CONNECTING TO SERVER… PLEASE!

It was around 10 o'clock on a Friday night, and Haruto Soma was knee deep in restlessness. In the dark chasm that was his room, only a faint, tiny cube of light illuminated a space of blank blackness. Aside from sleeping in, with what time the young magician did have outside of trying to save the world was spent doing nothing. It hadn't occurred to him until last week, as he was lounging on a chair for hours, that a terrible revelation fell onto his lap; courtesy of his gentle caregiver, Shigeru Wajima.

"Doesn't a man like you have hobbies?" He asked, sharpening a crimson gemstone. Though he meant no offense by it, that comment really nipped Haruto in the butt, and it has for a week now. It was true that he didn't go out much. Occasionally, with Koyomi, but other than that, his time of leisure was spent doing nothing. It was a little pathetic, honestly. Imagine what the press would say. Plastered all over the news: Local wizard doesn't just concoct spells and potions (not that he was an alchemist) in a cave. In fact, he lives there too! Completely cut off from the rest of the world.

It got him thinking: When was the last time he had fun for himself? Well, most of the fun he ever had was playing soccer, but that was a dead dream. It's not one he wanted to go chasing after either. That was a past shadow of who he is no longer, and he figured to remain fair to his future he was better off not chasing it. So, he asked around. Just what did people his age do for fun?

"Sorry, I'm not of much help." Koyomi muttered with a sigh. She was in the same boat, though she was more of a special case, so critique can't be handed to her without feeling like you just stomped on a puppy.

"Well, why are you asking me?!" Rinko replied, grabbing a cup of coffee for herself. She seemed rather flustered at the suggestion, though he wasn't sure why. All that he did was say 'You got any idea what people do for fun?' He didn't exactly anticipate a standing ovation from her coworkers. "Besides, you wouldn't like what I do for fun…" She trailed off, burrowing into her desk in shame.

Shunpei, he didn't even bother to ask. Although, somehow he got an answer. He had to wonder, who spilled the beans? What followed was an hour of nothing. At first, he had a few solid ideas, but then he ended up going on a personal spheal that led into many stories. While entertaining, they weren't what he was looking for, and the irrelevance became obnoxious. Especially since Shunpei trailed behind him all the way downtown, to the donut shop, and back to the antique shop. However, it was what the donut shop manager had to say, upon disappointing the establishment with his usual order, that he got inspiration.

"Oh, if you're looking for a new hobby," The manager suggested. "Why don't you look online?"

"Is that really a good place to start?" Haruto asked, biting into his donut. He never did finish it.

"You never know if you don't try." Another donut was shoved into his face. "Speaking of trying…"

"No, thanks." He smirked, walking off with a field of sugar dashed across his cheeks. So, with nowhere else to turn, Haruto went to the internet. He needed something that was neither money consuming, demanding for a strict schedule, and was easy to pick up. Look, he had bigger things to worry about, so he couldn't assign himself to something that was going to take over his life. After a thousand clicks, dozens of lists on cheaply cobbled blogs, and too many filters to bear, Haruto was just about ready to give up and resign to a life of heroism and nothing more.

That was, until an answer fell from the sky. Video games. Huh, it was so simple. Only on the rise since before his time and with nothing to stop them. A really fun pastime, and something he hadn't invested with before in his younger years. It was perfect! He could stick to one, so he wouldn't need to spend any money past what he needed, and it didn't ask for him to spend hundreds of hours mastering his skill to be the best. At least, not when he picked a casual game. There were hundreds to choose from, but one in particular caught his eye.

MINECRAFT.

It was simple, he could take it at his own pace, and was readily available. Plus, it seemed like a great return on money for a game that was seemingly infinite. Also, multiplayer, so he didn't have to play alone. Granted, everyone else paid of course. So be it, that was his choice, and here he was: one week later, booting up his server for the first time tonight.

RingedWizard has joined the game.

He spawned into a forest biome. Well, it wasn't exactly a forest. Next to him on the right was a desert that stretched for miles, and beyond him were huge, overhanging cliffs that reached high into the skies. A perfect place to build a house. He figured he should keep it simple, as he was still a rookie. Don't underestimate him, he's done his fair bit of research, but if you quizzed him he would only get half these questions right. Well, this field is a great plot of land. He didn't need to clear it out. Off to gathering some tools.

This was nice. Peaceful, even. Actually, he was playing on normal, but he was at ease. This little shack wasn't much, but he was proud of it. That sense of accomplishment reminded him of the first goal he scored in an old highschool game. He was exerting his mind, and each small step was like taking a miniature puzzle and piecing it together one by one. By the time the sun was half down, Haruto had gained stone tools. This was nice. Nothing was going to ruin his night.

Shunp31 has joined the game.

"Haruto?" The player's message appeared in the chat. No, this couldn't be true! He said nothing. A few seconds passed by. "Harutoooo." It called out to him, but he refused to respond. What was the button to sneak again? He heard that he would be invisible if he did that. Uh-oh, that name was approaching him. Turn the other way. Turn the other way.

His door opened.

"Haruto!" Shunp31 waltzed into his home. There, standing on the furnace, was RingedWizard.

"What are you doing here?!" Haruto asked. He stared at the skin he chose. It resembled him, colorful attire and all. It should be noted to mention that Haruto himself spent the time to make his own skin resemble his flame form, because he wasn't going to sacrifice his coolness out of artistic ability.

"Oh, well I own this game." Shunpei said. He started walking around the house as if he owned it, opening chests.

"Oi, oi. Don't touch that." Haruto demanded. Immediately, Shunpei stopped rummaging and apologized with his head to the floor.

"Forgive me!" He begged.

"How did you even find this server?" Haruto didn't remember handing it out.

"Rinko-chan let me know." Right, her and her big mouth. "If it isn't a huge request… Can I stay in your home?"

"So you can leech off of what I have?"

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Shunpei spoke in all caps. It appears he was serious. "The truth is…" He turned towards the door, gazing outside the small frames that peered outdoors. "I'm afraid."

"Grab a sword and go make your own house." Shunpei was unable to see it, but Haruto was sighing.

"How do you do that?" Shunpei asked. Hoo boy. This was going to be a long night. Ten minutes passed before he got a grasp on the basic mechanics, and that was after explaining how to split apart stacked materials at the very least five times. He wasn't a very tech literate kind of man, as Shunpei too didn't play much video games. Finally, he made a sword. He swung it around wildly, with no care in the world.

"Hey, watch where you're swinging!" Five hearts were wiped from RingedWizard's health bar.

"Oh. Sorry." Shunpei said. His face was glued to the door. There was nothing out there, and that scared him more than anything. What he had heard was that there were monsters in this game. Normally, that wouldn't scare anyone, but when you lived the life that he did… Who knows, Medusa could have her back against the wall just waiting to strike. "I don't see any phantoms around."

"This is a game." Haruto replied. "Phantoms don't play these sorts of things, they don't care for it."

"Oh, OK." Shunpei felt relieved, though still uneasy. Just then, out of the corner of Haruto's eye, as he was making food, his companion started leaping into the air. He didn't stop, and got in his way, shoving his avatar aside.

"What's wrong now?" Haruto munched down on some food. Shunpei could no longer sprint, so there was a big possibility he had exasperated himself running around the cabin.

"Something green is out there." The magician had to stop for a moment and consider what he meant. Well, it had to be a monster clearly. Though, perhaps it was just a zombie. The most common type, and even someone like Shunpei could handle it. There was nothing wrong with letting him step out into the world, was there? He wanted to feel useful, and hey, maybe he'll feel brave enough to carve a path of his own and leave him alone.

"Go vanquish it." Haruto ordered.

"Me?" Shunpei asked.

"Don't worry, you have a sword." He joked. "It's not dangerous." Well, it was 50/50. After a moment of not typing, Shunpei responded.

"OK. Will do, Haruto-san." The sound of the door sent some delight down Haruto's spine. Finally, he was going to stop being a bother, and Haruto could return to his home. It was too dark to go outside, so he decided maybe if he was going to dig a little deeper he should make a basement for this place. "I found the monster!"

Shunp31 blew up.

That wasn't good. Immediately, he respawned. He ran around several times, and though he could not hear it, Shunpei was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Shunp31 was shot by skeleton.

Haruto ignored it and kept digging. This basement looked pretty nice. It was coming along great so far. Several death messages appeared before him. Quite a few, actually. He was dying quite frequently.

Shunp31 drowned.

How did that even occur? Haruto picked up his blade and carried it out into the night. There was a swarm of monsters, all around the field! Zombies, skeletons, you name them – you've got them! "Haruto-san!" Shunpei called out, throwing his fists into the air. He ran in circles, hoping to tire out these monsters, but to no avail. Eventually, he was eaten once more. Jeez, what a great first night.

He hacked and slashed, digging through the monsters with as much might as he could in order to drive them off of his property. Though, as well as he fought, he too was susceptible to the dangers of the night.

RingedWizard was shot to death

Shunpei, in a last ditch effort to being a good assistant, picked up all of his stuff. "Haruto-san! I got it." He cried out, running back into the house.

"Wait, no!" Our hero yelled. A feisty friend followed him into the cabin. One moment there was a nice front door, and the next? Well, a gigantic hole. Shunpei survived, and that felt more insulting than losing half of his home. All of his hard work was reduced to rubble, and for what? For nothing. Nothing but a few sticks and stone.

The sun arrived, but his sorrow remained for what was left of his home. As their enemies burnt to a crisp behind them, all Haruto and Shunpei could do was wonder where it all went wrong. "Sorry about your house, Haruto-san."

"Shunpei." He started, gazing at what was once so beautiful. "Did you buy this without knowing what it was?"

"Well, if it meant playing with you." Shunpei admitted to his ignorance, which was so apparent that not even droplets of rain could be more transparent. "I messed everything up, didn't I?"

"No." Haruto turned to him. "We can rebuild. I'll teach you." Shunpei slapped him, though this was out of excitement and was a misclick. So, the next hour passed by as Haruto taught him the basics, and along the way things became more convenient for him too. As he retaught his friend, he too learned new things about building that he hadn't before. Absorbing all this knowledge was very satisfactory, and it gave him more incentive to play. Before he knew it, Haruto and Shunpei had a cabin twice as large and even with a bedroom split between the two! Shunpei insisted that their beds remained close, but Haruto wouldn't allow it. So, they sat at opposite ends, but Shunpei was happy nonetheless.

This was one of the greatest nights Haruto had in a while, and before he nor Shunpei knew, two whole hours had passed by. A great effort in restoring what they had lost and rebuilding further, though they couldn't play forever. A yawn left Haruto, and he knew where this was going. "I'm going to log off." He said, moving back to his bed. It seems Haruto didn't understand he wasn't required to do that, but he would learn.

"Oh, already?" Shunpei sounded disappointed, checking his own clock. "Can we do this again, Haruto-san?"

"Why not?" He replied. "Just as long as you keep this place between us. It's not meant for people to snoop on us when they please."

"My lips are sealed!"

Shunp31 left the game.

RingedWizard left the game.

Haruto fell back into his pillow, his head in the clouds as he drifted off into the land of dreams. This was definitely something he was going to sink into, and he didn't mind. For a first time hobby, he really enjoyed it. Who knows where this was going to go? Only time can tell, and he was curious - more than anything, as to what this venture planned to bring to his life. That night, as he was whisked away into the sands of his mind, Haruto pictured dozens of untold stories of his friends banding together on a quest fit for a magician of his standing. Perhaps this was the true meaning of this game after all. Not the creative freedom one has, and the power to do anything, but the ability to shape this world and share it with those you love.

Haruto Soma had survived his first night, and many more to come.

AN: So, yeah. I got a little bored during exam season and started to write this. It's going to be a lot shorter than say Festival of Fate (but it won't interfere with the writing of it!). Initially, I wanted to put small side chapters between Festival of Fate, kind of like how slice of life mangas usually have extra chapters, but I figured that would kill the pacing of the story, so I decided to take that idea and turn it into something more original.

I've been playing minecraft myself, actually. I sometimes have problems sticking to my world, but I'm learning to buckle down and build. It's working well so far. I actually based Haruto's spawn off of a long-con world I have on beta 1.7.3 - I even have pictures of the spawn where I built my own little castle. There is bliss in simplicity.

Anyways, a lot of stories don't really exist with Wizard, especially using the other characters. Hell, Mayu Inamori only has a few stories to her name - and she's cool! Though a little underutilized, she deserves to be with the main cast, as she is another mage. Plus, I thought it would be funny if the characters all played minecraft. It's a top seller worldwide, guess everyone loves it. This whole idea started from a shitpost with a friend, and I'm glad I got inspired to write the beginning chapter at like 3AM.