Emilia's eyes twitched open amidst the busy sounds of the mundane rhythm of daily life. Walking straight past her, a black-haired teenage boy with ash-brown eyes, wearing a yellow hoodie, blue jeans and headphones over his ears, lost himself fiddling with his phone as he boarded a crowded bus.
'Asaru?' Emilia's eyes followed him, a pulse vibrating in static around her as she found herself in the same train.
'Huh? What happened?' she questioned, not noticing that in the left-most corner of the bus's back seat, a boy with silver-white hair, bangs covering his eyes, had his empty gaze fixed on her, his presence seeming to be completely faint.
With the bus now in movement, Asaru was still fiddling with his phone… or to be more precise, gaming.
Emilia simply continued to observe him, learning that she couldn't physically interact with anyone on the bus as her hand simply phased through them.
'Why am I seeing this?' she continued to question the purpose of the scene she was witnessing.
And without notice, her ring started radiating warmth, the ruby-like gem embedded on it, glowing lightly.
'Huh? What's going on?' she didn't have to wait long enough as a voice started resonating in his head, the ears of the mysterious silver-haired boy twitching in response.
'Yep. As always, once you figure out the patterns and logics of a game, it becomes easy to clear them.'
Her head immediately turned towards him in surprise, her eyes shooting out in confusion as she then took a glance at the ring on her finger.
'What exactly do you want to show me, Ace?' while her mind harbored that question, Asaru's thoughts continued to be transmitted to her.
'Nothing beats the feeling of clearing a game,' he thought as he stretched his arms after finishing his playthrough. 'And I've still got 15 minutes before reaching the bus stop.'
'Bzzt! Bzzt!'
His phone vibrated.
"Hmm?" what he saw on his phone was a weird pop-up notification that picked his curiosity as a gamer. 'What is this?'
Emilia approached him, looking over his shoulder as she also read the message sent.
[You've been invited to participate in a special event. Do you wish to participate?]
'An event?' Asaru smirked in curious excitement. 'Heh. Seems interesting. Might as well give it a try.'
Just as he was about to tap on the notification, a sharp jolt shook the bus. "What the...?!" he exclaimed in surprise, Emilia also taken off guard.
'What's happening?!' she yelled out, and before either of them could process what was happening, the vehicle skidded off its path.
In that moment, the world became a blur of screams, twisted metal, and crashing impact in a horrific accident that left many passengers in a critical state.
Emilia for some reason found herself outside the crash uninjured, but right before her very eyes, she saw the severely injured Asaru slowly lose consciousness amidst the wreckage, his pain fading, replaced by an overwhelming sensation of weightlessness.
Then, from the impending darkness that was about to swallow his mind, he saw a soft, glowing light. Emilia, seeing the scene unfold couldn't help but be surprised by the sight.
The light was but a single holographic, pop-up window which displayed the same question that was asked of Asaru on his phone previously, albeit with one statement in bonus.
[Do you wish to survive?]
[You've been invited to participate in a special event. Do you wish to participate?]
[5 seconds remaining before death. Please make your choice.]
With the options Yes or No laid out before him, Asaru's thoughts raced, Emilia's ears bearing witness to his internal words.
'I'm gonna die? Well, shit. That ain't cool. But if I participate, I'll live, huh? What is with this manga cliché scenario. It's so weird. But, if there's even one chance of getting out of this alive, then… fine. I'll play along this weird game.'
As he chose the Yes option, the pain, the wreckage, and chaos of the crash were suddenly gone. Emilia on the other hand, felt the same static pulse surrounding her, the changing before her very eyes.
"Eh? A cave?" she surmised, observing the rocky walls surrounding her and hearing water drops echoing in the damp and humid air that stuck to her skin.
"Ugh," Asaru groaned as he slowly rose up from the ground, Emilia's eye shooting out towards him as she felt a sense of relief washing over her.
'Thank goodness.'
"Haha. I really am alive," Asaru repeatedly clenched his fist and then rested his hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. "I definitely didn't expect to survive."
"Now to figure out where I ended up," he sat in a cross-legged posture as he observed his surroundings.
"A cave, huh?"
"How did I go from being under a debris to being in a cave? Well, the screen did say something about an event, so maybe this is the event area?" he talked to himself, completely unaware that Emilia could hear his every words, albeit surprised by his composure.
"Welp, I'll figure that out later. I should explore this thing first and foremost," he said looking at a holographic screen that was floating in front of him, Emilia also taking a look at it.
'This screen? It's exactly like what I saw,' Emilia remembered her experience within Ace's inner world. 'But, it's different.'
She noticed the difference between what she witnessed and what was being displayed to Asaru who, like the gamer he is, then gave her an answer unknowingly.
"Hmm… A… status window?" he tilted his head, holding his chin in a pondering manner while Emilia glanced at him, taking in the information as she then observed the info written on it alongside Asaru.
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[Name: Asaru Takayoshi]
[Age: 16]
[HP: 1024/1024]
[AP: 0]
[Stats]
[STR: 10]
[AGI: 10]
[STA: 10]
[PER: 10]
[INT: 10]
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"Well… Guess this is my starter pack, huh?" he said out loud as he carefully observed his stats. "But it's weird that I don't see anything about my level. And there should be something like the amount of MP I have, but there's nothing like that. Seriously, what kind of design is this?"
Emilia didn't understand everything Asaru said. After all, she wasn't as much of a gamer as he was.
"Hmm?" a new window opened up.
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[Please select your main weapon]
[Sword]
[Spear]
[Dagger]
[Bow]
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"A weapon? Guess I'll go with the sword then," he stated as a sword then appeared out of thin air.
"Wow~! Nice!" he exclaimed as he held and swung the sword around.
"Now this is starting to feel like a real game. Maybe it's some kind of new VR game I haven't heard about?"
'Yeah, as if. I was definitely dying back there, so there's no way this is some game. There's no telling what might happen, so I better be careful from now on because…' his wryly grinned as his expression turned sour.
…considering all these settings that means―!?' his thoughts were interrupted as a short spear flew straight into his left thighs.
"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!" he screamed as he fell to the ground, holding his right thigh in pain.
'No!' Emilia panicked as she tried to tend to him in vain, her body simply phasing through him while his thou.ghts continued to ring out in her head
'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shiiiiiit! This fucking hurts like hell!' he cursed internally, his expression twisted in pain and his face breaking in cold sweat as he gritted his teeth.
At that moment, evil and unpleasant giggles started echoing in the cave while sounds of footsteps within the distance started growing closer and closer
Asaru's managed to speak up as the impending danger grew closer, his voice groaning in pain. "I knew it. This… this is an RPG fantasy setting. Meaning… ugh… There are monsters here."
"Monsters?" Emilia's eyes landed on the threat before her.
Emerging from the shadows of the cave, scrapings drew near, followed by low, unsettling snarls and an overbearing, foul, musky scent. Dozens of sickly yellow eyes materialized in the gloom, belonging to hunched figures with mottled green-brown skin stretched over sharp bones. Their dirt-stained, clawed fingers scraped the ground, and long, pointed noses twitched. Jagged teeth glinted in a predatory grin.
What was in front of Asaru and Emilia was a full squadron of Goblins.
'Hahaha… Well, I'll be damned. Those are monsters. Real life monsters. And icing on the cake, it just had to be Goblins.'
His thoughts raced as Emilia listened in on him, still grappling with what to do to help him.
'Hehe. If it wasn't for the pain I'm feeling right now, I would think this is only a nightmare. But this… right now… without a doubt… It's real. What do I do? What can I do?' his heartbeat rose to the extreme while his breathing became heavier, the thumping sounds resounding stronger and stronger in his ears reflecting his panic.
And it was at that moment that the reality of his situation really sunk in. What was an opportunity to survive soon turned into a realization that life wasn't always fun and games. That this situation was in fact a death game where his only option was one thing──survival.
But amidst this chaos, Asaru's fear only led him to have one thought constantly repeating in his mind.
'I-I'm gonna die!'