Virtual Reality. A trend that has been booming since a few months ago when the first Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online game has launched. It has been some months since the game Harmony was launched and it was still going strong as ever. At this point, it was a unanimous decision that Harmony is the most successful game to have ever been created.
It was such a boom that teenagers would be considered weird if they did not play the game. Yes, one could say Harmony has become a necessary lynchpin for normal social life. People would agree to meet up within Harmony all the time whether is it to grind together, trade items, or merely hang out.
Higashi Murasaki was one of the few people who deny playing within the game, considering it as a poison to the mind. He was a purist who does not like wasting his time within an imaginary world.
"So please, play with me!"
However, he was put into a precarious position when his dearest sister begged him like so. It took him all of his willpower to not instantly bow down towards the pleading look of said sister.
"I refuse."
Her sister sighed deeply at those words.
"Besides aren't you busy learning? You won't be able to become a doctor if you're lazy you know."
Being a doctor was the dream of this idiotic sister of his. It was rather shocking when he first heard her wish to become one considering her mediocre grades, but ever since stating her dream, she has studied harder than she ever did before.
It was rather inspiring to see the girl suddenly putting such an effort for the sake of her dream. Therefore all the more reason he cannot lead all her efforts to waste because of some mere game.
"I won't let my grades drop no matter what, so play with me!"
"No means no. Think what pop would say if your ranking drops because of playing some games."
"I already got permission from our parents!"
Murasaki blinked at those words. Their parents were not that strict but they are easy to count on when push comes to shove. No pleading would be capable of overcoming their care for the future of their children.
If they say this is fine then it should truly be fine for her to play this game. The problem is whether he should comply with her and play this game along with her or merely leave her be to play on her own.
Up till now he denies playing the game because he considers time playing is time wasted, but spending time with his sister is certainly not a waste of his spare time. Therefore at least playing casually becomes a possibility that should be contemplated on.
After thinking for a bit, he finally made a decision.
"Fine, let us play then."
There was no need for hesitation. It would be safer for her if he plays along with her, and he has some spare time anyway. And even if that was not enough he could always make more room for her sister. As he said before time spent with her is not a waste.
"Right, I already got two capsules for the Harmony game ready."
"The capsule version is it. Aren't those extremely expensive?"
He might not know a lot about the game but that much was clear to him. Unlike the helmet version, the Dive capsules allow for deeper immersion but at the same time costing a lot more in monetary terms. How could she afford two of those merely with the stipend their parent sends from Russia?
"I won them from a lottery. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered playing the game either."
This is the first time he heard her participating in a lottery of any kind. It does not fit with her personality, to say the least. Maybe he should make reports to their parents if she was wasting the money their parents gave her for living costs for the two of them.
Not knowing his thought the girl started skipping away with a smile on her face, before stopping and turning around towards her brother. A Cheshire grin was clearly set on her face.
"Oh right, start at Rockingham. That is where I will start my character as well."
He merely nodded to transmit that he understood. There was nothing to complain about considering his lacking knowledge in the famous game known as Harmony. It would be best to follow her instruction and play as she recommends.
He followed her towards the living room where two capsules were put within large boxes. They seem rather heavy, he would undoubtedly be incapable of moving them alone. The perfect place to put these capsules should be in their respective rooms, but their rooms were put on the second floor.
"Right, let's carry these together then. Mine first okay?"
The earlier he finishes this the better, so he complied with a nod before moving to one side of the capsule. His sister hurriedly followed and moved towards the other side. They were facing one another with the large box between them.
"One, two, three~~"
With her words as a cue, the two raised the large box, carefully climbing past a staircase and moving towards the room of female one from the pair. The room was long since familiar to him. It was down to the basic without much flair in any term of the word. There were some feminine items but was otherwise plain. After putting down the box they took a small break before doing the same with the one for Murasaki.
"Well, that is that then. I'll return to my room and play the game straight away. Would you mind doing the same? We can meet at the plaza."
Well, might as well he suppose. He has been avoiding the game like a plague up till now but since he has agreed to her demands there was no need for any more hesitance. Time to play a game that caused so many people to become gaming-addicts.
"Sure thing."
The two soon entered their respective capsule, entering into the game.
--Ignite Your Soul--
[Welcome to Harmony!]
[User 2176836981, it is time to create your character. First please choose your name.]
Two billion users were already within the game. One could see how popular this virtual world is by just looking at that number. Harmony truly is the most popular game of all time, only beaten by children physical games in terms of being played.
After all what kind of people never played hide and seek or tag.
He mulled over his name for a few seconds before deciding to choose a simple one.
[Error: the name Purple Fighter is unavailable.]
That was not unexpected but it did throw a screw in his plan. He originally thought of the name since his own name is Murasaki(Purple) and he intends to be a front-line fighter, but as expected such a normal name would be taken already.
Then…
[Are you sure you want to name your character Purple from the East?]
That was a mouthful, but so be it. He took the word East from his surname Higashi(East), so his character name is basically both his first and last name combined. It was not the best of names but most good names have most likely been taken already so might as well as choose something more personal.
He confirmed his name.
[Next please choose your race.]
A few screens popped up in front of his vision. There was one filled with a normal male human, another with a beautiful female with pointy ears, a hulking man seemingly on steroid and one small person with stubby legs and a beard. These were his options in terms of race apparently.
He does not know what the other three races are and he has no interest in them anyway. He picked the one with the human picture on a matter of principle. There was no need to even contemplate the other race. Mainly because he intends to play as a martial artist and changing his body form would make his moves rusty.
[You have chosen Human as your race.]
[Would you like to alter your appearance? Please note that you may only alter it by 20%]
Once again altering his body means he will need to get used to his new physical form and that was utterly meaningless in his opinion. Besides changing it means admitting that you are ugly. That or the person playing simply does not want his or her real identity to be known, but what kind of bigshots are you to do that? Are you some kind of celebrity, eh?
Murasaki chose no.
[Please choose your starting location]
Rockingham.
[Rockingham has been selected as the starting location.]
[Welcome, Purple from the East, to Harmony!]
His surroundings of pure white changed into a town from medieval settings. As expected of a high-end capsule, the simulations were top-notch to the point he might mistake this for real-life were he not aware this world is a game.
Well, that much was obvious, otherwise, it would not have gained two billion players and the attraction of many more outside of it that prefers watching rather than playing themselves. After all the game has grown into such a large conglomerate that even the old-fashioned purist Murasaki knows of the game.
Looking at his surrounding it was currently still early noon unlike in the real world which was already nighttime. It makes sense when one considers the fact time is lengthened within this game. He does not care about the game but that does not mean his classmates are the same. They talked his ears off about them to the point he could be considered average in terms of gaming knowledge even though he never played himself.
Such is the current social condition within most schools. Most of everyone plays Harmony so everyone is forced to at least recognize its existence even if they do not play it themselves.
According to his classmates, the game should play four times quicker than in reality, which means four hours within the game is one hour in the real world. With that much time difference, there is no problem in him and his sister playing a few in-game hours every day.
After checking out his surroundings for some time Purple from the East moved towards the town plaza, as he promised to meet with his sister there. It took him a minute or so of jogging to reach the place.
There were many players meeting up there so it was rather hard to see where his sister was. Nope, not her, nada, nope, not either, there were far too many players around and he cannot be sure who is his sister. After all, she might have changed her appearance. In retrospect, they should have chosen a less populated place for their meet-up.
"Murasaki?"
He turned towards the source of the voice. It was a female voice he has long since labeled as 'dear' from the bottom of his heart. To him, the existence of his sister is something precious beyond anything else. She was a person kind enough to help him when he was weak, and even now continue to support him through his ordinary life.
Looking at her form she was mostly similar to her real-life appearance. She has long black hair and warm brown eyes along with a soft smile on her lips. The main difference was the elongated pointy ears connected to her head and…
'She increased her cup-size.'
He averted his gaze. There was no need to take special note of it, considering such a thing was only natural within games. After all, games are all about self-fulfillment, and women care more about their appearance than men would so it was only natural for them to change their appearance to match their taste.
"What's wrong, Murasaki?"
"Nothing. What is your name here, Erika?"
"You can see it above my head, Mr. Purple from the East."
Looking upwards there was a line saying Erica bobbing up and down above her head. Erica, real name Erika. So she basically changed one letter of her name and made it her character name. It made her name sounds even more westerns. Not that it doesn't fit her considering the two of them were born half-Russian.
Their father is Japanese while their mother is Russian. Both were working away mainly in Russia nowadays and they send money each month to cover the living cost for the two. Most of the household matters were handled by Erika herself without any hands in from Murasaki, which is another reason why he is grateful for her kindness.
Suddenly a screen popped before him
[Player 'Erica' has sent you a friend invitation.]
Agree.
[You are now friends with player 'Erica']
[Please think 'Whisper Erica' to open whisper with Player 'Erica']
He ignored the second notice, considering she was right in front of him and therefore there was no need to whisper to her, which is assumedly something along the lines of a chat function. The announcement itself was most likely made as a tutorial to help new players know how the 'friend list' functions.
"So, where to go first?"
He asked her. He prefers the divide and conquer method, but his entire reasoning here is for accompanying her rather than playing the game itself, so it would be better for him to obediently following her like a tamed dog for the foreseeable future rather than soloing the game.
"First thing first is getting our class. I will go to the archery to get the archer job so you should go to the dojo and get yourself a martial arts job already."
"Why would you assume I will get a melee job?"
"You won't?"
"It's a matter of principle."
"So you will case closed." She smiled. "Well, Cyaa~~"
With those last words, Erica left and assumedly went towards the archery. Murasaki decided to hurry, as the quicker he finishes his job-change the quicker their rendezvous will be. Afterward, they can party up and play together. One might accuse him of only playing the game only for the sake of hanging out with his sister and they would not be entirely wrong.
He was here to entertain her.
Looking around he managed to find a guard standing by.
"Excuse me, might you know where the physical training center is around here?"
The guard told him the direction efficiently. It could be because the man was experienced in being asked for directions or it could be because he was a program created by a system meant to be helpful to the players. Either way, he got his directions and hurriedly followed them.
It took him a few minutes of walking to reach his destination. Thankfully enough he did not get lost and managed to find a place called Hiruma Dojo. A strangely Japanese name for a building residing within a place named Rockingham. Nevertheless, Murasaki did not question it and entered the building.
It was a dojo with the flooring entirely made of wood, with a large open field beside it fitting for training. A dojo is usually meant for symbolic and important purposes like proper matches, while things such as training are usually done outdoors at the courtyard of the dojo.
You could see the game have gotten that much correct as the punching bag is set outside at the courtyard instead of inside the building itself.
"Tch, another one?"
A woman wearing a martial arts gi came in front of him.
"So, did you come here to try and court me too?"
He blinked. What was this ballistic woman saying all of the sudden? Why would he do something like courting her when they have barely met seconds ago? Was she truly that arrogant in her appearance?
Indeed she looked pleasing to the eyes, with her round eyes and oval face giving her a charming look but that does not mean he has to be smitten with her in mere seconds.
"Tch, all men are the same."
Ah, she noticed him checking her out.
She suddenly sent out a whipping kick towards his head from the right side. To him, however, the attack was so slow he had the spare time to blink before dodging the blow by taking one step backward. The attack harmlessly whisked past his face without harming him at all.
She widened her eyes, before sending out another kick towards him, this time straight for the stomach. It was a skillful attack with good form but sadly it was useless against him who has trained with the best in the past.
He grabbed the offending limb before twisting in and hurling forward into her guard. With quick whipping action his fist connected with her chin.
"Ah."
He muttered out, as the woman fell down to the floor, unconscious.
"Crap, I did that out of reflex."
The jaw is a soft spot for human beings, as a hit towards the jaw could cause the brain to hit the upper part of the skull, creating brain trauma and can even knock people unconscious as doing so overload the nervous system and cause temporary paralysis. She should wake up in a minute at most.
He could apologize as much as he wants but the girl is still unconscious so she will not be capable of hearing them. Therefore he did not bother apologizing, instead settling her body lying on the floor before moving towards the courtyard where the punching bag stood unharmed.
The woman will most likely wake up in a minute or so. Might as well as to get some warm-up before he has to face her rage again, Next time he will make sure to not knock her unconscious and stop her with a lock before talking to her in case she attacked again.
He began hitting the punching bag with a few simple moves. The punching bag made a satisfying smack sounds with every attack. This continued for about a few minutes before Purple from the East took a small break and wiped off his sweat.
The sound of clapping entered his ears.
"Oh, you woke up already."
Her cheeks reddened at the reproach. However, that did not last long as she shook her head before turning her attention back onto him.
"Your skills are pretty good. Did you truly come here to train?"
He tilted his head.
"Why else would I come to a dojo if not for training?"
"To—"
"I am here, Miss Aoi!"
A voice suddenly barged in between the two. From the entrance of the dojo entered a young man with handsome features. Blonde hair and blue eyes, he was clearly the prince charming type of character no matter how one looks at him.
"Oh, and who might this person be?"
The prince charming looked towards Purple from the East. The boy opened his mouth, but his words were prevented by the woman name Aoi who has beaten him to the punch.
"He is my boyfriend!"