The World.

Much has changed over 14 years since its inception in 2007. With R2 released back in late 2015, the number of players has grown in a substantial rate. The game itself is shrouded in mystery. Only a few players know the secret behind this game. They haven't been heard since.

Tonight was a New Years Eve celebration to welcome in 2022. The celebration took place in the industrialized city of Mac Anu, which had lights strung everywhere. The ball stood at the sky with a timer counting down what's left of 2021. Players were happily enjoying the festivities occurring during this time.

Shino and Tsukasa logged in to see these partygoers enjoying their time of their lives. Tsukasa was dressed in a knight's armor with a robe flowing from his back. He is a class of sword wielders. Shino is dressed with a hat that looked big on her. She also had on a pink dress and knee high boots. She is a class of magic users.

The two looked at the clock which read 8:30 PM. Many people were too busy with partying, so the two went outside the town and into the fields.

"So Shino, you use your name on here?"

"Yes, Tsukasa. It's like you using your own name on here."

"I see your point. So what are we doing here in the fields?" asked Tsukasa.

Shino giggled as she grabbed his hand to lead him to the nearest portal. Once they got there, the portal disappeared, revealing a Golem.

"Well, since everyone is pretty much busy with partying, we get to fight monsters. With no one out here right now, we won't have to worry about those pesky newbies getting in our way. This is a perfect time to raise our levels up." smiled Shino as she cast a earth spell to defeat the Golem easily.

Tsukasa stammered, "But I'm a newbie."

Shino replied, "You're different. You're my friend, after all, so why do you worry so much about this? This is just a game, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Okay then, let's find that next portal now, shall we?"

The two players went about to find monsters to defeat. Tsukasa destroyed most of them with his sword, with some help from Shino. Over this course, Tsukasa's levels rose from LV 1 to LV 5 in a few hours.

"…pant….pant…Well, that was exhilarating. This is actually pretty fun. I getting used to this game."

"That's good, Tsukasa. It's all about having fun when it comes to the World. People enjoy this for that reason. There's a dungeon nearby. You want to go there? You're at a high enough level to survive it?" said Shino cheerily.

"What about your level?" Tsukasa asked.

"Don't worry, Tsukasa. I'm at level 8, so I'll be there to help you out."

"Well, if you insist, then okay."

The two soon entered the dungeon. They had stocked up on some potions before heading here. The first portal they hit is a small Angel-like monster, which looked like the ones appearing in Evangelion. They struck it down quickly and headed to the next room, which contained more monsters. Every strike they landed, they killed more monsters and that meant more experience points.

They stopped to take a breather.

"You're getting better at this, Tsukasa. So tell me, what is your life like before college?" Shino asked Tsukasa curiously. Tsukasa became alarmed at this question. He looked at his feet as he could not come up with an answer. It was like his mind was a black hole; he could not remember anything at all.

"Nothing but the usual; graduated from high school, got a job to raise money for college, you know, the usual." was all he could come up with.

Shino was confused at how he addressed the question. "I meant what your childhood was like."

"I told you, just normal all right. It's boring."

Shino understood this and said, "Okay, well…what's…your…favorite…alvwie…vhwe…nvn…"

"Huh?"

Tsukasa notices something strange. The graphics start to distort itself. The sound became muffled and static-like. He squints his eyes to get a clearer picture, but to no avail. The graphics continues to distort to a point where it simply pixilates. The sight of Shino became non-existent and the dungeon became a mass of irregular embodiment. What struck Tsukasa next was that a young teenaged girl was standing in the middle of nowhere. This had been the only thing that appeared crystal clear. In a trance-like position, Tsukasa walks toward the girl. This girl is emitting a blue aura around her body. She had on puffed shoulder pads, a long flowing dress, short blue hair, and a sky blue bra top. Feathers were blowing as Tsukasa inched closer to her.

"Tsukasa, can you hear me? Hello, Tsukasa? Are you there?

Shino's words echoed as Tsukasa dozes away from the game into something that seems out of the ordinary. He reachs his hand towards the girl for reasons unknown. He felt like something was controlling him to do this, but due to him in a trance-like state, he did not notice this happening.

"What's happening to me? I can't control myself. What the hell is going on?" Tsukasa thought as his arm inched closer to her. "Who is this girl? What am I doing to her?"

Just as he was about to touch her, a strange sound was heard; it had a high pitched 'ping' sound to it. Its sound intensified whenever Tsukasa got closer to the young girl. Another sound was heard from behind Tsukasa's back. It sounded like a whale. He tried to get away from what was coming towards him, but he couldn't move his body.

The sound got louder as the entity inched closer and closer towards Tsukasa. It was becoming too much for Tsukasa: he has no control of his body whatsoever, he lost contact with Shino. He just wanted to scream for whatever reason is possible. He wanted Shino to find him in the darkness that held him. However, seconds later, everything blacked out.

In the real world, a few students at Tokyo University were gawking at a young man who fell unconscious some minutes after the initiation of 2021. Paramedics rushed to the young man's side to aid him in every way possible. He was still breathing but it appeared to be much labored. A young woman sat on the couch in the apartment, crying as she didn't know what happened to her friend nor did she know what to do to wake him up.

The ambulance's sirens screeched through the city into the night as medics were struggling to find out what caused this to happen. The only thing the patient could hear was the same sound that has haunted him for the longest time…