winds might blow stronger." However, those parts were omitted here. They are sung later, and that's when I'll tell you what they truly mean. Believe me, it's beautiful. "Joy to light the way to keep the reminder."
After the lyrics went on, Hoshizora perfectly set it up to clear two lines every clapping sound. As he did, the mantas swam faster for a moment, and the beat was still beautiful. It flowed perfectly into the next transition. The globe became more apparent with a sunrise coming from the northeast. The fishes had returned and swam all around the globe. The manta rays became particles that formed a massive whale. And the piece movement echoed light piano keys being played. But no one had time to compliment it as the lyrics returned. "I'm yours forever. There is no end in sight for us. Nothing could measure the kind of strength inside our hearts. It's all connected, we're all together in this life don't you forget it. We're all connected in this. I'm yours forever. There is no end in sight for us. Nothing could measure the kind of strength inside our hearts. It's all connected, we're all together in this life don't you forget it. We're all connected in this love." The orchestra opening sound faded out in favor of a violin string flow, but the beats still persisted. There's still more to the song though, but I'm not telling you what it was. Not when I knew what was coming next.
During the second half of the chorus, Hoshizora cleared a line in a combo every fourth beat to the clap or the bass. He had cleared a total of forty lines. He had full Zone. He set up a four-wide well in the center and began stacking to the top. When he activated Zone, the background did not change, but it did decline in speed. But as always, the audio became dropped a little. Every line he cleared in easy succession, a short piano incline played. After 10 lines, some whales spoke as well. He got 18 lines in Zone before a top-out, but what remained fell to the bottom to the board. The lines that were cleared did not fly around everywhere. Instead, a large school of fishes replaced the blocks and THOSE flew around. Everywhere. I could've sworn I felt one of them touch me. This immersive experience is really something else. Pretty much everyone was awed by the spectacle. I was watching the game, but I couldn't keep my eyes away from the surroundings. Truly a sight to behold. And it's only the first level. After Hoshizora cleared 48 lines, the music dropped in favor of a drum beat that quickly escalated in speed before transitioning to the next level.
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LEVEL 1: THE DEEP
COMPLETE
Author's Notes
I guess now I should take the time to say this is a Non-Despair AU. It's be in the description, but I ran out of space and rating disclaimers had to go first. Yes, our resident foul-mouths are going to spill some bad ones, unfortunately. For those of you who have played or seen Tetris Effect, you'll know what levels come next. However, Chiaki is not going to be our only POV this time around. Take any wild guesses as to who's POV will be on which level if you want. Please do. This would've been written earlier today, but if you were given Hamilton tickets to see the show with your family, you'd probably say yes. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.
-UltimateEnigmatic