[OP-F1] | Better Late Than Never | Chapter 1: Rise and Shine

[Taka 0]

Taka | Lv. 1 | HP: 20/20| EN: 20/20 | DMG: 4 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 0 | LD: 0

 

Spoiler

 

Skills

Weapon Skills              

2-Handed Straight Sword [Rank: 1. Status: Passive. Effect: +3DMG]

Equipment

 

Steel Requiem [Two-Handed Straight Sword | Rare]
Enhancement: Paralysis [Slot 1]
Enhancement: Accuracy [Slot 2] 

White Cloth Shirt [Cloth Clothing | Vanity]
 

White Cloth Trousers [Cloth Clothing | Vanity]

Battle Ready Inventory

 

Starter Healing Potion {3} (+50 HP)

 

 

 

                                                                           

   Loading… Loading…

     Still. Loading! It’s been nearly 30 minutes and I’ve yet to materialize into the game. If my avatar had been formed yet I’d sigh deeply, but I've not even gotten there yet! I paid a fortune for this technology—broke the law to get my hands on this damned game and it doesn't even work…

     I had thought I’d be stuck here forever, that was until the Spinning Wheel of Death had faded from view and the black void before me shifted to gray.

     ‘Welcome to Sword Art Online!’ The black text that popped into my field of vision soon disappeared and I was sent flying through a tunnel of blue sparks and beams of light before being met with a blinding white light. Soon, the faint sounds of chirping birds, distant voices and a soft breeze filled my ears.

    The light in my eyes dampened and just a few meters in front of me stood a large stone monument, with short pillars on each corner of it. Engraved into the stone wall read ‘The Town of Beginnings Teleport Plaza’. I scoffed and spun my head as if it were on a swivel, soaking in the high definition graphics and the gorgeous architecture. So this is Sword Art Online? This is what Kayaba created? “So… this is what fulldive is capable of,” I muttered to myself as I lifted my hand into the air, squinting as the rays of sun shone between my fingertips. “ARGUS for the win baby!”

     The area around me wasn't too packed—which was a bit surprising considering the game had just been released not even a few hours ago. It seems no one saw me log in.

     I swipe my fingers downward, and the motion is met with the metallic jingling of bells as the drop-down menu appears from thin air. The chiming and beeping of my interactions with the display ring out as I familiarize myself with the features.

     After growing accustomed to the menu, I closed it and observed my surroundings. There were four archways opening up to different paths from the plaza: to the left looked what seemed to be an enormous, black palace made entirely of iron. The path to the right—which was flooding with players and NPCs—led to a long street of buildings and market stalls selling various items and equipment. Back behind me looked to be grassy plains dottted with players and boars, then ahead of me was a street full of cafes and food vendors.

     

Edited 17 hours ago by Taka

[Shikari 0]

no no no, someone definitely caught sight of this new player logging on. it was so abrupt, even, that shikari had gestured towards the stranger in the distance, mouth agape, just as he shook marquis' shoulder.

shook, not tapped. the woman beside him flinched and made a noise of surprised, mixed with annoyance. a hasty, "what, what?" beckoned nothing from the man, despite marquis pulling her gaze away from her console, and she stared blankly at the space before her.

the teleport plaza, as uninteresting as it ever was.

"you didn't see it?"

"see what? i've been keeping my eyes on this --" she gestured to the hovering panel, "-- on our behalves, in case you've forgotten."

the man shook his head. "no, that was definitely someone teleporting into the town of beginnings. through some new technique?"

"you're reading too much into it," marquis replied, returning her gaze back to her messages. "has it really been so long since you've seen someone use a teleport crystal?"

"yeah," shikari lied, after a brief pause. he was still looking out to the player he pointed out towards. teleport crystals reformed the player with a certain visual effect -- logging on was different. at least, he thought so, after combing through his memories for something visually similar within the past handful of years they'd been trapped within the game for.

marquis looked to him, arms folded paired with a sigh.

"okay; you do the waiting, then. and i'll just pop one out in the fields of beginning so you remember how it looks like. but you have to wait here, okay?"

"sure," shikari returned, only moving two beats after marquis had left the plaza center. whatever his mistake, he was sure they could rectify it together. for now? his curiosity needed to be sated, and with two fingers adjusting his visor, the man approached the apparent -- er, floor one refuge(?) -- with interest.

"say," he began with a smile, "you wouldn't happen to have teleported here without the use of a teleport crystal, did you?"

Spoiler equipped: twinfang. | [#234841] | TIER 1 DAGGER | DMG III [desc.]: a large edged disc that acts as a double-bladed dagger. maneater. | [234845] | TIER 1 PERFECT HEAVY ARMOR | THORNS II MIT I [desc.]: a pair of spiked metal gauntlets. Shikari | Lv. 24 | HP: 480/480 | EN: 120/120 | DMG: 4 | THORNS: 18 | MIT: 6

[Taka 0]

     I pivoted on my heel with a smirk and was just about to dart towards the rear exit, but when I did so I found that my destination had been replaced by a well-built man with wild, fiery hair wearing a sort of mask…

     “Woahh! Hey!” I exclaimed. Startled, I took a stutter step back after nearly running into the guy. I raised a brow, my smile faded but soon reappeared after finally understanding what he was asking.

     I responded softly and raised my hand to my chin, my fingers gently stroked just under the point of my chin as I began to think. “Teleport Crystal? I assume that's an item. So this game has a fast-travel system? Nice! That sure saves time.” I cupped my hands and held them down by my waist.

     “No-no! I was just logging in. You see… I got the game but couldn't go home right away tonolay it. Then when I did, I was stuck trying to connect to the server for nearly an hour!” I scoff, trying to make light of the annoying situation that it was.

     I wasn't sure why it took me so long to log in, maybe it was because of how I got my hands on the copy but I best not dwell on it. I definitely don't plan on discussing it with someone I just met, I just hope I don't get left behind after starting this late.

[Shikari 0]

it didn't matter if marquis was right, and shikari's memory was indeed failing. by the way the player had talked, it really did seem as though they were new to the game -- and it didn't help that they had a really good reason behind the facade. shikari chuckled. "you too? i had some problems with my wifi when i was starting out too, sure... but nothing drastic enough for an hour."

as much as he was grinning, his eyes behind his mask had told a different tale. because, suppose it had been true -- somehow, within the outside world, they really had been managed by external forces, and this young man's internet had been frazzled up enough to delay his access for several years. then what? there were the studies about comparing the wait to being in a coma, perhaps, but that also seemed as though... well. lucky as the 'new player' was for getting past the loading screen without having his brain fried as they were once warned, he also would've missed the game master's announcement.

shikari's hand ran through his hair. streaks of red interlacing with black -- just like the skies had seemed on that day.

"well, you might want to stick in the city for a bit; get your bearings. and maybe be careful with what col you have on hand, yeah?" his gaze went to the few other players crossing the plaza from the markets -- most of them were in the standard beginner's attire, or plain civilian clothing. rarely, as shikari had expected, was there anyone out of place with elaborate armor, because that would mark them as a higher-levelled player. they didn't lounge about the first very often any more.

"there's no shame in it," he said. "some people have spent their entire time in here just existing on the first. if you have enough col, you have enough for rations for the first few months." the man shrugged, reflecting an unchanged smile on his lips. "don't give that away to anyone. better to keep it to yourself while you're still learning about the state of the game, y'know?"

[Taka 0]

     I nod in understanding. “Whether it was wi-fi or just some server backlog, it was annoying!” I chuckle, but then something he said caught my attention, something that I almost took offense to.

     “Stay in town?” I repeat. The corners of my mouth curled up into a cheeky smile. “Ahh man! I'm not that green. I've been waiting forever to get this new tech, there's no way I'm waiting any longer to get into some monster-slaying!” I shouted with obvious excitement. Looking at his gear, this guy must’ve been grinding for a while and he clearly knows what he's doing. He's probably a decent level considering the game has only been out for a few hours, maybe he could help me get the hang of this?

     My face brightens up and I let out a soft sigh, this Col must be the equivalent of Gil in Final Fantasy. “I see! But why so long? If I need rations I'll just raid my fridge.” I rolled my eyes and shot a hand out to the man. “My name is Taka. You?”

    

 

     

[Shikari 0]

"your fridge?"

it took him a moment to process the home appliance -- because, of course, the real-world technology was a much more accessible piece of furniture than the ones he'd seen inside the game. had it really been so long since they'd been out of their virtual reality? 

in the interim, he took taka's hand and shook it. 

"shikari. i'm not so much a hunter myself at the moment though." the man chuckled, the corner of his smile tight for a brief moment. "i used to be, but that's a different story. ... monster-slaying is a pretty big ordeal these days." 

there was a brief pause as he considered what to say next -- he chose to lose the grin to match his tone. 

"i'm serious, really. taka, did you really just log into the game yourself? a case like this is a little... unprecedented." the weight shifted in his stance as he evaluated taka, a hand over his mouth. "look, i'd hate to be the one to break information like this to you. -- it might sound a little unbelievable at first, too, given that... hmm. you just said you'd been waiting for an hour, tops?"

his fingers left his face, hand outstretched. "still, i don't think it's fair to you if i'd just let you go out and try monster-slaying for the first time... and you happened to get yourself killed." hands on his hips, the corners of his lips were pulled lightly towards his cheeks. as calmly as he could put it, shikari surprised even himself with the clarity in his voice. 

"taka, you won't respawn."

[Taka 0]

     “So? It’s a little hardcore. That's all, if I die I gotta restart from the beginning so what?!” My hand reaches for the hilt protruding from over my right shoulder. The blade on my back resembled that of a mangled up car door. The gargantuan hunk of steel had no defined shape, no pommel nor grossguard. It’s width was no less than three feet, along with a length scraping just below six feet.

     The edge of the blade was jagged, and a mix of bronze, steel and gold can be pointed out at a quick glance. It’s name was Steel Requiem. A rare, two-handed broadsword that was wired to me via my friend who pirated the game for me in the first place.

     I wasn't sure what Shikari was talking about, but whatever it was he seemed serious about it. “W-well… yeah. How else am I supposed to play the game? I just got home with the setup a few hours ago, now I'm playing Sword Art Online! Which… if I'm being completely honest, really blew my expectations out of the water—” He began to ramble on about his expectations and assumptions about the game.

[Shikari 0]

shikari shook his head. "no. not just hardcore--"

but it seemed as though his words were to fall upon deaf ears. he ran his hand through the back of his hair, a wry expression found on his lips. with how taka had started to ramble about being excited to tackle the game, he did wonder if they would begin to draw a crowd, and he scanned their surroundings as though looking for a single particular person -- marquis. but she wasn't back yet, and he was hesitant to end their interaction here, even if taka wasn't going to take shikari at his own word.

so what was the best to convince him, without placing taka in danger? he traced their steps as players, skipping through his memories -- they found out a long time ago, through various means, and shikari's gaze turned towards the black iron palace; within was the monument of life.

shikari but raised a hand and offered the man a gentle nod. "sorry to interrupt, but shall we take a walk? you can talk to me about how you're finding the full-dive experience while we do so."

he waved his hand idly towards the weapon taka had strapped across his back. shikari's dagger was drawn across his own the same way -- a double-bladed triangular fin, clad in white, with a black grip at the center, a fine piece of work despite the blade's unusual shape.

"why don't you tell me more about that weapon you've got there -- isn't it a little unusual for someone who just logged on to have that?"

[Taka 0]

I shrugged, crossed my arms and looked to him, waiting for him to start walking. “I guess… as for my experience so far? I have to say… it's quite amazing. I mean—I knew it would be impressive but this outrageous! I can't believe he's done this.”

My heart dropped when he questioned my weapon, the color ran from my face and I gave an awkward chuckle-slash-snort. “This ol’ thing? It’s nothing. My friend who got the game for me pulled a few strings and I got my hands on this bad girl! She's pretty ain't she? I can't wait to put her to the test.” My light pink hair and dark green eyes are clearly not the typical pallet you'd see on a regular person. Even further proving what Shikari believes, that this is an avatar and not my real face and body. I must not have been told about the mirror in my inventory, and I've yet to use it.