36Hello, and welcome to my first submission! I'm so glad you came to read this. If you read this you can find my inspirations quite quickly. First one to guess one of them gets a small part in the story. Doesn't that sound spiffy, huh? Well, anyways on to the story. I 100% percent mine so when you review, review kindly as its my child that you will be criticizing! Have fun, now!
"What is reality? What is a dream? What is the difference?"
Five years ago, a man named Katsuhito Jurei had an idea. Two months ago Katsuhito was found in his apartment, dead. Katsuhito had issues, frightening issues, but our story isn't about Katsuhito or the events leading up to his tragic suicide. It is about his brainchild, the game known as "Legends". Katsuhito was a crazy, eccentric man, and nothing amused him more than the fables and epics of old. Being the depressed man that he was he set out to make a way to make his fantasies reality. Katsuhito, aside from being a sad little man, was also a genius of computers and also had a remarkable understanding of the human brains' sensory input and output. You are probably wondering how he came to have such an education? It was actually a filing error back in his collage days...he had intended on taking an acting course, but wound up in neurology instead. So with these tools he set out to create the most complex escape form reality ever conceived. Using electric pulses he was able to simulate all the sensations that a human body possesses. How exactly he made those findings, and how exactly it works is not relevant to the story I am about to tell. Let it suffice to say that Katsuhito had succeeded in crafting his own reality that he had always wanted. Not content with having it all to himself, Katsuhito marketed his creation worldwide, quickly making the largest fortune anyone has ever made in such a small period of time with over one-fourth of the entire population of the world subscribing to it. Katsuhito was a very happy man for a while. And then he killed himself. Strange, isn't it?
Now let us focus on one particular player in Katsuhito's little world. This is his story...
Chapter 1: Incident in the Square
It was a beautiful day out...too bad I spent the whole of the day inside. Let me back up. My name is Ean and I frequently visit "Legends". Have zero social life I decided that I could play this game as often as I wanted. Unless Lise was on. Lise was a girl I met in a small chatroom about a year ago. While she is nice to talk to and a good friend, more than anything else Lise hates to be ignored. Well that wasn't too much of a problem until I bought this game. It was surprisingly cheap, however, with so many people buying it I suppose they can do that. So I have been playing it almost non-stop since my purchase and that has been driving Lise up and down the wall with e-mails literally pages long on the importance of keeping in contact with one another. So a week before that I had asked Lise for her address. After hounding her for an entire hour she finally gave in and told me. It was her birthday next week and I had told her I had a present I wanted to give her, which wasn't a total lie, just a slight bending of the truth. In actuality I was sending her one of the specialized laptop computers and headsets for the game. I had intended to hook her on it so she would forget about talking to me for a while. Well that day I logged on to my instant massager and to my surprise she was logged in as well. I hadn't expected her to be on at 9:56 a.m but nevertheless I sent her a message.
Ean_007: Happy birthday Lise
The response came instantly.
IceCold: You're in trouble.
Swallowing hard, I wondered if I had accidentally shipped her the other brown box I had been hiding in my room. Thinking fast I played it cool.
Ean_007: Why?
Real smooth, right?
IceCold: You forgot an instruction manual, silly.
I smacked my self in the head for that one. The manual was about the size of a dictionary, so I had decided to ship it separately. It still lays neglected in my bedrooms closet.
Ean_007: I thought you could figure it out.
IceCold: Well I can, mostly but when I open the game on there it says Waiting for User input.
I could not help but laugh at Lise's lack of computer skills.
Ean_007: It means put the headset on.
Lise waited a few seconds before responding
IceCold: Oh
Ean_007: Wait a few seconds first okay? I'm gonna log on.
IceCold: ok
Remembering my first log on I offered my piece of advice.
Ean_007: You might want to lie down before you start too. An' keep your eyes closed.
IceCold: Why?
Ean_007: Just trust me
IceCold: Okay.
Ean_007: Now count down from 100 then log on
Taking that as my cue I quickly walked over to my bed. This was where everything was set up. The generic black headset. The ever-humming laptop. And my little pillows. After running thru the start up sequence I slipped on the visor. It was like a roller coaster as every nerve in my body began to tingle and throb with a numbing sensation until the world I had come to know and love slowly focused in around me. No longer was I Ean, humble, scrawny, high school student. I was Ean, proud ,scrawny Swordmaster. Every time I saw the alternate me I smiled. My hair, now an unnatural shade of red flowed back and into a ponytail that slid the entire length of my spine with a few locks left down in the front to frame my clean-shaven face. My clothes had changed as well, now I was donned in a stylish crimson shirt whose long, loose sleeves were adorned with gold trim and the whole thing seemed to be made of a silky fabric, was left hanging open and a simple white undershirt kept my modesty intact along with a pair of slightly loose tan leggings which had numerous pockets in unusual places. But even more prized than my newfound good looks was my sword. Fashioned in the oriental style it was held in its place by a tight fitting sash that also served as a belt. All in all I was quite literally dressed to kill. A few paces behind me there was a small thumping sound. Turning quickly I saw a female character sitting on the ground with her eyes tight shut. She was very attractive, as far as an electronic signal in your brain goes, with black, feathery hair that stopped just below her shoulders, and a cream colored completion to go with her small, delicate features. She was wearing a violet, tight fitting tank top that would have made her look like some harlot if it weren't for the loose, hide colored jacket that seemed to hang off her body as it still exposed her shoulders but managed to cover up her assets before stopping about four inches above her waistline and the sleeves went all the way down to her knuckles and fanned out about a half an inch. She was also wearing a similar colored miniskirt and black skin tight leggings, and the white boots she had on that flared out at the top and came in at the ankle seemed to be well polished as they were almost blinding in the artificial sun. I had to admit, she was something else. Well after giving her the once over again I spoke up.
"Lise?" I said as calmly as I could, somebody's first experience with Legends is usually very disorienting.
"Ean? Is that you?" She replied, in a confident tone, as if she was the only woman on the planet. She jerked her head around a few times, still keeping her eyes tight shut.
I stifled a chuckle. "You can open your eyes now."
Lise turned a bright crimson as she opened her eyes. I had never seen anything quite like them before; perhaps they had added a new palette since I had made my character. They were a deep hypnotic violet. I quickly caught myself staring and extended my hand.
"Here," I said as tenderly as I could "Let me help you up."
Lise had never said she was shy at all, however she was still blushing like crazy and sort of stuttering.
"I-It feels so real." She said after regaining her composure, I guess it took a little getting used to. I mean this was the first time she had ever heard my voice. She probably didn't stop to this that this was just my avatar. She then proceeded to touch, smell and, to my great confusion, taste a nearby wall.
"Wow, just like in real life! No wonder you like this so much, Ean."
She then gave me this odd look, like when you are trying to order from a menu at a restaurant. She then walked over and put a hand on my face. After a few seconds she pulled back and slapped me across the face.
"Ow!" I yelped. While I had been hit with a lot worse than before, a slap always hurts.
"What did you do that for."
She gave a smile, like she was a child trying to keep a secret.
"You felt it. Isn't that just so cool!" She exclaimed she then skipped around for a minute or two and stopped to feel her neck.
"I can feel my heart beat. This is so weird." She kept this up for about another 20 minutes until I subtly hinted that we should go find some place to level her up a tad.
"But where should we go?" I thought aloud putting my chin between my forefinger and thumb. Closing my eyes and humming for a few seconds I recalled a nice spot where she could do nicely.
"Ok, Lise follow me."
I suppose I should tell you about the town. Well this is the main town of the server, and each server has about 6-8 towns on it. This particular one was named Eisengard. Kind of a long name I know but I didn't make this game. It looked like a fort of some kind with vendors lining the streets in both directions and everything seemed to be made of a cleanly cut limestone. Anyways, it's a nice little hovel for newbies to congregate and veterans to sell their goods.
Then came the problems. Although I was only level 40 I had already made a name for myself as the "Scarlet Knight". I have no idea how it started, one day I saw a bunch of newbies, who by the way happened to be obsessive females, getting thrashed by a high level monster. Stupid me let my machismo get the best of me and I went and saved them. Its been like I was some type of movie star ever since, so I was recognized instantly.
"Look! Its him!"
"No way!"
"Quick get his autograph!"
Lise was clearly confused. She had one eyebrow cocked as high as it would go and the other pushed into her lower features.
"What are they talking about Ean?" She said placing her hands upon her hips. She didn't like not getting attention.
"Umm..." I was searching for words that wouldn't make me come off as some hero or glory hunter. Which was kinda of hard as that's what they thought of me.
"Are they your fans?" Lise interrupted my train of thoughts with the obvious.
"'Cause that ones got a banner with your face on it." She said pointing at one of my more psychotic admirers who, indeed had a banner with my face printed squarely across the center of it. How they got a hold of such an item baffles me to this day. I could only see one solution. I didn't like it.
"Hey Lise?"
"Yes?"
"Sorry."
It was probably the boldest, stupidest act I had ever done up to that point. But I knew this would by me some time to get away. I spun around and put my hand behind Lise's head and another at the base of her spine. I leaned into her and pressed my lips against hers. Lise's normally pale face turned the color of a ripe tomato for a split second before receding to a slight pink in her cheeks. Lise then gave me this look, a wide-eyed look of total and complete confusion. Now that I recall it, Lise had very soft lips. I held it for a few seconds before breaking free from the kiss. It had worked. The fans were in shock; a few had even fainted.
"Okay, lets go!" I shouted dragging Lise behind me all the way to the teleporter bowling thru the crowd in the process. The teleporter looked like a large stone with various runes inscribed all over it. When approached a small, translucent, input screen would appear. On it was a list of playing fields, each one with a specific name. Things like Barto's Grave and Dragons Nest. Fancy sounding stuff. I didn't have much time before that shock they were in turned to anger so I worked quickly.
"Okay, ummm. Ah yes!" I said to myself finding the specific field I had in mind.
"Lets get out of here!" I said as I hit the input button. There was a small whooshing sound and we were engulfed in a blue light. I was accustomed to this, but Lise on the other hand...
"KYAAAAAAAA!"
I swear nothing in the world compares to her scream. Not even the banshee monsters that had rendered a few players deaf! After a few seconds we were dropped in the middle of a grassy plain. It was warm there with a slight breeze flowing. I easily landed on my feet for what seemed a 50-foot fall. Lise managed to land on her backside, no harm done but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I remembered back to a time in a forested area where I was unlucky enough to hit a branch on my way down. Unpleasant to say the least. I turned to my companion to find a glare that could scare some of the most feared player killers. She then broke into a saucy grin.
"You're in trouble, Ean." She said, her cheeks still as pink as roses.
"Why?"
How was it? Took me long enough to get that stupid spacing right! Ah, well. Be sure to review. The other chapters will be up shortly.